#cracked debtor - chance/cuphead | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

allstarsstorymode867 · 5 years

Text

All-Stars -Story Mode- [CHAPTER 15] Part 1

All done with the first part, I was originally gonna have @edward-richtofen-queen to edit this out but she wasn’t feeling well, I wish her well and a good of luck.

-Chapter 15- -Now we are back to Cuphead and Mugman-

I can see

When you stay low, nothing happens

Does it feel right?

Cuphead had never felt this strong before when he wore the bandolier from WWII after the Colonel had managed to take it off of Mumgan, he wasn’t sure why his eyes are sky blue and feeling more courageous than before but he must make the best of it.

Late at night

Things I thought, I put behind me

Haunt my mind

Mugman uses his blast again on the ruthless Helghast colonel as he had always remember how this goes with the Devil’s debtors when they had refused to give up their soul contracts but with him facing a Helghast who is a ruthless and cold colonel who knows nothing about mercy.

I just know there's no escape now

Once it sets its eyes on you

But I won't run, have to stare it in the eye

Blast had missed Radec as he stepped to the side quickly while he took out a grenade, pulling then throwing it at Mugman and saying “Try avoiding this attack, Mug.” to him before taking a stand on his feet before powering up the StA-X6 Jetpack.

Mugman shouted as he jumped out of the grenade’s blast range when it exploded with a start but what he heard next was Radec saying “Expect no mercy!” before he felt a punch hitting the side of his head, causing cracks to appear and leaking as his HP is rendered to 1%.

Stand my ground, I won't give in No more denying, I got to face it

“Mugman!” was the second thing that Mguman had heard and this time, it’s Cuphead rushing to help him but was stopped by Radec who had flown in front of him as he got between him and his injured brother. “You lack skill.” Radec said as he levitates above the ground due to the jetpack.

Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside If I don't make it, someone else will stand my ground

Cuphead stood his ground for this as he had felt unfamiliar anger rising up, he then heard a familiar voice in his head as he grinds his teeth.

Don’t let him get to ya, Kiddo, stand your ground for this one.

“I was going to say the same thing about you!” Cuphead splattered out as he readies himself with the finger gun as Radec growled as the thrusters roared with fire.

(Drawn traditionally by Tori who goes by TikTak on Discord but also goes by @this-person-is-slowly-dying on Tumblr)

Wait for it, wait for it….

Cuphead stood still as Radec begins his charge at the cup who stood still on his feet, waiting for the right moment to strike him until U!Dempsey’s voice declared Now!

Cuphead didn’t once hesitate to get the heck out of the way for Radec as he solared passed him. He then opened fired on the jetpack on his back, it burst into flames as Radec landed on his feet and quickly realizes that his jetpack had been damaged due to the noises that is making with the sputtering and rumbling it’s sounded.

He quickly took it off of his back then let’s it drop to the stone floor before running away to hear an explosion behind him, looking back and seeing a fire and a black blown mark where the StA-X6 jetpack stood laid for a moment. Getting out the StA-3 Stova Light Machine Gun once more as he looked at Cuphead once again.

“Primitive... but effective” the Colonel admitted it as he had found Cuphead’s attack quite impressive, reminded him of battles with the ISA in attempted invasion to take Veltka but this kiddo, this cup, is something different, more different than his brother.

“You’re a colonel, how weren’t you not expecting this?” Cuphead jabbed, “If you are that cold blood, you could’ve at least take on all of us without your men ya know.”

Mugman is holding the crack on his head as he slowly got back on his feet shaking, looking over his shoulder to see him and Radec having a stand off against each other. “I could,” he bluffed, “I am the Scolar Visari’s bodyguard and the Hound of Visari, you will be taken back to Helghan for the war, for the glory of my people.”

“Says the Devil who had used us to get the soul contracts after believing that he would spare our souls over theirs then you’re in the wrong place, buddy!” Cuphead rebuked as the light on his finger tip grew brighter with red color.

“Don’t,” Radec threaten, pointing the gun at something…. Or someone before finishing with “Toy with me.” before firing at Mugman who jumped suddenly before falling hard on the ground, hitting his head on the stone floor that made the crack bigger.

Bendy was shocked as he watched the whole thing unfolded before him as Cuphead turned to look at Mugman in horror and shock as he gasped “Mugs!” and attempted to run to his help but a bullet from the StA-3 Stova Light Machine Gun to stop, for him to turn back to Radec with a growling glare from his eyes.

“That’s it.” Bendy muttered in anger under his breath, his eyes turning red with a boiling rage then looked at the entrance where Trace and Frisk had escaped to and shocked to see that it’s Frisk, looking at him and what he can tell from their expression; they had seen the whole thing too.

And it appears that they had an idea as well, from what Bendy can tell from a notepad Frisk had and the whole plan they had came up is written on it. Bendy had read very little word on it and then nodded with a thumbs up.

Cuphead is glaring at Radec as the Helghast aimed the rifle at him, “Your last chance to join.” he said, “Surrender now.” while Cuphead had clenched his fists so tightly, he thought that they had turned white.

