Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Grunting, Felix the cat pulled himself back onto solid land on the tunnels he was traveling through and looked down at himself, cringing at the black sludge staining his clothes.

He knew searching for magic artifacts can be dangerous and messy but an underground abandoned civilization full of ink was a bit much for him. His poor clothes would be stained forever, but it was a small price to pay for what he was in search of.

The legendary Finis sword.

Rumor has it that 30 years ago, a demon of ink from the very pits of hell rose to the surface, with his hell wolf and angel of darkness by his side doing his bidding. He planned to corrupt the world, drowning it in a sea of ink and making it into his perfect land to rule. Until a brave hero constructed Finis, a magic sword that when used against the ink demon, destroyed him and all of his ink corrupted followers.

If the story was true, then the sword should still be here. Felix the cat went out in search of it, hoping the sword could be useful in his future adventures in case he ran into demonic forces or if he needed to aid people in need of help.

Sighing, the cat kept moving forwards and did his best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling of ink in his fur. When he finally came across a large room, Felix paused as he looked around.

Light spilled in from cracks on the cave ceiling, clearly caused by a rather gruesome looking fight considering all the claw marks, and splatter of ink all over the walls and ground. What caught Felix’s attention though, was how some of the light shined down on a sword, in the middle of the room, sticking out of a big black mass.

The Ink Demon.

The story was true.

Amazed by the sight before him, Felix carefully walked forward and took a closer look. The ink demon was bigger than he imagined. The cat heard how he looked like a walking skeleton coated in ink, but instead he looked more like a dragon with no eyes, wings, or tail, and he was curled up into a tight ball. The sword was sticking out of his back and broken chains were hanging off his arms that were tightly pressed against his chest. It, almost looked like the ink demon was holding something, but Felix couldn’t see what.

Looking up at the sword, Felix could see the latin word Finis carved into the handle. The cat took a deep breath as he reached up, grabbed the sword, and carefully pulled it out of the dead demon. The dry ink on the sword stains it like blood.

Then, when the tip of the sword was finally pulled out, the ink demon threw his head up and GASPED FOR AIR. Making Felix cry out in alarm and stumble back with the sword tightly clenched in his hands.

The ink demon was still alive?!

Turning its head towards the direction of Felix, The ink demon almost looked panicked as it roared at him and swiped its large clawed hand at the cat. Felix lifted the sword to defend himself, but the demon was faster, slashing at the cat’s chest and easily knocking the sword out of his hands. Landing flat on his back, Felix hissed in pain and looked at his chest.

Bloody, but thankfully not deadly.

Pushing himself back up into a sitting position, Felix fought off the urge to panic as he looked for the sword to defend himself. Only for his heart to freeze in terror seeing the demon had picked it up.

Panting hard, clearly trying to catch it breath after being “dead” for 30 years, the demon gave a rageful growl at the sword, lifted it high above its head, and slammed the blade against the ground. Completely shattering it.

Ooooooh that wasn’t good.

Getting back to his feet, Felix reached for his magic bag. Frantically trying to think of a way to stop the ink demon now that the sword was destroyed, when something unexpected happened. The cat’s ears perked up in surprise by the sounds the ink demon was making as it curled up on himself again, holding something close.

Was… was it crying?

Then, right before Felix’s eyes, the ink demon started to change. Instead of its large beast form, the ink demon slowly started to shift into something that resembled what Felix heard from the stories, a skeleton-like creature coated in ink, and then shrank into something smaller. Making the cat’s stomach drop at the sight before him.

Sobbing, the little childlike ink demon held close two figures. A young girl with black hair and a broken halo above her head, and a young wolf boy. Both were limp in his arms, but miraculously breathing.

Looking up, the Ink Demon stared fearfully at Felix with big black tears running down his face. He attempted to growl, his body trembling as he intended to get to his feet. Instead, his body gave out on him and he passed out. Falling limp to the ground with the two still in his arms.

With one hand pressed against his chest, trying to stop his wounds from bleeding, the other hand went up to Felix’s mouth as he processed what he just witnessed and what was still in front of him.

Children.

The ink demon, the beast of a scary story told around a campfire, was a CHILD.

A scared looking child, who had a sword in his back, and his arms protectively around the Angel of Darkness and the Hell Wolf.

All of them were children.

What in the world did Felix get himself into…

____________________

*Years later*

Hearing a loud annoying groan behind him, Mugman did his best to keep his temper under check as he sighed. “May I remind you that this was your idea?”

“But we’ve been searching for HOURS.”

Stopping dead in his tracks, Mugman spun around and crossed his arms, frowning at his brother. “What, you think when demon hunting, a demon will just show up for us to shoot at the moment it’s convenient for us?”

Huffing, Cuphead kicked a rock as he glared at the ground. “No… Would have been nice to go back with SOMETHING so the other knights don’t look down at us.”

Mugman understood where his brother was coming from. They’ve been training with the traveling group of knights for years, working hard to earn their title of knights and helping out as much as they could when the group was called to help to the nearest kingdom. It was an amazing experience to see the world and help defend people, but they barely got to do anything like the other knights, and all their higher-ups tended to look down on them often.

Especially considering they were taken in by the group pretty much out of pity…

They were always told they needed to earn their place among the knights, but how were they supposed to do that when they weren’t given the chance?

So, when visiting a nearby kingdom that was close to their camp, when they heard rumors of a demon living within these woods holding an innocent hostage to do its bidding, Cuphead came up with a crazy plan that Mugman found himself crazy enough to go along with. The two of them go into the woods and search for the demon so they could bring it back and finally earn their place with the Demon Hunting Knights.

Unfortunately, today it seems like they’d go back to camp empty handed.

“Look, we can always try again tomorrow. How about we take a break before we go hiking back to camp, okay Cuphead?”

Grumbling “Fine.” as an answer, Cuphead reached for his canteen to drink. Though realizing it was empty from the lack of weight he felt just fueled his annoyance. “Ugh, I’ll be right back. I saw a freshwater stream near here.”

Sitting down on the ground, Mugman leaned against a tree and gazed at the sky above. “Don’t go too far, or fall in.”

Giving him a dirty look as the blue mug brother just smirked back, Cuphead rolled his eyes and headed for the steam. It was a few minutes' walk away from where Mugman stayed to rest, so it would be easy enough for Cuphead to find his way back. Kneeling down, Cuphead started to refill his canteen.

He really hoped they’d have better luck tomorrow. Not only would catching a demon help them impress the other knights, but it would certainly help Cuphead sleep at night knowing he and Mugman can handle themselves when the-

“Don't go too far kiddo.”

“I know, I know.”

Perking up at the sound of voices on the other side of the stream deeper in the woods, Cuphead quickly put away his canteen and got to his feet. Using his years of training to cross the stream and travel quietly, the red cup brother tried his best to stay hidden using the environment until he came across the source of the voices. What he saw, made his eyes go wide.

Right there, with his back to him as he lowered the hood of his cloak from his horned head, was a demon walking towards and standing over a cat man who was kneeling before him.

Holy crap the rumors were true.

This was his chance.

Feeling magic build up in his hand, Cuphead got ready to attack the demon and save the cat man when something unexpected happened. Kneeling down as well, the demon reached out and started plucking the wild berries off of the bush next to the cat. “Will these really make a good pie?”

Chuckling, the cat man ruffled the demon’s head affectionately. Now with the two at the same level, it was clear the cat was taller. So did that make the demon a child? “Absolutely. My best friend and I used to find these bushes growing where we grew up and gave ourselves stomach aches eating the berries before we could get them home to my mother to make pie.”

Humming curiously, the demon popped a berry into his mouth. He made a delighted sound as he ate a few more. “Oh these are good!”

“Now don’t go giving yourself a stomach ache, we need to save some for home too.”

Wiping his hand over his mouth to make sure he didn’t have stains on his face, the demon continued to help fill the basket. “Yes Felix.”

Cuphead stared, dumbfounded.

This demon actually listened to an order a mortal gave him. 

No, that didn’t feel right. The cat was far too kind when speaking, and the demon seemed to look up to the cat and listened to his words without a problem. 

This boy was listening to the guiding advice an adult gave him. Like a father teaching a son.

The sensation of magic in his hand faded, the red cup brother taking a step back as he tried to process what he was seeing.

Snap

Quickly diving out of sight after stepping on a stick, Cuphead pressed his back against a tree and held his breath. Praying the demon didn’t see him.

“Felix? What-?”

“Move, quickly.”

After a few tense moments of silence, Cuphead risked taking a peak back at the bush and saw that the cat and demon were now gone. The red cup brother released the breath he was holding and let himself plop down on the ground, thinking over what just happened.

A demon.

A demon was right there, and he hesitated.

Why did he hesitate?!

Heck, why was a demon being treated like a child by a mortal? What demon ever lets a “lesser being” treat them like that?!

Why did they look so, happy?

Groaning at himself, Cuphead got up and headed back to Mugman. He Decided to keep this to himself to avoid getting grief from his brother over missing the chance to catch a demon, and to avoid the scolding he’d get for planning to take on a demon alone.

As well as avoid trying to explain what he just saw, because even he had trouble trying to understand it himself.

________________

Rushing through the woods, Bendy did his best to keep his pace with Felix as the cat tightly gripped his hand. He could easily outrun the cat adventurer, but he didn’t want to get unwanted attention drawn to them if Felix thinks it was necessary to rush home after hearing something. Heck he even made Bendy put his hood back up to hide his head just in case. So he held onto his guardian’s hand and followed his lead.

Stopping, Felix panted slightly from going at a fast pace for a long period of time. He put his hand on Bendy’s shoulder and kept him close as he looked around the woods. Ears twitching as he tried picking up any suspicious sounds. Bendy listened closely as well, but not hearing anything that stood out to him. “Felix?”

Forcing himself to relax and letting his tense shoulders drop, Felix smiled gently down at the demon teen before him. “Sorry about that, it’s getting to be that time of year where hunters come around here. I didn’t want one spotting us.”

Understanding that, considering the cat had a good reason to be protective and cautious, Bendy nodded and looked down at the basket full of berries in his hand. “We still got enough for a pie. I’m sure that’ll make Boris happy.”

Chuckling a little from Bendy looking at the bright side, Felix ruffled the top of Bendy’s head again as they continued their way home at a slower pace. “Yeah, I’m sure it will.”

After some time walking, the two of them finally came upon their home. A comfy looking house with a barn and garden next to it in the middle of a clearing. In the garden, a wolf boy was on his knees pulling carrots out of the ground when he looked up and smiled after spotting Bendy and Felix. “ALICE! Bendy and Felix are home!”

Coming out of the barn, Alice grinning as she met the two halfway and took the basket from Bendy. “Did you have a nice trip?”

Nodding, Bendy started telling her and Boris all about the things he and Felix saw and did while traveling through the woods as they headed back inside the house that belonged to the cat. The house the three ink beings now called their home for the past 5 years ever since Felix has taken them in. Inside, it looked quite homely with all the things the three teens have added to it ever since moving in. Books belonging to Felix sat on the shelves within the sitting area, a few of Boris’s instruments sitting by the fireplace, along with the fur blankets Alice made from her hunt catches sitting on the furniture, and Bendy’s paintings hanging on the walls.

With Boris excited to make the pie, he quickly got to work getting everything set up while Alice went to clean the veggies the ink wolf got from the garden. Felix let out a heavy sigh as he sat down and relaxed in his favorite chair while Bendy got the fireplace lit. The cat glanced at all three of the teens then asked. “Now are you sure you three have everything you need written down for me?”

All of them replied “Yes Felix.” to their guardian’s question.

Due to the fact that it was far too dangerous for Bendy, Alice, and Boris to go into towns or to be seen by other people, Felix on occasion would have to leave them at the farm and go for a few days to get supplies for their home. Leaving Bendy in charge considering he was the oldest.

Kinda.

Being an ink demon made of dark magic made ages so complicated.

The ink trio hated that Felix went through so much trouble for them, trying to support the three while keeping them secret for their safety, but their guardian always assured them he never minded and it was worth it to see them happy and healthy… Felix reminded them so much of their Papa sometimes-

Shaking his head to get rid of that though, not wanting to focus on those memories right now, Bendy simply grabbed the book he’s been working on reading for a while now and got comfortable in his favorite spot by the fireplace. The same spot he woke up in after Felix brought them to his home for the first time. Bendy remembered how confused he was, waking up in a pile of pillows and blankets with Alice and Boris sleeping with him by the warm fire. As well as seeing Felix, with bandages wrapped around his chest, holding a tray of food for them.

It was in that spot, the ink demon finally got the feeling of being safe… Something he hasn’t felt in a long time before that point.

And it was all thanks to Felix that he and the others could feel safe again.

 Bendy would always be grateful for that.

Glad to hear the kids made sure to write down what they wanted him to pick up while in town, Felix grabbed his own book and started reading where he left off last time. The two of them sat in comfortable silence until Alice and Boris joined them after Boris put the pie in the oven and Alice put away the clean veggies for later. The ink wolf picked up his shawm and started practicing while the ink angel worked on her latest sowing project.

Stealing a quick glance around the room, seeing all of them relaxed and happy, made Felix smile a little before looking back down at his book.

They were all okay.

They were happy.

________________

It was dark by the time Cuphead and Mugman made it back to camp, their higher ups didn’t even ask where they were, they just assumed they were goofing off and scolded them for it. Calling them childish and saying they were wasting time.

Better they assume that then laugh at them over going demon hunting and coming back empty handed.

Scowling down at the fire he was cooking his dinner over, Cuphead was still thinking over what he saw earlier, trying to make sense of it, trying to understand what he saw.

A demon being parented by a mortal? 

Looking like a happy little family? 

That went against everything he was taught!

It had to be a trick, what he saw wasn't true!

If what he saw wasn't true, then why did he hesitate? 

“CUPHEAD!”

Snapping out of his train of thought, Cuphead was about to ask what his brother wanted until he realized his dinner was on fire. Quickly blowing it out, he groaned seeing how badly it was burned. “Nuts…”

Raising an eyebrow at his brother, Mugman asked. “You okay? You’ve looked really lost in thought all afternoon and you haven’t heard a word I said.”

“I’m fine Mugsy. What were you trying to tell me?”

Feeling suspicious over Cuphead not giving a proper answer, Mugman decided to leave it be for now. “I was told I’m going with a group that’s heading into the nearby kingdom to restock on supplies tomorrow. I’ll be gone for a few days. Are you going to be okay while I’m out?”

Taking a bite out of his burnt meat, the red cup brother cringed at the taste while shrugging. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“You promise not to do anything stupid while I’m gone?”

Snorting, Cuphead faced his brother. “Oh come on, when have I done something- yeah, you know what, don’t answer that.”

Thinking better of finishing that sentence thanks to the LOOK Mugman was giving him, Cuphead rolled his eyes and continued eating. “I promise, happy now?”

Mugman hummed as he started eating his own food. “I’ll be happy when I can trust you to keep that promise.”

Okay, not completely uncalled for, but still ouch.

By the time the two finished their meals and retreated into their tent for the night, both brothers were ready for bed and bid each other goodnight. Mugman easily settled down and fell asleep in his cot, while Cuphead stayed awake thinking. His mind was filled with too many questions to fall asleep now. 

He glanced over at his sleeping brother in the dark tent, watching him sleep peacefully without a problem. Not knowing the conflict going on in Cuphead’s mind and how he was trying so hard to make sense of what he saw.

He knows he promised, but he was going to go back into the woods when Mugman was gone with the other knights. 

He was going to find out what was up with that demon, and get some answers.

Chapter Text

“Not again Boris!”

Pausing in his sketch he was doing, Bendy sighed, put down his sketchbook and left the room he shared with Alice and Boris. Traveling down the hall and peeking his head into the kitchen, he saw Alice glaring at Boris, who had his tail between his legs in shame with a chicken bone in his mouth.

Most likely, a chicken bone of the dinner they were supposed to have to eat that night. 

Felix had JUST left for the nearby kingdom a few hours ago, leaving them enough food to last them until he got back, and Boris ate it all. Again.

They didn’t exactly need to eat, it’s not like they’d starve to death thanks to their powers and how they were brought into this world. They still got hungry though and going a few days without eating a proper meal didn’t sound pleasant. Not to mention Felix would be upset over them skipping meals and making themselves go hungry.

Rolling his eyes, Bendy grabbed his cloak where it was hanging by the door and one of the fishing poles. “Seeing how Boris couldn’t help himself, again, guess we’ll be having fish for dinner tonight.”

His ears perking up slightly at the mention of fishing, Boris looked at Bendy hopefully. “Oh! Can I come?”

Pretending to think about it for a moment, Bendy hummed. “Hm, well, considering you like fishing, I’m going to say no since you ate our dinner.”

Hearing Alice giggle at that, Boris shot her a quick glare before aiming his glare at Bendy. “That’s a cruel and unusual punishment!”

The ink demon smirked smugly. “Would you rather I make you clean the barn for eating everything like Felix does when he’s home?”

Seeming to take a moment to process his options, the ink wolf huffed and crossed his arms, making Alice giggle more and Bendy smile in victory as he opened the front door. “I’ll be back before nightfall with dinner. Don’t let Boris eat everything else in the house Alice!”

“Sure thing Bendy!”

When he closed the door, Bendy could hear Boris muttering inside. “You two are so mean.”

Chuckling to himself, Bendy pulled his cloak hood over his head and headed into the woods. Walking for a while, the ink demon eventually made it to the stream fishing spot he liked and started working on catching dinner. He enjoyed the peace and quiet of nature as he let his mind wander.

Once he catches something Alice would probably have to get it ready for dinner. Thankfully being the hunter in the family, she was used to cleaning freshly caught meat for meals, because there was no way he is trusting Boris to prepare food tonight after eating what was supposed to be their dinner.

Ups and downs about family he supposed….

He’d still protect this weird little family with everything he’s got, no matter what.

He wouldn’t fail again.

Sighing, Bendy tried not to think too much about the past as he looked up from the stream and glanced around. Taking in the scenery as he saw some flowers growing on the other side of the water. Maybe he could pick some before he went home to put in a vase.

He noticed a butterfly resting on one of the flowers before it flapped its beautiful wings and lifted itself into the air, making the ink demon smile a little as he watched it go.

Then he made eye contact with someone hiding in the shadows.

BANG

Gasping, Bendy quickly ducked when something bright flew right at him. Sitting back up and getting a good look at the tree with a scorch mark on it now, Bendy quickly got to his feet and RAN.

OhcrapohcrapOHCRAP!

Crying out in alarm when another blast just nearly missed him, Bendy ran in as many different directions as he could to avoid whoever was shooting at him and trying his best to lose them. He couldn’t go back to the house now. If he did he’d lead this person right back to Boris and Alice!

Flinching when another shot missed him, the ink demon was about to wonder why the aim for that one was so off until he realized that shot wasn't for him.

Stopping before a large tree branch would have painfully landed on him, Bendy spun around and took a fighting stance when the person chasing him caught up. A cup headed young man around his age, wearing armor and a red straw sticking out of his head.

This guy wanted a fight? Fine. Bendy would fight.

"I'm warning you now, this isn't a fight you're going to win!"

Keeping his finger pointed at him, the young man scoffed. "Like I'm going to let a demon scare me, especially when he has a mortal hostage. Now where's the cat man?"

This guy saw Felix? When did- Bendy’s eyes went wide when he remembered. 

The sound they heard yesterday! It was that guy watching them! Did anyone else see them?!

...Did he just call Felix his hostage? 

Trying to keep calm and avoid showing his panic building up, Bendy tsked. "He's not a hostage. He's free to leave me whenever he wants, and I wouldn’t stop him."

"Ha! Only a real dummy would trust a demon's word! What kind of knight would I be if I fell for that?"

Oh great, this guy was a knight. That's just fantastic. Could Bendy’s luck get any better?

Taking a step back, the ink demon paused when something came in contact with his heel. Stealing a quick glance down, Bendy’s brow shot up seeing a broken animal skull and its bone fragments stuck to the tree branch that the knight shot down. Looking up, he could feel his ink starting to get runny.

Uh-oh .

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

Looking back at the knight, Bendy felt his stomach drop when he watched him aim his finger in the air and shoot up before the ink demon could warn him not to do that. Probably an intimidation tactic to make it clear he meant business. That's not what made Bendy nervous though.

The thing that started growling above them did.

Looking up in surprise, the knight's face turned pale when he saw a manticore, in the tree above, growling down at him before it pounced. Screaming, the knight attempted to shoot at it, but the creature's large paws pinned his arm down when he was pushed into the earthy ground. The manticore roared in his face, raising its scorpion-like tail to strike.

This was Bendy’s chance to run.

The knight was as good as dead.

Bendy could go home and not worry about being followed.

So why was he running AT the manticore?!

Tackling the creature off of the knight, the two rolled a bit in the dirt until the manticore kicked Bendy off. The ink demon landed hard on his back and hissed in pain from the quickly healing wounds he got from the manticore's razor sharp claws. Getting back on his feet, Bendy stood between the manticore and the stunned knight, growling at it as he took off his cloak so it wouldn't get damaged worse.

The knight behind him yelled. “What the hell are you doing?!”

Apparently saving his dumb ass. Why? Bendy was still figuring that out. He was too busy growling at the creature before him though to properly respond.

Growling in return, the manticore charged forward and raised its front legs to pin down Bendy, only for Bendy to catch it by its paws. Digging his feet into the dirt as he held back the creature's weight, the ink demon did his best to avoid the manticore's teeth and venomous tail aiming for his face as it continued its attack.

This thing was big, strong, and VERY deadly, but Bendy didn't want to hurt it. It was his and the knight's fault for trespassing into its territory in the first place. So, if he wanted to end this quickly, he'd have to dig deep.

He focused on his anger, his fear, his will to live and wanting to go back to Boris and Alice who were waiting for him, wanting to see Felix when he came back home. He wanted to go home tonight! He wasn’t about to let some knight or territorial animal stop him!

Feeling his body shift and his clothes ripping, in his beast form, Bendy easily threw the manticore back as if it was nothing but a rag doll. The creature slammed into a tree and landed on the ground. Disoriented from the impact, the manticore struggled to get back up, giving Bendy a perfect opening.

Charging forward, he stopped as he was right above the manticore and ROARED in its face. Making the large creature cower in fear from the intimidation. When Bendy stopped, he slowly backed away. Giving the creature enough space to get up and fly away from a fight it now knew it wouldn't win.

Oh thank God that worked.

Feeling himself relax, Bendy’s body shifted back to normal as he turned towards the knight, who was now on his knees and staring at Bendy in shock, looking as if he was struggling to believe what he just saw. The ink demon huffed at his stupid expression and went to go pick up his cloak where it landed. "Go home. Fighting me won't be worth it. Trust me."

"... You saved me. Why would…you…"

Thud

With his cloak in his hand, Bendy spun around and saw how the knight collapsed. Cursing under his breath, Bendy ran over and dropped on his knees, rolling the knight over onto his back to see what was wrong.

A piece of fabric on his arm was ripped, the manticore must have nicked him with its tail when Bendy tackled it. Looking at the knight's dangerously pale face and seeing him starting to close his eyes, Bendy acted quickly and patted his face to wake him up as he worked on removing the armor and clothing on the young man's arm. "HEY! Stay with me! Come on, tell me your name! What's your name?!"

"C-cuph-head…"

Ripping the fabric of Cuphead’s shirt sleeve and trying it around his arm to slow the venom from spreading, Bendy did his best to keep him awake. "Okay Cuphead, I need you to stay awake! Can you keep those eyes open for me?"

Bendy didn’t get a response to his question, Cuphead looking extremely out of it already as he muttered an apology to someone, Bendy wasn't sure who, as his eyes slid shut against his will.

“Hey! No! Cuphead, wake up! WAKE UP!”

Nothing. Cuphead was out thanks to the venom spreading in his system.

Groaning in frustration, Bendy scooped up Cuphead's limp body into his arms and looked around. Trying to think of what to do before this guy died on him.

The guy, who was a knight, that hunted demons.

He couldn’t believe he was helping someone that was just trying to kill him.

Bendy was way too nice for his own good…

___________

Ow. Everything was just, ow.

Groaning, Cuphead fought off how tired he felt and cracked his eyes open. He stared at the sunset sky above as he processed how achy his body felt.

Ugh, what hit him?

Hearing something shift out of his line of sight, Cuphead was about to ask Mugman what happened, when a person who WASN’T Mugman spoke. "Oh good, you're awake. I was worried about what I was supposed to do if you were still out when the sun went down."

Jolting at the familiar voice, Cuphead quickly sat up, and instantly regretted it when his head started spinning. A hand took hold of his shoulder to keep him from falling over. "Hey, easy. I didn’t save your life just so you could give yourself a concussion."

Swatting the hand away, Cuphead rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands as he waited for the dizziness to fade. When he was finally able to properly focus, he realized he had a cloak blanketed over his lap, and his one arm was wrapped up in torn fabric. Glancing over, he saw the demon watching him carefully. He was only wearing badly torn pants and a bowtie, and he had bags under his eyes as well as a smudge of black on the corner of his lips.

Noticing a puddle of black close by, Cuphead swallowed nervously. "What, happened?"

Taking his cloak back now that Cuphead was awake, ignoring how the knight flinched when his hand brushed against him as he did so, Bendy put it back on and got up from where he was kneeling. He walked over to his favorite fishing spot by the stream and grabbed his fishing pole that had a large fish hanging from it. "The manticore scratched you with its tail. You're lucky it wasn’t a direct hit, that venom was strong. I wouldn't have been able to save you if you had more in your system."

“How, exactly, did you save me?”

Glancing over at the ink puddle on the ground, Bendy cringed as he mentally humored the idea of telling Cuphead how he used his ink to go inside the knight and specifically corrupt the venom into ink before pulling the ink back out. It was safe to assume that telling him that part would not get a positive reaction. “You don’t want to know.”

That… wasn’t very comforting to Cuphead, but frankly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to push the subject and learn something that’ll keep him up at night.

Watching as Cuphead rubbed his wrapped up arm as he took in the information, Bendy waited a few more moments before asking. "Can you walk home on your own?"

"Why do you care?"

Bendy fought off the urge to sigh in frustration at that question while Cuphead glared at him suspiciously and continued talking. "You saved my life! Twice! What demon does that?! That doesn't make sense! I've been trying to figure you out ever since I saw you and that cat being like a weird little family but NOTHING about you makes sense!"

Staring at each other for a period of time, Bendy was the first to look away as he glanced around the forest scenery. "You knights have a very black and white view on things when the world is full of all kinds of shades and colors."

Blinking in surprise at that response, Cuphead looked around at the scenery too. Taking in all the different colors he saw as the ink demon continued talking. "I saved your life because I know what it's like to be scared and fearing for your life, from the delirious rambling you were doing, it sounded like you have people waiting for you to come back to them tonight, so don't disappoint them, and don't do something this stupid again."

Thinking back to his brother, Cuphead’s stomach dropped a little.

He could have died today. He could have been left on the forest floor to die either of the venom or for something to find a weakened meal, and Mugsy would have either been left wondering what happened to him for the rest of his life, or be the one that found his remains. Everything they’ve worked towards for years would have been all for nothing if Cuphead had died and left his brother alone in this world.

It was thanks to this demon that Cuphead would get to see his brother again.

Looking back at the demon who was now walking away, Cuphead slowly got to his feet and called out to him. "What’s your name?"

Pausing, the demon looked over his shoulder at him, seeming to debate a little to himself before speaking. "My name's Bendy."

"... Thank you, Bendy."

Not expecting a thank you, Bendy looked surprised by that as he turned to face him better. "Uh, you're welcome…"

Glad to get that off his chest, Cuphead turned around and started carefully making his way back to camp and to his brother. Thankful that he was able to actually go see Mugman again.

The demon-...  Bendy’s words stuck to his mind for the rest of his walk back.

____________

Sighing tiredly, Bendy closed the house door behind him. "I'm home."

At the kitchen counter chopping veggies, Alice glanced over her shoulder, and froze seeing the state Bendy was in. "Oh my God! What happened?!"

Not surprised by her reaction, or how Boris came rushing into the room when he heard Alice, Bendy took off his cloak and handed his fishing pole to his brother. "Territorial Manticore. Nothing I couldn't handle."

Wetting a washcloth, Alice wiped at the drying ink around Bendy’s face while Boris checked for injuries. "Are you sure? You didn't push yourself too hard?"

"I'm sure. I'm exhausted though, I'm going to bed."

Still looking worried as Bendy walked past them and headed to their room, Boris called out to him. "We'll save you some dinner for you, tired or not you should still refuel your ink."

Geez, if Boris wasn’t going to eat his share of dinner, then Bendy really must look like hell. "Okay okay, thanks. Good night guys."

Getting back to the bedroom, Bendy dumped his cloak and ripped up pants before changing into his night clothes and collapsing into bed. He sank into the soft material and let his mind drift off into the land of dreams. The last thing on his mind was that Cuphead knight he saved.

He really hoped he didn’t make a big mistake saving him….

________

Running as fast as he could until he reached his destination, Mugman grabbed the fabric acting as the medical tent door and threw it out of the way. His pounding heart calmed down when he spotted his brother sitting up on one of the medical cots. “Cuphead!”

Looking in his brother’s direction, Cuphead smiled for a second before it was replaced by a cringe seeing how MAD Mugman looked now. “Hey Mugsy…”

Marching over, Mugman sat down on the cot and checked Cuphead over. His shirt was gone, though he had a blanket over his shoulders covering his chest, and his arm had bandages wrapped around it. “What happened?! Did you do the thing I told you NOT to do?!”

Seeing how Mugman was quickly starting to steam, the red cup brother quickly told a half truth. “I ticked off a manticore when in the woods. I swear, this isn’t from what you made me promise not to do.” Mostly…

Watching him closely to see any hints of a lie coming from his brother, Mugman took a deep breath to calm himself. “As long as you didn’t do anything really crazy… Are you okay?”

Staring at him, his brother, for a moment, Cuphead bit his bottom lip before he caught Mugman by surprise and wrapped his arms around him tightly. He ignored how his injured arm throbbed in response and could feel when Mugman didn’t hesitate in hugging him back. “Cuphead?”

“I’m okay, I just… I love you Mugsy.”

Wow, that Manticore attack must have really spooked him.

Tightening his hug somewhat, the blue mug brother rubbed Cuphead’s back as the two enjoyed the shared hug. “I love you too.

Chapter Text

Letting his magic bag turn from a horse back into its regular bag form, Felix slung the strap of the bag over his shoulder as he headed for his house and opened the front door. “Kids! I’m home!”

Sticking his head around the corner, Boris wagged his tail seeing Felix and rushed over to give him a hug. “Welcome back! We missed you!”

Chuckling as he hugged back, Felix smiled as Alice approached for a hug as well. He looked past her and raised a brow when the oldest of the three didn’t show up for a hug. “Where’s Bendy? I got him those paints he likes.”

Alice tensed and Boris’s tail stopped wagging. Neither of them said anything right away, which was instantly a giveaway to the cat. His smile dropped as a serious look came across his face. “What happened?”

Pulling away from the hug, the ink angel sheepishly rubbed her arm. “Bendy went fishing the night you left and got attacked by a manticore. He fought it off, but he apparently used up a lot of energy. He’s been in bed ever since.”

Taking in that information, Felix sighed. Somewhat out of frustration that something like this happened when he wasn’t home, and somewhat out of relief that it wasn’t something worse than a magical animal. It still bothered him though that he wasn’t here to help.

Focus. It’s too late to change what happened. Kids come first.

Reaching into his magic bag, Felix pulled out one of the many bottles of ink he just bought and grabbed a bowl from the kitchen. Pouring the ink inside, Felix put a rag in it to soak up the ink as he made his way to the kids' bedroom. 

In his corner of the room, closest to the door, was Bendy sleeping away in bed. A plate with an apple, some bread, and a glass of water rested on his bedside table. The others probably left it for him so he could refuel his ink while Felix was out getting more bottled ink during his supply run.

Putting the bowl down next to the food, Felix sat on the edge of the bed and felt Bendy’s forehead with his hand. No fever, so that means Bendy didn’t use too much ink, but he was still clearly exhausted if he’s been sleeping for over a day. Taking the rag out of the bowl, Felix wrung out the extra ink so it wouldn’t drip everywhere (Felix forever grateful his fur is black and hid ink stains well) and rested the rag on Bendy’s forehead.

Groaning from the cool sensation on his head waking him up, Bendy cracked his eye open and looked up at Felix tiredly. “Felix? What are you doing back so soon?”

Assuming the look on his face was answer enough, Felix watched as Bendy groaned again and rubbed his face. “I’ve been asleep the whole time, haven’t I? God Felix I’m so-”

“Ah-ah. We talked about you and the others apologizing over stuff like this. I’m not upset, so I don’t need an apology. Alice and Boris said something about a manticore?”

Nodding, the ink demon rolled to his side, adjusting the rag so it wouldn’t fall off and reached for the apple to eat. “Boris ate all of our dinner, so I went fishing to get something to eat. My usual fishing spot wasn’t getting anything good, so I tried a different location. Ended up walking into a manticore’s territory.”

Watching as Bendy took a few bites of the apple, Felix wanted to ask more questions considering that explanation didn’t have that much detail. Though with how the ink demon was nodding off again already, the cat decided they could wait as he stood up and made sure Bendy was properly covered up with his blankets. “We’ll talk about this more when you’re rested. I’ll be back to check on you in a little bit.”

Swallowing the bites of apple in his mouth, Bendy yawned as he put the rest of the fruit back on the plate and closed his eyes. “Okay… Welcome home Felix.”

Smiling a little at that, Felix rubbed Bendy’s head as he went back to sleep before the cat left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Bendy was okay. All three of them were okay. It was just a manticore.

…So why did Felix have a weird sinking feeling in his gut?

________________

“Okay, who are you and what did you do to my brother?”

Rolling his eyes at the wisecrack, Cuphead made sure his armor was on correctly before facing his brother. “Oh gee, such a shock I can be reasonable huh?”

Crossing his arms, Mugman frowned at Cuphead. “Can you blame me? You’re always the one charging forward into a situation despite the consequences. You expect me to believe you DON’T want to hunt down a demon now?”

Cuphead supposed that was fair, considering how they grew up and how frustrated Mugman would get over how irresponsible he’d be. It’s kinda a miracle they weren’t kicked out of the knight group yet because of his antics. “Look, I get it’s hard to believe, but after that manticore attack it made me realize… I need to understand a few things before I go tackling something big like a demon. That’s why I’m going to train more.”

Still feeling somewhat skeptical, Mugman would be lying if he said he wasn’t also impressed by his brother’s maturity over the situation. He knew the manticore attack spooked Cuphead pretty good, but the blue mug brother didn’t realize it was that big of an eye opener for him. “Well okay then, if you’re serious about this, how about we train together?”

Stopping himself from giving anything away with his facial expression, the red cup brother raised an eyebrow. “You really want to deal with the headache of training with me, knowing I don’t exactly follow training protocol like everyone else does, when you could instead be reading that book you’ve been trying to finish before that muffin guy you hate so much, ruins another ending for you?”

Seeing how it looked like Mugman was actually considering his options, Cuphead smirked and rested his hand on Mugman’s shoulder. “Look, I won’t go far, and if I run into any trouble, I’ll shoot off a flare so you and the knights can save my butt. Enjoy an afternoon off, you earned it.”

“... Are you SURE you’ll be okay on your own?”

Nodding, Cuphead started to head out of his and Mugman’s shared tent. “I’ll be fine. See you later Mugsy.”

As Cuphead made it way out of camp and into the woods, he sighed a breath of relief that Mugman didn’t insist on coming with him. There was no way he’d be able to get away with this without his brother thinking he REALLY lost his mind.

Frankly, Cuphead himself was questioning his sanity at this point.

He could barely believe he was doing this.

Walking for a while, Cuphead came across a familiar spot and stopped. The spot by the stream where Bendy took him to save his life. There was still a big black spot on the ground where the weird black puddle dried up.

Looking around, Cuphead tried to see if there were any signs of Bendy or someone else coming through here since the last time he was there, but all he could see were signs of animal life. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if Bendy avoided that area now because of him, and even if he wasn’t, there was no way a demon would show himself to a knight. Especially a seemingly smart one like Bendy.

Humming a bit as he looked up, Cuphead pinpointed a tree that had the best view and cover to hide him. Maybe if he sat up there for a while, he’d have a better chance of seeing someone coming before they saw him. So, he made his way over and climbed up. Making himself comfortable as he kicked back and waited… For a demon.

A demon that could easily defeat a giant magic beast that almost killed him.

Yeah, Cuphead was totally insane.

______________

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Bendy sighed happily as he walked through the woods for the first time in a couple of days.

 It took quite a while to convince his guardian that he would be okay going through the woods and would avoid the manticore territory. Honestly Bendy assumed the only reason Felix let him leave without too much hassle was probably because the ink demon looked like he was going stir crazy after regaining his energy.

Bendy understood where the black cat was coming from though. Felix had enough to worry about when it came to him and the others. He was a very loving and caring father figure to them and taught them everything they needed to know to take care of themselves someday, but he still worried about their safety a lot. 

Which was fair, it's not everyday someone adopts 3 demon kids after bringing them back to life… Sorta.

God being ink demons made stuff like this so weird.

Anyways, it also didn't help that most of the world was full of people who feared demons and wanted them wiped from the face of the earth to protect people from temptation and sin. Which, wasn’t exactly how that worked, but Bendy gave up on trying to make sense of people’s logic a long time ago. He just knew that Felix was one of the few people that saw them as the children they are, and wanted to keep them safe from the world that would judge them.

So, for Felix's sake, and so he, Boris, and Alice wouldn't be stuck at the farm for God knows how long, Bendy kept being attacked by a knight to himself. Insisting he was only attacked by a manticore, nothing else.

It was just one knight. Who was a dumb teenage kid. It's not like there was an army.

…Right?

Bendy shook his head, trying not to think of the what ifs. If he did that, he'd drive himself crazy. He didn't need that right now….

Weirdly enough though, Bendy did kinda wonder if Cuphead was okay. He still couldn’t believe how he saved his life, twice. So, if that guy didn’t make it home, the ink demon would be annoyed… and maybe sad? Knight or not, he was still young and clearly had people who he loved waiting for him.

Guess he’ll just have to hope things turned out okay. It’s not like Bendy would ever see Cuphead again-

CRACK

"WHAAA!"

Thud

Freezing, the ink demon squeezed his eyes shut when he heard something fall behind him. Mentally asking if the universe liked torturing him specifically if that was who he thinks it is.

He was going to regret turning around. He KNEW he'd regret turning around.

Turning around, Bendy groaned in annoyance when he saw it was Cuphead, lying face down in the dirt after falling out of a tree he was apparently hiding in. "You have GOT to be kidding me."

Getting onto his hands and knees, Cuphead spit out the dirt and grass that got in his mouth before looking up at Bendy. A look on his face reminding the ink demon of when Felix would bust Boris stealing cookies. "... Hi."

Crossing his arms, Bendy glared at the knight. "Please tell me you're smarter than this. After what happened a few days ago, you go and come after me AGAIN? You couldn't even take on a manticore that I swatted away like a fly!"

Moving to sit on his butt, Cuphead brushed off his armor and clothes as he shot a dirty look at the ink demon. "First of all, I could have handled myself if I wasn't caught off guard focusing on you-"

"Debatable."

"Shut up. Second of all… I'm not here to attack."

Seeing the skeptical look Bendy was giving him, Cuphead sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I've been looking for you because I wanted to talk. What you said before you left that day has been bouncing around in my head. It's driving me nuts!... I have questions. I swear to you I won't attack; I just want to understand."

Bendy… wasn't expecting this.

Felix was the only person that wanted to understand them and was the first person to show them kindness after so long. So having Cuphead, a knight, approach him and saying he wanted to understand too was, different.

Was this a safe idea though? Probably not… but the ink demon could work with this. "Fine, but only if I can ask you questions too. A question for a question. Sounds fair?"

Cuphead blinked up at Bendy. "... You want me to make a deal with you?"

Feeling his irritation grow already, Bendy scowled at the knight. "Do I LOOK like the freaking devil to you knucklehead?"

Putting his hands up in surrender to avoid ticking Bendy off more, Cuphead chuckled nervously. "Nope! No. Sorry… Yeah, that sounds fair."

God if Boris, Alice and Felix found out he was actually doing this Bendy would be in SO much trouble.

Huffing, Bendy sat down across from Cuphead. Now at the same level and not worried about a fight or Cuphead dying from venom, Bendy took notice of how the knight was somewhat taller than him. Closer to Alice’s height, maybe slightly taller. "Okay, you go first. "

"Alright… How old are you?"

Ugh, he had to start with the complicated one. "Physically and mentally 15."

Cuphead raised an eyebrow at how Bendy phrased that, making the ink demon sigh a little. "My birth is really weird to explain. Gives me a headache trying to make it make sense to other people. My turn, how old are you?"

"15. I'll be 16 soon. I thought Demons didn't age. Aren't you immortal?"

Bendy hummed and did a so-so hand gesture. "Sorta. Old age won't kill me, but it's been theorized that my body still needs to properly mature until I physically stop aging. You seem pretty young to be a knight though, graduate knight school early or something?"

Cringing, Cuphead blushed and avoided eye contact with Bendy. The ink demon raised a brow slightly at his hesitation until the knight finally spoke. "Uh, yeah, about that… I might have, lied, a little… I'm still in training."

…This IDIOT was still in training.

And he went after a DEMON.

ALONE.

A beat of silence filled the woods, until Cuphead heard snickering. Looking up, he glared and blushed worse when he noticed Bendy covering his mouth as his shoulders shook under his cloak. "It's not funny!"

"Y-you mean to tell me that YOU, a cocky knight in TRAINING, went after a demon by yourself?!"

Refusing to answer that, Cuphead could feel his head steaming from his blush getting worse when Bendy started laughing. The ink demon had his arms wrapped around his stomach as he cracked up, wiping away, what Cuphead assumed was, black tears from his eyes.

After a good minute of this Cuphead crossed his arms. "Are you done now?"

Holding up his finger to signal that he needed a moment, Bendy got the last of his giggles out and took a few breaths. "Wow, you really are stupid."

"Yeah yeah, like I haven't been told that before. My turn.”

It went on like this for some time. The two of them exchanged questions either of them was curious about. Some answers they kept kinda vague considering they didn’t trust each other at the moment, but others would lead to some topics that would make the two of them laugh surprisingly. Bendy regretted telling Cuphead that demons could technically eat salt as long as they don’t shove a handful of salt down their throats. A safe amount of salt would just give them indigestion. The knight-in-training made fart jokes for a good five minutes as Bendy blushed.

After exchanging more questions and answers though, Cuphead asked.  “What's the deal with the cat man? Felix was his name, right? If he isn't your hostage or something, then what is he?"

Wow, well at least this guy doesn't beat around the bush. Could Bendy trust Cuphead with telling him something like this?

Well, he already saw Felix, and apparently heard Bendy use his name. As long as he spoke carefully… "Like I said, I'm 15. I'm technically still a child. He doesn't have to, but Felix has been raising me. He makes sure I'm safe and protected from people like you."

That surprised Cuphead. "Protect you? You took on a manticore!"

The ink demon scoffed as he wrapped his arms around himself. "That was a wild animal. Knights that hunt demons? They're organized, and cold blooded. They see a demon, they don't care what their story is, that demon is as good as dead… or at least they should pray to whatever god that will listen for death… Felix doesn't want that to happen. Not after how he found me."

Cuphead, honestly didn't know how to respond to that. Thinking over the times the knights returned from a demon hunt. He and Mugman never saw the hunts themselves, but they always saw what happened afterwards. How a dead or sedated demon was brought back to camp to be delivered to a kingdom to either do as they pleased with it or to hold onto it for the knights' commander until he arrived.

Were some of them just people trying to live a regular life like Bendy? How many demons that were captured or killed were actually hurting the innocent? 

"So why are you training to be a knight?"

Snapping out of his train of thought, Cuphead looked at Bendy who was watching him carefully after asking that question. 

Oof. Cuphead wasn't ready to spill those beans yet. Maybe he could sugar coat it. "Um, I joined them for protection. There's a dangerous demon situation where I grew up. A lot of people lose their souls because of it. My caretaker sent my brother and I away to learn how to protect ourselves and to maybe someday defend our home."

Hm, well that explained a few things to Bendy about Cuphead. He heard about how some demons, especially the Devil, liked collecting souls like fresh fruit for the picking. Very despicable in Bendy’s opinion. "Well, if it helps you feel any better, I don’t do that. Souls should be protected, not taken."

This demon was going to keep surprising Cuphead wasn't he? Saying things, he never thought a demon would say.

Looking up at the sky to see where the sun was, Bendy sighed as he got up. "I need to head home before Felix worries."

Getting up as well, Cuphead cleared his throat awkwardly. "Right, I should head back too…"

Staring at the knight in training for a moment, Bendy bit the inside of his cheek as he thought something over. "... Meet me back here in two days if you still want to talk."

Caught off guard by that, Cuphead could barely get an "Okay" out before Bendy walked past him and headed deeper into the woods. The two of them went their separate ways to go where they belonged with the unofficial promise to see each other again soon.

Both of them hoped they wouldn’t regret all of this.

But maybe this could be the start of something new, and needed.

Chapter Text

The fire was warm, and it was bright. It was almost hypnotic to watch as it danced in the fireplace. 

It was a decent distraction. 

Looking away from the dancing flames, Bendy glanced over at Alice and Boris who were sleeping curled up against him in the pile of blankets and pillows. Watching them breath softly as they rested and recovered. 

They were okay now… but for how long?

Mama and Papa were gone. They had to be gone. If they weren't, they wouldn't have left them there in that hell hole for so long… right?

Turning his attention back to the flames, Bendy rubbed his fist against his eyes to get rid of his tears before they stained the blankets. The last thing he wanted to do was anger the cat man for getting ink everywhere. 

"Hey kiddo?"

Jolting a little, Bendy spun around and looked up at the cat man that was standing behind him. Felix, going shirtless so he wouldn’t bother his sore bandaged chest trying to put one on, had a couple of mugs in his hands. He offered one to Bendy. "I noticed you're still awake. So I made some tea if you'd like some."

Watching him cautiously, Bendy carefully took the offered cup and looked down at it. Smelling the freshly brewed camomile reminded him of when his Mama would make it. "Thank you Mr. Felix…"

Smiling softly, Felix sat down in his favorite chair nearby, sipping at his own tea before asking. "You've been awake for a while now. I don’t think I've seen you sleeping ever since you woke up from passing out a couple of days ago. Aren't you tired?"

Enjoying the warmth from the cup spreading in his hand, the young ink demon went back to watching the fire. "I don't need to sleep. It's more of a luxury for us, a chance to give our minds and body a break, but we don't need sleep to live."

Felix frowned, putting his cup down on the side table by his chair. "That doesn't answer my question. Aren't you tired?"

"... Yes."

"Then why don't you rest?"

When Bendy didn’t respond, choosing to drink his tea instead, Felix glanced at the other two. Thinking back to how Bendy had them protectively in his arms for 30 years, and how when he woke up his first reaction was to grab the wolf and angel and growl at Felix when he tried approaching with food. It took the cat a long time to assure Bendy, Alice, and Boris they were all safe.

It seems though that Bendy still didn't feel safe. "You are safe here, you know. I won't let anything happen to you three while you're in my home."

As Bendy looked back up at him, the cat could see the fear and worry in his eyes. "But for how long? We're not your responsibility…"

Slowly moving to avoid startling the demon, Felix got down on his knees next to him. "As long as you need. I'm the one who brought you back, and I'm not about to let three children fend for themselves, demon or not."

Felix continued as Bendy looked up at him in surprise. "But while you're here, I want you to know that you ARE safe. I won't let anything happen to you, so please, try to get some rest."

Bendy stared up at Felix for a while, before turning his attention down to his siblings, then back up at the cat. "... C-can you stay here? Please?"

Smiling, Felix made himself comfortable as Bendy laid down. The ink demon watched as the cat made sure he gave him plenty of space in their makeshift bed, but still stayed close like Bendy asked. Hesitating a little, Bendy slowly reached out for Felix's hand. When his fingers brushed against the cat's, the furry black hand flipped over palm up, Felix giving wordless permission to Bendy.

