Chapter Text
This story starts at the old Kettle Cottage. Three smiling flowers can be seen dancing next to the house’s window. Elder Kettle’s silhouette can be seen through the window.
Elder Kettle, a large living kettle, poured pancake mix into a grill, the batter made a sizzling noise before he flipped the ready pancakes and threw them behind him.
Cuphead was reading a comic book called “Adventure Comix”.
Cuphead, as the name suggests, has a cup for a head with a red and white striped straw. He has large eyes with black pie-cut pupils and a small red nose.
Mugman, Cuphead’s brother, has a mug for a head, but he has a blue and white striped straw. He has smaller, thinner eyes and a large blue nose.
They both wore black, long-sleeved shirts, yellow gloves, brown shoes, and shorts that matched their colors.
Cuphead used his left leg to kick the plate next to him, then he grabbed it and caught the pancakes Kettle threw before. Cuphead put away the comic he was reading and licked his lips seeing the pancakes.
Mugman raised his plate high, but he missed his pancakes, and they hit the wall before falling onto the floor. Mugman sighed sadly.
Cuphead was about to put syrup on his pancakes before he cut his stack in half, plate included, and gave one half of it to Mugman. Then he put syrup on his pancakes.
Mugman perked up when he saw the pancakes.
The cup gave his brother the syrup bottle, and the mug tried to put some on his pancakes, but the bottle was empty.
The mug, annoyed, saw Cuphead’s pancakes completely covered in syrup.
Cuphead stabbed his pancakes with a fork and ate the whole thing in one gulp.
“Cuphead! Mugman!” Kettle said.
“Yes, Elder Kettle?” the boys said at the same time.
“Today, you two are in for a real treat!”
“Really?!” the boys asked with a mix of surprise and excitement.
“You get to... paint the fence!” Kettle said before he brought out two paint buckets.
Cuphead and Mugman’s enthusiasm quickly faded, and they frowned.
Moments Later...
The brothers were outside painting the fence.
Cuphead groaned.
“Jeez... I guess we know what we’re doing the rest of the day, huh?” Mugman said.
“Oh, banana oil!” Cuphead exclaimed. “Paint the fence, milk the goat, patch the roof...! It’s the same old stuff every day! What we need is a little fun and adventure.”
“If we could only speed things up, maybe we’d still have time to squeeze in a little fun and adventure at the end.”
“Way ahead of you, pal.”
Cuphead somehow got a cannon and poured paint into it. He lit the fuse, pointed the cannon to the fence, and covered his ears.
Mugman screamed and jumped out of the way.
Suddenly, Elder Kettle walked towards the fence.
“Hey, boys!” Kettle said as he opened the fence door. “How’s that fen—”
The paint from the cannon exploded all over Elder Kettle and the fence. A stunned Kettle stood there covered in paint and the fence was destroyed.
A couple of minutes later, Cuphead and Mugman were walking on the dirt road.
“Boy, was he steamed,” Mugman said.
“Eh. I ain’t too worried about it.” Cuphead said. “You know, that should have worked. If only I used a little less gunpowder... Hmm... Oh, well!” he shrugged.
Cuphead and Mugman reached the door of Porkrind’s emporium.
“Eh... let’s just focus on getting more paint. And try not to get distracted.” Mugman said.
Suddenly, Cuphead pulled the mug back.
“Mugman! Look!” the cup said.
From a distance, there was a carnival, bustling with rides and people.
“Um, Cuphead, I’m not so sure...” Mugman said.
“You know what I do when I’m not so sure? I double down!” Cuphead said.
“What does that even mean?”
“It means we’re going to that carnival!”
“Absolutely not! There’s no way we’re go...”
Cuphead and Mugman wentto the carnival and had fun. Riding carnival rides, eating snacks, and then barfing said snacks. They were eating popcorn when Mugman spotted a poster listing the entertainment. There were a variety of things, from bands and performers.
“Ooh, there’s gonna be a show in a minute, let’s go watch,” Mugman suggested.