Before anyone could do anything to anyone else, a rock suddenly been thrown and then hits Radec on the back. Making him turn around to see who had done it and saw that it was Frisk who did it, “F-Frisk?! What are you doing?” Cuphead stuttered as Radec turned the gun away from Cuphead to aim at Frisk instead.

Frisk, who remained calm, takes off and puts down the rucksack gently on the ground while they’re still keeping their glaze on him. Radec lowered the StA-3 Stova LMG a little when he felt like they had something planned for him, he then asked “What are you doing-?” but was cut off by the Human child putting up a “On hold” gesture with their hand. A music began playing somewhere as Frisk began…. Dancing??

やあ！　忘れたかい！　あの時！みんな裏切った！　逃げた！

(Hi! I forgot! At that time! Everyone was betrayed! ran away!)

That left Radec and Cuphead even more confused when Frisk shown off the dance moves they had learned thanks to Mettaton, doing the Lock Step, Moonwalk, Natural turn, Open turn, Outside Partner step, Outside turn, Reverse Turn, Rond, Telemark and all other moves that Cuphead had never seen before.

ヘイ！　聞いてんのかい！今日限りに　お亡くなりチャンスは　もう二度とない！

(Hey! Do not listen! As long as today The chance is never again!)

Frisk can already remember fighting Mettaton but not actually fighting him, more likely reducing him to a harmless state on a show as it gets a lot more views by the second until it had gotten the greatest reviews.

来ないチャンスは　もう二度とない！

みんな見つけた？　アトラクションは終わり夜の記憶以外　残らない何も

(do not come The chance is never again!

do not come The chance is never again!

Did you find everyone? The attraction is over Nothing but the night's memory)

“What are you doing, child?” Radec finally questioned after seeing this human child dancing for about ten minutes, Frisk then looked at Radec in response and then said

*Distracting you.

“Distracting-?” Radec didn’t have time to finish when he heard a loud thumping from behind him as he turned around to see Bendy, Ink Bendy in Level 2 form, hits him in the head, causing him to be thrown all the way to a wall and hits it on impact. He weakly stands back up and sees Ink Bendy right in front of him, he threw a punch at him then another and then used both his fists to bring down a another blow onto the Helghast Colonel in pain.

“That not possible…” Radec grunted as he felt a wave of pain washed over him like a flood, “Believe it, it’s over.” Cuphead added, saying it is an insult to add to injury, “You’re finished.”

“And to make sure that you won’t get away,” Ink Bendy’s voice was distorted when it chirped, having tentacles made out of ink and wrapped around him tightly like a rope behaved as a snake obeying it’s dark master.

Radec struggled to free himself from the blob of ink, Ink Bendy then slowly turned back into his normal toon self. Cuphead looked at him and Bendy looked at him back before smiling a big grin, the Cup did the same until they both heard a groan, they turned to see who had groaned until Cuphead was the fastest one to look and yelled “Mugs!”

Bendy stood back to watch Radec to make sure that he doesn’t do anything fishy while Frisk ran to their rucksack, picks it up and then runs over to his side with Mugman who had plomped his back against the wall.

“Cups?” he groaned out as he holds onto his head to prevent it from leaking more, Cuphead looked at the cracks that Radec had made and they are nearly all over his head. “Wow, he…. He got you good Mugs.” Cuphead stuttered, trying to find something for him to say for Mugman to feel comfortable.

*You are in quite a predicament in his situation. *Then you’d remember the scarf you had found earlier before Radec caught up to you guys. *try to wrap it around his head as a temporary bandage?

>[Yes] [No]

>[Yes]<

Frisk gently wrapped around the Mug’s head like a nurse treating an injured patient that had gotten a war injury. It loop over his head two times before tying it under it his head.

*Like out of the blue, you are feeling drunk all of sudden. *Almost to the point that you had forgotten everything but a few memories left behind. *Just an endless drinking haze to drown those memories to forget the painful you hated the most.

*You are filled with… reminiscence

Mugman’s eyes had changed into ocean blue color, he groaned as he rubbed his head and rubbed it with his hand, “Oh… My head and my behind…. What happened?”

“You were knocked over by Mael Radec, hit your head on the floor and reduces your HP to 1%, Mugs.” Cuphead explains this as he holds the crack on his brother to feel the leaks but none so far, thankfully.

“Really? But I feel like I had a hangover after drinking too much.” Mugman replied when Trace peeks through the entrance where Frisk had came in, looking to them and to Radec in surprise.

“Hey!” she said as she runs over to them in a worried pace, kneeling down as well and looking at Mugman, “What happened?” she asked.

*You had to retell her what had happened with their battle with Mael Radec. *Then you had to use the scarf they had found to stop the leaking.

Trace listened closely as she looked Mugman, “All this happened when we were-” then heard unfamiliar sounds from the entrance, coming closer to where they had come in to see who was singing that lullaby. Trace kinda got up and said “I don’t wanna be here if he had sent friends here.”

“If he did, you better get going before they get here.” Cuphead said as he stood up, readying the finger gun again, “Best find an alternate route back to your dad, I hope we’ll bumped into each other again when we get the chance.”

Trace giggled rather nervously, and then said “Don’t worry, I had been here for two days so I will find my way back here.” when she nodded before running off to the second entrance and disappeared into the darkness when the running feet from the first entrance is getting much louder.

