Chapter Text
Time had passed. Felix had found a way to put a magic protection barrier around the Disney Kingdom borders so those with dark magic wouldn’t go unnoticed trying to sneak into the land, which came in handy shortly after setting it up.
Not even a day later a deranged looking magic wielding rabbit was caught by guards patrolling the border. Cuphead and Mugman recognized him as Hopus Pocus from Inkwell, a rather creepy magician that performed in Inkwell Hell and always gave the two brothers nightmares as kids. No one could really blame them after being around the guy for a few minutes. Even the three ink siblings found him creepy.
Hopus Pocus was quickly arrested, but just like King Dice, he was gone from his cell with only a scorch mark left on the ground.
Next was a pair of criminals from the Kingdom Loonaticia who were followers of the Devil. Rocky and Mugsy (Cuphead and Boris thought the name similarity was hilarious while Mugman was less amused) managed to slip past the barrier due to how they didn’t wield any magic, and could make a summoning circle themselves when they were ready to grab Cuphead.
What they were not ready for though, was Felix. Apparently the two had run into the cat man once before, and attempted to rob him when he was passing Loonaticia on his way back to his old home village from a treasure hunt adventure.
Felix though seemed to have left a bit of an impression, because as soon as Felix made eye contact with the two, and rested his hand on his magic bag, the two criminals BOOKED IT out of the Disney Kingdom, screaming about how they rather deal with the rabbit king back in Loonaticia.
Thanks to all of this though, Mickey was very strict with making sure Cuphead always had someone with him for the sake of his safety until they were all sure he’d be safe by himself. Even with his injuries healed up, the red cup brother felt like he was barely allowed to do anything, and looked ready to go stir crazy. He kept himself from complaining though, since it was rather generous of a king as nice as Mickey to do what he could to keep him safe, and everyone was nice enough to help him stay busy.
A nice plus side was that Cuphead got some good quality time with Bendy out of all of this whenever it was Bendy’s turn to watch over him for his safety.
Another plus was that Mickey finally hired someone to be captain of the royal guards. María Antonia Magdalena Aldonsa Cabrera, or now just Captain Cabrera. She’s been a loyal guard of the kingdom for many years, and was a very caring and strong independent woman. She was also very kind to the three ink siblings, and was rather fond of Boris due to how he reminded her a little of her son Fenton with his tinkering. Now with her hired, Beakley was able to return back to her old job, though not without leaving some of her favorite tea packets for Bendy and promising to swing by now and then for a visit.
Eventually, Scrooge came back from his trip to The Inkwell Isles. He had all of Elder Kettle’s belongings, Cuphead and Mugman’s old things from Elder Kettle’s old house, AND the invisible yarn he had received from Quadratus. The richest duck in the world had invited the family over to collect their things, and told them to bring Bendy along so they could discuss the painting he wanted the ink demon to make for him.
He was nice enough to send his personal coach for them to ride to his mansion.
Though it might have been safer to walk…
In his larger skeleton-like ink demon form, Bendy firmly kept his arms in front of Cuphead, Mugman, and Elder Kettle and held onto the sides of the inside of the coach for dear life as an employee of McDuck named Launchpad steered like a madman. The two brothers held onto Bendy’s arm for dear life, looking scared for their lives.
Elder Kettle, meanwhile snored. He fell asleep as soon as they started moving.
When the coach jolted violently, Mugman tightened his hold on his friend’s arm. “Have you driven one of these before?!”
Calling out from the seat in the front, Launchpad replied. “Oh yeah! Bunch of times! Mr. McDuck says he gets what he pays for when it comes to how well I do my job!”
Bendy muttered under his breath. “I don’t think he meant that as a compliment…”
“WE’RE HERE!!!”
All three teens cried out when the coach came to a sudden stop. A few moments later, Launchpad opened the door, and Cuphead, Mugman, and Bendy all spilled out, landing on the hard ground.
Elder Kettle soon followed, yawning and stretching as he stepped out. “What a lovely ride! I haven’t napped so peacefully in a long time.”
The two brothers groaned as Bendy turned back to his normal form.
After the three carefully got back on their shaky feet, the group looked up at Scrooge McDuck’s property, taking in how it was almost as big as the castle. What really caught their attention though, was how what they assumed was a butler, went THROUGH the front door, and floated over to them.
“Good evening. My name is Duckworth. Mr. McDuck is expecting you four in his office.”
No one moved at first. The three teens and Elder Kettle continued to stare, until Bendy raised his hand. “Are you a ghost?”
Duckworth sighed, used to getting this question often. “Yes, young man. I am indeed. If you have any questions, I would appreciate it if you got it all out of your system now.”
When Bendy shook his head no over having any questions, Cuphead decided to ask. “Would you happen to know a ghost girl? Chalice for a head, yellow-orange color straw?”
About to respond that not all ghosts know each other, Duckworth paused, and looked like he was processing what Cuphead described. “.... Does she do a nice little dance and have a strange charm about her?”
