Come with me to the Inkwell Isles,

It's just off the coast - maybe twenty-nine miles.

Where there's good and there's bad,

And then there's in between,

With Gobletta and Jugman, you'll see what I mean.

Ice cream and rockets, trouble never ends!

Watch these ding-dongs as they make new friends.

They'll need some help just to stay on track.

Oh no, there's that guy! You better watch your back!

So, if you're lookin' for fun, (Yes, we're lookin' for fun!)

And a dash of heebie-jeebies, (We got the heebie-jeebies.)

Then pack your bags and let's go!

Welcome to the Cupheads Show!
Welcome to the Cupheads Show!

The morning is bright, hot, and perfect. There seems to be a positive gleam in the atmosphere, almost as if the isle is singing to the three occupants in this old farm-like cottage. On the inside, an elderly kettle is pouring pancake batter onto the stove, hopping along to the music. After a few seconds, he flips them over in the same order which he initially formed them. Then, he flips them over his shoulder and onto a plate, making sure to skillfully blow steam out of his nose in order to give the last pancake more altitude.

The first stack of pancakes lands on the plate of a girl who is reading a newspaper. She is dressed in black and green, a yellow bow tied around her handle. Her head is a cup with a white and green bent straw coming out of it, the bowl of the cup filled with some sort of milk. Gloves hooked on her hand by a ring on her second finger cover her hands as she raises the plate above her head, catching the stack of breakfast cakes.

Next to her, a boy with a cup for a head lifts his plate, but the pancakes stack against the wall below his hand instead. He is wearing fingerless gloves, a black and blue outfit, and his straw is shorter and straight. His expression drops when the cakes fall to the floor, and the girl notices. To make him feel better, she cuts her stack of food in half along with the plate, and slides it over to him. Immediately, the boy beams. The green clothed cup pours a hearty amount of syrup onto the food, giving the empty bottle to the other one. After squeezing it twice, the boy frowns as no sweetened molasses falls onto his plate, and glares at the other cup as she eats all of her food in one, big bite.

"Gobletta, Jugman!" the old man sings with closed eyes as he turns to the cups. His big mustache rises as he smiles.

"Yes, Elder Kettle?" Both kids ask in unison.

"Today, you two are in for a real treat!"

"Really?!"

"You get to... paint the fence!" Elder Kettle takes painting supplies out from behind his back, and instantly the two cups deflate.

Reluctantly, they still go outside to the front yard and splash their brushes into the stained liquid. Jugman, the one in blue, swipes his brush neatly up and down the wood as if he has done this a million times. Gobletta, on the other hand, says, "Blaaaah!" and swirls her utensil around in the bucket.

Jugman wipes his arm across his forehead and groans, "Jeez, I guess we know what we're doing for the rest of the day, huh?"

"Oh, banana oil!" Gobletta stomps, putting one hand on her hip and waving the paintbrush around in the air with the other. Her eyes glare at the sky as she finishes, "Paint the fence, milk the goat, patch the roof! It's the same old, boring stuff every day. Jugman, what we need is a little fun and adventure!"

With paint splattered across his face, he responds longingly, "If only we could speed things up, then maybe we could squeeze in a little fun and adventure at the end."

"Wayyy ahead of you, Jugs!" The boy in question turns to his sister with a confused expression, only to see her filling a small cannon with paint and lighting the match. She covers her ears as the fuse gets shorter.

Elder Kettle opens the gate of the fence with his eyes closed, strolling onto the lawn as he says, "Hey, kids! How's that fen-"

BOOM!

White paint explodes out of the cannon, demolishing the fence and covering Kettle from head to toe.

Jugman and Gobletta walk through the forest with their hands in their pockets, looking at the floor. The former thinks back on what just happened in the yard and mutters, "Boy, was he steamed."

"Eh, I ain't too worried about it," Gobletta says with a shrug.

"But, you got us grounded! We can only go out to get new paint for the fence and then spend a week in our room," Jugman argues.

"You know him, he'll forget-about-it by tomorrow mornin'. Besides, once we actually fix the fence he won't be able to tell the difference."

"I'm just sayin', Gobletta, maybe you should be more careful sometimes."

"Foist off, that should have woiked. I probably just used a little too much gunpowder, hmm." She puts a hand on her chin and looks at the treetops. "Oh, well."

Jugman sighs and climbs the steps to a shaded shop. "Let's just hurry so we can get more paint, and try not to get distra-"

"Jugman, look!" Gobletta says, grabbing her brother's handle and pulling him next to her. They both face in the direction of a carnival, some of the taller rides visible past the trees.

