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Cuphead: Isle of Memories (REWRITE)

*Hey, everyone, I'm back!!! Who misses me?! Eh? Eh? Well, anyways, I'm back with another episode of Cuphead: Isle of Memories. We're about halfway done with the story. However, the updates will be slower to maybe once a month because I got work and school to contend with. This is published on February 10, 2024. If you guys like the story, don't be afraid to leave kudos and comment! They will be greatly appreciated! Have a blessed day! Bye!*

Episode Twelve: The Living Legend

“We are the Calix Animi.”

Mugman kept hearing the phrase. He couldn’t move or wake up for a moment. Pictures of strangers fighting each other flashed before his eyes until finally he saw a pool in a dark wide hallway. It was glowing with three glowing orbs with two on one side and one on the other side.

“Love. Value. Protect.”

“Love thy neighbor. Value the lives around you. Protect those less fortunate.”

“Mugman…Mugman…Mugman!!” his mother’s voice cried from within the pool.

Mugman couldn’t respond to the voice or call out to her. He was paralyzed.

“Mugman! Mugman! C’mon, Mugman, wake up!!”

He felt like he was being pulled towards the pool, but he couldn’t scream or move to get out of whatever force was pulling him towards it. His vision had become more blue as he got closer. He looked into it to find a group of warriors within the reflection of the water, laying dead in a battlefield. He watched his arm moved towards the water to touch it before—

“Mugman! Mugman, wake up, bud!!”

Mugman gasped and snapped his eyes open, his vision a blur for a moment until he could finally move again. He saw Cuphead, Cassidy, Natalie, Canteen, and Chalice standing over him.

Cuphead smiled in relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

“DJIMMI, WE GOT A SITUATION!!” Ribby’s voice was heard from a distance.

“It’s okay! He’s awake now!” Cuphead shouted, but Djimmi came into Mugman’s field of vision to look at him.

“What happened?” Djimmi asked the kids, mostly Mugman.

Mugman groaned in pain and held his head.

“I dunno. One minute, we’re looking at Natalie and Cuphead dancin’ and then the next minute, he just fainted,” Chalice explained.

Mugman tried to remember why he fainted exactly. He could’ve sworn he heard someone calling his name. Then there was that pool…that glowing pool. Why did he see a glowing pool? Was that Quadratus calling him? No, Quadratus didn’t have a power to do that, he would think. The vision bothered him as he looked to see his hands glowing blue and shaking.

Djimmi noticed this and examined his hands. “What’s wrong with your hands?”

Mugman was snapped out of his thoughts. “Huh?”

The genie helped the mug up on his feet. “C’mon, let me take a look at your hands.” When he saw Mugman’s legs wobbling, Djimmi picked him up and carried him over to his tent.

Cuphead glanced over in concern. “What’s wrong with Mugman?”

“Give me a second,” Djimmi sat Mugman down on the chair while the kids came over to the genie’s tent in concern.

Mugman could his hands shaking more while glowing blue.

Cassidy saw this and attempted to hold his hand, but she felt a small shock when trying to hold his hand.

He gasped when he saw her get zapped from trying to hold his hand to comfort him. “Sorry.”

Djimmi observed this while kneeling down in front of Mugman. “Hold still.” He gently grabbed Mugman by the arm and examined the hand shaking. “It looks like your hands are under a magnetic force.”

“What?” the kids uttered in confusion.

“Magnetic force?” Natalie questioned.

“Yeah, like he’s being pulled towards someplace unknown,” Djimmi explained.

Mugman thought for a moment, and the vision of the pool kept invading his mind. He tried to ignore it, but he couldn’t keep quiet about it.

“The pool…”

The kids and Djimmi looked at Mugman.

“Huh? What pool?” Cuphead questioned his brother.

Canteen and Chalice exchanged quick glances at each other as if they were thinking of the same thing and then back to their friend.

Mugman shook his head. “I don’t know…”

“Are you seeing Quadratus in your vision?” Djimmi questioned.

“No…Quadratus…he wasn’t in the pool. But someone else is…” Mugman uttered, now feeling the blue glow spreading up towards his arms.

Chalice could feel a shiver down her spine.

“Maybe you shouldn’t talk about your visions for a little bit,” Djimmi said before getting out two bracelets and put them on Mugman’s wrists, causing the blue glow to fade from Mugman’s body. “It’s an anti-magic bracelet. It will probably keep your visions at bay for a while. Take it off if you need to.”

“What’s happening to me?” Mugman asked Djimmi in a shaky tone.

The genie frowned. “I don’t have an answer for that. Whatever it is, it’s probably nothing. I suggest you get some rest and drink water, okay?”

Mugman nodded his head.

Djimmi was putting everything away in his tent as Mugman walked out.

The kids followed Mugman out of the tent.

“You okay?” Cuphead asked his brother.

Mugman had the look of guilt on his face to see his brother still wearing the red suit and Natalie wearing her dress. “I’m sorry I ruined your date.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Natalie reassured Mugman. “It was coming to an end anyway.”

“Yeah, we ain’t worried about that,” Cuphead replied to his brother. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No…Yes…” a sigh escaped Mugman’s lips. “I don’t know.”

Cassidy leaned her head against his with a small purr. “Whatever it is…we’ll all get through it, okay?”

He nodded in agreement with his lover. “Yeah…okay.”

Chalice and Canteen had been silent the entire time, looking at the mug in concern.

