Chapter 2: The Start of the Journey...

To say that Elder Kettle was upset was an understatement.

Elder Kettle was pissed.

Though perhaps that was an over exaggeration of his mood. He was upset with the boys, but that feeling of anger was mellowed out quite quickly with fear. The two emotions battling it out in the kettle's head, reflected in his sporadic pacing, and the way his face was contorted into a mixture of anguish and fear. His mouth was set into a grim line, hidden by his mustache.

So yes, it was partially correct that Elder Kettle was upset but only to a certain degree. Truthfully, as any parent would be in this very specific situation, he was terrified.

After a mad dash through isle three and two, the brothers found themselves skidding along the dirt road that led to their house. Cuphead pounded the front door like a maniac, nerves high on alert. Mugman stood back, fidgeting with his sweater. After having taken a moment to breathe and relax amongst the thorny branches of the bush they'd fallen into, the two had set out at a quick pace before breaking into an all out sprint once they realized they had been out far longer than anticipated. And now, standing on the rickety, wooden porch they would have to explain themselves. Though if Mugs was being honest, he was more worried for Cups than himself. While he had made a deal with the Devil, he had only done so in an act of desperation whereas Cuphead had sold their souls for money.

And when you really put it like that he should have been as enraged as their guardian who was pacing the living room, cane completely forgotten, with steam rising from him. After explaining themselves in full detail, both brothers, huddled close on the couch, had gone deathly silent. Elder Kettle had yet to say anything which just made it worse.

And then, the old kettle had stopped pacing.

Cuphead and Mugman began screaming internally at the same time as most twins did when in a state of panic.

But the kettle had still yet to say anything. Rather the elder simply went and sat down in his rickety old rocking chair. The soft sigh, and the creaking from the worn wood of the chair briefly breaking the silence.

Then. "I told you not to go to that casino…"

Cuphead's shoulders hiked up, and he sucked in a sharp breath. They were screwed, they were so screwed, but then that wasn't entirely fair was it? He had been the one to decide to go to the casino. He had told Mugs they'd be in and out in a jiffy, and yet by the time the two had come charging out of the vast expanse of caves, stars glittered amongst the deep void of the night. Cuphead had just royally screwed them both over. it didn't matter that what Mugman had done was to resolve the situation. If he hadn't made the deal in the first place none of this would have happened.

"I'm sorry!" Cuphead blurted out before he could stop himself. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" The cup stopped, pushing himself deeper into the couch cushions. "I...I-I know that doesn't fix anything, but...I didn't think it would be this bad! I-" Cuphead stopped, tears streaming down his face in a torrent. He tried to wipe them away, but it didn't seem to matter as more kept coming. Frustrated, and to a certain degree feeling helpless, Cuphead broke down right there on the couch. Much later, Cuphead would reflect back on this moment wincing, and a little embarrassed with himself.

But right now, the toon couldn't think of anything else except how he'd let his guardian down, and there's no way he would ever be able to look him in the eyes again and he might just end up kicking him out as punishment for what he did and-

Cuphead was jostled from his thoughts at the sensation of a hand gripping his shoulder, along with the sensation of arms wrapped around his midsection. He blinked back more tears, rubbing at his eyes and found himself peering up into the warm gaze of Elder Kettle.

"I'm not kicking you out." The elder stated calmly, eyes alight with humor. Cups stared back in confusion before he squeaked, covering his face.

"You...heard that?" Cup asked quietly.

"We both did." Mugs said from his awkward position on the sofa. Somewhere in the middle of the cup's breakdown Mugman had shifted his position to lean into his brother and hug him. The good news was that he didn't have muscles so being in said uncomfortable position didn't mean much to him.

"Oh."

Elder Kettle cleared his throat softly. "I am still mad at both of you for what you did."

Cuphead rubbed at his arm, with a sheepish expression on his face. Mugman pulled away from his brother, shifting uncomfortably on the couch cushion.

"However, getting mad at the moment won't solve anything. What matters right now is getting to the root of the problem. Mugman, what exactly did that fiend have you do?"

"He, uh...he wants us to go after a few debtors. I think he called them runaways or something…?" Mugman reached and grabbed the parchment paper, handing it over to the kettle. Elder Kettle took it, unrolled it, stared at it, and continued to stare at it.

An awkward pause filled the room for a moment.

And then was broken by, "Well shit."

