Chapter Text
A casino is full of many shiny, bright, and loud things to grab your attention and keep you distracted. Whether it be the bright flashing lights of the slot machines, the loud clicking of a roulette wheel, or shiny gold coins that poured from nearly every machine. Yes, a casino is indead the place to lose one's focus, especially when that casino is owned by the prince of lies himself.
The Devil's casino rested at the very edge of the Inkwell Isles hidden away from prying eyes, but if you knew where to look or accidentally wandered into a cave you might find it.
Odd looking figures helped to run the casino, a skeletal horse who sat at the head of the roulette tables and many of the card based game, a tall sentient spindel of a roulette wheel towered over several guests as she carried a drink tray towards a couple of tables in the back, and a tall imposing man with a loaded die for a head would make sure everything ran in tip-top shape.
The casino was filled with so many strange figures it was easy for one of them to steal your attention instead of the things meant to distract you, and yet not one of those guys had captured Cuphead's attention quite like she had.
Cuphead kept sneaking a glance at her from across the bar. She was busy cleaning off one of the tables after her customer got thrown out by King Dice for being too rowdy.
There was something about this woman that captivated Cuphead, but he couldn't quite place what or why.
Maybe it was her shiny crimson hair that obscured one of her eyes? Maybe it was her pink skin that was unlike any Cuphead had ever seen, or maybe it was the faint smell of strawberries that he caught whenever she passed by.
Whatever it was, Cuphead found himself with an odd sense of firmiliarity around the woman, but for the life of him, he couldn't explain why.
"Are you ogling the new girl again, Cuphead?" Mugman, Cuphead's blue nosed brother called out.
Cuphead whipped his head towards Mugman shooting him a quick look before returning his gaze to the new girl, checking to see if she overheard or not. Thankfully, she was too engrossed in her work to notice Mugman's comment about where his brother's peepers were.
Cuphead breathed a sigh of relief and turned to face Mugman, his red straw twirling violently in his head as he spun.
"I'm not ogling her." Cuphead stated. "I'm trying to figure out if I've met her before or not. She seems... firmilar, doesn't she?"
"I wouldn't know. I'm too busy actually working and not ogling her." Mugman said, hoping Cuphead would get the hint, but once again, the obvious flew over Cuphead's head. Mugman sighed and went back to restocking the bar.
Cuphead's eyes stayed glued to the lady checking for any other recognizable traits that may hint towards her true identity. The pink skin and dark red hair weren't enough for Cuphead to go off of, so he hoped something else about the woman would tip him off.
He watched the woman in the hot pink vest finish clearing off the tables and set the abandoned bowls of food and glasses onto a tray. As she lifted the tray into her palm, she shot a quick glare at Cuphead.
Cuphead swallowed hard and sunk into himself. It seems that Cuphead's constant stares didn't go unnoticed like he'd hope.
The woman huffed and spoke in an oddly sugary sweet voice that betrayed her words. "Keep your eyes to yourself, buddy. Before you lose them." She plucked a lone cherry out of one of the glasses on her tray, and pulled it off the stem before flicking the stem at Cuphead.
Cuphead didn't even react as the stem bounced off his glass head, making a small clinking noise as it did.
Cuphead watched as she strutted away, tray in hand, disappearing into the kitchen behind the bar.
"You're gonna get in trouble if you keep staring at her, Cuphead. She just threw a cherry stem at you. What's it gonna take for you to stop staring? Her throwing a knife at you?"
Cuphead rubbed his glass chin or whatever the equivalent of a chin would be for him. The way the woman's voice sounded on his ears also felt firmilar. It was sickeningly sweet, but with a slight sharpness towards it.
He swore he had heard that voice somewhere before.
"Did she...sound firmilar?"
Mugman paused, thinking back to the woman's voice he heard a second ago. He supposed she did sound a little firmilar, but he too couldn't quite place where he heard that voc- Wait?! Why was he even entertaining this?
He shook his head, his large straw bounced from side to side. "Cuphead, focus on your work and not trying to solve the mystery of who the new girl is."
Mugman picked up the now empty box that used to hold booze and kicked it into a small corner with other boxes behind the bar.
"Mugs, I swear I've heard that voice before."
