#but he can’t have scale patterning and extra teeth and a tail and be shaped like mewtwo without someone telling him he has to try harder?

[frutavel]

Alarion is shaped Oddly so he mostly wears clothes that change his silhouette in order to appear more "normal". He's a volatile morph, meaning the nether energy in his body is volatile, so he struggles with making his visages be on model, and even when trying to compensate for it with clothing and accessories he still gets comments about it often

[soulmate-game]

Upon further consideration. Even though it is entirely the wrong ecosystem and I know I already said that Merman!Adrien was born in the coral reefs. But. He totally looks like a betta fish. This guy is colorful and has long, beautiful fins and he totally has little neck fins that pop out when he’s angry (but just make him look even more adorable to everyone else). Like, if the mer-community cared at all about photography, he would still be an underwater model. Does everyone forget the fact that he’s one of the fastest swimmers in the School and definitely a vicious fighter when he needs to be? Yes. Yes they do.

Meanwhile, I don’t know you guys caught my little Easter egg before. But I totally want to make the Gotham Sirens all actual sirens in this AU. Because it works, and it’s funny. So here’s the rundown;

Selina Kyle: I want her based on an iridescent shark— which isn’t a shark, it’s a species of catfish. Which is... maybe partly why I chose it. Because of this, her tail is all her black, but in the right light some of her body is iridescent and shines with soft blues and purples. This isn’t bioluminescence like with a deep sea mermaid, it’s just the color of her skin shifting in the right light like glitter. I say skin, because she doesn’t have scales (iridescent sharks have no scales). So her tail is smooth and slippery. Great for escapes. Being a siren, some of her features are exaggerated even on her fish half. So, her tail fin is more flowy and feathery, almost like a beta fish’s but not nearly as long, and the edges of the tail fin are extra thin, so that they shine and are extra iridescent even in dim lighting. She doesn’t have whiskers, but she does have minor control over her hair. She can control how it floats or falls in order to evoke a certain aesthetic, and the tips of her hair do act as weak sensors. She can’t grab anything with it though, it’s kind of like if you can wiggle your ears. You can move it, but you can’t really... do much with that.

Harley Quinn: totally based off a Mandarinfish/ mandarin dragonet. She has a shorter tail than most mermaids, but it’s much wider and rounder. She has a long torso though, with a decently large, rounded dorsal fin on the middle of her spine. She is very, very colorful. You can tell she is meant to be a siren that captivates immediately, whereas Selina is more of a siren that was meant to allure with mystery. Harley is all bright blues and reds and the occasional dash of pink, supplemented by a few black spots and outlines to bring the other colors into sharper focus. She isn’t fast like Selina, but she is small and agile and very hard to grab ahold of. Her fins are very thin and delicate, but soft and incredibly flexible so they are almost impossible to grab and keep hold of. She is also scaleless like Selina, and her tail naturally produces a mucus that is enhanced by her Siren genes. Instead of being a smelly deterrent, Harley’s natural mucus is actually a quick-acting toxin that can be absorbed by the skin and induces hallucinations. She can control when she does or doesn’t produce it. She still keeps her hair up in pigtails (her hair is mostly blonde, but her fish half does color the tips of each side of her hair so she still has the split blue-and-pink look. Only natural this time). Don’t underestimate her just because she is much more compact in size than a normal siren/mer-person. She has a surprising amount of strength in her upper body to compensate for her lack of easily maneuverable tail.

Poison Ivy: I couldn’t quite decide which species I wanted most, but I knew immediately she had to be an eel mermaid. She’s still very environmentalist and all about protecting the oceans, she will straight up terrify to death anyone she catches dumping in the ocean. Litterbugs, beware. But we’re gonna go with a mix of a dragon moray eel and a snowflake moray. Her main body is dark green, but she has black-and-orange spots down her body and tail. Some look like leaves, others look like skulls. Really, it’s like an ink blot test so it mostly depends on whether or not she’s trying to intimidate the people who see her. Scared people will see skulls, people who are on her good side will usually fondly pick out leaf-patterns (Harley). And she still lives up to the nickname Poison Ivy (humans have this name to her, and she liked it) because she entire body is riddled with different toxins. Like Harley, her body can produce a toxic mucus— but Ivy’s mucus-toxin just makes the victim very drowsy and uncoordinated. Her kiss is also toxic, and is boosted by her Siren powers. Anyone she kisses, as long as she wills it, is temporarily mindlessly in love with her and will work to please her even without her having to say anything. This can be as simple as saving her from a tough situation to... more. Ivy is also the largest of the three infamous Sirens, clocking in at right about ten feet long from head to the tip of her tail, and she is the most physically strong. She suffers a bit in the mobility department purely because of how big her body is, but she is still extremely agile and quick-striking. She often hides amongst kept forests and dense seaweed because she likes plants more than people, but also because her body easily camouflages amongst the similar shapes and colors. Both a captivator and a mysterious beauty in her own right, she has skills that match both Selina and Harley in the Siren department, but it’s tempered by the fact that Ivy is the most quick to attack. Harley enjoys playing with her prey much more, Ivy just does what she needs to be able to get to the violent part. She is picky in her prey, however, in that she really prefers only preying on those who harm the ocean.

General siren information for this AU (or my take on it, anyway). Sirens do have a few common traits that solidify them as one distinct race of Mer-people even with each one usually taking on very different fish-traits. The most well known is a siren’s Charm ability, in which they can use their voice to captivate an audience and perform minor hypnosis. This can be done through both singing and regular speech, as long as their voice is in use and they are putting care into the types of tones they are using. The Charm ability becomes entirely ineffective on other mer-people once they realize that a Siren is not a normal mer-person and even if they don’t know, other mer-people are resistant to the Charm effect. It can only be as potent as social manipulation on other sea dwellers, and cannot make a mermaid or merman do something too far out of their normal character. For humans, knowing they are being Charmed allows them to slowly build up a resistance to the charm’s effect. If they build up enough resistance, then they become effectively immune unless caught off guard. A Charmed human will do almost anything the siren demands, as long as it is not drastic enough to shock the human out of the mind control (i.e telling them to kill a loved one or jump to their death knowingly).

Sirens are largely carnivores, where normal mer-people are omnivores. Some sirens (Ivy) do participate in eating humans, but it is known to be fairly unhealthy (like eating junk food) so it is now done mostly in moderation. Sirens have two sets of teeth, but unlike Deep Sea mermaids, neither set is retractable. The set that is visible is human-like, while behind those human teeth hides a set of needle-like teeth that can slightly extend further out of the gums when necessary for hunting but cannot be completely hidden. These teeth are backward’s curving, like giant snake teeth, and it is notoriously difficult to escape a Siren’s bite.

Sirens, unlike other mer-people, actually do have a need for air and cannot breathe under water. They can hold their breath for hours at a time and speak under water, much like dolphins, but they need to break the surface for air at least once or twice a day. This, of course, leads to more contact with humans.

Sirens are the only mer-people who can develop legs. This happens when they let themselves completely dry out, and if they desire to they can morph their tail into two legs. Their legs will never look human however, as their toes will be webbed and everything below their bellybutton will still be the same colors and pattern as when it is a tail, along with any scales or armor plates they might have remaining. A siren can only maintain this shape for a maximum of forty-eight hours before their skin dries out too much and they start to get dehydrated. Immediately upon contact with water over three inches deep, their legs will begin to re-morph into a tail. Splashing the skin with small amounts of water will only delay dehydration for a maximum of an extra twenty-four hours, as the body consumes water faster than it can be replaced by splashing or small amounts of rain.

That’s what I got :) hope you like it!

[damienthepious]

it’s still tuesday here for THREE MORE HOURS i didn’t heckin miss it i made it

Like Whispering

[ao3]

[Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast

Relationship: Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla

Characters: Rilla, Lord Arum, Sir Damien

Additional Tags:  Fluff without Plot, Literal Sleeping Together, Sleepy Cuddles,  (basically just a deep dive into monster anatomy), (and Rilla's incessant hunger to understand things), (i'll be real with you this one is weird), (but i like the ending and i need something to post for the IMPORTANT DAY), Lizard Kissin' Tuesday, (i hope y'all care to hang with me while i unpack a buncha headcanons about Arum's body!!!!)

Summary:  Rilla examines the fascinating landscape of her monstrous lover while he sleeps.

Notes: I don't even know anymore fam I hope SOMEONE besides me enjoys this at least. There is at least one Lizard Kiss this time, thank the Saints. Rated T for implications of sex in the past. Title take from the song 3 Rounds and a Sound by Blind Pilot. ]

Rilla will never stop being fascinated by Arum.

He sleeps beside her, between she and Damien, and even that is a thousand page treatise on the concept of trust that she wants to memorize front to back. When he sleeps alone he curls into a ball, tail wrapped around himself like a cat, but in the bed they share he is more apt to sprawl, hand and hand and hand and hand reaching out until they can find a soft source of warmth, until he can pull his lovers close against him and curl around them instead.