“Yeah?”
“She swindled me out of my money once when I was on vacation.”
Mugman facepalmed as Cuphead started to wheeze and ignored Elder Kettle scolding him about being rude. Bendy meanwhile just looked confused. “You guys are friends with a ghost???”
Nodding, Mugman let his hand drop from his face. “Ms. Chalice. We were pals before the whole curse thing. Been a while since we’ve seen her.”
Getting the last of his giggles out, Cuphead wipes a tear from his eyes. “Good to know Chalice is doing good and still the same as we remember her.”
As everyone followed Duckworth, the ghostly butler gave them a quick tour of the mansion until they reached Scrooge’s office where the richest duck in the world was doing paperwork. Noticing his guests' arrival, Scrooge smiled and stood up from his seat. “Ah! There you are! Good to see you again.”
When Scrooge walked over, Elder Kettle held out his hand to shake. “I can’t thank you enough for your help in everything Mr. McDuck.”
Shaking his hand, Scrooge replied. “It was no problem at all. The trip there was a nice adventure for the kids. I must say though the mermaid sea beast was a tad bit unexpected. Speaking of which.”
After releasing Elder Kettle’s hand, Scrooge dug into his pocket and pulled out a bottle with a rolled up paper inside and held it out to Mugman. “This is for you lad. Cala only let us sail by without being turned to stone when I promised to give this to you.”
Face lighting up BIG TIME at the mention of the name Cala, Mugman quickly took the bottle and got the paper out to read the letter addressed to him. A blush soon spread across his face, and he sighed happily after he was done reading. “She misses me~.”
Unable to stop himself from giggling at the cute reaction Mugman had, Bendy gave his friend a curious look. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”
Cuphead snorted. “He doesn’t. He’s been crushing on Cala Maria for years. Even if she tried to turn us to stone and eat us when we first met her.”
While the blue mug brother gave his brother an annoyed glare, Bendy couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Oh, so your family has a type for deadly powerful badasses?”
Mugman opened his mouth, looking ready to say something, until he froze and looked like he and Cuphead were processing what Bendy said. Even Elder Kettle thought that over for a moment before chuckling a little. “Well I’ll be damned. I guess they do.”
Amused as Cuphead started snickering and Mugman shaking his head over the realization, Scrooge decided it was time to get to the point of the visit. “Now then! First thing to address, Cuphead’s curse.”
Reaching into his pocket, Scrooge pulled out and held up, what looked like absolutely nothing. Seeing the group’s confusion, Scrooge then took out a handkerchief and dropped it over his held-out hand, which allowed them to see he was holding something invisible and round.
“The invisible ball of yarn. When knitted with the love of a brother, it can protect the wearer from the powers of the devil himself. I made sure to verify that it won’t harm other demons, so you should be safe from the sweater’s power Bendy. It will just prevent the devil from sending his power through those nasty little summoning circles to steal Cuphead’s soul.”
As Scrooge handed the invisible yarn to Mugman, the blue mug brother made a deadpan face. “Guess I’m knitting…”
Wrapping his arms around his brother, Cuphead gave him a tight affectionate squeeze. “I love and appreciate you Mugsy.”
“Yeah yeah love you too.”
Walking back to his desk, Scrooge spoke. “Ms. Beakley can assist you with the knitting if you need it. Now for the other subject I wanted to address. Mr. Kettle, I hear you have yet to find a proper job within the kingdom?”
Elder Kettle let out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Unfortunately. At my age work isn’t easy to come by that won’t be too hard on these old joints. The boys keep insisting they don’t mind supporting me so I can retire, but with everything going on I would rather not add more stress onto them.”
Understanding that, the rich duck took a paper from his desk and held it out to him. “When retrieving your things I saw your old garden. The Root Pack are taking care of it for you in your absence, but they informed me it was all because of you that it looks as amazing as it does. I could use someone with your skill to watch over my personal garden now that I’m out on adventures more often.”
Surprised, Elder Kettle looked over the paper and saw it was a job contract. “O-Oh, my goodness! I’d be honored to work for you! Thank you Mr. McDuck!”
Scrooge smiled at Elder Kettle as they quickly got the paperwork sorted out. With it done, the two older men shook hands as Scrooge spoke. “We’ll have you get started as soon as you can, meanwhile Duckworth can give you a tour of the garden.”
While Duckworth held the door open, as he left, Elder Kettle called over his shoulder. “I’ll catch up with you kids later!”
Waving to Elder Kettle as he left, Bendy then turned to Scrooge as he pulled out his sketchbook and flipped to a blank page. “So would you like to discuss what you’d like from the painting?”
Nodding, Scrooge gestures for the boys to follow him as he begins walking. As they walked through the building, Scrooge made sure to pause at any painting they came across so Bendy could scribble down notes on what kind of art he already had. “See I was hoping for something fresh. My home and the homes of my family are filled with historical moments of our bloodline as well as portraits. Perhaps it’s about time for something a bit new.”