Chalice, however, decided to plaster a smile. “Hey, why don’t we all get some rest? It’s gettin’ late, ya know?”

Mugman rubbed his arm and nodded. “Yeah…I guess.”

He walked away from the group with the vision still in his mind, leaving the kids to look at him in concern.

~.~

It was late at night when the boys were already in their pajamas. The brothers decided to switch bunk beds with Mugman at the bottom and Cuphead at the top, just in case Mugman would have a vision and fall off the bed. He wouldn’t have to fall far if he ended up rolling off of bed.

With both of the brothers asleep, Mugman started to toss and turn from a strange dream that no one will ever know except for him.

He saw the faceless warriors fighting against each other. He was breathing heavily in fear while watching the demons tearing through citizens with their bare claws and teeth. Blood was everywhere while he could hear the words in Latin once again.

“Multa bella pugnabuntur.

Multi milites in manibus sunt mali.

Nondum venit finis, sed cito venit.

Agnus ueniet ad gregem et reducet eos in campums seculorum.”

In the real world, Mugman groaned uncomfortably and clutched his blanket tighter. His hands started to glow blue again, breaking through the anti-magic bracelet around his wrists. The blue glow spread across his body as Mugman tossed and turned more.

Back into his vision, the battle raged on while he noticed that his body was glowing blue. He breathed heavily and grabbed his head. He shut his eyes while his body was trembling.

“Make it stop! Make it stop!” Mugman screamed, but it was muffled by the Latin words spoken to him.

He snapped his eyes open to find that glowing pool again, but he shut his eyes again. The tears leaked out of his eyes.

“Ite, et lapsorum quaerite memoriam.

Ite, et lapsorum quaerite memoriam.

Ite, et lapsorum quaerite memoriam.”

“Shut up! Shut up!!” Mugman screamed.

“Mugman…MUGMAN!!!”

Mugman snapped his eyes open with a gasp to find Cuphead by his bedside. His vision was blue.

“Buddy, you okay?” Cuphead asked.

Mugman rubbed his eyes and the blue in his vision was gone. He looked down at his body glowing blue, which caused Cuphead to clench his jaw.

“Your bracelets were broken while you’re asleep,” Cuphead explained.

Mugman kept seeing visions of the pool and hearing words whispered in his head. He groaned and massaged his head to soothe his headache.

“I-I gotta go…” Mugman uttered as he stood up.

“Whoa, whoa.” Cuphead hurried to stop his brother. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know, b-but I have to get there. I can’t keep ignoring it.”

“Ignoring what?” Cuphead questioned with a brow raised.

“The vision, Cuphead!” Mugman blurted out, his hands trembling. “Something is trying to lead me somewhere and I need to get there. I know it sounds insane and probably ridiculous, but I can’t ignore it. I-I can’t…”

Cuphead watched his brother’s body trembling with a soft look. He frowned and pondered for a moment until his head perked up like an idea came to him.

“Why don’t we go wherever you’re going together?” Cuphead asked.

“Really? You would come with me? You don’t know where we’re even going,” Mugman pointed.

Cuphead gave his brother a deadpan stare. “Mugsy, how many places have I dragged you into where you didn’t know where we were going at first?”

Mugman blinked for a moment to think about it. “A lot of places.”

“Sooo, you get to drag me to a place I don’t know either.”

“But, Cuphead, we both don’t know where we’re going.”

“So? Let’s go,” Cuphead said while opening their bedroom window.

“Wait,” Mugman uttered. “What if it’s someplace dangerous?”

“We got powers, bud. I ain’t too worried about it. We can bring the others if that makes you more comfortable.”

“Maybe…I think we should have more people just in case something goes wrong,” Mugman replied logically.

“Great idea, bud,” Cuphead whispered before climbing out of the window.

Mugman sighed and followed after his brother.

~.~

“So, let me get this straight,” Natalie uttered while walking through the forest with Cassidy, Chalice, Canteen, Cuphead, Aurora, and Mugman. She rubbed her eyes with a yawn. She was in her nightgown and holding her little sister’s hand. “Mugman has some weird vision of some pool…and we’re going towards it.”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it,” Cuphead replied. “Though I don’t think we know where exactly.”

“Djimmi said something about Mugman’s hands being under some kind of a magnetic force,” Canteen noted while pointing at Mugman’s hands glowing blue and guiding everyone through the forest.

Cassidy stayed beside Mugman and pressed her head against his. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, angel,” Mugman replied while receiving affection back.

“What’s going to happen once we find the pool?” Chalice asked. “Is it going to hurt Mugman or—?”

Chalice’s sentence was cut off once they noticed the mausoleum glowing blue in front of them.

Aurora noticed Mugman’s pupils glowing blue. “What’s happening to Mugsy?”

The rest of the kids looked at Mugman.

Mugman’s body glowed blue as if he was being pulled towards the mausoleum.

“Mugman?” Cuphead called nervously.

Mugman didn’t listen to his brother as he headed towards the entrance of the mausoleum.

“G-Guys?” Mugman stuttered, looking around for them.

“We’re right here, Mugs,” Chalice reassured him. “Whatever is going on with you, don’t fight it, okay?”

Mugman nodded. He stopped fighting the pull and headed into the blue glowing building. The others glanced at Chalice in confusion as she frowned and looked away.

“What’s happening to him, Chalice?” Cassidy asked in fear.