"I'm sure you have, Cuphead, but please focus on your work. I don't want to get in trouble with King Dice." Mugman turned on his heel and bumped into something large. He stepped back, recognizing the large lavender colored pant leg anywhere. His eyes shot up, staring down at him was his much taller and slightly imposing boss King Dice.
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." King Dice said, snickering at his own joke. He straightened his lavender tux and cleared his throat before speaking.
"So, Cuphead, care to explain why your brother is once again doing all the work by himself? Why did I even bother hiring both of you if only one of you is gonna do the work?"
"Sorry, Dice. Just... got distracted is all." Cuphead said, frantically searching for something to do.
King Dice exhaled sharply and rubbed his eyelids.
"Why am I not surprised? What are you even looking at?"
Neither Cuphead nor Mugman said anything to King Dice, but Cuphead's last glance gave it all away.
Cuphead tried to keep his eyes away, he really did, but he couldn't help but steal other curious glance as she emerged from the kitchen.
King Dice followed Cuphead's gaze, landing on the woman in the hot pink vest. King Dice couldn't help but chuckle.
"Ooh, does the Cup have a crush?"
Cuphead sputtered in utter bewilderment. "N-NO! I just... can't help but feel like I've seen her before." His eyes fell on her again. Who was this woman? It was driving him mad, like something scratching at the inside of his cup.
"Oh, you have." King Dice confirmed.
Both the cup brothers whipped their heads towards King Dice. He just confirmed that Cuphead did know this woman, so Cuphead wasn't going crazy thinking he knew some lady who he actually didn't know.
"So, I do know this lady!?"
"You do." King Dice confirmed again, but he didn't say anything else.
Cuphead stared at the square headed man waiting for something more. He motioned for King Dice to continue, but he didn't.
"You... you wanna tell us who she is, or..." Mugman asked.
"Nope." King Dice said with a smile. He walked past the two brothers, heading towards his office to count all the money they've made so far tonight.
Mugman was not all that surprised by King Dice's actions. The man did work for the devil after all, of course he wasn't gonna make things easy for them and just tell them. When did he ever make anything easy for them?
"Welp, guess it's up to you and me, Mugs." Cuphead said, playfully elbowing Mugman's arm.
Mugman gently pushed his brother's arm away.
"Actually, it's just you. I got break in five and then after that I'm helping Chips and Pachinko replenish slot machines, so... good luck with this." And with that Mugman walked off, leaving before Cuphead could drag him into another cockamamie adventure.
Cuphead was left all by himself to solve this mystery. Who was this woman and why did Dice know who she was, but Cuphead didn't? Mugman and Cuphead knew every employee here, even the demons that occasionally came through here to collect the money, but this one lady seemed to be the odd one out.
It was time Cuphead did a little digging...
Pirouletta scolded Rumulus for drinking alcohol meant for the customers. "Honestly, Rum, are you trying to get yourself killed? Dice will shatter your head if he catches you doing this."
Rumulus tried to speak, but his speech was slurred as usual. It was hard to have an understandable conversation when you're constantly filled with hardcore rum.
"Hey... itz, n-not my fa-fu-fault... it's th-the *Hic* the other guy'ssss fault."
"What other guy?" Pirouletta asked, rubbing her golden temples, trying to fight off the incoming migraine she was getting. Rumulus looked around the casino for a moment, his gaze was wobbly, he had to hold onto the table to keep himself from falling over and shattering. He then extended a long glass finger towards a figure in the distance.
"It... *hic*... it was t-that guy."
Pirouletta followed Rumulus' finger and let out a heavy sigh as her eyes fell on the figure Rumulus was pointing to.
"Rum..." She said, sounding like a mother disappointed in all her child's choices. "That's a plant."
"Oh." Rumulus burped loudly, sending a terrible alcoholic smell Pirouletta's way. She pinched her long golden nose and shook her head.
Cuphead sprinted towards the two. "Pirs! Rum! Just the co-workers I've been looking for."
Rumulus hissed. Despite Cuphead not talking all that loudly, his voice still felt like nails on a chalkboard to the wasted Rumulus. "Ugh! Qu-quiet down...*hic* Cup. I... got such a hangover."