It’s easier to really learn him, in sleep. He tends to get irritable with her if she stares at him too long in the daylight. Which is fair, Rilla reasons. Analyzing the bone structure of your monster is a process that requires more direct observation than anyone would reasonably call polite… but Rilla can’t help herself.

Arum’s body is like a puzzle in some ways. Like four or five puzzles piled up together, actually. She’s been taking notes about the subject in longhand, in code, because she doesn’t think he’d appreciate her trying to categorize him so thoroughly- but it isn’t even about the science, anymore. The inhumanity of him, the irrationality; it draws her in. Curiosity has always been Rilla’s weakness, and Lord Arum is a curious creature indeed.

She wants to know him. Every part of him.

She can’t decide, yet, how to organize her observations; mostly she tries to take him part by part, layer by riveting layer.

She has pages dedicated to his eyes. The first thing she learned about him, really, was that he could see better in the dark than a human, and his eyes only got more interesting from there. Diamond-shaped pupils blow out wide in the dark or with arousal, or narrow into thin, dangerous slits when he’s focused. Irises, bright violet. Bright like actual violets, saturated and bold with narrow flecks of a darker shade arranged around the pupil in a subtle starburst. She and Damien must be the only creatures alive who have gotten close enough to see those flecks of plum among the violet, the only people he would trust enough to let that close. He lets them close enough to see, and then he allows his eyes to close regardless, a set of nictitating membranes sliding horizontally over the purple before his proper eyelids close as well.

Another fascinating layer, those membranes. They’re translucent but fogged gray, waterproof, protective; she’s noticed them slipping closed without the outer lids when he’s startled, or when he happens to go out in the rain [a note on his clothing in the rain: it is waterproof as well, though whether that is through magic or the skill of monsters’ weave is impossible to determine, and when she asks for clarification Arum dismisses the question in so particular a way that she is unsure which possibility is more likely]. It’s a useful trait, one that Rilla appreciates because it’s another layer of protection for those unique, beautiful eyes.

She can’t take more notes on his eyes in sleep, though. Instead, she ghosts her hands over his scales, over the subtle patterned expanse of his back as he snores gently into Damien’s hair.

The long, elegant curve of his spine is crested with a subtle ridge of raised scales, like spines or horns, nearly an inch long at the base of his skull and down between his shoulders, and barely higher than the bumps of the rest of his scales lower down [the first time Rilla runs her fingertips along the ridge Arum snaps his teeth in the air, hissing through them in surprise and delight, and Rilla smiles, then repeats the gesture]. Aside from some mild sensitivity, they seem primarily cosmetic, and Rilla can’t place what specific creature the trait is stolen from.

The entire expanse of his scales gleams magnificently, even in the low light of the nighttime Keep. He’s mottled in vibrant dark green and in black, with speckles of gold dotting down his front. The scales themselves are small and near as thick as light armor on his back, on the outsides of his arms, along the top of his tail, and in bigger, softer, smoother plates down his neck, his stomach, underneath his arms, between his legs. He is textured, cool, everywhere she can lay her hands [she has made a point to lay her hands nearly everywhere, by now].

The second pair of arms is completely unnatural relative to any nonmagical reptilian, and they should be completely incongruous with the rest of his frame, but his body fits together with infuriating ease. Arum’s torso is slightly longer than it would otherwise be to make room for the second set of pectorals that the extra arms necessitate [when he stretches in the morning his musculature ripples beneath his scales like the billow of steam, and Rilla could easily spend the rest of her life cataloging every configuration of angles at which his arms could be arranged atop the pillows of their shared bed], and his musculature there is lean but shockingly strong.

The pads of his fingers are textured with hair-thin ridges that help him stick to walls and ceilings when he scurries along at his shocking speed, similar to those of a gecko [Her list of creatures that Arum has traits in common with is absurdly long, and longer when she includes her speculations on his internal anatomy], and the same is true of his toes. His claws on all four limbs are dangerously sharp [more recently, he files down the claws on his lower pair of hands enough to dull them, complaining bitterly about the fragility of humans in general, but the first time he can reach out for the two of them, touch them without fear of causing harm, his expression falls to something raw and earnest and tender] [the claws on his upper hands remain sharp, and there is a certain thrill that comes with their careful touch as well].

His legs are powerful, long, a zig-zag of artful curves. He walks on his toes when he’s upright, his heels in the air and adding to his already impressive height, but he can turn his ankles oddly when he drops to all six limbs, slithering viper-quick whether he is crossing the floor or climbing a tree or wall or ceiling.

Arum’s tail is primarily meant for balance, and it’s not quite so deft as to be entirely prehensile, but he has enough control that he can grip a small object with it or curl it around something solid to stabilize himself [he is equally likely to curl it around either of his humans to pull them closer unexpectedly, to add an extra layer to an embrace].

[Rilla has an entirely separate mental space for notes on Arum’s sexual anatomy; that research is currently ongoing]

Arum’s teeth are [she mentally places a line between her more clinical observations and those that belong in the previous category] gorgeous, knife-sharp, terrifying, with long vicious incisors and jagged molars. Insectivore teeth, meant for piercing and crushing exoskeletons, and they flash bright behind his thin lips when when he snarls or speaks or laughs.

There is a crescent of little divots above those lips, the labial pits he uses to sense heat; a snake trait among the more dominant lizard features. In the scatter of her notes she has them sorted into the category of particularly anomalous with his extra arms and his frill.

His frill: infuriatingly out of place [speaking only for the purposes of classification: in the social sense, Rilla is only ever grateful for the fragile, expressive webbing that flares around Arum’s head in surprise and embarrassment and indignation, because it’s one of the easiest ways to tell what he’s feeling, besides his tone of voice]. It bears only passing similarity to the same feature on nonmagical frilled lizards; it drapes along the sides of his head when at rest instead of folding at his neck, it’s smaller relative to the size of his head, and the folds revealed when it flares are colored in bright patches of bluish-green and gold-

“Amaryllis.”

For half a moment she thinks that he’s murmuring in his sleep, which would be an interesting first, but then one of his eyes slits open and fixes her with a violet glare.

“I could feel you staring even in the depths of sleep, Amaryllis,” he mutters, voice thick and growling. “What, precisely, is causing you to think so furiously at this time of night?”

His irises are wide black diamonds in the mellow dark, his long tongue flicks absently to scent the air, his chest rumbles with each breath he takes, and every piecemeal part of him fits together in an impossible harmony, every edge that by rights should be jagged instead slides smooth. Rilla knows she’ll never unravel the entire tapestry of Arum, and that knowledge fills her with the thrill of challenge, with breathless awe, with overflowing love.

“You,” she says after a pause, hoping the enormity of her feelings doesn’t bleed too much into her voice. When he goes startle-still, she leans down to press a kiss to his cheek, where she knows he can feel the tickle of her warm-blooded heat. She doesn’t pull away then, sighing against the texture of his scales and pressing her hand to feel the slow drum of his heart in his chest. “Just thinking how damn stunning you looked all wrapped up with Damien.”

Rilla isn’t Damien, and she can’t make the tangle of science and wonder and connection in her mind sing as prose, or verse. Her coded pages read exactly like her field notes: pointed, unadorned, though admittedly a bit more biased. Arum knows her, though. He knows the deeper context around her flippancy, the way she uses informality as a source of comfort.

He breathes a laugh and it tickles Rilla’s ear, and he nuzzles his face against her own. “I would love to pay your flattery back in kind, Amaryllis, but if we wake the little knight now he’ll be utterly useless in the morning,” he grumbles, letting his eyes slip closed again as he pulls her closer.

“Sweet of you to worry about tiring him out,” she replies in a teasing whisper. He growls at the implication that his worry is unselfish, and Rilla’s mind flies off again. The entirety of Arum’s vocal system is a wild mystery, how he can duplicate human language with such an incompatible tongue and lips, and that isn’t even getting into the mystery of how he makes those rattling noises, those growls, those purrs. As far as Rilla is aware, purring is not a typical trait in a lizard, so she can’t even begin to speculate what animal instrument is hiding in the hollow of his throat.

“You are thinking again,” he hisses through a sigh, smiling with his eyes closed and letting his claws drift gently up and down her bicep. “I can hear your mind churning when you go still like that.”

“Sorry,” she says wryly, pressing another kiss to his neck.

“No apologies, my Amaryllis, but you need your rest as well as he does.”

Arum tends to save his pet names for Damien (Rilla suspects this is because they have a much more profound effect on the knight than they would on herself), but it does send a giddy little thrill through her when he slips enough to call her his. “I know, I know,” she says. “I’ll get to hibernating or whatever.”

He chuckles low again, his fingers tracing soft soothing circles on her arm, on her back, his breath lifting his chest beneath her palm, and the combined rhythms are nearly hypnotic. “Would it-” he pauses, and she can feel the hesitation drift through him and then dissolve like parchment in water. It’s easier for him to let himself be soft like this, in warmth, tangled up together in the dark. He hums above her and asks, “Would it help if I sang for you?”