"Um, sis, I'm not too sure-"

"You know what I do when I'm not sure?" There is a pause after she lets him down, and she finishes, "I double down!"

After she blinks twice, the younger cup asks, "What does that even mean?"

"It means we are going to that carnival!"

"Absolutely not!" Jugman orders, swiping his arms in front of him. He turns, stepping between Gobletta and the amazed screams of the people riding roller coasters. "There is no way we are go-"

The two have a bunch of fun zooming across the sky on roller coasters, stuffing their faces with every food imaginable, riding on other attractions, throwing up their food, riding some more, eating more to replace the stuff they lost, and spending the entire afternoon at the carnival. Time flies, but neither of them can remember what they were doing beforehand. Something about... oiling a banana?

Jugman goes to the bathroom to make sure there is no cotton candy stuck on his face when it hits him. What are we doing? We are supposed to be getting supplies for Elder Kettle's fence! After washing his shiny cup-face and making sure it's squeaky clean, he hurries out of the bathroom and finds his sister in front of a small game.

"Gobletta, it's been fun and all, but I think we really should head back so we can paint the fence," he says, twiddling his thumbs.

The girl looks at him with a smug expression, a ski ball already in her hand. "Yo, brother! You gotta see what I can do!"

She rolls the ball between her palms and rolls it onto the ramp. He watches as it perfectly swoops up when it reaches the incline and falls into the center hole, the game shouting, "WINNER!" with a green light blinking as it vanishes. Gobletta gives him a thumbs-up which he returns with a smile, eager to see how well she can do at this game.

Taking two balls this time, she throws them one after the other and they both reach the center. Getting a feel for how the game works, Gobletta becomes a little more daring and hoists her pants up with a confident chuckle. She takes four in her hands and throws them, kicking them as they fall and hitting her target every time. "WINNER! WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!" People who are playing other games (Wack-a-Soul and Soul Pins just to name a few) hear the clamoring robotic announcer yelling 'winner' every time she hits the bullseye, and they all start coming over to watch.

Nothing can be heard except for the loud, "WINNER!" and the gasps of the audience as Gobletta continues to pull off more tricks. Jugman crosses his arms and feels a hint of pride at seeing his older sister gain the spotlight, showing off such skill. When did she become so good at... what is this game called? He looks at the sign above the attraction and reads to himself, "Soul Ball."

Strange, he's never heard of a game like that before. Now that he thinks about it, some of these people are stumbling around and acting a little strange. They're groaning, eyes baggy and skin as pale as the dirt beneath their feet. Noticing that someone else, a telephone, is walking up to a Soul Ball station next to him, he watches as they pitch the ball. It falls into the bottom hole and the game says with a growl, "Loooooser!"

Air pulls at the phone's chest until something pops out, which looks like the phone guy but transparent. His skin turns pale, and the ghost gets sucked into the machine. Jugman, confused but still smiling, turns to the main sign for the carnival's entrance. "Carnival... Carnevil- EVIL?!" He gasps, notices once again how everyone is walking around as if they are lifeless, and runs to his sister. "Uh, Letta-"

"Not now, Jugs! I'm on a hot streak!" Gobletta throws the ball up into the air, letting it land on the rim of her glass and swooping it around. The ball flies forward and strikes in the center making the announcer go, "WINNER!" once again.

Far below the surface where everyone is watching her continue to gain a perfect score, tens of tubes connect from the ceiling and into a pit, carrying a bunch of souls. A really tall, cat-like man with golden horns, long nails, a black fur coat, and yellow eyes gawks at the amount of souls falling into his vault. "Everyone loves a carnival!" he says evilly. Swooping over to a counter that is keeping track of all the stolen souls, he continues, "What a haul! Woahhhhhh!"

(Please help me I don't want to write this song-)

"In case you ain't heard, I'm the Devil!" He is keeping the beat with his large foot and points to himself, slithering across the floor. "I'm a real lowdown, not on the level!"

He snags a golden trident that is lying against a rock and twirls it between his fingers. "They call me Old Scratch, Mr. S, the Big D!" Dancing, he puts a white hat on between his horns. "I'm the king of the Underworld. Yeah, it's great to be me!"

Lounging in his throne, he uses his foot to spin around and an organ pops out of nowhere. He plays the next few notes on the instrument. "Hodily-odily-odily-doh!"

Some small devilish minions harmonize, "Hodily-odily-odily-doh!"

"Hee-dily-hee-dilly-hee-dilly-dee!"

The souls respond, "Hee-dily-hee-dilly-hee-dilly-dee..."