Taking hold of his hand, Bendy held onto it as tightly as he dared without hurting Felix. He was thankful the cat didn’t say anything as he cried himself to sleep.

_______

"Going out again, Bendy?"

Putting on his cloak and lifting the hood up, Bendy nodded to Felix as he grabbed his sketchbook. "Yeah, just for a while. I'll be back before dark."

It's been a little over a month since Bendy and Cuphead started these little sneak meetings. Cuphead assured Bendy that he made sure no one would be suspicious of him leaving often, and thankfully Bendy didn’t need much of an excuse, he, Alice, and Boris would go on walks in the woods to explore so it wasn’t suspicious to anyone when Bendy would go out by himself after doing his chores.

That still didn't stop Felix from noticing how he'd leave more often to be "alone." Though. The cat stops writing something down as he gives Bendy a concerned look. "Is everything okay kiddo? You've been doing this a lot lately. Is there something you want to talk about?"

Bendy held up his sketchbook. "I'm fine, I promise. I just want to draw things in the woods before the season changes."

As well as talk to Cuphead, which was something Bendy actually started looking forward to sometimes.

They mostly started with serious questions they thought up before the visit, wanting to understand something better then just assuming the answer. Over time though after those get taken care of, they’d start doing more questions that didn’t have too much of a point. Probably just out of boredom and child-like curiosity.

Honestly, Bendy was starting to have a little bit of fun with these meetings.

Humming a little, Felix put his attention back down at his papers and continued writing. "Alright. Alice and I will do our best to save you some dinner, but knowing Boris I make no promises. If you hear anything suspicious in the woods, hurry home right away."

"Yes Felix. See you later."

Closing the door behind him, Bendy made sure he walked a good distance away from the property before picking up the pace. Wanting to get to his and Cuphead’s meeting spot as soon as he could. When he got there, he found Cuphead already waiting, drawing in the dirt with a stick and looking bored until he saw Bendy and smiled.

The two of them exchanged their greetings, before getting started with their questions. Most were silly questions that would get the two of them chuckling.

Bendy said that, theoretically, he COULD probably make a soul contract if he wanted, but what the heck was he going to do with that? Have whoever owes him clean the outhouse so he doesn't have to? That got the knight in training snickering and saying he would do that if he were Bendy.

Cuphead explained that yes, he could pour things into his head and it would enter his system faster, but dumping coffee directly into his head gave him the WORST caffeine high and withdrawal. He was also officially banned from coffee from the last time he did that. Took Bendy a while to stop laughing at the mental images.

Munching on some berries they found, Cuphead threw one in the air and caught it in his mouth. “So demons can heal fast right? Does that mean you won't get a hangover when you’re old enough to drink?” 

Sitting up in a tree, drawing the perspective he had through the branches, Bendy snorted in amusement. “Probably if I was a normal demon.”

“You’re not?”

Realizing what he just said, Bendy tensed up and glanced down at Cuphead who was looking up at him curiously. Seeing his hesitation, the knight in training spoke up. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Thinking it over, Bendy took a deep breath to get himself to relax as he closed his sketchbook. “It’s fine… A long time ago, I was brought to life by a group of people. Most of them were unwilling, but their little “leader” didn’t give them much of a choice in the matter. I never came from hell, I was created out of dark magic and ink.”

Dark magic and ink? Where has Cuphead heard-

Oh whoa. “You’re the Ink Demon?!”

Not getting an answer, Cuphead stood up, trying to get a look at Bendy’s face while it was somewhat shielded by the angle and his cloak. “I’ve heard that story before! The ink demon plotting to drown the world in ink, defeated by the brave hero Drew-”

“JOEY WAS A MONSTER!”

Jumping back in alarm, Cuphead watched Bendy get down from the tree and pull his cloak hood off, glaring at him as ink started running from his head. “You want to know the true story?! Joey’s a LIAR! And a damn good one! He was no hero! He’s the reason I exist, and when I didn’t want to do what he planned for the world, he hurt EVERYONE I LOVE! AND I COULDN’T PROTECT THEM FROM HIM!”

Taking deep breaths after his rant, it took Bendy a moment to realize he was looking down at Cuphead, who was looking up at him in slight fear with his finger tip glowing from magic.

Ah, seems he transformed to his ink demon form when yelling. Not surprising. Talking about Joey never ended well.

Backing away from Cuphead, Bendy wrapped his arms around himself before turning around. “We’re done for the day.”

He could hear the knight in training attempting to say something to him, but Bendy didn’t stick around to listen. Instead he used his enhanced speed to rush home, leaving Cuphead in the dust. He could only hope he didn’t leave an inky trail as he ran as fast as he could before he could get more worked up.

Reaching the yard, Bendy somewhat registered Felix was out there chopping firewood before he headed to the barn and hid on the upper level of it. Curling up in a corner and hugging his knees as he tried doing the calm breathing techniques his Papa taught him and the others.

“Just breath Bendy, like this okay? Watch and copy what I do, and everything will be okay. ”

How could everything be okay? He and Mama weren’t there anymore…

“Bendy?”

Lifting his head up, Bendy saw Felix slowly climbing up to the upper level of the barn. The cat looked at him in worry seeing he was in his ink demon form. “Hey kiddo, what’s wrong? I thought you were going for a walk?”

Bendy wanted to tell him, he ALMOST told him, but he stopped himself from saying anything about Cuphead. Instead he just let out a sob and rubbed at the ink running on his face. “I-I started thinking about HIM . It was just, to much…”

Getting a look of sympathy on his face, Felix carefully walked over and knelt by the ink demon’s side. “I know Bendy. After all this time it still hurts, I understand. Is there anything you need me to do to help right now?”

Sniffling a little, Bendy hesitated slightly before reaching his hand out. Felix smiled gently as he took his hand and held it. Giving Bendy the wordless reassurance that he was right there for him and wasn’t going anywhere.

Everything didn’t feel like it would be okay, but Bendy knew they would be.

Eventually.

______

"Bendy WAIT-"

Too late. Before Cuphead could even attempt to apologize the ink demon was gone. Moving faster in this new skeleton-like form, it would be pointless for Cuphead to even TRY following him. Leaving him standing there in the woods with his hand extended towards where the other disappeared to.

Groaning, the red cup brother slapped himself in the forehead. "Nice going, idiot."

He didn't mean to upset Bendy. He was just surprised to learn that he was the Ink Demon. He didn't realize until too late how that story of his defeat MIGHT be a touchy subject.

And he reacted by building up magic in his hand out of fear. Great way of testing their extremely fragile trust by acting scared and being ready to shoot. He really thought he was getting better at not being jumpy around Bendy.

The new information he learned certainly had Cuphead confused though. He heard that story for years, hearing how the hero Drew defeated the ink demon with the Finis sword…. But in truth, Drew MADE Bendy???

Why would someone make a demon?

What the hell did Drew do that the story never covered?

… Just what exactly did Bendy go through because of that guy?

Rubbing his face, Cuphead glanced down at the ground when something caught his eye. Bendy’s sketchbook lay abandoned on the dirt. The ink demon problem forgot to grab it thanks to his rush to get out of there. Curious, the knight-in-training went over and picked it up. Looking at some of the pages to make sure it wasn't damaged and dirty.

"Dang, these are really good."

The pages mostly consisted of plants and animals. Bendy obviously avoided drawing people and himself in case someone ever looked through it, like what Cuphead was doing right now. He had a really nice art style though. Made everything look really pretty.

Cuphead probably shouldn't leave this out in the open. If he did it might get damaged or found, but if he took it with him then Mugman might notice and ask where he found it. It was hard enough to convince his brother that he didn't want to look for a demon on their own anymore and wanted to work on training in the woods alone. If he showed up with a sketchbook Mugman might demand an explanation.

 Looking around, Cuphead spotted a tree hollow. Getting closer to inspect it, there was thankfully nothing living inside of it and it was big enough for the book. So taking a handkerchief he had, he used it to cover the book as he laid it inside the tree and covered it with leaves. Hoping that'll keep it safe until he could return it to Bendy.

If he ever saw Bendy again…

______________

Life REALLY loved messing with Bendy didn’t it?

Clearly it did. Bendy had enough bullshit trauma to be sure of it.

Of course he left his sketchbook in the woods. The sketch book that Felix gave him as a present for his birthday. The really nice one the cat worked hard to get for him.

If that thing was damaged Bendy was going to kick himself hard in the butt for leaving it behind in the woods for over a day… Better than Cuphead taking it though.

God how could he be so dumb? Lashing out at Cuphead like that probably shattered the fragile trust they were building up. After that he wouldn’t be surprised if Cuphead took his sketchbook back to his little knight group to tell the others a dangerous demon was out in the woods.

Though it’s not like there was much proof in the book. Bendy never drew people for reasons like this. He preferred drawing nature and animals anyways. The world around him was far more interesting to draw.

That still didn’t mean it wasn’t risky if the knucklehead did take it.

God Bendy REALLY hoped he didn’t take it.

…Yet, despite everything, the ink demon found himself kinda hoping to apologize to Cuphead. What happened wasn’t exactly his fault. He didn’t know. No one knew. So Bendy snapping at him and yelling in his face wasn’t okay.

He doubted he’d get the chance though. From how scared of him Cuphead looked, Bendy was pretty sure if he saw him again he'd get a magic bullet to the face before he’d get the chance to say the word sorry.

Yeah, life really did like messing with Bendy with its sick sense of humor.

Arriving at the meeting spot he and Cuphead would usually meet up at, Bendy’s eyes went wide when he spotted what was there waiting.

He wasn’t expecting to find the knight in training there. Sitting under a tree and looking bored, not noticing Bendy arrived already. “Cuphead?”

Perking up at hearing Bendy, Cuphead quickly got to his feet. “Bendy! You came back.”

Nodding timidly, Bendy didn’t make eye contact as he rubbed at his arm nervously. “Yeah… Look about last time-”

“I’m sorry.”

Getting caught off guard, Bendy lifted his head and gave Cuphead a confused look. Watching the knight in training reach into a tree hollow and pull out his sketchbook he left behind. “I didn’t mean to- I just-... I’m sorry…”

Oh wow. Cuphead was actually saying sorry for what happened? Bendy thought he would be the one doing all the apologizing. “I-It’s okay. I’m sorry I overreacted. People don’t know the true story, it’s not your fault you thought what you heard was true.”

Looking down at the book in his hands, Cuphead held it out for Bendy to take. “You don’t have to, but do you want to tell me the true story?”

Bendy watched Cuphead carefully. Seeing how he was genuinely trying to show he cared. The ink demon appreciated it, but…

Stepping forward, Bendy took back his sketchbook and shook his head. “I can’t… It still hurts.”

Cuphead nodded. “I understand… Your drawings are really good by the way. I saw some of them when making sure your book wasn’t damaged.”

Thankful for the subject change, Bendy smiled a little. “Thanks. Years of practice.”

Glad to see Bendy was cheering up a little, Cuphead stepped back and sat down under the tree. “So do you want to get started today with the questions?”

Taking a moment to think something over, Bendy moved to sit down too. Somewhat catching Cuphead by surprise when instead of sitting a few feet away, the ink demon sat down next to him under the tree and opened his sketchbook to continue drawing. “Sure… By the way, I can’t get drunk.”

“Huh???”

Bendy smirked a little over how confused Cuphead looked. “Your question from last time. I can’t get hangovers because I can’t get drunk. I’m made of ink so stuff like that doesn’t work on me.”

Oh, Cuphead almost forgot about that. “Really? Damn. Remind me never to challenge you to a drinking contest when we’re older.”

Snorting, Bendy started to doodle a nearby bolder with tree roots growing around it. “Not like I’d agree. Beer tastes terrible.”

Laughing a little, Cuphead raised an eyebrow. “So you’ve had a drink before?”

“Once, I wanted to know what the fuss was about so I stole a sip from a bottle left on the table. Nearly got into a lot of trouble but I think the face I was making over the flavor was too funny to be mad at.”

Both of them laughed over the story. Cuphead getting a kick out of the mental image and Bendy enjoying the old happy memory, before the two of them started their questions.

After last time, the demon and knight were worried that the trust they were working on had fallen apart.

Now though, it somehow felt stronger.

Chapter Text

Okay, something was off.

Mugman knew something was off.

It’s been months now, and Cuphead always found an excuse to go into the woods to train. Mugman was glad his brother wanted to work on becoming better in combat, but lately he was starting to wonder if that was what he was really doing. Cuphead would never want anyone to come with him, and always look disappointed when he couldn’t go.

Which was weird because Cuphead usually liked getting a break from training to do something else. Why was he so eager to do his own personal training alone in the woods?

What really made Mugman suspicious was when the knight group was rounded up for announcements. 

“Start packing up! We’ve been summoned to aid a kingdom in a demon invasion across the seas! We leave in a week!”

Cuphead looked utterly crestfallen, which was a big sign that he was hiding something from Mugman. Cuphead was dying to have a high seas adventure, but now that they’re about to go on one, he couldn’t look more miserable.

As the knights separated to start packing up, Mugman turned to his brother. “Are you okay?”

Within a blink of an eye, Cuphead’s disappointed look on his face was quickly covered with a neutral look as he faced the blue mug brother. “Yeah! Of course! We’re finally going to see some action, isn’t this exciting Mugsy?”

“It is, but are you sure you’re okay? You don’t seem as excited as I thought you’d be.”

Shrugging, Cuphead started walking. “Eh, kinda hoped we’d be knights before this happened. All we’re probably going to do is carry stuff for the big-shots and clean up after the horses.”

Mugman supposed that’s fair. Neither of them would get to take part in too much until they were officially knights, which was unfortunate, but he didn’t buy that that was what’s wrong.

Before he could try pressing the subject further though, Cuphead spoke up. “I’m going to go train a little before we’re all cramped into a boat. I’ll be back to pack later.”

Frowning, Mugman watched Cuphead leave. The nagging feeling that something was up grew in his stomach. So much so that he felt himself moving forward and going into the woods. Staying quiet and out of sight as he followed his brother.

Cuphead wouldn’t keep a secret from him right?

Not with everything they’re going through together.

He was just training like he’s said he’s been doing.

So why did everything about this feel so off?

Traveling for quite a while, Mugman stopped and hid as he saw his brother stop and look around. Cuphead glancing around with a suspicious look on his face. Worrying for a moment that the red cup brother realized Mugman followed him, that worry vanished when he heard a chuckle. “I know you’re there you inky goof.”

Hearing giggles from above, a cloaked figure swung down from a tree and landed on their feet near Cuphead. “You’re getting better at that.”

Smiling Cuphead turned to face this new person. “What kind of knight would I be if I let someone sneak up on me.”

“Says the idiot that had to have his porcelain butt saved from a manticore and fell out of a tree.”

Cuphead frowned and huffed. “You’re never going to let me hear the end of that are you?”

Giggling once more, the person reached up and removed the hood of their cloak. Making Mugman’s stomach DROP as he saw the face of the demon that his brother came all the way out there to meet. “Nope, never. Isn’t it a demon’s specialty to torture mortals?”

Scoffing, Cuphead and the demon sat down on the grass next to each other. “I thought demon torture would be less petty.”

The demon shrugged as they pulled something out of their cloak. “Eh, I’ve never been to hell so I wouldn’t really know. Anyways, I managed to snag something from home. We picked some apples that were growing out here and made some pastries. They’re really good.”

Instantly forgetting his annoyance, Cuphead grinned when the demon held out a cloth napkin and unwrapped it to show the two pastries. Thanking the demon, Cuphead took one and took a large bite. Humming happily at the flavor. “Ooooh this is so good. Your family member that cooks is amazing!”

Smiling, the demon took a bite of his own pastry. “They are. Now if only they’d actually save some food for the rest of us to enjoy before eating it all.”

Oh God, there were more demons out there?! 

Cuphead, this whole time, has been coming out to meet a demon?!

This can’t be happening…

“If you want, I can write down the recipe for you and give it to you tomorrow.”

Freezing as he chewed the last bit of food, Cuphead looked like he remembered something before he forced himself to swallow. “Uh, actually, I need to tell you something…”

Looking slightly thrown off by how serious Cuphead sounded, the demon gave him a concerned look as he swallowed the last of his pastry and wiped the crumbs off his hands. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine, it’s just… This might be the last time we see each other.”

A look of alarm came across the demon’s face, the red cup brother quickly cutting in before he could say anything. “It’s not for anything bad! I promise. My group has been called for help to handle a, demon situation…”

Silence filled the air. Cuphead rubbed at his arm nervously as the demon looked at him with a hard to read expression. “What kind of demon situation?”

Cuphead shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that it must be something big if we’re traveling across the sea to help.”

As the demon stayed quiet, Cuphead surprised Mugman by carefully taking hold of the demon’s hand, making the demon tense up slightly at the contact. “But I swear, I won’t hurt any demons.”

WHAT?!

What was Cuphead saying?!

The demon looked just as shocked as Mugman felt. “Cuphead you’re a knight in training, you’re going to have to-”

Cuphead scowled as he tightened his grip on the demon’s hands. “Hell no. You showed me the world isn’t just black and white. What the knights are doing is bullshit. You’re an amazing person, and I swear to you that you won’t lose anything anymore because of jerks like us. I’ll figure out what’s going on with the demon situation there, and if they mean no harm then I’ll help them in any way I can.”

“Cuphead… If you get caught, you’ll be punished for being a traitor.”

Smirking, Cuphead just shrugged. “Then I won’t get caught.”

Huffing a slight laugh, the demon pulled his hands out of Cuphead’s hands and rubbed at his eyes. “You better not, because I’m making it an order. Don’t you dare get caught, you understand me?”

“I understand.”

An order?

Was Cuphead under this demon’s control? Is that why he’s been coming out here ever since the manticore attack? Did Mugman’s brother owe the demon because he saved his life?

If that was true then this was bad.

Relaxing a little at Cuphead listening to his order, the demon sighed and looked up at the red cup brother sadly. “How long will you be gone?”

____________________

Bendy’s been acting strange the last few months.

Very strange.

He kept going off into the woods, which in all honesty wasn’t all that weird to Boris. Frankly with always being cooped up in their little found-family farm they all got a bit stir crazy and would explore while respecting Felix’s rules.

Stay away from strangers.

Don’t be seen.

Don’t be heard.

Be back by sunset.

Considering what they’ve all been through, they all respected those rules deeply.

But what Boris found strange was how Bendy would be gone for so long, looking almost excited to go out in the woods, but return seemingly happier then when he left. Felix and Alice seemed to have noticed how odd that was too, but they let him be since they trusted Bendy to be safe. Boris did too of course!

Just, after everything, he couldn’t help but worry. So when Bendy headed out for the day, Boris followed his scent into the woods. Walking for some time until he started picking up Bendy’s voice in the distance.

“That’s a long time…”

“I know… I’ll miss you.”

Boris’s eyes widened as he quickly ducked down into some nearby bushes as quietly as he could. His heart picking up in terror as he heard an unfamilar voice talking to Bendy. Nervously peeking out to get a better look, the ink wolf saw his brother sitting with and talking to a young man, roughly around their age with a cup for a head and a red straw sticking out of said head. His stomach dropped seeing he was wearing armor.

What was Bendy DOING?!

Chewing on his lower lip a little, Bendy reached into his pocket and pulled something out. A round framed glass and a small slab of wood with a small inky circle and symbols. Taking a deep breath, Bendy offered them to the cup. “This is magically linked to my ink where things like myself, or something with my ink, can pass through it like a portal. I’ll send you messages as often as I can. Use that glass while holding up a light source to it so you can read it, because the messages will be invisible otherwise.” 

Bendy was giving him his emergency message tools?! They only have those to get in touch with Felix if the house is attacked or if they were ever in serious danger in the woods!

Looking surprised by what Bendy was offering him, the red cup tried to push the items away. “I can’t accept that. Us talking like this is risky enough. I don’t want you going out of your way to talk to me.”

Taking the red cup’s hand, Bendy put the items in his hand and smiled at him. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t trust you. Not many people are willing to see past me being a demon Cuphead, but you are. I don’t want to lose that… I don’t want to lose you.”

Cuphead stared at Bendy, looking conflicted as he took a moment to think, before sighing and pocketing the items Bendy gave him. “I said I would make sure you wouldn’t lose anything anymore. I didn’t realize that meant me.”

He then smirked playfully at Bendy. “Gee, you must REALLY like me.”

Looking somewhat caught by surprise by that comment, Bendy snorted and lightly shoved Cuphead. “Watch it, your ego’s showing knucklehead.”

Chuckling, the red cup leaned back against the tree they were sitting under. "Can't deny how lovable I am though."

"... True."

From how Cuphead’s eyes went wide and his face turned red, it was clear he wasn't expecting Bendy to agree with him. Bendy himself was blushing worse than Cuphead, avoiding eye contact as the two of them stayed silent. After a few moments though, Cuphead smiled softly. "I should get going. Still gotta help my brother pack up our stuff… Mind if I steal a final farewell?"

Looking like he was about to ask what Cuphead meant, Bendy froze when Cuphead cupped his cheek and started to lean in.

Boris couldn't believe what he was seeing when Bendy didn’t pull away, but closed his eyes and started to lean in too.

Oh whoa.

Was he really going to do it?!

Should Boris stop him???

With their faces barely an inch apart from each other, Cuphead glanced up when something caught his eye and gasped. "LOOK OUT!"

BANG

Ducking down and covering his ears from the painfully loud sound, Boris cringed when another loud sound went off and a bright light shot up into the sky.

"MUGMAN STOP!"

Standing up from his hiding place, Boris saw how Bendy, who was shoved out of the way by Cuphead when the first magic attack was shot at him, was now frantically rolling out of the way from another magic attack from the new arrival. A mug with a blue straw, who looked pissed as hell, he continued to attack. 

Feeling rage building up inside of him, the ink wolf ran forward and tackled Mugman who had his back to him. Pinning him to the dirt as he growled and snarled, the blue mug's struggles meant nothing to Boris's strength as he opened his mouth to sink his teeth into the throat of the person attacking his brother. 

"BORIS NO!"

The scruff at the back of his neck got pulled, making Boris yelp in surprise and look at Bendy in shock who was glaring back at him. "But he was-!"

Bendy sighed and let go on his brother while Cuphead rushed to Mugman and told him to stand down before he could attack again. "I know, but we don't have time!"

True to his word, off in the distance they could hear the rush of horses and men heading their way. Knights heading towards them in response to the magic flare Mugman shot.

Still holding his brother tightly to keep him from attacking again, Cuphead felt his stomach drop as he looked at Bendy. "Run. NOW."

Nodding, Bendy grabbed Boris’s hand and started to book it through the woods. Boris still has a million questions about what he just witnessed, but those were the last things on his mind as he looked back and saw the knights coming into view.

They'd be spotted any moment now. They'd lead the knights right back to Alice and Felix!

Bendy looked back as well, growling as he pulled Boris in front of him and pushed him forward. "KEEP RUNNING! DON'T LOOK BACK! DON’T STOP NO MATTER WHAT!"

Horror was clear on the ink wolf’s face when he looked back at his brother. "WHAT?! BENDY-"

"GO!"

Doing as he was told, Boris felt his eyes sting from tears when he could no longer hear Bendy’s footsteps behind him. He just kept running as fast as he could. 

Feeling relieved as Boris did what he told him to do, Bendy smiled sadly as his brother disappeared into the woods before he turned around and glared at the knights charging towards him. The ink demon growled, taking off his cloak so it wouldn't be in the way, he could feel his ink starting to run as he grabbed at a nearby tree, pulling with all his might until the tree was ripped out of the ground and THREW it at the knights. Causing many of them to quickly get their horses to move out of the way or duck for safety.

Welp, that got their attention. Hopefully they didn't see Boris.

Running in a random direction, Bendy hoped they'd all follow him, but also hoped he was fast enough where they didn't catch him.

He should have been more careful. 

Of course the others would get suspicious eventually! 

Now he put his family at risk again!

This time he'd make sure they'd all be safe. Bendy wasn't going to let Boris and Alice get hurt again.

Never again.

BANG

Crying out in pain, the ink demon lost his footing and slammed into the dirt ground hard. His arms wrapped around his burning side, thankfully the pain quickly faded as his magic healed him.

As he lifted his head up though, Bendy groaned to see he was now surrounded. 

Damn it.

Not moving in fear of getting shot again at such a close range, Bendy snarled and growled threateningly. His heart picking up in terror as he watched all the knights around him holding up their hands to blast him with magic or holding up their weapons to attack.

A sharp pain suddenly struck him in his shoulder. Turning his head, Bendy saw a dart filled with some kind of glowing purple liquid stuck in his inky skin, turning that area the same shade of glowing purple that glowed through his shirt as his body absorbed it.

Oh, that wasn’t good.

Yanking the dart out, Bendy attempted to get back to his feet, but ended up falling back onto the ground limply as his vision seemed to fill with a magic purple haze.

DamnitdamnitDAMNIT!

He heard people talking, but he couldn't understand any of it. Everything felt weird. His body felt heavy and numb. He couldn't MOVE.

Strong rough hands grabbed him. His arms were yanked behind him as something cold and hard wrapped around them, as well as his ankles, and his mouth. He was held up by his upper arms as he felt his knees scrapping the dirt ground.

His hazy mind could barely keep up with what was going on, barely hearing a familiar voice yelling and arguing, but he could understand one thing. He was caught.

At least he protected his family this time…

_______

“FELIX!”

Throwing the door open at the sound of Boris’s voice, Felix quickly rushed out of the house and met the ink wolf halfway through the yard and held him by his shoulders as the two of them dropped to their knees. Boris’s body was dripping with ink as he fought off changing forms out of fear, making Felix’s stomach twist. “What happened?!”

Panting hard, it was hard for the cat to tell the difference between ink and tears when Boris looked up at him. “I-I followed Bendy into the woods! He’s been meeting up with some knight named Cuphead, another knight showed up though and attacked and Bendy told me to run!”

Bendy was in trouble.

Looking back at the house, seeing Alice coming out with a horrified look on her face when she overheard what happened, Felix gave her and Boris a firm look. “Stay here!”

With that, he took off running into the woods as fast as he could, heading down the direction Boris came from. His heart was pounding as he kept his hand on his magic bag, ready to save his oldest. Mentally praying that he was okay, that he was safe.

Stopping, Felix panted as he took in the sight in front of him.

A tree was clearly ripped out of the ground by Bendy and thrown across the forest, a few unconscious men whose lives were saved thanks their armor and avoiding getting hit DIRECTLY by the tree laid on the ground.

Among the men though, was Bendy’s cloak.

Rushing over to collect it, Felix was about to keep looking for the ink demon until he heard horses approaching. Cursing under his breath, he quickly ducked into a hiding place before knights came into view to retrieve their wounded comrades.

“That thing really did a number on some of our men.”

“Indeed it did. At least we got to it before the demon could reach the kingdom.”

No…

They got him.

Felix was too late.

With his hand over his mouth to avoid making a sound over his horror, Felix continued to listen to the knights.

“Are we really keeping that thing alive?”

“Orders from the top. We capture a demon alive if we can and leave it in the custody of the closest kingdom until the commander can come by and see the demon for himself.”

Felix felt the invisible grip around his heart lessened a little at that. It was still there, but hearing Bendy was alive gave Felix hope as he held Bendy’s cloak tightly.

He couldn’t go after him right this moment. The knights would easily overpower Felix, and Alice and Boris were probably scared out of their minds back home right now. His other kids needed him, and they needed to come up with a plan to save Bendy.

Mentally promising his oldest that he’d be back for him, Felix quickly and quietly slipped away and headed back home.

He swore he’d protect these kids with everything he’s got.

And he MEANT it.

Chapter Text

"LET HIM GO!"

As Cuphead and Mugman caught up with their knight group, the red cup brother’s heart dropped seeing they had caught Bendy. The ink demon in shackles and a muzzle as his eyes were glowing purple with an unfocused look in them. He tried to rush forward, get the knights to let his friend go, but he was stopped by others. 

Everyone there was giving him looks like he lost his mind. Someone wanting to defend a demon? He might as well have cussed out God in a church full of nuns.

Stepping forward, his higher up looked down at him in disgust. "You dare defend a demon Cuphead? After everything our order has taught you about them, you'd damn yourself to hell for one?"

Cuphead wanted to yell, tell that man they were all wrong. Demon's weren't all heartless monsters out to damn the innocent. The devil? Sure, yes, he did do that. Cuphead knew that fact all too well.

But Bendy just wanted to live his life free and in peace with the people he loves!

Before he could say anything though Mugman stepped between them. "S-sir! I believe this demon has my brother under some kind of control. If we give him some time to clear his head now that the demon is subdued then I'm sure he'll be back to normal."

Seeming to study the two of them for a bit, their higher up put his focus on Cuphead, roughly grabbing his chin and tilting his head around to give him a better look at his face. Humming in thought, the man turned to the other knights. "Make sure the demon is secure and keep an eye on Cuphead. We head to the nearest kingdom in the morning."

Getting dragged away by the knights holding him, Cuphead struggled to keep his eyes on Bendy until he no longer could. Being shoved in one of the camp's large tents, Cuphead was handcuffed to one of the chairs the camp had and was left sitting in there while knights guarded the outside. Giving him space so he could "clear his head".

Oh his head was clear alright, because all he could think about was how PISSED he was.

How could he be so stupid?!

Of course his overprotective brother Mugman followed him!

Of course he'd call for backup seeing him with a demon!

DAMN IT!

Giving the cuffs around his wrists a good tug, in a pathetic attempt to break free which didn't work (the chains were made for demons afterall) Cuphead sighed heavily in frustration and tried making himself calm down. Being angry wasn't going to help anything right now.

He sat there for hours. The light of day faded, and the only light Cuphead could see was the warm glow of lanterns outside. Cuphead has nothing better to do but think and try figuring out what to do to get Bendy the hell out of here.

If they took the ink demon to the next kingdom, that was as good as a death sentence. If Bendy was LUCKY.

God what the hell did they get themselves into…

"Can I talk to my brother please? I wanna check up on him"

Lifting his head up in surprise at hearing Mugman’s voice, Cuphead watched as his brother after a few moments entered the tent and held up a lantern, lighting up the inside of the dark tent.

The blue mug brother gave him a worried look as he put down the lantern. Conflict is clear on his face. "You okay Cuphead?"

He considered lying, if he lied well enough he could get out of here and get to Bendy to set him free, but Mugman grew up with him. So he was really good at telling if he was lying. He did, after all, catch him with a demon after lying about it.

But he couldn’t tell the full truth either. Not with the guards outside the tent. He had to be subtle for them, but clear enough for Mugman.

".... No, I'm not Mugsy. We ruined a life today."

Mugman frowned. "The demon? He could have hurt you!"

"He wouldn't."

"How are you so sure?!"

With the guard right outside in ear shot, Cuphead couldn't just outright tell his brother everything. They'd report him for befriending a demon and he'd be labeled a traitor. Then there'd be no way to save Bendy.

So, he gave Mugman the most serious look he could, making it clear he meant what he said. "He wouldn't."

Looking somewhat taken aback, Mugman blinked a few times at his brother. The two of them looked at each other in tense silence.

The blue mug brother was the first to break the silence, sighing as he walked over, kneeled down, and hugged Cuphead. "It seems like the demon’s control isn't gone quite yet. Don't worry Cuphead, I got your back."

Click

Barely hearing the sound behind him, the red cup brother’s eyes widened when he felt his handcuffs come undone. He looked up at Mugman in shock who had his finger to his lip and pointed at the back of the tent while holding up his fingers.

Stay quiet, slip out the back in 5 minutes.

Smiling, Cuphead nodded silently as his brother picked up the lantern and left the tent. Leaving him alone to count down the next 5 minutes. 

Deeming it safe once he reached 0, Cuphead carefully slipped out the back of the tent. Watching for any knights patrolling as he slipped into the darkness. After walking a bit of distance away, the red brother nearly jumped out of his skin in alarm when he felt a hand grab his shoulder and spin him around. 

He calmed slightly seeing it was his brother, but he still stayed somewhat tense because Mugman looked PISSED. "You better have a damn good explanation after we save that demon!"

Surprised that Mugman was willing to hear him out afterwards instead of demanding answers now, Cuphead couldn't help but smile as he yanked his brother into a hug. "You're the best Mugsy!"

Mugman squirmed in his hold. "Cuphead stop! We'll get caught! And I'm still mad at you!"

Letting him go, the red cup brother still smiled at Mugman. "I'm surprised you actually stole the keys to my cuffs. Am I rubbing off on you bro?"

Scoffing, Mugman led the way towards where Bendy was being held. "No, I just have a better control over my dark side than you do. I could only get your keys though. If I took the keys the knight guarding your friend has then we would have been caught sooner."

Ignoring the jab at his bad impulse control, Cuphead asked. "So what was with you saying Bendy had control of me?"

So that was the demon’s name. Kinda underwhelming for a demon in Mugman’s opinion. Who names a demon Bendy?? "Well, that's what I thought at first. It made sense at the time when you kept sneaking away to meet up with him apparently. But after you tried rushing to him when the knights got him, looking scared for him, I realized you were in full control of yourself and I had to think of an excuse before you got into a worse situation than being left handcuffed in a tent."

The thought of a worse case scenario almost got him to shudder, made the red cup brother thankful Mugman thought ahead about stuff like this.Cuphead smiled softly and gently elbowed his brother. "Thanks Mugsy, for having my back. I'll explain everything to you after we save him. I promise."

He still had mixed feelings over this, but seeing his brother being thankful over his help had Mugman feeling somewhat better. "You're welcome, and you better or else I'm going to make your life a living hell until you do."

Knowing very well Mugman wasn't bluffing, the red cup brother ignored the dread in the pit of his gut as they finally reached where Bendy was.

He was surrounded by guards. Bendy in the middle heavily chained up. The shackles on his hands and feet nailed down to a cart to keep him from getting up or moving his hands in front of him. A metal muzzle was locked tightly on his face, and a metal collar around his throat with a chain leash nailed down.

If that wasn't bad enough, the purple glowing spot from the magic sedative on Bendy’s skin was bigger. The glowing purple color was starting to run down his arm and creeping up his neck. Bendy’s eyes were still glowing and looking really unfocused as he sweated, or, leaked ink?

Feeling his rage from earlier that day come back, Cuphead tried to move forward until Mugman grabbed his shoulder and held him back. "Don't be stupid. You're not supposed to be out here, you'll get overpowered in moments."

Damn it, he had a point.

Shrugging off Mugman’s hand, Cuphead glared at the scene before them from their hiding place. "Why did they inject him with more magic sedatives? What they gave him earlier should last all day!"

"It doesn't work on him for long. After a couple of hours he started waking up and struggling. The others actually worried he'd break out of the chains from how hard he was pulling at them."

Well, if Cuphead did remember correctly, Bendy did say he wasn't a "traditional" demon thanks to his inky body. Though Cuphead didn’t know what that meant entirely. Bendy never explained further and Cuphead never pressured him to tell him anything. But still, getting that much magic injected into him didn't seem healthy whether he was a normal demon or not.

They need to get Bendy out of there, NOW. "How do we get the keys?"

Thinking it over for a moment, Mugman opened his mouth to respond, when the two were suddenly grabbed by their handles and slammed into the dirt. Seeing stars from getting his head thrown against the ground, Cuphead wasn't ready when he and Mugman had their arms painfully twisted behind their backs. Keeping both of them from getting up.

A male voice whispered harshly. "Which one of you is Cuphead?"

Cringing, Cuphead turned his head to get a good look at their attacker. To his surprise, he recognized the large black cat glaring down at them.

He saw him and Bendy foraging in the woods together. Bendy’s father figure."You're Felix right? Bendy’s guardian?"

Shocked to hear that Cuphead knew his name, Felix's pupils narrowed as he twisted his and Mugman’s arms slightly tighter. It takes everything in the brothers not to make a sound from pain shooting through their shoulders. "Bendy’s been sneaking into the woods to see you. Boris told me everything. What do you and your demon hunting knight group plan to do to him?"

"Owowow, the knights plan to take Bendy to the nearest kingdom but we plan to free him!"

Judging by how Felix’s grip loosened enough to the point where it wasn’t painful, it was clear that the cat wasn't expecting that for an answer. "Why? What do you have to benefit from? Judging by your armor you're both still in training. There's no way you'd set him free and ruin your futures."

From their place on the ground, Cuphead and Mugman shared a look with each other. Cuphead was willing to give everything up, but was his brother?

Getting a determined look on his face, the blue mug brother tried turning his head enough to look at Felix. “If my brother says he’s innocent, then I’m willing. We were raised to do the right thing. THIS, is the right thing.”

Things stayed tensely quiet. Felix looked like he was deeply considering the options he had with this situation.

“... You want to do the right thing? Prove it by helping me.”

With Felix letting them go, Cuphead and Mugman quickly sat up and rubbed their sour arms. Both of them were thankful the cat didn’t break them. The two watched as Felix grabbed at a yellow satchel with black Xs and dots on it while still glaring at them. “But the moment either of you make me think you’re lying, I will do what I must to protect my family.”

Gee, this guy really was Bendy’s dad.

Both of them nodding, Mugman got to explaining his plan to Felix and Cuphead on how to get the keys and get past the guards without drawing too much attention. With everything explained and all of them ready, they got into position.

Running into view, Mugman panted as if he was out of breath while the knights put their attention on him. “The demon’s subjects are approaching from the west!! There’s to many! We need reinforcements!”

With how Mugman looked scruffed up from what Felix did to him and Cuphead, the knights easily believed him. Many of them rushed off to the west as one yelled over his shoulder. “Stay here and help watch the demon!”

Saluting, Mugman got into position and stood next to the other guard remaining.

The one with the keys.

Glancing at Mugman, the knight gave him a suspicious look. “Isn’t your brother the one being controlled by this demon?”

“Yup.”

“... How are we sure you can be trusted?”

Turning to face the knight, Mugman smirked seeing his brother sneaking up behind him. “You can’t.”

POW.

With the knight hitting the dirt out cold, Cuphead quickly search him and got the keys before Mugman dragged the knight away to tie him to a tree and gag him. While rushing to Bendy’s side with Felix, Cuphead spoke. “Those other knights will be back any minute, we gotta hurry.”

Nodding, Felix was about to tell Cuphead to hand the keys over as he knelt by Bendy, when the ink demon suddenly started struggling against his chains and growling behind the muzzle. The red cup brother’s eyes widening in surprise at his reaction. “Whoa, Mugsy you weren’t kidding, the sedatives don’t work that well against him. Bendy calm down! It’s me and Felix! We’re here to get you out but you need to stop moving!”

Bendy’s growls just grew louder, his unfocused eyes were wide and had the look of panic in them. Looking back at the direction of the camp nervously, Mugman looked back at his brother and Felix. “The others are going to hear him struggling and come see what’s going on!”

The clock was ticking, their window of opportunity was starting to close. They needed to act fast. So, Felix did the first thing that came to mind.

Moving closer, Felix firmly grabbed Bendy’s head, ignoring how Bendy growled louder and struggled against him, and pressed his head against his chest as he started to purr. “Ssssshhh. I’m right here. Sssshhhhh.”

As Felix held him and tried to sooth him, Bendy’s frantic struggles slowed down and his growling began to go silent. His purple eyes started to get a look of recognition despite the effects of the magic as he started to purr back.

With Bendy no longer struggling, Cuphead got to work and undid the chains. Starting with the muzzle and moving down towards the collar and shackles. With the muzzle unlocked Felix quickly yanked it off so Bendy could get a proper breath of fresh air and supported his weight when the chains were no longer holding him in place.

Groaning from having foriegn magic in his system and his sore limbs moving freely, Bendy nuzzled Felix’s chest, taking comfort in the purring he could hear coming from it. “ Dad… ”

Sucking in his breath a little from Bendy referring to him as dad, something he, Boris, and Alice were hesitant to do too often, Felix forced himself to stay focused as he pulled out a large blanket and wrapped it around Bendy while ignoring Cuphead’s baffled look at the bag. With Bendy dripping ink like this they had to keep him from leaving a trail. So making sure the ink demon was properly wrapped up, Felix scooped him up in his arms and got to his feet while he continued purring. “Let's move.”

With that, the three took off running into the woods with Bendy safely in Felix’s arms.

No longer feeling the sense of danger he had earlier, feeling safe as he listened to the purring and was wrapped in something comfortable and warm, Bendy closed his heavy eyes and sighed peacefully as he let the world of slumber take him away.

________________

The first thing he noticed when waking up was Felix’s soft purring.

Which was a very comforting sound, but that didn’t help with Bendy’s confusion as he tried processing what was going on. Where was he?

He wasn’t home, that’s for sure. With how it felt like everything was moving and with the sound of horse hooves against the ground outside, it sounded like they were traveling somewhere. Question is where?

“So…. Can we ask about that weird bag?”

“No you may not.”

Opening his eyes a little, Bendy tried blinking away the slight purple magic haze in his vision. It wasn’t overwhelming, but it made everything feel off, like feeling light headed. Looking over towards the source of the voice, it took the ink demon a moment to process that he was looking at Cuphead, and who he assumed was his brother Mugman. Both of them were no longer wearing their armor and were dressed in regular clothing.

Cuphead rolled his eyes and gestured outside the wagon they were all riding in. “You really expected us not to ask about the apparently magical bag that turned into a HORSE?”

Next to him, Bendy could hear Alice huff. “Trust me, you’re not getting an answer out of him, the three of us have no clue either.”

Hearing Felix chuckle, Bendy felt the cat’s arm wrapped around him rub at his blanketed shoulder as he continued purring. “Sorry, my lips are sealed.”

As Cuphead scowled and crossed his arms, Mugman smiled a little in amusement until he noticed Bendy looking at him and then elbowed his brother. “He’s awake.”

Cuphead immediately perked up at that, seeing Bendy’s eyes open and smiling in relief as Felix moved the blanket around Bendy’s head to get a look at his face. The cat man quickly and carefully shifted Bendy over to Alice, who held her brother close, as he carefully cupped Bendy’s face and checked his eyes. “Still got a tint of purple in them. Bendy? Can you hear me?”

“ Yeah- ”

Cringing, Bendy began to cough. Alice soothingly rubbed his chest until his coughing fit was over.

God his voice sounded terrible and his throat felt dry as hell.

Acting quickly, Felix grabbed a water canteen and held it to the ink demon’s lips. “Small sips, I don’t want you upsetting your stomach.”

Doing as he was told, Bendy sipped the water as he took hold of the canteen in his own shaky hands. His throat was soothed as the cool refreshing water washed over it. When he was done, Bendy lowered the canteen and looked around. Taking in the sights of the forest scenery passing them by and the wagon full of their belongings, as well as Boris glancing back at him from the driver seat of the wagon.

“What’s going on?”

Huffing, Boris put his attention back on the road before them. “We’re moving.”

Bendy blinked in surprise as he looked up at Felix. “We are?? Why? What-”

Suddenly, everything came rushing back.

“Oh…”

Felix nodded as he glanced over at Cuphead. “Yeah, “Oh”. If we stayed back at the house the knights would have eventually found us in search of you after we rescued you and escaped. So we packed up everything we could and got out of there.”

Oh God… What has he done? “F-Felix I’m so sor-”

Felix shushed him as he gently rubbed at his head. “Hey, none of that. I’m not mad. I’m just glad you’re safe. I will be wanting an explanation from you and your friend when you’re up for it though.”

Seeing that as fair, Bendy was about to agree when he suddenly gasped and turned to the two brothers. “Oh my God! Cup! Y-you’re- are you-?!”

Smiling at Bendy, Cuphead didn’t move any closer considering Alice and Boris were glaring at him and Mugman at the moment. “I’m okay, Bendy. My brother Mugsy covered my ass so the knights didn’t do anything bad. I was able to help rescue you.”

Relieved to hear that, the ink demon looked at Cuphead’s brother. It was the first time he got a good look at the blue mug without him shooting at him. Mugman currently sat close to his brother, clearly looking somewhat tense and unsure, but felt safe around Cuphead.

If the two of them were traveling with them as they moved, then it was safe for Bendy to assume that the two of them couldn’t stay with the knight group anymore after helping them.

All of their lives were changing so drastically, all because of him and Cuphead…

Dropping his head on Alice’s shoulder, Bendy asked. “Now what do we do?”

Frowning, Felix looked around at the group of teenagers. All of them looked unsure and somewhat scared of the unknown future.

“...We’ll figure it out.”

Chapter Text

It was safe to say the group’s little moving trip was rather… Tense.

Bendy and Cuphead had eventually explained to Felix what they’ve been doing the last few months. The cat man made the others go into the woods to get firewood and food for the night so they could talk in private. Leaving it up to the boys if they wanted to talk to their siblings about everything later.

Boris, Alice, and Mugman weren’t happy about it, but they respected Felix enough not to argue.

After they explained everything from the Manticore attack up to Bendy’s capture (leaving out the part where they almost kissed), the boys got one heck of a scolding. Felix let them know how dangerous their actions were for both of them, and how things could have been SO MUCH WORSE if it wasn’t Mugman who caught them talking together in the woods.

He did say though that their hearts were in the right place, trying to be open minded and understanding of each other. Felix reminded Bendy that he wasn’t mad and wouldn’t let the ink demon apologize when he tried to. He scolded them out of worry and wanting him and the others to be safe. Which they were now.

With that all out of the way, Felix gathered everyone later that night and laid down his plan. They’d travel until they found a safe location to settle down for a new home, Cuphead and Mugman were coming with. Considering they were now traitorous knights that helped a demon, it was only a matter of time that wanted posters would start being made and sent everywhere. Felix wasn’t about to leave two boys that helped their family to fend for themselves, even if trust wasn’t very strong within the group at the moment.

Boris was clearly mad over everything, but he was keeping that to himself for now as he kept quiet and just scowled all the time. Alice was on edge from the drastic changes after everything that happened. Cup and Mug were both uncomfortable over being watched as if they were dangerous animals ready to attack by Bendy’s siblings. Felix was doing his best to be the calm level headed adult in the group, but it was clear he was getting stressed and tired from constantly being on alert and providing for 2 more teens.

Bendy feeling ill from the foreign magic in his system didn’t help.

The magic sedative didn’t affect him as much as it would a normal demon, heck he barely felt the sedative anymore, but that didn’t mean he was okay. Especially considering the knights injected a LOT of it into his system to keep him from struggling. Bendy’s eyes and shoulder still had a bit of a purple color to them even days later.

His body was doing its best to get rid of it all. “Sweating” it out, or technically leaking it out through ink, but that was starting to become a problem when he was losing too much ink in the process. His body stopped dripping ink and he was developing a fever. An ink soaked rag on his forehead could only do so much, and eating to refuel his ink wasn’t easy when Bendy felt too nauseous to keep much down.

Cuphead almost rushed to Bendy’s side once when he lost his dinner while they camped for the night, Boris though made him keep his distance by growling and snapping his jaw at him until Felix snapped at the ink wolf to stop.

So yeah. Safe to say everything was pretty tense.

Groaning softly, Bendy sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was getting tired of constantly trying to sleep this off. Felix had him on constant bed rest, not allowing Bendy to help with anything whenever they’d stop for the night. He was only allowed to either try reading when he could focus on the words, or sleep. Which wasn’t working anyways. He didn’t have enough ink to get the foreign magic out of his system from sleep alone.

Looking around, Bendy watched as Boris and Alice slept on both sides of him, while Felix was sleeping sitting up in case he had to jump into action. Smiling a little seeing how they wanted to keep him safe as he rested, Bendy made sure Alice and Boris were tucked in and Felix was comfortable before stepping out of the wagon to stretch his legs.

He’s been doing a lot of laying around and sitting. If he didn’t get up and use his legs Bendy was sure he would lose his mind. Fever be damned. This was for his and EVERYONE’S sake.

Taking a good look at his surroundings, Bendy wasn’t expecting to find Cuphead looking back at him from where he was sitting by the campfire. His brother Mugman was sleeping a few feet away, so apparently it was Cuphead’s turn to keep watch for the night.

The two of them haven’t had a private conversation in days, and from how the two of them were staring at each other, they had no idea what to say.

“...Hey.”

“Hi… Want to sit with me?”

Looking back at the wagon, Bendy thought it over before making his way over to his friend.