Rilla will never stop being fascinated by Arum, and she’ll never stop being surprised by him either.

She nods against his shoulder, because she thinks her voice will either crack with laughter or too much feeling if she tries to talk, and Arum presses his mouth in an almost-kiss against her hair before he starts to sing. He sings close and quiet against her skin, his voice rough and low and inhuman, and Rilla smiles against his scales as it works in concert with the movement of his hands. It's soothing, stable, perfect.

There is comfort in a curiosity that cannot be answered, Rilla thinks as she drifts. Stability in a mystery that can unfold and unfold and never reveal a conclusion. Rilla has always preferred answers to questions, but Arum-

Arum is a question she intends to ponder for the rest of her life.

[thebrotherscupheadandmugman]

Fiery Frolic! With Grim Matchstick!

Before you read: This is a rewriting of the main game Cuphead. Characters, certain dialogue, music, and locations obviously do not belong to me. This is best read with the OST playing over it.

Before you start reading, I now have a Patreon you can donate to as well if you should want to support where I wish to take this project! Patrons have unique opportunities to help bring this story to life, so please check it out or become a patron if you feel so inclined! Too young or unable to give financial support? That’s perfectly fine! You can also support this project, and my future ones by reblogging these episodes for free! Oh, and here’s a link to all published episodes. Enjoy!

As the brothers crossed the second rainbow bridge in Isle Two, Mugman couldn't help but stare up at the tall spire with nervousness. Even from here, they could see a large, green tail that wrapped up and around the castle tower. Cuphead continued to drag Mugman across the bridge, even after the older brother's feet stopped moving. “Mugs, we at least have to cross the bridge before the sprinklers stop working.” “I-I-I know, I just...” Mugman gazed fearfully at the broken castle ahead of them. He suddenly pulled out the list of debtors and began reading it. “M-maybe there's someone else we should fight first!” Cuphead placed a hand over Mugman's and gently pushed his hand down so he could see his face. “Mug, we're here now. It'd waste more time ta run around and find any a the other debtors in the isle.” Mugman whined at that. “I know, but...” He let out a huff in frustration. “I-it's a dragon, Cups! A real-life dragon! You know how many times Elder Kettle's said he lost fellow knights to dragons!! A-and they're trained for combat! How can we possibly stand a chance to a fire-breathing dragon?!” Mugman began biting his nails through his gloves, clippings flying off his fingertips with each chatter he made.

Mugman imagined a dark scene, where the dragon angrily roared at them with burning, glowing yellow eyes as he flew around his castle with razor-sharp teeth bared out at them. The dragon breathed fire that burned so brightly, it made the sun seem dim in comparison, making the entire landscape darker as his eyes could only seem to focus on the yellow and orange flames.

Cuphead quickly waved the thought cloud away with his hand, only to notice Mugman had began to chew on his straw now. “Mug, yer such a worry-wart! Stop chewin' up yer straw, and quit bein' a sippy cup.” Cuphead tried as he grabbed Mugman by his right wrist to pull him across the bridge. “Everythin's gonna be fine!” “H-how can you be so confident about this?!” Mugs asked, his straw flying out from his teeth once he opened his mouth. “Because. When the two of us stand together, there's nothin' that can take us down.” Mugman lowered his head anxiously. That was a little comforting, but could the two of them truly take down a dragon? Cuphead noticed, and gave his brother a reassuring pat on his right shoulder. “Everything's gonna be fine. Swear on my straw.” “You swear on your straw?” “Uh-huh!” Cuphead nodded with a wide smile. “Cross my heart, hope to crack, stick a sword in yer back! Besides,” Cuphead took off the glove on his left hand, revealing the lavender ring on his finger. “We got this new weapon, and you've got invincibility on yer side thanks to that swell, new, magical Super Art.” Mugman pulled out the Super Coin labeled with II from his pocket and looked at it. “You're not going to try it?” “Nah.” Cup shook his head, “I'd rather be able to do massive damage and end things quicker.” “Can't end it if we don't survive it.” Mugman argued, but sighed and placed the coin back in his pocket. “But you're right. It'd make no difference if we put off this fight and run out of time, or if we fight him now and lose.” “That's...not what I was goin' for, but we'll roll with it!”

Our heroes stood outside the castle and looked up at the stone spire from the grass below. Cuphead let out a whistle at how tall the tower stood. They could hear a ferocious roar from outside, one that shook the ground from where they stood, followed by an exhale of air. Mugman quivered in his boots, clinking in fear as the dragon roared again and exhaled. It was starting to form a pattern. “J-j-just why is he r-roaring like that?! D-does he know we're here?!” “Maybe we should find the window his tail is coming out from, and sneak in from behind.” Cuphead thought. “Y...yeah, that's actually not a bad idea.” The brothers walked around the left side of the tower, and found the dragon tail that stuck out the window and wrapped around the tower. “Do you think he's looking this way?” “I dunno, I can't see from here. Uh, hang on, lemme try somethin'.” Cuphead removed his straw from his head, and angled one end to form a perfect 'L' shape. He then bent the bottom of his straw towards him just a tad and looked through the end of his straw to try and see inside, but he couldn't quite see through the window, and ended up staring right at the stone wall. “Ugh, I still can't see!” “Here.” Mugman grabbed his little brother's handle and lifted his head off his shoulders, just enough to see past the wall. “Ack!” The child squeaked, not quite expecting that, but it was just the extra height he needed. “Perfect, thanks!” Cuphead moved the straw back up to his eyes, looked inside the security castle, and saw the tail leave the room and trail around the corner. “Mug, he ain't even in the room!” Cuphead announced as he removed the kink he made in his straw before putting it back in his head. Mugman put his brother's head back on his shoulders, then Cuphead turned around. “Gimme a boost, we can sneak right in!” Mugman nodded. “O-okay...”

Mugman put his hands together to give his brother some footing, and Cuphead placed his right foot in the mug's hands, holding onto the older's shoulders for balance. “Ready?” Cuphead asked. Mugman nodded. “Just climb in though. If you jump in, you'll make too much noise when you land. Now's not a good time to be a showoff. And do not touch his tail!” Mugman whispered. “Well duh!” Cuphead hoisted himself up in Mugman's hands, grabbed onto the inside of the stone window sill and pulled himself up. “Watch the tail, watch the tail!!” Mugman warned cautiously. Cuphead pulled himself as close to his right-hand side as he could, placed his left foot on the window and pushed himself forwards, quietly landing inside the castle. He stuck his straw out the window from the other side. “Take my straw!” Cuphead whispered. Mugman grabbed onto the red straw and gave a small tug. The straw was suddenly yanked back into the castle, taking Mugman along with it. “Eep!” The screen shook with the sound of a crash!

Cuphead looked down at Mugman as he laid on the ground, holding his head as stars and birds circled around it. After a few moments though, Mugman shook them off and stood up. “Well, we're in.” Mugman said as he looked around at the ancient castle. “Let's follow the tail to find Grim.” “Mm-hmm.” Cuphead agreed.

The boys silently followed the large green tail around the corner, only to find it trailing up a spiral staircase. “Wha- how long is his tail?!” Mugman whispered. “We have to climb all the way up?!” “We have to climb all the way up, without stepping on his tail, and without falling off the other side!!” “But his tail is basically the same size as the stairs! How we supposed to do that?!” “Uh...just watch your step?” “Great. If we don't accidentally touch him, we'll fall off the side and shatter.” “Well that's optimism.” Mugman sighed.

The brothers began to climb the stairs, they were careful not to brush the dragon's tail or step off the ledge. After what seemed like an hour for the kids, they finally reached the top of the stairwell, both practically crawling their way up those final few steps, heaving and wheezing as they tried to catch their breath. How could anyone ever have climbed all the way up while wearing such heavy armor?! “Why...couldn't...have...the princess...built this place...with an...elevator?!” Cuphead panted. “Elevators...weren't...invented...until...1853...guh!” Mugman wheezed.

After a few moments of catching their breath, the brothers finally stood, ready to continue their search for the roaring dragon at the end of the tail. They walked forward and entered one last room before they finally spotted this mighty, ferocious dragon.

Grim Matchstick laid in the middle of the room on his back, his short arms and legs sticking lazily up in the air, almost like a dog or a cat. His long, lizard-like tongue hung out from his wide-open mouth limply, even lying on the stone floor some as his chubby tummy gently moved up and down with each breath. Grim roared loudly, then exhaled. Then, he roared again, but this time, there was a definitive snorting sound to it, followed by a slight sigh. “He's snoring?!” Cuphead whispered, causing one of Grim's ears to twitch. “This is...definitely not what I was expecting.” Mugman admitted, but he still didn't want to be the one who woke up a sleeping giant. “How exactly are we going to do this?” Grim's ears twitched again, and he suddenly stirred, causing Mugman to jump right into Cuphead's arms with a hushed gasp.