"Uh, is something wrong…?" Cup asked. Which was a stupid question really because everything was wrong, but the fact that his guardian had cursed was a warning, if ever, that the brothers might be up a creek without a paddle.

"Oh you bet something's wrong!" The kettle exclaimed. He handed the list back to Mugman, an incredulous look on his face. "Boy, that's not a few runaway debtors, that's almost the entirety of Inkwell!"

Cuphead felt his soul liquid freeze. "The...all three isles…?" He whispered.

"I just counted…" Mugman said from beside him. His blue eyes were wide with a perplexed expression in place. "There's seventeen, and we only have...two...days…"

Cuphead slumped even further into the couch cushions. This couldn't get much worse, could it? Well, yes it could obviously but Cuphead was just hoping it wouldn't. More than anything, Cuphead just wanted things to go back to normal. To wake up and have this all be a really crappy nightmare, and not feeling like a complete failure. Because right about now, he did. He really, really did and no amount of reassurance from his guardian or brother was going to make him think otherwise.

"Two days! How are we supposed to get seventeen contracts in two days?!" Cuphead found himself exclaiming, throwing a hand in the air in exasperation. "It's not like we have some magic superpowers to fight these guys off with!"

"We could just ask them…" Mugs muttered quietly. The notion that they would have to fight sending shivers down his spine. He'd never been a fighter. More of a pacifist willing to let his brother do the dirty work when it came to it. In any case, being nice and polite while delivering harsh scoldings usually worked at deterring enemies better than him raising his fists could.

Cuphead gave him a tired, withering glare. "They sold their souls to the Devil, Mugs. I don't think they're gonna be sunshine and rainbows about two kids asking for them."

"That doesn't mean we can't try." Mugs pointed out.

Before Cuphead could retaliate at all, Elder Kettle spoke up once more. "There...might be something I can do, however, that's not important at the moment. What is important is you two getting a good night's rest. You'll need it for the day ahead of you."

Both brothers, momentarily forgetting their argument, found themselves agreeing wholeheartedly. They had both been running on nothing but stamina for the past few hours alone, and now that their guardian had brought it up, the siblings could feel the tiredness seeping in. Not having muscles was great at the best of times, but an absolute pain when it came to recognizing the body needed to sleep.

The boys trudged up the stairs to their room, immediately crashing onto the same bed. Cuphead had his own bed that he could easily sleep in, but considering the circumstances he found that cuddling under the covers with Mugman was far better than curling up on his own bed. No sooner had the brothers gotten under the covers did they let sleep begin to pull them in.

000000

The dawn came far too quickly for Cuphead's liking.

In one moment he had been having a quaint, dreamless sleep, and in the next his brother was gently shaking him awake. When he opened his amber eyes, he found himself staring into the darkness of their bedroom, with slivers of pale, pink and gold rays of the dawn sun lighting the floorboards. The cup squinted blearily up at Mugman who looked just as tired as he currently felt.

"Cup, you gotta get up…" He mumbled.

"For what?" Cuphead asked, pulling the covers off him, albeit reluctantly. It was only as his feet touched the cold floor that yesterday's events came back to him, and suddenly Cuphead no longer felt tired. "Oh...right…"

After throwing on a quick pair of red shorts accompanied by a black sweater, Cuphead with Mugman, who had also seen fit to wear a similar clothing attire, in tow quickly descended the stairs into the livingroom where they found Elder Kettle already waiting for them. On the couch there were a few bags and satchels.

Elder Kettle himself looked haggard. Cuphead wouldn't be surprised if the man had been up all night pacing with worry. In fact, he was almost certain of that fact by how he leaned heavily upon his cane and the dazed look in his dark eyes.

The boys managed to muster up a small greeting which the kettle returned in kind. There was an intensity about the room, no one truly certain what to do or say, and as the seconds ticked by, Cuphead became increasingly agitated by the silence. Never one for sitting still, and being more of the type to become laser focused on any given task, the boy broke the silence by latching onto the one thing he remembered from last night.

"So did you find a way to help us?" Cuphead asked abruptly. Mugman shot him a look, but he ignored it in favor of looking at his guardian. He knew this was kind of a big deal for everyone, what with them being in the Devil's pocket and all, but dilly-dallying about wasn't going to help. The sooner they all just accepted the situation they were in, the better. Not to mention, Cuphead rarely ever woke up at dawn, and neither did his brother for the simple purpose of preventing two cranky teens from causing chaos at five in the morning.