“Eh... aren’t carny shows just a bunch of has-bean performers who can’t make it big?” Cuphead shrugged.
Mugman gasped. “Cuphead! These people may be on smaller stages, but they are still people with talents that they want to share. Besides they’d have to be good to get on stage anyway. C’mon, let’s check out the next show.”
Cuphead rolled his eyes as Mugman dragged him to the show. It’s a small setting; a stage with a large curtain and a few seats facing the stage. They each took a seat with a few other people.
“So, whose performing anyway?” Cuphead asked as he ate more popcorn.
“The list said it would be a dancing cat. I think it said his name was...?” Mugman said as he tried to remember.
Just then a black cat stepped onto the stage and the crowd quieted down.
“Hey everybody, hope you’re enjoying the carnival?” The small cat said.
The audience clapped and cheered.
“Alright alright,” the cat said. “Well, time for the main event. He’s a newcomer in the music biz and his dance will make you cheer. Give it up for the musical stylings of... Bendy, The Dancing Cat!”
The people clapped as the cat backed away and a band of black cats started playing their instruments, playing ‘Let’s Misbehave’.
“A dancing cat?” Cuphead said indifferently. “That’s original...” he rolled his eyes.
Mugman looked at his brother with disapproval and shushed him.
Just then the curtains part, revealing a black cat tap dancing his way to the mic.
“Hello, Inkwell!” Bendy called out. He had blackish-blue fur all over his body, two pointy tips on his head that looked like ears, a long furry tail, a wide toothy smile, a small flat black cat nose, and yellow eyes with red pupils. He was wearing yellow gloves and bow tie, and black shoes that matched his fur color perfectly.
Everyone clapped except for Cuphead... but this time he was staring wide-eyed at Bendy. His mouth went slightly agape as the cat started singing.
“We’re all alone, no chaperone
Can get our number
The world’s in slumber
Let’s misbehave~!
There’s something wild about you child
That’s so contagious.
Let’s be outrageous!
Let’s misbehave!
When Adam won Eve’s hand
He wouldn’t stand for teasin’
He didn’t care about those apples out of season
They say the Spring
Means just one thing to little lovebirds.
We’re not above birds
Let’s misbehave! ~”
Bendy started dancing and the crowd loved it.
Meanwhile, Cuphead was still unmoving, but he suddenly blushed when Bendy flashed a smile at him. The cup ducked his face behind the box of popcorn, feeling slightly embarrassed for some reason, before he lifted his head, and watched the kitten continue to dance and sing.
“It’s getting late and while I wait
My poor heart aches on
Why keep the breaks on?
Let’s misbehave!!!
I like to sing and dance
On and off stages
While the world ages
Let’s misbehave!!!
You know my heart is true
And you say you for me care...
Somebody’s sure to tell,
But what the heck, do we care?
They say that bears have love affairs
And even camels
We’re men and mammals--let’s misbehave!!!~”
At the end of the song, the crowd cheered, Cuphead started clapping, and Bendy waved at the audience.
“Thank you! Thank you, everyone, have a good day,” The cat said as he exited the stage, and the band followed.
Cuphead was still clapping as the crowd departed and Mugman gave him a sly smile.
“Looks like you enjoyed the show after all?” Mugman remarked smugly.
“Huh? Oh... yeah- well, I’ll admit he was pretty good.” Cuphead said before he followed his brother out of the showroom.
A while later, the cups just departed from the roller coaster and laughed.
“I’ve gotta hand it to you, Cuphead. This has been great!” Mugman said. “And we still have time to get supplies and fix the fen... Cuphead?”
Cuphead seemed drawn to a game called Soul Ball. He then saw a certain cat playing the game.
“Winner!” the game cried out.
“Yes,” Bendy said.
Cuphead looked nervous for a second before he took a breath. “Don’t worry about it,” he whispered to himself as he slowly approached Bendy. The cat made another win. “You’re-... You’re good at this,” the cup said.
“I’m not just good, I’m the best,” Bendy said not taking his eyes off the game. “Never lost to anyone either,”
“Never?”