Grim closed his mouth and rolled over on his stomach, curling his long neck against his legs as he sleepily mumbled something. “That was close.” Mugman breathed. “Well, we still gotta get his contract!” Cuphead argued, dropping his older brother from his arms. “Ack!” Mugman squeaked as he landed on the stone. “Shh!” “Yer the one screaming.” “Just wait.” Mugman stood and brushed himself off, small gray dust clouds forming as he did. “If he's sleeping, we can snoop around and try and find it without waking him!” Grim's ears twitched again as Mugman explained. “We don't have to fight him!” Was someone trying to steal one of his scales again? “For once, we don't have to resort to violence!” They seemed like good-natured folks, but they also sounded like kids. Why would two kids need a dragon scale?   “Mug, we might not have time for that.” Time? Oh no...

Grim finally opened one of his eyes to see what was going on, which Cuphead noticed immediately and looked on in fear. “Look, I think it'd be easier to make up for lost time than it would be to try and fight a dragon,” Mugman explained, oblivious to the shadow that loomed over him and his brother. “Uh, M-Mugs?” Grim looked down at the kids, unintentionally towering over the boys. As Mugman looked back and he squealed in fear as he saw the large dragon glaring down at them. No doubt Grim heard what Mugman said. They were ceramic toast. The dragon huffed out a bit of smoke as he stretched his wings.

Grim let out as quiet of a yawn as he could to avoid frightening the children, small sleepy tears pricking the corners of his eyes. “H-h-h-holy smokes! I d-d-d-didn't even hear you two come in! S-s-s-sorry about that, I had a rough n-n-n-night's sleep last night, so I didn't r-r-r-really clean as much as I sh-sh-sh-should have.” Grim stuttered, genuinely feeling sorry about his messy castle. The brothers looked at each other, unsure of how to react. Grim noticed his tail ended up wrapped around the castle again, so he unraveled himself from both the inside and the outside of the tower. “So, wh-wh-wh-what brings you two to the security castle? Is there s-s-s-something you n-n-n-needed?” Mugman opened his mouth to speak, but only various noises managed to come out. Grim lowered his head a bit, just to try and make himself look less intimidating. “Aw, I'm sorry, I-I-I-I didn't mean to scare you! You two can ask me a-a-a-anything! Honest!” “Anything?” Cuphead checked. “Anything. I promise I won't g-g-g-get mad.” “Promise?” Repeated Cuphead. “P-p-p-promise.” Grim nodded, his ears perking up cheerfully with a smile as his tail wagged behind him. “T-t-t-trust me. I'm known for m-m-m-my patience.” “Well...Okay.” Cuphead toyed, acting like the innocent little kid he wasn't. “We need your Soul Contract.”

Grim's warm smile dropped at that, his ears drooped lowly. He never told anyone about his deal with the Devil. Grim's wings twitched instinctively as he straightened his neck up once more. “H-h-h-how d-did...?” Cuphead was growing nervous himself now, as he saw the dragon make himself taller again. “Uhh, n-now remember, y-you promised not ta get mad!” He tried, slowly losing his nerve as every bit as much as Mugman had. “D-d-d-did the Devil himself send you?!” Cuphead flinched at that. “Uhhh...” The brothers both nodded, more out of fear than anything else. Grim sighed and looked away to try and hide his quivering lip. “Y-y-y-you two don't seem like th-th-th-the type for the D-D-D-Devil's l-l-l-lackeys.” Grim took another deep breath, gaining control of his emotions for the time being. He turned his head back at our heroes and looked down at them with slight guilt. They were just kids. Children. And from the conversation they had earlier, they seemed like good kids, too. “Ah, w-w-well, y-you see,” Mugman started, “w-w-we basically, uh, went somewhere w-we weren't supposed ta, a-and things k-kinda got outta hand!!” The poor boy was terribly frightened and unable to quite read the dragon's body language well. “W-w-we really don't wanna, b-but--” Mugman's mouth suddenly felt dry, too dry to speak. “But you were t-t-t-tricked?” Grim concluded, looking down at Mugman. Mug slowly nodded, afraid to break eye contact with Grim. Grim sighed again. He truly felt bad.  “I....I'd l-l-l-love to h-h-h-help you out. I t-t-t-truly would.” Cuphead and Mugman looked hopeful at that. “B-b-b-but I c-c-c-can't just...leave.” In an instant, their hopes fell. “I-I-I-I can't j-j-j-just give over m-m-m-my Soul Contract t-t-t-to you.” Grim looked away. “If I do, I-I-I-I'll have to l-l-l-leave. I'll h-h-h-have to leave my f-f-f-friends, a-a-a-and th-th-th-they'll be s-s-s-so w-w-w-worried a-a-a-about me. I-I-I-I don't want them t-t-t-to worry about li'l ole me.” “Little?” Cuphead whispered. “So...I g-g-g-guess this puts us a-a-a-at a bit of a s-s-s-standstill. A c-c-c-case of 'your soul or mine.' R-r-r-right?” Neither one of the brothers liked where this was going. Grim spread out his wings and gave them a gentle flap. “M-m-m-my soul and my Soul Contract belongs to me. A-a-a-and no one else! I-I-I-I'm sorry. T-t-t-truly, I am. B-b-b-but if you w-w-w-want to get it from m-m-m-me, th-th-th-then I must challenge you.” Grim reached into a drawer with his tail, pulled out the contract, then shut the drawer again. He showed the boys his contract, then put the scroll behind his back. He began to flap his wings and lifted his body off the ground. “Take it f-f-f-from me, if you dare!!” Grim suddenly took off out the window and into the sky with a large gust of wind that knocked Mug over and sent him rolling into the wall, just beside the window. “Oww!!” “C'mon Mugs, we gotta get moving!” Cup said as he pulled his older brother up by the hand and tried to lead him outside. “I ain't fightin' this lizard withoutchya!”

The brothers hopped onto a cloud passing by the window and saw Grim just a little farther out. Our heroes began to skip across the sky, jumping from cloud to cloud to catch up with the dragon. Grim suddenly burst into view from the right, his wings morphed into thin, large hands with wriggling fingers and kept his real arms around his chest as he stretched his lips out with a, “Booooo!” Although it wasn't exactly scary, Mugman was so frightened by having to fight a dragon that it got the preteen to jump and squeal. Grim couldn't help but snicker just a tad. Yes, it was mean, but he always got a kick out of startling people. Mugman pulled his straw down to his mouth and took a large gulp of milk from his head to rid himself of his dry mouth. Meanwhile, Cuphead took a deep breath and pulled up his shorts as he braced himself for the battle ahead.

Grim's eyes suddenly swirled and went zany as he charged up his dragon magic. Cuphead hopped onto a cloud ahead of him, not too far above, pointed behind his own head and snapped. The green Roundabout bullets swirled behind him, just above his brother, then swung forward to hit Grim in the base of his neck. Then, green magic rings fired out from Grim's eyes and straight for Cuphead, then for Mugman, each with a third pink one that followed behind the first two. “Ah!” Mugman threw himself towards the next cloud, jumping down on the surface directly below Cuphead and avoiding the attack. Mugman saw another cloud that was higher up, where he could get a better view and made two hops up to it. Meanwhile, Cuphead ran forward to beat the train of magic rings to the next nearest cloud, then, he let himself roll forward and off the cloud. The end of Cuphead's straw closed up to form a white-gloved hand as he continued to flip forward, the hand slapped against the pink magic, giving the child a slight boost. This, unfortunately, wasn't enough, however, and as soon as Cuphead landed on the edge of the cloud, he began to wobble and quickly fell with a shriek. “Mugman!!” Mugman quickly looked back and saw his brother dangling from the cloud with his right hand. “Cuphead!!” Mugman rushed over to the other side of the fluffy platform, got on his hands and knees and grabbed his little brother's wrist to pull him up. However, as Mugman began to pull his brother up, Cuphead noticed how Grim's eyes went zany again, just like before. “Mugman, hurry, he's gonna attack again!!” Mugman groaned as he yanked the other up, and once Cuphead was close enough, Cuphead grabbed onto the ledge with his free hand and helped pull himself up. “There you go! Whew!” Cuphead stood, spun his head around backwards and started firing, ready to dodge. Mugman tried to get up but felt a tug on his left arm that told him he couldn't. “Wha-?!” Mugman tried to pull himself up again but got the same result. He looked down to see what the problem was and saw two little cloud puffs had embodied themselves to grab onto Mugman's glove and pull his hand down into the cloud completely. “Oh no!! C-Cuphead, help me up, I'm stuck in the cloud!!” Cuphead gasped at that and spun his head forwards again to try and pull Mugman out. Grim fired out three more eye ripples at the brothers, and Cuphead tried to pull his brother out even harder. “Cuphead, watch out! Move!!” Cuphead suddenly threw himself over Mugman and let all three attacks slam against his back.  The boy hissed in pain and wiped his eyes before looking back at Grim. He seemed to be getting farther and farther away. “Mug, you gotta start shootin' at him. I'll try and getchya out!” Mugman gulped but nodded with a serious expression. If they didn't do anything but dodge, they'd never be able to end the match. Cuphead wrapped his arms around Mugman's chest and pulled, as Mugman began to snap at Grim with his free hand.