"Ah, yes, that." The kettle startled out of what Cuphead could only assume to be a sleep-deprived stupor. That almost made the toon feel bad about snapping so abruptly, but it was hard not to when they were on a time limit with their souls on the line and everything. If this had been any other day he would apologize immediately and Elder Kettle very well might scold him for his actions. But this wasn't any other day and so the red cup felt mighty justified in his sour attitude.

Elder Kettle hobbled his way over to one of the few bookshelves lining the wall to the right of where the sofa was situated. He grumbled a bit as he pushed aside different items and knick-knacks. "Now, I'm not too certain on how well this'll work but-" the elder stopped as he grabbed at something, a large, clear bottle with a translucent liquid sloshing around inside," -it should do the trick just fine for now…"

"What is it?" Mugman asked. He had been in the process of checking through the different bags to see what they needed to take with them; the last thing either needed was heavy baggage while collecting souls.

"Something that will help you on your journey." Elder Kettle responded in a very vague way that Cuphead did not like at all. I mean, in general, his guardian was usually always pretty vague about stuff, but again, considering the circumstances

"So, what? It's like an enhancer of sorts?" the cup asked, tapping his foot impatiently. He could see that the sun's rays had become exponentially stronger, warming up the front room a bit. They were losing time.

"In a way…" the kettle stated, pulling the cork off the flask. "By all accounts this potion should enhance what's already there; don't know why you haven't been able to use it…"

Cuphead didn't really know what to say to that so just shot a look of confusion at his brother instead. Mugman always had a better understanding of what adults were talking about. Unfortunately his brother was completely useless in this situation as he gave a helpless shrug, looking just as confused as him.

"Regardless, I don't want to take up any more of your time." Elder Kettle said, holding out the flask to Cuphead. The boy took with some form of trepidation. "Don't drink too much of it, there's no telling what that concoction will do to - well don't drink the whole thing!" Elder Kettle snapped, yanking the flask away before Cups could inhale the whole thing. Cuphead gave a sheepish smile in return wiping off some of the potion with the back of his hand.

Mugman downed the last of the potion and Cuphead burst out laughing at the face he made. "Elder Kettle, why does this taste like expired tap water?" Mugs asked, recoiling in disgust.

"Expired tap water." Cuphead wheezed out. His laughter was cut almost immediately when a sensation much like what he'd felt back at the casino came over him. The boy jumped, eyes widening in terror, his head nearly flying off from his shoulders, if not for the strong magical connection holding it in place. Images flashed, piercing yellow eyes, bright green orbs flashing in darkness, that oppressive magic crushing him, drowning him-

And then it was gone, replaced by a soothing tranquility. Cuphead, rattling seizing for just a brief moment, let out a quiet noise of confusion at the feeling. There was something...he couldn't quite place or understand, but it existed at the fringes of his mind flitting about like a butterfly unwilling to be caught. Mugman was having much the same turmoil of emotions raging through him, though the soothing sensation was more like a somber whisper than the playful, coy energy prancing throughout Cuphead's body.

The sensations the boys felt was but for a brief moment and then gone within seconds. Cuphead gasped, feeling lightheaded and looked to his guardian for answers as to what the hell just happened.

"Well...I guess it worked…" The kettle said, looking just as perplexed as the two teens.

"What?" Cuphead asked, still reeling from everything that had just happened.

"That's not...that wasn't a bad thing, right?" Mugman asked, shivering from the weird lingering feelings corroding his being.

"Boys, there are some things I've neglected to tell you…" Elder Kettle moved towards the couch, grabbing a few satchels and bags, handing them over to the two cups. "Part of that was not telling you about your magic, unfortunately as much as I'd love to explain further I'm afraid you'll run out of time; it's time you two get going." The elder said softly, eyes glassy with worry and fear for his children.

"Wait, what magic?" Cuphead asked as the kettle urged them towards the door.

Elder Kettle shook his head, sighing softly. "I wish I could tell you more, my boy, but right now just isn't the time. Now-" the elder threw the door open, exposing the trio to the glare of the morning sun. "There are a few snacks, drinks, and elixirs-"

"Elixir?..."

"It's a potion, Cuphead."

"Oh."

