Cuphead and Mugman in "A Recipe For Evil"

Delayed Help

Cuphead had been running around trying to find Ms. Chalice. Her hiding skills proved to be too good for him to crack. Cup knew that if he couldn't find the girl, he at least needed to go back to his brother and protect him from any harm. He circled around back to the spot where he had left the young mug. But no one was around. What had happened to him? Did Tanuki come back for him? Or maybe even Chef Saltbaker?

"Mugman? Mugman, where are you?" He called out in a hushed voice. Cup did not want to attract the attention of any undesirables. With no other option, he began his search for Mug. His hushed voice called out every once in a while, hoping that Mugman would be within earshot. Cuphead eventually made his way into town and in the direction of the dock. If there was one person still around, it would be the ferryman. But what was the chance he had seen something? The compass man had heard Cuphead coming though. The cup's pounding footsteps and intermittent calls were disturbing his beauty sleep.

"Chef Saltbaker took him back to his place. Now be quiet!" The cloaked man told Cup – mainly just so he would stop making so much noise and let him go back to sleep. Cuphead was about to thank the man when his teal fingers told him to zip it. But then the red cup's gaze went out to the ocean. Something big and green was hovering towards the island. It was Grim Matchstick the friendly dragon from Inkwell. On his back sat Elder Kettle. It was definitely past sunset, so the two had set out for a rescue mission.

"Grim! Elder Kettle! Over here!" Cuphead yelled and waved his hands around to get their attention. The compass man cringed and tried to pull his cloak farther over his head. He hoped it would muffle the child's incessant noise making.

Grim headed for the dock. The large reptile prepared to land, bringing his claws out in front of him. Both he and his rider got a big surprise as something prevented them from getting closer. The big dragon bounced off the invisible wall. It caused Grim to jerk to a stop. Kettle almost did a face plant into the back of the creature's neck. The dragon shook his head and snorted in frustration.

"What just happened, Grim?" The kettle asked him.

"I don't know. There's some sort of barrier around here preventing us from getting in." Grim's small ears folded back against his head. "I'll see if fire does anything to it." The flying reptile backed off a bit before spitting a ball of fire from his mouth. His flame hit the barrier. But it seemed to just absorb into the nothingness as the invisible dome pulsed from the impact.

Cuphead ran to the end of the dock and felt it for himself. A firm wall that was shrouded in nothingness. He, like Mugman, knew it must have had something to do with the powerful magic of the newly awakened demon. The young cup looked up and saw Elder Kettle motioning to him. His guardian was clearly trying to tell him something. The barrier seemed to block out sound too.

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to fix it. And then we can all go home!" Cup said, but his guardian could not hear him. There was no choice but to find the source in order to deplete the barrier. The ferryman was about to tell the red cup to leave him be when a trail of white liquid caught Cuphead's attention. It was his brother's essence... it had to be! Sure enough, it led right to Saltbaker's bakery. Just as the compass man had said.

A sudden ringing noise caught his attention. It was the rotary phone that Cup had used earlier that evening. His brown boots skidded to a stop before making a side trip to the object screaming at him. The young cup picked up the earpiece and nervously answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Cuphead, what's going on up there? Something's blocking me from teleporting to your location." The Devil answered, almost to the point of yelling.

"I think...this might be happening because our friend accidentally woke a demon." Cup confessed, curling his finger around the phone's wire.

"I suppose that would make sense since the only creature that – might – be able to block me is another demon. But how did you let this happen? You know the consequences!" The black creature made air quotes with his fingers when he said "might". His ears curled down in annoyance.

"It's not like I just let it happen! I tried to get us out of there, but it tied me up and kept me from intervening while it made its deal with her." Cuphead argued back. He wasn't about to be held responsible for Chalice's deal.

"Okay, fine. It's not your fault." The creature sighed on the other end. "Is there anything else I should know about the situation?"

"Well, on the bright side Mugman and Tsundere are not separated anymore. This...entity...was powerful enough to get them back together."

"Hrmm... it takes a pretty powerful force to embed a demon." The Devil scratched his chin. "You boys are definitely going to need help with this one. In the meantime, try to disrupt the barrier so I can get in."

"Thanks, David. I'll do what I can..." Cup answered before hanging up. His first priority was to save Mugman from the chef that had gone bonkers. After he had gotten his sibling to safety, then he would focus on trying to disrupt the barrier. He hoped that doing so would help both David and Chalice. The not-so-ghostly chalice just had to stay hidden until he could get to her. Cuphead had to trust in her hiding skills. It was the only thing keeping her safe for the time being. Because that demon would be hungry for her soul...