The sound of a tinkling piano was heard as the green tip of a tail wiggled through the cloud-cover below, almost as if waving to the audience on the other side of the screen. Suddenly, the tail jut upwards towards the brothers which caused Cuphead to let go of the mug and launched Mugman into the air and onto another cloud above. “Oof!!” Mugman hissed in pain, feeling the bruise already forming on his belly as he slowly got up. “Well, at least I'm out...” He looked down at Cuphead, “hey! You can reach that cloud down there!” Mugman pointed. “Either he's flying backwards, or he's pushing the clouds back by making wind! Aim behind your head instead of turning it, it's too dangerous at this height!” “Gotchya!” Cuphead winked as he gave his brother the a-okay sign with his hand. Cuphead dashed off the cloud, then threw a Smoke Bomb to give him the extra boost he needed to reach the lower cloud Mugman pointed to.

Mugman pointed straight at Grim, and began to fire again, jumping onto another cloud close by in order to keep the dragon in sight. Mugman winced in pain as he landed, but he tried his best to push it aside like he'd always seen his little brother do. Cuphead bent his arm back behind his head, and began to shoot his Roundabouts again, watching his green bullets circle around and hit Grim. Thankfully, the dragon was big enough that aiming wasn't majorly important.

Grim watched as the children moved closer and began to suck in air. He pushed his tummy upwards, seemingly puffing out his chest as the brothers continued to hop from cloud to cloud, Mugman always trying to stay higher up, and just a tad further back. Grim suddenly released his attack, coughing out a large meteor at the boys as he threw his short arms down and to the sides, then he wasted no time in preparing another. The meteor snaked down, then back up before it would start to curve and fall back down again. Mugman stood his ground, not moving from the cloud he was on. He estimated that the dip and the rise of the meteor's path should have been equal to each other in height and that he should have been safe from where he was. Unfortunately for Cuphead, he'd already hopped in the air once the attack was launched and found himself in the path of the meteor! The child rolled his body forwards as he flipped, letting his legs stick out at an angle to try and make himself flatter to avoid crashing into the fiery rock. While Cuphead had successfully avoided slamming his whole body against the attack, the boy in red reached his left palm out towards the cloud to be able to land on his feet and scraped his elbow. “Ow!” Cuphead hissed, patting out the fire on his elbow as he stood. Something about that felt funny. It didn't feel like just a normal scrape, it felt different. Almost warm, but not at all in a pleasant way. Too warm. So warm, that it actually hurt. “What was...?” “Cuphead, incoming!” Mugman warned.

When Cuphead looked back at the dragon, he'd coughed out yet another meteor that sailed upwards first, unlike the one before. Cuphead got a running start, then jumped up onto another cloud above him, and Mugman didn't take long to join him. Cuphead held his left arm in pain. If Mugman wasn't standing right behind him, he'd be able to fire at him, but before Cuphead could tell Mugman to move, his older brother seemed to notice him holding his elbow. “You alright?” He asked, glancing down at Cuphead's elbow briefly, as he continued his fire. “'M fine, my elbow just...” Cuphead trailed off, not knowing the proper word to describe the way this felt. “Stings?” This caught Mugman's attention, but so did the next meteor Grim coughed out. “Hang on!” Mugman wrapped his left arm around Cuphead's waist and started running. “Move with me!” The brothers stepped off the cloud and let themselves drop onto another one close by. Mugman paused for a moment, waiting for the attack to move a little closer, then jumped directly into the trail of dark smoke the meteor left behind, and onto another puffy, white platform. “What'd you do?” Mugman asked as he kept an eye on Grim. “I scraped my elbow against one of the meteors, and now it kinda stings? But not really?” Mugman grabbed his little brother's injured elbow and brought it closer to his face as he continued firing. “Lemme see!” He looked down at Cuphead's elbow an immediately saw what Cuphead was talking about, thanks to the hole left by the fire on his shirt.

Cuphead's elbow was black and slightly charred. The cup burned himself. Dishware didn't get burned by the same things most people would, such as hot water, or hot food. Even brief contact with an open flame wouldn't feel as hot for them as it would for someone else. It took far more heat for a ceramic or metal being to feel pain than the average Joe, so neither of our heroes had experienced the burning sensation of touching a hot pan, or drinking hot cocoa before it's cooled. That was why Cuphead didn't know how to describe the pain he felt. “You just got a little burnt, it's nothing major.” Mugman informed, looking back at Grim now. “Burnt?” “When someth- shoot!!” Mugman grabbed his brother's right wrist and pulled him along as he jumped down onto a lower cloud. Cuphead hadn't even noticed Grim cough out another meteor. “When something's too hot for our bodies to withstand, it leaves a burn, which causes pain. But because we're made of ceramic designed for holding hot coffee or tea, most things won't burn us.” Mugman explained, moving in front of Cuphead as he continued his fire towards Grim. Neither one of them noticed the sound of the piano as the tail wriggled behind Cuphead. Mugman turned his head to finish his explanation as Cuphead finally began firing behind himself again. “Luckily for you, it's a minor burn, we can just wash off the soot with some dish soap and elbow grease late- Cuphead, hightail it outta there!!” Cuphead glanced behind him and rushed out of the way onto a lower cloud as Mugman jumped up to a higher one, just before the tail jut upwards.

Seeing that his meteors didn't seem to work, Grim switched tactics again and let his eyes go zany as he shot out four magic eye ripples, the fourth one being pink, just as before. Mugman saw the incoming attack, and squat down low to duck out of the way, but as the pink ring soared above him, he jumped back up to try and parry the magic, only to miss, and get hit in the face. “Ouch!!” Mugman tried to stay standing and stumbled back as a result. “Mugs, watch yer--” Cuphead knew it was too late. One wrong misstep and Mugman plunged off the cloud with a loud shriek, and with nothing but the carnival below to break his fall. Cuphead lunged forwards, as far as he could manage, and pushed Mugman and himself onto another fluffy cloud. “Mug!! You okay?!” Mugman sat up and held his right cheek as he hissed in pain. “Yeah. Ugh, I sh-shouldn't have tried to parry.” He let go of his face to see the crack that formed from the attack. “Ow! Thanks for the save.” The brothers quickly got up and moved closer to the dragon, both trying their hardest to build up their Super Meter and both so close to a full meter.

Once the brothers got close enough, Grim noticed the charred ceramic on Cuphead's elbow, and a pang of guilt shot through him. “D-d-d-did I burn you?” He asked meekly, trying not to sound half as guilty as he felt. “Wh- of course ya burnt me!! You shot giant fireballs of death at us!!” “Oh, I-I-I-I'm sorry!” “Wh- I- sorry?!” Cuphead seemingly spat back, but he spoke more out of disbelief rather than anger. “Don't m-m-m-misunderstand my flames – I just meant fun and games.” Grim admitted, although it was a bit of a lie to himself. It was the only way he could trick himself into attacking these kids. He wasn't actually fighting them, he'd tell himself, he was merely play-fighting. Grim pushed his thoughts to the side, and began to suck in air as he prepared another attack. “What flames?!” Cuphead asked. Grim paused, completely still for a few moments as he pretended to think.

After about one second, Grim answered. “Th-th-th-these flames!” He joked and coughed out two flaming meteors that weaved up and down in a crisscross pattern. “Ack!!” Cuphead jumped over the higher fireball and managed to roll onto another cloud safely, then looked back to watch Mugman. Mug looked around the sky to find a safe cloud between the two meteors, but the only cloud that was safe was the one directly across from him, which he would have to cross the path of the intertwining fireballs to reach. Mugman had no choice, however. He took a deep breath, got a running start, and lunged across the gap between him just as the meteors flew towards him. It was evident Mugman wouldn't make the jump before the attacks crossed. “Mugman!!” Cuphead cried. He couldn't see his brother anymore thanks to all the smoke from the meteors. However, it almost seemed like there was more smoke than usual.

Not seeing his brother made Cuphead's heart sink. He balled up his fists in anger and wiped away the dots of milk that tried to form in his eyes. “I ain't letting you get away with hurting Mugman!!” The child roared, not looking back at the dragon as he snapped faster, and more vigorously than he ever had in his life. He could hear the green bullets swivel around and hit Grim, and he could feel his Super Meter building now more than ever.

Suddenly, tiny blue bullets joined the barrage of attacks that hit the dragon from the cloud of smoke left behind. Cuphead instantly felt hope well up inside his very soul and he could just barely make out the sound of his brother's voice coughing.