The Devil takes over once again, raising his eyebrows and flaunting his shoulder, "I'm a real naughty boy and I'm sure you'll agree!"

He steps away from the organ to show off how evil he is, popping a balloon with his sharp tail. "I get my kicks playing tricks on the locals. They're easy marks, they're real dumb yokels!"

Everything fades, and he turns NEON! He whispers, "But now folks, listen closely. It's time I made a confession." Everything returns to normal and he rubs his hands together as he looks at the tubes. "Collecting people's souls is my greatest obsession! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

The music continues in his head, and the Devil manages to slip on a white suit to match his hat. Dancing like a weirdo and using his trident as a cane, he keeps the moves going until one of his workers says through the music, "Boss? Uh, hey, boss?"

"WHAT? I was singing!" the Devil yells, his hands on his hips in rage.

A purple bat with really tiny wings cringes in fear and points above him. "Uhh, the soul counter stopped."

Everything seems to pause for a moment as the Devil stares confused at the counter, which just moments ago was speeding through numbers like a bullet train. He hits it a few times then scurries over to the pipes to make sure souls are still being sucked into the vault. When he sees those are empty as well, the only thing he can say is, "What the?" in complete shock.

Might as well check on the carnival to see what's wrong. Using a submarine scope, he looks above the ground to see where all the people went. Everything is deserted from what he can see, the only thing moving is loose paper blowing through the wind. The Devil moves the scope around until he catches sight of a group of people huddled around the game Soul Ball and watching a cup juggle six balls at once, shooting them in one after another. "WINNER!" goes the announcer and everyone cheers, "Gobletta! Gobletta! Gobletta!"

"Ugh, terrific! Looks like we have a real show-off." The Devil slams the end of his trident onto the floor and teleports to the surface.

"U-um, Gobletta, maybe you should quit while you're ahead," Jugman says nervously.

"Double down!" she yells in return and tosses the next ball up. She catches it in her straw and sticks her thumb in her mouth, blowing with all her might so it shoots at the game and into the center. "WINNER!"

"Thank you, everyone! Thank you!" she says while bowing.

Thunder rumbles and the sky darkens as the Devil appears on the land. He looks at his nails, not caring about any of the people he just appeared in front of, and an elephant yells while pointing at him, "It's the Devil!" Screams pierce through the thunder and everyone runs away, scrambling to get as far as possible from him.

"My fans, they love me," he says with a smile. It quickly goes away as he walks up behind Jugman and taps him on the shoulder. Once he sees the boy turn to look at him, he waves his fingers and says, "Hello," in a singy voice.

Jugman points at him, unable to form words and has to instead resort to making muffled breathing sounds with his throat. He tries to get his sister's attention by hitting her on the back, but she is too focused on the game. Still gasping for air, he says, "Gob... Gobletta!"

"Hey, watch it!" she yells as she stumbles from Jugman hitting her. The ball in her hand flies forward onto the ramp and into the bottom hole. "Looooooser!"

"Aw heck," Gobletta says with a frown, turning to her brother in annoyance. "Now look what you made me do!"

Jugman points straight up, making her follow his gaze and losing her words as she sees the Devil towering over them. She also starts making incoherent breathing noises before the Devil smiles and sings, "And that's game!"

The center of the Soul Ball game turns into a tube with air pulling into it, and Gobletta's soul gets ripped out of her body. It falls into the tube and Jugman quickly follows it, ripping it out and slamming it back into its vessel. He parries it to make sure the soul stays in her body. Feeling her soul return to her, she gasps and throws her hands up into the air while screaming, "RUUUUN!"

Both Jugman and Gobletta sprint past the Devil. He watches them go and says with an evil smirk, "Ooooh, I love it when they run!" He slithers through the air after them, setting things on fire with his trident along the way.

The two cups hug each other closely as they run away, sobbing in fear. Jugman yells with tears streaming down his face, "I'm sorry I made you miss! This is all my fault!"

"We should never have come here in the foist place, it's all my fault!" Gobletta responds.

"You're right, it is your fault!" At his words, Gobletta stops crying and glares at her brother for a moment. She screams and starts sobbing once again when there is a fiery explosion next to her. They both look over their shoulders to see the Devil chasing them, setting everything on fire, and they scream even louder.

"Over there!" Gobletta yells, pointing to a roller coaster. They both hop in the front seat and it starts rolling.

Jugman sighs in relief and says, "I think we lost him."

"Surprise!" the Devil says with a mocking laugh behind them. The cups turn around and scream, jumping out of their seats right before the fire from his trident can reach them.