Frisk stood up and got out the stick, ready to defend if Cuphead was weakened from the enemy’s attacks, Bendy is ready to fight as well but he had to make sure that Radec doesn’t go anywhere and if he had called in back up.

They are getting closer while they took a deep breath, ready to scream as they can hear them coming near and then from the entrance was…..

P!Dempsey, Scarlett, Erron Black and Miss Pauling had come in with weapons ready to use, causing to let out a sigh out in relief upon seeing the humans instead of Helghast. The four looked over to Mael Radec and saw him stuck inside the blob of ink and he was still struggled to break out of it. “I’ll be damned, they got him before we can.” he said, amazed to the point.

“It was a long story.” Cuphead said as he stood down with relax to know that they had managed to survive through a camp owned by the Helghan Empire but surprised quickly when Dempsey looked at the bandolier that Cuphead was wearing across his chest.

The first words that uttered out of his mouth were “Where did you get that?”

Cuphead looked at the bandolier and back to Dempsey with an eyebrow raised but Erron had spoken up as he looked around then at Mugman and Frisk when he said “And from what I can recall, you must be the kids I had helped out, yeah?”

>[Yes] [No]

>[Yes]<

Erron looked Frisk and then at Mugman as he raised an eyebrow then looked over to Bendy and said “Did you trapped that Colonel?”

“Yep.” Bendy answered without hesitation, as he looks at Radec.

“Lucky guess.” Erron said as he walks over to the trapped Colonel while he got one revolver out and then stopping in front of him, making Bendy to step out of the way to make way for the Outworlder to aim the gun at him and wanted to be sure that Radec is looking at him and the weapon he had in his hand.

“Karma’s was coming to get you eventually, just wanted you to know that.” Erron said as his eyes are trained on Radec’s, “Why are you doing this?”

Colonel Radec had said until he spoke “My sole purpose in life; is to serve and protect Helghan from opposing forces like you all, UCA, ISA but this planet… You all are that threat against us and I haven’t knowledge what was to come until now. My capture would bring me shame from Helghan if they knew this.” “Oh trust me,” Dempsey said as he walked to Erron’s side and pointed a MR6 at him as well, “It will be a lot more by the time we’re through with you.”

“Still,” Scarlett said, making Radec to turn and look at her before she continues to say “I am not so why all of this was over Miss Pauling here, even those that are involved are children, truly children despite two of them are a cup and a mug.”

“Taking Colonel prisoner is now accomplished, now for answers from-” but then Miss Pauling was interrupted by an explosion from above them, making them all look up at the ceiling.

“What was that ...?!” Miss Pauling babbled, Radec listened closely on the noise from above before saying “Something else is happening up there, we must return to the surface.” and for the first time, he had realized something else is going on this planet.

“Let get up there then!” Cuphead suggested as he puts up the finger gun once again but then turned over to Mugman before running over to him while Erron and P!Dempsey looked at each other before looking at Bendy.

“Ya think you could be able to carry this Colonel, Bendy?” Erron asked, Bendy points to himself as he looks at both directions, “Can ya?” Dempsey asked next.

“I… I think I can, if he drowns then it doesn’t matter if he had, right?” Bendy answered hesitantly, Erron nodded as he thought “This devil may not be Ermac but he’ll do.”

“Just a sec…” Bendy said as he then barely morths back to his Level 2 form winch surprises everyone around him, even Cuphead aimed the finger gun at him as he remembered his and brother’s encounter with him for the first time.

“I don’t think that you-”

“I can, you Helghast demon.” Bendy’s voice had turned back with distorted when he sneered, picking him up and threw him over his shoulder just as Cuphead then returns back to Mugman and then puts his arm over his shoulder and a hand on his side.

“Wow, he looks pretty bad,” Miss Pauling said as she looked at him, “Better get him to the Medic.”

“Indeed.” Scarlett said as she placed her hand on her shoulder, “Besides, I hope Richtofen will be able to explain the whole….” as she looks at P!Dempsey as he walks out of the room, Erron, Bendy and Radec behind him. “The “double” part to my team.”

“If we take care of what was going on up there first.” Miss Pauling replied as she cocks the pumb of the shotgun as she turned over to Frisk, Cuphead and Mugman. “You three are safe with us, come on!” she said as she turned and then jogs after them, Frisk nods before going to help Cuphead carry Mugman out of the Caverns, back to the place of their captivity.

8 notes · View notes

thebrotherscupheadandmugman · 5 years

Text

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!

#Cuphead and Mugman: Don't Deal with the Devil #Word on the Wind! {Rebloggable Content}#Cuphead: Don't Deal with the Devil #Cuphead #Mugman #Grim Matchstick #Rewriting #Drabble #Fanfiction #Fanfic

3 notes · View notes

theamalgaverse · 2 years

Note

Ok, now that you mentioned Bf from FNF on that karaoke ask

Amalgaverse FNF mod when/j

when the peeps he’s previously encountered stop actively trying to maim him /j

#his design lowkey rocks to play with ok.. and hes a multiversal nuisance!#im just bullshitting with him tbh #I dont know whats going on with him in the actual game and i dont wanna find out #amalgaverse #answering the inbox #stained perfection - prancer/bendy #cracked debtor - chance/cuphead #archived individual - eteled #funkin disturbance - boyfriend.xml #i HAD a 'real' name for him but nah this is funny #fnf boyfriend

31 notes · View notes

theamalgaverse · 2 years

Note

Dewey,how chaotic can it get being in a friend group?

