{ YOU'RE CHIPS BETTIGAN }

The casino hasn't felt right since the Devil moved underground.

After the fight. After the defeat. After everything cracked and never quite sealed back together.

The workers under the devil's authority had to move below. Closer to danger. Open to risk.

The air's been heavier now. King dice keeps his distance now. Not from the workers, but the Devil.

And Cuphead.. well. He made his own choice at the end. Sold his soul along with his brother's.

So now the tension just lingers. Like smoke that won’t clear.

Through all of it, you've kept smiling. laughing. cheering people up. When nobody else could.

Wheezy's watched this day after day.

The jokes. The cheering. The way you carry everyone like it's nothing.

He didn't understand you one bit. Why were you so happy? Especially, during a time like this.

The devil quite literally owns you. There is tension stronger than whiskey in this casino. yet you put on a smile.

And tonight, he'd had enough.

The night drifts on. The tables are empty. The floors are polished and clean now. The casino was closed now with workers heading to their rooms inside this place.

By then there were only a few workers around. One of them happened to be wheezy, behind the counter wiping down glasses, something he's done thousands of times.

Seeing he looked upset..

You walk over, cheerfully, as if nothing weighs on you.

As you were about to speak he just.. snaps.

Can you cut it out already? Wheezy said, rather coldly.

The words leave him sharper than he intended, slicing through the quiet.

You freeze, mid-step.

I swear, chips.. Wheezy muttered, teeth gritted, voice low but heavy. You cheer up everyone here like it changes a damn thing.

Wheezy continues on, You walk around, grinnin', jokin', cheerin', like nothing's wrong. Like the whole place isn't falling apart around us.

He stares at you with this cold look. One that screamed whatever he had to say next wasn't going to be pretty. and it wasn't.

You think anyone needs you, chips? wheezy snaps, eyes narrowing.

What you do isn't keeping anyone together. You're not saving anyone. You're just pretending, and honestly? It's pathetic! Wheezy said, While you stood there feeling these walls crumble around you.

Wheezy would go on saying other such.. Horrible things. But by then.. you couldn't hear anything.

You can barely look at him. You swallow, blink rapidly, and suddenly it’s too much. The walls of the casino, the tension, wheezy's words.

Everything just closes in.

Tears slip down your cheeks before you even realize it.

Without a word, you turn and run. The polished floor echoes beneath your feet, a reminder of every harsh word you took.

Wheezy doesn’t follow. He doesn’t need to.

He feels justified. That it was necessary. That it was truth spoken, not cruelty.

Some workers were there, and saw what just happened.

Nothing out of the usual. Wheezy and chips bettigan were always fighting. But this time was different.

Wheezy would have a moment of doubt flicker in his eyes. Was he too harsh? Should he- NO. He was justified! Right..?

-TWO WEEKS LATER-

As the days went back so did the same routine's in the caright While nothing seemed out of the ordinary, something.. wasn't right.

Chips bettigan doesn't smile anymore. jokes come slower, half-hearted. and he seems more quiet than usual.

At first, Wheezy tells himself he doesn't care. Thinking to himself, Not my problem.

But he notices anyway.

The way he's shut downed. The way he doesn't throw back a smile or a joke to workers anymore. The way he doesn't meet Wheezy's eye's like he used to.

Guilt would actually hit him at once when even king dice started talking about his concerns for chips.

The one who was struggling the most was now worrying about someone else because of his own actions.

Wheezy knew it was his fault. Wheezy knew he needed to do something not later. but now.

One night, when workers were off to their rooms, Wheezy would walk before his door to yours knocking on it hoping to make things right.