Chapter 2: Kettle Lessons

After our heroes got the boot out of the Devil's casino, they knew they had to go and find help. After all, they are just two boys who need the guidance from an elder. And who's more elder than Elder Kettle?! They may have been up all night but the fear of their fate gave them the energy to make a beeline straight for home, not stopping for anything. They made it home in no time where their worried guardian was. Before Elder Kettle could scold them for making him worried the boys broke down in tears. Elder Kettle knew something was up and asked them what the problem was. The two boys explained everything...

"Well, what a fine pickle you boys have gotten yourselves into!" Elder Kettle said grimly.

Cuphead looked at the floor angrily. "Well I won't do it, I won't be a pawn of the Devil!"

"I know you don't but if you refuse... I can't bear to imagine your fates!"

Mugman sighed. "I guess we gotta play along and collect those contracts."

"Yes, I'm afraid you must follow through with this for now." Elder Kettle frowned.

"Alright fine! Let's go Mugman!" Cuphead said.

"Now hold your horses! You can't go out there and fight like this. The debtors will most likely have turned themselves into terrible monsters with how long they remained in the Devil's debt."

Cuphead flexed his arms. "I can take them." He was immediately bonked on the head by Elder Kettle's cane.

"Hold your tongue boy! You just left your guard down and I was able to hit you. My hits might be nothing but a few hits from the debtors will surely kill you. But luckily I have a solution to that." He went to the cupboard that they aren't allowed to look through and rummaged through the contents inside. He came back holding a couple of bottles. One was clear with a cyan liquid, the other was pink with a heart symbol on it.

"What is UHHH!" Cuphead shuddered as Elder Kettle poured both bottles into the top of his head. He felt a strange surge of energy course through his body as it caused him to jump up in place. Elder Kettle poured the rest into Mugman.

"Golly, what did you put in us?"

"Nothing kids like you should be drinking." Elder Kettle chuckled at the looks on the boy's faces. "Oh I'm just teasing, it's actually magical potions that I've been storing for a rainy day. One is called the Peashooter potion and the other is the Parry potion. They both just gave you magical abilities that will help you as you fight."

Cuphead looked at his hands mesmerized that he now has magic powers. "Wow..."

"How do we use these powers?" Mugman asked.

"Glad you asked, follow me." Elder Kettle pulled out an inkwell he had on him as suddenly they were all sucked into it. They found themselves inside the magical inkwell.

"Now then, welcome to my inkwell."

"Wow, how long have you been hiding this stuff from us?" Mugman asked.

"Now boys, I don't mind you asking questions, as long as you don't expect me to answer all of them. Now then, your first power is called the Peashooter. It's simple, you just snap your finger on your dominant hand and it will fire a long ranged projectile. Try it on these targets." He said as a bunch of colorless targets appeared several feet away. Cuphead and Mugman awkwardly pointed their hand at the target as a finger gun and snapped their finger. A small light blue laser shot out and flew towards the target, doing little damage. Both boys looked at each other astonished. They had determined smiles as they snapped repeatedly at the targets until they exploded. "Good, your Peashooter doesn't do a lot of damage but it helps if you want to keep your distance from your enemies. There are other potions out there from the shop where I got them, each with different abilities, you're gonna have to scrap together whatever you can find to pay for them because I'm flat broke!" Elder Kettle laughed.

"..."

He cleared his throat. "Anyway, the last abilities is more useful in a sense. It is known as Parry. From now on, you can affect certain attacks that are the color pink. Try this." He said as a pink stop sign appeared. "To parry, you must jump up over it and slap it with your straw, you must time it right or you will fail."

Cuphead ran to it and twirled in midair. He missed and fell on the ground. Mugman tried it and his straw turned into a hand momentarily as he slapped it and go pushed upward for a second before falling back down.

"Good job Mugman!" Elder Kettle praised. "Cuphead, you need more practice." Cuphead grumbled and crossed his arms.

"Uh, I feel kinda tingly inside." Mugman said.

"That means you are charged up for your Ex attack. It's stronger than your regular attack but it needs to be charged up. Parrying helps speed up the charge significantly. Just focus on that energy you feel inside and unleash it on those targets.

Mugman nodded and focused. He pulled back his hands and threw them forward. He fired a large blast that slowly moved towards the target. It exploded and left nothing but a few charred remains of the target.

"Golly!" Mugman said, mouth agape at the destruction he caused.

"Yes it is pretty powerful, but remember to be resourceful in using them due to the limited amount you can do in a short time. Now for the last lesson... hmm."

The two boys looked concerned at Elder Kettle's hesitation.

"I can't deny that you two will be killed out there with what you are up against." Elder Kettle said noticing the look of terror on their faces. "But don't fret, for one of your powers provides you a solution to this outcome." He drew up a diagram in midair using a pen. "As soon as one of you die your body will turn into a spirit like this." He said indicating to the drawing of the two of them as ghosts. "And you will start to ascend into the heavens. Before it's too late, you can save the other by parrying them, bringing them back to life instantly." Both the boys brightened. "But be warned, it only brings you back at the very brink of death, so avoid getting hurt any more until you fully recover. Understand boys?"

The cups nodded.

"Good, then that's everything." They were suddenly back in their house. "Know that there might be more abilities you can learn out there, so keep a sharp eye out there." He pointed to the door. "Now the two of you must get a move on!"

"Thank you so much Elder Kettle! We don't know how to repay you."

"You can repay me by surviving this ordeal, good luck boys."

And with that both Cuphead and Mugman headed out to begin their adventure.