Dewey: (I suppose it varies from person to person… I’m not one to branch out like Bacuri, per-say.)

#bit of newish faces here! :D #answering the inbox #lost enigma - dewey #dewey melvil stein #cracked debtor - chance/cuphead #chance (cuphead) porcelai #stained perfection - prancer/bendy #prancer (bendy) stein #bendy the dancing demon #faceless reaper - bandit #faceless bandit #fantasial ruthlessness - tangle/pyro #tf2 pyro #chaotic scrapper - tricky #''tricky'' hoffnar

25 notes · View notes

theamalgaverse · 2 years

Note

Question for BMO: What's it like in the resort for you? Do people play your video games? Who do you like hanging with the most?

BMO: “I like to do anything! I like it when extra when it reminds me of old times. For example…”

“There is this one person who is a funny cup, reminds me of someone from Candy Kingdom! He plays my games the most… I don’t know why. But he looks happier every time we finish!”

“No one can replace Finn and Jake, but Squid and Peter are kind of close. But not really. Because they keep fighting… [whispering] and Peter is kind of creepy…”

#i NEED to expand on others outside of my rot circle because this was eye opening #amalgaverse #answering the inbox #bmo #adventure time bmo #local treasurer - bmo #cracked debtor - chance/cuphead #chance (cuphead) porcelai #repetance catalyst - peter #heartbroken tyrant - squid

13 notes · View notes

theamalgaverse · 2 years

Text

Indie Cross trio but it’s Amalgaverse ? Yeah.

#guess who has to calm who down when things go bad #amalgaverse art #cracked debtor - chance/cuphead #chance (cuphead) porcelai #cuphead #judgement call - sans #sans the skeleton #stained perfection - prancer/bendy #prancer (bendy) stein #bendy the dancing demon #indie cross #amalgaverse

23 notes · View notes

theamalgaverse · 2 years

Note

FOOD FIGHT! *Throws Andy a across the room*

#Okay maybe there should be an actual food fight #JUST MAYBE NOT WITH ANDY #answering the inbox #amalgaverse #andy the apple #cracked debtor - chance/cuphead #cuphead #chance (cuphead) porcelai #lost enigma - dewey #dewey inkwell #dewey melvil stein

41 notes · View notes

theamalgaverse · 2 years

Note

People: We give you support, you give us asks. You: Mmm, good trade. *Gets slapped in the face with all the Peter questions aka all the questions so far* (I came up with this and this is correct right? Also hi, Cuphead!

Quite correct, although I am honestly not against it considering that guy is the reason I have my traction HEGFHEG

Also..

He says hi back!

#wow his hoodie looks long HAHAH-#answering the inbox #amalgaverse #Cracked Debtor - Chance/Cuphead #chance (cuphead) porcelai #cuphead

11 notes · View notes

theamalgaverse · 2 years

Note

Since Cuphead is present in this Au..

How does he feel about Bendy? :0

Prancer: though, to give him credit, he did that to a handful more-

Chance: hey sh-

#stubborn cup best cup #answering the inbox #amalgaverse #stained perfection - prancer/bendy #bendy the dancing demon #prancer (bendy) stein #cracked debtor - chance/cuphead #cuphead #chance (cuphead) porcelai

9 notes · View notes

thebrotherscupheadandmugman · 6 years

Text

Pyramid Peril! With Djimmi the Great!

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. And before you start reading, remember that reblogs > likes! That being said, enjoy!

Blogs with Djimmi as a muse: @djimmi-the-great-and-powerful @karnivalkrew (that’s me!)

The brothers spread out all eight of the Soul Contracts they've collected so far onto the forest floor. “Moe Tato, Weepy, Psycarrot, Goopy le Grande, Cagney Carnation, Ribby, Croaks, Hilda Berg...That's it! That's all the contracts we need in Isle One!” Mugman cheered, crossing off Hilda's name. “Onto Isle Two then?” “Yup!” The older mug checked his watch. “And it's only 1:45! We're making great time!" “Fantastic! Let's go!” “Right.” Mug nodded. The boys gathered up the contracts and put them back into their pockets, making their way to the Die House of Isle Two.

As our heroes entered the square, orange building, they immediately spotted King Dice on the other side, blocking the way to the next isle. “Well, look what the cat dragged in. For your sake, I hope ya got all 'em contracts, Cupface.” The manager taunted, earning a scoff from the younger child. “As a matter of fact, we do! See fer yerself!” Cuphead pulled out the Soul Contracts again, showing them all to King Dice as Mugman pulled out the list with the names they crossed off. “Well. Ain't that a pip! Looks like you really put the kibosh on them debtors. You can head on over to the next isle.” King Dice smirked, adjusting his blazer. “Plenty more marks for you to lean on there!” “Let's hurry up and make tracks, Cuphead.” Mugman urged, putting emphasis on the later half of his brother's name. “We've got about 33 hours until the deadline.” “Uh, 33? Try again, genius.” “What?!” The brothers asked in unison.