Bendy hummed thoughtfully at that as he wrote down notes and looked over the paintings. “Would it be okay if I learned more about the story of your adventures? Maybe that would spark some inspiration for a painting I could do?”
Checking the time, Scrooge frowned a little. “That may take a while. I’ve been on many adventures, and I’m afraid I don’t have all day to share my stories…”
As he thought for a solution, the rich duck got a look on his face that showed he got an idea. “But, perhaps you could talk to Webbigail.”
“Beakley’s granddaughter?”
Scrooge nodded. “Ever since she was a little girl she’d follow me around asking for stories and go digging through my family history. If you want to know about me, she’s the girl you talk to.”
Turning to the two brothers, both Cuphead and Mugman shrugged, though they didn't object to the idea, so Bendy replied. “Alright then. Where can we find her?”
After Scrooge told them where to go, the three teens made their way through the mansion after they split ways from the rich duck who had business to attend to. Eventually they found what Scrooge said was Webbigail’s bedroom door.
While Bendy knocked on the door, Mugman asked. “Why do you think before leaving Scrooge wished us “Good luck.”?”
Cuphead snorted. “Maybe because we might get roped into playing with her. Probably stuck in a tea party or playing with dolls-”
The door creaked open; nothing could be seen inside except for darkness. About to call out to see if someone was inside, Bendy let out a startled yelp when a net engulfed him, then screamed as he got yanked into the dark room.
Both Cuphead and Mugman yelled in alarm. ““BENDY!!””
Before they could get ready to attack, a rope flew out of the room, lassoed the two brothers, and yanked them inside as well as they both screamed in terror. The next thing any of them knew, a small lantern was lit, letting them see how Bendy was suspended in the air in a net, while Cuphead and Mugman were tied up and hanging upside down.
The shadowy figure holding the lantern approached Bendy, and spoke with a young feminine sounding voice. “WHO SENT YOU?! Ma Beagle?! Glomgold?! Answer meeee!!”
Now past his initial shock and alarm over the sneak attack, seeing how he was captured in a regular rope net he could easily escape from, Bendy squinted past the light of the lantern as he tried getting a good look at who attacked them. “Wait… Webbigail???”
“HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!”
Cringing a little at being yelled at directly in his face, the ink demon replied. “Scrooge told us, and your grandma. Sweet woman, her biscuits are really good. My name’s Bendy, and those two are-”
Gasping excitedly, Webbigail ran over to her windows and pulled the curtains back so light could flood the room. “OH MY GOSH THE INK DEMON AND THE TRAITOROUS KNIGHT!”
Blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light change, Mugman got a look of confusion. “The who and the what?”
Hurrying back over and leaping onto the two brothers to climb up them and get to the ropes, the young duck girl explained. “The Ink Demon and Traitorous Knight! That’s what people are calling Bendy and Cuphead around the kingdom! It’s so nice to officially meet the two brave cup headed heroes that put their lives on the line to save a legendary demon! You can call me Webby!”
After Bendy broke the net holding him and got back to his feet, he helped Webby get Cuphead and Mugman down so they wouldn’t land on their heads after she untied them. “People talk about us that much?”
“They sure do! Especially after you helped save the royal family! You two are like the most amazing power couple! I want to ask you and your families SO, MANY, QUESTIONS! Are you really made of ink? What’s the stuff inside your cup heads? How’d you two love birds meet? What does it feel like blasting magic from your fingers?”
Both Cuphead and Bendy exchanged looks with each other, the two of them were clearly thrown off over learning they were apparently a popular couple and a gossip subject among people, as well as a bit embarrassed over being asked questions about their love life. Deciding to help his friend and brother out, Mugman asked on Bendy’s behalf. “Actually, we came here to ask for your assistance for something. Bendy needs to make a painting for Scrooge, and we thought he could get some inspiration hearing some of Scrooge’s stories?”
That seemed to be the right thing to say, since the moment Mugman said that Webby’s eyes practically twinkled like stars in the sky out of pure, barely contained, excitement. She then ran across her room towards a board on the wall full of pictures and notes and strings. “WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO START?!”
Damn, no wonder Scrooge sent them to her.
Chuckling at her excitement, Bendy pulled out his sketchbook once more to take notes. “Start wherever you’d like, AND, you can ask us questions if you’d like, just please make sure they don’t get to, personal, okay?”
Nodding, Webby offered her hand. “DEAL! Oh! Does that mean I owe you my soul now? Do I need to make it a blood deal?”
The ink demon facepalmed as he heard his boyfriend and friend snicker behind him. “NO. You don’t owe me, and I don’t want your soul! God, why does everyone assume this? Just, start explaining whatever Scrooge story you want.”
As Webby started excitedly rambling about her favorite adventures Scrooge has been on, the three teenagers figured they’d be there for quite a while. So, they decided to get comfortable.
While they settled down and listened to Webby’s stories, Mugman whispered to Cuphead. “” Tea parties or playing with dolls” Huh?”
“Oh shut up.”