As the smoke cleared, Mugman was waving the gray clouds away with his right hand as he shot at the dragon with his left. “Good gosh!” The mug hacked, “That literally blew up in my face.” “Mugman!!” “For future reference, the Smoke Bomb works better when you don't throw it at a flaming object that's two feet away from your face!” Cuphead sighed in relief, then turned back to look at Grim.

“Also, as an addition to what we were saying before, those don't count as flames! They're just rocks on fire!!” Cuphead shrieked back, the anger from before having completely dissipated. “Wait, th-th-th-they don't?” Grim asked. “Nuh-uh!” The cup huffed sternly. “Oh...Well...uhh...” Grim stammered, not changing his facial expression as he slowly slid backwards and off the screen.

Mugman quickly hopped from cloud to cloud, passing Cuphead as he tried to chase the seemingly fleeing dragon. “Where'd he go?!” “Cuphead, after him!” Mugman suddenly heard a whooshing sound from behind him, but he only managed to catch a glimpse of a scaly green tail. “Wait a minute!” As a large gust of wind continued to push the clouds forward, Mugman suddenly heard a fiery fwoosh from behind, and saw that something pink had rolled out below the clouds under them. The boy turned around and saw that Grim had lowered his head down behind Cuphead and him, and that he'd not only rolled out his tongue below, but he was also blowing out fire from his nostrils as he slowly flew closer to an oblivious Cuphead. “Cuphead, move!!” Mugman called, but it seemed his brother couldn't hear him. “Mugman, do you see where he went?!”

Eventually, Grim ran out of breath and had to stop breathing fire. He quickly took in a sharp breath to refresh the attack, but noticed the inattentive red child that stood on a cloud just above him. Regardless of what Grim was trying to do, the dragon didn't see it as very fair if he unexpectedly snorted fire at the boy with absolutely no warning.

Grim puffed out smoke from his nostrils with a deep whistling sound into the air above, and unfortunately right into Cuphead's face. “Ack!” Cuphead was blinded, and began to cough and hack aggressively as he tried to wave away the smoke. “M-Mugma--” The boy was cut off by his own choking. “I-I can't see!!” It was clear to Mugman that his brother didn't notice the approaching dragon behind him. Mugman swallowed the lump of anxiety in his metaphorical throat and dashed back from cloud to cloud to reach his little brother, only to freeze up when he got too close to the dragon for his liking. Mugs looked back to see if there was another cloud he could use as a safety net and looked back to Cuphead, holding out both his arms. “C-C-Cuphead!! J-jump forward!! Quickly!!” Cuphead still couldn't see anything, but his brother sounded close, so he jumped towards the sound of Mugman's voice, eyes still glued shut as he sailed into the air blindly.

Once he could finally breathe fresh air again, Cuphead managed to open his eyes as he started to fall. Mugman caught Cuphead in his arms, but at the price of stumbling and falling off the white puff. Luckily for the ceramic duo, Mugman managed to grab onto the edge of a cloud below, and swiftly swung his little brother up and over onto the cloud with impressive speed and agility. “Pull me up!!” Mugman called, firing back at Grim with his free hand. Mugman's feet dangled only mere inches above the dragon's tongue and he didn't like it one bit. Cuphead ran over to the other side of the cloud and bent over to help his brother up, having learned from Mug's mistake earlier. However, an orange fireball holding a large, burning matchstick in his left hand and wearing a blue shako on his head marched out from Grim's mouth with grit teeth, followed by another, grinning orange flame, then another, then another. Both the brothers realized that if Mug wasn't pulled up soon, he'd be burned by the Fireball Marchers. “Wuh-oh!!” “Hurry!!” Cuphead yanked his older up by his arm, then grabbed his shoulder to pull him up the rest of the way, just before the leader with the shako reached the cloud. “Let's get to higher ground!!” Mugman advised, able to feel the heat from the marching fire below. “We're in the air right now?!” Cuphead reminded. “Whatever! Higher clouds! You know what I mean!!”

The boys moved away from Grim, both doing their best to keep a constant fire upon the mighty dragon. “Cuphead, do you have enough for a Super?” Mugman asked. The younger cup looked over to his brother and nodded. “Should I use it now?” “No! Not yet!” Mugman glanced down at the clouds below them, then back at the clouds behind them. “The strong wind's pushing the clouds towards Grim, if you try to use it now, you're bound to wind up with nothing under you to land on!” Mugman looked back at the dragon, keeping his line of fire on him as he thought. “The first Super lasts about three seconds before you drop back down.” Cuphead did his best to stay close to his brother, so that he could be ready whenever he gave him the signal, all while keeping his aim ahead to hit Grim. “But it'll be hard to judge the distance a cloud will be in that time while fighting like this...” This put the mug in a tough spot, using the Super in this type of field was risky, but they wouldn't last long simply chipping away at the dragon with their weaker attacks. If Mugman made a mistake, his brother would fall onto the Fireball Marchers below and get hurt. “Mugs...” Cuphead grumbled, growing impatient. “Alright. I'll keep an eye on the incoming cloud formations and try to time it so you have something to land on without getting burned again. In case I botch it up, I'll try and stay as close as I can so you don't fall.” “Wah? Mug, what if I accidentally hit you?” Cuphead voiced. “You won't, I promise. I'm only staying close by as a safety precaution! There's no harm in playing it safe.” “Right.” Cuphead nodded. “Once you finish the attack, switch to your new short ranged weapon, and try and stay within range, but not too close!” “Golly! Great thinkin' Mug!!” Cuphead agreed, and just like that, the plan was underway.

However, that was just when one of the Fireball Marchers suddenly made a noise, and broke the formation on the tongue. Mugman noticed the new sound and looked back to see the rouge fireball suddenly leap towards the two of them! “Woah!” Mugman suddenly pulled his brother back by his shirt, “jump, Cup,” and hopped up to another, higher cloud. “Wait!” Cuphead saw that the fireball could still reach them from their new height, and pushed his brother forward, forcing the mug to stumble two steps forward out of harm's way. As the younger cup jumped up, he let the marcher sail under him and into the cloud-cover below. “Good catch,” Mugman said, looking back with a thumbs up. “Ah! Wait!” Mugman rushed behind Cuphead then began to fire at Grim again. “Use it now!!”

Cuphead quickly pulled out the Super Coin from the depths of his pocket and flicked it into his head with his thumb in one, swift motion. He could feel the built-up magical energy grow stronger inside his body before the child let instinct take over. Cuphead jumped up in the air, lifted one leg up, and cracked a wide, confident grin as he aimed his head right at the dragon. “Take a sip a this, lizard-breath!!” He cried, then launched out the milk in his head with a mighty blast! Grim visibly tensed up at the attack upon impact and he let a loud yelp of pain escape his throat by mistake.

True to his word, Mugman moved along the traveling clouds and stayed close to his brother. As Cuphead began to fall back down, he just barely managed to land on the edge of a cloud below, with the help of Mugman, who grabbed his shoulder when he started to wobble forwards. Just as planned, Cuphead switched his weapon when he landed, and the next time he snapped, a small, lavender ball catapulted from his fingertip and crashed onto Grim's snout with a plop! “Auh!” Grim choked out as he flinched again. “This is working...” Mugman gasped softly, “keep on 'im, Cup!”

Suddenly, the brothers heard the strange, whiney sort of groan again and looked down to see another Fireball Marcher crouched down and facing the left, towards Grim. “Cuphe-!” “Already on it!” As the fireball lunged towards the ceramic duo, Cuphead took a short hop forwards and onto a lower cloud, closer to the dragon, before quickly jumping back onto the previous cloud once the flame had begun to sail towards him for a second time. At the same time, Mugman leaped and flipped backwards onto a lower cloud that was closer to the tongue than he'd like. “Ah!” He hissed, feeling the heat from the fire below. Mugman loved warm drinks and blankets next to a toasty, cozy fire, but this was too hot, even for him. It wasn't painful, but the fact that he could easily be burned scared him. The boy glanced back to find another fluffy platform, hopped onto the higher one behind him, and started firing again. “Cuphead, keep a safe distance!! I'll hang back!” Cuphead mentally acknowledged his brother's plan, but was too absorbed in the battle to physically show him, other than by getting some distance from the approaching dragon by hopping onto another cloud. “Try to stay higher up!” Mugman warned before he suddenly felt a drop land right on his nose. “Hnn?”

Cuphead had heard Mugman's strategy and glanced behind to try and find a higher platform, when he heard another matchstick marcher ready up for another attack. Cups glimpsed down below and saw this one facing the right, away from Grim, and towards Mugs! “Mug, watch out!!” “Ha?” Mugman saw the Fireball Marcher jump up and gasped as he quickly pulled out the new Super Coin. As Mug flicked the coin with his thumb, he jumped back and caught the enchanted charm in his head.