It was only for a few minutes, and it was the dead of the night, so no one would notice.

 When he sat down and saw Cuphead offering him his canteen, the ink demon thanked him as he took small sips of the cool water. Cuphead watches him do so before asking. “How are you feeling?”

Bendy blew a raspberry as his answer. Making Cuphead chuckle. “Fair enough. You sure you want to be awake then?”

Grumbling, Bendy handed the canteen back. “I’m sick of sleeping. We don’t have enough ink to get this out of my system any faster, so I’m just going to have to deal with feeling gross for as long as this lasts.”

That made the Cuphead cringe. “Right… Sorry.”

Watching the campfire flames dance, Bendy shrugged. “Not your fault.”

“It kinda is though…”

Not expecting that, Bendy looked at Cuphead. Watching him shift around nervously as he avoided eye contact. “I should have stopped seeing you once I realized you weren’t a bad person. I put you in danger every time I went to see you, all because I didn’t want to stop spending time with you. I was selfish, and look where that got us all…”

The ink demon did look. His family sleeping in a wagon, Cuphead and Mugman sleeping on the ground considering trust was still iffy, all of them were currently homeless, and yet. “We’re all safe.”

When the red cup brother finally made eye contact with him, Bendy continued. “That wasn’t just you either, I could have stopped anytime too. We were both selfish… I don’t regret spending time with you though, I regret how careless we were, but spending time with you was probably the most fun I had in a long time.”

Processing what Bendy said, Cuphead’s face started to blush a little as he turned his attention back to the fire. “Yeah, me too.”

That reminded the ink demon of something.

Shifting slightly as he tugged a bit at his bowtie nervously, Bendy tried to think about how to bring up a subject he’s been wondering about the last few days. “So, um, about that “thing”...”

Cuphead raised an eyebrow at that.

Thing? What did Bendy mean by “thing”-.

Eyes going wide when Cuphead thinks what “thing” Bendy might be referring to, his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Bendy blushing too. The red cup brother, who was turning VERY red in the face, cleared his throat. “Right, yeah, the thing! That thing…”

Oh boy.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Bendy spoke first. “Look, I understand if that was a heat of the moment thing. We thought we’d never see each other again, and we would end up really missing each other, but then everything happened… Your life is completely different now, my siblings are giving you dirty looks, and I’m sure your brother isn’t exactly thrilled. I get it if you don’t want to focus on, that…”

Cuphead rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “...Well what if I want to?”

Bendy didn’t respond at first. From the blank look on the ink demon’s face it looked like he was processing what Cuphead said. 

Cuphead could understand that. It was a lot to take in.

They both liked each other, a lot, but that came at a BIG risk.

Staying quiet to give Bendy some peace to think, the red cup brother slowly moved his hand and offered it to him.

A soft smile grew on Cuphead’s face when the ink demon took his hand and spoke quietly. “We could get in a lot of trouble…”

“Yeah.”

The grip on Cuphead’s hand tightened slightly. “You’re already in trouble for helping me escape. If your knight group catches you, you’re as good as dead if they learn about us.”

Rubbing his thumb against the back of Bendy’s hand, taking note of how something felt off under his gloves and how Bendy tensed slightly, Cuphead spoke. “Then I won’t let them catch me.”

Sighing, the ink demon rested his head against Cuphead’s shoulder. “Are you sure it’ll be worth it for you?”

Using his free hand, Cuphead carefully cupped Bendy’s face and tilted it upwards so their lips could meet. Bendy inhaled sharply out of surprise, but then let his body relax as he started kissing back.

Bendy’s never kissed anyone before, mostly read about how amazing a first kiss was in books Felix would get him and the others to read.

Those books were not wrong.

When they finally pulled away, Cuphead grinned as they pressed their foreheads together. “Seemed pretty worth it to me. You?”

Giggling a little, Bendy grinned back. “Yeah, that seemed worth it.”

Hearing someone LOUDLY clear their throat, both boys froze in terror. Bendy cringing when he recognized the voice. “Although I may have spoken too soon…”

Slowly turning their heads, the two teens both looked up at Felix, who was standing by the wagon with his arms crossed and looking VERY done with the whole situation. Sighing tiredly, the cat pinched the bridge of his nose. “And here I was thinking I didn’t have to worry about the teenagers I’m raising sneaking away during the night to see their romantic partners.”

Scowling, Felix pointed at Bendy, then at the wagon. “You. Bed. NOW.”

“Yes sir!”

Giving Cuphead an apologetic look, who in return gave him a reassuring smile to let him know it was okay, Bendy carefully got back to his feet without making himself dizzy and hurried his way back to the wagon. Felix helped him back in as he whispered to the demon that they would talk about this in the morning. Before getting in himself Felix shot Cuphead one last tired glare, making the red cup brother sweat and smile nervously.

When Felix finally disappeared from sight, Cuphead let out a heavy sigh in relief and put his hand over his chest. Feeling his heart beating a mile a minute from the terror he felt thinking Felix was about to end him.

From his sleeping spot on the ground, Mugman spoke up. “You’re so lucky to be alive.”

Eyes going wide, Cuphead’s jaw dropped and watched as his brother rolled over and smirked at him. “I thought you were asleep!”

“I was trying to, until you two love birds started making out.”

Feeling his face heat up yet again, Cuphead huffed and crossed his arms. "We weren't making out. It was one kiss."

Snorting, the blue mug brother sat up and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "Sure you weren't…. So you really don't regret this stuff?"

And just like that, the atmosphere became as heavy as a rock.

 Mugman has thankfully been patient in waiting for an explanation until things calmed down, but it was clear that his patience was running out. He blindly trusted his brother with saving a demon, they threw away everything they worked for together, and now they were traveling with three demons and a cat Mugman barely knew or trusted. All for his brother.

Cuphead owed him an explanation.

"... I regret how everyone got hurt in one way or another. I regret how you gave everything up for me. I don’t regret saving Bendy though. He's a good person… And I grew to really care about him."

Mugman didn't move, he just continued to watch the flames of the campfire. "You lied to me."

"I know."

"We gave up EVERYTHING. If we try going home, we'll be caught and killed."

Cuphead clenched his fists, trying not to think about the lump forming in his throat. "I know…"

Mugman wanted to be angry.

He WAS angry.

They might never see Elder Kettle again because of what happened.  They were traitors. All because Cuphead wanted to save the demon he had a crush on… and yet. "I think it was worth it too."

Mugman looked at his brother, seeing how his eyes went as wide as dinner plates at what he said. Sighing, he moved to sit next to him. "I’m not thrilled with how all of this happened, hell I’m still mad, but both of us weren't really happy before. Following their rules, being looked down on, never really taking part of any of the action. I know I didn't have to come along, but I would have been miserable if I let you go alone with the knights because of your-"

Quickly shushing Mugman, Cuphead looked back at the wagon nervously in case anyone heard them. The blue mug brother had a dumbfounded expression on his face when he realized what Cuphead was doing. "You didn't tell Bendy?!"

The red cup brother quickly shook his head. "He has enough on his plate! I can handle my own problems, just please promise you won't say anything!"

"Cup-"

"PROMISE Mugsy!"

Groaning, Mugman rubbed his face. "Fine, I promise. You'll have to tell him eventually though, now that we don't have the knights' protection anymore, you're at a big risk. He's going to find out someday."

Cuphead was very well aware of that. It's been on the back of his mind since the day he, Mugman, and Felix fled with Bendy. Heck, it's been keeping him up at night.

Bendy didn’t need to know right now. He was just through a rather scary ordeal and was sick because of it. Cuphead wasn't going to give him any unnecessary stress. "I just want him to worry about himself right now… Not me."

Still feeling somewhat conflicted over the secret he promised to keep, Mugman decided to let it drop for now as he pulled his brother into a side hug. “We’ll figure it out what to do, eventually… At least for now I can tease you about falling in love with the freaking ink demon."

Thankful for the subject change, Cuphead asked. "So, you're okay with me and Bendy?"

Scrunching up his nose a little, Mugman did a so-so hand gesture. “It’s going to take some getting used to. Don’t get me wrong, I trust your word in saying he’s a good person! It’s just, we were raised being told that demons are dangerous monsters. It’s going to take some time for me to adjust.”

Understanding that well enough, Cuphead nodded. “That’s fair, it took Bendy and I a while to get past the stuff I grew up believing.”

“How’d you even start hanging out anyways?”

Laughing nervously, the red cup brother rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled sheepishly at his brother. “Remember when you told me not to go demon hunting without you?”

Welp, that was a good enough answer for Mugman. “What the hell am I going to do with you Cuphead?”

“Love and accept me? Flaws and all?”

Giving Cuphead a blank stare, Mugman soon rolled his eyes and rested his head against his brother’s. “Fair enough.”

______________________

A few days have passed since that night. Things were starting to settle down somewhat. Cuphead was allowed to sit closer to Bendy during the day, AFTER Felix pulled him aside and warned him not to break his son’s heart. The red cup brother said nothing but “Yes sir!” out of fear that saying anything else may not end well for him.

The others were thankfully acting less tense. Mugman at one point attempted small talk with Alice since Boris still didn’t want to talk to them. Though frankly Mugman wasn’t comfortable chatting with the guy who almost sank his teeth into his throat. 

Both Alice and Mugman spent a while talking about Alice’s sewing skills and how she made most of the fur blankets and winter wear. She even started showing the blue mug brother how to do more complicated stitching styles and patterns to pass the time. The two of them were surprised with how well they were getting along.

Felix kept Boris company as they steered the magic bag, currently turned into a horse. The cat was doing his best to talk with his middle child who kept his voice down and tried talking out what was bothering him. It seemed to be helping considering Boris started to look less on edge.

Although, with everyone starting to settle down, there was still a problem.

Hitting another bump in the trail, Felix and Boris cringed when they heard vomiting from behind them. Patting Boris’s shoulder as he whined, Felix turned so he could look behind himself and gave his oldest a sympathetic look. “Hang in there kiddo. We’ll be stopping for the night soon.”

Groaning into the bucket he had his face shoved in, Bendy lifted his head enough to glare tiredly at Felix.

“I, HATE, THIS.”

Wincing when Bendy dropped his head back down to continue throwing up, Cuphead took the ink bottle Felix gave him and wetted the rag again before dabbing the ink demon’s head with it. “Are you sure there isn’t a better way to help him feel better sooner?”

Felix sighed as he reached over and patted Bendy’s blanketed back. “This is the best option we have. He could try drinking the ink, but with how his body is rejecting everything he’s eating and drinking right now I’m worried he’d just throw it back up.”

From his spot next to Alice, Mugman asked. “Maybe he can bathe in ink? His skin would absorb more if he soaked in it.”

“That would work, but we don’t have a tub, and that’s our last bottle…”

Ah. Yeah. That was a problem.

Looking at the ink bottle in his hand, Cuphead frowned. “And money’s going to be tight for a while… Boris and Alice are made of ink right? Maybe-”

Shockingly enough, Boris was the one to speak up. “Bad idea. Our ink is different compared to the stuff in your hand. If any of us donated our ink to each other, it could corrupt us.”

Cuphead gave Boris a confused look. “Corrupt?”

Turning to look at Cuphead properly, Boris stared at him for a moment before putting his attention on his brother. “Did you tell your boyfriend ANYTHING about how we worked or were you planning to surprise him?”

Fighting off the urge to be sick again, Bendy shot Boris a dirty look as he sighed and wiped his mouth. “Our bodies are made of ink and dark magic. If ink from our bodies infects a person it can corrupt their soul and turn them into an ink creature. Our souls have adapted to fight off that corruption, but sharing ink between us would just make us sicker or corrupt us regardless.”

Almost forgetting that he was told Bendy was the ink demon, considering he hasn’t seen Bendy in his more skeleton-like and beast forms, the blue mug brother asked. “What, exactly, will happen if you get corrupted?”

“You don’t want to know.”

Taking in that information, Cuphead hummed as he offered Bendy some water and helped him keep his hands steady as he drank from the canteen. “Okay, so no magic ink sharing. Got it.”

The wagon suddenly jolted to a halt, making everyone inside cry out an alarm and brace themselves. Cuphead kept Bendy upright, while Bendy himself firmly had a hand over his mouth, and Mugman saved Alice from falling over and smacking her head on some boxes. Before anyone could ask what’s going on Boris quickly leaped over the front seat, throwing his hood over his head and yanking Bendy’s blanket over his older brother’s head. Alice quickly followed her brother’s lead and pulled on her own hood when Felix spoke up.

“Good evening sir!”

“Evening, traveling far?”

Tensing up, Both Mugman and Cuphead exchanged looks and nodded at each other as they let magic build up in their hands. Preparing themselves if Felix needed assistance.

“Somewhat. Is there a kingdom nearby I can stop at for supplies?”

As the person they ran into gave directions, Bendy’s eyes went wide in horror as he felt his stomach giving him his one and only warning. 

NotnownotnowNOTNOW-

Too late. Bendy’s face was back in the bucket, and despite his best efforts to stay quiet, the stranger outside heard. “Are you traveling with someone that’s ill?”

The black cat hesitated, glancing back and watching as Brois and Alice quickly made their way to Bendy’s side. “I-I have it under control. I just need to make a quick stop at the kingdom village to restock on supplies.”

“Are you sure sir? The kingdom has some of the best healers that-”

“NO. I have this under control.”

Bendy and the others could hear just how stressed and tired Felix was as he talked to the stranger, and apparently the stranger could notice too. “... Sir, if you have any reason to worry for the safety of the sick person you’re caring for, I promise you that my home will provide you a safe place to stay so you can rest and recover. If you decide to turn me down, so be it, but I in good conscience cannot allow you to leave without understanding why you’re afraid to accept help for the sick one.”

Staring at the stranger for a moment, Felix looked back at the group in the wagon. Boris and Alice were by Bendy’s side as the ink demon’s body trembled. The ink wolf held him close while the ink angel dabbed at Bendy’s face with the ink soaked rag, Both Cuphead and Mugman were watching Felix, looking ready to attack if he needed them too.

The cat also noticed how their last bottle of ink was now spilt everywhere from their unexpected stop.

Bendy wasn’t going to get better anytime soon at this rate.

Was he really willing to take this gamble though?

Looking back at the stranger, Felix sighed and signaled for Cuphead and Mugman to stand down. “Let's see if you still say that after seeing them…”

Shocked at how Felix was trusting a stranger, Everyone tensed up when a cloaked man climbed up on the front seat to take a look in the back. Gasping slightly when he saw Bendy, Boris, and Alice.

“Demons…”

As Boris started growling at the man, none of them were expecting for the stranger to chuckle softly as he reached up and pulled his cloak hood off, letting his long rabbit ears come out. 

“No need for that young pup. I, Prince Oswald, promise you that you’re all safe now.”

Chapter Text

Sitting in the back of the wagon, holding Bendy close as he purred to try giving him some comfort as his oldest attempted to get some rest, Felix glanced at the back of the prince's head as he sat in the front seat with Boris. Still trying to properly process that they were found by a PRINCE, who was offering to let them stay in the castle for as long as they needed.

Felix would have kept pinching himself to see if he was dreaming if Cuphead and Mugman didn't vouch for him.

Apparently Prince Oswald was part of the Disney royal family, who frowned upon the brothers’ former knight group hunting down demons. Rumor had it that the royal family even offered sanctuary to demons in need of shelter and protection. Though they thought that was just gossip from the knights that were bitter over the Disney kingdom not letting them check for demons within their borders. 

Looks like it wasn’t gossip. 

Turning around slightly, Oswald frowned as he got a good look at Bendy. "He's got a bit of a glowing purple color in his eyes. Magic sedative?"

Felix nodded, still purring as he rubbed Bendy’s back.

"How much?"

Mugman answered for Felix. "Enough to turn his shoulder and part of his arm completely purple. It even started traveling up his neck."

Eyes going wide at that information, Oswald looked at Mugman in shock. "That much?! How is he not dead?!"

Grumbling tiredly, Bendy didn’t open his eyes as he pressed his face against his guardian’s chest. “Pure spite towards the Grim Reaper at this point…”

Rolling his eyes over how his brother is still making wise cracks when feeling like garbage, Boris rubbed the back of his neck. "Ignore him. We're just not normal demons so it doesn't have the same effect on us. He's gotten most of it out of his system so far but the last few days have been rough."

Still looking concerned, the prince put his attention back on Felix. "What will he need when we get to the castle? I'll have the staff get what you need right away."

Thinking it over, Felix remembered the conversation they were having before Oswald showed up. "We need a lot of ink. Enough for him to bathe in. Is that possible?"

Raising an eyebrow at the interesting request, Oswald nodded. "I'll get that ready for him before I talk to my brother."

When they eventually reached the kingdom it was dark out. Everyone was in their homes for the night so thankful no one was there to stare at the prince traveling through the streets on an old wagon with demons and a VERY strange looking horse pulling it. Making the ride to the castle a calm one.

Finally reaching the castle gates, as most of the teens looked up at the castle in awe, Oswald hopped off the wagon and went over to the guards to give them their orders. Getting salutes and "yes sir"s from the guards, the prince turned to Felix who was climbing out of the wagon while carrying Bendy on his back. "They'll escort you to a guest suite in the castle and get you as much ink as you need. I'll come by to check on you when I'm done informing my brother that you and your group will be staying here for now."

Still barely able to believe that this was happening, that a prince was helping them, Felix bowed as best as he could with Bendy on his back. "Thank you, your majesty."

Chuckling, Oswald patted the cat’s shoulder. "No need for that. I know how hard it is being a father caring for children that need you."

Surprised to hear Oswald say that, considering he hasn't mentioned he was the demon teens father yet, Felix watched as the prince smiled. "You didn't have to say anything. I know a father when I see one. Now go take care of your boy, I'll see you soon."

And with that, Oswald walked away. The guards led everyone inside to the stunning guest suite, and soon came back with many buckets of ink as requested. Thanking the guards greatly for bringing what they needed, Felix wasted no time .

Helping Bendy get undressed and into the suite bathtub, Felix held him up as Alice and Boris both worked on pouring the ink down Bendy’s back, over the glowing purple mark which was now fading away much faster than before.  Making Bendy sigh in relief as the ink soaked into his skin and got rid of his fever and nausea. "Oh thank God…"

Chuckling as the tension left his body somewhat with his oldest starting to feel and look better, Felix rubbed his head affectionately. "Think you can stomach a meal before going to sleep tonight?"

"Yes, please, I would kill for a decent sandwich right now."

Glad to hear that, Felix told Alice and Boris to stay with Bendy as he left the washroom. When he entered the main room of the suite he saw Cuphead and Mugman perk up at the sight of him. The red cup brother grabs a wet wash rag and offers it to Felix. "Is Bendy doing better?

Nodding, Felix accepted the rag and started cleaning off the ink clinging to his fur. "Yeah, his fever broke and he's getting his appetite back. I'm getting him something to eat right now. I’ll be back in a few minutes."

Taking note on how relieved Cuphead looked while Mugman patted his brother’s shoulder as he left the room, Felix asked the guards in the hall where the kitchen was and headed towards the way they pointed. Giving the cat man plenty of time to think as he walked.

Bendy was on his way to getting better much sooner, so that was good. Now he can focus on what to do next for his kids and the two boys, which was a whole different problem. Frankly one that’s been giving Felix a headache for days now.

The Disney kingdom seems safe. He’d have to talk to the prince first but if Felix could find him and the kids a place to live within the kingdom, it might actually do them some good. Felix could get a job for a while, and if the kingdom is really safe for demons wanting to live in peace, then maybe this could be a good place for them to stay so Bendy, Boris, and Alice could grow up around actual people.

Though there was also the problem with the two brothers.

Felix isn’t about to let them fend for themselves, and he wasn’t sure how well the royal family will take it learning they’re wanted traitors. It could bring unwanted attention if people come here looking for Cuphead and Mugman, assuming if the boys weren’t arrested the moment the royal family found out about this and turned them over to the knights.

If that happened then it wouldn’t end well. Especially considering how attached Bendy is to Cuphead now.

Ugh, his oldest son’s timing in getting a boyfriend couldn’t have happened at an even more inconvenient moment?

Reaching the kitchen that was empty for the night, Felix shook his head as he started making some food. Reminding himself that they were just teenagers, and frankly he’s glad Bendy found someone that clearly cared about him. Even if Felix’s opinion on Cuphead was still a bit iffy.

Still, terrible, timing.

Sighing to himself, Felix finished making 6 sandwiches for everyone and started carrying the plate back to the suite. To his surprise, he found the prince making his way to the suite as well from the opposite end of the hall, along with a mouse following him and looking shocked when he finally noticed the cat man.

Adjusting his hold on the large plate so he wouldn’t drop the food, Felix bowed respectfully. “Prince Oswald.”

“I told you there's no need for that Mr. Felix, you’re a guest here. Are you and the children settling in well? How’s your son?”

Straightening up, Felix glanced at the suite door before looking back at the prince. “We’re okay, thanks to you, Bendy’s feeling much better now that he could get the foreign magic out of his body… Sorry about the tub though.”

Oswald chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, what matters is that your children are okay. Anyways, my brother insisted he meet you and your family. So Mr. Felix, meet King Mickey.”

Eyes going wide, Felix stared at the mouse Oswald was gesturing to, who was staring back at him as well. The cat’s exhausted mind racing from trying to figure out what to do.

Oswald told him he didn’t need to bow, but should he still do that???

Would it be rude to shake a king’s hand instead???

Clearing his throat, the king spoke first. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I see you’ve gotten food for the children. Would you rather we continue this conversation in the suite?”

Unable to mentally process proper words to speak. Felix just nodded in agreement with the king and led them inside. Getting the attention of all the teenagers within.

Bendy was now out of the tub (which was now horribly stained black) and looking MUCH better as he drank a glass of water while sitting in one of the beds dressed in some spare clothes the room had. Alice and Boris sitting with him on said bed while Cuphead and Mugman sat on the other bed. The three demons got slightly tense and held onto each other when they saw another new person enter behind Felix.

Putting the plate down on a table, the cat quickly made sure his kids stayed calm. “It’s okay, This is Prince Oswald’s brother King Mickey. He just wanted to meet us properly.”

Seeing how the three demons were still unsure, Mickey smiled kindly. “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you, and I’m glad to see you’re all recovering from what I’ve been told was a rough trip. Are all of you settling down alright?”

Getting an awkward and nervous yes from the teens, the king nodded. “Good. Now if all of you are up for it, tomorrow morning I invite you to join me and my family for breakfast. We’ll need to discuss what your plans are in the near future and if the royal family can help you in any way.”

Looking surprised that the King was all for helping them as well, Felix spoke up. “T-thank you your majesty but you’ve done more then-”

“You may want to make that offer for just Felix and his kids.”

Not expecting to be interrupted, the cat turned towards Cuphead in confusion. Even Mugman looked slightly surprised by his brother stepping forward. “Felix has been keeping my brother and I safe because we helped his family, but Mugman and I can’t be a burden to his family forever.”

Bendy’s eyes went wide when he realized what Cuphead was about to do, even Mugman looked like he realized as well but did nothing to stop him. “Cuphead don’t-!”

Ignoring Bendy, Cuphead bowed to Mickey along with Mugman. “Your majesty, my brother and I are former demon hunting knights in training. We betrayed our group and are now traitors. If you don’t want us to bring any trouble here to your kingdom then I promise we’ll be gone by morning. I apologize if we caused any inconvenience…”

That selfless idiot!

Bendy wanted to get up, but with how Alice tightly grabbed his hand and Boris grabbed his arm the moment the king walked in, he had no choice but to stay in bed. “I-it’s not their fault! They became traitors because they helped rescue me from the knights they were being trained by! If you kick them out of the castle they’ll be on their own as they get hunted down! Please let them stay with us, your majesty!”

Holding up his hands, Mickey talked gently. “Calm down young man, I’m not kicking anyone out of the castle. I promise.”

Looking at Cuphead, the king rested his hand on his shoulder. Clearly catching the teen off guard with how he tensed. “Thank you for being honest with me. I appreciate that. It’s true that with you two now as traitors that could be a problem, but I’m not about to let two young boys fend for themselves after they saved a friend. You can stay, and we’ll talk about this more in the morning at breakfast.”

Oh wow, this guy was as nice as rumors said.

After everyone agreed that talking more in the morning was the best option, Mickey and Oswald bid everyone a good night and left to let the group eat in peace. Everyone was glad to get some food in them that wasn’t just something they caught in the woods, while Bendy looked like he was in heaven from how happy he was from eating a simple sandwich without feeling sick.

With their stomachs full and everyone settled in, all of them felt ready to crash for the night, but there was one more thing to be taken care of.

“Cuphead, Mugman, can we have a little privacy for a bit?”

Caught off guard by Bendy’s request, Cuphead looked at his partner in confusion as he explained. “I need to have a talk with my siblings, I’ve been pushing it off long enough.”

Ah, right. The two brothers could understand that.

Mugman reacted first by grabbing the plate and a few of the used water glasses. “We’ll go take care of these dirty dishes. Come on Cup.”

Following his brother’s lead, Cuphead grabbed a few glasses himself before the two of them left the room. Leaving the family alone.

Welp, better get started. Neither Alice or Boris were saying anything, and Felix was staying quiet so the three of them could talk it out, so Bendy might as well get the ball rolling. “Okay, if either of you have anything to say, say it now.”

That open invite to speak seemed to be enough for the ink wolf. With a growl he leaped off the bed and spun around to point an accusing finger at Bendy. “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

Seeing Felix looking ready to speak up, Bendy gestured for him to let Boris keep going, which he did. “A KNIGHT?! Have you lost your MIND?! What, was everything we went through not traumatizing enough?! You had to go make out with a knight in the woods and risk getting captured by your boyfriend’s pals?!”

Scowling a little at Boris’ verbal jabs, Bendy spoke up. “We weren’t making out, the day you followed me was the first time Cuphead and I ever tried kissing.”

“OH IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER?!”

Alice jumped in. “Boris, stop yelling. We’re not going to get anywhere if we scream at each other and scare the guards in the hallway.”

With the ink wolf backing off slightly with a huff, Alice put her attention on Bendy. “He has a point though, Bendy… I can’t believe you did this either. After everything that happened, why take a risk?”

They didn’t get an answer right away. Bendy stayed quiet as he put his attention on his gloved hands on his lap. Looking like he was considering his words before he spoke up. “You two have every right to be mad at me. Every time I went to see Cuphead I was being selfish. After I saved his life I should have told him no when he wanted to understand WHY a demon wanted to save his life with no strings attached. Instead I put all of us at risk because I wanted to help him understand, and I wanted to understand him as well.”

Bendy clenched his fists as he continued. “I swear, I was prepared to protect you guys no matter what. I wasn’t going to fail you like I did last time if things- WHEN things went wrong. I’m never going to let you two get hurt like that again-”

Cutting him off, Alice grabbed Bendy by his shoulders and glared at him with teary eyes. “That’s not why we’re upset, Bendy! We’re upset because you won’t stop this!”

Confused, Bendy put his attention on Boris who was still glaring at him, but with a somewhat softer expression. “Bendy… We know how important it is to you to protect us, to keep your promise to Mama and Papa, but do you really think they meant that they wanted you to sacrifice yourself for us?”

…No, he didn’t think that’s what they meant.

Their Mama and Papa loved all of them so much. They worked so hard to raise three unique children no one knew how to take care of, and did everything to make sure they were safe and happy. Bendy could just imagine how disappointed their Papa would look and how scared their Mama would be over hearing how Bendy put himself in danger, but…

Bendy felt himself starting to tear up as Alice hugged him. “I promised… I made a promise and I failed to keep it. I don’t want to fail again.”

Glaring a bit longer, Boris let his tense shoulders drop as he sighed and sat back down to join the hug. Rubbing the ink demon’s back as he sniffled against his chest. “You didn’t fail us back then Bendy, we were 10, you did your best.”

Holding her brothers close, the ink angel spoke. “That doesn’t mean you can just throw your life away for us, Bendy. If we lost you too, I don’t think we could take it… Please stop doing this to yourself okay? Promise you’ll protect yourself too. We need you.”

Feeling his shoulders shake from his emotions coming out in the form of inky tears, Bendy nodded as he felt Boris gesture for Felix to come over and the cat joining the group hug. “I promise…”

By the time Cuphead and Mugman came back, the three ink siblings were all tucked into bed. All of them hugged each other in their sleep as they finally got some peaceful rest. Giving their minds and hearts a break.

Happy to see Bendy sleeping well after he was ill for their whole trip, Cuphead turned his attention to Felix who was grabbing a spare pillow and blanket and whispered to him. “Are things getting better now?”

Nodding, Felix moved to the couch in the room and started setting up his makeshift bed. “They talked it out. Not everything is solved, but it’s certainly better.”

Glancing between Felix and the still available bed, Mugman raised an eyebrow at the cat. “Don’t you want the bed? Cuphead and I can take the couch.”

“I appreciate the offer you two, but I’m not about to take up a large bed and make you boys sleep on a couch. You’ve been sleeping on the ground outside for days anyways, I think you earned a good night sleep in an actual bed.”

Not arguing with that any further, Mugman thanked Felix and proceeded to flop onto the bed, snoring away just moments later. Cuphead chuckled at his brother slightly before looking back at Felix. “So, um, I know I’m probably not your favorite person right now. I doubt I ever will be considering, you know, everything, but I just wanted to say thanks.”

As Felix paused in removing his shoes to stare up at him, the red cup brother continued. “You could have left Mugman and I behind, heck you probably should have, but you didn’t… So Thank you.”

Not expecting Cuphead to say any of that, Felix smiled a little as he stood back up. “You helped me save my boy, and it’s clear how much you and Bendy care for each other. I wasn’t about to leave you two to face the knights you betrayed for us… I will admit though, I was surprised when you confessed to the king. I was planning to talk to you and your brother over what you wanted to do about it, but it seems you beat me to it. I'm very proud of you.”

Cuphead’s eyes went wide at that last part.

Proud?

Wow, when was the last time he was told someone was proud of him?

Blushing from not knowing how to feel about Felix being proud of him, Cuphead cleared his throat and tugged at the collar of his shirt. “T-thanks. I’m uh, I-I’m going to go to bed now. Good night.”

Chuckling, Felix wished Cuphead a good night as well before the two of them settled down for the night.

For the first time in days, all of them could rest peacefully.

None of them feel the need to fear what tomorrow might bring.

Chapter Text

Morning came before anyone was ready for it. All of the teens groaned tiredly as Felix told them all it was time to get up and get ready for breakfast with the royal family. 

Getting dressed in clean clothes that weren’t stained in ink, Bendy yawned as he exited the suite and looked around the hallway. Somewhat impressed by the very new sights he was seeing.

He grew used to the forest scenery for the last 5 years with it just being him, Alice, Boris, and Felix. So being in a grand castle with guards standing in the halls with a view of the grand beautiful garden right outside the windows, was certainly quite the change. It was almost overwhelming to the ink demon.

A soft gasp caught his attention.

Looking over towards the source of the sound, Bendy saw something quickly duck out of sight behind a suit of armor decorating the hall. Curiosity getting the best of him, he slowly made his way forward and peaked around the armor.

What he saw, Bendy never thought he’d see.

Children.

A group of little bunny children.

Getting over his shock, Bendy smiled softly and slowly lowered himself down onto his knees. “Hello there. What are your names?” 

Looking at each other unsure for a moment, one of the kids stepped forward and puffed out his chest to make himself look tougher. “I am Prince Gus! Bow before me!!”

One of Gus’s siblings swatted him in the shoulder. “Don’t be rude! Daddy said he’s one of our guests!”

Figuring the little bunnies were most likely Oswald’s children, Bendy chuckled as he bowed his head anyways, “It’s an honor to meet you, you're majesty. I am Bendy. Might I say you live in a very lovely home. Do you guys like to play any games here?”

With how all their ears perked up at his question, Bendy figured he asked the right thing as all of them started talking excitedly at once.

Within a few minutes Bendy was giggling as he had the bunny kids climbing all over him as they talked about themselves and asked him a lot of random questions about himself. Favorite color, favorite food, favorite animal, etc. When the others came out of the room looking for him, Alice practically squealed at the sight of the adorable children while Boris’s tail started to wag excitedly. Felix chuckled as the bunny kids started climbing on all of his children while Cuphead and Mugman snickered. When the cat reminded everyone they needed to head to breakfast, the bunny kids eagerly led the way to the dining room.

It was then that all of them learned, Oswald had a LOT of kids!

“420 KIDS?!?!”

Chuckling as he ate, Oswald smiled at the flabbergasted cat sitting next to him. “Yup. All of them are my little angels.”

Giving the bunny on her lap an apple slice from her plate, Alice happily nuzzled their little head and got a giggle out of the kid before letting them go to join their siblings. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Watching as the three demons were practically naturals with the kids, while the two cup brothers were a bit more awkward and unsure around so many little ones, King Mickey felt amused by the sight before him until he cleared his throat. “As much as I love to brag about my amazing nieces and nephews, we should probably get to the matter at hand.”

Ah, right, the whole reason they’re having breakfast together in the first place.

With all the kids starting to settle down from their uncle getting serious, it made the room quiet enough for Mickey to properly speak and get to the point. “Now, in order for us to figure out what we can do for your family, we need to find out what you all specialize in. That way we can narrow down what kind of jobs would be good fits for you and what we can do about your living arrangement.”

Understanding that, Felix spoke up first. “I’m a retired adventurer. I traveled far and wide researching magic and exploring the unexplored. After I took in my children though, I settled down on our small garden farm to keep us safe and hidden. I’m skilled in many things and will be able to handle any job I am offered.”

Glad to hear that, the king looked at the teenagers. "And you five?"

The two brothers paused and looked at each other. Mugman rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "Well Cuphead and I have been training to be knights since we were kids, using our magic abilities to prepare for when we would eventually be put on the battlefield… But now that we're not going to be knights, there's not much we do that'll be useful."

Mickey shook his head. "Nonsense. Everyone has their strengths that can be helpful in different ways. I'm sure we'll find something for you two."

Seeing the two brothers were starting to look a bit more hopeful, Oswald looked at the three demons. "And what about you guys?"

Swallowing the food he was eating, Bendy hummed thoughtfully. "Well Alice is an amazing hunter. She can catch anything and get a lot of use out of what she caught. Boris is also a great cook and builder."

Blushing at how their older brother talked about and praised their skills, Boris cleared his throat. "Well Bendy’s also a good artist. He can make anything out of anything."

Chuckling at how all three demons were making each other blush, probably not used to being complimented in front of strangers, Mickey spoke up. "Well the three of you seem pretty good with children as well."

With how the three demons tensed, Mickey wondered if he said something wrong until Bendy cleared his throat. "Yeah well um, we were kinda, made, to be good with children…"

Seeing how the king and prince were looking at him in confusion, Bendy continued. “Over 30 years ago, my siblings and I were originally just characters in a story book for children, we were brought to life for the intended purpose to entertain children and families, but that didn’t exactly go as planned…”

Oswald raised a brow. “Wait, over 30 years ago? But you three are children.”

Seeing how his kids were getting tense and uncomfortable, Felix rested his hand on Bendy’s head and smiled gently at the three. “I can explain it from here if you’d prefer.”

When all of them nodded, seeing that as a better option, the cat took over in explaining. “The person who brought them to life was a very bad man. He was unhappy with how the three of them didn’t want to do what he had planned for them, so he used a magic sword called Finis and put them in a death-like slumber for 30 years. Five years ago I found them and accidentally woke them up.”

Eyes going wide, Cuphead looked at Bendy in shock. His partner refused to make eye contact with anyone at the table as he stared down at his hands in his lap. Alice fidgeted uncomfortably and Boris glared at his own plate.

So that’s what Joey did…

A lot of things made sense now.

By his side, Mugman looked just as alarmed by the news as Cuphead did as he spoke up. “Finis… Isn’t that latin for, The End?”

Felix nodded, his ears dropping slightly over his anger thinking back to how hurt and scared the three demons were when he found them. From the look of the king and prince, they both shared his anger after hearing his rather sugar coated story. Oswald’s ears were down with a scowl on his face. “Despicable.”

Schooling his emotions, but clearly angered by how his hands were clenching on the table, Mickey turned to the three demons. “I’m sorry that happened to you three. It must have been a difficult thing to experience at a young age. I promise you though, you are safe here.”

Getting thank yous from the three of them, Mickey took a moment to consider the information he was given on all of them. “I’ll talk to my advisor and see what we can do for you 6. Until then all of you should take the time to rest and recover from your long trip here. You may do as you please in exploring the town or the castle, please be sure to let the guards know though if you head out.”

As all of them thanked Mickey, everyone finished up their meals before heading on their way out of the dining hall. Some of the little girl bunny kids dragged Alice off to show her their dresses, while Boris and Felix went off to go find the castle library. Leaving Bendy alone with Cuphead and Mugman.

Carefully taking hold of Bendy’s hand, Cuphead rubbed his thumb against the back of it as he watched the ink demon’s expression. Seeing how deep in thought he was after bringing up his and his siblings origin story. “You okay?”

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Bendy squeezed Cuphead’s hand. “Yeah, I’m fine. That’s always a hard subject to talk about…”

Understanding that, the red cup brother leaned down to give Bendy a kiss on the cheek. Smiling a little at how he blushed from it. “How about the three of us go check out the training grounds then? I wanna see what kind of stuff the royal guards in the kingdom can do.”

About to agree, the ink demon was cut off when Mugman spoke up. “Uh, before that, I feel like I need to say something…”

With both his brother and the ink demon watching him curiously, Mugman nervously cleared his throat as he faced Bendy completely. “Everything was kinda crazy for a while, I had a lot on my mind, and you weren’t feeling well for most of the time so it never felt like a good time to approach you, especially considering I shot at you and all when we first met.”

Bendy snorted as he glanced at Cuphead. “You wouldn’t be the first.”

Fighting the urge to chuckle at how Cuphead blushed and cringed at that comment, Mugman continued. “First or not, I see now that those actions weren’t right. I jumped to conclusions when seeing you with my brother, and I wanted to protect him… But in doing so I almost got you in a situation that would have been worse than death and would have torn your family apart… I am, so, sorry.”

Wow, looks like Cuphead wasn’t the only one who could surprise Bendy with an apology. “O-oh, uh, it’s okay. I don’t hold it against you. You were told that all demons are bad your whole life, and then you saw your brother trying to kiss one. I feel like most people would panic in your shoes. I’m just glad you’re being open minded about this.”

Still seeing how unsure and guilty Mugman felt, Bendy smiled kindly as he offered his free hand. “How about we have a first impression do-over? Hi, I’m Bendy the Ink Demon. I’m currently dating your brother.”

Caught off guard by that, Mugman snorted in surprise before laughing and taking Bendy’s hand. “Mugman the Mug, and I wish you luck with that.”

Cuphead shot both of them a dirty look as both of them started laughing together. “You know I used to hope you two would get along but now I’m starting to regret that.”

Mugman chuckled as he wrapped an arm around his brother’s shoulders as they continued on their way to the training grounds. “Love you too Cup.”

_____________________

Going through a rather fascinating book on magic artifacts he found in the castle library, Felix glanced out the window to see what time of day it was before turning to Boris. “I’m going to go check on your brother and sister. Will you be okay on your own for a bit kiddo?”

Sticking his head around a bookshelf corner with a stack of books in his arms, Boris nodded to his guardian. “I’ll be fine. Tell the others I said hi.”

Chuckling and saying he will, Felix put a bookmark where he left off and headed out of the library to find the other two.

He was happy to see everyone was doing okay. It took a lot of weight off of his shoulders now that the kids were safe and healthy again. Especially after such a big overwhelming change. Going from a humble little farm in the woods, to a big grand kingdom where people wouldn’t attack the kids for being demons.

They had yet to leave the castle grounds though to see the kingdom, which was perfectly fine to Felix. He didn’t want Bendy, Boris, and Alice to get spooked from being around too many strangers at once. It was one thing to be around the royal family and the employees of the castle, but random people in a busy village might be a different story.

Maybe they could plan to take baby steps into getting the three of them to work on socializing in a town. It would certainly be good for their development and perhaps help with their past trauma with some better experience with people. Felix would have to talk about this with the two cup brothers as well to see if they can help with that.

Deep in thought, Felix was caught slightly off guard when he heard his name being said. Ear perking up, the cat man turned towards the source of the sound. Seeing a large door, possibly leading to a private study room or something, and hearing the soft voices of the king and prince behind it.

“- I’m just a little worried about you Ozzy.”

“Well don’t. I’m fine.”

Hearing how the two royal brothers talked to each other in private was certainly different to how they talked to each other in front of company. All professionalism was gone, Prince Oswald sounded somewhat angry and bitter, while King Mickey sounded sad, and almost nervous. It was such a difference from the first impression Felix got from the two of them.

From inside the room, Mickey sighed. “Ozzy I’m glad you want to help these people, if it weren’t for you stumbling upon them then they’d still be trying to find somewhere safe to live. I’m just worried about-...”

Oswald’s voice turned cold, Felix could almost imagine the glare on the rabbit’s face. “About WHAT, Mic?”

“... He looks like her. A lot, like her. They could practically be twins.”

“DON’T YOU DARE BRING HER UP!”

Jumping a little from the prince snapping, Felix watched the door in alarm as the king quickly spoke up. “Oswald, I'm just concerned for you! I know you’re still hurting, but you keep shutting me out and I can’t-”

“Can’t what? Fix me?”

“That is NOT what I-”

“I don’t need your concern or worry little brother! I’m capable of raising my 420 kids, and doing the duties you “oh so graciously” gave me after you got the crown instead! I’m, FINE. I don’t need you to worry about fixing me just because Felix looks like her! He’s just a man with kids that needed help, that’s it! So either mind your own damn business or I can find them jobs and a place to stay myself!”

Things went tensely quiet in the room. Felix almost wondered if either of them were daring to breathe before Mickey broke the silence. “Very well then. I’ll go talk to Goofy and Donald to see if we have any job openings around here that best suits them.”

Hearing footsteps approaching the door, Felix tensed up and quickly rushed off down the hall before anyone could open the doors and see him eavesdropping on the royal family. He mentally scolded himself for doing so in the first place as he continued his search for Alice and Bendy to check on them. Even if he was the subject of their argument, it was still wrong of him to listen in on a personal conversation.

… But Felix couldn’t help but wonder who this “her” was.

_____________

The end of the day came before they knew it. Everyone having a fun time hanging out in the castle and getting to know the staff that worked there. Many of them were pleasantly nice towards the three demons, which caught Bendy, Boris, and Alice off guard quite a bit but they certainly appreciated their kindness.

The only one who wasn’t very good company was the guard Captain Pete, but the king’s personal guard Goofy assured them he’s like that with everyone.

By the time the sun was setting and they all gathered together for dinner, Mickey informed them that Cuphead and Mugman could spend the night in a neighboring suite room if they wished. The brothers happily took him up on his offer so Felix could sleep in a bed and they could all get some better privacy.

With their meals done they all retired for the night. Stopping at the door of the room Bendy was staying in with his family, Cuphead stole a quick kiss from his partner and smiled at him. “Night Bendy.”

Chuckling happily, Bendy smiled back. “Good night Cup.”

Fake-gagging, Boris grabbed Bendy by the back of his shirt and dragged him inside their room while ignoring his older brother’s protests. “Wanna-be fairytale couple.”

As Alice giggled and Felix shook his head while the two demon brothers started arguing, they bid Cuphead and Mugman goodnight before disappearing into their room, leaving the two alone as they went into their own room.

Unbuttoning his shirt, Cuphead called dibs on the bathroom and ran inside before Mugman could object. Snickering as he closed the door shut heard his brother groan in frustration on the other side. Taking his shirt completely off, the red cup brother proceeded to reach for a clean towel until he saw his reflection and paused as he stared at himself.

The thing he’s been trying to ignore this whole time practically mocked him in the mirror.

On his chest, was a large dark heart shaped mark with a dull and ominous glowing red silhouette. The glow pulsed with every beat of his heart, like a beacon.

“No matter how far you run! No matter where you hide! I will find you! AND YOUR SOUL WILL BE MINE!”

Shuddering at the twisted laughter from his memories echoed in his head, Cuphead took a deep breath to calm his nerves, grabbed a towel, and proceeded to get cleaned up for the night. Doing his best not to focus on the marking until he could put his shirt back on.

He was fine right now. Everything was fine.

Bendy didn’t need to know about this. Cuphead has his brother Mugman watching his back, and from what he saw from the royal guard training, the kingdom would be well protected from intruders.

No one else needed to know about his curse…

Chapter Text

Twisted laughter echoed in the air.

He ran as fast as his legs could go. Ignoring the burning feeling in his lungs.

“HELP! SOMEONE HELP!”

No one heard his cry for help. Or no one cared.

Why should they? He kept screwing up. Threw away any chance he had because of his own stupidity. Now he was using up borrowed time and luck.

With how he tripped over his own feet, it seems like even that was running out.

Crashing hard onto the ground, he frantically tried getting back on his feet, only to be grabbed by the ankle and yanked back.

He quickly rolled over and aimed his finger, but some dark shadows grabbed him by his wrists and pinned his arms to the ground. No amount of pulling or struggling amounted to anything.

“I fooouuuund you~!”

Freezing in terror, he locked eyes with a pair of eyes he’s been fearing for years, praying he’d never see them again. Only to have them gleefully looking down at him.

A hand rested on his chest, long sharp claws digging into his skin.

“Your soul, is, MINE!”

Screaming, Cuphead sat up in bed and wrapped his arms around his chest. Panting hard as he processed that he was in his and Mugman’s new room in the Disney Castle.

A nightmare.

It was only a nightmare.

Groaning, the red cup brother flopped backwards into the soft mattress and rubbed his face that was covered in a cold sweat. Swearing under his breath as he felt his hands trembling against his face.

“I ain’t too worried about it, I ain’t too worried about it, I ain’t too worried about it.”

Repeating that to himself until he felt his heart stop racing, Cuphead took one more deep breath as he lowered his hands and sat back up, albeit much slower.

The sun was up, and Mugman wasn’t in his bed, so he must have already started his day. Meaning Cuphead should probably do the same unless he wanted Mugman to drag him out of bed by his handle. Plus he kinda wanted to have lunch with Bendy today. Wanting some alone time with his new boyfriend without their families butting in.

Don’t get him wrong, Cuphead loved his bro, and Bendy’s family was nice, even if Boris was still glaring at him and Mugman, but he and Bendy still haven’t had a proper date! Bendy’s never even been on a date before, never getting the chance to be a “normal” teenager. Now that the two of them were dating, Cuphead wanted to make sure his boyfriend had a chance to actually do teenager stuff.

So the red cup brother made himself get ready for the day. Washing up, ignoring the dull glowing coming from his chest, getting dressed, and heading out the door of his and Mugman’s room.

Checking next door to see that Bendy and the others were indeed gone as well, somewhat grateful for that since they probably would have heard him scream, Cuphead asked one of the nearby guards where everyone went.

Felix was with the king and prince as they talked over what kind of jobs Felix could do in the kingdom and where would be a good place for them all to live, Boris and Alice were checking out the royal garden picking fruit to make deserts in the kitchen later, Mugman was training outside with the royal guards, and Bendy was in the library with the children.

Apparently all the bunny kids begged Bendy to read to them, and the poor ink demon couldn’t bring himself to say no to all the adorable little pleading eyes.

Thanking the guard, Cuphead swung by the training grounds to chat with Mugman real quick. Wanting to check up on him before going about his day. It also helped relax the lingering tension he still had from the nightmare to see Mugman was still there, ready to help watch his back.

His brother informs him that Mickey’s personal guard Goofy spared with him earlier and said he could put in a good word with Captain Pete to maybe help them get positions as royal guards. So that could hopefully solve their job issue, and maybe their living situation if they could stay in the castle and move into the guards sleeping quarters.

Seeing though how the captain was giving them dirty looks as if they were something he just stepped in, Cuphead had a few doubts that that would work out in their favor, but he was sure to keep that to himself as he praised his brother for getting them a chance for a job.

Letting Mugman continue his training in peace, Cuphead then went looking for Bendy in the library.

Now Cuphead wasn’t the biggest reader. Sure he liked a decent book now and then, but only if it was an exciting adventure story. Anything else was boring as heck. Though even he could admit, the castle library was freaking impressive.