"-that you can use if your magic doesn't work the first time. There's a friend of mine who owns a shop filled with magical items and potions. I've put some coins in a bag for you to use when you get there. He moves around a lot so be quick about catching up to him."

The boys stumbled over their feet from the wooden porch onto the dirt path that led away from their cottage.

"And just one more thing…"

Before either brother could so much as gain their bearings, in taking so much information and being shoved forward at such a quick pace, they were being grappled into a tight hug.

"I love you both...so much…"

The shock wore quickly, and the boys hugged Elder Kettle back just as fiercely. Though it was quite awkward considering the amount of bags they were holding.

"We love you too, gramps." Cuphead found himself saying. Rarely did he ever refer to Elder Kettle as gramps except in times of clear distress, sometimes calling him so in private where the kettle wouldn't hear him, so it came as a small shock to the cup to hear it come from his mouth so effortlessly. But like said, it was a small shock that didn't last long, wrapped up the man's comforting embrace as he was, he couldn't really begin to think about it much more.

"We'll be back before you know it!" Mugman, ever so jovial and optimistic at the worst of times, promised with Cuphead agreeing whole-heartedly.

After that brief exchange was made nobody said anything, allowing themselves to just exist within the moment. The sun warming their backs shining like a beacon of tranquility upon the pure scene. Naturally the moment couldn't last forever as it was Cuphead who managed to wiggle his way out of Elder Kettle's grip first, shuffling his feet while declaring they had to leave. Mugman sniffed indignantly, face pulled into what should have been a look of annoyance, but just looked like a cute pout instead. Cuphead tried and failed to hold back a snort at the facial expression which just made the mug pout even more.

"Oh for cr- we were having a serious moment there!" Mugman huffed, though his exasperation couldn't hide the tiny smile starting to grace his features.

Cuphead's snorts turned into full on cackles of merriment. "I'm sorry-hahaha!-i-it's just...your pouty face, pffft, and you wonder why I call you baby brother!" Cuphead managed to wheeze between fits of laughter.

Mugman squinted at the red cup, though it was mostly ineffective and just made Cuphead laugh more. "Are you trying to say I have a baby face? Because I don't."

"Well, you kind of do…"

Mugman whirled around in horror to stare at his guardian. "Elder Kettle, not you too!"

The kettle shrugged good naturedly, not even trying to hide his chuckles. Mugman threw his hands in the air in annoyance turning sharply on his heel, grabbing Cuphead who was still in a fit of giggles. The mug wasn't too mad, as they needed to be in high spirits if they wanted to see this mission through to the end. Plus, his brother was no doubt still feeling the pangs of guilt for what he'd gotten them both into, so it was nice to see him smiling.

"Don't know why you're laughing anyways, everyone knows the taller sibling is the oldest."

"Hey!"

And now it was Mugman's turn to start laughing.

"That's not funny!"

"You're right I'm sorry...It's freaking hilarious!"

Cuphead grumbled under his breath, swatting at his brother's arm in mock irritation. "Just you wait till we're older, I'm gonna be taller than you! You'll see!"

"That is what eyes are for, yes."

"Smart aleck."

The brothers continued their bickering, getting further down the path away from their house. Elder Kettle watched their figures get smaller and smaller, till they were small colorful dots that disappeared over the horizon.

"Please be safe…"

000000

It was only when the two cups found themselves approaching a small brook that they came to a stop, realizing that they had walked a good distance with no destination in mind. Cuphead found a smooth stone that was damp and cold to the touch to rest on, swinging his feet in the air casually. Mugman sat on the left side of him, since the rock was just large enough for the two, his feet planted firmly on the ground. Cuphead resolutely stared into the distance, refusing to look at his brother who was giving him a knowing smirk.

"Say something and I'm dunking your head in the brook."

"Something."

"You think you're being real cute and funny, but let me tell you something," Cups glared at Mugs, pointing a scolding finger in his direction," you ain't."

Mugman snorted, pulling one of the bags from his shoulders, checking to see what was inside. "If I'm not the cute one then who is? You?"

Cuphead feigned a look of outrage. "How dare you. I'll have you know that I am the cutest thing there is, I mean - look at this smile!" To prove his point the cup grinned widely, full, pearly white teeth on display.

"Golly, Cups! From this angle I can see Satan himself smiling at me!"