All at once, the boy could feel the magical energy from his Super Meter and the magic he dropped in his soul combine and increase dramatically. As if instinct took control, Mugman jumped up and crossed his arms below him in a circular motion as he tucked his knees into his chest. His soul, fueled by the magic, projected the illusion of his head, grinning despite appearing to be on the brink of death as indicated by the hollowed-out, black eyes. His head suddenly laughed in a deep voice, one that clearly wasn't Mugman's. “Ha ha ha!” The mug suddenly leaped out from the mouth of the illusion before it shrunk away with a few, large drops of milk, but rather than the typical blue appearance, Mugman was gold, and he glimmered and glowed so brightly, he almost looked transparent. Or perhaps he was transparent. “Woah! This is...I feel great! Fantastic! Ha ha!” He laughed confidently, oblivious to the other marcher that suddenly lunged at him. “Eek!” Mugman expected to get rammed and burned by the flame, but the fireball merely passed right through his body. “Good gosh! This sure is swell!!” Now Mugman was brimming with confidence, knowing that nothing could touch him. The child fought without fear.

Mugman dropped to a lower cloud, still keeping his distance from Grim, but not worried about the fire below. Mugman quickly began to fight recklessly, oblivious to the fading shimmer and how his body flashed between his normal and golden state. He heard another Fireball Marcher prepare for another leap, but when Mugman saw that he was facing him rather than Cuphead, he only scoffed. “Take your best shot at me, sucker!!” He taunted with confidence, just as his body ceased its flashing form and reverted back to its normal state.

The fiery marcher launched at Mugman and not only violently crashed into him, which caused the screen to shake, but also left a large, painful burn on his chest. “Ow! Ouch! Ow! Get it off, put it out! Ow!!” He shrieked, prompting Cuphead to look back. Mugman was laying flat with his stomach on the cloud, shirt and gloves still steaming and sizzling from when he presumably pushed the Fireball Marcher off and put out the fire it started on his shirt. “Mugman!” Cuphead rushed over to his brother and helped him back up to his feet again. “Are you alright?! What happened to your invincibility?!” “Owww.” Mug whimpered. “Y-you tell me.” He hissed as he held the burns on his chest. “I-I didn't realize that had such a short time-limit!” “Mugs...” “D-don't worry about me! Ow. We need to knock this guy out! Pronto! Focus on attacking him!” Mugman tried as he leaned onto Cuphead for support. It hurt so much just for him to stand, but they had to press forward. “Mug, yer hurt!” “I know, but we can't back down now! We'll worry about me later, but for now, we need to take this guy down! The longer we're fighting, the worse off we are!” Mugs groaned. Cuphead begrudgingly nodded. “Right.” He made sure his older brother was able to stand and got closer to the dragon again.

Mugman hopped up, wincing in pain as he moved, and focused his shots on Grim as he watched his little brother. Despite being hurt himself, Cuphead didn't let it bother him in the slightest. Meanwhile, Mugman was severely slowing down due to the pain, and would always take a precautious jump back whenever he saw the Fireball Marchers get ready to pounce. The burns to his chest certainly did no favors to the bruise that he got earlier, and all this moving around was making the crack on his cheek throb in pain. Mugman felt another drop on the right side of his rim, this time it rolled down and traced along the crack in his face, which earned another pained hiss from the boy. Elder Kettle didn't say anything about rain before they left, did he? Or maybe it was just dragon slobber?

“Kablooey!” Cuphead called as he expelled the built-up magical energy from his body out both his fists. As he fired the new Ex Move, a larger, lavender ball launched out and onto Grim's lower jaw, splashing all over his face.“ Owie!!” Grim yelped. “Why ca't you hoo husth g-g-g-githe uh ahleahy?!” The dragon questioned, wishing the children would just admit defeat and go home! “Over my empty head!!” Cuphead retaliated, just as the wind drastically picked up. The boy snapped his fingers once again and the lavender bullet catapulted forwards and smacked Grim right between the wings, then bounced off and hit the back of his neck, just behind the head.

The dragon shrieked in pain. The attack was just enough to trigger a reflex in his wings that caused them to freeze up and stop moving. Grim's eyes bulged out of his head as his body involuntarily shuddered. The dragon rolled his tongue back into his mouth as he glided across the sky, motionless for a few moments. The sky suddenly grew very dark as black clouds rolled in from seemingly nowhere. Rain quickly began to pour down over the three debtors, soaking them all within seconds.

Grim suddenly reared his neck upwards as the clouds darkened his form into nothing more but a large silhouette. There were three voices, each making a different sound. One laughed, another made a silly, warbly, babbling sound, and the last timidly wooed as if mimicking a ghost. “What was...?” Mugman asked, looking up at the silhouette in fear. A head rose up to look Cuphead right in the eyes. “One...” It said before another head on the left side rose up next to the other. “Two...” It taunted, before a third head arose on the far right, grinning maniacally at the cup with an insane look in his eyes. “Three!” Suddenly, the three heads closed in on the boy, forcing Cuphead to take a step back. “You'd b-b-b-etter flee! Brawrahahahah!” The hydra taunted, just as a loud crack of thunder crashed throughout the sky. “Cuphead, back away!!” Mugman warned, and Cuphead didn't at all hesitate.

However, Cuphead surprised Mugman with how far back he retreated. Cup pulled out a Smoke Bomb and dashed as far back as he could, then turned on his heel and lunged across at least four more clouds before he stopped behind his brother. Although Mugman didn't think much of this, he glanced behind at his brother for a moment as he observed Grim in his new form. “Good thinking, Cups. We don't know what this fella's capable of now. We should hang back and watch how he fights!” Mugman informed as he kept a line of fire.

The trio of hydra heads juggled themselves up and down in a way that seemed complex but was a fairly simple pattern. The outer two heads quickly spat out a goopy-looking fire cluster into the air, followed by another and another. At first, Mugman thought these would be easy to dodge if they only kept a safe distance, but one stray bullet from the Peashooter, and a cluster exploded in four different directions, one of course, that headed straight for our heroes.

Mugman flipped forward to dodge, then looked back to make sure Cuphead was safe. “Cuphead!” He called over the thunder and lightning. “Switch your weapon and focus on dodging if you accidentally hit one of those attacks!” Cuphead looked up at Mugman stiffly. “Focus on building up a Super, and end it quickly!!” A soft groan escaped from the older brother. “Hurry!” Mugman turned back to focus on their new strategy.

However, Cuphead couldn't hear what his brother had said at all over the rain, wind, and thunder. The child wasn't focused on the battle at hand at all anymore. Rather, Cuphead looked all around at their surroundings. A large, three-headed, fire-breathing dragon in front of them, gray and black clouds as far as the eye could see, trapped Heaven knows how high up from the world below. Another strike of lightning caused the child to tremble as the rainwater collected in his and his brother's head and overflowed, spilling down the sides. As high up and as soaked as they were, they were bound to be struck by nature's cruel electricity. Cuphead hardly moved aside from his own shaking, not that he could hear himself clinking over the sudden and violent storm. The boy watched his brother as he fought the dragon, unable to move from the one spot on the cloud as tears began to well up in his eyes. A soft hiccup escaped the child as his heart pounded against his chest. A sudden bolt of lightning lunged dangerously close to his brother's head, and the child nearly screamed, but his voice seemed to catch in his throat and turn into a mix between a sob and a cough. “M-Mugs!” Cuphead whimpered softly, sniffling as he shook violently, paralyzed with fear.

Mugman continued to shoot at the hydra as he made sure to watch out for the fire clusters to avoid hitting them. After a short while, however, Mugman noticed that Grim's center head took a deep breath, and knew he was preparing something. He turned back to warn Cuphead, only to hear his little brother suddenly start wailing loudly as soon as another, deafening clap of thunder echoed throughout Inkwell. “Cuphead?!” It had become too much for the child to bare all at once. Cuphead had his face raised to the sky as he wailed and sobbed in fear, terrified. Terrified that he was going to be electrocuted by the lightning. Terrified that his brother was going to be electrocuted by the lightning.

Mugman quickly looked back at Grim, then rushed over to his baby brother as fast as he could. The second he wrapped an arm around Cuphead, his little brother suddenly clung to him for dear life, sobbing and screaming into his chest. Before Mugman would even attempt to try and calm his beloved little Sippy Cup down however, he rushed up and lunged them both onto a higher cloud, and not a moment too soon.

Grim's center head morphed into a large, red flamethrower, and unleashed a massive beam of fire onto where the brothers once stood. He breathed in again and attempted to burn the brothers once more, but he hadn't seemed to notice they had moved. “Hey, g-g-g-genius! They moved up th-th-th-there! The angry-looking head on the right bickered. “W-w-w-well I didn't n-n-n-notice that!!” The center head defended. “And n-n-n-now's not the time t-t-t-to be arguing!” “Right! W-w-w-we need to defend our s-s-s-soul!!” The one on the far left agreed gleefully with a nod. “L-l-l-let's go!” They all cheered.

“Cuphead, what's wrong?” Mugman asked, keeping his little brother close as he pushed him against his aching chest. Cuphead managed to blubber something out, but it was far too distressed for Mugman to be able to make anything out. Another crashing boom of lightning and Cuphead whimpered as he hugged his brother tighter. “A-ah! N-not so tight!!” Mug hissed in pain, but now he understood.