“Never,”
“Well, I bet I can take ya’,”
Bendy paused and finally turned to face Cuphead. His eyes scanned the cup from straw to toe. He suppressed a laugh.
“Okay, give it your best shot,” Bendy said before he tossed a skeeball to Cuphead.
Cuphead rolled the ball and got it into the winning hole.
“Winner!” the machine called out.
Cuphead laughed victoriously before he rolled another ball into the hole.
“Winner!”
Cuphead bounced the ball and he won.
“Winner!”
Bendy looked surprised but then he shook his head. “That’s your best? Check this out,” He said. He rolled the skeeball along his arm before it bounced off his hand and landed in the hole.
“Winner!”
“That was just a warmup, I’ll show you who’s the best,” Cuphead said before he pulled up his pants and threw the ball from under his leg into the hole.
“Winner!”
Cuphead and Bendy started doing random tricks and moved to win the skeeball and the machine continued to say “Winner!” every time. This quickly attracted a crowd, and the people applauded the two boys for their wins.
Meanwhile, Mugman watched the match until his gaze drifted to the Telephone playing another ‘Soul Ball’ skeeball game. Telephone lost and, after a lightbulb flashed red, the machine sucked the Telephone’s soul out from his body and into the winning hole. Telephone became grey and listless.
Mugman read the name of the game, “Soul Ball,” he then noticed that other carnival inhabits also looked grey and listless. Then Mugman looked at the entrance sign. “Carnival.”
The lights for the letters C, A, R, and N suddenly lost power.
“Carn-Evil. EVIL!?!” Mugman gasped before he spoke to his brother in a hushed voice. “Cuphead?”
“Not now, Mugsy! I’m on a hot streak.” Cuphead replied.
Little did Inkwell Isle residents know that deep under the carnival, the Devil himself happily watched people’s souls being sucked into the Soul Vault in the Underworld.
The Devil chuckled sinisterly. “Everyone loves a carnival.” He said. “What a haul.” The big devil then started singing.
“Whoa! In case you ain’t heard, I’m the Devil.
I’m real low down, not on the level. They call me Old Scratch, Mr. S, the Big D. I’m the king of the underworld. Yeah, it’s great to be me.
Ho-di-llie doh-di-llie doh-di-llie doh. ~”
“Ho-di-llie doh-di-llie doh-di-llie doh. ~” Demons sing.
“Hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee! ~” The Devil sings.
“Hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee-di-llie hee. ~” Souls sing.
“I’m a real naughty boy, I’m sure you’ll agree. I get my kicks playing tricks on the locals. They’re easy marks, they’re real dumb yokels. But now folks, listen closely, it’s time I made a confession. Collecting people’s souls is my greatest obsession! ~”
The Devil laughed evilly before he started dancing.
“Uh, hey, boss,” Henchman said trying to gain his boss’s attention.
The Devil kept dancing.
“Boss! Hey, boss!”
The Devil stopped dancing, “What?! I was singing!” he shouted.
“The... the soul counter stopped,” Henchman replied.
The big devil looked up and saw that the Soul Counter had indeed stopped. He pounded his fist against it, but it stayed frozen in place. He then turned his attention to the pipes, and, to his surprise, no more souls were coming down.
“What the...?” The Devil said in shock.
The big devil pulled down his periscope to see what was going on in the carnival. At first, he didn’t see anyone but then he turned it and saw a crowd around a Soul Ball machine. But before he could see who was playing, someone stepped in front of the periscope lens. He couldn’t see anything, but he could hear the game voiceover shout “Winner” four more times followed by the crowd cheering.
“Terrific.” The Devil said annoyed. “Looks like we have a real showoff!” He took his pitchfork and teleported away.
Back at the carnival, Cuphead and Bendy were still playing while onlookers cheered them on. Some even started taking bets.
“Ten bucks on the cup winning!” Said a Walrus.
“I bet twenty on the kitten!” Said the old lady elephant.
Bendy grabbed the ball and was about to throw it when he suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his head stand up and a chill ran up his back. He froze before he dropped the ball on the ground.