Chalice frowned and looked at her friends. “It’s hard to explain.”

Canteen held her hand, reassuring her that it was okay to not talk about it at the moment. Whatever it was that she was keeping from everybody, anyway.

The kids shifted their attention back to Mugman, who came upon the square gap on the floor. He jumped into the darkness as everyone else approached the edge.

“What is he doing?” Natalie questioned.

Chalice frowned and jumped into the darkness to follow Mugman.

Cuphead swooped Natalie off of her feet while picking up Aurora. He dropped down with his orange wings spread and both of the girls in his arms to keep them safe.

Canteen and Cassidy exchanged glances at each other. They held hands and jumped down into the darkness.

Once the kids landed on the ground, Cuphead managed to let Natalie and Aurora go. The kids watched Mugman walking down the wide hall, approaching the glowing pool at the end of it. The three orbs glowed brighter at the mug’s presence. He looked into the pool and caressed the water.

The voices grew from the pool, Latin phrases that the kids weren’t familiar with except for Chalice. She understood the words:

“Noli timere.

Noli timere.

Noli timere.”

Cuphead felt the sudden burn in his chest, causing him to stumble.

“Ack! Mugsy!” Cuphead cried, getting everyone’s attention.

Natalie rushed by her boyfriend. ��Cups! Cups, what’s wrong?!”

“I-I don’t know!!!” Cuphead cried in pain.

Chalice noticed her hands glowing in a bright sunny color. She felt the sudden warmth that she could’ve sworn it wasn’t from the fire. She started to tremble at the sight of the brightness, trying to snuff it out by covering herself. But it wouldn’t dim the brightness.

Cassidy’s heart was racing as she saw Mugman falling into the water. She hurried towards him to save him, but Canteen stopped her.

“No! Cassi, you’re going to drown yourself!” Canteen shouted.

The kids turned and watched the pool glowed brighter.

~.~

“Stop! Thief!”

Mugman snapped his eyes open with a gasp. What did he just do? Was he stealing something? He looked around to find himself in a town that was smaller than Inkwell Isle. There were cabins everywhere with citizens using stoves to cook their food. There wasn’t electricity either.

“W-Where am I?”

“Stop, thief!”

Mugman turned to see a couple of soldiers in bright red uniforms charging towards him. “Wait, wait, I didn’t steal—”

The soldiers phased right through him as if he was invisible.

“—anything,” Mugman finished his sentence and turned to find the soldiers were chasing someone else.

He joined them in the pursuit, wondering who they were chasing. However, he felt something magnetic pulling him in another direction to the left. He stumbled and noticed someone hiding in the shadows. Mugman could see that this must be the thief that the guards were calling…except he recognized that thief somehow. Once the thief leaned into the light to watch out for more guards, the white porcelain cup head with a curved handle and some designs shaped like electric shocks and there were fire engravings on his handle.

Mugman widened his eyes in shock. “G-Gabriel?”

“Hm?” Gabriel responded to his name, but he didn’t find anyone nearby him.

Mugman realized that he couldn’t see him as well…but could hear him strangely.

Gabriel shrugged it off and hurried off.

“Wait!” Mugman cried while chasing after Gabriel.

Gabriel rushed around the town, carrying a satchel of whatever he stole from the market.

“Gabriel, wait!” Mugman shouted, chasing after Gabriel until they arrived at a shack. It looked rundown and in poor condition with just a fireplace and furniture scattered all over the place.

Mugman widened his eyes in shock at Gabriel’s living conditions and followed him into his home where he saw a pregnant cup woman who…looked a lot like his mother, but different. She appeared to be sickly while her blonde hair was falling out.

“You alright, love?” Gabriel asked softly while kissing her cheek tenderly.

“I’m alright. I felt a kick today.”

“You have?” Gabriel inquired with a soft smile.

She placed his hand on her stomach to feel little feet kicking inside the womb.

“Do you feel it?” she asked.

“Aye, I do,” he responded. “You can tell he wants out.”

“She,” she teasingly argued.

“Oh? I don’t think so. He’s going to be a strapping young boy like me.”

His wife rolled her eyes. “Or she’s going to become a strapping young girl like her father.”

“You think?”

“I know so.”

He chuckled. “Remember the deal, love? I name the boys and you name the girls.”

“If it’s a girl, I’m going to name her Rose.”

“Rose, huh? Beautiful.”

She noticed the satchel strap over his shoulder. “What did you steal this time?”

“You’re saying that as if I have been stealing every day,” Gabriel replied with a smirk.

“You have,” his wife said without hesitation.

He rolled his eyes playfully and opened his satchel to find that it was food. “A lot of food. Wouldn’t want you and the baby to starve.”

“That’s considerate of you, dear,” his wife said while sitting up to eat the food.

Mugman gazed at Gabriel softly. Before he could reach towards Gabriel and his wife, the memory switched to Gabriel being captured by the guards for the professor, who was a fork with a coat and glasses.

“I see that you have a nasty record of stealing things in the market, Mr. Arch-Cup,” the fork professor replied while looking through Gabriel’s records. “If I were you, I would thank the Most High that you’re not in jail right at this second. Though you should consider your choices carefully. What I am about to offer you could enrich you from this poor state you and your family were living in.”

“How did you—?”

“Rumors fly, good sir,” the professor answered without hesitation. “There is something I would like you to steal and it could save your entire family. Heck, I shall pay you a good sum for it and keep the soldiers off of your back so that you can provide for your family.”