They fall onto a carousel, Gobletta hugging her brother from behind as she shivers. Jugman holds onto the fake horse's neck, but then feels that some of it falls away. When he looks at it, he finds it has become real and turned into a skeleton horse. It jumps off the turning stage and onto the dirt, trying to throw the cups off its back. Both of them scream, "Woah! Woaaah, horsey! Whaaah!"

The horse throws them off its back and they continue to sprint away. As they pass a picture station of a mermaid and a muscular pirate, they stop to pose for the picture. Gobletta makes a funny face as the flash goes off, standing behind the pirate, and Jugman copies her as he poses as the mermaid. Once the picture is taken, they bolt away just before the Devil can incinerate them with a blast of fire.

"Where do we go? The exit is behind us!" Gobletta asks, pointing behind her.

"In there!" Jugman grabs her arm and pulls her into a funhouse, which is the last place she would have gone into knowing the Devil is hot in pursuit. Just as she feared, he changes the funhouse into a horror house with his magic.

The cups stop in a hallway of mirrors, watching as their reflections turn into the Devil and he steps out to grab them. Gobletta screams and pulls her brother deeper inside, dodging circle saws on the floor as they run. It's hard to see in front of them, but the exit seems to be up ahead. Just a little bit further... WHAM! They face-plant right into a wall, the fake exit revealing to be just a curtain that scrolls up.

The Devil's laughter echoes down the hall behind them, and as they drop onto the floor it becomes a trapdoor. Completely terrified, Gobletta cries as she holds onto her brother for dear life. Saws and other sharp objects pop up on the slide which makes them have to maneuver out of the way before they can get sliced in half.

Finally, the exit spits them out and the two keep running from the Devil who makes the end of the funhouse explode. He keeps hovering above the ground as he chases them, not tired in the slightest. Gobletta shouts so that her words can rise above the Devil's laughter, "We are gonna die, bro! There's no way we can get outta this."

Jugman looks around for something, anything that can help them get away from the Devil. Coming up with an idea, he smirks and grabs his sister's handle while saying confidently, "Come on, Letta! It's time for a double down!"

"What are you, nuts?!" she yells as she is carried away.

He runs with her and stops right in front of the Soul Ball game she lost to then mutters, "Now, pretend like we're cornered."

"WE ARE CORNERED!" she cries.

The Devil laughs maniacally and points his trident at the cups as if it was a gun, savoring the moment for a few seconds. Grinning, he shoots a giant flare of fire at the siblings. Right before it can singe the bone ash of their heads, Jugman pushes his sister out of the way and leaps to the other side. The fireball lands on the Soul Ball machine instead, and the Devil's jaw drops with a gasp.

Hundreds of souls fly out of the pipe, all going back to their bodies. Kids are reunited with their families, people are reunited with their food, and even a hotdog comes back to life only to be eaten by a gluttonous pig. The Devil screams, "NOOOOOO!" as he sees everyone come back to life. He claws his hands over his face, not believing what he is seeing, and then sets everything on fire around him in a fit of rage.

Gobletta and Jugman look around them as everything starts to burn down, putting their heads in their hands in a daze. A shadow looms over the older sibling, and she looks up to see the Devil reaching down to pick her up. "Get over here, you!" he yells, trying to wrap his arms around her. Thanks to her short stature, she is able to jump up and slip through his grasp, running away with her brother. As they leave the carnival, the Devil slams the end of his trident on the ground and yells, "Ugh! You don't just get to run away!"

"Wow, boss," the purple bat creature says as he flies up to him. "Never seen you let someone escape before."

"She didn't escape!" he yells back. "She played the game, she lost! Her soul belongs to me. I'll get those cupheads."

"Goblet?" At his words, he slams the trident on his head.

"Oh, shut up!"

Back at the cottage, Gobletta places some newly bought cans of paint on the ground so they can finish the fence before night falls. "What a fun day!" she says, listing the things they've done on her fingers. "We went on rides!"

"And you owe the Devil your soul," Jugman reminds her, still shocked from what went down at the carnival.

"We played games!"

"And you owe the Devil your soul."

"We even have enough time left to finish this dumb fence!"

"And you owe the Devil your soul!" he says more strictly.

"Eh, I ain't too worried about it," she responds with a shrug while pouring paint into a cannon.

Elder Kettle walks through the gate with his eyes closed once again and says, "Hey, kids! How's that fence-"

BOOM!

"Hmm, still too much gunpowder," Gobletta comments.

"And you still owe the Devil your soul."