“Time out!” Bendy said, “I’ll be right back.” And he suddenly ran away before anyone could respond.
Mugman was still on edge. “Cuphead, maybe you should quit now, and we get outta here.” He said nervously.
“No way Mugsy, it’s double down or nothin’,” Cuphead said.
“But Bendy ran off.”
“Yeah, but no harm in getting a little more practice in,” Cuphead said before he threw the ball, it bounced off the machine and The Elephant’s bottom before it went into the winner’s hole.
The crowd of people cheered.
“Thank you!” Cuphead said as he waved to the crowd.
Suddenly, the sky grew dark, a boom of thunder was heard, and The Devil appeared in a puff of smoke. He just stood there while checking his nails.
“The Devil!” The Elephant screamed before fleeing.
Everyone else followed The Elephant’s example and ran away screaming.
“My fans. They love me.” The big devil said before he walked up behind Cuphead and Mugman.
Mugman noticed a shadow looming over him, turned around, and looked up to see The Devil smiling down at him wickedly.
“Hello ~.” The Devil said.
Mugman stuttered before reaching back to his brother. “C-Cup... Cuphead!” he stuttered as he patted Cuphead’s head. Once... Twice.
“Watch it!” Cuphead shouted. He stumbled with the ball, and it accidentally landed in the loser’s hole.
“LOSER!”
“Aw, heck,” Cuphead said annoyed and angry. “Now look at what you made me do!”
Mugman pointed upward and Cuphead stuttered at the sight of the demon king.
“And that’s game.” The Devil said in a sing-song tone.
The machine then sucked Cuphead’s soul into the winner’s hole, but Mugman jumped onto the machine, pulled out Cuphead’s soul, and patted it back into the cup’s chest.
Cuphead took a deep breath, “Run!” he cried out.
Both Cuphead and Mugman run past the big devil.
“Ooh, I love it when they run.” The Devil said with a grin. He laughed as he levitated and pursued after the two boys.
The brothers cried and held each other in a hug as they ran.
“I’m sorry I made you miss! This is all my fault!” Mugman cried out.
“We should’ve never come here in the first place! It’s all my fault!” Cuphead cried out.
“You’re right! It is your fault!” Mugman agreed.
The two boys screamed as the big devil started shooting fireballs from his pitchfork before they hopped onto a rollercoaster.
“I think we lost him,” Cuphead said.
“Surprise!” Came The Devil’s voice.
Cuphead and Mugman turned their heads and saw the Devil on the rollercoaster as well. He shot another fireball, but Cuphead and Mugman managed to escape the rollercoaster just in time. The two boys then landed on a carousel horse, before the Devil turned it into a demonic horse skeleton, and it broke free from the carousel.
Both brothers get launched off and hide behind two cardboard cutouts before taking a picture. After the camera flash, they resumed running away just before the cutouts were destroyed and the Devil still chased after them.
Meanwhile, Bendy was watching the events from behind one of the stalls that wasn’t on fire. “Oh well, so much for them.” He said before he took a bite of a hot dog.
Cuphead and Mugman entered a funhouse, The Devil then transformed the funhouse into a horror house. The cups ran through the house, which now had a bunch of eye-watching hallways, spike slides, sideways buzzsaw corridors, a mirror room, in which the boys’ reflections transformed into the Devil, and finally, an exit tunnel with many metal teeth that tried to bite them. The two then landed on a mattress before they ran away.
The Devil blew up the funhouse and transformed into a dragon. He flew, opened his mouth, and shot fireballs at the two cups.
Suddenly, Mugman got an idea. “Come on, Cuphead! It’s time for a double down!” he grabbed Cuphead by the handle and ran in another direction.
“What are you, nuts?!” Cuphead shouted.
Bendy cautiously moved to another stall to see where the brothers were going.
“Now pretend like we’re cornered!” Mugman said after he and the cup stopped running.
“We ARE cornered!” Cuphead whined.
The big devil laughed wickedly, cocked his pitchfork, and fired a fireball at the two cups.
“Jump!” Mugman shouted.