“What am I stealing?”

“An excellent question. There are two orbs that were untouched by this exclusive group called the Calix Animi. They say that only the purest of blood and worthy can obtain these orbs, but you, my friend, are a common thief, not a pure blood and definitely not someone the Most High would deem worthy, which is perfect for this operation,” the professor replied.

Gabriel arched a brow. “Uh…thanks?”

“You’re welcome,” the professor said abrasively. “It’s up to you whether you’re up for it or not.”

“How much will you pay me if I do this?”

“As I said before, just enough to keep you and your family off the streets. Besides, I’m sure you didn’t find any better jobs than the jobs here.”

Gabriel took a moment to ponder about this offer.

Mugman looked to the side to find another memory of Gabriel’s wife coughing and holding her stomach. She couldn’t move and rubbed her stomach to soothe the baby in the womb. The memory disappeared, causing Mugman to shift his attention to Gabriel.

Gabriel huffed out a breath and looked up at the fork professor. “I’ll do it.”

“Excellent,” the professor said with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll do fine in this operation.”

Mugman watched a memory appear to see Gabriel sneaking into the familiar mausoleum and followed after him.

Gabriel approached the two orbs, one blue and one red. With a deep breath, Gabriel carefully put the orbs in his satchel to take back to the fork professor. Both Mugman and Gabriel weren’t sure why the professor wanted the orbs, but one could assume that the professor might be studying in a subject to which everyone called him insane over. But before Gabriel could make his quick exit before the members of the Calix Animi wake up, the orbs were mixed together in his satchel. Were the orbs supposed to do that?

When Gabriel opened the satchel, the substance leaped inside of Gabriel. Everything was turning blue and red in his vision while screaming in agony from the flames and electricity.

Mugman watched in horror at Gabriel’s suffering as everything became a blur to Mugman. He felt electricity running through his veins as he cried out in pain. His powers must have been responding to Gabriel’s newfound the powers. Mugman felt a tug towards Gabriel, but he couldn’t tell what was going on after everything went dark.

~.~

The building started to shake slightly, which was noticed by Canteen.

Canteen let Cassidy go and noticed Chalice’s body glowing brighter than usual.

“What’s happening?!” Canteen shouted his question.

“I-I think there’s s-something else I didn’t mention to you,” Chalice stuttered, her body glowing brighter.

“What?!”

Chalice stumbled trying to go to her boyfriend until Canteen rushed to catch her.

“Chalice, what’s happening to you?” Canteen asked, his voice trembling.

“Cuppy!” Aurora’s shout caught Chalice and Canteen’s attention.

They turned to find Cuphead burning up in his body, agonizing him further.

Natalie tried to get near him, but was too afraid of the growing flames coming out of his body. “Cups!”

Cassidy looked down at the pool for her boyfriend. She heard Natalie calling Cuphead’s name. She turned to notice the flames growing with wide eyes in fear for Natalie’s life. She looked at the water and then glanced around for a bucket. Once she found an old bucket, she scooped the water from the glowing pool and hurried to douse the flames on Cuphead’s body. Once she poured water over him, the flames exploded as if it had been doused by gasoline instead of water. The explosion pushed Natalie and Cassidy away from Cuphead.

Natalie bumped into the podium and noticed a pink orb about to fall on Aurora behind her. She got up and held up the orb to save her sister from the pink orb falling on her little sister. However, the pink substance flew out of the orb and into Natalie’s body, causing her to drop the empty orb in front of her feet. She collapsed on her knees and gripped her chest as her veins glowed pink.

Aurora hurried by her big sister. “Sissy, Sissy! What’s wrong?!”

Natalie gritted her teeth to keep her from screaming in pain.

Cassidy flew onto the podium that held the green orb, knocking it over. The green orb broke and the green substance was set free. The red feline noticed it coming towards her, but it was too late to run from it since it entered her body. She could feel something growing inside of her. She clenched her teeth with tears in her face.

Chalice noticed the girls suffering. “Oh no…”

“Oh no, what?” Canteen asked in fear. “What’s happening to them?”

Chalice glanced up at him. “The prophecy…it’s coming true.”

“What prophecy?” Canteen probed. He could feel the building shaking, knocking over the dark blue orb and breaking it. The substance from the orb lingered out and into Canteen without hesitation. Canteen’s body tensed up from the strange feeling, until he could feel his head hurting.

“C-Chalice,” Canteen whimpered in pain. He held his head and fell onto his knees with screams in pain.

Chalice noticed this and hugged him tightly while he started to scream in pain.

Aurora witnessed all of this with fear in her eyes. She trembled until an idea came to her. She looked at her sister and said in a hurried tone, “I’m going to ged Briney! Hold on!”

She looked around for an exit and found it on the side by Cassidy. She hurried to the exit and rushed up the stairs to get help.

~.~

Mugman fluttered his eyes open and noticed that he only had red vision on one eye and the blue vision on his other eye. A groan escaped his lips…but he didn’t sound like him.

“What the—?” Even Mugman’s own voice didn’t sound like his own.

He saw six strangers around him, but their faces were clearer than before. One at the center of the group was a familiar female chalice leaning down to get a closer look at him.

“Chalice?” Mugman recognized…but his own voice still didn’t sound like him.

“That’s the Legendary Chalice to you,” she corrected him with a growl. “Question is, who are you, thief?”