“The Devil said we had until midnight tomorrow!” Mugman reminded. “Exactly. You have until twelve-o-clock, AM...September 30th.” “What?!” “But that's only...!!” Cuphead began to count on his fingers before Mugman finished for him. “That's only ten hours!! We're just two kids, we can't possibly travel all of Inkwell Isle in less than a day! Let alone doing so while having to get all these contracts!!” “You had no problems traveling all the way to Hell and back.” “He....he's gotchya there...” Cuphead had to admit. “Oh come on!!” “This isn't fair!” “Life ain't fair, wheats.” “You can't do this!!” “Oh can't I? That's where you're wrong, half portions! I think you both fail to realize just who I am.” The manager smirked, going silent as he let the bass play for a short while. The furniture around them began to bounce and sway to the music, dancing along to the rhythm.

“I'm Mr. King Dice! I'm the gamest in the land. I never play nice, I'm the Devil's right-hand man!

I can't let you pass, Cuz you ain't done everything! Bring me those contracts, come on, Bring them to the King!” He sang.

“If you haven't finished your task! Haven't worked assiduously... No I cannot let you pass! Don't you mess with me!

Don't mess with King Dice...” Suddenly all the furniture around them grew mouths and teeth, singing to King Dice's song. “Don't mess with King Dice!” “Don't mess with me...” “Don't mess with him!” “Don't mess with King Dice...” “Don't mess with King Dice!” “Don't mess with me!!” The brothers subconsciously took a step back, towards each other. Neither one of them liked the situation they were in, and the singing furniture surely didn't help.

“I'm Mr. King Dice! Heed just what I say... The Devil has his price. And I'll make sure you pay...

I don't have time to mess 'round, And I hope you will agree! Bring me those contracts, Pronto! Don't you mess with me.” The dice practically growled, yet he was still singing.

“Don't mess with King Dice!” “Don't mess with King Dice!” “Don't mess with me!” “Don't mess with him!” “Don't mess with King Dice!” “Don't mess with King Dice!” “Don't mess with me! Ah...” King Dice glanced down at the boys, with a sinister smirk as all the furniture stopped its movement. “Any how, I guess I should take a powder already. Enough bumpin' gums, ya dig?” With that, the die hopped up with a dramatic twist, and spiraled down into a hole that suddenly disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

The brothers just stood, clueless as to how to respond. “Well that just wasted like two minutes.” Cuphead cracked. “Ten hours?! Th-this is impossible!! There's no way we can convince everyone to give us their contracts in only ten hours!!” “Mugman, calm down! We ain't gettin' anywhere with you panickin' like this!” “Cuphead, what're we gonna do?! There's no time ta-” “Mug! Calm down!” Cuphead grabbed his older brother by the shoulders and gave him a harsh shake. “Look....I know you ain't gonna like this, but we've gotta stop reasoning with 'em!” Mugman paused. “W-w-what?” “If we waste time trying to convince people to hand over their souls to us, we'll run out of time for sure! We can't try to reason with 'em like that!” “B-but-” “No! It's not gonna work!!” “I...” Mugman sighed. “You're right...” “Course I am. Have I ever steered you wrong?” Cuphead tried to joke, but it only earned a soft glare from his older brother. “Don't even start.” “Oh right...Yeah, that was probably the worst time to say that.” The brothers exited the Die House and entered Isle Two.

As the boys took their first few steps out of the house, they had to stop to take in the land before them. Inkwell Isle's carnival. As run down as most of the rides were, the amusement park had been going on strong for the past 80 years or so. It was always fun to look around, but they hadn't been able to come as patrons in years. They only were able to pass through.