"Rums, you've never been hungover. Hungover implies you got past the drunken state, you've never gotten past the drunken state." Pirouletta turned to face the small cup man, while Cuphead still drove her nuts, she at least found him slightly more digestible than Rumulus.
"What do you need, Cuphead?"
"Do either of you know the new girl's name?" He asked, folding his hands together, silently praying that they knew who she was. He had to figure out who this girl was or the question would drive him crazy all night and he'd never get any work done.
Rumulus let out a drunken chuckle. "Hah... does th-the little mu-ma... man have a thang for the pritty laady?"
Cuphead shook his head. "No. Nothing like that. I swear I've met that lady before. King Dice said I know her, but I don't remember her."
"Oh, you mean Bonnie?" Pirouletta asked, scanning the crowded casino for the pink lady.
"Bonnie? I don't know any Bonnies." Cuphead scratched the side of his thick glass head. He didn't know anyone named Bonnie. He did know someone with a similar sounding name that started with a B, but there's no way it could be her. She wouldn't need to work in a place like this, she was royalty...
"I... I need to test something. Thanks, Pirouletta. See ya, Rums."
The golden woman and drunken man waved bye to the smaller cup man.
"See you around, Cuphead, and if you're gonna do what I think you're gonna do... good luck. You'll need it." Pirouletta mumbled that last part. Cuphead was now in dangerous territory. Pirouletta didn't know the whole story behind Bonnie's arrival, but she knew enough to know that asking her about her past wasn't a good idea.
She knew Cuphead wasn't heading into a world of trouble if he didn't play his cards right.
Bonnie rested her arm against the barcounter and let out tired sigh. "Just two more hours, Bonnie. Just two more hours."
Bonnie was too lost in her own tired mind to notice Cuphead scooting over to her, and joining her by the barcounter. He opened his mouth to speak, but his tongue pulled back, like a startled snake.
He knew if he was right about Bonnie's identity than 'Bonnie' was not the woman to make mad. The last time he did that, he nearly lost his head.
He needed to play this carefully. Play this right.
"Hi, the name's Cuphead." He extended his white gloved hand to the pink woman. She merely glanced at Cuphead out of the corner of her eye. She didn't even react to him, her pupils returned to there previous spot, staring at the colorful bottles of alcohol that littered the bar wall.
Cuphead awkwardly pulled his hand back and nervously cleared his throat. He needed to find a way to get her to open up that wouldn't result in him getting his head shattered or eaten by the crazy candy cannibal.
His eyes followed Bonnie's, landing on the colorful bottles.
"Want one? I'll buy you a drink."
"He means I'll buy you both a drink cause he's flat broke." Mugman interjected, sending a smug look Cuphead's way. Cuphead huffed. "I'm not flat broke. You just won't give me my money."
"Cause if I give you the money, you won't use it to pay for groceries or rent, and you'll just spend it all stupid shit." Mugman countered.
"That's my whole thing! You're the responsible one with money, and I'm the one who blows it all on lottery tickets." Cuphead said cheerfully.
Suddenly, laughter erupted, but not from Cuphead or Mugman, but from the pink woman herself.
Cuphead was almost caught off guard by the laugh. It had been years since he last heard it, but it wasn't quite how he remembered it. This one was softer, dare he say... sweeter?
She didn't sound as unhinged.
Mugman had to do a double-take when he heard that laugh. He knew that laugh. He knew it too well. He could still remember clear as day when she threw all her candy soldiers at him and his brother.
Mugman was frozen in place, possibly from shock, possibly from fear. It was unclear to even him.
Bonnie's laughter eventually faded out. She wiped away a sugary tear. That was the first tear of joy she shed in a good long while. She glanced at the two glass brothers and immediately clocked the looks on their faces.
That was a look of shock and recognition.
They knew it was her. She was caught. Her cover was blown. Aw, well... it was fun being Bonnie for a while.
"Ahh, crap."
Bon Bon pushed the hair out of her face before tying it up with a gummy worm hair tie. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a large peppermint hair clip, sticking it in her hair, completing the look. She rested her head on her chin and sent a cheeky wave their way.
"Baroness?" Mugman sputtered.