“Thief?” Mugman glanced at his hands to realize that…wait a second, those weren’t his hands. They were much bigger than his usual hands. He got up on his feet, completely ignoring the Calix Animi group. He didn’t realize he was so much taller than before. He spotted a mirror and hurried towards it to look into it. Once he looked into it, his eyes widened in horror. He could see that he had one eye red and one eye blue…but that wasn’t all. He appeared a lot like Gabriel…wait, no, he was Gabriel now…or possessing him.

Mugman turned back around to face the Calix Animi group as Gabriel. He noticed their eyes glowing different colors.

“Who are you?” Mugman asked with Gabriel’s voice.

“We asked you first,” a silver spoon said with her arms crossed.

Before Mugman could introduce himself, he felt like something pushed him out of Gabriel’s body. Mugman tumbled onto the ground and looked to see that he was himself again. He glanced up to find Gabriel blinking in confusion.

“The bloody hell?” Gabriel uttered.

“Who are you?” the spoon asked impatiently.

“Gabriel…who are you?” Gabriel replied in confusion.

“We’re the Calix Animi,” The Legendary Chalice said. “You better have a good reason for stealing those orbs.”

“Let alone absorbing them,” the spoon, Silversmith, spoke up.

“He must have a pure blood and was worthy of the Most High if he’s able to absorb it,” the adult cup girl with pink glowing eyes, Esther, replied softly.

“Look, I didn’t think I could absorb whatever this substance was in those bloody orbs,” Gabriel growled at the group.

“Hey, hey, you don’t need to get angry. We just want to understand why you broke into the mausoleum,” the other cup man, Chester, said with his hands raised up.

“I need to get whatever this is out of me. Is there a way to do it?” Gabriel interrogated the group.

The group looked at each other and then at Gabriel.

“Unless you died, there’s no way to get the gifts out of you,” the old plate said.

Mugman watched it unfold while tilting his head.

“Well, I’m definitely not going that route,” Gabriel responded.

The Legendary Chalice smirked. “Or we can train you on how to use your powers and become part of the Calix Animi.”

The old plate glared at her. “Are you crazy?! We are going to welcome a thief! I bet he came from a poor family and had nothing else better to do than to steal.”

“Oi,” Gabriel uttered in offense. “I have a sick wife, mate!”

“You have a sick wife?” the cup girl with pink glowing eyes uttered.

“Don’t fall for his deceit, Esther,” the plate groaned. “You know he’s using that to his advantage.”

“No, I’m not,” Gabriel argued. “My wife is pregnant and if I can’t save her, then she’ll die along with the baby.”

Esther, the cup, stepped towards Gabriel. “Show me where she is. Maybe I can help her.”

Gabriel arched a brow to appear skeptic, but he nodded in agreement. “I’ll show you.”

Mugman watched on with curiosity and another memory appeared when the members of the Calix Animi in Gabriel’s shack with Esther healing Gabriel’s pregnant wife.

Esther smiled to see Gabriel’s wife healed from the sickness. “You have beautiful babies.”

“Babies?” Gabriel uttered.

“Yeah, you’re going to have twins,” Esther pointed out to him.

“We should get her somewhere safe,” The Legendary Chalice replied.

“Wait, we’re already taking him and his wife in already?” the silver spoon with green eyes questioned the Legendary Chalice. “Didn’t he try to steal from us?”

“Hold on for a second,” the cup with purple eyes glowing replied while placing his hand in Gabriel’s head.

Mugman watched with wide eyes and noticed Gabriel’s veins glowing.

The cup with purple eyes removed his hand from Gabriel’s head. “He’s trying to help out his family.”

“There’s gotta be something we can do to help,” Esther replied.

“We are not going to take them in,” the old plate growled. “They don’t have pure blood and they were not worthy to the Most High.”

“Why? They’re too poor for your taste?” the purple-eyed cup, Chester, responded. “C’mon, Grandius. The man is trying to help his sick wife, who is expecting twins soon.”

“Exactly,” The Legendary Chalice replied. “We are the Calix Animi. We are supposed to help people and fight the demons.”

“Yes, we are helping people who needed help. Not criminals,” Grandius, the old plate, said with a growl.

The female plate, Marilyn, frowned with dark blue glow in her veins. “Perhaps maybe there is a purpose as to why he’s here. Why don’t we take him in since he already absorbed the orb?”

“I’m not sure about this,” Silversmith said with uncertainty.

“Then let’s do it,” the gold chalice answered excitedly. She turned to Gabriel. “What do you say? We take both you and your wife in and keep you safe from the demons and soldiers on the streets.”

“Until the twins are born at least,” Grandius said. “But after the twins are born, you and your wife won’t be welcomed further into the mausoleum. Understood?”

The others turned to Grandius with small glares.

Gabriel nodded his head in understanding. “Understood. Thank you.”

The Legendary Chalice smiled. “No problem.”

As the others were exiting out of the shack, Grandius pulled Gabriel aside away from Gabriel’s wife’s earshot.

“Since the others think you and your wife are worthy of staying, you might want to watch your step around here. If you pull one little trick up from your sleeve, you best believe that I will make sure that you won’t breathe again. Filthy criminals like you will become the downfall of the Calix Animi. You better remember that,” Grandius said before walking away.

Gabriel stood there with widened eyes. He looked back to see his pregnant wife staring up at him to silently ask what was wrong.