Bookshelves towered over him, making him feel rather small. The room itself was the size of a small ballroom, clear out the tables and chairs and it would be roomy enough for a fancy dance party. It would take someone their entire life to read through every single book that filled this library.

Cuphead dreaded the day Mugman eventually decides to check out the library himself. Knowing it’ll be a nightmare to drag him out of there to get some sunlight and fresh air.

Hearing a choir of giggles coming from further inside the library, the red cup brother followed the sound until he found who he was looking for. Surrounded by a large audience of bunny kids, Bendy stood with a ruler in one hand and a book in the other. Acting out the scene he was reading to the children who excitedly watched him swinging around the measuring tool like a mighty sword.

“And with the swing of his sword, the brave prince struck down the evil warlock, who cried out in bitter defeat before vanishing into a cloud of smoke and uttering his final words! “THIS CANNOT BEEEEEEEE!” Now that his enemy was vanquished, the prince rushed to his true love. Sweeping her off her feet and into his loving embrace. Holding her close, and promising her she will always be safe and loved as long as he draws breath into his lungs.”

Many of the kids went “aaaaaaw” at that, while Cuphead had to stop himself from laughing at the others making grossed out faces. Clearly not all of them were very fond of the whole mushy romance thing. He couldn’t blame them considering he was like that as a kid too.

Heck he still was kinda like that sometimes. Good thing Bendy wasn’t really into the mushy romance stuff.

Closing the book, Bendy smiled down at the kids. “The two of them got onto the prince’s horse, traveled back to the prince’s castle, and by summer’s end the two of them had a beautiful wedding the whole kingdom attended, and they lived happily, ever, after. The end.”

The children cheered and clapped for Bendy.

“That was amazing!”

“You’re really good at this Bendy!”

“Daddy never reads like that to us!”

“Can you read another one?!”

The ink demon chuckled as he put the book and ruler down and ruffled a bunny’s head. “Sorry but not today. I told you all I’d only read one book, and then you kids had to do your lessons. Remember? All of you promised.”

Getting a lot of disappointed whines, Bendy sighed a little. “I promise we can do this again tomorrow. Okay guys? But only if you’re all good today.”

With the kids seeing that as a reasonable compromise, all the kids promised to be good today and went off to do their lessons, some of them giving Bendy hugs before hopping away which the ink demon gladly returned. When they all eventually cleared out, Bendy walked over to Cuphead who waited patiently. “Enjoyed the show?”

“A little. It’s cute how much those kids adore you already.”

Shrugging, Bendy followed his boyfriend out the library and into the hallway. “Well like I said, we were made for kids… But I do enjoy being around them. I never thought I’d get to meet kids, and now I’ve got 420 of them following me around. They’re all very sweet children.”

Nodding in agreement, Cuphead wrapped his arm around Bendy’s shoulders. “You hungry? I haven’t eaten yet today and wanted to enjoy lunch with you if you’re okay with that.”

Checking one of the clocks in the hall, Bendy raised a brow at Cuphead. “It’s barely past 9:30.”

“...Brunch then? That’s a thing people do when they’re staying in fancy places right?”

The ink demon snorted in amusement and nodded. “Yeah, sure, why not. Sounds like fun.”

Stopping by the kitchen to get something to eat, quickly running out of there after Cuphead stole some freshly made sweets which ticked off one of the bakers who chased them out while wielding a wooden spoon for a weapon, the two of them wandered around the castle until they found a balcony spot with a good view to eat at. Bendy digging into the sweet pastries Cuphead snatched from the kitchen and taking in the wonderful sight.

He could see part of the Disney kingdom capital from here. If they sat somewhere higher up the ink demon was sure they’d have an even better view. About to mention that to Cuphead, Bendy paused as he turned his head and got a good look at him.

Cuphead was leaning back in his seat, staring off into space as he held his warm drink in his hands. Looking deep in thought, and somewhat troubled.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Snapping back to reality, Cuphead looked over at his boyfriend and smiled. “Yeah, I’m peachy! Why do you ask?”

Frowning a little, Bendy tilted his head a bit curiously. “You just seemed really deep in thought there. Are you sure you’re okay? If something’s wrong-”

“Bendy, I’m fine. I promise.”

He didn’t want to talk about it.

Bendy wasn’t stupid. He’d done the same when Felix, Boris, or Alice would ask him if something was wrong. He’d pretend he was fine and dandy and/or change the subject. Now Cuphead was doing the same thing to him.

He wasn’t going to push it though. Seeing how Cuphead’s grip on his drink was tightening, it was clear he was getting tense and uncomfortable. The last thing he wanted was to make Cuphead confess something upsetting when he wouldn’t do that to Bendy.

Reaching out, Bendy wrapped his hands around Cuphead’s, helping his grip on his drink cup relax a little. “Okay… But just so you know, I’m here for you too. You keep doing a lot of things for me, I’m eventually going to want to return the favor.”

Looking into his partner’s caring eyes, Cuphead could feel himself almost telling him.

They were all safe, for now.

There was no reason for him NOT to tell him.

Cuphead had to tell him eventually anyways.

He knew Bendy would understand.

“... I-”

“ Yaaaaa- ha- h a- ha- hooOOOEY!”

Looking up when the two heard the strange scream, the young couple quickly let go of each other and jumped out of their seats when Goofy crashed into the table they were eating at. Bendy quickly rushed to the dog man’s side and helped him sit up. “Are you okay?!”

Licking the smushed food on his face, the royal guard hummed happily. “Mmmmm! Pancakes! Ah-hyuck!”

Seeing that Goofy was okay enough to be enjoying their now ruined brunch, Cuphead looked over the edge of the balcony to see his brother rushing over. “Mugsy! What the heck?!”

“He was showing me the armory!”

“And that resulted in him flying through the air?!”

All Mugman could offer was an equally baffled shrug. Cuphead shook his head as he went over to Bendy and helped him get the poor guy onto his feet so they could walk him to the castle infirmary. As they walked, the red cup brother stole a few glances at his boyfriend, who was exchanging small talk with Goofy as they walked. Smiling a little as the dog man started talking and bragging about his young son Max.

… He’d tell him. Eventually.

Just not now.

__________________

Stopping once he reached the throne, the well dressed man bowed before it. “Sir, news from the surface. It seems your little prey has done something quite, unexpected.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed. From my intel sources, Cuphead and his brother are no longer part of the demon hunting knights. In fact, a bounty is out on their heads for setting free a captured demon of all things.”

A roar of laughter filled the throne room. “A DEMON?! You’re kidding! It seems that greedy little brat has only gotten dumber since our last encounter!”

“I couldn’t agree more sir. Shall we track him down so you can finally get your prize?”

Standing up from his throne, the dark ominous figure approached his kneeling subject. “Yes, but be sure not to rush it. I want him to get a sense of false security before we pounce. That brat has been a pain in my side for too long, I want him to SUFFER once we catch him.”

“Yes sir. What should we do about the demon he saved if he’s still with it? It’s quite unheard of for a mortal to save a demon from the demon hunters.”

“Any demon pathetic enough to get captured by the demon hunters on the surface isn’t usually worth my time, but seeing how Cuphead was willing to throw away his life for it, I’m willing to make an exception to see what the fuss is about. If they’re still with each other, capture the pathetic demon, and bring me, Cuphead’s, SOUL.”

Standing back up onto his feet, King Dice grinned. “As you wish, Boss.”

The Devil smiled, showing off his razor sharp teeth.

Chapter Text

They were running low on supplies.

The three of them would be fine, but Felix…

It’s been days since the cat collapsed in the snow and Bendy had to carry him back inside. That cough he’s had for a while being at it’s worse, and it even sounded like Felix struggled to get a decent breath. He needed medicine they didn’t have, and Felix was in no shape to go to the nearby kingdom…

So, Bendy made his choice and told Alice and Boris his plan.

His siblings objected right away. Alice volunteered to do the plan instead since she looked the least demonic, but Bendy refused to budge. Bendy was the strongest out of the three of them, and the other two needed to watch over the house and Felix while he was bedridden.

He’s been taking care of them for the past two years, it was about time they took care of him too.

Bendy was NOT about to let a stupid sickness wreck his healing family.

So, the young ink demon covered himself head to toe in warm winter clothes, grabbed the money they had tucked away for emergencies, and made his way to the village on his own. Promising his siblings he’d be back tomorrow, since he didn’t need to stop to rest like Felix did when traveling to the village. Leaving late at night to be sure Felix was sleeping and wouldn’t notice him leaving to avoid worrying the ill cat.

The walk there wasn’t too bad. Wild animals kept their distance from Bendy due to his magic ink body giving off a sense of danger to other creatures. The only thing Bendy worried about was his ink body getting too cold and starting to freeze, but thankfully his winter clothing kept him warm enough to avoid that.

Then he reached the village by sunrise.

Gulping at the sight of the building and the people already out and about, the ink demon pulled up his scarf and yanked down his hat to hide his face the best he could without covering his eyes, and moved forward into town. Keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact the best he could as he tried finding the right building that sold medical herbs.

He could feel people looking at him. Giving him funny looks considering he was a random young boy walking around on his own. He hoped none of them would stare long enough to see anything off about him. He could feel his anxiety rise just from the mere thought.

Do it for Felix, do it for Felix, do it for Felix.

Eventually finding the right store, Bendy quickly made his way inside and used all the confidence he could muster to talk to the shopkeeper. Asking for what would work best for the symptoms Felix had.

The person running the shop raised an eyebrow at Bendy at first, but considering he was a paying customer, they brushed off how strange the nervous ink demon was acting and got him what they thought would help best. After paying them, Bendy quickly made his way out of the shop and hurried his way out of the village.

It was almost over. Once he was back in the woods he’d be-

“HEY!”

SHIT.

Stuffing the herbs into the bag he had on him, Bendy looked over his shoulder and saw a group of rather scruffy and armed men following him. They didn’t look like knights, so at best they were probably thieves picking out what they thought was an easy target to rob.

Jokes on them. They picked the worst target. Still didn’t mean the ink demon wanted to get into a fight though…

Not hesitating, Bendy RAN.

He could hear the men yelling something, but he didn’t care enough to listen. He wasn’t about to let them steal what Felix needed. So he would zigzag his way between crowds and buildings, doing his best to lose them.

It was rather concerning to Bendy how no one seemed to speak up over how a young boy was seemingly trying to get away from something and in possible danger. Seeing how he didn’t want any other attention on himself though, the ink demon tried not to focus on that.

 Coming at a stop at the edge of the village, the woods in sight, Bendy looked around to make sure the thugs didn’t follow him. Sighing in relief when he didn’t see a single person nearby, and continuing towards the woods.

A pair of hands suddenly grabbed him from behind, and yanked off his bag as they threw him into the snow.

Men laughed as Bendy pushed himself onto his knees as he tried wiping the snow off his face. “Now what’s a little boy like you doing out here all alone without his mommy? Don’t you know it’s dangerous being by yourself?”

Getting back on his feet, Bendy glared at the man who was going through his bag as the others held out their knives to keep him from making a move. He fought the urge to growl as he spoke. “Take the money, take anything you want from the bag, but I need those herbs. My guardian’s sick and I have to get them to him.”

Pulling out the bag of herbs, the man looked them over. “Now why would I do that? Free medical herbs will be helpful to my group. Besides, I wouldn’t be worried about a sick old man if I were you… I’d be more worried about yourself.”

Before Bendy could say anything in reply, a sharp pain stabbed through his neck. Causing him to choke as it blocked his airway. He dropped to his knees and put his hands up to his neck. Feeling the blade that was lodged in his throat.

Oh, these, SINNERS.

The men were walking off now. Their backs were towards him, so none of them were watching as Bendy yanked the blade out of his throat, and got back to his feet. His eyes irises turned yellow as his body quickly made the wound heal before he bleed to much ink.

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

Spinning around, the men could barely register the fact that Bendy was still alive before the young ink demon grabbed the closest man and threw him into a nearby tree, rendering him unconscious when he slammed into the wood. A few others tried to attack with weapons drawn, but Bendy easily avoided their attacks, either breaking their limbs that were welding the weapons, or making them slam into each other as he used their momentum against them.

With all men down but one, Bendy put his eyes on the last of the sinner thieves, who was now trembling in his boots as he held Bendy’s bag so tightly his knuckles were turning white. “Attacking and attempting to murder a seemingly defenseless child? Now that has earned you a special place in hell.”

The man whimpered in fear as he felt around himself and pulled out a sad excuse of a dagger to defend himself. “S-STAY AWAY DEMON!”

Bendy didn’t have time for this idiot. Felix needed him.

Marching forward, the young ink demon didn’t even flinch when the thief gave his best battle cry and attempted to attack. It was in vain as Bendy easily grabbed his arm, snatched his bag back, and kicked the man hard enough to make him slide a good fifteen feet away in the snow.

Now fearing for his very life seeing how dangerous Bendy was, the man curled up in a pathetic ball in an attempt to shield himself from Bend’s wrath. “H-h-have mercy! I d-don’t want to die!”

Pausing at that, Bendy looked around at the men he just defeated, using his demonic strength and powers against simple mortal beings.

Did he go too far?

Frowning, Bendy faced the man again. “... Death is too kind. For the rest of your short life, you will live knowing for a fact that you will burn in hell for your sins. Choose a different path in the time you have left, and maybe your eternal punishment will be less severe.”

The ink demon wasn’t too sure if the thief heard him or not with how he was crying uncontrollably in terror, and frankly he didn’t care anymore. Turning around, he ran as fast as he could into the woods. Holding his bag for dear life the entire time.

It started to snow by the time Bendy stopped to catch his breath. The cold air wasn’t helping his still hurting throat, and he felt the oh so familiar sensation of his soul letting him know he really pushed it.

Pulling the scarf away from his mouth, Bendy proceeded to cough out the ink his body rejected. The black ink clashing terribly with the beautiful white snowy blanket.

When he managed to finish getting the bad ink out, the ink demon’s yellow eyes turned back to their normal black pie cut style as he took deep breaths. The black staining his scarf caught his eye as he pulled on it to get a better look.

Seeing the hole stabbed through his scarf in the middle of the ink spot that bled onto the scarf.

Everything that happened hit Bendy. How he was out there alone, how someone attempted to kill him, how no one seemed to care that a child was in danger, and how he almost lost control against a bunch of regular people.

Regular people who’s selfishness controlled their actions.

Just like Joey.

Ink tears dripped onto the snow on the ground. Bendy quickly tried to wipe them away as he put his scarf back on and continued his trip back home. The snowfall thankfully covered his tracks and the ink puddle he left behind.

He couldn’t focus on the cruel and evil people of this world.

Not when one of the few kind and generous people that cared about him and his siblings needed him.

____________

Rubbing the side of his neck where he remembers the blade was stabbed into, Bendy stared up at the Disney castle gate as he felt anxiety build up in his stomach.

Today was the calmest day of the week in the kingdom. Many people were working so there weren't a lot of citizens walking the streets. Felix saw this as a good opportunity to help Bendy, Alice, and Boris work on their social skills. Starting with something small, a simple walk through town so they can have a picnic.

Cuphead and Mugman were coming to help the ink trio feel safer, seeing how nervous the three were over the idea of walking around out in the open during the day. Which Bendy appreciated, but still didn’t stop his nerves from going nuts in his head.

So much negative past experience understandably made him hesitant.

Hearing a soft whine behind him, Bendy looked behind himself and saw Alice and Boris looking just as nervous as he felt. Boris has his tail tucked under him and his ears pressed against his head, while Alice was hugging her cloak close to herself and was shuffling behind Boris as the two stared at the gate.

Swallowing down his own feelings over their situation, Bendy smiled at his siblings comfortingly and offered his hands. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll be fine. Felix wouldn’t ask us to do this if he didn’t think this wasn’t safe.”

After a few moments, the ink wolf and angel took their brother’s hands. The three held on tightly as Felix approached with a large basket in his arms and Cuphead and Mugman behind him. The cat man gave his three kids a smile in hopes that it would help them relax somewhat seeing how nervous they looked. “Are you three ready?”

Getting hesitant nods from the three kids, Felix started to lead the way as Cuphead and Mugman covered the back of the group. The three siblings all got a bit more tense as they walked through the opened castle gate and into the town.

It was somewhat similar to how Bendy remembered his first trip into a town. The main difference is it’s less busy, and he didn’t have to maneuver himself around people. Everyone gave them space considering they were a large group.

They still got funny looks. Despite how the Disney Kingdom had a bit more of a kind view towards demons, it was clear not many demons lived around here. So having 3 demons walk out in the open was sure to get some curious looks and mixed reactions.

Felix occasionally narrowed his eyes at a few people who gave them dirty looks. A mother quickly walked past them while keeping her kids close, though one of her kids did look back at them and offer a little wave. Alice being the one to kindly wave back.

Some shopkeepers didn’t seem to mind them as long as they were potential paying customers. A baker stepped out at one point with a tray full of rolls as they passed his shop and tried luring them into the shop with the promise of more wonderful smelling goods to choose from. Took all of Bendy’s strength to stop Boris from going in there after Felix declined.

After a few minutes of walking they reached their destination. A hilltop with trees that overlooked a good portion of the capital.

After spreading out the picnic blanket and sitting down for their meal, Felix asked. “So, what do you three think so far?”

Enjoying one of the sandwiches they packed, Alice hummed thoughtfully. “The shops looked nice. I’ve always wanted to look at those fabric stores to see what they have. Do you think we can go inside one someday?”

“I don’t see why not sweetie. And you boys?”

Boris had a thoughtful look on his face. “There are different smells around here that I've never smelled before. It’s a bit overwhelming, but fascinating. The forge looked neat too.”

Smiling from hearing how Boris seemed to be enjoying himself too, Felix put his attention on Bendy. His smile dropping a bit seeing the ink demon playing with his food as Cuphead gave him a worried look.

Feeling people's eyes on him, Bendy looked up and took notice of his parent figure and boyfriend giving him looks that were clear they were starting to worry, so he put on a small smile. “It’s nice…”

Felix clearly didn’t buy that. Not because of Bendy being a bad liar at the moment, but because he was well aware why his oldest was so hesitant.

He remembered the day he woke up to Boris nudging him awake and helping him sit up so Alice could get him to drink the tea they made out of the medical herbs. Due to his mind being so foggy from the fever, the cat man didn’t question where they got the herbs right away. Not until after he drank the bitter tea and got to lay down again.

Rolling over in his bed to see Bendy curled up by his side, shivering, exhausted, and having ink staining around the collar of his winter jacket he didn’t remove.

Safe to say that helped pull Felix out of his feverish daze.

It took him a while to get a full story out of the three, and it took him even longer to get Bendy to stop tearfully apologizing over and over again for breaking one of Felix’s rules he put in place to keep them safe and for lashing out at mortals. Felix though didn’t care about any of that, he was more concerned over if Bendy was still hurt at all from being stabbed in the neck and having to walk through the cold nonstop for over a day.

By the time they all settled down, all three pre-teens had fallen asleep in his bed. The ink angel on his other side, the ink wolf curled up at the end of the bed keeping their feet warm, and the ink demon now in Felix’s arms as the cat man did his best to warm him up and sooth him as he restlessly slept.

Alice and Boris were clearly shaken up from everything, and Bendy now has new trauma from his first trip into a town full of people.

Felix was at a loss about what to do about that back then, now though, he had hoped this better experience would help Bendy adjust to being around people who wouldn’t lash out or panic at the sight of a demon. Seems it wasn’t going as well as he hoped…

There was still one more thing he could try.

By the time they all finished their meals and enjoyed the public outdoors a bit more, Felix announced it was time to head back to the castle. Bendy took hold of Boris and Alice’s hands again as they all made their way through town, but raised a brow as he noticed the scenery was a bit different.

“Felix, I thought you said we were going back to the castle?”

The cat man grinned as he looked back at the teens behind him. “We are. I just wanted to take a scenic route back. Oswald informed me there’s something very interesting.”

Wanting to question what that interesting thing was, Bendy didn’t even get the chance to ask as they turned the corner and his jaw dropped as he gasped.

Right there before them, was a giant mural painted on one of the building walls.

It was of the Disney castle at night, a warm glow coming from the windows of the building, while stars shimmered in the painted sky, the water in the picture reflecting all the magical looking lighting.

Cuphead gave an impressed whistle while Mugman nodded in agreement with his brother. Boris’s tail wagged and Alice “Ooooh”ed, all while Bendy took in every detail in stunned silence.

Felix chuckled at the kids' reactions while he looked back at the painting. “Oswald told me there are paintings like this all over the kingdom. It’s a bit of a tourist attraction.”

There were MORE like this one?!

Looking at his parent figure, Bendy could barely contain his excitement as he asked. “Can we see the other ones someday? Please Felix?!”

Glad to see his plan worked to get Bendy excited over the idea of going out more, Felix smiled as he reached over and patted Bendy’s shoulder. “Of course we can.”

The rest of the walk back was filled with excited chatter from the three siblings. Boris talking about wanting to make something in a forge one of these days, Alice coming up with what kind of clothes she can make with new fabrics and the furs she managed to save when they moved, and Bendy smiling ear to ear as he wondered what other kinds of paintings were around the kingdom. Cuphead and Mugman gladly listen to their friends talk excitedly and throw in their own comments of stuff they think the three would like in town.

Felix knew better to think it fixed everything. He wasn’t about to throw the kids into the deep end of the pool when they barely knew how to swim so to speak.

But this trip was certainly a good first step into healing and opening up.

Chapter Text

Sticking out his tongue in concentration, when he was done doing what he was doing, Cuphead held up his little project to show it to the others. “Tadaa! Best flower crown or what?”

As everyone paused to look, the handful of bunny kids the teenagers had with them in the garden started giggling at the mangled mess the red cup brother made. Bendy forced a smile and was about to say something sugar coated for his boyfriend’s sake, before Boris spoke up. “Or what.”

Elbowing his younger brother, Bendy gave him a quick glare before looking at Cuphead. “It’s a good first try Cup.”

Pouting a little over how his flower crown didn’t turn out as nicely as he thought, the red cup brother was caught somewhat by surprise when Bendy took it and put it on his head. The ink demon smiled as he adjusted the messy crown to fit around his horns. “If you ask me, I think it looks rather good on me.”

As Cuphead blushed, ignoring how Boris groaned in annoyance over watching them acting like a couple, he looked down at the flower crown Bendy was making. A mixture of yellow and white flowers. It was quite impressive, just like the ones Alice and Boris were making. “You guys make this look easy. Where’d you learn how to make flower crowns?”

All three ink siblings paused at that. Bendy and Alice looked conflicted on how to respond until Boris spoke. “None of your business.”

Alice frowned in disapproval at her older brother. “Boris!”

“What? It’s not. Can we just drop it?”

Sensing how Boris was getting tense, Mugman decided it was best to change the subject since the ink wolf still wasn’t very fond of him and Cuphead and didn’t want to risk making him mad. “S-so! Uh, has Felix found a job for himself yet?”

Glad for the subject change, Bendy did a 50/50 gesture with his hand. “He has a few options. He’s considering going back into farming, but it’s a bit late in the season to start planting anything, and the Disney kingdom already has plenty of large farms to keep the kingdom and ally-kingdoms well fed. Though he’s pretty skilled in a lot of things so he can probably get any job. He’s more concerned about making sure we adjust to living possibly somewhere populated though and adjusting to being around people more often.”

One of the bunny kids sitting by Bendy looked up at the ink demon curiously. “You don’t like being around people? But there’s lots of people in the castle!”

Chuckling at that, Bendy ruffled the bunny’s fur on their head. “That’s true, but most people here work for your family and have to be polite around us since your dad and uncle like us. Strangers outside the castle though don’t have to be nice if they don’t want to be, and that can make us a bit nervous to be around them.”

As the kids around them went “Ooooooh.” from Bendy’s explanation, the ink angel giggled a little at how cute they were before looking at the two brothers. “What about you two? Any luck finding work?”

Both Cuphead and Mugman let out an exasperated groan, Mugman covering his face where only his nose peaked out between his hands. “We’re TRYING to get jobs at the castle as guards, but Captain Pete is making it a living nightmare!”

Boris snorted slightly in amusement over how dramatic the two were being. “That giant peg-legged hairball? From what I’ve seen he’s a major butt-kisser to the king. He can’t be that bad.”

One of the other bunny kids shook their head. “No, Pete can actually be worse. Daddy doesn’t like him. At all.”

Raising an eyebrow at that, Alice asked. “Then why does he still work here?”

“Because Pete worked for our family for a really long time, back when our grandpa was king. Uncle Mickey won’t fire him as long as Pete does a good job and isn’t super mean to guests. But since Cuphead and Mugman are trying to get jobs from him, he’s going to treat them however he likes as long as it doesn’t get him into to much trouble.”

As Cuphead groaned again and dropped his head on Bendy’s shoulder, the ink demon chuckled as he patted his boyfriend’s back. “Maybe we can talk to Mickey to see if he can help?”

Considering that, Cuphead and Mugman exchanged looks with each other until the red cup brother shook his head no. “Nah, it would feel kinda hollow to take advantage of knowing a king to get a job.”

Not to mention their last job was practically handed to them out of pity because Cuphead back then was a stupid cursed kid in desperate need of protection, but the others didn’t need to know that right now.

It still would be nice to feel like the brothers actually earned their job.

Bendy hummed a little as he continued to rub his back. “I understand. Just try your best then, okay? If things with Pete don't work out, then I’m sure you two can find something else to do.”

Appreciating the words of encouragement, Cuphead lifted his head up and stole a quick kiss from his boyfriend. Earning a choir of “Eeeeeew!” from most of the kids while Boris scrunched up his muzzle in disgust.

A bubbly giggle caught their attention. “Well aren’t you two cute!”

Turning to face who just arrived, the bunny kids all gasped excitedly and rushed forward. “Auntie Minnie!!”

The queen smiled as she knelt down and hugged her nieces and nephews. “Hello little ones! I missed you all while I was away!”

Realizing they were now in the presence of King Mickey’s wife, Queen Minnie, the five teenagers quickly got to their feet and bowed respectfully to her. Making the queen giggle again as she stood up to full height with a few kids in her arms. “Oh how polite of you, but there’s no need for that! My dear Mickey informed me about your stay here. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to welcome all of you when your group got here.”

Straightening his posture along with the others, Bendy rubbed his arm nervously as he gave a soft smile. “T-that’s okay Queen Minnie. I’m sure your royal duties are important. It’s lovely to get the chance to meet you though.”

"It's lovely to meet you too darling! Now, would you children and your guardian like to join my family for dinner later today? I'd love to get to know all of you."

 Noticing in the corner of his eye how Alice and Boris tensed a little and how Bendy’s smile became slightly more forced then a few moments ago, Mugman glanced at his brother to see that he noticed it too. Trying not to show his suspension, the blue mug brother answered the queen. "We'd be honored ma'am. My brother and I have guard training later with Captain Pete so he can decide if he wants us as part of the royal guard. We should be done in time to join all of you for dinner."

The queen gave a slight sympathetic look at the mention of Pete. "I see, well I wish you luck. Pete isn't an easy man to impress. See you five at dinner!"

As the bunny kids followed  their aunt as she left, Cuphead waited for the queen to be out of sight before turning to his boyfriend. "You okay? You started to look a bit uncomfortable while we talked to the queen. Do you not want to go to dinner?"

Shaking his head, Bendy took off the flower crown Cuphead made, trying his best not to acknowledge the ink staining it somewhat. "I'm fine. Just caught by surprise. I'll meet up with you guys later, okay? Good luck with Pete."

With Bendy leaving before anyone could object, Cuphead looked over at Alice as she spoke up. “Boris and I will be exploring more of the castle before dinner, would you two like us to come watch your training session later for moral support?”

Seeing how the two didn’t seem very worried for their oldest brother, the red cup brother took that as a reassuring sign that Bendy would be okay on his own for a bit. He did however cringe a little at the thought of Alice and Boris watching him and Mugman get humiliated by Pete. “Thanks, but I’d rather not have Boris laugh at us when Pete ends up making us eat dirt.”

Mugman nodded in agreement with his brother. All of them put their attention on the ink wolf as he snorted and covered his muzzle with his hand, possibly trying not to laugh at the mental image. When he noticed his sister giving him a disapproving look Boris put his hands up in surrender. “What? I didn’t say anything!”

Rolling her eyes, Alice turned to Cuphead and Mugman. “Fair enough. I wish you boys luck then.”

The two cup brothers thanked Alice for her good luck wish before the group parted ways.

They were going to need it.

_____________________

Sighing, Bendy left the suite room he and his family have been staying in after hiding in there for a few hours. Needing a break from being around people for a bit and now feeling a little better.

He was actually kinda proud of himself for keeping himself under control. The last thing he wanted was to snap at the QUEEN like he did at Cuphead whenever he unintentionally brought up old wounds.

If he did that, then he was sure he, Boris, Alice, Felix, and the cup brothers would be kicked out of the kingdom. They were lucky enough to have the royal family be so kind to them. The ink demon didn’t want to push it by making a bad mistake thanks to his temper and scaring the king, queen, prince, or any of the kids.

Thankfully his little break helped and now he was ready for that dinner. Seeing how it was still a bit early, Bendy went in search of his boyfriend and friend since they’d probably still be in training. Walking through the castle and onto the training grounds, he offered timid nods and waves to the nice guards greeting him as he passed them.

As he got closer, Bendy could hear a deep booming laugh.

“You two are PATHETIC! If either of you think you’ll get a job as royal guards then you must be dreaming!”

Frowning at that, Bendy picked up his pace until he reached the new recruit training area. A large obstacle course was on display,  and many guards were standing around armed with random junk and garbage that was also scattered around the area. Right in the middle of it all was Cuphead and Mugman. Both of them groaned as they rubbed their aching mud covered limbs, as the captain of the royal guards stood over them and laughed.

Wiping mud off his face, Cuphead glared up at the man. “None of that was fair! You had the guards throw stuff at us and gave us a shorter time to get through the course!”

The blue mug brother glared as well as he rubbed as a sore spot where a flying shoe nailed him. “Yeah! None of the other guys trying to become guards had to do any of that!”

Smiling smugly, Pete bent down to be close enough to the brothers that they could smell his foul breath. “Oh but surely that should have been a piece of cake for you two porcelain big shots. Being in training to be demon hunting knights for years? Why, those knights could have cleared all of that in half the time I gave you. I was going easy on you two for crying out loud! Yet you couldn’t even make it to the finish line. What a waist.”

Seeing enough of that, Bendy marched forward and cleared his throat, catching the captain’s attention as he stood back up straight and looked down at the ink demon. “I apologize for butting in, but you’re being quite rude. I understand they failed their training but there’s no reason to rub it in their faces. I’m sure they tried their best.”

Pete gave Bendy a very long look. This wasn’t the first time the two of them had met, but it was the first time Bendy had spoken to the captain of the guards.

Considering the large man always looked at him with an expression that made it clear he was holding back his disgust, probably for the sake of his job, Bendy did his best to keep his distance from him.

Now was no different. Pete’s smirk was gone and replaced with a sneer that was clearly hiding how he truly felt. “How I do training is my business. Stay out of it smallfry.” 

Really? He was making fun of his height? Bendy could tower over this guy in his ink demon and beast form!

Pushing back the temptation of changing form out of pettiness, not wanting to spook the guards and risk getting himself full of arrows and blades, Bendy crossed his arms and glared. “My friend, and my partner, are my business.”

Looking somewhat caught off guard by the partner bit, Pete glanced at the two brothers before looking back at Bendy and scowling. “Oh yeah? So I’m not letting your little boyfriend and his brother into the guards. What are you going to do about it, demon boy?”

Hearing Bendy starting to growl, Cuphead and Mugman quickly got back on their feet to try calming down the situation when someone spoke up.

“Is there a problem, Captain?”

Turning around to see who addressed him, Pete’s personality took a complete 180 when he saw Oswald approaching with some of his children and Felix. “Prince Oswald! How has your day been sir?”

Not looking impressed, the prince glanced around the training field and took notice of the state Cuphead and Mugman were in. “My day has been fine, thank you. It seems though that we need to have another talk about how you treat trainees and guests in the castle.”

“B-but your majesty, I was simply trying to make it fair for everyone else seeing how these two have had training for years beforehand.”

The prince didn’t buy that for a second. “And to do that you decided that pelting them with junk and mocking them for failing was the best option? You did something similar to this to Goofy years ago and he’s currently the best royal guard we have thanks to my father giving him a chance you refused to give him!”

Pete opened his mouth to argue, but Oswald held up his hand which got the captain to shut his mouth quickly. “You’re excused for the rest of the day. Your second in command Clarabelle will take over recruit training until my brother and I discuss with you about your behavior, AGAIN.”

Opening his mouth, looking like he wanted to say something, the large cat man quickly stopped himself as the prince raised a brow at him and waiting to see what he did next. Doing a poor job in Bendy's opinion at covering up his annoyance, Pete bowed to Oswald respectfully before leaving.

Shaking his head, Oswald turned to look at the boys. “I’m sorry about that. When my kids told me you had training with Pete today I wanted to make sure he wasn’t being his usual pain in the neck self. Unfortunately my concerns were valid. Are you two okay?”

Being handed towels that Felix pulled out of his magic bag, Mugman muttered a thanks to the cat as he handed one to Cuphead and the two started cleaning themselves up. “Yeah we’re fine. Just bruised prides… and maybe bruised ribs.”

Looking off into the direction Pete walked off to, Felix’s ears folded back. “A very charming man, isn’t he?”

Oswald nodded as he led everyone back to the castle. “He’s been like that for as long as I’ve known him. Why my father let him become captain of the guards, I’ll never know. Mickey only keeps him around because he doesn’t want to abuse his king title by firing him without a proper reason.”

Bendy supposed that was fair. As rude as he was, unless Pete did something really out of line he wouldn’t expect the king to fire him. Pete seemed to always stop himself before he crossed any lines that would affect himself negatively, and Mickey was too decent of a person to take advantage of his job position like that.

Unlike Pete and a certain someone else Bendy could think of.

Pushing that thought out of his mind before he could focus too much on it, Bendy put his attention on Cuphead and Mugman. “Sorry that you guys didn’t get the jobs you wanted. Maybe the two of you can job hunt around the town a bit?”

Having his towel hanging over his shoulders after cleaning his face the best he could, Cuphead shrugged. “Maybe, but what the heck kind of jobs would we get? We’ve been training in combat for years.”

One of Oswald’s children spoke up. “Maybe you could work at a bakery! So you can make lots and lots of carrot cake!”

Everyone chuckles slightly at the young royal’s not very sublet plot to get sweets. As Oswald explained to his kid that they wouldn’t be getting free cake just because the cup brothers get a job at a bakery, Mugman looked off into the distance as they approached the castle.

At the front steps of the entrance, He spotted King Mickey and Queen Minnie heading back inside. The two of them looked like they just got back from having some quality time together. They certainly looked like a very cute and happy couple. Practically the perfect “happily ever after” kind of relationship just from looking at them and seeing how lovey-dovey they acted.

Movement from above caught his eye.

Looking up, Mugman squinted in confusion, before gasping in alarm and bolting forward. “LOOK OUT!”

Mickey and Minnie both cried out in surprise when Mugman tackled the two.

CRASH!!!

Sitting up, the queen screamed in terror at the sight of the large safe that landed right where she and her husband were standing moments ago. The king's eyes were as big as dinner plates as he quickly wrapped his arms around his wife and held her protectively close.

With the rest of the group running forward to make sure Mickey, Minnie, and Mugman were okay, Bendy looked up at the balcony above. Seeing dark figures quickly duck out of sight.

“HEY!”

Feeling himself starting to change form, Bendy used his claws to scale up the castle walls and reach the balcony, seeing the dark figures disappear from the room and into the hallway.

“GET BACK HERE!”

Running after them as he ignored Felix and Cuphead calling out to him, the ink demon would just barely see something move around a corner and chase after it. Wanting to catch the ones who for some reason wanted to hurt the king and queen.

Turning another corner, Bendy found himself at a forked hallway. No dark figures in sight.

“Bendy???”

Turning around, the ink demon saw his sister and brother staring at him in confusion seeing how he was in his different form.

“The king and queen were just attacked, did you see anyone come through here?”

As Alice’s eyes went wide in alarm, Boris got a serious look on his face and pointed down the hall. “Some cloaked figures went down that way! We'll go make sure Oswald's kids are safe!”

Thanking them, Bendy went where the ink wolf said. Running as fast as he could so he wouldn’t lose the attackers. Coming to a stop when he reached the end of the hall.

A dead end.

There was no room to hide in. just some decorative armor, a large vase, a painting hanging on the wall, and a large window.

Approaching the window, Bendy looked it over, and saw it was still locked. If the attackers would have escaped through there, it would have been opened.

Yet they still got away from him…

Growling, the ink demon let out a roar in frustration before he let himself change back into his normal form. His ink was still running and dripping onto the floor due to how angry he was at himself. “DAMN IT!”

“Bendy!”

Looking behind himself, Bendy watched as his boyfriend ran forward. The red cup brother had his hand up and glowing, looking ready to attack once he was by his side and looked around. “Are you okay?! Where are they?!”

Checking to see his ripped and stained gloves were still on his hands, Bendy reached up and gently lowered Cuphead’s arm. “They got away. I lost track of them while chasing them through the halls. Is the King and Queen okay?”

Letting himself relax a little with the coast being clear, with his free hand, Cuphead reached over and tried wiping away the runny ink dripping onto Bendy’s face. “They’re fine, Minnie’s a bit shaken up, but she and Mickey were more worried about you getting hurt chasing their attackers. Come on. The royal family are gathering up together in the library to make sure they’re all safe and talk about what happened.”

Nodding, Bendy let Cuphead lead the way. Glancing over his shoulder and at the dead end hallway. Still wondering how they managed to get away from him.

________________________

As the ink demon and red cup brother entered the library, both were caught very off guard when the queen rushed over and hugged the two of them, fussing over them like a worried mother would and checking them for injuries.

Poor Bendy blushing up a storm when the queen eventually let them go and saw the big horrible black stain he left on her dress. Apologizing nonstop for ruining the beautiful fabric. Thankfully the queen didn’t seem to mind at all, being far more thankful that the two of them were okay.

Once Bendy got his ink to stop running so he could change into the spare clothes Felix had for him and Oswald finished doing a headcount to make sure all of his kids were there and safe, Mickey addressed Captain Pete. “Do we have any idea how these intruders could have slipped in and out of the castle without being spotted?”

“No your majesty. I’m having my best guards search high and low for clues as we speak.”

Frowning at that, Mickey rubbed his chin. “This is quite worrisome. We’re going to need to take precautions to make sure the family is safe until we find out who those criminals are and why they attacked us.”

The captain of the royal guards nodded in agreement. “Understood your majesty. Then might I suggest placing the guests under arrest?”

“WHAT?!?!””

Getting a chorus of alarmed responses from the guests and the royal family, Pete didn't look phased as he gestured to the direction of the cat man who was now standing protectively in front of his three children while he and the cup brothers glared at him. “With all due respect, I find it rather suspicious how the intruders managed to get away while a demon, the ink demon of all people, chased after them. From the tails I’ve heard about the ink demon, I hope you can understand why I’m reluctant to trust any of them around the royal family. For your safety, I urge that we keep the demons and their comrades in the dungeon unless we risk having the kingdom turned into a wasteland of ink.”

Ugh, not those stories again.

As Bendy prepared himself to yell at the captain, Cuphead surprised him, his two siblings, and Felix by snapping first. “Those stories are nothing but bullshit! You can’t lock people up just because of a damn story!”

Touched by his partner standing up for him and his family, the ink demon looked over at Pete to see his reaction. Tensing up and putting his hand on Cuphead’s arm as the captain of the guards marched forward and put his hand on his sword’s hilt. “Now listen here you cheap piece of fine china, as Captain of the guards it is my duty to-”

“That’s enough Captain Pete!”

Stepping between the captain and the group, the queen glared at the much larger man. “Shame on you! How dare you go accusing these children and their guardians of foul play! Just from the last few hours I’ve been back they’ve been nothing but polite and kind to me!”

“B-b-but you’re majesty-!”

“And from what my husband and brother in law have told me, they’ve treated my nieces and nephews wonderfully, have been kind and helpful to the staff in the castle, and are working hard to start a new fresh life here in our kingdom that has offered them shelter when they needed it most! Not to mention, THEY SAVED OUR LIVES TODAY!”

Everyone watched as the Queen made the captain cringe and flinch at her lecture. Felix’s brow rose up as he was impressed over the tiny but mighty woman. “Wow…”

Moving to stand supportively by Minnie’s side with his brother, Oswald smirked a little at Felix’s expression. “Best sister-in-law a guy could ask for. That’s why she’s my favorite.”

Mickey chuckled. “She’s your only sister-in-law Ozzy.”

“Eh, doesn’t really change my statement though.”

Amused by that, Mickey quickly pushed that back as he focused on the task at hand, frowning at Pete as he stepped closer to his wife. “Pete, would you mind explaining where the guards were during this attempt someone made to kill my wife and myself?”

Turning a bit pail at the question, Pete nervously cleared his throat. “T-they were on the training grounds helping me with new recruit training!”

Mugman raised an eyebrow at that. “You had almost all the guards on duty help you throw garbage at Cuphead and I during training?”

“I had to put you two to the test! There were plenty of guards left to pick up the slack!”

Steam practically came from the red cup brother’s head. "Put us to the test?! You didn't even give us a stinking chance! You just wanted something to laugh at!"

Seeing how the two cup brothers and Pete were about to get into a verbal argument that would get nowhere, Mickey held up his hand to signal them all to be quiet. “Clearly, there weren't enough guards To "pick up the slack". Due to your decision to pull so many guards from their positions, my family and I could have been seriously hurt or killed. It’s because of our brave guests that I’m here in this room to have this talk with you… Captain Pete, I’m sorry, but until I decide what to do about this, your job will be handled by Clarabelle until further notice.”

Pete’s jaw practically hit the floor at that. Nearly left speechless as he sputtered and tried putting words together to make some kind of excuse or any attempt at all to save his job. After a few moments of this though,  with Mickey’s firm expression never changing, the large cat man then clenched his fists and jaw, face turning red with anger, and stiffly bowed before the king.

He grumbled through his gritting teeth. “As you wish, your majesty .”

Standing up straight, Pete shot one last final glare at the group before storming out of the library and slamming the door shut so hard that Bendy was surprised none of the books were rattled off the shelves.

Giving a soft tired sigh, Mickey gave his wife a small appreciative grin as she rested her hand on his shoulder, then looked at the others. “I am so sorry Pete accused you all like that. None of you deserved that. If anything, I can’t begin to thank you enough for protecting my family and I.”

Grinning, Cuphead wrapped an arm around Bendy’s shoulders and used his other arm to put his brother in a playful headlock. “Nah, thank these two. They’re the real heroes of today!”

The Queen giggled as the blue mug brother and ink demon blushed over the attention. “All of you played a part in helping us today. Mugman may have saved Mickey and I, and Bendy pursued the attackers, but the rest of you made sure we all got safely to the library. For that, you have our gratitude. Now, what’s this I hear about recruit training with Pete and getting assaulted with trash?”

Oswald gladly answered. “Pete was having guards help him play favorites and make sure these two failed in becoming guards.”

Frowning at that, Minnie turned to face her husband. “Well that simply won’t do. Right, Dear?”

Nodding in agreement, Mickey looked at Cuphead and Mugman. “Considering what my wife and I have seen today, I believe you two are more than capable of getting positions as guards here at the castle. What do you say?”

Apparently, they had nothing to say.

As the silence stretched on, Bendy looked at his boyfriend and friend, seeing how the two brothers were frozen in shock over getting a job offer from the king himself. Snorting a bit in amusement, the ink demon nudged Cuphead a bit to snap him out of it.

Coming back to reality, Cuphead spoke as he let go of both Bendy and Mugman. “A-are you sure?? Mugsy and I were just trying to do the right thing!”

Mickey nodded. “Absolutely sure. You boys went against the demon hunting knights to protect your friend and his family, and you protected my family as well today. I’d be more than happy to have you boys working here.”

Happily watching as the two brothers accepted the job and thanked the king for the opportunity, Bendy wasn’t expecting to feel a hand on his shoulder. Looking over, he saw Prince Oswald smiled at him and his family.

“I also have a job opportunity for all of you if you’re willing to accept. Seeing how quickly Bendy jumped into action and how Alice and Boris rushed around to find all of my kids and make sure they’re safe, I was wondering if you three would be willing to help nanny my children and keep them safe considering what just happened.”

Whoa.

Oswald was offering them a JOB? 

Three demons??

To protect his children???

As Boris, Alice, and Bendy all got matching baffled expressions, the bunny kids started hopping around them excitedly and talking all at once.

“Please say yes!”

“You guys are really fun!”

“Bad guys won’t stand a chance against you three!”

“I want Bendy to help read bedtime stories!”

“Pleeeeeeaaaase say yes!!”

Laughing as one of the bunny kids practically hopped into his arms, Bendy turned to Felix. “I-is it okay if we do?”

On her knees, Alice was hugging and nuzzling multiple kids at once. “Oh please Felix! It’s practically a dream working with children!”

Letting a bunny kid use his arm like a swing, Boris shrugged. “I mean, we have always wanted to do a bit more to help out the family more than just taking care of the house we were living in. This way we finally have a way to do so and be in a comfortable and safe environment.”

Rubbing the back of his head, Felix thought it over as many pairs of eyes looked at him hopefully.

Well, Boris certainly had a point.

But at the same time, Felix still had concerns. Especially considering what just happened today.

Would his kids be safe working in the castle if he got a job in town?

Oswald spoke up. “I also have a job offer to you Felix. With what happened today I feel I should be more thorough with my royal duties to make sure the castle is more prepared for nasty surprises like that, but I may need some help. Would you be willing to accept a job as my assistant?”

Felix blinked at the prince a few times. Taking a moment to process what he just said. "Me???"

Some of the bunny children giggled at his reaction while the prince chuckled. "Yes you."

Well, today was certainly becoming very interesting.

As all three demons looked at their father figure to see what his answer would be, Felix ran his fingers through the fur on his head as he looked to be thinking it over quite a bit. The cat man glanced up at the prince’s face, seeing how hopeful he was in him saying yes.

Sighing, Felix grinned. “When do we start?”

_______________________________________

Today REALLY took an unexpected turn.

They just started the day making flower crowns. Now they have jobs at the castle and a place to live!

Considering now that they were employees instead of guests, Mickey had given all of them a place to live inside the castle. Instead of a suite they all had to pack into together, Felix got his own personal room and the ink siblings got their own room together and beds (Mickey offered to give them individual rooms but none of them liked the idea of sleeping alone). Connecting the two rooms was a small living space for the family to spend time together at the end of the day.

Cuphead and Mugman meanwhile got their own rooms in the guards living section of the castle. Both of them were excited to get their own personal room after sharing a tent and a bedroom for most of their lives. Though Bendy gave them until a few hours into the night before one of them caves and goes to bunk with their brother.

After moving their belongings into their new living space, Bendy left as Alice began to list off different ways they could decorate their new home and grabbed a mop and bucket.

With how he stormed through the castle chasing the mysterious people, the ink demon felt a bit bad for the maids and butlers that would have to clean up the ink trail he left behind. So he offered to go clean up his mess instead, which King Mickey allowed.

As he mopped the black mess on the ground, Bendy thought back to how he scaled up the outside of the castle wall and cringed. Wondering if his claws damaged the building at all. He’d have to check later and ask Felix how to fix that if he did.

“Well aren’t you a sweet little gentleman?”

Stopping in his task, Bendy turned around to face the queen as she approached. Now wearing a new dress that wasn’t covered in ink. “I try to be, your majesty. This is my mess after all. I can try cleaning your dress I damaged if you wouldn’t mind?”

“That’s very kind of you Bendy, but the staff in charge of laundry is already handling it. Even if this is your mess, you didn’t do it intentionally. Are you sure you don’t want any assistance in cleaning?”

Smiling a little, Bendy glanced back down at the horrible black mess on the floor. “I’m sure. Seeing how Pete knew about those stories about me and my siblings, I would rather not have other people in the castle get spooked if they know those stories too and see all of this.”