"Bon Bon?" Cuphead said in a way that sounded like both a question and a statement.
"Yeah, yeah. It's me." She motioned to a bottle on the top shelf, silently ordering Mugman to get it for her. After another second of being froze from pure shock, Mugman quickly grabbed a small stool and climbed it to reach the shining emerald bottle. He grabbed a small glass to pour her a drink, but before the alcohol could leave the bottle, Bon Bon placed her hand over the open lid and pointed towards a larger pint glass.
"Um... you sure?" Mugman asked. "This is pretty expensive."
"Cuphead said he was paying, right?" She reminded.
Cuphead was now regretting using the "Buy you a drink" tatic to get Bon Bon to open up. He turned to Mugman, looking to him like he was his saving grace. He folded his hands and quietly pleaded with Mugman not to entertain the idea. Mugman smirked and grabbed the pint glass and filled it all the way to the brim before handing it to Bon Bon.
"Thanks, Mugman... and thanks for buying me a drink, Cuphead." Bon Bon said teasingly.
"You're... welcome." Cuphead said through gritted teeth.
"I'll just deduct that drink from Cuphead's pay." Mugman shot Cuphead a evil smirk before walking away with the emerald bottle in hand.
Cuphead sighed, quietly dying on the inside as he watched Bon Bon sip away his money. That glass costed almost all of Cuphead's pay. "You're paying me back, you know that?"
Bon Bon laughed again, this time her laughter was far more chaotic and unhinged, more similar to that laugh Cuphead heard all those years ago. "Yeah... no. That's... not happening."
Bon Bon's chaotic smile fell at that last part. Her pink finger was now circling the rim of her pint glass, leaving a faint pink trail of candy residue behind.
There was something wrong with Bon Bon, that much was clear. She seemed... down, more sunken in, like something in her had deflated.
"You... okay?" Cuphead questioned.
Bon Bon laughed at the question. "I'm here. What does that tell you?"
"Yeah... I was gonna ask... why are you working here? Aren't you like... royalty and all?"
Bon Bon let out a bitter laugh. "Not anymore. I've been... fired."
Cuphead's already large pupils became even wider.
"Fired?! Your people fired you? They can do that?!"
"No, THEY can't... but my parents can." Bon Bon through the large glass back and chugged most of the bronze colored drink down. Cuphead was both impressed and concerned by the sight. Bon Bon slammed the nearly empty glass back on the barcounter and wiped her alcohol covered lips.
"You make a couple little, tiny, insignificant mistakes and all of a sudden... you're kicked to the curb."
Cuphead was silent. He sat there just watching Bon Bon radiate with rage and contentment for her folks.
"Assholes. The both of them." She threw the large glass back again and downed the remainder of her drink. She slowly dropped the glass back onto the counter and let our a heavy sigh. "So... how'd you know it was me?"
"Well... all you really changed was your hair. You just covered one of your eyes, and called yourself "Bonnie" It wasn't too hard to figure out. Once King Dice told me that I knew you, it was pretty clear who you were."
Bon Bon laughed bitterly. "Yeah... I knew I should have done more to disguise myself, but... I don't know. Part of me didn't want to. Guess I wanted to at least keep one small piece of myself." She raised the glass back to her lips, but remembered it was empty before it made it halfway to her lips. Cuphead reached behind the counter and pulled out another bottle.
Bon Bon smiled and let Cuphead refill her cup. "Thanks."
"Oh, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for my wallet. This tastes just as good and is WAY more cheaper than the stuff Mugs filled your cup with." Cuphead said proudly, happy to have saved the rest of his money.
Bon Bon snickered. "Well, aren't you just a gentleman."
"Only when it comes to money." He replied. He capped the bottle and slid it aside, returning his eyes to Bon Bon, he asked "So, your parents fired you from being the baroness? They can do that?"
"The kingdom was originally theirs." She explained. "They 'lent' it to me as a sweet sixteen gift. They said I could keep it if I kept the candy empire strong... a couple of lost battles here and there, a couple of false accusations of cannibalism here, a couple of true accusations of cannibalism there... and one soul contract later... and they took the kingdom back from me."
"That soul contract thing happened like... six years ago. They only fired you now?" Cuphead questioned.