Since it was relatively late in the day, the line to get in was particularly short, so the brothers stepped forward to get in the line, before they suddenly heard an elderly, familiar voice. “Guys, hang on!” The cup kids turned around to see their grandfather, Elder Kettle, just outside the Die House. Cuphead gave a big smile. “Thank the stars I caught up with you. I believe I've found a way out of this mess you're in!” Elder Kettle beamed as he walked closer to his grandsons. “Hawt dog! You have?!” Mugman cheered with a wide, excited smile. Elder Kettle nodded. “Your strength is growing! You'll soon be a match for that no-good King Dice...” The brothers looked at each other. “And maybe even the Devil himself!” Mugman gasped at the thought. “Golly, do you really think?” Cuphead asked. “I do! But you'll never get close to the Devil unless you already have those Soul Contracts in hand!” Elder Kettle shifted his weight onto his cane, extending his pointer finger and his right hand. “Only then will you get a chance to turn the tables on that fiend! So, when that time comes, do the right thing!” “Golly...Turnin' the tables on the Devil himself?” Cuphead wasn't so sure...He was confident in his abilities, but what would happen if they failed? Mugman pondered a similar train of thought. Wouldn't it be better to play it safe and do what was asked? If they won, they'd give everyone their contracts back and life would return to normal. If they lost, the Devil would take their souls forever! But if they do what the Devil told them to, they'd be spared, yet they'd still be condemning so many people to an eternal life of Hell! “Well, I'd best leave you two to it.” “Yeah, yer right, Elder Kettle. We don't got much time, so we'd better shake a leg.” Elder Kettle started to walk away, but Mugs took a step closer to stop him. “Uh, wait!” “Hm? Yes, Mugman?” Elder Kettle hummed, turning around. “Well, I have a question. What would happen if I were to try to use an Ex Move without any magic built up in my Super Meter?” Elder Kettle's eyes widened at that, his mustache frowning into a grim expression. “Hmm...Well, it wouldn't be good, that's for certain.” Elder Kettle pointed to Mugman's torso with his cane. “Your Super Meter is a combined buildup of your natural magic and the weaponized magic I gave you from that potion. Trying to use an Ex Move without the proper magic will simply drain it from the magic in your soul. That would completely drain your energy. If you did that, it would take you weeks, or maybe even months to recover.” “Oh good golly! Ya couldn't have just left it at 'don't do it'?” “If I had there would be two certain young boys who would have tried it out anyway.” The Elder glared, prompting the cup to whistle innocently. “You two are indeed growing stronger. But you must remember your limits. You may have to push them, but please...be careful to not push them over the edge. Watch each other. Take care of each other.” “Of course. Will do, Elder Kettle...and thanks for telling me.” “Anytime, Mugman.” “Next!” “Wuh-oh! That's us! C'mon Mugs, let's get going.” Cuphead reminded, pulling his older brother along by his wrist.”

“Traveling or riding today, boys?” “Ri-” “Just passing through again.” Mugman answered. “Aw man...” “That's all you two do isn't it? Well I suppose you two aren't old enough to putz about unsupervised.” The ticket cashier joked, handing each of the brothers a red rope bracelet. “Remember to give these back to Cathy on the other side of Isle Two, you guys! Have a swell day!” “Thanks, Joe!” Mugman waved, walking past the gate of the carnival. “Is that guy's name really Joe?” Cuphead asked. Mugman simply shrugged, making an 'I dunno' sound. “Everyone's name is Joe these days.” “Hm. True I guess.” Cuphead agreed with a shrug. “Anyway, where do we start?” “I'm. Reading.” Mugman huffed, unraveling the list of debtors. “Let's see...We got...Baroness Von Bon Bon...that...was kind of fun to say...Uh, Baroness Von Bon Bon, Djimmi the Great...Actually...Djimmi...doesn't he run the Pyramid Peril maze?” “I dunno.” Cuphead mimicked with a shrug, “Ask Dih-Jimmi.” Mugman looked over at his brother. “Djimmi. It's pronounced Djimmi.” “There's a 'D' there, not an 'S-H'! 'Duh-Jimmi'.” Mugman sighed rolling his eyes and looking back down at the names. Cuphead then happened to notice an all too familiar pilot standing by a long, orange tent. “Is that Floyd?” Mugman looked up from the list again. “He's standing next to our planes.” “What's he doin' here?” “Let's go ask him.” Mugman rolled the list back up, then put it in his back pocket.

The brothers walked over to the canteen, Mugman giving Floyd a cheerful wave as he got closer. “Floyd, what are you doing out here?” “'N with our planes no less.” “Good timing fellas! I just added an upgrade on your Aeroplanes! On top of your repairs as well, of course. “Wow, really?” Cuphead beamed. “Uh-huh. Now you can wallop your foes with bombs!” “Couldn't we do that with our Ex Move and Super already?” Mugman asked. “That's different, kiddo! That was more like a special attack! But now this is just a different weapon altogether!” “Oh, like the Roundabouts?” Mugman compared. “The what now?” “Never mind, I think we get it.” Cup said. “So, it's like a weapon we can just change?” “Yup! Just switch your weapon whenever it strikes your fancy! Try it out!!” “Wow! So nifty!! I can't wait to try it!” “Oh....I probably should have started off with this, Red Casablanca...Your plane was too badly damaged, and I only had time to upgrade your brother's.” “What?!” “I'll upgrade it as soon as I can, but if you need your Aeroplanes now, you just won't have the mini-bombs quite yet.” “Aww man!” Cuphead huffed with a pout. “Well...I don't know if we need them...Uh, Floyd, do you know anything about Djimmi? Djimmi the Great?” “Hoo boy. Djimmi is a genie. Big guy. I wouldn't doubt it one bit if your normal bullets do nothing but tickle him.” “So...we need our Aeroplanes.” Cuphead grumbled. “Alright! Let's get ta work then. No one else is gonna take down Shimmy the Great.” “You didn't even try there.”