God knows how many people in the castle already knew and were whispering behind his and his family's back now…

Feeling a soft gentle hand cup his chin, Bendy let his head get tilted up until he was looking into Minnie’s kind eyes. “I understand, but just so you know, I don’t believe a single word of those horrible stories. You’re far too much of a darling for any of those to be true.”

“My sweet little Darling Bendy.”

Shuddering, Bendy swallowed. “Queen Minnie? May I ask you a favor?”

“Yes?”

Hoping his ink wouldn’t start dripping and stain his clothing or make a mess on the floor again, the ink demon carefully reached up and lowered the queen’s hand from his face. “C-can you not call me Darling? It, brings up a lot of memories of someone I… Lost.”

Looking surprised at that request, the queen pulled her hand away and rested it on her chest as she gave the teen a sympathetic look. “I see, I’ll be sure not to do that again around you or your siblings. I apologize if that brought up something painful.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know. I appreciate you understanding though.”

Giving a polite nod, Queen Minnie let Bendy know she’ll send someone with refreshments for him in a bit before excusing herself and leaving so Bendy could continue cleaning in peace. The ink demon moping in silence, as his mind unwillingly wanders.

Peaking his head over the couch arm rest, the young ink demon giggled playfully as he started to climb over it until he was sitting on the lap of the person he came to see. “Whatcha doing Mama?”

Wrapping her arm around her child, Linda smiled as she held up her latest creation. “I’m making your Papa a new cloak. That man has no idea how to take care of his clothing without damaging it from his hard work around the house.”

Glancing down at him, his Mama grinned as she took the cloak and wrapped it around Bendy like a blanket. Making the little ink demon giggle more. “Mamaaaa!”

“There, now it’ll be nice and warm by the time your Papa needs to go out again.”

Being pulled into her loving embrace, Bendy smiled as he listened to Linda’s soft humming and rested his head against her beating heart. Feeling content as he relaxed and took in all the love he was feeling.

He never felt like this around Father…

“... I love you Mama.”

“I love you too my Darling.”

Quickly rubbing his eyes as he felt them starting to tear up, Bendy cleared his throat to get rid of the lump forming there and pushed the memory back. Focusing on the task at hand.

He’d never get this ink cleaned up if he got pulled into memory lane and flooded the halls as a result…

Chapter Text

“Now if you have 10 cookies, but your friend takes some, and leaves you with 7 cookies left, what does your friend have?”

“A broken hand?”

Raising a brow at the bunny kids he was helping with their lesson work, the children all laughed at the ink demon’s expression until Bendy spoke up. “Okay funny bunny, but that’s not the right answer. How many COOKIES would your friend have?”

“Uuuuuh… 3?”

Bendy smiled as he patted the bunny’s head. “Good job.”

A few weeks have passed by now since they’ve all gotten their jobs, and things have been running smoothly for the ink demon family and the two brothers. 

Cuphead and Mugman were doing great with their guard jobs. Clarabelle being much nicer as captain of the guards then Pete was and making sure the two brothers were treated fairly. Plus, they offered helpful training tips to handle magic enemies thanks to their years of training with the demon hunter knights.

Bendy, Alice, and Boris were probably the bunny kids favorite caretakers currently. The three of them could easily round up all the kids, keep track of them, and get them to listen pretty well despite being extremely outnumbered. The bribery of their entertaining story book reenacting most likely helped with that.

Felix was also very determined with his job as Oswald’s assistant. He double checked Oswald’s list of things he had to do, made sure he had time to spend with the children, and helped support Oswald’s decisions for the kingdom. While doing all of this though, the three demon teens started to notice their parent figure seeming to get closer to the prince. Even catching the cat man referring to him as Ozzy when not on the job. 

Well, at least Felix was making a friend. Bendy and his siblings tended to worry he was getting lonely with how he isolated himself when he decided to raise them. They’d hear stories about old friends Felix used to have. Sheba, Pointdexter, Rosco, etc, but he never said anything about where they were or if he was still in touch with them.

Bendy wondered if he missed them…

Glancing up at the clock, the ink demon saw the time and stood up from one of the small tables in the playroom. “Alright kids! Wrap up what you’re doing and start cleaning up! It’s almost dinner time!”

Despite some protests and whines, the bunny kids did as they were told and started cleaning up after themselves. When done, they all followed Bendy, Boris, and Alice out of the room and into the dinning room where they greeted their father, aunt, and uncle.

Now officially off duty for the rest of the day, Bendy smiled as he spotted Cuphead sitting in his usual spot and already piling food onto his plate. Despite how they now work for the royal family, the group was still invited to join them for meals whenever they had the chance. So they usually joined them all for dinner.

After walking over, Bendy planted a kiss on Cuphead’s cheek. Trying his best not to laugh when Cuphead turned to face him while a bread roll was halfway shoved in his mouth. “Hey there, Charming.”

Taking a bite and pulling the half roll out of his mouth, Cuphead quickly swallowed what he was eating and gave a food covered grin, making the ink demon cover his mouth as his shoulders shook.

“Hello there!”

Mugman rolled his eyes at his brother as Bendy sat down next to them. “You think you’d have better manners by now.”

Taking a napkin his boyfriend offered him, Cuphead gave his brother an annoyed look as he wiped his face clean. “Says the guy that’s as big of a slob as me when eating.”

“Not in front of a king and queen. Unlike you, I have class.”

As Cuphead looked ready to take his bread roll and throw it at his brother’s face who was grabbing an empty plate to act as a shield, Felix quickly and loudly cleared his throat to catch the boys’ attention so he could give them a firm look. The two immediately get the message and sit down to behave. Though the king and prince seemed to grin in amusement, possibly due to having their own brotherly squabbles as well over the years.

As everyone at the table chatted about their day and caught up with each other, Minnie’s lady in waiting Daisy was given a rolled up paper by one of the castle butlers. Putting down her eating utensils, the duck woman thanked the butler and took the paper, unrolling it and seeing what it was.

“Goodness, would you look at that! The Opera’s in town!”

Felix looked at Oswald curiously. “Opera?”

“Oh yeah, the royal family’s going to be attending the Opera performance as special guests. I almost forgot about that since Pete isn’t here anymore. He was pretty excited about it.”

With the paper advertising the performance getting passed around by the royal family, Felix stole a look as Oswald got to take a look at it himself. “I’ve heard about this performance before. It sounds like a fun show to watch. I hope you and your family enjoy it, Oswald.”

Taking his attention away from the paper and focusing on Felix instead, the prince looked like he was thinking something over for a moment before smiling a little. “Would you and your kids like to join us?”

Not at all expecting an invitation from the prince to come along to the opera, Felix stared at him in surprise for a moment before glancing at his kids. All of them equally looked shocked as well but not objecting to going.

Facing Oswald again, the cat man noticed in the corner of his eye how the king was looking at his brother with an expression that was hard to read, while Oswald was clearly ignoring him.

Felix cleared his throat before answering. “I-it would be an honor to join you and your family.”

Happy to get a yes, Oswald smiled. “Great! Do you and your kids have anything to wear for it? If not the four of you can always check with the tailor and see what he can do for you. We might even have some old clothing that could fit some of you if you’d prefer.”

Alice dropped her eating utensils as she gasped, quickly facing her two brothers, who were now leaning away from her and staring at their sister as if she was about to burst. Even the two cup brothers watched her nervously at her sudden outburst as Cuphead asked. “What is happening?”

Eyes practically twinkling, Alice slammed her hands against the table, and stood up from her seat. Smiling ear to ear at her brothers.

“MAKE OVERS.”

Both being grabbed by their shirts, Bendy and Boris let out startled yelps as Alice lifted them out of their seats and carried them on her shoulders like potato sakes. Watching the ink angel “kidnap” her brothers, Felix chuckled as he called out. “Alice! At least wait until after dinner!”

Either she didn’t hear him, or chose to ignore him as Alice quickly left the dining room, leaving behind a bunch of giggling bunny children, two confused friends, and four chuckling adults.

Still smiling in amusement, Minnie spoke. “I remember getting excited like that over going through all the dresses in the castle. I’m sure Alice will have a splendid time!”

Getting the last of his chuckles out, the king addressed Cuphead and Mugman. “Back on topic, during the night of the opera you two will be accompanying the royal family and assisting Goofy in guard duty. With everything that’s been happening recently, I'd rather play it safe.”

Both brothers replied with a “Yes your majesty.”. Though Cuphead glanced at the dining room entrance. “Uh, are those three coming back at all?”

The cat man just sighed as he shook his head no. “I doubt it. Would you mind bringing their plates to them later? I’d hate for them to go hungry because they’re having fun.”

Agreeing to that, everyone went back to enjoying their meal. Felix does his best to act natural and pretend he doesn’t notice the prince and king forming some kind of tension between them during the rest of the dinner.

_________________________

Wandering down the halls of the castle with his brother, Cuphead looked around until he spotted the door the queen directed him to. Saying it was most likely where Alice dragged her two brothers.

Balancing the plate of food the red cup brother brought for his boyfriend, he cautiously pushed the door open. “Bendy? You in here?”

“Yeah! Come on in! I’ll be just a second!”

Entering the room, the brothers looked around with impressed expressions on their faces. Taking in all the rows of nice clothing the royal family must have stored away over the years. There were shoes, dresses, suits, hats, and so much more that it was almost overwhelming. There were even some things covered by tarps further back, extra furniture presumably tucked away for safe keeping.

Putting down the plates they brought for the ink siblings, the two cup brothers started to look around themselves. Cuphead admiring a nice red dress up jacket that he almost didn’t notice Bendy coming up from behind him. “Sorry about that. Alice has been DYING for an excuse to try out all the clothes they have here.”

Wanting to originally say “No problem, we brought you your dinners.” what came out of Cuphead instead when he turned around, was some kind of strangled squeak in surprise as he got a good look at his boyfriend.

Bendy was wearing a big, beautiful gold and white dress. The color practically makes the ink demon’s black and white features shine more than ever.

Cuphead was sure most people would raise an eyebrow over a young man wearing a dress, but all he could think about was how freaking pretty Bendy looked.

Watching as his boyfriend’s face turned as red as his nose and straw, Bendy giggled as he swayed his hips around to make the dress skirt twirl. “You like it? Alice suggested I try a few dresses along with some suits she picked out for me. She tends to have a better taste in clothes than me.”

Getting elbowed by Mugman when he didn’t give a proper response right away, Cuphead grunted and shot his brother a glare before awkwardly speaking. “Y-you look great… The colors look nice on you.”

As Mugman watched while Bendy thanked Cuphead and asked if he wanted to see him try out the other outfits, the blue mug brother was caught by surprise when he felt his arm get yanked and gave a startled yelp. Alice giggling at his reaction as she dragged him off deeper into the room until they reached many shelves full of shoes. “What size are you?”

“Huh???”

Letting Mugman go, the ink angel grabbed a pair of shoes off of a shelf and held them up. “These shoes would look amazing on you! I want to make sure they’re a good fit!”

Looking down at said shoes, Mugman took in how they were a very nice shade of red that practically sparkled and looked very fancy, but also… “Alice, these are shoes made for women.”

Alice just gave a shrug. “So? My brothers and I were made for a certain purpose and that means absolutely nothing to us. Why should we not enjoy clothes that were made for certain purposes?”

… Well, she certainly had a good point. Plus, Mugman did think the shoes were really pretty.

Thinking it over for a bit longer, the blue mug brother eventually gave in and took the shoes. “Okay okay, but I can’t wear these for the opera, I have to be in uniform. Also I don’t think I’ll be good at walking in heels.”

“That’s okay! Dressing up is fun regardless, and I can teach you!”

Pausing in going through different jackets to watch his sister teach Mugman how to walk in high heel shoes, Boris rolled his eyes and continued his search. “So, has anyone else noticed the tension between the king and prince? Or is it just me?”

Everyone spoke up in agreement. All of them clearly notice something is up between the royal brothers.

Trying on a rather large hat with a very fluffy feather attached to it, Cuphead grinning at Bendy who silently chuckled and shook his head no. “Oh those two are definitely fighting over something. Mugsy and I have had our fair share of spats so we know when we see one.”

With his arms straight out as he took some wobbly steps, Mugman scoffed. “ “Spats” he says. Spats don’t end with people beating the snot out of each other.”

Noticing Bendy raising a brow at him and giving him a “Really?” look, Cuphead rolled his eyes. “Oh please, all siblings get into spats AND physical fights at some point, it’s practically a part of nature. Haven’t you three gotten into ugly fights before?”

That actually got Boris to bark out a laugh. “HA! Our fights are more “messy” than ugly! Last time we practically painted the inside of the barn black and broke through a wall. Felix was pretty steamed so now we try to stick with verbal fights then physical.”

Thinking back to that, Alice grinned playfully as she tapped her chin. “Hmmmm, are you sure that’s the only reason why? If I recall correctly, the reason why we, specifically you, avoid getting into physical fights is because Bendy always wins.”

“He does not! I could take him!”

Seeing how Cuphead and Mugman trying not to laugh, and failing, was making his poor younger brother blush and growl, Bendy tried his best not to show his amusement as he got them back on topic. “So why do you think the king and prince are fighting? They’ve been acting like that since we got here… It’s not because of us, is it?”

The red cup brother shook his head no as he wrapped his arm around his partner’s shoulders. “Of course not. Mickey and Oswald both seem to like us. This probably has nothing to do with us and we just showed up at an awkward time.”

Walking from one end of the room to the other, Mugman spoke up. “I agree. Cuphead and I have had our fair share of experiences with royalty. The royal Disney family is by far the nicest and politest ones we EVER met. If they had a problem with any of us they would have said it by noo-OOOOW!!”

With his ankle twisting, making Mugman take a tumble out of Alice’s arm’s reach, to avoid crashing painfully into the floor the blue mug brother reached out and grabbed a tarp covering some of the things at the back of the room. It slowed his descent, but he ended up taking the tarp with him as he fell flat on the floor and made some things fall on top of him.

Cringing, Alice was about to ask Mugman if he was okay until he held his feet up in her general direction.

“Alice, please take these very pretty torture tools off my feet. Thank you.”

As she removed the shoes like Mugman asked, the others came over and Cuphead helped remove the items on top of his brother. “You okay Mugsy?”

Sitting up, Mugman pulled the tarp off the top of his head and froze at what he saw in front of him.

There were many miscellaneous items before him. A couch, a few chairs, an old chandelier, a coat rack, typical stuff you’d find stored away. What caught his attention though, along with the others when they realized what he was staring at, was a painting of the prince. Oswald happily smiled in the portrait, as he had his arms around a woman who was dressed like a princess and smiling just as happily as him.

She looked confident.

She looked elegant.

She looked beautiful.

Boris was the first to speak. “She looks like Felix…”

_________________________________

Safe to say after that, the ink siblings went in search of their father figure to show him what they found. Thankfully he wasn’t with the prince anymore so they could avoid an awkward confrontation, for now.

Looking at the painting himself, Felix had a deep in thought expression as he took it all in. Seeing the similarities he shared with the woman in the painting and reading the small plaque attached to the frame.

Prince Oswald and Princess Ortensia .

Now back in his normal outfit, Bendy rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked at the painting sadly. “The kids mentioned they lost their mom a long time ago. This painting is dated before they were born…”

Letting out a sigh, Felix patted Bendy’s shoulder. “Thank you for showing this to me. I needed to see this. Can one of you hand me the tarp so we can cover all of this up again? It would be rude of us to leave this for the staff to pick up.”

Caught a bit off guard by that, Mugman raised an eyebrow as he handed Felix the tarp. “Don’t you have questions or something? Should we talk to the prince or king about this?”

Felix shook his head no as he covered everything back up again with his kids' help. “No. This is none of our business. If they wish to speak to me about it, I will listen. Until then we leave this subject alone. For all we know, this might still be a healing wound for the royal family that may be hard to talk about.”

With all of the kids reluctantly agreeing, they finished straightening up the room before collecting the three siblings' now cold dinners and going back to their living area for the night. All of them spent the rest of the evening chatting and spending time together until the two cup brothers decided to call it a night and went back to their rooms, though Cuphead stole a quick kiss from Bendy before they parted ways.

Still smiling a little from the kiss as he and his siblings got ready for bed, Bendy noticed how Felix was still sitting in a chair by the fair place and watching the flames dance. His smile dropping a bit, the ink demon approached him “Are you okay Felix?” 

Looking over at Bendy, Felix gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. Why are you so worried? It’s supposed to be my job to worry about you, not the other way around.”

Biting the inside of his cheek, Bendy avoided making direct eye contact with Felix. “It’s just… You and the prince seemed like good friends now. You talk about the fun you had with your old friends, but then you took us in and-”

Feeling a hand gently take hold of his shoulder, Bendy finally looked up at Felix who was giving him a serious look. “Bendy, the reason I didn’t stay in touch with my old friends has nothing to do with you, Alice, or Boris. I was alone before I took you three in, and for the past 6 years I’ve had wonderful kids keeping me company. Having Oswald as a friend is nice, but at the end of the day, no matter what happens between us, I will always have the three of you to keep me from being lonely. Okay?”

Feeling some of the invisible weight lift off his shoulders with that reassurance, the ink demon nodded with a small smile. “Okay. I’m glad to hear that.”

“Good. Now off to bed. We have another busy day ahead of us.”

Bidding Felix goodnight, Bendy went into the room he shared with his siblings and closed the door. The cat man watched the gap between the floor and the door until someone in the room finally blew out the lantern light and the room went dark. Letting him know his kids were now in bed and trying to sleep.

Now he had plenty of time to think to himself.

Felix had to admit, seeing the painting was a bit, surprising. Princess Ortensia looked like she could pass as his sister.

He was almost tempted to write a letter to his family to ask if he had any royal family members he wasn’t aware of, but he quickly decided against it. The drama that would come after that wouldn’t be worth it. He ESPECIALLY didn’t want to drag the kids into that mess, they had enough to deal with thanks to Joey Drew screwing up their lives. They didn’t need to deal with Felix’s problems on top of that.

Still, this did answer a few questions. Like how Oswald seemed so insistent to help Felix just from running into them as they traveled, why Mickey looked so surprised meeting him, and why the two of them have been arguing.

The still grieving prince found someone who reminded him of his late love.

Felix wasn’t sure how to feel over Oswald using him as he was dealing with his grief, but if his friend wanted to talk about it someday, then he’d be willing to listen.

…it did sting a little though that the interest the prince showed in Felix wasn’t really FOR Felix…

Oh well, it’s not the first time the cat man was disappointed when it came to relationships. Better to figure this out early on before it got bad.

Getting up from his seat, Felix put out the fireplace flames and headed for his room to get some sleep before work the next day.

Chapter Text

The next few days go by in a blurr for some, and a snail's pace for others.

Many people were excited for the opera getting ready for their big show. The anticipation was almost too much to bear!

Yet for others, the opera wasn’t their most pressing concern.

The five teens for the most part did their best to act normal. The ink siblings easily focused on the kids as they worked and the cup brothers thankfully did not interact with the prince very often. Felix meanwhile did his best to act normal while helping Oswald with his duties around the castle. Albeit a bit more professional than before even when he was alone with the prince. 

Unfortunately for him, that didn’t go unnoticed.

“Can you look into my schedule and see when I have a good time to talk to the Mad Doctor? I’ve been getting complaints from the staff about his, interesting, bedside manner. Which I can’t really fault anyone for. He can be rather over-excitable.” 

“Yes your majesty.”

Stopping in his tracks, Oswald looked over his shoulder at Felix who stopped as well. “Okay, is something wrong? I’ve made it clear before when it’s just us you can refer to me by name, but you’ve been very stiff and formal for many days now. Did I do something to upset you?”

Eyes going a bit wide, Felix quickly shook his head no. “Of course not your- I mean, Oswald. I apologize, I’ve just, had a lot on my mind lately. That’s all.”

“Would you like to talk about it?”

Talk about how Felix’s kids found an old painting of Oswald's late wife and how he looked a lot like her? Yeah, Felix didn’t see that ending well if he was the one to bring it up. “I’ve been… wondering how well the kids will do in a crowded theater for the Opera. Bendy, Boris, and Alice haven’t been in a public area like that before and I’m worried they’ll get overwhelmed.”

Considering how that wasn’t exactly a lie, the cat man did in fact worry about that, it seemed to have done the trick when Oswald gave a reassuring smile. “If it helps, you and your children will be up in a private box with us. They won’t have to interact with too many people and we can have them sit where others in the theater can’t see them very well.”

“That does help very much. Thank you Oswald.”

Glad to hear that, Oswald glanced out the window to see what time of day it was. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day off? We’re going to be busy tomorrow getting ready for the show and you still need to get a nice outfit ready. It would be a shame if your own kids outdressed you.”

Amused by that, Felix chuckled as he nodded. “I’ll be sure to have something ready for tomorrow. Have a good rest of your day Oswald.”

“You too Felix.”

As Felix turned his back to him and walked away, Oswald let his smile drop as his ears drooped a little. Letting out a soft sigh, the prince walked off to continue his duties himself.

________________________

Finally leaving his room after spending so long having one of his suits worked on for the Opera, Mickey sighed in relief when he stepped into the halls and made his way to the dining area for dinner. He was never a fan of having to stand around as the tailor did work on his clothing, but at least it was nice to hear Minnie compliment him and say how dashing he looks whenever she came by to check on him.

All these years and she still knew how to make him blush as if they’re still freshly dating.

As he walked, Mickey paused when Oswald turned the corner and entered his view. “Oh! Oswald. How are you today?”

Glancing at his younger brother, Oswald shrugged slightly and walked with him to the dining area. “I’m fine.”

“That’s good. Where’s Felix?”

“I gave him the rest of the day off so he and his kids could have time getting ready for the opera.”

Ah, right, Mickey’s been wanting to bring that up…

Oswald will most likely get mad, but now might be the only good time to talk about it.

Taking a deep breath, the king braced himself as he asked. “Are you sure inviting them to the opera is a good idea?”

Getting a silent glare from his older brother, Mickey took that as a sign to explain himself before things got heated. “I’m glad you did invite them, because it made them happy! I’m just, a little worried.”

“About?”

The harsh tone Oswald used made Mickey cringe slightly, before he sighed and decided to just get it all out. “Well, I’m worried about how our subjects will react to seeing Bendy, Boris, and Alice. It’s one thing to have them wander around town, but with them being around us in public, it might create drama they don’t need right now… And I’m worried about your relationship with Felix.”

Stopping dead in his tracks, Oswald’s glare grew more intense. “Mickey.”

“I know, I know. Just, please listen-”

“Why? Because YOU’RE the king?”

Aaaaand there it is. “Ozzy please don’t-”

Stepping closer, Oswald pointed an accusing finger at his younger brother. “Don’t what? State the obvious? I made it VERY clear I don’t care about you being king when it comes to me and my life choices. I do everything I’m supposed to do with my duties as a prince, so mind your own damn business Mickey!”

“Oswald I’m talking to you as a BROTHER, as FAMILY. I’m worried about you, and I’m worried about how your actions will affect others who have nothing to do with any of this! I would never use my king title against you, so why do you keep insisting that’s what I would?”

The prince’s glare turned cold. “Because I wouldn’t put it past you, considering you always do what you want. REMEMBER?”

Mickey’s stomach dropped, knocking very well what his brother was implying. “....I didn’t know any of that would happen…. I tried to fix it…”

Scoffing, Oswald crossed his arms. “Yeah, and look how good a job you did. You unleashed something horrible on our kingdom, and what does dad do? He crowns you king instead of me because you cleaned up your own mess.”

“Dad didn’t want you to have so much weight on your shoulders Oswald. He wanted you to focus on your kids, to grieve-”

“AND WHO’S FAULT IS IT THAT I’M GRIEVING IN THE FIRST PLACE?!”

With his breath getting caught in his throat, Mickey’s eyes went wide as he stared at Oswald in shock.

He always knew Oswald blamed him, but actually HEARING his big brother confirming that verbally… that, was just painful.

A flash of regret crossed Oswald’s face, before his glare came back and he started walking off. “If you’re so worried about Felix and his kids, then order them not to come to the opera, otherwise, mind your own damn business.”

As Oswald continued to walk off to get dinner, Mickey stayed frozen in place. Still processing what his older brother said.

He, didn’t feel like having dinner anymore.

Swallowing the lump in his throat and ignoring his vision blurring from tears, Mickey made his way back to his room. Thankfully the tailor was already gone, the only one currently there was his loyal dog Pulto, who perked up and came to Mickey’s side seeing how his owner was upset. Mickey was grateful for his company as he worked out his emotions in private, then he got ready for bed before Minnie came in for the night.

He faked being asleep when his wife did eventually enter while Pluto was curled up by his feet and wagged his tail when he got head scratches from Minnie. Mickey didn’t move when Minnie quietly whispered his voice to see if he was still awake, or when she kissed his cheek to wish him a good night before she went to sleep herself.

After a few hours of just laying there though, Mickey sighed and gave up on sleep. Deciding he needed to clear his head, he got up and changed into some casual comfortable clothes, then he gave sleeping Minnie a kiss, and Pluto a nice pat on the head on his way out of his room.

…He didn’t mean for any of that to happen.

He didn’t want to be king. He was just doing what their father wished.

He didn’t mean to make such a big mess. He was a foolish young man who didn’t understand what he was toying with.

… He didn’t mean to cause all of them to lose Ortensia.

The whole time she and Oswald tried helping him fix his mistake, she was so brave and strong, fighting to help and protect others as much as she could, until the very end.

Losing her hurt them all, Oswald especially. He was never the same after that.

The guilt would always weigh heavily on Mickey’s heart. Especially now that he knew for sure that Oswald blamed and hated him for what happened to her.

Stepping out onto a balcony to get some fresh air, Mickey took a deep breath and exhaled slowly while looking up at the starry sky.

“Beautiful night, ain’t it?”

Gasping, Mickey spun around. “Pete?! What in the world are you doing here?!”

Grinning with wicked glee, the former Captain of the Guards stepped forward. Three hooded and masked figures, along with Clarabelle who waved playfully at Mickey, stood behind Pete and blocked the king’s path.

Raising his fist, Pete spoke. “I’m here to take what I’ve been after for YEARS.”

Knowing what was coming, Mickey’s eyes went wide in alarm as he attempted to defend himself.

Then his vision was filled with stars, and everything went black.

_______________________

“So, it’s just, attached to you?”

While Cuphead was assigned to guard the bunny kids for the day before the opera began, he watched as one of said kids in Bendy's lap gently tugged at Bendy’s bowtie while the ink demon nodded. “Yeah. It’s kinda equivalent to someone having hair or nails, except it doesn’t grow, and I rather not test if it’ll grow back if it comes off for any reason.”

Not at all expecting that answer when one of the kids asked Bendy why he was always wearing a bowtie, Cuphead just gave a soft hum in acknowledgement. He was still curious, but he didn’t want to unintentionally ask something insulting or personal that might bother his boyfriend.

Instead, the kids did that for him.

“In the stories about you it says you’re made of ink, is that true?”

Normally this would bother Bendy if someone asked him or his siblings something like this, but usually adults asked them these questions. When kids asked it was more out of innocent curiosity, so the ink demon didn’t see the harm in answering. “Yup. Every part of me is made of ink. My skin, blood, bones, everything.”

“Even your teeth???”

Chuckling in amusement, Bendy nodded. “Especially my teeth… Wanna see something neat?”

With all the kids he was watching nodding, Bendy gave his best signature grin, before willing his teeth to change from being flat and normal to sharp fangs. Many of the kids gasped and squealed with surprised laughter, some even cheered for him to do that again much to Bendy’s entertainment.

Smiling a bit himself as he watched this, Cuphead’s attention was pulled away when something caught the corner of his eye.

Entering the bunny kid’s playroom, or most specifically shoved in, was a small boy that looked to be a few years older than the bunnies. With the door closing behind the kid, the said kid scowled at the door until he turned around and set his eyes on who was in the room. His eyes practically bugged out of his head as he dove behind a pile of toys and carefully peaked through them to spy on them. As if Bendy, Cuphead, and the kids didn’t notice him at all. 

Which they did.

Bendy tilted his head curiously as he let his teeth turn back to normal. “Uh, who’s that?”

One of the bunny kids answered. “That’s Max! Goofy’s his dad!”

Aaaaaah, so this was the “Maxxie” Goofy liked to brag about. 

Moving the bunny kids sitting in his lap, Bendy got up and walked over to where Max was hiding. Stopping at a reasonable distance so he wouldn’t be too close since the child seemed skittish, he kneeled down to make himself appear smaller. “Hey there. Max right? My partner Cuphead works with your dad. It’s very nice to meet you. My name’s Bendy.”

Not coming out of his hiding place, Bendy could see how Max narrowed his eyes at him through the space between the toys. “I know exactly who you are Ink Demon, and I know EXACTLY what you’re up to.”

Seeing how Cuphead was getting ready to move and speak up, probably to scold the kid for being rude, Bendy held up his hand to signal him to stay back as he continued to talk to Max. “Oh yeah? And what am I up to?”

“You’re going to steal my soul and eat me! Just like in the stories P.J.’s Dad would tell us!”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that P.J. was probably short for Pete Junior. Rolling his eyes as Cuphead scoffed, Bendy spoke up. “Pretty sure if I ate you your dad would be upset with me, and why would I steal your soul? I don’t really need a soul for anything.”

There was a pause, then Max cautiously started peaking out. “But, the devil steals souls.”

“I’m not the devil kid. I’m just Bendy.”

Still looking unsure, Max was caught off guard when the bunny kids hopped over.

“Bendy would never steal your soul!”

“Bendy’s too nice to do something so mean!”

“Don’t be rude Max! Bendy’s our friend!”

Putting his hands up in surrender, Max huffed and stood up completely while he rolled his eyes. “Okay okay, sorry.”

Bendy smiled a little. “Apology accepted. Now what are you doing here? Didn’t look like you came in willingly.”

That got a scowl out of Max as he turned to glare at the door. “Well I WAS going to go get ready for the opera with my dad, but Clarabelle told me that my dad can’t go to the show anymore because King Mickey needed him and sent me in here when I kept asking questions!”

Brow going up in surprise, Bendy looked over at Cuphead who looked just as surprised as he felt. Even some of the bunny kids looked confused as one spoke up. “But no one has seen Uncle Mickey all day. He left a note for Aunt Minnie this morning saying he’d be busy until the opera tonight.”

That, sounded very oddly out of character for Mickey. He doesn't just take off like that, at least he hasn't done that since they've arrived at the Disney kingdom.

Neither Bendy or Cuphead liked this. Something felt off to the both of them.

Gently resting his hands on Max’s shoulders, Bendy put on a comforting smile, not wanting to worry him or the kids. “Think you can be a big help and keep an eye on the bunnies for a few minutes? Cuphead and I will send an adult in here as soon as we can while we go check on King Mickey and your dad.”

Getting a nod from Max, the ink demon patted his shoulder then he and Cuphead quickly exited the room. After sending a handful of maids to keep an eye on the children, the young couple began to hurry to find the royal family.

Cuphead looked over at his boyfriend. “Think we should be worried?”

“I don’t know, better safe than sorry though.”

_____________________

Grumbling to himself, Boris tried his best to balance the stack of clothes Alice wanted him to get when she struggled to decide what would look best for the opera. Not just for herself, but for him as well!

Bendy was supposed to be dragged into this too, but that coward completely ditched him when Oswald asked one of them to keep an eye on the kids before the show! All his brother did was offer an apologetic grin as he left him to the mercy of their sister, but Boris could tell there was some smugness behind that smile knowing he wouldn’t be the one dealing with Alice’s dress-up madness!

Oh he was SO going to get him back for this.

Honestly, Boris wasn’t that into dressing up. He thinks just a decent clean outfit would look nice enough, but noooooo. Alice insisted it needed to be PERFECT. Spending HOURS, going through different clothing and accessories until she deemed it was just right. 

Sheesh.

Turning a corner, Boris grunted when he bumped into something that caused him to drop much of the clothing in his arms. Turns out the something he bumped into was actually a someone, since he heard a grunt as well.

And that someone, was Mugman.

Greeeaaaat.

Surprised to see Boris, Mugman offered an apologetic smile. “Oh! Sorry. I was on my way to find Cuphead so we could get ready for the opera.”

Huffing a little, Boris knelt down and started collecting what he dropped. “It’s fine.”

He was hoping Mugman would leave after that, but instead the blue mug brother knelt down and started helping him pick up some of the clothes. They did this in silence at first, both feeling the tension and awkwardness between them.

Boris was never much of a people person. He liked working on his own or just being around family only. So he was understandably not thrilled to be around others. Especially those he wasn’t fond of.

“... I am sorry, you know.”

The ink wolf rolled his eyes. “You said that already.”

Shaking his head, Mugman continued. “No, not about this. I mean, about how we met.”

That made Boris pause, not expecting an apology. He stayed silent as Mugman continued. “When we all properly met, we were both trying to protect our brothers. None of us knew they had some secret friendship, or romantic thing, going on. Because of my drastic actions though, I nearly got your brother captured, and mine into a horrible situation because he would be willing to do anything to protect Bendy… I’m really sorry for everything, and I get it that you hate me.”

Mugman thought Boris hated him? Ah jeez.

Maybe he did at first? Honestly, he’s still kinda mad and wasn’t super thrilled to be around Mugman and Cuphead all the time, but that didn’t mean he hated him right now.

Also, this is the first time someone who Boris didn’t consider as family actually genuinely apologized to him…

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, the ink wolf made eye contact at Mugman. “Look, I don’t-”

Something behind Mugman caught Boris’ attention. Looking behind the blue mug brother, his eyes went WIDE when he saw a dark figure hiding behind a vase, holding a crossbow, pointed right at Mugman’s back.

“GET DOWN!!”

Dropping everything in his arms, Boris shoved Mugman down right as the figure pulled the trigger.

Boris jolted back when the arrow struck him in the forehead.

The last thing he heard before he blacked out was Mugman gasping in horror.

“BORIS!!”

Chapter Text

Outside of the Disney Kingdom, Just a couple of miles off of the coast and into the sea, stood a tall, dark, and abandoned castle few dared to travel to.

Some claimed it was haunted.

Some claimed it was home to monsters and demons.

While others said those who dared to step foot inside said castle, would be cursed to a horrible fate.

Thanks to Pete, that last one was kinda true.

Hopping off of his boat, Pete easily scooped up the tied up and gagged king as he made his way inside the abandoned castle. Ignoring how Mickey struggled against him the entire time. Passing old musty halls, and chained skeletons collecting dust, the former Captain paused when he finally reached a floor hatch door with bars like a cell door, opened it, dangled the king over the opening, and dropped him.

Hearing Mickey land with a thud and a painful grunt, Pete laughed as he climbed in himself and went down the ladder. “Oops, I got such butter fingers.”

Thanks to the fall knocking his gag loose, Mickey shook it off from around his mouth and glared up at the former captain. “THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! How dare you betray the royal family! You served us for YEARS!”

“Yeah yeah, now shut up and hold still.”

Grabbing a large shackle chained to the wall, Pete easily locked it around Mickey’s waist despite how the king attempted to kick at him. Stepping back to admire his handy work, the large man laughed at the dirty look he was getting from Mickey. “Oh look at the tough little FORMER king!”

“Former???”

Smirking, Pete crossed his arms and leaned against one of the walls. “Yup, former, because you’re looking at the NEW king!! All these years of kissing up to your father, and then kissing up to you, has FINALLY paid off now that I got everything in place! Too bad you didn’t fire me sooner!”

Beyond angry, Mickey pulled at the ropes binding his hands and feet, struggling to get free so he could punch that smirk right off of Pete’s face. “ You won’t get away with this! My pals and family will stop you!!”

“I wouldn’t be too sure. Everyone is getting fitted for a halo. ”

The king’s stomach dropped as horror crossed his face. Pete just laughed at him as he started making his way back up the ladder. “Oh but don’t worry! The little puffballs will be just fine enjoying their new lives in far away orphanages, and your wife will be a great bargaining chip to keep close juuuuust in case.”

Reaching the top, the large man grabbed the hatch door and called down. “I should also be thanking you for keeping those demons around! They’ll make PERFECT escape goats to frame for you and your family’s demise, and make me stinking rich when I turn them over to the demon hunting knights! I’ll be the RICHEST KING IN THE WORLD!”

Cackling wickedly out of joy and excitement for his twisted plan, when Pete finally stopped he had one last thing to say to Mickey. “Enjoy your stay! You know, they say the tide comes in FASTER than horses!”

The hatch door slammed shut, and Mickey listened as Pete’s laughter and steps got quieter as he left him there in the cold damp cell.

He was NOT going to get away with this. Not on Mickey’s watch.

Looking around, the king noticed how one of the stones of the cell wall seemed rough in texture. Scooting closer to it, Mickey then proceeded to rub the rope around his wrists on it, feeling the material starting to wear down as he did so. After some time and a few attempts, he finally tugged his hands free, and was now able to untie his legs.

Back on his feet, Mickey then inspected the shackle around his waist. It was secure, and tight enough where it made it uncomfortable to take deep breaths, so it was unlikely he’d be able to squeeze out of it. The chain attached to the wall also looked very secure from how firmly it was bolted down.

Determined, Mickey started yanking and pulling at the chains, not about to give up.

His family and friends needed him, and he is NOT about to let his last conversation with his brother be a fight.

______________________

“BORIS!!”

Hearing Mugman’s horrified scream calling out his brother’s name, Bendy’s pace went from walking to RUNNING. Cuphead ran beside him, raising a glowing finger when he heard his brother scream and Mugman firing some of his own magic bullets.

By the time they reached Mugman, Bendy froze and Cuphead gasped.

Mugman, looking the angriest any of them has ever seen, has a hooded and unconscious masked figure pinned to a wall. Mugman’s glowing finger pointed right at the stranger’s forehead as tears ran down his face.

A few feet behind them, lying limp on the floor, was Boris, with an arrow in his head.

Cuphead watched as Bendy wordlessly started walking to the ink wolf, dread sinking into his stomach from how still Boris was. He then looked over at his brother, feeling concerned from seeing what he was about to do out of rage. “Mugman?”

Hearing him, Mugman pulled his tear filled glare away from the unconscious criminal, and locked eyes with Cuphead. They stared at each other for a moment, until Mugman’s finger stopped glowing and his hands started trembling. “H-he tried to- Boris s-saved my life…”

As Mugman dropped the criminal, Cuphead quickly rushed over to his brother and held him by his shoulders as the blue mug brother started to sob as his rage melted into grief. “I gotcha Mugsy…”

Looking down at the unconscious man, Cuphead glared at his still form, then he turned his gaze to his boyfriend. His heart sank as he watched Bendy drop to his knees and pull limp Boris into his arms.

This wasn’t fair. Bendy and his siblings were supposed to be safe here. This was a chance for them to live their lives free and happy! 

Then some bastard does THIS.

How could someone-

Cuphead’s train of thought was interrupted when he noticed Bendy grabbing the arrow, and cringed as he watched him yank it out of Boris’ head. “Uh, Bendy…?”

Reaching into his pocket, Bendy pulled out a small bottle of ink he and his siblings started carrying around for emergencies and poured it into Boris’ head wound. With the wound filled with fresh ink, the ink demon stopped and watched in tense silence, then sighed in relief when the wound was starting to heal.

Looking over his shoulder, Bendy offered a reassuring smile to his friend and boyfriend. “He’ll be okay. His wound is healing. Just give him a few minutes.”

Considering how STUNNED the two brothers looked over hearing how Boris wasn’t dead, Bendy decided he should probably explain. “We don’t die easily… Heck we’re not sure if we even can die from being injured. A head wound though tends to be the most serious wound we can get since we can’t exactly function until our brains heal. I’m sorry you got such a bad scare from that Mugman.”

Boris was alive?!

Legs finally giving out from under him, Mugman dropped to his knees, dragging Cuphead down with him, as he had his hand over his heart and let out a relieved sob. “I-it’s okay, I, just- Oh thank God…”

Hugging his brother and rubbing his back as he started to calm down, Cuphead then looked at the unconscious criminal next to them. “What do we do with this asshole then?”

His eyes landing on the person who hurt Boris and tried to kill Mugman, Bendy felt his ink starting to get runny out of RAGE as his teeth turned to fangs. “First, one of us gets Alice. I’m sure she’d LOVE to take part in what I have planned for him. ”

______________________

Jolting a bit as his fur puffed up from the unpleasant sharp poke, Felix glared down at the man working on his suit for the opera, who just stabbed him with one of the sewing needles, AGAIN. “Ow! Please be careful!”

“Apologies sir. Almost done, please hold still.”

Sighing a little in frustration, Felix did as the tailor said. He wished he got the usual tailor that has been helping him work on his outfit, but instead he got this guy who he assumed was new to the job. He’s been poking Felix constantly with needles in the last few minutes, and even by the cat’s standards his stitching was sloppy. Not wanting to be rude though, Felix kept quiet for the most part.

He was confused though when he was asked to have his suit worked on at the last minute. He thought everything was finished up yesterday, but apparently not since he was told this was requested by Oswald himself.

Stepping back, the tailor admired his handiwork and grinned. “Finished! You’re ready for the opera!”

Relieved, Felix moved to retrieve his magic bag he had sitting on a nearby chair until the tailor spoke up. “Oh! Sorry sir, but the bag must stay. It clashes terribly with what you’re wearing.”

“Yeah that’s not happening. The bag goes with me no matter what.”

Giving an exasperated huff, the tailor gestured to the wardrobe. “If you insist. Then may we at least find you something that you can wear with your suit that would help the bag match? If you’re accompanying the royal family to the opera, then you must look presentable.”

Felix rolled his eyes as he left his bag on the chair and made his way to the wardrobe, wanting to get this over with as soon as he could. He had to still help Oswald prepare for-

Opening the wardrobe, the cat man’s eyes went wide. “OSWALD?!”

Tied up and gagged, Oswald looked at Felix with panicked eyes and did his best to give a muffled warning.

It was too little too late though. Felix felt two hands roughly shove him into the wardrobe, his face hitting hard against the back as the doors were slammed shut behind him. Whirling around, Felix quickly attempted to push the doors back open, but they wouldn’t budge, and he could hear the sound of rattling chains.

They were locked inside.

“HEY! LET US OUT!!”

All Felix got in response was a cackle from the “tailor”, who then started to move the wardrobe to a location unknown to Felix and Oswald.

Growling, the cat man decided to put his attention on the prince. He pulled off his gag and started untying him. “Are you okay?!”

Now free, Oswald rubbed his sore limbs and looked at Felix in concern. “I’m fine, but you’re bleeding.”

He was?

Realizing his face felt wet, Felix wiped under his nose and saw blood staining his fingers. “Oh this? This is nothing. Remind me to tell you the stories behind some of the scars I got.”

The prince huffed in amusement, then glared at the doors as he started hitting and kicking them. “I look forward to it, AFTER I KICK THIS BASTARD’S ASS!!”

The person who locked them inside just laughed again. The next thing the two knew, they felt themselves falling backwards and cried out in alarm, then grunted when the wardrobe landed with a hard THUD.

“Yeah, good luck with that Princey.”

The two listened closely, wondering what this person was doing as they heard shuffling outside the wardrobe.

They then heard something land on the outside of the wardrobe, then a moment later, they heard it again, and again.

Both Oswald and Felix looked at each other, the two of them getting hit with a horrible realization at the same time.

They were being buried ALIVE.

____________________________________

“Is he going to be okay?”

“Yeah, the wound wasn’t too deep. He should be waking up any minute now.”

Groaning, Boris grabbed at his aching head, practically feeling it throbbing behind his fingers. “Ooooow.”

Hearing a chuckle from Bendy, the ink wolf felt his brother gently pat his shoulder. “See? Told you.”

Alice gave a soft sigh in relief as she gently dabbed Boris’ forehead with a cool ink soaked rag. “How are you feeling Boris?”

Moving his hands out of the way, Boris blinked a few times as he took in what he was seeing. Bendy had Boris’ head resting on his lap, while Alice was by his side looking at him in concern. Confused, he looked around where they were, and was about to ask why they were in the hallway of the castle, until he looked past Alice and everything came rushing back.

A few feet away, stood Cuphead and Mugman, along with the criminal who shot an arrow into Boris’ forehead. He was currently out cold, tied up, and dangling upside down by his ankles with how he was hanging from a chandelier. The red cup brother watched him closely with an intense glare, while the blue mug brother was looking over his shoulder, staring at Boris.

 It was very clear that he had been crying earlier.

Considering Mugman watched Boris take an arrow for him in a way that would have been fatal for a normal person, the ink wolf could assume WHY he was crying.

Stealing a quick look at Cuphead, who gave a nod of assurance, Mugman walked over to the ink siblings and knelt by Boris. “Hey. You alright?”

Slowly sitting up with the help of Bendy and Alice, Boris nodded while rubbing his head with one of his hands. “Yeah, just a headache, but honestly, we’ve been through worse than a stupid arrow.”

A somewhat alarmed expression crossed Mugman’s face, while Cuphead spoke over his shoulder. “You know, the more we learn about you guys and the bullshit you went through, the more concerned I get and the more I want to shoot Joey Drew.”

Bendy gave a small laugh. “You’ll have to wait for your turn Cup. There’s a LINE.”

A bit amused by that exchange, Boris shook his head slightly before focusing on Mugman again. “So… About earlier…”

All eyes, except for Cuphead’s since he was watching the criminal, were now on Boris. Already feeling awkward since he wasn’t good at these kind of situations, the ink wolf took a deep breath and just spoke his mind. “I did hate you, and your brother. I hated you for how you put Bendy in harm's way, and I ESPECIALLY hated Cuphead for how he got Bendy wrapped up in a stupid, possibly doomed, romance… Actually I’m still not thrilled with the guy because of that.”

“Hey!”

As Bendy shushed his boyfriend, Boris kept talking. “But that hate has simmered down. We were both trying to protect our brothers, and, honestly, I’m sorry about how I almost, you know, sunk my teeth into your throat…”

Yeesh, that sounded bad saying it out loud…

Remembering that nearly ugly moment as well, Mugman rubbed at his throat and smiled a bit awkwardly. “It’s, okay. I did try shooting you and Bendy… So, even?”

As Mugman offered his hand to shake to Boris, Boris stared at it for a moment, before smirking and taking his hand. “We’re even for THAT, but now you owe me for saving your porcelain butt. A month of desert being a fitting exchange?”

Alice busted out laughing while Bendy snorted over how Mugman’s jaw dropped. Even Cuphead let out a loud laugh from overhearing the conversation.

“.... A week of my deserts.”

“Three weeks.”

“Two weeks, and I’ll sneak you some extra peanut butter cookies.”

Boris thought about it, before nodding in agreement. “Deal.”

Glad Boris and Mugman are now good with each other, Bendy got to his feet and looked at the unconscious criminal. “Alright, who wants to wake up sleeping beauty?”

Standing herself, Alice pulled off one of her gloves, showing off her very sharp looking black nails. “May I have the honors?”

All the guys quickly moved out of her way, and even Cuphead gestured for her to go right ahead. Approaching the criminal, who was still dangling upside down, Alice watched him hang there for a bit, before raising her hand.

SMACK

As the criminal screamed from being startled awake and from the pain, Cuphead and Mugman cringed, while Boris and Bendy grinned proudly, both impressed that she didn’t unintentionally claw him with that slap. The criminal shook his head, then started looking around frantically, appearing disoriented from waking up upside down and swinging around slightly. “WHA- WHERE AM I?!”

Grabbing him by his shirt to stop him from swinging around, Cuphead glared at the criminal and held up his glowing finger ready to fire a magic bullet. “You’re in the Disney castle, that you snuck into, in an attempt to kill my brother Mugman. REMEMBER?”

After processing that for a moment, the criminal cringed slightly as he looked around at the others glaring at him, and realized he was in a bit of a pickle. “Oh… right.”

“We want answers, what the hell are you up to, and WHY are you trying to kill my brother?”

Scoffing, the criminal spoke. “Yeah, right, like I’m going to tell you anything. No offense, but I’m more scared of my boss than some fake fine china.”

As Mugman quietly questioned how they weren’t supposed to find that offensive, Bendy stepped forward. “Who’s your boss?”