"They didn't know till recently..." She gritted her teeth behind her pink lips. "One of my 'loyal' guards, Muffsky decided that I wasn't doing what was best for the kingdom and decided to tell my parents about my old soul contract. That was the straw that broke the caramel camel's back. They took the kingdom back, stripped me of my crown and titles, and kicked me out."
"Dang. That's cold. Glad Kettle was never that cold to me and Mugs. It was usually the corner or no radio for a month if we royally messed up."
"My parents aren't exactly known for their kindness. Where do you think I got my lovely attitude from?" Bon Bon lifted her glass back to her lips, but stopped halfway. She decided that was enough booze and honest for one night.
"I've been staying with Djimmi ever since. I... I got the job here cause this was the only place that would hire me, plus it's far enough from any of the other isles, so no one will recognize me."
Cuphead just sat there in silence, processing everything Bon Bon told him. That was... crazy, to put it lightly.
Sure Bon Bon was a lot of things, a dictator, a cannibal, and a psychopath, but having your own parents take everything from you, kick you out, and practically disown you was a lot for one person to handle. It was a miracle Bon Bon wasn't more unhinged now.
"That's... a lot. Sorry that happened to you, Bon Bon. Your parents sound like dicks. Reasonable dicks, but still dicks."
Bon Bon snickered at Cuphead's crude choice of words.
"Yeah... they've never taken family all that seriously. To them, it was just another line in the family tree... something that can be pruned easily if the need arises."
Cuphead was rendered speechless. What do you say after learning something like that. What do you say to anybody going through something like this.
Cuphead wanted to show some sympathy, but he didn't exactly know how, he just did what he thought was right. He reached out and awkwardly patted her shoulder.
Bon Bon slowly turned to face Cuphead and stared at him for what felt like far too long. Cuphead pulled his hand back and cleared his throat. "Sorry. I-I didn't know what to do. I'm not exactly good with all this emotional stuff."
Bon Bon shook her head. "It's fine, Cuphead. It's... fine. I just... need to finish up my shift and head home." She stood up and slid the rest of her drink to Cuphead, offering it to him. Cuphead slowly shook his head.
"I really shouldn't. Mugs and Dice would kill me if I worked drunk again."
Bon Bon chuckled. Why was she not surprised that Cuphead had actually worked drunk once.
"Yeah, they probably would."
She plucked the peppermint clip out of her hair along with the gummy worm hair tie and stuffed them back into her pocket. She threw some of her hair back over her right eye and spun on her heel. "Thanks for the drink, Cuphead... and the talk, I guess. I'll... see you around."
Cuphead waved bye to the candy ex-baroness and watched her disappear past the blackjack tables. Cuphead's eyes stayed stuck on her path long after she was gone.
His mind was swirling with several thoughts, but the main thought in his head was "Wow. I just had a full conversation with the Baroness and she didn't threaten me once."
He was still surprised and even hurt for Bon Bon that her parents kicked her out, but then again, he couldn't really blame them.
Bon Bon wasn't exactly known for being sane, and learning your child sold her soul would definitely throw a lot of parents over the edge. While their actions made sense, that didn't make them right. They threw out their only child like she was nothing, and left her with nothing.
Cuphead could only imagine how Bon Bon reacted when she went from riches to rags. A lot of this stuff was probably new and scary to Bon Bon.
She was all on her own now in a world that didn't give a darn about you or who you were before.
In a way, Cuphead could relate. He and Mugman were in a similar situation when Elder Kettle passed.
It was just him and Mugs, on their own, trying to survive and figure out how to things by themselves. They never thought the day would come where they didn't have their Elder Kettle to help them, and Bon Bon probably never thought the day would come where she lose her family, her money, her statues, and her whole kingdom.
It was definitely gonna be an adjustment for the candy lady.
Finally, Mugman returned, pulling Cuphead out of his thoughts. "Hey, I just clocked out for us. We can head home now." Mugman's eyes immediately went to see what Cuphead was staring at, but all he saw was guests and blackjack tables.
"Did I miss anything?" The mug questioned.
Cuphead slid out of his seat and began his walk towards the front door with his brother following close behind.
"I'll explain on the walk home. You're not gonna believe this."