The screen faded to the next scene, the boys flying around in what seemed to be a vast desert with a complex maze down below. In the center of the maze, were three pyramids with the largest one having a giant Sphinx head as the entrance. The brothers could see some of the patrons of the carnival down in the maze below, working their way towards the center. “Golly! I don't ever remember going through the maze before.” Cuphead thought. “You always said it was stupid. I've always wondered what the ride in the center was though.” “Wait, there's a ride down there?!” “Yeah? See that big pyramid in the middle there? There's supposed to be a ride in there.” “Golly!! That's so nifty!! We shoul-” “Halt! Who goes there?!” A voice boomed from seemingly nowhere. The brothers looked all around before a large, muscular, red genie wearing a light blue-green vest, pants, and a turban with a beige feather attached to a red gem, also wearing a beige belt and black and beige, short arm gauntlets, appeared before them, on a flying carpet, in a puff of blue-green tinted smoke. “Hah hah hah hah hah! I've always wanted to say that!” The genie chuckled, puffing out some smoke from a wooden cobpipe. “Anyhow, I'd ask you two what's up, but I guess the answer would be us, huh?” “Are you Djimmi?” “That's right, ding ding ding, you are correct!! Djimmi the Great at your carnival guiding service! Which reminds me! I'm actually supposed to tell you that this is a no-fly zone, so I'm gonna have to ask you two to land your planes...” Djimmi hissed dramatically. “So sorry about that.” “But...wait, aren't you flying too?” Mugman asked. Djimmi's jaw suddenly dropped, stopping only when it slammed against the blue-green carpet with a loud clang! “By golly! He's right! I've been caught red-handed! Well, my hands are always red I guess. But still! Don't tell my mother, she'll be so disappointed in me! Oh no!! How could I be so easily defeated?!” Cuphead couldn't help but snicker just a bit at that. “Okay, but all joking aside, we're here on business, Dshjimmi.” “That was not even close, Cuphead.” “Uh oh. Not business! Anything but business! Noooo!!” “What's so bad about business?” Mugman asked, raising a brow. “Yeah, what's so bad about it, Shihdimmi?” “You can't spell it without 'sin'! Well, you could try, but it'd probably look really weird. Like...bisnuss.” Djimmi pointed as he spoke, the same blue-green smoke shot out from his finger as the letters B-I-S-N-U-S-S appeared in red neon lights in the sky. “Huh? Why not B-U-S-Y-N-E-S-S?” Cuphead asked. “That spells 'busyness'.” “Well, you're the smart one, aren't ya?” “Heh. I'd like to think so.” Mugman admitted. “But we're on a time-limit, uh, so...we're only gonna ask once?” “Yeah, we have a question fer ya!” “Well, I have an answer for ya!” “Look Dihgemie, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Yer choice. Give us yer Soul Contract.”

Djimmi's eyes widened at the mention of a Soul Contract, his playful grin fell into a shocked frown. Low, ominous bass tones began to play as Mugman caught Djimmi's expression, allowing his stomach to drop. “Why do I get a bad feeling about this?” “Oh, probably because I'm doing this.” Djimmi's body was revealed to have changed to form a string-bass, and that he was the one strumming the ominous music. “But in all seriousness,” Djimmi twirled around, returning to normal, “No.” “You don't understand, Mr. The Great!! We need it!!” “I can't just give you my Soul Contract!!” “Look, Dshjushujshjudgejimmi! If ya won't give it to us, then we'll just hafta take it by force!!” “If that is what you wish!! You will feel the wrath! Of Djimmi! The Great and Pow-OOF!” Cuphead suddenly opened his fire at Djimmi, cutting the genie off from his sentence. Djimmi dramatically keeled over, and fell off his carpet, which swooped down after him and vanished from the screen completely. “Cuphead!! At least let him finish!!” Several versions of Djimmi suddenly began playing 'Amazing Grace' on bagpipes from down below, all wearing traditional Scottish kilts. “Somehow, I think he's just fine.” “Ugh, I hate bagpipes!!” Mugman complained. “Yer the one with the bombs! You can shut them up y'know.” Mugman pressed a new button inside the cockpit of his plane, then pressed his thumb down on the stick, dropping a mini-bomb onto the Djimmis below. As the bomb exploded, all the genies turned charred, black, and wide-eyed before crumbling into ash. A drum and a trumpet began to play as the boys noticed the cob-pipe Djimmi had in his mouth floating in the middle of the air. Djimmi's voice audibly took a deep breath, a light gray smoke puffed up from the mouthpiece to form his figure. Djimmi removed his cob-pipe with his right hand, then let out a large puff of smoke that formed Cup's head with X-es for eyes. “Ah!” “Oh!” The brothers coughed at the tobacco smoke in their faces, attempting to wave it away so they could breathe and see. “Behold!! The Chest of Challenges!” Djimmi pulled his carpet out from underneath himself and a large golden chest flipped out from the rug. The genie crossed his arms with a wide, forced grin as the golden chest's lid flapped open. “Really, I think you boys would love it! It's really the cat's meow!!” Suddenly a golden cat sarcophagus flew out from within the chest, soaring towards Cuphead and Mugman.