Cuphead had been absolutely terrified of lightening ever since he was six. The three of them had gone to see a movie for Cuphead's birthday, and in the grand finale, the antagonist had been violently and graphically struck by lightning. The child had been terrified of getting electrocuted ever since. When they were kids, Mugman would always have to hold Cuphead close and stay with him until the storm either passed, or Cuphead fell asleep. However, Cuphead stopped waking him up in recent years, Mugman thought he'd been sleeping right through the storms and just assumed he'd gotten over his fear. He must have thought wrong.

Mugman looked back at their foe, grit teeth and a grave expression lining his face. This was a fine time for him to find this out. He knew he wasn't going to get Cuphead to do much more fighting, but if he'd tried to tell him to sit it out anywhere, his brother would not only still be terrified, but at risk of getting hit. No matter where Cuphead moved to, he'd always be in the way. He had to think of something, and quick. “I-it's okay, Sippy Cup, don't panic, alright?” Mugman hoped that the nickname would at least soothe him in some way. “Y-yer gonna be alright, alright? Just...” Mugs began to fire at Grim once more with his free hand and held on tighter to his brother with the arm he had wrapped around him as he continued to move towards him. “Hang on tight!” Mugman braced himself for the remaining battle ahead and for his brother to increase his grip over his injuries.

Mugman rushed just a little closer to Grim and attempted to build up enough of his Super Meter to at least use some Ex Moves, all while carrying his caterwauling mess of a baby brother. The crying child wasn't about to go unnoticed by Grim, however. “Wh-wh-wh-what's wrong with him?! I-i-i-is he hurt?!” The center head asked, quite clearly very concerned. “Wh-wh-wh-what's it matter to you?!” The right head barked. “H-h-h-he's not important, we are!!” The left head tried to remind. “He is a m-m-m-mere child!!” The center head argued as he glared at his other two heads. “He is trying to t-t-t-take our soul!!” The left head scolded. “We have every r-r-r-right to kill them both!!” The right head growled before he suddenly nipped at the mugs. “S-s-s-stop that! C-c-c-can't you see there's something wrong?!” Their arguing suddenly gave Mugman an idea, but he'd have to get dangerously close.

Mugman briefly stopped his firing to yank a cloud out of the sky and throw it closer to the hydra on the left side. Mugs continued his fire once more and jumped over onto the cloud he just smacked back into place and shot at the farthest head from beside the outer right head. “Hey ugly!! Fix yer aim, I-I'm right here!!” He taunted, which prompted a snarl from the angry head. “D-d-d-don't make him even madder, k-k-k-kid!!” The center head warned, but it was too late. The right head suddenly spat out multiple fire clusters at the boys, which Mugman promptly shot before he jumped off to another cloud.

The clusters split apart and hit the two other heads, who both yelped in pain before glaring daggers at the offending head. “Smooth m-m-m-move!!” The left one growled. “E-e-e-even I w-w-w-wouldn't have fallen for that!” “Sh-sh-sh-shut up! Y-y-y-you don't even want to defend the fate of y-y-y-your very soul, a-a-a-and you're upset at me?!” Suddenly, the left head spat out two other fire clusters at the right head, which Mugman quickly shot so that they'd hit all three heads again. “Oh, now look who's the g-g-g-genius!” “G-g-g-guys, we need to stop arguing!” “L-l-l-look, wise guy! If you think f-f-f-fer a second that I'm going to l-l-l-let you get away with a-a-a-attacking myself like that--” “Well at least I d-d-d-didn't do it on purpose!!” Suddenly, the right head lunged forward and bit the left most neck beside it, resulting in the left head to retaliate by chomping down on the right one's cranium. “Ouch!! Stop f-f-f-fighting with yourselves!!” The center head begged, but it was too late.

Mugman seized the opportunity and began firing once again while they were distracted. Thankfully, Mugman's plan had worked, and they were distracted enough by themselves that they hadn't noticed him shooting. Right now, it wasn't about beating the hydra, or doing massive amounts of damage to him. This was about building up his Super Meter, ending this, and calming his brother down. This was about survival. “G-g-g-guys, p-p-p-please! Stop f-f-f-fighting!!” The center continued. Mugman got up closer to the center and hoped that he could do this with just one hand. He had just over enough for one attack, and Mug knew the heads couldn't stay distracted for long! Upon seeing the boy, the center head glanced between the two, still arguing, heads and Mugman, practically cradling his shaking brother with one arm. The same boy who'd been shaking in his presence just moments earlier. Grim had to commend the boy for his bravery, but knew he still had to stand his ground. He puffed out a sigh, then took a deep breath, preparing his flames. “Please work...” Mugman begged to himself. He glanced over at Cuphead and, in an attempt to try and calm him down, he decided to use the whole 'signature move' baloney that Cuphead had been begging him to do. Mugman took a deep breath and concentrated the magical energy built up in his body out his right fist. “Mega Blast!” He jut his hand out forward, but the magic gave a blue spark in both hands for a brief moment, then fizzled out. Mugman internally panicked and promptly tried again, knowing this was his only chance. “Mega Blast!!” Once again, the magic sparked, but fizzled out. If he let go of Cuphead, he could fall. If he didn't try something, they'd be burnt to a porcelain crisp. Mugman took one last deep breath and focused entirely on his magic and the target. He balled up his fists as he unintentionally shot a glare at the dragon, then threw out his fist one last time.“Mega Blast!!”

Finally, the magic shot out one fist and collided into the hydra with a great force. The two outer heads drooped down with 'X's in their eyes, the one on the left side's cheeks puffed up as his tongue hung out haphazardly from his mouth. The center head snapped back, 'X's also in his eyes, before his head tilted down slightly. “Yes!! Oh! Oh! Oh dear mercy yes!!” Mugman shouted in utter relief, but it wasn't over yet.

Mugman held onto his brother as he leaped onto the hydra's back and scoured under his wings. Before long, Mugman found the contract and checked it, but before he could get off Grim's back, he suddenly felt overwhelmingly dizzy and unbalanced. Mugman's world suddenly began to spin and he clung onto the reptile's back for dear life just before the dragon lurched forward without warning and back into the tower, away from the storm.

Grim lowered a wing down for the brothers to climb off once they were inside. “H-h-h-here.” He murmured softly. Mugman was a little confused, but he took the offer and gently climbed down onto the stone, both he and his little brother dripping wet. “I-I-I-I'd offer you a-” Grim cut himself off with a slight hiss of pain. “A towel, b-b-b-but you'll just get soaked as soon as you s-s-s-step outside again.” Grim had changed back to normal now, with only one head visible, but the dragon was still covered in wounds and bandages from their battle. “Y-you're...? Not mad?” The dragon shook his head. “No.” He looked down at the pair with a somber expression and a sigh. “What's done i-i-i-is done. A-a-a-and you earned that f-f-f-fair and square.” Grim fell down onto the stone floor with a huff, just to rest his injured body. “Holy s-s-s-smokes...you two certainly didn't hold anything b-b-b-back...” A pang of guilt shot through Mugman. “W-we're sorry.” “D-d-d-don't be...I just hope...th-th-th-that whatever happens...It h-h-h-happens for the best.” Grim looked up at our heroes. “You two should g-g-g-get going.” “Right.” Mugman nodded, his dizzy spell having passed, “come on, Cups...” Cuphead whined and sniveled quietly into his brother's chest, still terribly frightened from the violent storm just outside.

As Mugman carried his little brother back down the stone stairway, he rubbed the child's back soothingly. “I didn't realize you were still so scared of lightning...” Cuphead only whined in response. “I'm sorry. If I'd known, I would have tried to do something sooner.” Cuphead sniffled a few times, and Mugman sighed, rubbing the base of Cuphead's handle with his thumb a bit. “I...” Mugman looked over at Cup as he spoke, giving his baby brother his full attention. “I w-was tryin' ta be b-brave a-and...” The boy was cut off by another hiccup before he dove back into his brother's chest. “Aww, Sippy Cup...” Mugman hushed. “You don't have to worry about being brave around me when something scares you that bad.” Cuphead mumbled something into Mugman's shoulder that sounded just a bit like 'I don't?' “Of course not. You're already one tough cup. The toughest cup I know, alright? But you can't always be tough like that. And that's okay...Because you have a big brother like me to help you out when things get too scary and tough.” Mugman continued to rub circles into Cuphead's back as the two descended down the stairs. “After all, you're always here for me when I'm scared. So it's only fair that I'll be there for you when you're scared. Okay?” Cuphead turned his head to breathe a little better, still leaning his head against Mugman's chest. He sniffled a few times, wiped his eyes and nose, then pulled his brother into a hug. “...mokay...” The child mumbled.

                                                                                                                                 Missed the past episodes? Want to check for the next one? Here’s a link to the list of episodes currently published!