It was sudden that everything glitched around Mugman. Mugman could feel the sparks electrocuting his body. He clenched his teeth in pain as his eyes turned bright blue. The vision of the battlefield showed up except it was the members of the Calix Animi members fighting it.

“Stop…Stop!” Mugman screamed while watching each Calix Animi members slaughtering themselves. “STOP!! WHY ARE YOU FIGHTING EACH OTHER?!”

“Mugman…”

“Ma?” Mugman whirled around and noticed someone tackling him onto the ground. For a moment, he saw Grandius Plate choking him.

“You shouldn’t be here!” Grandius Plate growled at him. “You should never exist!”

“Get off of me!!!” Mugman barked, zapping the plate with his electricity. His eyes widened when he realized that he shattered Grandius in pieces when trying to get him off of the mug. “What’s happening?”

Mugman glanced down to look at his hands.

The pieces of the Grandius Plate were put back together automatically.

“Your bloodline ends now!” Grandius growled.

“Leave me alone!” Mugman cried. He felt paralyzed in his whole body that he couldn’t run when he wanted to. The plate gripped Mugman around the throat again. It was sudden that the plate was transformed into the familiar tiger with green eyes staring into his blue ones.

“Did you really think you could get away from me?”

“GET OFF OF ME!!!” Mugman cried and zapped Hunter with the sparks. He watched Hunter stumbled back away from the mug. Mugman kept shooting sparks at the tiger. “GET AWAY!!!”

Hunter had electricity in his veins.

“Get away!” Mugman repeated again as he kept shooting the sparks at the tiger. However, he could feel himself draining. “G-Get away…from me—”

Everything went dark around him once again.

~.~

The storm was brewing in the night sky.

The thunder boomed and the lightning cracked across the sky. Aurora was sure that the heavy rain will come pouring down next. She was lost in the woods, forgetting the way to get to the hide-out.

“Briney! Briney!” Aurora cried. She put on a brave face and hurried through the dark woods. However, she could see yellow eyes lurking in the shadows, causing her to breathe heavily in fear. Were these creatures in the woods dangerous? The rain poured in the woods, making it harder for her to see where she was even going. She shivered in the cold rain as she stumbled into a space where the water droplets weren’t rained on. She felt a warmth behind her back and saw a glow shining from behind to light up her path.

“Are you lost, little one?” A gentle voice asked softly.

She turned to face the bright glowing man, towering over her to shelter her from the rain.

Aurora nodded her head and answered, “My friends are in trouble and I need to get Briney.”

“I’ll help you find him,” He said, holding out his hand.

Aurora took his hand with a smile. He walked her through the dark woods, lighting up the pathways so that no monster could snatch the toddler up in the dark.

“What’s happening with your friends? Are they hurt?” He asked.

“I think so. They were screaming in pain. There’s something inside of them, but I don’t know what,” Aurora answered, sticking close to the bright glowing figure.

“And you think Briney can help?”

“I think he can help Sissy. I’m not sure about the others.”

“Where were you at?”

“A temple I think?”

The glowing figure nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry that it’s happening to them.”

“Why is it hurting them?”

The Most High stayed silent for a moment. Then he sighed, “Their bodies weren’t used to these kinds of powers. Or “gifts” they’re once called. It will take some time for their bodies to be used to it. That’s why it’s hurting them now.

“Then I hope they will be okay.”

“I hope so too,” He said before looking ahead.

“Who are you?” she asked Him.

“I’m the Most High. And you?”

“Aurora,” she chirped.

“Beautiful name,” He said as He noticed her little legs getting tired. “You need a lift?”

“Please,” she uttered innocently.

“Here.” He lifted her up onto his shoulders with her legs dangling around the back of his neck. He held her legs just so that she wouldn’t fall. “How’s that?”

“Wow! I can see the camp from here.”

The Most High chuckled. “We’re getting closer to it.”

Aurora rested her hands on the Most High’s glowing head. “Can we be friends?”

“Of course, we can be friends.”

The little girl gasped happily. “Best friends?”

“Yes, even best friends.”

“Really?!”

He nodded. “Really. Really.” Up ahead, he noticed that they were approaching camp. “Here you are. You should be able to get to Briney from here.” He lifted Aurora off of his shoulders and placed her on the ground.

“Thank you, bestie,” Aurora said while rushing off towards the camp.

The Most High chuckled and watched her hurry to find the pirate over by Porkrind’s shop. He heard a scream in pain and hurried to the house where it came from. He peeked through the window and found Elder Kettle trying to get Murray to wake up from the couch while Murray was screaming.

“Murray!” Elder Kettle called while shaking him.

Murray snapped his one eye open with the purple glow, muttering Latin words.

O’Fera barged into the house with an urgent look. “What’s going on?!”

“Something’s happening to him!” Elder Kettle shouted.

O’Fera shook Murray. “Murray, Murray, can you hear me?”

Murray grabbed his head and curled himself up, screaming in pain.

The Most High gasped in concern and phased through the wall. He walked beside Murray and placed his hand on his shoulder without O’Fera and Elder Kettle seeing him.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” The Most High soothed. “It’s okay. The pain won’t last.”

With that said, the pain in Murray’s body became less tense, surprising both O’Fera and Elder Kettle.

“The mausoleum…” Murray finally uttered.

“What?” Elder Kettle questioned.

“My boys…” Murray said with tears in his eye. He rushed out of the front door, not aware that he moved away from the Most High’s hand.

