#fallen michael

“Not your toy soldier”

Casino cups and Lil Lucifer belong to @camodiel (you can also find him at @camodielsart)

Ch. 1

‘WHY CANT YOU FOLLOW THE SIMPLEST ORDERS?’

King Dice’s words had stung Cuphead’s ears and now rang in his head, allowing the feelings of resentment to stew as as he bitterly stomped down the overgrown pathway. Sure he had gone in the room he had specifically told him stay out of because the boss was having an ‘import call’ with a few of the members of Hell’s royal court, but he’d only interrupted them for a second and he’d left as soon as he realized what was going on.

His employers had seemed more… on edge… this past week or so. The shift in behavior was so sudden. Boss was always shut in his office and in the rare moments when he wasn’t he was noticeably anxious, seemingly constantly on the verge of panicking, in a way that almost seemed unnatural for him. King Dice on the other hand was just plain irritable, but had an air of somberness and seriousness that was also unlike him. And he was obviously worried about his boss. ‘Guess it all just came to a head today’ he thought, whatever ‘it’ was.

It was really beginning to bother him that they wouldn’t tell anyone what in literal hell was going on with them. He’d even tried asking the devil why he’d become such a hermit lately, he only responded by getting fiery eyed and defensive and then vanishing in a flare of smoke that left him coughing for a solid minute after he had disappeared.

His brother was obviously even more curious than him, but showed a surprising level of restraint in not prying. Mugman was always wary about getting involved in whatever shenanigans the devil got up to as the king of the underworld. But he seemed to want to know for dices sake, perhaps he thought if he knew he could help ease his anxiety

And it wasn’t the first time the devil had had one of these ‘private meetings’. He had been having demons that he’d never even seen before over to meet with him at the casino almost on a daily basis. Most of them seemed to be military of some kind. He had heard and heard of bits and pieces of what they were discussing, something about a ‘hunt’ and ‘preparations’. He had only been able to overhear one full sentence out of the devil (because he shouted it)

‘HE’S PRACTICALLY FALLING RIGHT INTO OUR HANDS AT THIS POINT. I DONT NEED TO KNOW AND I DONT CARE. WHATEVER OR WHOEVER YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH. BRING. HIM. IN.’

Cuphead let out a sigh and decided to worry about it later

‘I think God hates me…’ he said out loud to no one

He didn’t know there was a small pine forest on isle 3 around the easternmost train tunnel. Mugs had tried to tell him not to go off by himself just because he was pissed off but they were off the clock now anyways so he didn’t see any reason he had to stay. A branch obstructed his path and he frustratedly smacked it out of his way, only for it to come and smack him back.

But then as he was swatting at the branch… he looked up…

This tree’s entire trunk was bent on its side… as if someone had tried to tear it in half…

He looked to his right… and saw an entire row of trees that had been marred in a similar way… forming some sort of path way to a large crater in the distance…

Curious but cautious, he carefully shimmied down the steep incline and came to the edge of the crater. He could not see into it as there was a large upward slope of dirt blocking his view, so he got on his hands and knees and climbed above to see-

He let out a loud gasp but quick clapped his hand over his mouth and ducked back behind the dirt, hoping whatever that was hadn’t seen or heard him. He hadn’t quite been able to make out what he saw, some sort of large goat-like winged creature with large curvy horns and nearly pitch black fur. It- honestly kinda looked like the devil…

He took another peek, it… looked kinda dead. And upon even closer inspection he could see it was bound in some sort of snare. He came to the conclusion that weather it was alive or not it wouldn’t be able to hurt him, and stepped into the crater for a closer look. But still grabbed a large pointy stick he found nearby, not even sure what he’d do with it if that thing woke up but it made him feel safer

‘H-holy shit this is… this is the scariest and the coolest thing that’s happened to me in like months…’ and scary and cool things happened to him surprisingly often, usually because he touched something he wasn’t supposed to. He slowly nudged its arm with the stick he was holding ‘A-re you a demo- AAHH’ the creatures arm suddenly moved and slammed him against a rock, clearly annoyed at his disturbance

He regained his footing and poised the stick at it, hoping to appear somewhat intimidating. A luminous bright blue eye blinked open, staring at him with contempt. But remembering it was still tied up he calmed down a bit. He stepped closer and the blue eyes narrowed as it let out a low growl as if to say ‘DON’T YOU DARE’ It’s eyes seemed to be fixed on his casino uniform, as if it knew what it stood for… and it didn’t like it. But when it tried moving as if to swat him away again it winced in pain and its body to went limp as a rag doll.

It let out a doglike despaired whimper as its head it the ground. Cuphead looked closer and saw that the ropes around it were partially coated in red crust and digging into its skin. He found himself feeling… sympathy for it. But it clearly didn’t want him anywhere near it. The same way… he hadn’t wanted it anywhere near him…

He was starting to get the feeling the devil might have something to do with this. It clearly wasn’t a fan of the fact that he worked for him. Why was it so close to the casino? Was it some sort of threat? He contemplated just leaving it there and running off to forget the whole thing… but then it whimpered again.

He looked into its eyes but it closed them and turned its head away. Those ropes could’ve been the only thing keeping it from pouncing on him and tearing into him with its claws. and what’s more, could he potentially get in even more trouble with the devil if he interfered? Every rational thought in his head was telling him to just turn and run but-

Without thinking, he got to work cutting the ropes with the sharp end of the stick as fast as humanly (cuply???) possible. The demon’s eyes opened again and darted to his moving hands as they snapped the ropes apart. In a panic Cuphead wheeled around to make his escape, only to feel a huge claw close around his non existent neck and slam him against the nearby rock.

He was starting to regret showing mercy when it was now clear that it wouldn’t be returned as his breathing quickened underneath the demon’s grasp. It stared intently into his eyes and growled deeply. He stared back, as if to silently plead for his life. They stayed there in this position for what felt like forever to Cuphead, even though it couldn’t have been more than ten or fifteen seconds.

But then it’s menacing gaze began to falter, and became slightly more sympathetic. Cuphead’s expression changed too, sort of went from ‘PLEASE NO’ to ‘wait, really?!’ The demon slammed its hand against Cuphead’s stomach knocking him to the ground. It leaned in close to his face and SCREECHED as loud as it could before throwing him aside and tearing off into the woods, and out of sight.

Cuphead caught his deathly terrified breath and attempted to rise to his feet, but only managed to take about two steps before stumbling back to the ground face first with a loud moan

Every other Fallen Angel, year 169 of their imprisonment: Girl, you're so right

Surtr: Aneracam oproc ut a airgela elad

just a random sketch