Cuphead's smile fell quite quickly, but instead of offering up a sharp retort the toon just blew a raspberry at his brother instead. Mugman rolled his eyes at his antics before sobering up as he dug around for a bit more within the bag still sitting on his lap. The moment he pulled the list out the mood within their vicinity died quickly. Or at least, to the cups, it certainly felt like it had. The soft sounds of creatures scuttling through the undergrowth having died out; the quick snippets of languid conversations between the birds halting. The only noise they could still identify was the gentle murmurs of the brook behind them.

"So…"

"Um…"

The two sat awkwardly, staring at the list with some form of trepidation for what it implied.

"I suppose we should...start looking…"

A soft sigh of admission. "Yeah, I guess…"

Mugman patted Cuphead on the shoulder. "Hey look it'll be fine! We'll get this sorted out! Besides, it's not like you're doing this alone." The blue mug gave a bright, reassuring smile.

"Thanks Mugs, that really means a lo-hey, is that Satan waving at me in the reflection of your eyes?"

"Again! This is the second time you've ruined a serious moment!"

The sound of uproarious cackling broke through the silence, ringing through the trees and into the morning sky.

The first debtor-sorry, debtors- they were seeking out was a group known as the Root Pack, located on Isle One. The only reason they knew this was because the list specified which island each debtor inhabited. Which made it the only good thing the list had done so far besides being a painful reminder of yesterday night.

The duo had decided to head into town, hoping some of the locals would know who they were and be able to give them something to work with besides a name. Both had decided upon entering that hiding the list was probably for the best, the less anyone knew what was going on the better. The other reasons, and one the boys refused to acknowledge fully, was that it would take the debtors by surprise when they showed up for their contracts.

Cuphead supposed that was the only good thing to come of this. Two random teens showing up to cause mayhem was normal so no adult-working under the assumption that the debtors are adults because why would a teen sell their soul-would ever suspect the two of working for the Devil. The cup cringed internally at the notion that they worked for the hell beast, but that was what they were doing. Carrying out the Devil's bidding just so they didn't lose their souls while actively taking the souls of others. The irony was not lost on Cuphead, and on no uncertain terms did he like it but…

He looked to his brother, who was walking ahead of him, chowing down on a crab muffin that had been in one of the knapsacks they carried. Cuphead had been offered one and politely declined, which immediately brought out every red flag in existence. Of all the odd behavior that the brother in red would exhibit, not eating a crab muffin was the highest on that list. He absolutely loved the seafood delicacies. The fact that his favorite food for breakfast was being offered to him and he took a pass on it meant the cup was dealing with a lot of inner turmoil than he was letting on.

But how could he not? His brother's soul was on the line just as much as his, all because he couldn't think for two seconds. He had always been impulsive...but never to such a degree that he would ever dream of selling his and his brother's soul to the Devil! But he'd done it anyway...it didn't matter that Mugman had said he was just as responsible, he should have known better! The minute he realized it was the Devil he should have ran, and he didn't; the moment the Devil said he wanted to raise the stages, he should have been out the casino doors with his brother in tow, but he didn't move; the moment his brother objected he should have stopped, done something. Anything! But he didn't.

The red cup pulled himself abruptly from his thoughts as he felt the sharp sting of hot tears rimming his eyes. Cuphead huffed in annoyance, rubbing at them fiercely. And just in time too as Mugman suddenly brought his attention towards a toon with an apple for a head loitering near the fence that sectioned off the town from the woods. Wait, when had they left the town?

"Good morning Mr. Appleton!" Mugman greeted, putting up a cheerful facade. The apple man smiled warmly, waving at them idly while casually leaning against the wooden fence.

"Ah if it isn't my favorite! How ya doin' Mugsy?" Appleton greeted in kind.

Cuphead stopped in his tracks, mind going blank for a brief second. "Did...did he just call you Mugsy? You let him call you Mugsy?!" Cuphead hissed at his brother. Mugman gave him a look of disdain, rolled his eyes, and trotted on up to the other toon.

"Well don't just ignore me!" Cups sputtered out, chasing after his brother.

"Hello, Mr. Appleton! I hope you don't mind us intruding on your morning or anything…" Mugman said in that way he did when he was buttering someone up to ask for a favor. If Cuphead was the mischievous one then Mugman was the devious one using his cuteness and polite charm to get what he wants. It was adorable as all heck but downright terrifying at times; like right now as the cute mug made asking a very odd question about complete strangers seem like a normal everyday interaction one would have on the streets. It only took a full, two minute conversation of small talk for Mugman to get to the point, and for Appleton to give directions on where to go.