“Murray, wait!” O’Fera called, following Murray with Elder Kettle.

The Most High was left alone in the living room. With a huff in determination, he walked out of the house by the front door to follow the others.

Meanwhile, Brineybeard found Aurora around the shop after he asked Porkrind and Jerry if they had seen Aurora and Natalie. Chef Saltbaker was there as well, looking for Chalice.

“Lass!” Brineybeard gasped and picked her up with a hearty laugh. “Yer okay, lass! Wait, where’s yer sister?”

“Sissy and the others are at the temple!” Aurora alerted Brineybeard.

“Wait, Cassi is there too?!” Porkrind shouted.

“Yeah, something is happening to them!” Aurora explained.

“Then let’s not waste time,” Chef Saltbaker determined.

Dice walked up to the group from his tent. “What’s going on here? Why is everyone shouting in the middle of the night?”

In the distance, there was a familiar scream echoing through the forest.

“What was that?” Chef Saltbaker uttered.

“That sounds like Cuphead,” Porkrind responded.

“Murray, where are you going?!” Elder Kettle shouted from the side.

The group turned to find Elder Kettle and O’Fera following Murray towards the forest.

“What’s going on with him?” Porkrind questioned O’Fera.

“I don’t know,” O’Fera responded in panic.

“We got to hurry! Sissy and the others might be in danger,” Aurora encouraged.

They watched Murray entering the forest to follow the scream.

“Let’s go!” Brineybeard responded as the adults awake hurried to follow after Murray with Aurora in the pirate’s arm.

~.~

Mugman gasped awake and sat up in the middle of the battlefield.

He realized that Gabriel was trying to fight the demons trying to get to his pregnant wife.

“Run, Lily! Run!” Gabriel called out to his wife while fighting the demons.

Lily, Gabriel’s wife, ran from the scene.

“Lily?”

In a flash of memory, Mugman saw his own mother running out of the house with both Cuphead and Mugman as babies in her arms. He glanced to the side to see that Murray was fighting back against Hunter and his assassins.

The memory faded back to Gabriel slashing the last of the demons. He turned to the side to see the Legendary Chalice stumbling back with side bleeding. Gabriel rushed by her side with urgency.

“Are you alright, lass?” Gabriel asked.

She nodded her head.

“Good, come on,” Gabriel urged while helping the Legendary Chalice up on her feet.

The memory switched back to Mugman’s mother, as a nurse, tending to Murray’s wound while the bombs were going off outside of the tent. She wrapped the last bandage on his side with a soft smile. Murray stared at her in pure awe and adoration.

“Get some rest,” she replied to him. “You should be able to recover in a few days.”

“Wow…” Murray uttered.

“What?”

He blushed and looked to the side. “Nothing…sorry.”

She smiled at him softly. “Rest up.”

“What’s your name?”

“Hm?”

“You know, in case I see you again,” he added.

She grinned at him. “Lily…Lily Rose.”

“Murray Cup.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” She gave him one last smile and walked away to tend to other patients.

The memory switched back to Gabriel helping The Legendary Chalice behind the boulder while fire arrows were shot at them.

They both looked over the boulder as Gabriel rose back to fight the demons once again.

“Wh-What are you doing?” She stuttered.

“Our friends are back out there. I’m going to help them,” he reassured her.

He ran back out into the battlefield.

“Gabriel, wait!” She called out to him.

As Gabriel was running through the battlefield to help the others, Mugman watched arrows raining down from the orange fiery skies.

The Legendary Chalice noticed this as well as she got up and hurried after Gabriel to help him in the battlefield. She cast a shield to protect Gabriel from the incoming arrows.

Gabriel noticed and looked to see her joining the fight with her spear. She impaled one of the demons charging towards her. With a nod from her, Gabriel spread his wings with red and blue feathers. They charged into the battle, fighting the demons trying to get to the mortals in the village.

Mugman noticed Grandius Plate stumbling through the battlefield, appearing to be fearful of everything around him. When Gabriel approached Grandius to help him, Mugman noticed an arrow coming down to Grandius, causing him to grab Gabriel and moved him in the way to get shot by the arrow instead of him.

The arrow impaled Gabriel from behind, causing him to fall over.

Mugman breathed heavily at this sight and looked to the side to find the Legendary Chalice clenching her spear in anger after witnessing it.

“NOOOO!” The Legendary Chalice screamed while aiming her spear. The lightning burst out of the tip and zapped into Grandius Plate, shattering him.

She hurried up to Gabriel and held him. “Gabriel? Gabriel! Are you alright?!”

“C-Chalice…my wife…my kids—”

“C’mon, let’s get you—” The Legendary Chalice looked up and watched the Devil and the demons rampaging the village as if it was theirs to claim. “No…”

“Ch-Chalice…”

She glanced back at him.

“M-Make sure that my family is safe…please…”

“No, Gabriel. You’re going to make it. You’re going to see them again—”

Gabriel passed out in her arms, exhaling his last breath. She saw the gifts extracted from him, combined together in her hands. She shook her head rapidly in denial.

“No…No! C’mon, Gabriel, I know that you’re stronger than that…please…come back…”

Mugman frowned and noticed a shift in the memory back to the empty hallway with Gabriel disappearing from her arms. He watched her standing over by the pool he kept seeing in his visions with her spear.