“... I’m not saying anything else and you can’t make me.”

Officially annoyed, Bendy took Cuphead’s place in holding the criminal by his shirt, and glanced at his boyfriend and friend as Boris and Alice moved to his side. “You two might want to turn around.”

Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other, before mutually deciding they didn’t want to question why, and did as Bendy instructed. Now with their backs turned, the two brothers could hear the criminal laugh from behind them. “You three think you can scare me? A pretty lady, a puppy dog, and a tiny little-”

Three horrifying and inhuman sounding snarls, growling, and hissing cut off the criminal mid sentence. Cuphead and Mugman tensed up and shuddered at the bone chilling sounds and as the criminal screamed in terror. When the noise stopped, the two brothers finally dared to nervously look over their shoulders.

Bendy, Boris, and Alice were all glaring together at the criminal, who was now as white as a ghost. Wiping some inky drool off of the corner of his lip, Bendy asked. “You were saying?”

“My boss is Pete and he’s been plotting to kill off the royal family for years. We captured Mickey last night and he’s locked up in the abandoned castle probably still alive, Clarabelle is in charge of killing off Goofy at the kingdom’s river bridge while one of my brothers has Donald in Pete’s secret lair and another one of mine is burying Oswald and his boyfriend alive while it was my job to get rid of Cuphead and Mugman. Pete also plans to capture Minnie at the opera and hold her hostage for the rest of her life then ship off Oswald’s children to orphanages around the world so they’ll never be seen again.”

Eyes wide, the group exchanged alarmed looks with each other. Growling at the criminal, who they now know is a lackey of Pete’s, Bendy shoved him and left him swinging around helplessly as he turned to the others. “Cuphead and I will go get Felix and Oswald, Boris and Mugman, you two get Goofy, Alice, get this asshole to tell you where Pete’s lair is so you can save Donald. We’ll all meet up at the abandoned castle to save Mickey then stop Pete!”

Everyone agreeing on the plan, the boys ran off to find the people they needed to save while Alice stayed behind. 

As they ran, Cuphead put his attention on his boyfriend. “You sure Alice will be okay by herself?”

“She’ll be fine, I’m more worried about the mess she might make if she gets carried away.”

… Cuphead decided it was for the best that he didn’t ask what Bendy meant by that.

Back with Alice, the ink angel glared down at the now trembling lackey, who watched her fearfully. She carefully removed her other glove. Not wanting them to get dirty from her ink. “Hm… Now we come to the question. Are you going to tell me what I need to know? Or do I do what I must until I get what I want from you?”

Heart speeding up, the lackey watched in absolute horror over how when Alice smiled at him,  her face began to change. The left side of her face began to split open, showing her teeth, as blank ink oozed out of her eye socket and coated her eye.

“The choices of the beautiful are UNBEARABLE.”

______________________

Despite how hard the two tried breaking the wardrobe doors, it was no use as Oswald and Felix were eventually buried under a pile of dirt, making their yelling and cries for help silent to the world above. Now with a limited air supply, the two decided it was best to calm down and figure out a plan to get out of this in case a rescue didn’t come on time.

The two were currently working in the dark, trying to feel for something that might help them break through the wood and dig their way up to freedom. As Felix looked through a jacket and its pockets, he grumbled to himself. “This is what I get for putting my magic bag down for five freaking minutes.”

Sighing, Oswald dumped a useless shirt to the side and rubbed his face. “And this is what I get for being a piece of shit…”

Not expecting that, Felix paused and looked at Oswald. “Whoa, hey, where is this coming from? Oswald you’re not a piece of shit. You’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

“Yeah, I’m nice to you, you don’t know how mean I can get… Especially to my little brother…”

Oswald could still see the hurt look on Mickey’s face from the day before. “I got so mad at him, all because he was right and because he wanted to help me. He didn’t deserve me blaming him for what happened to Ortensia…”

“...Your wife?”

Looking over at Felix, Oswald watched as the cat man looked a bit guilty and confessed. “We found an old painting of you two, I didn’t want to bring it up since it wasn’t my place… She was a very beautiful woman.”

A bitter-sweet feeling filled his heart as the prince smiled sadly. “She was, and she was the nicest woman you’d ever meet… She would have been an amazing Queen.”

If this was how they were going to die, Felix deserved the truth. “Back when I was next in line for the throne, Mickey was an apprentice to a wizard Yen Sid. He was over excited, and way too reckless with his lessons. He once flooded the castle by enchanting a broom to carry buckets of water for him, but he didn’t know how to make the broom STOP.”

Felix snorted a little, before going quiet so Oswald could continue. “But one day… He accidentally created a dangerous monster that we called The Blot. It nearly cost our kingdom everything, and Mickey was willing to try fighting that thing himself so he could fix his mistake, but Ortensia and I didn’t want him to walk into certain death. So we helped him fight against The Blot, we won, saved the kingdom… but Ortensia lost her life.”

Feeling tears building up in his eyes, Oswald did his best to keep himself calm, not wanting to cost them more air if he became a sobbing mess. “I was a wreck, and our dad could see that. So he made Mickey King instead. I became so ANGRY, and I directed it all at Mickey. The last thing I did was yell and blame him, all because he was worried about me and how I was dragging you into my mess.”

Glaring at the wardrobe doors, the prince punched them out of anger. “AND LOOK AT US NOW!... Damn it, I’m really sorry Felix…”

Resting his hand on Oswald’s shoulder, Felix spoke up. “Oswald, this isn’t your fault. You helped me and my kids. It’s not like you could have known someone would try killing the two of us.” 

“... You still shouldn’t be here with me. If I had just given you some job in the kingdom instead of having you glued to my side for my selfish needs, then you’d be safe.”

Staying silent for a bit, the cat man squeezed the prince’s shoulder. “Well I’m glad I’ve had the chance to get to know you, and I'm glad I'm here with you, so you’re not alone. We WILL get out of here together, so you can apologize to your brother, hug your children, and we can continue to get to know more about each other. Okay?”

Stunned by Felix’s words, Oswald stared at him, before laughing and wiping his eyes. “Okay… You know, you may look a bit like her, but I really love getting to know how different you are from her.”

Not expecting to hear that, Felix felt his face warm up slightly, but smiled over what Oswald said and how his own words helped him feel better. Letting go of the prince’s shoulder, the two proceeded to work on finding a way out. Though with only clothing at their disposal, they were struggling to figure out what to do.

Digging through a pair of pants, Oswald paused as his ears perked up. At first, he thought he was hearing Felix’s heartbeat, but it was far too loud, and then he started hearing… whispers. “Um, what’s that noise?”

Stopping as well, Felix listened closely. Noticing the same sounds the prince heard.

Was that…?

A cold chill filled the warm stuffy wardrobe. An unpleasant shudder went down Oswald’s spine, and he flinched when he felt something drip on his forehead. “What the-?!”

Smiling, Felix wrapped his arm tightly around Oswald, and pressed his free hand against the ink spot that was growing on the doors of the wardrobe. He then felt fingers wrap around his wrist. “Hold your breath Oswald!”

Despite being confused, Oswald did as Felix said and held his breath right as the two were yanked up into absolute darkness. A moment later, they were engulfed in blinding light and carefully dropped on the soft ground. Hearing Felix take a breath of fresh air, Oswald did the same and started blinking his eyes to clear his vision.

The first thing he saw, was Bendy, in his large, skeleton-like demon form.

“HOLY SHIT!!!”

Quickly changing back to his smaller normal form, Bendy cringed a little as he watched the prince wrap his arms around Felix tightly in terror. “Sorry! Sorry! We didn’t know how long you two were down there and that was the fastest way to get you out!”

Easing up his grip on the cat man, Oswald let out a heavy breath in relief and rested his hand over his heart. “I-it’s okay! Sorry I reacted like that! I, never really saw you in that form before…”

In the middle of tying up Pete’s lackey, who had faked being a tailor and just finished burying Felix and Oswald, Cuphead called out over his shoulder. “You get used to it!”

Helping Oswald get to his feet, Felix looked at Bendy in concern. “Are you and the others okay? Where are the bunnies?”

Bendy nodded and gave Felix his Magic Bag back which he and Cuphead had found on their way to rescue them. “We’re okay. The bunnies are safe and being watched over by the castle staff, but Pete’s plotting to take the throne! All of this is his doing!”

Putting his attention on the prince, the ink demon gave him the bad news. “Your majesty… Pete’s got King Mickey.”

Ears drooping at the news, A look of ice-cold anger crossed Oswald’s face as he let go of Felix and tightly clenched his fists.

“Where did that BASTARD take my little brother?”

Chapter Text

Hurrying as fast as they could, Boris and Mugman made their way through the village of the Disney Kingdom in hopes of making it to the river bridge in time before Clarabelle finished off Goofy. Both of them hoped they weren’t too late.

The last thing either of them wanted was to tell Max the worst news any kid would have to hear.

With the bridge in sight, the ink wolf’s stomach dropped slightly when he couldn’t see anyone there. Rushing ahead of Mugman, Boris reached the bridge and looked over the railing on one side, then ran to the other side to check for any signs of Goofy.

What he saw, he was NOT expecting.

Good news, Goofy was okay. He was wrapped up in chains that were attached to an anvil, but thankfully the chains were secured around the bridge railing so Goofy wouldn’t plummet to a watery grave.

Weird news, Goofy was making out with Clarabelle, who apparently decided at the last minute she didn’t want to kill him.

Boris continued to stare, somewhat in disgust, as Mugman finally caught up and struggled to catch his breath. “A-are, we, too, late???”

Pinching the space between his eyes, Boris pointed down. As Mugman looked and saw what was going on, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Oh… I was not expecting this.”

Sighing, Boris grabbed the chains and started pulling Goofy and Clarabelle back up. “I find it weird that this enemies to lovers thing is becoming recurring. What’s next? You’re going to fall in love with something you’re supposed to be enemies against?”

Thinking about it, Mugman chuckles a bit awkwardly with a small blush. “ Well, there is this mermaid back home-”

“OH MY GOD I WAS JOKING.”

Finally getting Clarabelle and Goofy back on solid ground, Boris easily broke the chains, everyone impressed he could bite through the metal, and freed Goofy. The two young men then looked at the cow woman, who had secretly been working for Pete all along, and betrayed the royal family.

Mugman spoke first. “You are aware you’re in trouble for everything you did despite you and Goofy becoming a thing right?

Sighing, Clarabelle nodded. “I understand. I’ll turn myself in and do what I can to fix my mistakes.”

Taking her hands, Goofy kissed them and rested his forehead against hers. “I’ll visit every day my love.”

Before the two could start kissing again, Boris LOUDLY cleared his throat. “HELLO, Royal personal guard? Your KING is in peril!”

Remembering the drastic situation they’re in, Goofy gives Clarabelle one last kiss on the cheek, before grabbing both Mugman and Boris and taking off. “WE’RE COMING MICKEY!!!”

With a dreamy sigh, Clarabelle waved the trio goodbye as she made her way back to the castle to turn herself in like she said. “What a Goof~.”

________________________

Quacking and screaming a lot of gibberish out of panic, Donald squirmed and struggled to free himself from the guillotine he found himself stuck in after running around trying to escape Pete’s secret lair.

He was still surprised Pete actually HAS a secret lair under the castle you could get to through a trap door behind a painting in the castle hallway. Who knew???

The lackey in charge of killing off Donald watched as the duck panicked, not looking impressed as he held the rope that held up the blade. “Sheesh, Are you a duck or a chicken?”

About to let go of the rope and finish the job, the lackey froze when he heard something past Donald’s screaming and quacking. He raised an eyebrow in confusion as he listened closely.

Was that, humming?

Wondering who in the world would be down here and humming some strange, and kinda creepy song, the lackey looked around the room and even tried taking a peak at the doorway to the room. “You hear that- HEY!!!”

While he was distracted, Donald took the opportunity to finally manage to free himself enough where he was able to pull his head out of harm's way, but froze when he got busted. “Uh-oh.”

About to march over to shove the duck’s head back into the guillotine, the lackey froze in place when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and noticed a shadow casted over him from someone standing behind him.

“I see you there~”

Slowly turning around, the lackey first processed how he was staring at the skirt of a dress, then looked up.

He and Alice held eye contact for a solid 5 seconds, before the lackey groaned and fainted out of fear. Releasing the rope in the process, but thankfully no harm came to Donald since he was out of the way.

Though he did turn a shade paler watching the blade go down where his neck was a few moments ago.

Satisfied, Alice proceeded to tie up the unconscious man before her, then looked up at Donald, intending to ask him if he was okay. However, she stopped when she realized he was staring at her. Fear, and disgust was clear on his face.

Anxiety spiking over how he was looking at her while she was like, THIS, Alice turned her head so he couldn’t see her left side. “... Please, don’t look at me like that.”

Realizing he was staring and making the young girl uncomfortable, Donald quickly looked away in an attempt to respect her wishes. “Sorry… Thanks for the help.”

Done tying up the criminal, the ink angel felt herself calm down enough for her to turn back to her usual form. She felt her face, and sighed in relief over how her ink skin felt smooth with no flaws.

Perfectly beautiful.

Walking over to the duck man, Alice offered her hand to him to help him back on his feet. “You’re welcome. Now let's go. Mickey needs our help.”

_____________________

Hands and arms aching from constantly pulling at the metal chains, Mickey decided it was for the best to take a moment and rest and think about his options.

Sitting down on the damp stone ground, the King rubbed at his shoulder that was bothering him the most from all the work he was doing. He wondered what else he could do to get the hell out of there.

The chain and shackle around him were very sturdy. Hours of struggles barely did anything except give Mickey some bruising. Yelling for help was pointless too. He doubted anyone else was in the abandoned castle, and he was too far from dry land for anyone to hear him at all.

He also doubted anyone would come for his rescue, considering Pete planned to do God knows what to his friends and family…

Mickey prayed that they were all okay.

Sighing, the king rested his head on his knees and stayed like that for a while. Trying to ignore the feeling of hopelessness that was starting to sink in.

He couldn’t believe he never saw any of this coming. Pete’s been around his family for YEARS, and Mickey NEVER realized he was plotting against them the entire time. Now he and his loved ones are in another big mess, and it was all his fault…

Ear twitching at the sound of dripping water, Mickey lifted his head up in confusion, and noticed a puddle on the floor, growing in size and getting closer to his feet. Looking up, he noticed water coming from large pipes in the walls of the room he was trapped in. More and more water started to rush in within seconds.

Getting to his feet, the king had a worried feeling building up in his chest as the water on the ground started to rise and reached his ankles. Noticing something on the wall, he saw it was a height chart, and at the very top of the chart, far over Mickey’s head, had a sentence written that made pure and utter DREAD fill his very being.

YOU MUST BE THIS TALL TO SURVIVE THIS DUNGEON.

_______________________

Being the first ones to arrive at the dock pointed straight at the abandoned castle, Oswald and Cuphead quickly got to work shoving one of the old row boats into the water and climbed in. Grabbing the paddles, Oswald looked over at Felix and Bendy, and watched in confusion as neither of them made any move to climb in while Felix was digging through his bag. “What are you two waiting for?! We need to go!!”

Pulling out three waterproof ponchos, Felix handed one to Bendy who quickly put it on, while leaving the other two somewhere Boris and Alice would find it once they got there. “Salt hurts demons. If Bendy and his siblings get wet from the saltwater they’ll be in a lot of pain.”

Remembering about learning how to use salt against demons in battle from the Demon Hunting Knights, Cuphead looked at Bendy in concern. “Are you sure you want to come with us? This is going to be really dangerous for you.”

With the poncho on and the hood up to shield his face, Bendy scoffed as he got into the boat with Felix. “Good luck stopping me from helping save Mickey.”

Huffing a bit fondly at Bendy’s selfless stubbornness, Cuphead wrapped himself around Bendy in an attempt to offer him more protection from the water as Felix and Oswald started rowing as fast as they could. Through the poncho, Bendy patted Cuphead’s arm to let him know he appreciated it. When they reached the castle, Cuphead quickly scooped his boyfriend up into his arms and carried him until they were far enough from the water and put him down.

The group all ran inside together, and began their search for Mickey. As he looked around frantically, Oswald cupped his hands around his mouth. “MICKEY?! WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“OSWALD!!”

Hearing Mickey scream his name, Oswald ran as fast as he could towards the source of the sound with the others right behind him. Reaching a dungeon area, Everyone started looking around, until Cuphead noticed a hatch door on the floor, and looked down inside.

“Oh SHIT. HE’S OVER HERE!”

Hurrying to where Cuphead was, Bendy quickly ripped the hatch door off the ground and threw it to the side as Felix and Oswald joined them.

All of them saw how Mickey was frantically pulling at the chains that had him shackled to the wall as water quickly filled the room he was in.

Not hesitating, Oswald leaped in and hurried to his brother’s side, pulling along with him as Felix and Cuphead quickly came down and started pulling as well. Looking up as he started pulling on the chains, Felix gave Bendy a firm look as he saw him attempting to climb in. “BENDY THE DEMON DON’T YOU DARE JUMP INTO THIS SALT WATER!!”

Freezing at the cat man’s orders, Bendy begrudgingly listened but watched nervously as everyone struggled to get Mickey free as the water kept rising.

Beyond thankful that Oswald was okay, but worried that this might be the last time they get the chance to talk considering the water was starting to reach past their chests, Mickey spoke. “Oswald, I'm so sorry! For everything! I love you so much and I never wanted to cause you so much pain in your life!”

Clenching his teeth as he gave another good yank with the others, Oswald groaned when that barely did anything. “I love you too Mick, but we’ll talk about it later! We’re getting you out of here so just hold on!”

Trying to swallow down the lump forming in his throat, Mickey nodded as they all focused on the chains again. As the water started getting to the point where it was starting to force them to pause to get air, Oswald told Mickey to focus on breathing as much air as he could while he, Felix, and Cuphead kept working on the chains.

Bendy watched all of this, anxiety rising within him as he witnessed as Mickey was having to tread water in order to breathe, but eventually the chains made it so he couldn’t keep his head above the water, and the king was forced under.

Bubbles rose to the surface, and Bendy could see as Mickey under the water started to go limp and Oswald’s pulling on the chains became more frantic.

ShitshitSHIT!!

“BENDY!”

Spinning around and seeing Alice, Boris, Mugman, Goofy, and Donald rushing over, an idea struck Bendy as he held out his hand to his siblings. “I need you two to hold onto me and lower me down! NOW!!”

Doing as Bendy said, Alice and Boris quickly took hold of their brother’s one hand and helped him down the hole in the floor. Taking a deep breath, Bendy changed his form into his bigger demon form, and looked down at the salt water below him. The others were now in arms reach.

“Welp, this is going to hurt.”

Realizing what Bendy’s plan was, Alice gasped in alarm while Boris yelled at him. “WAIT BENDY NO-!

Bracing himself, the ink demon shoved his hand into the water. He ROARED in agony as his hand and arm BURNED, but he refused to remove his hand from the pain as he finally wrapped his fingers around the metal chains and gave a mighty YANK. Feeling it break free from the stone wall.

“PULL US UP!!”

Shocked by what Bendy did, Boris and Alice quickly pulled Bendy up with Donald and Goofy's help as Bendy tightly held onto the chains, which Cuphead, Felix, and Oswald were tightly holding onto, while Mickey limply hung from the shackle locked around his waist. When they were all safely on solid dry land, Bendy quickly let go and pulled his arm to his chest as he curled up in pain, feeling Boris and Alice rested their hands on his back in the process. He yanked off his soaked glove and inspected the damage done. His brother and sister cringing and hissing at what they saw.

His ink skin was sizzling and bubbling from the saltwater, and it fucking HURT LIKE HELL. Bendy was sure if his face wasn’t coated in ink in this form, he’d have ink tears streaming down his face.

Hearing coughing, Bendy looked over to where Mickey was. Watching how the king coughed out the water he inhaled as Oswald helped him sit up and hugged him. Both brothers were in tears as they held each other tightly.

The pain was worth it to the ink demon.

“Oh my God, Bendy!”

With Felix and Cuphead hurrying over to him, Felix quickly pulled a canteen of fresh water out of his magic bag and started to carefully pour it over Bendy’s hand and arm while Cuphead watched in alarm seeing how the salt water hurt his boyfriend. As the cat man washed off his arm the best he could, Felix glared at the ink demon. “I told you not to jump into the salt water!!”

Changing back to his usual form, Bendy huffed a small painful laugh. “And I didn’t. I stuck my hand in it.”

“... That’s not going to save you from being grounded for putting yourself in harm’s way like that.”

Seeing that coming, Bendy bit back the urge to groan. “Fine.”

Kneeling down next to Bendy, Cuphead was tempted to reach out and comfort him, but he held back due to the fact that he was soaking wet in salt water and didn’t want to hurt his boyfriend worse. He was about to speak up, when he noticed something and his voice got caught in his throat.

Bendy’s hands had two holds in them that went all the way through. As his powers began to heal his ink skin now with the salt washed off, the red cup brother noticed how the skin around those holes looked scarred.

So that’s why Bendy’s hands felt off under his gloves, and why Bendy would tense up sometimes when they held hands.

“Pst.”

Turning towards the source of the sound, Cuphead saw how Boris noticed him staring, and slowly shook his head no to him.

He was warning Cuphead not to bring it up.

As Cuphead nodded to confirm he understood, the ink wolf relaxed slightly as he and Alice helped Bendy stand up, and pulled off his own glove to give to Bendy so he could wear it for now. He then looked at the rest of the group now that everyone was standing up. “So what are we going to do about Pete? He’s probably at the opera already and going after Queen Minnie.”

As Felix handed Alice rubber gloves from his bag so her hands would be protected, the ink angel put them on and approached Mickey so she could break the lock on the shackle and free him. Relieved over finally being free, Mickey rubbed his bruised middle and got a determined look on his face. “Well, if Pete wants to enjoy a nice show now that he’s “King”, then I say we give him one hell of a show.”

______________________

Arriving at the opera house in the royal carriage, Queen Minnie sighed a bit in disappointment. Hating that she hasn’t seen her loving husband all day. “Oh I was so looking forward to getting here with Mickey. I wish he told me he’d be busy today instead of just leaving me a note this morning.”

Making sure Minnie looked ready to attend the show, Daisy offered her a smile. “At least you get to enjoy watching the opera with him and the others. I bet Bendy, Boris, and Alice are so excited to see their first opera.”

Mentally picturing their excited faces did make the queen grin. “You’re right, and I look forward to seeing them enjoy it.”

When the carriage pulled to a stop, Minnie and Daisy gracefully exited and walked into the opera house. The queen smiled and waved politely to people that excitedly greeted her as she passed by until the two women entered the private area for royalty and their guests.

About to arrive where their seats would be, Minnie and Daisy stopped and looked confused when Pete stepped into view, dressed up in his former captain of the guards uniform. “Pete??? Why are you here???”

Chuckling, Pete reached behind himself. “Oh I’m just here to accept my new job. AS KING.”

Before the two knew it, Pete had pulled out a large sack and scooped the Queen and her lady in waiting inside, tying it shut and muffling their screams and objections until he could dump the sack inside a large chest nearby and lock it shut.

Hopefully that would keep the ladies nice and quiet for the show. Especially since his useless lackeys never showed up like they were supposed to! Not even Clarabelle!

Guess if he wanted something done right, Pete had to do it himself.

Hiding the chest behind the seat in the royal opera box, Pete stepped forward into the line of sight of the audience and cleared his throat. “ATTENTION LOYAL SUBJECTS OF THE DISNEY KINGDOM!”

With all eyes turning towards him, Pete had to fight the urge to grin as he faked a devastated expression. “I regret to inform you all that King Mickey, and Prince Oswald, are no longer with us.”

Alarmed gasps and whispers started to fill the air. The large man let this continue for a bit until he spoke up again. “Due to this tragic loss, Queen Minnie has been bed ridden by grief. Currently unable to perform her royal duties, she has appointed me, Pete, as the new KING OF THE DISNEY KINGDOM!!”

More gasps filled the air, and the crowd watched as Pete ripped off his captain of the guards uniform to show his king attire he had hidden underneath and pulled a rope to let the banner unroll so everyone could see it had Pete’s face with “KING PETE” boldly written on it. No longer able to help himself, Pete smiled gleefully now that he had finally achieved his goal he’s been working towards for years.

Laughing happily, Pete sat down in the king’s chair and leaned back, getting nice and comfy. “ALRIGHT! Now that that’s settled! On with the show!!!”

Still processing the rather alarming news of the royal family’s sudden demise and Pete being made king, the crowd gave an uncertain applause as the conductor came out and started getting ready.

The curtains pulled back for the opera to begin, and confused murmurs instead of music greeted Pete’s ears. Frowning, the large man sat up and looked at the stage to see what was going on.

His face turned pale seeing Mickey and Oswald on stage, along with Donald and Goofy. All four of them GLARING at him.

Oooooh that’s not good.

About to run and bail, Pete froze when he realized his path was blocked by Felix and the two cup brothers, who looked just as pissed.

Sweating buckets, Pete swallowed nervously and put on the best smile he could as he turned back towards the stage. “Y-your majesty! I can explain! The ink demon and his minions have been manipulating this whole thing! This is all their fault!”

He could hear Felix growling behind him over the accusation, while King Mickey’s glare at him grew more intense. “You mean the same ink demon and his SIBLINGS, that have done nothing but protect the royal family from YOUR actions that you’ve been planning to do for YEARS? How dare you accuse them! How dare you try to hurt my friends, and how DARE you try to hurt my family! Cuphead, Mugman, arrest Pete this instant!”

With Cuphead and Mugman closing in on him, out of panic, Pete grabbed the chest behind the chair and held it over his head. “NOBODY MOVE OR THE QUEEN GETS IT!”

Smiling sadistically as the two cup brothers froze in their tracks, Pete was about to start making demands, when the chest was suddenly yanked out of his hands from behind him. Spinning around, the large man saw how Bendy, standing on the box railing, now had the chest tucked under one arm. The ink demon smirked as he waved at him, and then jumped off the edge.

Alarmed, Pete looked over the edge to see that Bendy was caught by Boris and Alice on stage. Once Bendy was put down safely on the ground, Alice mockingly blew a kiss at Pete while Boris stuck out his tongue at him before the three took the chest to Mickey so they could let Minnie and Daisy out.

Teeth clenched and BOILING with anger over everything he had worked for being RUINED, grabbing the nearby stage curtains, Pete dodged the cup brothers and Felix’s attempt at grabbing him and swung down onto the stage. He pulled out his sword, and glared hatefully at the group.

“I’m not going down without a FIGHT.”

Holding up his arm when the three teens, his brother, and friends tried to step forward, Mickey looked over his shoulder at them. “Goofy, your sword please? I’ll handle Pete personally.”

Goofy did as Mickey requested and handed him his sword, while Oswald patted his shoulder. “Go get him, Mick.”

A quick smile crossed Mickey’s face before he focused on Pete with a serious expression and held up his weapon.

Growling, Pete charged forward and metal started clashing together.

As everyone tensely watched the battle, Oswald noticed how Bendy, Boris, and Alice, after getting Minnie and Daisy out of the chest and sack, looked ready to jump into the fight if they needed to. He offered them a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Mickey’s got this.”

Smoothing out her dress, Minnie cupped her hands around her mouth and cheered for her husband. “KICK HIS BUTT SWEETIE!”

 As the two swords' sharp blades continued to make contact, Pete did his best to use his size against the King. “Face it you RUNT! There’s a new king in town, that new king is going to be ME, and you and your pathetic family and friends WON’T STOP ME!”

Scowling, Mickey saw a window of opportunity thanks to Pete’s rage controlling his actions, tangled their swords together, and with a swift motion, pulled the large man’s sword out of his grip and caused it to fly away, getting it embedded in one of the backstage props.

Jaw dropping over how Mickey did that, Pete stared up at his sword, realized he was now disarmed, and looked down in time for the king to sucker punch him hard enough to cause him to tumble backwards and land flat on his back.

Shaking off his now smarting fist, Mickey kept his sword pointed at Pete as Cuphead and Mugman quickly rushed over to properly arrest him. “That’s where you’re wrong. With my friends and family by my side, we’ll always stand tall together and defend this kingdom and its people.”

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

Now with Pete properly handcuffed and under arrest, Mickey dropped the sword in his hand and rushed over to his wife and brother. Hugging both of them tightly now that they were all safe, before Oswald stepped back so Minnie could cover Mickey’s face in relieved kisses.

Chuckling as Daisy did the same with Donald, and raising a brow slightly at how Clarabelle appeared and scooped Goofy into her arms to kiss him (he wondered when that happened) Oswald looked over at Felix as the cat man approached him. “Thanks for sticking by my side and helping. You and your kids are amazing.”

Felix grinned, and after a moment of debating to himself, he then took Oswald’s hand, respectfully bowed, and kissed the back of the prince’s hand. He looked up and smiled seeing how Oswald was now blushing. “Same could be said to you.”

Watching the adults, Bendy looked at Cuphead, shrugged, gently took hold of his boyfriend’s face to get him to turn his head towards him, and stole a kiss on the lips.

Mugman rolled his eyes fondly over how his brother melted into the kiss and left him to handle Pete on his own so he could scoop up Bendy into his arms as they smooched. The blue mug brother was somewhat glad he wasn’t the only one single as Boris and Alice soon joined him by his side.

Alice however, smiled sweetly at him. “Well, as long as everyone else is doing it.”

Eyebrows shooting up in surprise at what she said, wondering anxiously if she was actually about to kiss him and how he’d respond to that, what Mugman was NOT expecting was for Boris to LICK the side of his face like a pet dog would.

“BLEH! HEY!”

As Boris and Alice giggled and laughed over their little prank, Pete, handcuffed and sitting on the ground, groaned.

“I hate happy endings…”

Chapter Text

Safe to say after the events of TRYING to get ready for the opera, which resulted in a life-or-death rescue mission, the moment everyone got back to the castle, they all just changed into the comfiest clothes they had, and flopped straight into bed. No one was willing to get up and out of their comfortable beds until close to lunch time the next day.

Cuphead and Mugman were given the day off for their hard work and a job well done. Mugman took the opportunity to relax and read some of the books in the library, while Cuphead snagged some sweets from the kitchen before the chef could stop him and went to go find Bendy.

When he did find him right outside the castle, he raised an eyebrow at what he saw. “I thought Boris was the builder out of all of you guys?”

Bendy sighed  as he paused in nailing some wood together and glanced at Felix who was sitting nearby on a bench watching him. “He is. This is how Felix grounds us. He gives us a task that doesn’t involve our favorite things to do. So he’s making me build a new wardrobe since Oswald isn’t too keen on digging up the one he and Felix nearly died in.”

“So Felix actually grounded you??”

From where he was sitting, Felix called out. “I’m trying to get that, self-sacrificing for the sake of others, mentality out of his head! I would rather not lose one of my nine lives from constantly worrying and stressing about Bendy’s well-being.”

Finding that reasoning as somewhat fair, and chuckling a little over how Bendy pouted at what Felix said, Cuphead held up the plate of sweets. “Are you allowed to take a break?”

Bendy turned towards where Felix was sitting, and gave his best cute pleading eyes. Eventually sighing, Felix nodded. “Fine, but remember we promised this wardrobe would be done by the end of the day.”

Smiling happily, Bendy called out a thank you to Felix as he wrapped his arm around his boyfriend’s and hurried off. When they reached the garden, the two sat down in the grass and enjoyed the sweets. As the ink demon took a bite out of a cream puff, making Cuphead snicker when cream smudged onto his face, he chewed for a bit then looked at his boyfriend. “You know the chef might start setting traps for you at this rate.”

Cuphead smirks. “That’ll make this more FUN.”

Rolling his eyes, Bendy used his fingers to wipe the cream off his face then licked it off. “Goofy’s son Max came by this morning. He thanked us for saving his dad. I think he’s officially over being scared of my siblings and I, as well as believing any of those stories he’s heard.”

“That’s good. Those stupid stories about you guys cause nothing but problems.”

Bendy couldn’t agree more.

Scooting closer, the ink demon leaned on Cuphead, and smiled a little over how his partner wrapped his arm around him. “... So, you don’t believe them at all anymore either, right?”

That got Cuphead to stop and reflect on everything a little. Being trained by knights who hunt demons, he and Mugman have heard all kinds of demon stories, and now he wondered just how much of it was actually true to what really happened, or was just bullshit made out of fear of things mortals didn’t understand.

Shrugging a bit, Cuphead dragged Bendy down with him when he flopped over onto the grass, grinning a little as Bendy giggled and the two stared up at the clouds. “Nah. After getting to know you, all of that just sounds like over exaggerated garbage… Honestly, I find it despicable how someone can make attacking kids, just because they’re demons, heroic. You three are the real heroes for surviving that and still having kind hearts.”

Bendy stayed quiet for a bit, making the red cup brother worry a little he might have said something wrong, until the ink demon sniffled, wiped at his eyes, and rolled over to rest on top of Cuphead’s chest as he hugged him with an emotional smile.

“Thanks.”

Wrapping both arms around Bendy, Cuphead kissed his forehead and rubbed his back as the two of them continued to lay there and enjoy the peaceful moment.

_____________________

Sitting on his bed, Mickey petted Pluto’s head that rested on his lap as he looked over some of the paperwork he tended to put off. With how he decided he wasn’t going to make any public appearances for the day after everything that happened, he figured he might as well get this stuff taken care of now.

Helped keep his mind off of how terrifying it was to almost drown to death the day before. The helpless feeling of the water rising higher than he could reach for air and the burning of his lungs-

Knock knock knock

Jumping with a gasp, Mickey rested his hand on his chest as he sighed and smiled at Pluto who whined at him in worry. Looking at his bedroom door, the king called out. “Come in.”

As the door slowly opened, Mickey was surprised to see Oswald come in, holding two mugs in his hands. “Hey… Can I come in?”

Quickly gathering the papers scattered all over his bed, Mickey put them on the bedside table then gestured for his brother to come sit. As Oswald walked over, he handed one of the mugs to Mickey, who smiled when he smelled the warm drink and realized what it was. “Carrot tea? I haven’t had this in a long time.”

Chuckling, Oswald sat down on the bed and petted Pluto. “Tried to make it like how mom used to. I can never get it quite right though.”

Blowing on the warm beverage to make sure he wouldn’t burn himself, Mickey took a sip and hummed. “Probably because she claimed the secret ingredient was her love. Maybe everyone’s love just tastes a little different.”

Oswald grinned in amusement at that. “Always the cheesy one little brother… How are you feeling? After what happened yesterday?”

“... Physically I feel fine despite some bruising. Though I still feel a bit shaken up. What about you?”

Taking a sip of his own drink, Oswald shrugged. “Same I suppose. I’m just glad the kids were safe from everything that happened.”

Mickey couldn’t agree more. He couldn’t bear to imagine his wonderful nieces and nephews being hurt. He was so thankful the ink trio and the cup brothers made sure they were all safe before rushing to help.

Taking one more drink of his tea, Oswald sighed as he put his mug down and turned towards Mickey. “So… we really need to talk.”

Surprised to hear that, Mickey put his drink aside and watched his older brother.

Taking a deep breath, Oswald looked Mickey in the eyes and spoke. “I’m sorry for what I said. What happened to Ortensia wasn’t your fault. None of this was your fault.”

Eyes going wide, Mickey stayed quiet as Oswald continued. “It was both of our choices to help you fight The Blot. She and I knew the risks. It’s not fair of me to lash out at you because of my grief over her, or how angry I am over everything else that happened… After losing her, and after Dad made you king instead, I guess I just felt, forgotten, and I blamed every bad thing that happened to me on you. You didn’t deserve that though.”

The two of them stayed quiet after that. Mickey takes a moment to process what Oswald said, as he thought back to their past. “Probably didn’t help that Dad unintentionally played favorites, huh?”

Remembering that made Oswald scoff. “True. I know he loved both of us but it was ridiculous how he let you get away with everything. At least Mom made sure we were both spoiled equally.”

Chuckling a little, Mickey then sighed. “You have every right to be upset though. I was pretty reckless and stupid back then. It took me putting the kingdom at risk, and to lose a loved one, for me to actually wake up and grow up. It never should have come to that though…”

Seeing how his little brother was starting to tear up out of guilt, Oswald scooted over and pulled Mickey into a side hug. “We can’t change the past Mick. We can work to make a better future though, and I want a future where we don’t hate each other.”

Mickey attempted to ignore his tears as he hugged his older brother. “I could never hate you. I love you so much Ozzy.”

As he felt a lump form in his throat, Oswald's hug grew tighter. “I love you too.”

The two brothers stayed like that for a while, until they eventually pulled apart and laughed a little when Pluto started licking both of them since they were both teary emotional messes.

Back to enjoying their drinks before they go cold, Mickey glanced up at his brother. “So, um, is it okay if I ask how things are going with Felix?”

Thinking about it for a bit, Oswald responded. “Yeah, you can… He found out about Ortensia himself because he found a painting of us, and I came clean to him when we were buried alive. He was pretty sweet and understanding… Though now I’m just confused.”

“About?”

Oswald shrugged, petting Pluto who now climbed into his lap, wanting attention. “Well, you may have had a point that I was drawn to Felix because he looks like her, but after getting to know him and learning about him, he reminds me less and less of Ortensia. I still want to be around him, but now I’m worried about unintentionally hurting him because of how complicated everything feels. Do I like him more than a friend, or are my feelings just misplaced?”

Dang, that did sound confusing and complicated.

Humming in thought, Mickey spoke when he thought of what to say. “Maybe that’s something you two can figure out together now that Felix knows? I’m sure he’d be happy to help, and be patient so you can think these things through properly.”

Thinking about it, Oswald nodded in agreement. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, I’ll definitely consider it. Thanks.”

Happy to be of help, Mickey raised his mug to his lips in an attempt to hide his playful grin. “Just so you know, I wouldn’t mind having him as an in-law, or having Bendy, Boris, and Alice as step niece and nephews to spoil.”

With the blushy scowl Oswald shot at him, Mickey couldn’t stop himself from giggling.

______________

Wardrobe put together and placed in the castle, Felix praised Bendy for a job well done and warned him to take it easy on the self sacrificing stuff, because they all love him and don’t want him to get hurt, before letting him leave to enjoy the rest of his day. Happy that his grounding was over, Bendy walked with Cuphead through the castle as the two chatted and searched for their siblings.

Reaching the library to find Mugman, they were surprised to see Boris there as well, hanging out with Mugman, as well as laughing.

Doing his best to get his giggles under control, Boris wipes an ink tear out of his eye. “How could you stand being around that guy? He kept spoiling stories for you!”

“Right?! Cuphead actually had to pull me off of that stupid muffin when I’d occasionally snap! I could barely avoid him because he was one of the guys who made and served food for all the knights! He ruined five books for me! FIVE! I’m still bitter over how he just point blank said “ Mugbeard DIES!” ! Like, WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THAT YOU ASS?!”

As Boris wheezed over Mugman’s rage, Bendy smiled seeing his brother happy before turning to his boyfriend. “Dare I ask what that’s about?”

Cuphead chuckled. “A guy who cooked for the knights always spoiled books and Mugman hated it. People were shocked over how feral Mugsy can get when he’s angry… Except me, who has made him that feral a few times.”

Not surprised to hear that last bit, Bendy rolled his eyes and approached the two. “Hey guys. I’m glad to see you two getting along.”

Finally catching his breath after laughing so hard, Boris leaned back in the seat he was sitting in and gestured to Mugman. “Yeah well, I came in here wanting to read, he was already here, we started talking, and now I’m starting to warm up to him. He’s fun to talk to.”

Boris then pointed at Cuphead. “Still don’t like you though.”

“Ouch.”

The ink demon shook his head over that, before pointing at the door. “We were out looking for you two and Alice to see if you wanted to go stargazing with us. Felix is letting us borrow his telescope tonight.”

As their brothers agreed over how that sounded like fun, they put away the books they were reading and made their way to find the ink angel.

After a bit of walking around, they eventually found Alice in the castle's main hallway. The four boys noticed how she was staring at a large collection of different bouquets of flowers and looked very deep in thought as she held a stack of cards in her hands.

Approaching her, Boris looked at the flowers curiously. “What’s all this about? Are you decorating the hallway with flowers?”

Shaking her head no, Alice handed the cards to Boris as she refused to take her eyes off the flowers. Looking down at the cards in his hands, the ink wolf skimmed through some of them, before his ears perked straight up when realization sunk in, then rolled his eyes and handed the cards to Bendy. “Oh my God.”

Now confused, Bendy took the cards and looked over them as well.

They were all cards from admirers from the Disney kingdom, for Alice.

Letting out a laugh purely out of surprise, Bendy then looked up at the flowers as Cuphead and Mugman looked over his shoulders at the cards. “Are all of these flowers for you too?!”

Nodding, Alice felt her face heat up. “I, guess a lot of young men, and women, thought I was a beautiful badass at the opera…”

Handing the cards back to Alice, the ink demon looked at her with a touch of worry. “You are a beautiful badass, but are you okay with all of this?”

Giving a thoughtful hum, Alice pulled a marigold flower from a bouquet and played with it in her hand. “I think so. It’s better than the negative attention we’ve gotten for most of our lives, and it’s quite flattering… It's just, a lot.”

None of them could argue with that considering how many flowers there were before them. It looked like a flower garden had thrown up in the hallway.

Scooping up some of the bouquets into his arms, Boris spoke. “Well if any of these admirers make you feel overwhelmed or won’t leave you alone, just let us know and we’ll have your back. In the meantime, how about we put these to good use and decorate the halls?”

Feeling thankful to hear her brothers and their friends had her back if she needed them, Alice nodded and started collecting the flowers with the others to put around the castle.

She did however, tuck the marigold flower in her hair and kept it there for the rest of the day.

Chapter Text

Weeks that turned into months go by in the blink of an eye. Things have calmed down since Pete’s arrest and was now back to somewhat normal, minus how they needed a new captain of the royal guards. Thankfully Donald’s Uncle Scrooge had mentioned this to a friend of his, and now they have a woman named Ms. Beakley filling in for the time being.

She looked to be as strong as a war hardened warrior, yet was very kind and polite like a grandmother to everyone. She even enjoyed bragging about her granddaughter Webby to anyone willing to listen.

Things were also improving for everyone else. Cuphead and Mugman have been doing a wonderful job at being guards. Ms. Beakley taught them things she's learned throughout her life, and praised them for a job well done. Even if she occasionally had to stop the two of them from goofing off, like by using the nice weapons to obliterate perfectly good fruit.

Felix and Oswald were doing better. Now that Oswald was opening up more and working on his negative emotions in a healthier way, the two became much closer. Even though the two have yet to try forming a deeper relationship, they were both very happy to spend much time together. 

The three ink siblings were also adapting much better to life in a kingdom while living in a castle. Now when they’d go on family trips into the village, they got less dirty looks, and got occasional polite waves ever since they helped save the royal family. No one had approached them yet though due to it being clear by how protective Felix is, and that he didn’t want people bothering his kids and overwhelming them. So everyone kept a respectful distance.

However, after so many trips went well, and feeling more comfortable around people he didn’t know personally, Bendy decided he wanted to do something special for Cuphead, and himself. So he went to Felix and asked for his permission.

Hearing Bendy’s request, Felix paused in sorting through Oswald’s paperwork and looked at the ink demon in surprise. “... Are you sure?”

Nodding, Bendy rubbed his arm nervously, worried the cat man would say no to his request. “I think I can handle it. We’ll stay away from the crowded parts of the village so I don’t get overwhelmed. Please Felix? I want to surprise Cuphead with a date in the village.”

With Felix still looking unsure, clearly worried about letting Bendy go into town without the rest of them there with him and Cuphead, Oswald spoke up from his seat at his desk as he worked on his paperwork. “You guys can pass messages to each other thanks to those little wooden slab things right? If you’re so worried Felix, why not just have Bendy send you a message that he’s okay every hour?”

Remembering that, Bendy pulled out the wooden slab and looked at the inky symbols written on it. After Cuphead ended up not going with the demon hunting knights to a far away battle, he had given the slab back to Bendy since they didn’t need to message each other now that they weren’t going to be apart.

He almost forgot they had this in the first place.

Pulling out the one he had, Felix stared at it as he continued to think about it, before sighing and pointing at Bendy firmly. “If you forget to message me, I will come looking for you to make sure you and Cuphead are okay. Do you understand?”

Gasping happily that Felix didn’t say no, Bendy wrapped his arms tightly around his parent figure. “THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!”

Felix chuckled fondly as he hugged Bendy back and rubbed his head. “You’re welcome. Stay safe and have fun.”

When Bendy let go and rushed off to ask Cuphead on a date into the village, Oswald smiled watching him go, then looked over at Felix, who’s smile turned into a nervous frown now that Bendy was out of sight. Reaching out, the prince took the cat man’s hand. “Hey, you’re doing good by letting him try. This means he’s not letting his trauma hold him back.”

“I know, that doesn’t stop me from worrying about him and the others.”

Oswald smiled and squeezed his hand. “That’s fatherhood for you.”

____________________

To say Cuphead was surprised when Bendy asked him out on a date to a stroll around the calmer parts of the village, was an understatement.

He had asked if Felix was okay with it, then made sure BENDY was okay with this. Not wanting his partner to feel like he was pressured to do this. Bendy though smiled, and assured Cuphead he was sure he’d be okay as long as they didn’t go to a super crowded area and didn’t go crazy with exploring.

So, once Cuphead was done working for the day, The two got ready and left the Disney castle. Bendy was wearing his cloak, and looked tempted to pull his hood up, but stopped himself, took a deep breath, and took hold of Cuphead’s hand instead as they got closer to the village buildings.

He could do this.

After a few minutes walking around, People had spotted the young couple. Some had just glanced at them and then went back to minding their own business, but they eventually got someone who stopped and stared. Cuphead was ready to give a warning glare if this person had a problem, but to the two’s surprise, the person politely smiled and waved.

“Good day gentlemen! Lovely weather we’re having!”

The two glanced at each other, both of them looking a bit stunned by the polite greeting from a stranger, until Bendy sheepishly waved back. “Hi… The weather is very beautiful.”

The person nodded politely in agreement and then walked off. The ink demon smiled and hugged Cuphead’s arm. “Did you see that?! I had small talk with a person I didn’t even know!”

Chuckling, Cuphead patted Bendy’s arm with his free hand. “You’re doing amazing, Bendy.”

As they continue on their way, they get more random greetings and small talk from people they’ve passed by. Even one woman stopped to chat with them when she noticed Bendy staring at her baby she was holding. The ink demon quickly looked away when he realized he was staring, but was shocked when the woman told him her child’s name and let him get a good look as she talked about how old her baby was and what milestones the baby has already reached.

Bendy happily listened, all while he kept his eyes on the baby. Never seeing one so up close and personal.

The little sweetie was beautiful and had the cutest giggle when Cuphead started making faces to get a laugh.

They eventually came to rest at a bench to get off their feet from walking for so long. Bendy sent a note to Felix to let him know they were still okay, then leaned against his boyfriend and sighed happily. “This has been fun so far. I’m glad we’re doing this.”

Happy to see Bendy having a good time, Cuphead pulled out a couple of bread rolls he bought for the two of them and handed Bendy his while he munched on his own. “Me too. Maybe one day when you’re ready we can go to a festival the kingdom throws. I heard they make special waffles for the festivals in the shape of Mickey’s HEAD. I gotta see that for myself… Think if Mickey ate one it would be considered cannibalism?”

Snorting, Bendy covered his mouth as he laughed with his mouth full. Making Cuphead grin proudly over his bad joke.

Catching movement in the corner of his eye, the red cup brother looked over and saw something. At first he didn’t think much of it, but he was then struck with an idea. “Hold on a second Bendy.”

Getting his giggles under control and swallowing what he was eating, Bendy watched curiously as Cuphead stood up and walked a few feet away, before kneeling down and making a weird “ Pst pst pst ” sound. About to ask what he was doing, the ink demon watched as his boyfriend stood back up, then turned around to face him.

With a little squirrel in his hands.

Chuckling at how Bendy’s brows went up in bewilderment, Cuphead sat back down and petted the critter’s fur. “Cute, ain’t he?”

“... If you’re planning on bringing that little guy back to the castle I don’t see that ending well.”