Just before the boys left, the apple headed man gave Mugs a few sets of coins.

"I was supposed to give these to you last week when you helped with the garden! Completely slipped my mind till just now!"

Mugman blinked in surprise before accepting the coins without much objection. I mean...why would he? Cuphead only got a quick look but he was certain his brother had just been given four coins.

"Ah, I completely forgot about that! Thanks mister!" His brother was doing such a horrible job at holding back his squeal of joy that Cuphead had to snort, even at the cost of getting punched in the arm.

"No but seriously why is he allowed to call you Mugsy and I can't?"

"You have yet to earn that privilege."

"The heck does that mean?!"

000000

The Root Pack were farmers.

Somehow, someway, Cuphead hadn't thought to connect the dots sooner. But then again, he couldn't imagine a situation where someone from Isle One would willingly give their soul away...ignoring the situation that he was in, since it was different. The toons of the first isle of Inkwell were prideful almost to a fault. Cuphead knew from having been a witness to something of a phenomenon where the locals had gathered to chase off a construction crew with pitchforks. But the locals couldn't hold a candle to the almost sinful pride many of the farmers carried with them.

He really couldn't see what the Devil could possibly offer them that the group couldn't have gotten themselves, but then the cup supposed it didn't really have anything to do with him so it was best to just mind his business.

A lot of the land that wasn't covered in trees was vast. Deep, green rolling hills and valleys as wide as the sea eclipsed the surrounding area, making it perfect for many to grow plants, fruits, and veggies of all types, and plenty of more for one to raise cattle. That was the image that settled itself into Cuphead's mind and what he fully expected to see when they encouraged the group.

Instead he found himself letting out a noise of confusion as he stared at what might as well be a sandbox. There was a fence that bordered around the small garden, because that's basically what he was looking at, coated in chipped, white paint and worn oak wood that had seen better days. You know, when it was still a tree. Patches of coarse dirt lay scattered about the garden with small plants sticking up from the ground. Odd that there were no labels in place to be able to tell what plants were what but then Cuphead supposed that with how small the area of land was they may have just been planting the same vegetables or fruits.

"Okay, we've got two options here," Mugman spoke up first taking Cuphead from his thoughts. "We can use this time to look for their contract, avoid confirmation and leave. Or we can take the dumb route and alert them to our presence and get into a fight we may not win...and apparently you decided to take option number two, neat."

Cuphead stopped midway from opening the fence that led into the garden. He turned to his brother, giving him a look of exasperation. "Mugs, we can't avoid a fight forever. Besides, you're the one who wanted to ask for their contracts so I don't know what you're standing back there for, this was your idea."

"That was last night!" Mugman hissed in a low voice, glancing around to make sure they wouldn't be heard. "We were running on high emotions and I was just talking; you know I couldn't even fight a fish!"

"But you might have too!" Cuphead snapped pulling from the wooden fence and stomping over to his brother. "Our souls are on the line, here! We can't exactly be merciful when we encounter these guys!"

"What makes you say that? How do we know some of them won't give us their contracts willingly? They could be in as much trouble as we are!"

"Mugman we only have two days to do this! Our plight is absolutely nothing like theirs! We didn't sell our souls on purpose!"

"We? We?! What do you mean "we", you're the idiot who decided to make a deal with the Devil!"

Cuphead reared back, a myriad of emotions flitting across his face before settling on indignant. "So did you!" He retaliated, squeezing his hands into fists to hide the fact that they were shaking. Not that it mattered when both could easily hear the sounds of his porcelain body rattling.

"Yeah because of what you did, you moron."

Cuphead was just about to fly off the handle at that point if it hadn't been for the ground shaking. Getting flashbacks to the casino all over again, the boys quickly went into high alert, nerves on end. The rumbling seemed to go on for forever before there was a sound like a rock splitting apart and the brothers turned quickly to find themselves gaping in awe as a massive...potato? Rose from the ground.

Behind it, two more vegetables sprung from the earth; a carrot that easily towered over everyone there, and an onion.

"Well…" Cuphead stared up at the vegetables looking and feeling petrified.

"We're screwed." Both brothers said in unison.