Out of spite, she dropped her spear into the pool and watched it sink further and further until the light from the spear faded.

Mugman gasped to see the Most High approaching beside The Legendary Chalice, who was now just holding the Eternal’s Orb.

The Most High stood quietly beside her, taking in the silence until she spoke.

“We’re never your chosen ones, are we?” The Legendary Chalice replied while looking away from the Most High.

The Most High was silent for a moment. He looked down at the pool. “Your group was made to protect mortal kind from demons.”

“But we failed at that…heh, I guess pride really got into some of our heads.”

“If I were you, I would protect these gifts from the Devil. Who knows what he could do with them once he finds them?”

“Right…”

He frowned and placed his hand on her shoulder. A sigh escaped his lips. “You will remember them for a long time. The memories of both the good and the bad will be engraved in your head. You will be reborn and you will still have half of your powers once you moved on to the next life. But I will tell you this, you will have this again. You will have friends who you cared about. People you will fight for and with. And they will care for you back.”

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

“The New Calix Animi will be formed in the times of trouble. You’ll see,” The Most High replied.

The memory of the Most High and The Legendary Chalice faded away.

Mugman was left facing the darkness.

~.~

Captain Brineybeard, Aurora, O’Fera, Elder Kettle, Dice, Porkrind, Jerry, and Saltbaker followed Murray through the forest where they witnessed the mausoleum glowing blue.

“What the heck?!” Saltbaker shrieked at the sight.

Murray ran into the building without hesitation.

The others stood outside of the entrance with wide eyes in shock.

“Are we sure we should enter there?” Dice questioned the group.

The screams echoed from outside, sounding like Cassidy’s.

“CASSI!” Porkrind and Jerry gasped in unison and hurried inside.

“Guys, wait!” O’Fera shouted while the others chased after them.

They noticed a large gap in the middle of the room, but they didn’t hesitate to jump in.

Once they reached the bottom of the pit, they widened their eyes at the sight of the kids suffering with something glowing within each of them. There was a bright blue glow within the pool ahead of them, but they weren’t focused on that.

Brineybeard didn’t hesitate to hurry besides Natalie and cradle her in his arms. “Natalie, are ye alright, lass?”

Natalie clenched her teeth and looked up at Brineybeard and Aurora. “B-Briney…?”

“It’s alright, lass, we’re here.”

Porkrind and Jerry noticed Cassidy screaming in pain at the far corner of the hallway.

“Hold on, honey!” Porkrind shouted while both of the men hurried towards her.

Cassidy noticed both of her father figures coming up to her, scurrying back in fear. “No, stay back—” Unintentionally, the vines burst from the ground to stab the men, but Dice’s card swiftly moved in front of them to block the attack.

Porkrind shielded Jerry with his body, not aware that the card came to defend him too until he noticed Dice hurrying beside him.

“You guys okay?” Dice questioned them.

Porkrind moved the card aside and watched his daughter writhe in pain. He was about to go around the card and the vines to get to his daughter, but the vines grew more to block his way.

Saltbaker rushed by Chalice and Canteen holding each other. “Hey, what’s going on?!”

Both Chalice and Canteen couldn’t answer, their limbs shaking from gold and dark blue glows in their veins.

O’Fera noticed Murray crawling over to Cuphead, hugging him despite his son being on fire and suffering. The different colored glows grew brighter and brighter in the room where Elder Kettle and O’Fera were the only ones covering their eyes.

The different-colored glows shined bright from outside of the mausoleum and then dimmed. Once the brightness was turning dim, Elder Kettle and O’Fera uncovered their eyes to watch the glow from the pool faded into darkness.

Murray fell over on the floor with Cuphead in his arms, no longer suffering.

Natalie went limped in Brineybeard’s arms for a moment.

Chalice and Canteen regained their breaths, still holding onto each other for dear life.

Cassidy trembled in the cold as Porkrind was able to get around the now dead vines and picked his daughter up in her arms.

“Are you okay, honey?” Porkrind asked softly.

“I-I don’t know,” Cassidy answered with a whimper.

Jerry came beside them and comforted Cassidy. “It’s alright. We’re right here.”

Elder Kettle approached Cuphead and Murray. “Are you guys okay? Wait, where’s your brother?”

Cuphead lifted his eyes up to the old tea kettle and then shifted his gaze at the pool that was no longer glowing. “M-Mugsy…”

O’Fera glanced at what Cuphead was looking at. She didn’t hesitate to jump into the pool after Mugman.

“O’Fera!” Elder Kettle called.

There were bubbles forming into the surface as O’Fera popped back out of the water with passed out Mugman in her arms. She yanked him out of the water by the collar of his shirt with her mouth and used her arms to get on the cobblestone floor.

Mugman breathed heavily, his limbs trembling. He fluttered his eyes open to find his friends, his brother, and his girlfriend having different-colored glows in their veins. He blinked a couple of times to realize something must have happened while he was in the pool. He glanced up at O’Fera.

“You okay, kid?” she asked.

“What happened?” Elder Kettle probed the other kids.

The other kids looked at Mugman, who didn’t know how to answer.

“What did I just do?” Mugman uttered in fear.

To Be Continued...

#cuphead #mugman #ocs x canons #ms chalice #canteen hughes #king dice #elder kettle #porkrind #cuphead jerry #cuphead: isle of memories rewrite #chef saltbaker #the howling aces cuphead #oc parent #ribby and croaks #djimmi the great

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