Mugman jumped and pushed Cuphead away.
The fireball missed the boys and hit the Soul Ball machine instead, destroying it. The Devil and Bendy go into shock as dozens of souls fly out of the destroyed remains of the game and back into their respective bodies.
“No!” The Devil cried out.
Bendy snapped out of his shock and ran away as the stall he was hiding in caught on fire.
Telephone got his soul back. “Yay!” he cheered.
Several other carnival patrons also got their souls back, causing the Devil to facepalm several times, burst into flames, and he spotted Cuphead and Mugman fleeing from the carnival.
“You don’t just get to run away!” The Devil yelled. Meanwhile, the roller coaster collapsed as Henchman flew to the big devil.
“Wow, boss. I never saw you let no one escape before.” Henchman said.
“He didn’t escape!” The Devil shouted, “He played the game. He lost. His soul belongs to me. I’ll get that cup...”
“Head?”
The Devil smacked Henchman on the head with his pitchfork. “Oh, shut up.” He snapped.
“Ow!” came Bendy’s voice. He rolled out of a burning stall, turned his head, and saw The Devil and Henchman looking down at him. Bendy gave an awkward smile before trying to run but the demon king grabbed him by the tail and pulled him back.
Back at the Kettle Cottage an hour later, Cuphead sloppily fixed the fence.
“What an amazing day. We rode rides.” Cuphead said.
“And you owe the Devil your soul,” Mugman replied.
“We played games.”
“And you owe the Devil your soul.”
“We’re even almost finished with this dumb fence!”
“And you owe the Devil your soul!”
“Eh. I ain’t too worried about it.” Cuphead said as he poured paint into the cannon and lit the fuse.
Elder Kettle walked up to the fence door, “Hey, boys, how’s-” The cannon exploded all over Kettle and the fence.
“Still too much gunpowder,” Cuphead said.
“And you still owe the Devil your soul,” Mugman said.
Meanwhile, in the Underworld...
The Devil had Bendy held up in a telekinetic hold with his pitchfork and the kitten was struggling midair.
“Let me go! Let me go!” Bendy shouted.
“Struggling is futile, little pest,” The Devil said. “In you go,”
Bendy protested but he was quickly plunged...
Into a bathtub. The kitten reemerged, gasped for air, and shivered.
“It’s freezing!” Bendy said through chattering teeth.
“It was warmer half an hour ago. But you wouldn’t know that since you were busy... sneaking out! Again!” The Devil replied. “Now, hand it all over,” he held his hand out.
Bendy gave an annoyed look before he removed his bowtie and gloves and gave them to the big devil. Bendy’s hands looked identical to The Devil’s but smaller. He pulled off the black sock off his real tail which was a pointy demon tail.
Henchman splashed a bucket of water over the kitten. As the water ran down his face, the little black nose melted, and Bendy wiped it all away with his hand.
“Scrub off the soot in his fur.” The Devil said to Henchman.
The purple demon was about to do as ordered but Bendy grabbed the brush.
“I can scrub myself, thank you,” Bendy said before he scrubbed himself.
“So, Bendall Devil,” The Devil said. “Care to explain what you were doing up there?”
“Just having a little fun.” Bendy shrugged. “I ain’t hurt,”
“We both know that’s not the point.” The big devil said. “You went up there without my permission and that is not okay, because why?”
Bendy rolled his eyes. “Because I’m still grounded for getting gum in your fur...” he said annoyed.
“And...”
“And the surface world is dangerous for a little devil.”
“That’s right,” The Devil said. “Henchman don’t let him out of that tub until he is clean. We’ll be having hamburgers for dinner tonight,”
Bendy’s eyes lit up. “Hamburgers,” he whispered with glee and clapped excitedly. Just as the Devil started walking away, “By the way, I saw what happened with those cup kids. Are you just gonna let them get away?”
The Devil groaned. “Of course not. No matter how far he goes, that little cup can’t escape his debt to me. I’ll get his soul soon enough, son.”
Bendy smiled, “Okay Dad, whatever you say,” he said.