Cuphead rolled his eyes. “Tempting, but I would rather not get fired. You said animals usually avoid you guys right?”

That was true. Bendy remembered telling Cuphead back during their meetings in the woods how animals usually stayed AWAY from them. Their dark magic ink bodies usually gave off a feeling of danger to animal life, causing them to run off, or if it was a big animal trying to protect its babies or territory, cause it to attack.

He remembered how it used to make him and his siblings sad when they were younger. Their Papa and Mama explained to them that animals just do what they think is best to stay safe and how they needed to respect that. Which they did as they grew up.

At least when Alice became old enough to go hunting, it made her extremely skilled at archery. She could fire an arrow at an very far distance.

Snapping out of his train of thought, Bendy looked up at Cuphead curiously. “Yeah, why?”

“You wanna pet him?”

Oh!

Oh, wow.

Bendy looked at the little squirrel, slowly starting to raise his hand, before stopping and clenching his hand anxiously . “I-I don’t want to scare him.”

Seeing how his boyfriend was getting nervous, Cuphead kept himself calm to help Bendy stay at ease. “That’s why I gave him a piece of my bread roll. He’s calm in my hands, and as long as you move slowly, he won’t freak out. Okay?”

Locking eyes with Cuphead, feeling calmer knowing he could trust him, Bendy soon nodded, and did as Cuphead instructed. The little squirrel tensed up when Bendy’s hand made contact with his back, and shuddered when the ink demon started gently petting him, but other than that, the little guy stayed calm and held still.

Cuphead loved watching the pure joy fill Bendy’s eyes as his smile grew.

After a few minutes of this, Cuphead eventually released the squirrel and let the little guy run off into a tree. Bendy for the next few minutes happily watched the squirrel doing his own thing until the young couple decided to move on and continue their date. Though for a good majority of the time Bendy gushed over how soft the squirrel was much to Cuphead’s amusement.

The two spent most of their date walking around, at one point they stopped when they caught sight of someone painting and Bendy sheepishly asking the artist questions. To his delight, he was allowed to paint alongside the artist for a while too so he could show what he was capable of.

Then Cuphead had his chance to show off when they passed by a couple of people playing horseshoes. With great ease he wiped the floor with the other people playing, and took a bow to his boyfriend, who laughed and clapped for him in his victory.

Eventually, Bendy decided to take another big personal step, and asked Cuphead if he was okay with waiting for him outside a sweet shop as he bought treats for the two of them, and to take home to their siblings.

“You sure you want to do that?”

Bendy gave a nod. “Yeah, I think I can handle going into a shop. Just, wait for me right outside, and if I have any problems I’ll yell for you, okay?”

Cuphead felt slightly unsure about this, but with how well Bendy was handling today, maybe going into the sweet shop would be okay. It wasn’t very big anyways, and had a large window so they could clearly see inside. “Well, alright. I won’t be far then.”

Happy to hear that, Bendy gave Cuphead a kiss before the two walked over to the shop, and Bendy went inside on his own while Cuphead waited outside.

Already feeling some anxiety build up in his stomach now that he was away from his boyfriend’s side, the ink demon took a breath to stay calm, looked at the window to see the red cup brother leaning on the outside wall waiting for him. Feeling reassured, Bendy stepped forward and ordered five pastries to go. The baker was very polite and sweet with how she told Bendy he had good taste with ordering a popular choice and got right to work.

As he waited, Bendy stole another glance at Cuphead, then looked up at the bakery menu. Taking mental notes on some of the choices he may want to try later down the line if he came back.

A chill went down his spine.

“Evening young man!”

Turning around, Bendy looked up at the tall man behind him. He had a sweet and jolly look to him, almost rivaling how jolly Santa Claus would be. He was also rather big like Santa, looking perfectly capable of squishing someone in a surprisingly comfortable hug.

Even if his body was a giant glass salt shaker.

Despite all of that, even if he looked as if he could be the nicest person you could ever meet, Bendy could sense this man’s soul. Heck he could sense everyone’s souls if he really focused, but this man’s soul was so strong Bendy could feel it just from him standing next to him.

It made Bendy want to RUN.

Grinning kindly, the man asked. “You’re that demon everyone talks about that helped save the royal family, right?”

Doing his best to keep a calm expression, Bendy nodded. “Yeah, that’s me…”

“Goodness, that’s amazing, the name’s Saltbaker, pleasure to meet you. You know, most stories you hear about demons are usually about them tearing kingdoms apart.”

Oooooh boy. Bendy didn’t like where this was going. “You can’t believe everything you hear.”

Shrugging, Saltbaker continued to hold his smile. “I suppose that’s true, you can never know what to truly believe until you see it for yourself.”

“Sir?”

Flinching from the voice behind him, Bendy turned around and saw the baker holding a bag out to him. “Your order is ready.”

Taking the bag and politely thanking the woman, Bendy glanced one more time at Saltbaker, before hurrying out of the shop and back to Cuphead’s side.

Grunting from how fast Bendy ran into him and wrapped around his arm, Cuphead looked at him in worry and wrapped his other arm around him. “Hey, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Taking deep breaths to keep himself calm now that the urge to run was starting to fade, Bendy held Cuphead’s arm a bit tighter. “Sorry, just, some guy in the shop was freaking me out.”

Looking in the window, the red cup brother scanned the inside before raising an eyebrow. “What guy?”

Confused, Bendy turned towards the window, and realized that Saltbaker man was gone.

Where did he go???

Officially unsettled and uncomfortable, Bendy grabbed the hood of his cloak and pulled it over his head. “Can we go back home now?”

Nodding, Cuphead took hold of the bag of sweets Bendy just bought in his free hand to carry it for him and started walking with his partner. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They walked all the way back in silence. The closer they got, the more calm Bendy felt, and soon he whispered to Cuphead that he was starting to feel better. Although worried, Cuphead told Bendy he was glad he felt better and praised him for doing well in taking such big personal steps.

His praise helped the ink demon feel reassured, but he still couldn’t get his mind off of that strange Saltbaker man, or how dangerous his soul felt. Just who exactly was that guy???

When they reached the front doors of the castle, they found Mugman, Alice, and Boris sitting on the steps waiting for them. Alice had her hand resting on Mugman’s shoulder, Boris seemed to be saying something to Mugman, while Mugman himself looked nervous as he held a paper in his hands.

Concern growing in his chest seeing his brother being comforted by Alice and Boris, Cuphead spoke up to get their attention. “Guys? What’s going on?”

Seeing their two brothers were back, the three got to their feet and approached. Mugman let out an anxious sounding laugh as he handed the paper to Cuphead. 

“I think we’re about to be in a lot of trouble…”

Not liking the sound of that, Cuphead took the paper from Mugman, read what was on it, and sucked in a breath.

It was a letter for him and Mugman, from Elder Kettle.

He learned how the two of them are in the Disney Kingdom. He was coming to see them to make sure they were okay and to understand what happened to make them traitors.

The ruler of their island, and their former commander, were coming with him.

“Uh-oh…”

Chapter Text

“We’re dead. We are absolutely going to die. Why is it that we’re about to die and you’re the only one who got to have his first kiss Cuphead?!”

“That one is all on you Mugsy, don’t be mad at me for beating you at the dating game! Maybe our deaths will be quick and painless though?”

Mickey and Minnie both walked into Mickey’s personal study with Oswald after the prince came to get them, telling them the news about how the commander of the demon hunting knights was coming to see Cuphead and Mugman along with the boys’ former ruler and their elderly caretaker. The two brothers were already there and pacing around nervously as Felix, Bendy, Boris, and Alice watched them silently.

Concerned from what he heard, Mickey tried to speak up and get Cuphead and Mugman’s attention in hopes of helping them be more at ease. “Boys please calm down, we won’t let your former commander hurt you.”

Sitting with his three children on a couch in the room, Felix winced a little. “Ooooh that’s not what they’re worried about.”

Mugman grabbed at his head, fear was clear on his face. “He was furious at us for wrecking the fence when we were supposed to be painting it! What do you think Elder Kettle will do to us for being TRAITORS TO THE DEMON HUNTING KNIGHTS?!”

Cuphead, sweating buckets out of nerves, tugged at the collar of his shirt. “I think he’ll react worse when he finds out about my love life… No offense Bendy.”

Standing up from his seat on the couch, Bendy shrugged as he walked over to Cuphead and took his hand to get him to stop pacing around. Honestly it was making him feel high strung just from watching. “None taken. Frankly, I'm just glad I got Mugman’s approval.”

A bit amused that the boys were panicking over how angry their caretaker would be instead of their former commander, Oswald approached Mugman to get him to stop pacing as well and gave his shoulder a comforting pat. “We get that this feels like a lot for you two, but rest assured, you’re not handling this all by yourself. We’re all here to help you.”

Bendy nodded in agreement with what Oswald said and squeezed Cuphead’s hand, as well as smiled a bit playfully to help his boyfriend and friend feel a bit more at ease. “Not to mention you two got yourselves stuck with my family after everything we’ve all been through. We’ll have your backs.”

He got a small smile out of Cuphead when he said that, but the ink demon could tell it was forced. He also noticed in the corner of his eye how Mugman was frowning at his brother, almost looking irritated, with a touch of disappointment. Though tempted to ask, Bendy decided now wasn’t the best time since there were more important matters at hand.

Crossing his arms, Felix spoke next. “As true as that is, we also need to keep in mind the COMMANDER of the Demon Hunting Knights will be here too. This situation is risky not just for Cuphead and Mugman, but for you, your brother and sister as well Bendy. This man could be extremely dangerous, and I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of him.”

With Felix having a good point, Minnie put her attention on Cuphead and Mugman. “What can you tell us about your former Commander and the leaders of Inkwell?”

The two brothers stared at each other for a moment, looking as if they were holding a silent debate with each other, before Mugman decided he’d explain first. “Well, in Inkwell Isles, each island has a ruler in charge of everything that happens on that specific island, and all of them work together when it comes down to situations that affect all islands. Island 1 is ruled by Hilda Berg, Island 2 is ruled by Baroness Von Bon Bon, Island 3 is ruled by Rumor Honeybottom, Island 4 is ruled by King of Games… and Inkwell Hell is ruled by King Dice.”

Oswald raised an eyebrow at that last part. “I’m sorry, did you say Inkwell Isles has its own HELL?”

Doing a “so-so” hand gesture, Cuphead took over. “Eeeeeeh, sorta. See, a long time ago it was considered part of Island 3 since it was a small piece of land and only a small number of people lived there. Until one day somehow a stairway to hell appeared. King Dice’s bloodline was put in charge of guarding the stairway and to do their best to protect the citizens on that small island, and eventually they were put in charge of ruling the island. Though unfortunately, demons from hell manage to sneak their way up the stairway and cause the Inkwell Isles a lot of problems for centuries. That part of Inwell Isles is called Inkwell Hell because it’s the most dangerous place on the Isles.”

Mugman frowned over the somber memories of home. “Everyone back home had to be careful over everything they did because anything could be a trap. Trading for rare goods, enjoying a performance, buying food, playing GAMES, and so much more would be a trap set up by a demon so a mortal would be tricked into losing their soul and be left as an empty husk. Everyone was terrified to get anything like food or supplies from anywhere except from a vendor named Porkrind since he sold items to help protect everyone.”

Everyone went silent as they all processed that information. 

That was, a lot to take in…

Shocked by everything they learned about where Cuphead and Mugman grew up, Boris looked at Cuphead with a bewildered expression. “And you, decided to date a demon? After growing up in an environment like that???” 

Looking at Bendy, who was staring at him with wide eyes after hearing all of that, Cuphead gave a nod. “Yeah, I did, because those demons in Inkwell are working for the Devil specifically to collect souls. Over the years as part of the Demon Hunting Knights, Mugman and I saw demons doing different things then just stealing souls. Some things were pretty bad, like destroying entire villages or enslaving citizens to live in luxury and power…. Other times, now that I look back at it, some demons didn’t even do anything and were just running for their lives from the Knights.”

Both Cuphead and Mugman clearly felt guilty over admitting this. Mugman wrapped his arms around himself and refused to make eye contact with anyone, while Cuphead held Bendy’s hand a little tighter.

Letting out a breath, the red cup brother continued. “Bendy taught me that everything isn’t black and white. Some demons want to just live their lives. Because of him, I didn’t want to be a knight that blindly attacked every demon on sight. I want to be someone that helps defend anyone who needs help… Someone who deserves a person as amazing as Bendy.”

It occurred to Cuphead that what he said was probably the most emotional thing he’s said in front of a large number of people, with how both Alice and the Queen went “Aaaaaaw!”, as well as Mickey trying his best to hide a grin behind his hand, Oswald whispering to Felix over how cute young love was, and Boris rolling his eyes.

Touched over hearing how Cuphead’s world changed for the better because of him, Bendy couldn’t stop himself from hugging his partner. “You don’t have to earn the right to be with me you knucklehead… For a guy who isn’t into mushy romance stuff you sure say super mushy stuff.”

Chuckling a little from how Cuphead blushed over what Bendy said as he hugged him back, Mugman unfortunately had to cut the cute moment short. “Too bad I don’t think our former commander will agree with your point of view.”

With how Cuphead cringed at the mention of him but didn’t object, the blue mug brother continued. “The commander of the Demon Hunting Knights is an, interesting man. He started off as a humble baker, but when he decided to become a knight, he climbed up the ranks in an incredibly short period of time. You probably wouldn’t even be able to tell he was the leader of the Knights just by looking at him because he’s such a nice guy that brings cookies he baked himself to meetings.”

Remembering the day they met their former Commander, Cuphead frowned as he and Bendy slowly let go from their hug. “Don’t let that fool you guys though. As nice as he is to his Knights and citizens he helps, he’s also very powerful. We watched him take down a demon ten times his size, with a kitchen knife he had made into a holy weapon… and he enjoyed it.”

That, made the room go a bit tense. Bendy looked at his siblings nervously, watching as Alice held onto Boris’ arm and Boris shuddered.

Now with this information, Mickey thought over their options and made a decision. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. Bendy, Boris, and Alice, you three are going to stay with the bunnies at all times while Ms. Beakley guards and protects you. The commander sounds like a bit of a wild card and I don’t want him to try pulling any stunts while he’s here. Felix, I want you with us to meet this man to help keep an eye on him. Oswald, Minnie and I will handle talking things out with the ruler of the boys’ old home as well as the Demon Hunting Knights. That way Cuphead and Mugman can focus on their Elderly Caretaker and explain everything to him.”

Everyone seemed to agree to that, though Bendy, looking worried, had an objection. “But what if they try hurting Cuphead and Mugman for being traitors?”

Walking over, Felix wrapped an arm around the ink demon’s shoulders to give comfort to his kid. “I won’t let that happen. Like you said, they’re stuck with our family now. I plan on protecting them just like how I protect you three.”

Facing the two brothers, Felix gave a smile of reassurance. “I have both of your backs. Don’t worry.”

Both brothers thanked the cat man, and although Bendy still didn’t like the idea of not being there to help protect them too, he trusted and respected Felix enough to know he’d keep his word. With everyone agreeing on Mickey’s plan, they all left to prepare before their, guests, arrive in a few days.

Noticing his boyfriend still seeming worried though as they exited Mickey’s study, Cuphead took hold of his hand and pulled him over to steal a quick kiss on the lips. When they pulled apart, the red cup brother cupped Bendy’s face with his free hand. “Hey, I ain’t too worried about this, okay? You and your siblings will be safe, and my brother and I will be fine.”

Scoffing, Bendy raised a brow at Cuphead. “Says the guy that was panicking over what his caretaker will do to him.”

“That’s different, you’d panic too if you thought Felix would be furious at you over something you did.”

Finding that as fair, Bendy leaned into Cuphead’s touch a little and sighed. “I hope Elder Kettle goes easy on you. I don’t want to be the reason why you and Mugman develop problems with him.”

Cuphead shrugged a little at that. “If he loves us as much as Mugsy and I think he does, then he’ll come around eventually. Like I said, I ain’t too worried about it.”

Stealing one more kiss from each other, the young couple eventually went their separate ways for now with their own siblings. At first, Mugman stayed quiet as he walked beside his brother, at least until they reached a closet in the hall. 

Looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching, Mugman grabbed Cuphead by the handle, and yanked him inside.

Yelping in alarm, Cuphead stumbled and caught himself on the wall of the closet as Mugman let him go and slammed the door shut. “HEY! WHAT GIVES?!”

Glaring, Mugman poked Cuphead in the chest with his finger. “What GIVES, is that you need to tell the truth, NOW!! Our COMMANDER, and ELDER KETTLE are going to be here! Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ll be in when King Mickey finds out you’re cursed through someone other than you?! How upset Bendy will be that you’ve been LYING to him?!”

Scowling, Cuphead smacked his brother’s hand away. “I’m not lying! I’m just not telling him everything right now!”

“THAT, DOESN’T, HELP. Cuphead we’ve been here for MONTHS. We’re lucky nothing has happened to you yet! You NEED to tell everyone!”

…Cuphead hated it, but Mugman had a point.

He was VERY lucky his curse hasn’t caused problems yet, but he knew his luck would eventually run out, and it was doing a number on his nerves. Every other night he was waking up from a nightmare and Mugman would have to help him calm down. Now the only two people who knew about the curse other than Mugman were coming to the Disney Kingdom, and everyone was going to find out sooner or later.

Seeing how uneasy Cuphead was feeling, the blue mug brother sighed as he rubbed his temple. “Look, I’m not saying this because I want to scare you. I don’t want anything to happen to you, and I know for a fact that Bendy doesn’t want anything to happen to you either. As upset as everyone will be, they’ll also be understanding and want to keep you safe.”

“I know… I’ll tell Bendy tomorrow morning.”

Thankful that Cuphead was listening to reason, Mugman pulled his brother into a tight hug. “Good… I love you Cuphead.”

The red cup brother hugged back. “Love you too…”

By the end of the day, when it was time to get ready for bed, when Mugman left to go wash up, Cuphead stood in front of the mirror in their room, shirtless, and staring at his curse mark.

God what was Bendy going to say when he found out about this?

… What was he going to do if the curse finally got to Cuphead?

He already struggled over not trying to think about how Mugman will handle losing him, but Bendy? He and his family have been through enough. Cuphead didn’t want to even humor the thought of how Bendy would handle losing him.

Forcing himself to look away, Cuphead changed into his night clothes and laid down in bed, muttering under his breath. “I ain’t too worried about it, I ain’t too worried about it, I ain’t too worried about it.”

___________________

Safe to say everyone didn’t sleep well from how nervous they were. Cuphead and Mugman looked like they didn’t sleep at all when they arrived for breakfast, Felix was holding a cup of tea he made to help him wake up, and the ink trio would give off an occasional yawn every few minutes.

As they were waiting for Mickey, Minnie, Oswald, and the kids to join them for breakfast, Bendy watched his boyfriend, and noticed how he and Mugman seemed the most tired and tense out of all of them. Which was fair, since this whole situation was about them and wasn’t going to be very pleasant at all. Not only would they have a really dramatic family reunion with their caretaker that’ll be pretty mad at them, but they’ll also be dealing with their commander and former ruler, who are most likely NOT going to be thrilled over the two being traitors.

These next couple of days of waiting are probably going to feel like hell to them.

Getting up from his seat, Bendy walked over to where his boyfriend was and planted a kiss on the side of his head. “How about I ask the chef to make pancakes? I know you two love pancakes, and the chef might be willing to make them if I ask since I don’t steal sweets.”

Huffing a bit at the jab, Cuphead nodded and thanked Bendy before he left to go make the request.

Taking a sip of his cup of orange juice, Boris gave the two brothers a curious look. “So what’s Elder Kettle like? We haven’t heard you two talk about him much until recently.”

Speaking up first, Mugman explained. “Elder Kettle’s a nice guy. He adopted us when we were really little, and raised us the best he could. He’s pretty patient with the antics we got into growing up, but also short tempered when it came to us messing with his favorite things like his garden, or disobeying his most important rules. He taught us everything we know though on how to use our magic bullets and abilities that are unique to us. He always made sure to warn us of any dangers we might come across as well, he wanted us to stay away from it, and did his best to keep us safe.”

A question coming to mind, Felix asked. “Then why did you two join the Knights at such a young age? I understand your home situation might be part of the reason, but you two would have to go into battles and put your life on the line often once your training would have been completed.”

Mugman looked at Cuphead, and gave his brother a deadpanned look seeing how tense he got and started sweating. Clearing his throat, the blue mug brother then nodded his head towards the direction Bendy went, all while keeping eye contact with Cuphead.

Groaning a bit, Cuphead got up from his seat. “It’s better if we wait for Mickey to join us before we discuss that… I also need to talk to Bendy first.”

Though confused, no one objected as the red cup brother left the dining room and went to go find Bendy.

Uuuuugh, Cuphead didn’t look forward to this.

But he REALLY had to talk about this now before things got worse.

Reaching the kitchen, before he pushed the door open, Cuphead paused when he heard Bendy talking, taking notice of how the tone of his voice sounded off.

He sounded, scared?

“-Who the hell are you really? It was one thing to meet you at that sweet shop, but now you’re in the castle kitchen? Where’s the chef?”

“The chef is enjoying a morning off, and I’m just here on business. Cookie?”

The moment Cuphead recognized that voice, panic surged through his very being.

Throwing the kitchen door open, Cuphead quickly pulled Bendy behind him and did his best to keep him out of view as he glared at the man before them.

Pulling out a tray of freshly baked cookies, Saltbaker grinned as he moved the cookies to the cooling rack. “Cuphead! Good to see you’re doing well. I was beginning to worry about you.”

Clenching his fists to stop himself from letting magic build up in his fingers, not wanting to make the situation worse by acting out of impulse, Cuphead did his best to speak calmly as he addressed the man.

“Commander Saltbaker.”

Chapter Text

After calling for the guards, Saltbaker was quickly escorted out of the kitchen and was led away into the throne room to wait for king Mickey’s arrival. Once he was gone, Cuphead then spun around and gently cupped Bendy’s face, looking him over frantically. “Are you okay?! Did he hurt you at all?! Please tell me you didn’t eat anything he made!”

Looking alarmed by everything that just happened, Bendy held Cuphead’s hands in his to remove them from his face and looked at the door where Saltbaker was escorted out of, then back at Cuphead. “I-I’m fine! I didn’t eat anything, but THAT was your former Commander???”

Relieved that Bendy’s okay, Cuphead started to calm down as he nodded. “Yeah, that’s Saltbaker. Sure doesn’t look like a commander does he?”

“That’s not the problem, the problem is that he’s the guy I saw at the sweet shop when we were on our date!”

Cuphead’s heart jumped hearing that.

That, was unsettling news.

If he was here during that day, just how long has Saltbaker been in the Disney Kingdom? Was he watching them the entire time???

“BENDY! CUPHEAD!”

Both of them looked away from each other as their families rushed into the kitchen. As Felix fussed over Bendy and made sure he was okay, Mugman checked on Cuphead. “You two alright? We just saw them take Commander Saltbaker to the throne room!”

“We’re fine Mugsy, he didn’t do anything to either of us. He was just in here baking as if he owned the place.”

Boris shuddered, looking tense and unnerved. “What is up with that guy?! I could feel his soul without even trying to focus on it!”

Never hearing about that before, Mugman glanced at him curiously as he proceeded to throw away the cookies Saltbaker made. “You guys can feel souls?”

Rubbing her arm to get rid of the uneasy chill she felt, Alice nodded. “It’s like a 6th sense for us. Every living thing has a soul though, so we don’t really notice a specific person’s soul unless we focus, like when trying to hear a voice in a crowd of voices… your commander’s soul, was like someone screaming in our faces, and it was terrifying.” 

Not liking the sound of that, Felix kept his kids close to him as they all left the kitchen. “We’re getting you three as FAR away from that man as possible. Let’s go.”

After finding Ms. Beakley and hiding Bendy, Boris, and Alice in one of the bunny kids’ play rooms with the children, Felix gave his kids a hug before leaving with Cuphead and Mugman to deal with the Saltbaker situation.

As they exited the room though, Bendy took hold of Cuphead’s hand to stop him for a moment, and gave him a concerned look. “Please be safe Cuphead.”

Cuphead gave Bendy a quick hug and kiss, for the sake of easing both of their nerves. “You too Bendy.”

________________

“Commander Saltbaker, I hope you have a good explanation for breaking into the castle, or you’ll be looking at some jail time.”

Standing before King Mickey, who was sitting at his throne, and looked VERY unhappy over the commander’s unexpected arrival as well as intrusion, Saltbaker grinned as he bowed politely. “My deepest apologies, your majesty. See, when I was told two of my knights in training had committed treason to save the life of a demon, and then was discovered to be living in the Disney Castle with said demon, I had to make sure the demon itself wasn’t doing anything to harm the boys, as well as the royal family. This isn’t the first time I had to sneak into a castle to rescue a kingdom from a demon’s control or manipulation.”

Frowning, Mickey exchanged a look with his wife sitting beside him, then his brother standing by Felix, Cuphead, and Mugman. Neither of them seemed to like this. Felix meanwhile looked irritated hearing him talk about Bendy in such a way, but kept himself calm and quiet, as well as keeping his guard up.

The boys though? They kept themselves stiff and still, as if on the job for guard duty, but the king could tell how on edge they were.

Who could blame them? Saltbaker has already left one hell of an impression on Mickey when he was acting polite, albeit in a bit of a manipulative way. He didn’t want to find out what the commander would do to his former knights in training for betraying the Demon Hunting Knights.

Putting his attention back on Saltbaker, Mickey spoke. “What you did was still crossing a line. From what I’ve been told, you’ve been in this kingdom for who knows how long without our knowledge and stalking Bendy, Cuphead, and Mugman. The Disney Kingdom is also a Demon Hunting Knight free area. Any demon here is under our protection like any other citizen.”

“I understand your majesty, I promise I took no other actions other than watching from a distance, I was just worried. I wanted to make sure your kindness wasn’t being abused, and that Cuphead and Mugman were safe. I’ve known them since they were little children. Now that I know the demon hasn’t harmed them, and everything is currently well, I will be sure to leave the kingdom peacefully and wait outside the border for the arrival of their caretaker and King Dice.”

That caught Mugman’s attention. “Wait, but King Dice wasn’t our ruler. Why isn’t Hilda Berg coming?”

Expecting that question, Saltbaker explained. “Due to this being a demon matter, King Dice insisted he’d come along for this in Hilda’s place. Rest assured though, Until the arrival of the others, I won’t step another foot into the castle without permission.”

Thinking about it, the king let out a quiet sigh and spoke. “Very well, but if I learn that you went against your word, I won’t hesitate to have you arrested on the spot, no matter what your reasoning is. Guards, please make sure Saltbaker makes it to the kingdom border.”

Doing as they were told, a few guards escorted Saltbaker out, but not before the commander locked eyes with Cuphead and Mugman, and smiled at them. Despite how warm and comforting it seemed to be, it sure didn’t feel that way to the two brothers. If anything it felt ominous.

With Saltbaker gone, everyone released a breath and relaxed slightly.

Oswald spoke. “Sheesh, that guy really is a wild card. I’m impressed and worried about how he managed to sneak in here.”

Nodding in agreement with her brother-in-law, Minnie spoke. “We’ll have to double security until all of this is over and behind us. I don’t trust that man.”

As the royal family started making plans to increase security around the castle, Felix put his attention on Cuphead and Mugman. “Are you two okay?”

Trying to get himself to calm down a little so he’d stop feeling so tense, Mugman spoke. “Yeah, fine. I’m just glad things didn’t escalate.”

Cuphead, meanwhile, glared in the direction where Saltbaker left. “I’m not. I can’t believe I was so stupid. He’s been watching us this whole time, and Bendy! He could have done something at any time and I wouldn’t have noticed until it was too late to stop it!”

Resting his hand on Cuphead’s shoulder, Felix gave him a firm look. “Hey, that’s not your fault. We all thought the Disney Kingdom was safe from the Demon Hunting Knights. None of us expected them to sneak in here, let alone your commander. It was his mistake though in letting us know he was here. Now we can prepare in case he does something sneaky again or plays dirty.”

Huffing a bit, Cuphead muttered he was going to get some fresh air and left the throne room. Wanting to clear his head. He was thankful that the other let him leave without argument, and that Mugman gave him his space.

As he walked around the castle grounds a few times, Cuphead’s head boiled from all of the negative emotions he felt.

He used to look up to Saltbaker. He thought he was the most amazing knight in the world when he was younger, all because he defended him from any demons or followers of the Devil coming for him thanks to the curse. He was brave, strong, and clever, fighting so many opponents single handedly and outsmarting them.

As he got older though, Cuphead and Mugman started noticing some things.

He remembers the look on some rulers' faces when they had to ask the Demon Hunting Knights for help, how they looked uneasy. The knights were supposed to be there to help, not to make people nervous around them.

He also recalls how disturbing it was, that Saltbaker actually enjoyed defeating demons, as if he was a predator animal that enjoys playing with its prey, and if he didn’t kill the demons when defeating them, he looked way too excited to take them away. Never to be seen again.

Cuphead and Mugman tried asking a higher up once what Saltbaker does to demons he takes away, and all they got as an answer was “Making them wish they were back in hell.”

Neither of them wanted to ask for further details, or wanted to be near Saltbaker again. Even if they thought all demons were evil, it still disturbed them with how much their commander seemed to get a kick out of hurting them.

Cuphead swears if that son of a bitch comes near Bendy again-

“Cup?”

Stopping in his tracks, Cuphead turned around and saw his boyfriend walking up to him. “Bendy! What are you doing here? I thought Felix would want you and the others inside all day.”

Smiling a bit sheepishly, Bendy rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh he does… Which is why Boris and Alice are covering for me so I could sneak out here.”

Unable to help himself, Cuphead snorted out a chuckle. “Careful, Felix might start thinking I’m a bad influence on you.”

“Oh please, you wish. This isn’t the first time I snuck out behind his back and you’re certainly not the reason why I started.”

That got the red cup brother to smirk playfully. “Oooooh, I’m dating a bad boy.”

Rolling his eyes, Bendy held up something wrapped up in paper. “Yeah yeah, do you want the sandwich I made for you or not? I figured you were hungry since breakfast was ruined for us, and you’ve been stomping around for hours.”

Oh damn, has he really?

The growl his stomach gave confirmed that, yes, he’s been out here for as long as Bendy said. Blushing, Cuphead took the paper wrapped sandwich. “Thanks.”

Chuckling, the ink demon asked. “You want to come back inside?”

Shaking his head no, Cuphead started unwrapping the sandwich. “I’m still trying to clear my head. Today’s been a lot already, and I want to be mentally prepared for when we REALLY have to deal with Saltbaker, as well as King Dice, and Elder Kettle.”

About to respond to that, Bendy didn’t get the chance when both boys jolted from hearing a LOUD angry voice inside the castle.

“BENDY THE DEMON WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Cursing under his breath since Felix’s angry tone meant he was busted, Bendy gave a quick kiss to Cuphead and RAN back towards the castle. 

“I’MHEREIFYOUWANNATALKABOUTITSEEYOULATER!!!”

Snorting as he watched Bendy run as fast as he could, Cuphead took a bite out of the sandwich he made for him and hummed happily at the taste.

It was sweet that his partner knew how to make a sandwich the way he liked it.

THUD

With how a cooking knife flew past his face and embedded itself against a nearby tree, it took Cuphead a moment to stop coughing from almost swallowing wrong, catch his breath, and notice the note attached to the knife.

Sweet shop, midnight. We need to talk. Alone.

Eyes wide, Cuphead looked around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, then quickly took the knife and tucked it away.

 Looking down at the rest of the sandwich in his hand, Cuphead sighed and wrapped it back up to save for later.

He lost his appetite…

___________________________

Midnight came.

Cuphead had kept himself busy for the remainder of the day, hoping Mugman wouldn’t ask him if he'd told Bendy yet about the curse, or ask him if something was wrong with how tense he felt and probably looked. The only time they were in the same room together was when they were supposed to be in bed (though they started with different rooms, turns out the two of them didn't sleep well at all when alone so now they're back to sharing a room), and Cuphead had already laid down and acted like he was sleeping.

Thankfully Mugman bought it, and a few hours later Cuphead snuck out and went to the closed sweet shop in the village where Bendy and Saltbaker met. There, he anxiously waited.

Not long after, he heard a familiar voice.

“Glad you could make it Cuphead!”

Looking over towards the sound of the voice and seeing Saltbaker walking up to him, Cuphead practically glared daggers at him as he held up the cooking knife that was thrown at him earlier that day. “You said you wouldn’t come back until Elder Kettle and King Dice arrived. Give me one good reason not to go straight to King Mickey to have you arrested.”

Looking hurt, Saltbaker rested his hand on his chest. “Cuphead, after everything, you’re really turning your back on me like this?”

“Answer the question Saltbaker!”

Sighing, the commander took back his knife and did as Cuphead said. “Well for starters, I said I wouldn’t step foot in the castle. I never said I wouldn’t wander around the kingdom to kill time. Plus the ingredients they sell around here are quite lovely, they do wonders for my baking.”

Dropping the hurt look, a stern expression was now on Saltbaker’s face as he examined his blade. “Also, I wanted to talk to you personally to understand WHY you betrayed me, and dragged your brother down with you.”

Seeing that coming, Cuphead swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and waited for Saltbaker to continue.

“It really is extraordinary, how someone can just foolishly give up everything, all while already doomed from a curse I have worked tirelessly to break, because they fell in love with some evil creature from hell. That thing has you wrapped around its finger.”

Gritting his teeth, Cuphead felt magic building up in his hands. “DON’T TALK ABOUT BENDY LIKE THAT.”

He could feel himself boiling from how Saltbaker referred to Bendy as a creature, and an IT. He continued to give Saltbaker a piece of his mind. “Bendy is the nicest person I have ever met who has selflessly saved my life and has never done anything wrong! The Demon Hunting Knights are in the wrong for how they blindly attack every demon in sight! He and his family are just trying to live peacefully! So you can just stay the hell away from him!!”

Keeping a calm blank facial expression, the commander raised an eyebrow at Cuphead as he put his knife away. “If that’s the case, then how does HE plan to live a peaceful life, when dealing with the constant threat of your curse?”

When Cuphead clearly hesitated to respond, Saltbaker grinned smugly. “You and Mugman haven’t said anything about the curse, have you?”

“... I WAS, until you showed up unannounced baking cookies in someone else’s house like a weirdo.”

Tsking at Cuphead, Saltbaker shook his head. “Cuphead Cuphead Cuphead. Do you have any idea how foolish you’re being with this curse, treating it like some silly little problem? Do you really think King Mickey will be willing to keep you here if he learns about this?”

The red cup brother scoffed. “You kidding? Mickey’s the nicest royalty I ever met. He’s not about to kick me out!”

“He’s still KING, and kings have an entire kingdom to protect. If I recall, you were sent away from home due to this curse before it could cause problems for innocent people that the royals of Inkwell had to address. You believe King Mickey will put everyone at risk against the devil himself just for you?”

That, made Cuphead pause.

Would everyone in the kingdom really be at risk because of him? “No, Elder Kettle sent me away to keep me safe. The Devil’s just after me, he wouldn’t care-”

Saltbaker cut him off. “Exactly, he wouldn’t CARE. Anyone who stands in the Devil’s way or tries to stop him from getting you, will be wiped, out. Would King Mickey risk his people like that? If he does, do YOU want to be why every single person here is doomed to Hell? Do you want your “partner” to end up in Hell, where he honestly belongs? This is what happens when you keep charging into situations without thinking. This is why Elder Kettle begged me to take you in and have you trained. To protect you, and everyone in the Inkwell Isles, because the Demon Hunting Knights are actually capable of doing so.”

Watching as the magic glow from Cuphead’s hands started to fade, Saltbaker took his chance, and got closer to Cuphead, before carefully taking hold of Cuphead’s upper arms and looking him in the eyes. “I can still help you Cuphead. Come back to the Knights. We can protect you and everyone else from this curse until we can find a way to break it… But you need to fix your mistake before you do.”

Confused, Cuphead wondered what mistake Saltbaker was referring to.

Then it hit him.

Swatting his hands off, Cuphead stepped back and GLARED. “I am NOT letting you take Bendy away! You're delusional for even thinking I'd consider that!”

“He’s a DEMON Cuphead. Despite this romance throwing off your better judgment, the Demon Hunting Knights have a duty to uphold.”

“HE’S A PERSON AND I WON’T LET YOU NEAR HIM!”

Shaking his head, Saltbaker gave Cuphead one last disappointed look as he turned around and started walking away. “Very well, but my offer is still open for now, so you have some time to come to your senses. I just hope you know what you’re doing, and are willing to pay the price.”

Watching as Saltbaker disappeared into the night, Cuphead continued to glare in his direction, feeling the liquid in his head boil over everything Saltbaker said. How he had the NERVE to try talking Cuphead into stabbing Bendy in the back by turning him over to the Demon Hunting Knights.

He would never do that!

He’d rather go to hell!!

…And that’s exactly where he was going to end up going, wasn’t it?

Feeling his anger simmer down, Cuphead finally started to really think about everything.

How stupid and selfish was he? He was putting the entire Disney Kingdom at risk because of this stupid curse! It wasn't just going to doom him! Innocent people were probably going to get hurt because of this curse! All because he was a stupid brat who refused to listen to Elder Kettle’s warnings!

His stupid immature choices, that affected more than just him.

Because of him, Elder Kettle was all alone, constantly worrying about him and Mugman. 

Because of him, Mugman dropped everything for his sake.

Because of him, Bendy was at risk.

They didn’t deserve any of this bullshit.

Leaning on the sweet shop wall, the red cup brother slowly slid down against it until he was sitting, then wrapped his arms around his legs. Trying to keep his crying from stress and fear silent.

He stayed like that for a while. He wasn’t sure how long. Long enough for the chill of the night to sink into his body, but he was still unwilling to get up and move as he shivered.

He didn’t want to get his loved ones hurt.

But they were going to hurt no matter what at this point.

… It was better if they at least got to live their lives though.

Making a decision, Cuphead eventually released his legs, got to his feet, wiped the tears from his face, and walked back to the castle.

He was going to fix this and do what was right for everyone else.

Just not the way Saltbaker wants him to.

Chapter Text

Okay, so Cuphead may be more stressed out then he was letting on.

He wasn’t there during breakfast. Mugman said he stayed in bed, probably from the anxiety of waiting upsetting his stomach. So Bendy later tried swinging by Cuphead and Mugman’s room to check up on him with a banana for him to eat if he was up to it, only for the room to be empty.

At first worried something happened, Bendy looked around until he spotted Cuphead through the castle windows. He was currently in the training grounds, shooting his magic bullets at the archery targets. Though with bad aim, which was a bit out of character since both Cuphead and Mugman have probably the best aim Bendy’s ever seen.

It was clear Cuphead’s bad aim was bugging him too. Even from the window Bendy could see his partner getting angry and yelling at himself. Probably yelling swears.

Making his way to the training grounds, as Bendy approached the red cup brother, his suspicions were confirmed.

“FUCK! FUCKING DAMN IT!”

Grimacing a little at the angry curse words, Bendy quietly watched as Cuphead angrily continued to shoot at the target, but his aim continued to worsen. Letting this continue a bit longer, the ink demon finally spoke up. “You know you’re making your aim worse the angrier you get right?”

Jumping and letting out a startled yelp, Cuphead whirled around and took a fighting stance, only to relax when seeing who it was. “Shit Bendy, don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“I didn’t, I just walked over like I normally do. You just didn’t notice me until now… Are you okay?”

Sighing tiredly, Cuphead rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

Stepping closer, Bendy carefully removed Cuphead’s hand from his face and got a good look at him. He then held his hand and led him away. “Those bags under your eyes say otherwise. When was the last time you had a solid night's sleep?”

As they walked back into the castle, Cuphead took some time thinking about his answer, which was already a concerning sign. “Uuuuuuh… two days ago?”

When Bendy stopped walking and gave him a deadpan expression over hearing how long he’s gone without sleep, Cuphead frowned, feeling annoyed. “Hey, it’s not like I’m the only one who goes long without sleep. Didn't you and your siblings pull a few all-nighters to help Oswald with the bunnies because they got spooked by a scary story Max read to them?”

Scoffing at the accusation, Bendy started counting off his fingers. “One, my siblings and I don’t NEED sleep like you guys do. We can get tired, and sleep helps us rest, but going without sleep won’t kill us. Two, we took shifts sitting up in the bunny kids bedroom to make sure they stayed in bed and felt safe, we didn’t go DAYS without sleeping at all. Three, we didn’t stay up all night because we were stressing the hell out.”

Continuing to drag cranky Cuphead until they reached the library, the ink demon made his boyfriend sit down on a couch, then sat next to him, showing on his face how concerned he felt for him. “Is this about your former Commander, King Dice, and Elder Kettle arriving later?”

“No, I ain’t to worried about-”

Officially irritated over hearing that same statement over and over again, Bendy took the banana he brought for Cuphead and poked the end of it against his face, as if wielding a weapon. “I dare you to finish that sentence when it’s clearly a lie. I have a banana and I’m not afraid to use it Cuphead.”

Unable to stop himself, Cuphead let out a loud snort and started giggling. “Oh dear god, a banana. How terrifying. Whatever shall I do?”

“How about you eat it and stop lying to me and yourself?”

Getting over his giggle fit after a while, Cuphead eventually caved in, took the banana, and practically inhaled it with how fast he ate, clearly hungry from skipping breakfast. When he was done, he dumped the peel in a nearby waist basket, and leaned back on the couch as he let out a satisfied sigh now that he had something in his stomach.

When he looked over at Bendy, who was still watching him and waiting for a response, the red cup brother huffed and then spoke. “Okay okay… So I might be a LITTLE worried…”

Bendy rolled his eyes slightly over Cuphead finally admitting the obvious, but held back the urge to make a snarky comment and kept quiet to let his boyfriend continue.

“It’s just, the last few days have been making me think of stuff I’ve always been trying to avoid thinking about. A lot of stupid choices I’ve made, and how they affect everyone I care about… I don’t want that to keep happening. I want to fix my own mistakes so everyone isn’t dragged down with me.”

Seeing how upset Cuphead felt over admitting this, Bendy held Cuphead’s hand in his. “Hey, you’re not dragging us down with you, but it is noble of you that you want to do better because you care. Just remember, we’re all here for you. You don’t have to fix your mistakes all on your own.”

Cuphead didn’t respond. He just silently stared down at his hand in Bendy’s. As he rubbed his thumb against the back of the ink Demon’s hand, Cuphead felt Bendy’s hand tense slightly from the gesture, but soon relaxed over how gentle he was being.

Concern starting to grow with how Cuphead stayed quiet, Bendy quickly checked the time before speaking up. “Tell you what, we still have a few hours before everyone gets here. Why don’t you take the chance to get some sleep?”

About to say he wasn’t sure if he could relax enough to try sleeping now, Cuphead didn’t get the chance when Bendy wrapped his arms around him and pulled both of them down on the couch. He blinked a few times over how he now found himself lying on top of Bendy and was using his chest as a pillow. “... You’re not going to let me say no to sleeping are you?”

“You know me so well Cup.”

Scoffing slightly, Cuphead decided to accept his fate for the time being and let Bendy do what made him happy. He did however get an uncomfortable chill over having his ear pressed against Bendy’s chest. “Why do I hear weird whispers along with your heartbeat???”

Ah, right, that might be a problem.

Trying to think of a solution to drown out the whispers, Bendy explained. “It’s the ink Alice, Boris, and I are made of. We’re all magically connected through it, and we can hear it whispering to us. We grew up hearing these whispers so we got used to just mentally blocking it, which makes it quieter to us. Sorry if it’s bothering you.”

Dang, Cuphead keeps learning about new and wild things about his boyfriend. “It’s fine. I can try to ignore it.”

Knowing very well that was easier said than done, Bendy got an idea. He wasn’t a fan of the idea, but he was willing to do it if it helped Cuphead relax.

Taking a deep breath, Bendy began.

“Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby

Back to the years of loo-li lai-lay

And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow

Bless you with love for the road that you go”

Cuphead tilted his head up and watched Bendy in surprise. Until now, he’s never heard Bendy sing before. Normally it was Alice who’d be humming and singing under her breath.

Bendy’s singing voice was beautiful.

“May you sail fair to the far fields of fortune

With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet

And may you need never to banish misfortune

May you find kindness in all that you meet”

With how Bendy’s face began to blush from how Cuphead was staring at him, Cuphead decided to look away to avoid making Bendy uncomfortable. Closing his eyes, the red cup brother continued to listen to the song. Barely noticing the whispers anymore.

“May there always be angels to watch over you

To guide you each step of the way

To guard you and keep you safe from all harm

Loo-li, loo-li, lai-lay”

A soft snore interrupted Bendy’s singing. Stopping, the ink demon carefully checked and found that the song had worked like he hoped. Cuphead was fast asleep.

He wasn’t a fan of singing. It reminded him too much of everything Joey had made him and his siblings for, and it was far too easy for him to do thanks to how his powers made him unnaturally skilled at it.

He did however, like how his Mama used to sing to him and his siblings to help them relax when they were upset. So he was happy to do the same for Cuphead.

Smiling a little, Bendy closed his eyes and relaxed as his partner got some much needed rest.

_____________________

It was finally time.

After Cuphead got some shut-eye that he very much needed, he and Bendy were informed that Saltbaker was on his way back with Elder Kettle and King Dice. So now it was time to get ready.

Giving each other one more hug and kiss, though Bendy noticing how Cuphead’s hug was a bit tighter than usual, the ink demon wished his partner and his friend good luck before he and his siblings left to go hide with the bunny kids while Beakley watched over them.

With the ink siblings out of sight, Mugman glanced at his brother, worried over how tired he looked. “You doing okay Cuphead?”

“I’m fine. Just nervous. Bendy helped me relax before everyone showed up.”

That response didn’t help Mugman feel reassured, but he let it drop as he asked. “Did you finally talk to Bendy about what you NEEDED to talk to him about?”

When Cuphead hesitated, Mugman was about ready to give him verbal HELL, until his brother finally spoke. “I’ve got everything taken care of. Don’t worry Mugsy.”

The blue mug brother couldn’t help BUT worry just from that vague answer alone.

Though with how they were out of time, the two brothers didn’t have a chance to talk this out anymore as they entered the throne room and waited with the royal family and Felix. As Mickey and Minnie quietly talked among themselves while sitting on their thrones, Felix and Oswald stood by the two brothers.

Noticing how tense both Cuphead and Mugman looked, Felix did his best to comfort them. “Hey, things will be okay. It may not feel like it right now, but they will be okay.”

Cuphead and Mugman appreciated the cat man’s attempt to help, though his efforts were slightly in vain when outside the throne room, everyone could hear a ruckus going on. All eyes turned towards the doors when on the other side they could hear Goofy, who was supposed to be with the guards escorting the guests through the castle.

“Sir! Sir! Easy now- slow down-!”

“OUT OF MY WAY!!!”

Recognizing that voice, neither Cuphead or Mugman were surprised when the throne room doors flew open, or when Goofy came in flying with a classic “Ya-ha-ha-ha-hoey!” and crashed to the floor. Stepping into the throne room, completely ignoring poor Goofy, and frantically looking around until he spotted the two brothers, Elder Kettle gasped at the sight of them before running right for them.

“MY BOYS!!!!”

Stepping forward so Felix and Oswald wouldn’t end up facing the wrath of Elder Kettle for being in the way like Goofy, Cuphead and Mugman both grunted when their caretaker slammed into them with great force and hugged them with an impressive amount of strength.

Worried something would crack soon at this rate, Cuphead managed to pat Elder Kettle’s back. “We, missed, you, too, Elder, Kettle.”

Releasing them from his hug, which got Cuphead and Mugman to sigh in relief, Elder Kettle cupped both their faces as he got a good look at them with teary eyes. “Look at you! You both got so big!”

Chuckling a little, Mugman smiled. “Well it has been a few years-”

WHACK!

WHACK!

Crying out in pain, both the brothers covered their throbbing heads after getting hit by Elder Kettle’s walking cane. 

Glaring at them, their caretaker shook his cane angrily at the two. “WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU TWO BEEN UP TO?! WHAT’S THIS NONSENSE I’VE BEEN HEARING ABOUT YOU BOTH BEING TRAITORS?! I’M ONE FOOT INTO THE GRAVE FROM STRESS BECAUSE OF YOU BOYS!!”

Rubbing the spot that was clearly going to bruise later, Cuphead glared back. “There’s this amazing new thing called Anger Management you know!!”

“I’LL SHOW YOU ANGER MANAGEMENT!”

Hearing someone clear his throat, Elder Kettle paused and looked over at King Mickey, who along with his wife, brother, and their friend Felix, were all watching him and the brothers fight. Somewhat embarrassed that the royal family witnessed his little outburst, Elder Kettle composed himself and bowed respectfully. “My apologies. Thank you for letting me come to your beautiful kingdom, your majesty.”

Somewhat thrown off by the, unique, family reunion between Cuphead, Mugman, and their caretaker, Mickey spoke. “Apology accepted. Welcome to the Disney Kingdom Mr. Kettle. I, take it that you rushed ahead of the others?”

A new voice spoke from the throne room doorway. “That he did.”

Looking towards the source of the voice, everyone watched as Saltbaker entered the throne room and helped Goofy off the ground, while King Dice walked past them and bowed. “King Mickey and Queen Minnie. It’s an honor to meet you. I am King Dice, one of the Rulers of Inkwell, and here on behalf of the, Cuphead and Mugman situation.”

Standing up straight, King Dice glanced at Cuphead and Mugman. Seeming to study them. “I take it these are the two traitors?”

Well this was off to a charming start.

Minnie frowned at King Dice. “Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Those two are indeed Cuphead and Mugman, but we’re having this discussion in the first place to figure out this whole traitor subject.”

“With all due respect, what we’re doing is just figuring out the purely obvious and delaying the inevitable.”

Already not liking this King Dice guy, Oswald spoke up. “That’s rather bold of you to state when you barely understand the situation.”

Not bothered by Oswald’s statement, Dice shrugged. “What’s there to understand? They stabbed the Knights in the back by freeing a demon. Not only is that treason against them, but it’s practically treason to all life on earth. For generations it is my bloodline’s job to protect Inkwell from the dangers of hell to the best of our abilities. Which means I simply cannot tolerate any citizens from Inkwell working with and/or assisting a demon without consequences.” 

Much to everyone’s surprise, Saltbaker spoke up against Dice. “Yet we must keep in mind that this land is not Inkwell, and these actions were taken when the boys were under the care of my Demon Hunting Knights outside the Inkwell Isles. If anyone is to determine if these boys were in the wrong and in need of punishment, it should be by the Knights that took them in and trained them in the first place. I rather it not come to that though, so we should let the boys explain and defend themselves before we all decide to take actions.”

Though not happy about it, King Dice decided to keep quiet to allow others to speak. Saltbaker then looked at Cuphead and Mugman and smiled kindly. Cuphead in return narrowed his eyes at him.

That manipulative asshole wanted things done his way. He wasn’t at all fooling Cuphead.

Too bad for the commander, he wasn’t going to get things his way.

With calm and order maintained, Queen Minnie addressed the boys. “ Well then, now that that’s settled, Cuphead, Mugman, would you care to explain your side of the story?”

Stepping forward, Cuphead nodded. “I’ll explain everything. All of this started because of me.”

Ignoring how Mugman and Felix were looking at him in confusion over what he was doing, Cuphead began to speak.

“This all started when Mugman and I were trying to find a demon to prove our worth to the Knights due to how they tended to look down at us. I found Bendy myself, and tried to attack him, but the fight ended up getting the attention of a manticore that attacked and nearly killed me. Bendy saved my life, and taught me that not all demons want to hurt people, they just want to live their lives peacefully. The world isn’t black and white like the Demon Hunting Knights think it is. The world is full of different shades and colors.”

He shot a glare at Saltbaker, who watched him with a neutral expression. “Not all demons are evil, just like how not all mortals are good people. After that I wanted to understand Bendy, so we started to meet up in the woods to talk and ask each other questions. We started to get along, and started to trust each other. Soon we became friends… And I fell in love with him.”

That, got some interesting reactions due to that being the first time he admitted out loud that he truly loves Bendy. Mugman’s eyebrows shot up, along with Felix’s tail. Minnie covered her mouth, while Mickey and Oswald did their best to keep a professional expression. Dice and Saltbaker both looked appalled, while Elder Kettle’s jaw dropped. “YOU WHAT?!”

Not surprised, but still cringing a bit from the verbal response, Cuphead continued. “I kept this a secret from Mugman, which is why he tried to attack Bendy when he found me with him because he thought I was in danger. I’m the one who talked him into helping me save Bendy and betray the Knights. None of this was his idea. We fled with Bendy’s family to avoid capture, and we ended up here. We lived comfortably for a while, and enjoyed our new jobs as guards until now…”

Glancing at Mugman, who along with Felix was giving him a confused and worried look over what he was doing, Cuphead offered a small apologetic expression, took a deep breath, and faced Saltbaker and King Dice.

“All of this was my doing and my fault. I regret nothing. So under the condition that you leave Bendy, his family, and my brother alone, I’ll willingly turn myself in and face the consequences of my actions.”

Elder Kettle, Felix, his brother, and the royal family were all flabbergasted by what Cuphead just did, even Saltbaker looked stunned. Clearly the commander didn't expect Cuphead to take this route after their little late-night talk.

King Dice though, smirked. “Oh really? You do realize the Demon Hunting Knights, as well as I and the rulers of Inkwell, have zero acceptance for what you’re claiming? This could mean a lifetime of imprisonment, if you’re LUCKY. What will most likely happen though is that you pay for your actions with your life.”

Watching at Cuphead clenched his fists, trying his best to stop his hands from trembling from what Dice said, Mickey decided to stop this before the conversation got worse and stood up from his throne. “That’s enough! King Dice I will not tolerate you attempting to scare someone, especially someone so young, with the threat of death as a punishment!”

Looking at Felix, Mickey spoke. “Felix, take Cuphead, Mugman, and Elder Kettle to go talk about this in private while we discuss this further with King Dice and Saltbaker.”

Doing as Mickey said, Felix quickly escorted the boys and their caretaker out of the throne room, leaving the royal family, King Dice, and Saltbaker to talk in private. The small group walked in tense silence until Felix opened the doors to a small meeting room and let everyone walk in.

Once the cat man closed the door behind him though, Mugman didn’t hesitate and shoved Cuphead angrily. “WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!”

Barely catching himself from falling over, Cuphead glared at Mugman and shoved him back. “I was TRYING to do the right thing and take the blame off of you!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!”

“You expect me to thank you?! CUPHEAD YOUR LIFE IS ON THE LINE NOW!!”

With how this was clearly about to get very physical, Felix and Elder Kettle quickly got between the two boys as their caretaker yelled at both of them. “ENOUGH! Both of you sit down, be quiet, and stop fighting! You’d think you two would grow out of that by now!”

Listening to their caretaker, the two boys sat down in two chairs in the meeting room. Both of them continued to still look angry at each other though. Now with some peace and quiet, Elder Kettle took off his glasses and pinched the bridge between his nose- or, spout.

“Okay, so, there’s a lot to unpack here. Now let me get this straight. You two betrayed the Demon Hunting Knights, who were PROTECTING YOU, because Cuphead got himself a boyfriend, that’s a DEMON? Am I understanding that correctly?”

When both brothers nodded, Elder Kettle let out a heavy and tired breath as he put his glasses back on and mumbled a prayer for strength to deal with his kids. Though keeping quiet for now over Elder Kettle’s reaction towards Bendy and Cuphead’s relationship, Felix focused on the red cup brother, feeling very concerned. “Cuphead where in the world is all of this coming from? You know Mickey is willing to fight to keep you safe in the Disney Kingdom so you’re not punished for saving Bendy’s life. Does Bendy even know you were going to do this?”

Shaking his head no, Cuphead didn’t make eye contact with anyone in the room. “He would have tried to talk me out of it.”

Mugman angrily interrupted. “FOR, GOOD, REASON! None of us want you to die for this Cuphead! Especially Bendy!”

“This was my choice to make Mugman!!”

Gently poking Cuphead’s chest with his walking cane, Elder Kettle gave him a firm look. “Whenever you’re left to make choices on your own, you pull insane stunts like this! Turning yourself in, dating a DEMON, and not to mention getting yourself CURSED!”

As Cuphead cringed and Mugman facepalmed, Felix looked at Elder Kettle in alarm. “Cursed? What’s this about a curse??”

Finally putting his attention of Felix, Elder Kettle raised an eyebrow at him. “Forgive me if this comes off as rude but how is this a concern to you sir?”

“My name is Felix, Bendy’s one of my kids, and I’ve been raising your kids for the last few months! What do you mean that Cuphead’s CURSED???”

With Elder Kettle’s eyebrows going up in surprise, before he could say anything, Cuphead seemed to have enough as he swatted away Elder Kettle’s cane, stood up and looked at all of them angrily. “YEAH, CURSED, AND YOU KNOW WHAT? I’M TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND DEAL WITH IT MYSELF SO I DON’T DRAG ANYONE DOWN WITH ME ANYMORE! SO EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!”

Storming out of the room, Cuphead ignored everyone calling out his name and slammed the door shut behind him before rushing through the castle.

He needed to clear his head. Everything felt like too much right now with everyone YELLING at him.

Trying to find someplace where he could just, think, without being bothered, the red cup brother eventually found himself traveling through a familiar hallway, and stopping at a room door.

Carefully opening it, Cuphead peaked his head into the empty suite room they all stayed in the first night they came to the Disney Kingdom. Glancing into the bathroom, Cuphead was somewhat amused that the bathtub was still stained black from Bendy having the soak in buckets of ink to get the magic sedative out of his system. Those poor maids probably scrubbed that tub for days before they were forced to give up.

Deciding this was a good spot. Cuphead sat down on one of the beds and tried to calm himself down.

He knew everyone wouldn’t react well, but he was firm on his choice. Cuphead was owning up to his mistakes, and he was going to face them no matter what happened so the others won’t have to.

Even if it meant that he might-...

Gulping nervously, Cuphead shuddered and rubbed at his neck. Not wanting to finish thinking that thought.

He just wanted to keep his curse from hurting everyone…

He stayed sitting there for a while. Long enough where he’s sure the others were probably looking for him by now.

Mugman probably already tattled on him to Bendy too. So he might as well face the music.

Letting out a sigh, Cuphead got to his feet and started making his way to the door.

He was caught by surprise though when the door opened, and King Dice stepped in with a grin. Closing the door behind him, Dice spoke. “Cuphead, there you are! How about you and I have a quick chat?”

Chapter Text

Staring at the door of the playroom, Bendy petted the bunny kid that was sitting on his lap as he sat at a table in the room that was thankfully big enough for adults. Alice was currently brushing some of the kids' furs, while Boris let the kids play tug-of-war with him as he firmly held a rope in his teeth and refused to budge as a small army tried to pull on the other end.

As cute and amusing as that was, Bendy couldn’t really enjoy playtime right now with how worried he was.

He hoped Cuphead and Mugman were okay.

“Young man, if you keep bouncing your knee like that then the poor little one might bite his tongue as he attempts to bite the biscuit.”

Looking up at Ms. Beakley as she approached with two cups of tea, the ink demon then looked down and realized he was, in fact, bouncing his knee that the bunny kid was sitting on. The poor kid was trying so hard to eat the chocolate biscuit Beakley brought that he had taken from the table but was struggling to do so from everything shaking.

Feeling his face heat up, Bendy stopped and offered an apology to the bunny, who could care less since he was finally able to shove the sweet treat into his mouth and hop off of Bendy’s lap to go back to playing. Amused by that, Beakley sat down with Bendy at the table and gave him the tea she prepared. “Worried?”

Bendy sighed as he held the warm drink in his hands. “That obvious?”

“Terribly so. Especially to a grandmother.”

As he took a sip of his drink, the ink demon perked up at that bit of information and smiled. “Oh! You have grandkids?”

Smiling, Beakley nodded as she grabbed a biscuit. “Just the one. Her name is Webbigail. My pride and joy. Scrooge is currently watching over her today. I’ll bring her one of these days to meet you and your siblings. Now, care to share your troubles?” 

As he grabbed a biscuit of his own, Bendy looked over the sweet treat as he thought it over. “... I know Felix will have Cuphead and Mugman’s backs, and the royal family will do whatever they can to keep them safe, but that doesn’t stop me from being scared for them. Not only does King Dice sound worrisome, but I don’t trust Saltbaker by a LONG SHOT, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try something shady to get what he wants.”

“You seem very certain of that despite only meeting this man in person twice.”

Stopping himself from taking a bite of his sweet treat, Bendy carefully put it back down, losing his appetite due to old memories coming to mind. “He reminds me too much of someone BAD I used to know. Even then, that someone’s soul didn’t scare me as much as Saltbaker’s.”

Understanding that, Beakley took a sip of her tea before speaking. “You have every right to be mistrustful, especially if everything within you is telling you to be cautious about a certain individual. Keep in mind though, that as worried as you are for your partner and friend, they’d be equally, if not more so scared for you and your siblings if this Saltbaker character comes near you. You’re not alone with how you feel, but you’re also not alone in this situation. If Saltbaker tries anything, we will all do what we can to make sure he doesn’t succeed.”

The ink demon blinked at her, processing what she said, then smiled a little at her comforting words and reassurance. “You’re right. Thank you Ms. Beakley. You’re a good voice of reason.”

“Thank you. When working for a man like Scrooge Mcduck, being the voice of reason tends to be a requirement for the job.”

That got Bendy to chuckle.

The two continued to chat as they watched the young bunnies play. Bendy learned more about Beakley’s granddaughter while Bendy himself talked about some shenanigans he and his siblings did as they grew up. It was a pleasant distraction.

Hearing the playroom door open, Bendy looked over curiously. No one was supposed to get them until Saltbaker and King Dice left.

When he saw who came in, the worry Bendy was feeling started to grow. 

Mugman, who scanned the room before letting out a frustrated breath when he couldn’t find what he was searching for, locked eyes with Bendy. The expression on his face made it clear something was wrong.

Getting up from his seat, Bendy hurried over to his friend and looked around the hallway behind him, not seeing his boyfriend. “What happened? Where’s Cuphead?”

Hesitating, Mugman rubbed his arm nervously, until he eventually let his shoulders drop a little and spoke.

“Bendy, Cuphead and I need to come clean about something…”

_______________________

After Cuphead had stormed off and the three couldn’t find him, Mugman had claimed he was going to go get Bendy while Felix and Elder Kettle went to inform Mickey of what just happened. Safe to say when Felix whispered the complicated news to Mickey, it made the king’s stress level go up somewhat and raised his chances of getting some extra gray hairs.

Rubbing his forehead, Mickey turned to King Dice and Saltbaker. “Please excuse us. We have a minor situation that needs our attention.”

Tsking, King Dice didn't look impressed. “This seems quite unprofessional.”

Saltbaker spoke. “Does it have something to do with the demon? I'm willing to offer assistance if-”

Starting to lose his patience with the two guests thanks to them being very persistent with doing things their way, as well as clearly trying to subtly manipulate the royal family during the entire conversation, which didn't work, Mickey gave the commander a firm look. “That will not be necessary. You two will stay here, while we handle this.”

After leaving the two guests with the royal guards to keep an eye on them, the group split up to search for Cuphead. The royal family looked together at one end of the castle, while Elder Kettle and Felix checked the other end.

Opening the door to an empty room, Felix frowned when he didn’t spot Cuphead and closed it to move on. On the other side of the hall he could hear Elder Kettle grumbling as he checked an empty room.

“I can’t believe he’d pull a stunt like this. I beg Saltbaker to take in Cuphead to save his soul and what does that boy do? Fall in love with a damned demon! Of all the-”

Officially getting fed up, the cat man turned and glared at Elder Kettle. “While I agree Cuphead tends to act rashly, could you please refrain from speaking about Bendy in such a way? I understand the demon situation in the Inkwell Isles is bad, but this is the Disney Kingdom, and my kids have absolutely nothing to do with the Devil!”

Caught somewhat by surprise by Felix snapping at him, though looking irritated, Elder Kettle respectfully stopped his grumbling in order to avoid angering the cat so they could continue looking. They both carried on in tense silence, until curiosity finally got the best of Elder Kettle. “So, Felix, how did you end up parenting what sounds to be more than one demon?”

Seeing that coming, Felix wasn’t in the mood to explain himself, but he knew that if he didn’t then Elder Kettle would just bother Cuphead and Mugman about it, which the boys didn't really need right now. He might as well spare those two since they’re already dealing with enough.

“I was trying to find a magic sword that I heard rumors about that could stop any deadly powerful creature. Back in the day I was an adventurer collecting treasure, magic artifacts and weapons that could help people. Eventually I found the sword, in the back of a demon that I thought was dead. When I pulled it out, Bendy gasped for air, because the sword had trapped him, his brother, and sister in a 30 year death-like slumber… They were ten years old when I found them.”

As he took a moment to process that, Elder Kettle scrunched up his face in confusion. “What in the world did three ten year olds do to deserve that?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. What did Cuphead do to deserve being cursed as a child?”

About to yell over how Cuphead didn’t do anything to deserve being cursed, Elder Kettle stopped when he realized the point Felix was making. “... Touché… What’s your opinion on the boys' relationship?”

That did get Felix to pause a little and consider the question. He never really voiced his opinion on it before. “... At first, I wasn't thrilled. Due to everything the kids have been through, I was worried Cuphead was going to hurt Bendy somehow. Some time passed though, and I got to know your boys. They're good kids, and I'm proud of how hard they work, even if they're prone to getting into trouble. It makes me happy that Cuphead and Bendy are happy together.”

Humming a little, Elder Kettle thought back to everything Cuphead said. “... I never heard him say he was in love with someone before. This Bendy must be one hell of a guy for Cuphead to say that and do all of this.”

Satisfied that they came to an understanding, Felix was about to keep searching with Elder Kettle, until something stopped them in their tracks.

“CUPHEAD’S WHAT AND HE TRIED TO DO WHAT?!”

Hearing a door slam open, it didn’t take long for Bendy to stomp into sight. His ink was dripping everywhere, and he looked ANGRY.

Right behind him, Mugman rushed over and stood in front of Bendy in an attempt to get him to stop. “You can’t just run out here! Saltbaker is still-!”

“I DON’T CARE! WHERE’S CUPHEAD?!”

Stealing a glance at Elder Kettle, who looked ready to have a heart attack from how alarmed he was from his first impression with Bendy, Felix quickly stepped in and took control of the situation. “Bendy you need to STOP. This news about the curse isn’t new to just you, we were all surprised. Now take some deep breaths, and settle down so we can all think clearly together.”

Despite how he growled in agitation, Bendy did as Felix said and started to take deep breaths to calm down. By the time he was done, and his ink stopped dripping, Boris and Alice had caught up with him while Beakley stayed behind to watch over the bunnies.

The ink wolf and ink angel both glanced at the new person with them, easily figured out that he was most likely Elder Kettle, and awkwardly waved at him. Elder Kettle, in response, kept his hand firmly over his chest as he stared. Especially at Bendy.

THAT, was the demon Cuphead fell in love with?

Wiping some of the ink on his face, Bendy looked around, still seeing no sign of Cuphead. “Why did he run off? I want a full explanation about this from HIM.”

Mugman rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. “Elder Kettle and I kept yelling and overwhelmed him. I just don’t understand why he feels like he's dragging us down and turning himself in is the right thing to do! Now he’s off hiding from us.”

As he took a moment to think, wondering where his crazy partner could have run off to, Bendy’s brow went up when he got an idea, and closed his eyes. “I’m going to need everyone to be quiet.”

When everyone did as he said, Mugman and Elder Kettle watched in surprise when Bendy’s chest started giving off a soft yellow glow. Seeing how their surprise was replaced with confusion, Felix quietly whispered. 

“He’s trying to find Cuphead by looking for his soul. It’s not easy since it’s like trying to find a person in a crowd so just give him a minute.”

Sensing every soul within the castle, Bendy felt an uncomfortable chill and did his best to ignore Saltbaker’s soul that was all the way in the throne room. He carefully examined each one he’d notice and move on when he determined it wasn’t Cuphead. He hoped he found him quickly though, he was pushing his powers to the limit by sensing every soul in the castle at once.

Big heart full of fatherly love and a good sense of humor? Goofy.

A powerful angry spirit used to fuel his protective instincts? Donald.

A soul so strong and so full of love for everyone around him? Mickey.

After a few more minutes of this, Bendy was starting to worry Cuphead actually left the castle, until he sensed a soul that caught his attention.

Determined, caring, yet has a need for thrill and mischief. That was definitely Cuphead.

What really caught Bendy’s attention though, was how it felt like something wasn’t natural about the soul. It felt as though, something was stuck to it, or wrapped around it. Like a shackle.

Was that the curse?

Frowning, Bendy spoke up. “I think I found him. He’s in the suite we all stayed in when we got here.”

Everyone sighed in relief. They were all about to go get Cuphead when Bendy, with his eyes still closed, spoke again.

“Wait… He’s not alone.”

________________________

Firmly standing his ground, Cuphead glared at King Dice, who was now blocking the only way out of the room unless Cuphead was willing to jump out of a window. Which at this rate was starting to look like a good option. “Why aren’t you with King Mickey?”

“We all heard how you ran off. Everyone is worried about you.”

The red cup brother raised an eyebrow up at him suspiciously. “Really? You, the guy threatening me with imprisonment and death, were worried about me?”

Finding that statement as fair, Dice shrugged slightly. “You doubt is understandable. Look, Cuphead, I think we got off on the wrong foot here. Despite how harsh I seemed, my best interest is the fate of Inkwell. I don’t want you to have to face such strict punishment. Especially when on the way here, your caretaker told me how you and your brother used to admire me growing up.”

It was true. When they were little, Cuphead and Mugman thought King Dice was the coolest out of all the royals since it was his job to protect the Inkwell Isles against the threats of hell. He was beloved by all of the people living there, he was practically a celebrity.

Shaking his head to snap out of his train of thought, Cuphead crossed his arms and gave Dice an unimpressed look. “Yeah well you know what they say, don’t meet your heroes. Especially when, again, they threaten you with imprisonment and death!”

Dice didn't look bothered by that comment as he pulled out a deck of cards. He began to shuffle them in his hands as he spoke. “What would you say if I knew a way for you to avoid being punished for your little stunt all together?”

Well that sounded too good to be true, and it probably was, but it certainly got Cuphead curious. “I’d say your nuts and ask how?”

Chuckling, Dice stopped shuffling, picked out a card from his deck, and showed it to Cuphead. His eyes flashing green as his grin grew malicious. “Simple. I just need you to hold still.”

At first confused, when he got a good look at that card, it was enough for Cuphead to be filled with pure dread. 

Instead of a typical playing card like the red cup brother was expecting, in the middle of it, was a small summoning circle for Hell.

FUCK!

Acting fast, Cuphead held up his hand and started shooting, forcing King Dice to duck out of the way. When Cuphead attempted to make a B-line for the door, Dice took his other playing cards that started to glow from magic and began to throw them, forcing the red cup brother back when the cards he barely avoided bit at his skin with their razor sharp edges.

Ducking behind one of the beds, Cuphead hissed a little as his arms and legs were bleeding from cuts, as well as his face considering he felt his cheek stinging and blood dripping down to his chin.

“You’re making this harder than it has to be Cuphead!”

Cards flew over Cuphead’s head and embedded themselves into the wall in front of him, forcing Cuphead to duck lower to avoid getting hit. “And you’re making yourself the biggest fucking hypocrite you traitor!!!”

As Cuphead focused on his magic in his hands to change, he listened as Dice laughed. “Oh please! When I carry out the curse for the boss and deliver that demon you've been smooching to him, not only will I be the biggest star in Inkwell AND Hell, I’ll be one step closer to being the one and only ruler in the entire Inkwell-”

Not letting Dice finish his bad guy monologue, Cuphead fired a magic bullet at the wall. Though this wasn’t the usual bullet. Instead of just going straight, the magic bullet made a U-turn mid air, and went straight for Dice.

Hearing a crash and a grunt, Cuphead took that as his cue to go with his escape plan B and went straight for the window.

“OH NO YOU DON’T!!”

A sharp hot pain struck Cuphead in the leg, making him cry out and collapse as he barely reached the window. Clenching his teeth and grabbing at his leg, he saw how a glowing playing card was stabbed into the side of it. When its glow intensified, Cuphead cried out again when the pain got worse. 

DAMN IT!

With a shadow blanketing over him, Cuphead’s attention was pulled away from his leg and put on Dice as he fearfully watched him approach with eyes filled with tears of pain.

His fancy clothes were damaged and his nose bloody from how he just barely avoided the worst of Cuphead’s attack. Boy did he NOT look happy about it. “Nice try you little SHIT.”

Grabbing Cuphead by his shirt, Dice yanked him up and painfully slammed him HARD against the wall. The red cup brother’s skin cracked and the wind got knocked out of him from the amount of force Dice used.

Dice held up the card with the summoning circle, his toxic eyes practically pierced into Cuphead’s soul. “I’m fulfilling this curse, one way, or another!”

The summoning circle began to glow, dark shadowy smoke flowed from the card, and a bone chilling laugh that Cuphead would hear in his nightmares echoed through the air. Heart pounding, Cuphead tried to take aim at Dice with his glowing finger, but his hand was grabbed by the shadowy smoke and pinned against the wall. When the same thing happened to his other hand and legs, Cuphead began to struggle like mad as King Dice let go and backed off. He didn't care about the pain in his leg, his fear for his life was currently much stronger. 

“NO! STOP! LET ME GO!!”

This wasn’t supposed to happen! Not like this! Not here!

The shadowy smoke then formed into a hand, and Cuphead watched in horror as the hand rested on his chest.

He couldn’t stop himself from screaming when it went into his chest, and pulled out his soul.

His screams got caught in his throat as he watched. He felt like the air was pulled right out of his lungs. Everything began to blur and fade.

He then heard a crash, and a roar that could make the earth itself tremble.

A blur of black charged in, there was another crash, and King Dice screamed in pain. The shadowy smoke let Cuphead go and let him fall limp on the ground.

He was quickly and carefully picked up, and he heard whining from above him.

Something pressed against his chest, and Cuphead gasped as his soul settled back into his body. It took his mind a few moments to catch up and process what was going on, but when he was able to focus again, his eyes went wide in shock when he realized who was holding him.

“Bendy?!”

In his beast form, Bendy whined. Though unable to speak, it was clear how upset he was over finding Cuphead hurt, as well as having his soul almost completely out of his body.

Cuphead wanted to reassure him he was okay, but he didn’t get the chance when more magic powered cards were being thrown at them. The ink demon let out a pained yelp when he got hit, then shoved Cuphead’s head against his chest to shield him as he hissed and snarled at the feeling of razor sharp magic powered cards being thrown into his back by Dice, who recovered from Bendy swatting at him and making him crash into a nearby table.

Beyond angry now, Dice held more cards in his hands, ready to throw them. “WHY YOU PATHETIC LITTLE IMP! I’M GONNA-!”

“FREEZE!!”

Stopping dead in his tracks, King Dice’s eyes went wide when he realized it wasn’t just the three of them in the room.

Standing at the room doorway, Mugman had his glowing hand pointed right at Dice, Felix had his hand inside his Magic Bag while looking ready to attack, Boris and Alice were dripping with ink while they had their claws out, King Mickey and Prince Oswald both wielded swords, Queen Minnie held a shield, and Elder Kettle held up his cane to attack.

Dice was now out numbered, and outmatched.

Gritting his teeth, he dropped his cards, and held up his hands in surrender.

His boss wasn’t going to like this. At all.

As Dice was placed under arrest, Felix quickly hurried over Bendy with Boris and Alice by his side. The two siblings quickly started pulling cards out of Bendy’s back as Felix looked over the curled up ink demon. “It’s okay Bendy, we’re here. Where’s Cuphead?”

“I’m in here…”

When Cuphead spoke from the space between the wall and Bendy, the ink demon instinctively curled up more and whined.

The deja vu Felix was getting from this moment broke his heart.

Petting Bendy’s head, the cat man spoke softly. “Ssshhhhh. You did a good job protecting Cuphead Bendy, but we need to make sure he’s okay as well. I promise you, Cuphead is safe now.”

From his place in Bendy’s protective hold, Cuphead watched as Bendy’s large jaw clenched and he felt the large hands holding him tremble. Eventually though, Bendy’s form started to change, until he was back to how he normally looks and slowly pulled away from Cuphead.

Guilt sank into his stomach like a rock, seeing inky tears running down Bendy’s face, and inky blood oozed from the cuts on his body he got from protecting Cuphead. As he opened his mouth to speak, the red cup brother was cut off when Boris quickly shoved a waste basket in Bendy’s face, and Bendy proceeded to get sick into it while Alice took a blanket from one of the beds and wrapped it around Bendy, due to his clothes getting destroyed from his transformation.

Rushing over to Cuphead’s side with Elder Kettle, Mugman watched his friend vomit ink with big worried eyes. “Is he okay?!”

Alice nodded as she rubbed Bendy’s quickly healing back while Felix took a handkerchief and wiped Bendy’s mouth when he was done with the waste basket. “When we push our powers too hard our ink tries to corrupt our souls. We have to expel it before that happens.”

Shooting a glare at Cuphead, Boris growled. “He wouldn’t have had to push his powers if SOMEONE didn’t run off like an idiot and worry all of us.”

Boris’ words felt like a punch to the gut to Cuphead.

Frowning at the ink wolf, Felix spoke. “That’s enough. Right now Cuphead needs medical attention and Bendy needs to recover.”

Though clearly not happy, Boris let the subject drop as he easily scooped up his brother in his arms, and did his best not to glare at Cuphead as Mugman and Elder Kettle helped him up and supported him so he’d stay off his injured leg.

Cuphead, leaning on his brother and caretaker, stole a glance at his boyfriend, noticing how Bendy was looking at him as well. When they made eye contact, Bendy quickly wiped at his tear-filled eyes with the blanket wrapped around him, and looked away.

That hurt, but Cuphead knew he may have deserved that…

As everyone left the room, King Dice being taken away by guards, the group was about to make their way to the castle infirmary. Until they all paused when they saw who was standing outside the doorway.

Looking over the ink stains around the door and floor, Saltbaker looked amazed as he pulled his eyes away from the mess, and put his attention on the three ink siblings. “I can’t believe it… It’s really true, Bendy’s the ink demon.”

Tightening his hold on his now tense brother, Boris snarled at the commander while Alice held up her hands to wield her razor-sharp nails if she had to fight. As Felix stood between Saltbaker and his kids, Oswald stood by his side to assist in shielding them. “You shouldn’t be here, Saltbaker!”

“Terribly sorry, but when Dice slipped away, I got concerned, which seems my concerns were valid seeing how my former knight in training had been attacked. Are you alright Cuphead?”

Cuphead refused to answer, he just glared at him. Elder Kettle, though, had something to say as he gave Saltbaker a dirty look. “Very convenient that you show up AFTER Dice attacked him. I trusted you to keep Cuphead safe from this curse! Is this how you protected him all these years?!”

Reaching into his pocket, Mugman pulled out the summoning card Dice had tried to use, or at least what was left of it. It was now stained in ink and shredded into pieces thanks to Bendy. “I also find it strange, that such a skilled commander such as yourself, never noticed King Dice was apparently one of the Devil’s followers.”

A somewhat annoyed look crossed Saltbaker’s face before he covered it up with a sad expression. “I am regretful that I didn’t act sooner. I had a feeling King Dice was up to something, but with him and his family being such noble heroes of the Inkwell Isles, I never would have thought he’d stoop so low.”

He then focused on Bendy, Boris, and Alice, who all watched him tensely. “That being said, my focus was also on a threat much bigger than Dice is. The Ink Demon is said to be one of the most powerful demons in all of existence, capable of drowning the world in ink if he so pleases. King Mickey, I must insist, for the safety of your kingdom and all lives on the surface, I need to take the Ink Demon and his minions into custody right away.”

After everything that day, how a simple discussion turned into a mess, Mickey had officially had enough. Not only was a peaceful talk with Saltbaker and Dice no longer an option, but he and his family had to rush to save Cuphead’s LIFE from King Dice after Bendy ran past them in the halls yelling that Cuphead was in danger. 

“And I insist you get out of my kingdom, NOW!”

Moments away from Felix reaching into his magic bag and Oswald raising his sword again, the two stopped and watched Mickey in stunned silence. Saltbaker’s eyebrows shot up, equally surprised over actually being yelled at by the king. “Your majesty-”

Mickey angrily cut him off. “NO, I’ve had enough of you and the Demon Hunting Knights! This whole time I’ve been watching you be manipulative to everyone and bend the rules in your favor! This is why the Disney Kingdom will never have anything to do with you and your army! I don’t care if Bendy’s the Ink Demon, or if Cuphead and Mugman betrayed you! I have welcomed them into my land, where they will continue to stay, and be safe! You will not come anywhere near them or my kingdom EVER AGAIN!!”

The hallway fell into a tense silence. Everyone practically held their breath as they waited for Saltbaker’s response.

Getting over his shock, Saltbaker’s friendly demeanor practically vanished. Within a blink of an eye, the kind and jolly looking man, turned into a cold and sinister warrior that glared at all of them with intimidating yellow eyes.

“Be warned. The minute any of them step foot outside your kingdom without you or your royal family, they will be HUNTED, DOWN.”

With that final threat, Saltbaker walked away, being escorted out of the kingdom by the royal guards.

Sighing tiredly, Mickey gave his wife a smile of appreciation when she took hold of his arm and gave it a comforting squeeze. He then turned to the rest of the group.

“Come on. Let's go get cleaned up and get this sorted out.”

Chapter Text

“What do you MEAN King Dice is gone?!”

Cringing over Prince Oswald yelling, the guard who was unfortunately the bearer of bad news continued. “We went to check on him in his cell, and he was missing. All that’s there is a scorch mark on the ground. We’re searching the entire castle and kingdom as we speak, your majesty.”

As he was applying glue to the cracks on Cuphead while Elder Kettle handled the cuts, since neither of them trusted the Mad Doctor to do it thanks to the unsettling excited look in his eyes, Mugman spoke up from his seat next to Cuphead’s cot. “You’re not going to find him. He’s probably not in the Disney Kingdom anymore.”

Sitting with Bendy, who was sitting on a cot with his siblings, still wearing a blanket, and had his feet soaking in a bucket of ink while sipping on some juice, Felix looked at Mugman curiously. “You think he got away that quickly?”

Shaking his head no, Mugman explained. “When a person who is a follower of the Devil fails, the Devil’s Henchman is sent to the surface to drag them down to hell so they can be punished. We’ve seen this happen before. Dice is probably WISHING he was still in that jail cell.”

Even with that, unnerving, bit of information, Mickey would rather be safe than sorry, so he put his attention on the guard. “I still want a search for him just to be safe. I don’t want to be surprised by him attempting another attack.”

With a quick bow, the guard left to do as Mickey said. Now that he was gone, the king faced Cuphead, who was looking at him nervously as Elder Kettle finished bandaging his wounds. “In the meantime, I think all of us here are owed an explanation.”

All eyes then turned to the family of three. Seeing how Mugman awkwardly squirmed and Cuphead tensed, Elder Kettle decided to have a little mercy on his boys. “I can tell them if you prefer.”

The blue mug brother sighed. “No, we put this off too much. We should tell them.”

Standing up from his seat next to Cuphead, Mugman started talking. “When we were younger, we fell for one of the Devil’s traps. There was a festival full of games that, if someone lost, their soul would get stolen out of their body and sucked down to hell. After we played there for a while, I started noticing something off about that place, and when I realized a lot of the guests were becoming soulless husks after playing the games, I tried to warn Cuphead… but I was too late.”

Stealing a glance towards the ink siblings, Cuphead saw how Alice had her hands over her mouth with an alarmed expression, Boris was still glaring at him, and Bendy….His expression was blank, impossible to read. Though his eyes looking right at him made Cuphead’s stomach twist into knots.

He had to stop beating around the bush, so Cuphead took over for Mugman. “I got caught up on a winning streak, I didn’t want to stop. Eventually I lost, and if it wasn’t for Mugman, my soul would be in hell right now. He grabbed my soul as it was getting pulled into hell and tried getting it back in my body as fast as he could, but the Devil wasn’t going to let me go that easily… He cursed my soul before it was put back in my body. A curse that would let the Devil know where I am, so he could have me hunted down for the rest of my life, and guaranteed that my soul will go to hell when I eventually draw my last breath.”

“... That’s, why you were part of the Demon Hunting Knights?”

Everyone turned to look at Bendy who continued. “Before Saltbaker left, you guys said he was supposed to protect Cuphead from the curse. THAT’S why you were part of them?”

Elder Kettle sighed. “It was drastic, but I was desperate to save Cuphead’s soul when demons and followers of the Devil kept arriving at our house to attack Cuphead. I begged Saltbaker to take Cuphead in, train him, protect him, make him a knight, and do what he could to break the curse. Mugman then begged to go with him. He didn’t want to be apart from him, and he wanted to help protect him.”

Grip tightening on his drink cup, Bendy’s ink started to drip. “So not only did you become traitors saving me, but Cuphead basically gave up his LIFE for me?”

Eyes going wide over how Bendy was clearly getting upset from that conclusion, Cuphead attempted to move to get closer until Elder Kettle stopped him so he wouldn’t pull his stitches. “Wait, Bendy no, it’s not like that-”

Crushing the drink in his hands, Bendy bolted to his feet, not caring that he spilled the bucket of ink all over the floor. With a blink, the ink demon’s eyes changed from the usual black, to terrifying yellow as he glared at Cuphead.

“HOW?! HOW IS IT NOT LIKE THAT?! I FIND OUT YOU’RE CURSED AFTER WE’VE BEEN TOGETHER FOR MONTHS BECAUSE YOU ALMOST DIED!! ”

When Elder Kettle tensed and held his arm out in front of Cuphead protectively, Cuphead quickly pushed his arm away and refused to look away from Bendy despite how his eyes made chills go down his spine. “I didn’t mean for things to get to this point! Mugman dropped everything for me when I got cursed, because of my stupid mistakes I practically ruined his life, and Elder Kettle has been all alone for years! You’ve already been through enough Bendy, I didn’t want to drag you down with me! I tried to turn myself in, so I’d be the only one to deal with my curse!”

Both Mugman and Elder Kettle looked surprised at what Cuphead said, neither of them knowing that’s how Cuphead felt over everything.

Bendy though, just looked angrier as ink tears welled up in his eyes. “YOU DON’T GET TO MAKE THAT CHOICE FOR ME OR ANYONE ELSE!! I TOLD YOU BEFORE YOU’RE NOT DRAGGING US DOWN WITH YOU! IF WE WANTED TO BE BY YOUR SIDE THAT’S OUR CHOICE BECAUSE WE CARE ABOUT YOU, YOU IDIOT!! HOW DARE YOU TRY MAKING THAT CHOICE FOR ME! HOW DARE YOU ALMOST MAKE ME LOSE YOU!!”

After yelling his heart out, Bendy was left standing there panting and glaring at Cuphead, who stared back with eyes full of hurt, and guilt over making Bendy come to tears.

He wasn’t the only one staring either. 

Mugman, Elder Kettle, and the royal family were staring at him in alarm at his powerful outburst, while Felix and his siblings gave him a worried sympathetic look.

Alice attempted to reach out to comfort him, but Bendy smacked her hand away and marched out of the infirmary. Leaving everyone without a word.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Boris stood up with Alice. “We’ll go keep an eye on him as he calms down.”

When all the ink siblings left the room, Mickey put his attention back on the red cup brother. Though he hated adding onto this situation, things needed to be addressed. “Cuphead, your heart was in the right place, but by keeping this information to yourself, you put yourself and the rest of us in a situation that could have been prevented if we had known about it and prepared against it.”

Expecting this, Cuphead lowered his head, bracing himself for what he thought would come next“... I understand if you want me to leave the kingdom after all of this your majesty…”

Stepping forward, Queen Minnie pointed her finger at Cuphead like an unhappy mother scolding her child. “Over my dead body are you leaving now young man! You heard Saltbaker! Not only will he make sure you’ll be hunted down by the Knights the minute you step foot outside the kingdom by yourself, but you also now have no protection against that curse of yours!”

Mickey nodded in agreement with his wife. “From this point forward I want to make sure you have at least one person with you at all times until we can set up protection against anything that might come for you, and I want you to take it easy until those cracks and stitches heal.”

That threw Cuphead, Mugman, and Elder Kettle off guard. None of them thought the king and queen would respond in such a way after everything that happened that day. Cuphead especially looked dumbfounded as he blinked up at Minnie and Mickey. “I-but, you have your actual citizens to worry about! I’ve only been here for a few months!”

Oswald crossed his arms and gave Cuphead a firm look. “And in those few months you’ve helped protect our kingdom and us. You’re a citizen just like everyone else who lives here, and you're our friend. We’re not about to abandon you after everything you and your brother have done for us.”

Extremely touched by their kindness and generosity, moving to stand before the royal family, Elder Kettle carefully got to his knees and bowed low in respect. “Thank you! Thank you so much for helping my boy. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

Offering his hand to the elderly man, Mickey helped him stand back up on his feet and offered a kind smile. “There’s no need to repay us. Honestly, I feel like we may owe you now, since it may not be safe for you to travel back to Inkwell after, everything…”

Humming a little, Elder Kettle toyed with his mustache in thought. “I suppose that’s true. After what happened today, not only have I lost complete trust of the Demon Hunting Knights, but I also don't want to be apart from my family anymore. If here is the safest place for my boys to live, then I'm willing to stay here.”

Standing up himself, Felix spoke. “I suggest we wait to figure out Elder Kettle’s living situation. Today has been long, the kids have been through a lot today, and we need to focus on finding ways to keep Cuphead safe. I can start doing research right away on different methods to protect Cuphead from harm.”

As Oswald offered to help Felix with that, Mickey focused on Elder Kettle again. “You can stay here in the castle until things calm down and we can figure out where you can live. Until then, spend time with your boys and get some rest.”

With everyone leaving the infirmary to give the family of three some privacy, Cuphead called out. “Wait, Felix.”

Stopping in his tracks, Felix turned to curiously look at the red cup brother, who looked back at him, guilt still clear on his face. “I’m sorry…”

Sighing, the cat man walked back over to Cuphead and gently patted the rim of his head. “I know. We all make mistakes though when it comes to trying to do the right thing for those we care about. I'm not mad, but I'm not happy about this either. Just take it easy for now, okay?”

When Cuphead nodded, Felix smiled softly at him and followed the royal family out. Leaving Cuphead alone with Mugman and Elder Kettle.

“...You guys can go ahead and yell at me again. Not like I can leave this time with my leg messed up.”

Despite how tempting Mugman found that, he honestly couldn't bring himself to do that at the moment. Instead, he decided to sit down and gently hug his brother, while their caretaker hugged both of them as Cuphead tensed up slightly. The blue mug brother and their caretaker both felt very grateful over Cuphead being okay.

Pulling back enough to make eye contact with his brother, Mugman stated. “Just so you know, my life isn’t ruined because of you. I wouldn’t even call it ruined.”

Holding his boys close, Elder Kettle rubbed Cuphead’s back. “Me being alone wasn’t your fault. That was my choice to send you away. Please don’t ever pull a stunt like this again. You're never dragging us down. We’ll always be happy to help you with this curse because we love you.”

Staying tense a bit longer, Cuphead’s body soon relaxed as he felt tears rolling down his face, and melted into his family’s embrace.

When their family hug ended, the three made sure to talk things out WITHOUT yelling, then had the chance to catch up after being apart for years. Eventually, after such a long day and a long trip to get there, Elder Kettle soon settled down in a comfy chair in the infirmary and rested his eyes. Letting the two boys quietly talk among themselves.

“...Mugsy?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think Bendy hates me now?”

Doing his best not to move to avoid letting the boys notice he was still awake, Elder Kettle listened closely to their conversation.

“...I don’t think so. He’s upset with you, but I doubt he hates you.”

“But I never saw him that mad at me before. Mugman, I messed up BADLY.”

“I’m not arguing with that, since you did mess up, but that’s part of dating Cuphead. The honeymoon phase isn’t going to last forever. Sometimes you’re both going to make mistakes, and you’re going to fight. It’s up to you two if you guys can work it out.”

Elder Kettle cracked an eye open when he heard a sniffle, and quietly watched as Cuphead rested his head on Mugman’s shoulder and wiped at his eyes, while Mugman gave him a side hug to comfort his brother.

Ah, young love. Possibly the most magical and most tragic thing a new couple can experience.

Maybe it needed some helpful guidance…

__________________________________

Thanks to the trail of ink left behind when he stormed out, it was easy to find the ink demon, who had gone back to where he, his siblings, and Felix were living in the castle, and barricaded himself in the bathroom. Most likely as a way to avoid making a bigger mess than he already has, and to give himself some space until he was ready to be around people again.

Respecting his need to be left alone, Alice and Boris busied themselves by cleaning up the ink inside the living area of their home, hoping to spare the castle maids from having to clean up all the stains Bendy made. When they were done with that, the ink wolf and ink angel sat down by the bathroom door and waited. Alice calmly read a book, while Boris pulled out some wood and started carving it with a pocket knife.

After some time passed, Bendy eventually came out. His eyes were back to normal, and thankfully he was no longer dripping ink as he made his way to the bedroom he shared with his siblings so he could get dressed. Watching him walk past them silently, Alice and Boris peaked into the bathroom and got a good look at the tub, which was horribly stained black from Bendy sitting in it.

Alice winced a little at the mess that will probably never be completely cleaned off from how long Bendy sat in there. “Should we be concerned over how we’re starting to build up a bathtub body count? It’s weird this has happened twice…”

Pocketing the half carved wooden duck, Boris shrugged. “Not the worst thing we stained black. Remember Mama’s nice table cloth?”

Oof, Alice couldn’t argue with that one.

When Bendy left their room, dressed in new clothes and wearing his cloak, the ink demon proceeded to flop face first down on the couch and groan into the cushion. Alice sat down next to him, while Boris leaned on the arm rest.

“... So you going to dump Cuphead’s ass?”

Scowling at Boris’ blunt question, Alice took one of the couch pillows and smacked her brother with it. “BORIS THOMAS STEIN!”

Boris held up his arm to shield himself just in case Alice used the pillow against him again. “What?! It’s a legitimate question!”

Lifting his head up enough so he wouldn’t be muffled, Bendy glared tiredly at his brother. “You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

“Not really.”

When both Alice and Bendy looked at Boris with matching baffled expressions at his response, the ink wolf lowered his arm and rolled his eyes. “Oh come on Bendy, I’m not Cuphead’s biggest fan but that doesn’t mean I’ll throw a party over you two breaking up. I’m not an asshole.”

Huh, well go figure.

Rolling over onto his side, Bendy sighed. “I don’t want to break up…”

Alice rubbed her brother’s back in an attempt to comfort him. “Then don’t.”

“But how could he just, lie to me like that? He almost got himself KILLED.”

Scoffing, Boris sarcastically commented. “Gee, how could someone NOT tell the person they’re dating a secret they’re not proud of? It’s a MYSTERY.”

Getting a disapproving look from Alice, Boris huffed. “Oh for crying out loud I can’t believe I’m the one who has to say this. Have you told Cuphead ANYTHING about our secrets? I don’t mean how our powers work kind of secrets, I mean our nightmare fuel trauma secrets that isn’t the sugar coated version we had to tell Mickey.”

Not getting a verbal response was a good enough answer for Boris, who moved to kneel to look Bendy in the eyes. “Then you can’t be mad at Cuphead for not telling you about his curse right away until he HAD TO. Nearly getting dragged to hell and getting cursed as a result? That’s FUCKED UP. Cuphead is clearly carrying the trauma with him. You can be mad at him for how he tried handling this situation and nearly dying like an idiot, but not for keeping his secrets… You also need to understand, there’s no way he could have known just how deeply his choices affected you.”

…Boris made a good point.

Thinking over what he said, Bendy eventually sat up and gave Boris a curious look. “Since when are you a relationship expert? The only thing you love outside of our family is food.”