The brothers split apart, Mugman opting to get up higher, whereas Cuphead sank lower to avoid the attack. The sarcophagus suddenly split open with a meow and a metallic bink, launching kitty-like scarab-beetles that followed the boys' Aeroplanes. “Skull Shot!” Djimmi's head suddenly grew very large and stretched out when his skull launched from his mouth, as if being pulled out by the teeth. As Mugman moved to dodge the golden scatrab-beetles, he found himself cornered and with no time to react. Djimmi's skeleton-jaw opened wide, and clamped down on Mugman's plane as he flew into the mouth before going off-screen. “You look the fool, falling for the first trick I learnt at genie school.” “Mugman!!” Cuphead growled and began firing at Djimmi once again. “What's the matter? Not a cat person? Aw, now that's just clawful, who doesn't like cats? Unless you're allergic. Or maybe cat's just got your tongue.” Djimmi joked, sticking out his tongue to reveal a white and black cat clinging onto his tongue for dear life. “Mrowr?” “I'm back!!” Mugman suddenly flew back into view, just above his brother. “Oh thank golly.” Cuphead breathed. “Shoot him!!” “On it!” Mugman began firing bullets at the genie, all while the cups tried to avoid the scatrabs chasing after them. “Take this, Dahsjshuzjh-” “Just stop trying.”

Djimmi could see that the boys weren't having as much trouble as he'd hoped, so he put up his hands in the shape of a 'T' as if to call for a time-out. “Wait! Hang on. This isn't working. We need something else. Hmmm...” Djimmi lifted up his arms half-way, as if he were meditating while he thought. “Hmmmm! Hmmmm....” Two stone bars appeared above and below Cuphead and Mugman, as if there was suddenly a floor and ceiling while Djimmi himself slowly vanished. “Wha...Where'd he go?! Did he run away?!” Mugman began to panic. “He can't get away that easy!!” The brothers flew faster, only to find themselves in front of a pillar comprised of Djimmi's various body-parts painted on stone. “Wuh-oh!!” “Guess the odds are really stacked against you now, huh?! Wuhahahaha!!” His laugh seemed to echo throughout the desert, and unable to stop their planes, the brothers found themselves slowing their Aeroplanes down as much as they could so as to not crash, but if nothing was done, it would be inevitable. “Mug!! Whadda we do?!” “Uh, keep firing!!” The boys did just that, however it seemed as if nothing was working, up until a stray bullet hit Djimmi's laughing face, causing him to flinch with a loud, “Yeowch!!” “His face!!” Mugman called out. “Wuh-oh!” “Hey, that's my thing!!” Cuphead whined as both the brothers aimed right at the new-found weak spot. “Wait, really? Whoops, my bad. Aagh!!” Djimmi's face suddenly exploded into crumbles with a puff of white smoke, only for the brothers to be met with a saw-blade in between them and the next pillar. “I kinda saw that coming, honestly.” Djimmi grumbled over the saw.

The brothers were quick to locate the next face, but just as quick to find themselves trapped by the blade. “Hang on, follow me!!” Mugman swiftly glided up and over the saw and quickly switched his weapon over, bombing Djimmi's face, which crumbled instantly. “Ow!” “Let's try to hang back here and wait for an opening!” “There's his face! In the center!!” “But I don't wanna be the center of attention! Or maybe I do? Actually, I do!” Mugman got up close and dropped another bomb on the stone face. “On second thought I don't.” Djimmi's face said as it crumbled to pieces. Once again, the brothers hung back and waited to spot the weak point before trying to break it while dodging the saw. Only this time, there were two faces. “One on top!” “And one below!” “Now there's two ways to go!!” They both chimed. “Wait, isn't that a bad thing?” “Oof!” Mugman bombed the upper one that happened to just a bit closer to them. Once again, the brothers quickly located the weak spot in the center of the next pillar, but this time Djimmi had a bored expression, as if he knew what to expect, and once again, his face was bombed. Finally, only one last pillar stood in their way, Djimmi's face was right at the very top. This time, Mugman had to wait for an opening, but once it was there, he wasted no time in flying up and dropping another bomb. The whole pillar disappeared in a puff of smoke, Djimmi transformed back into his normal self, and waved the stone floor and ceiling away with his left hand. “Yeesh, what are ya, the Blue Bomber?” A hand trailed up to loosen up a necktie that hadn't previously been there moments ago. “I can't believe it, I'm losing to a mug!” “Blue Bomber?! How'd you know my code name?!” “Huh? That's your code name? Who knew? I didn't. I was just referencing a game!” “What kinda game uses 'Blue Bomber' at all?!” “One for the NES.” “The N-E...What?” “This is a cartoon from 1934, what are you talking about?!” Cuphead questioned. “Cartoon? I thought this was a video game!” Djimmi snapped his fingers and a large book appeared in his hands, along with some eyeglasses on his face. “Maybe I should have actually read the script I guess.” After glancing over the script for a few moments, Djimmi then snapped his fingers again, disappearing into yet another puff of smoke.

“Let's split up for a little bit! Just until we know what he's doing!” Mugman suggested. “Right!” Cuphead nodded. Suddenly, a gold and blue sarcophagus of the genie descended from above, stopping just short of the edge of the screen. His right hand reached over and opened the coffin, and from the cosmic nebula within, Djimmi, a slug of his former self stretched out with an oddly high-pitched, “Yaaaaaaaah!” “Ew, what the heck?!” “Must be feelin' sluggish.” Cuphead thought. Mugman figured the mini-bombs would make quick work of the slug genie, so he got in close and continued to drop bombs onto Djimmi. Cuphead on the other hand, was forced to stay low, and shoot at the sarcophagus normally. “Go, my Dummy Mummies!!” Suddenly, mummies with a striking resemblance to Djimmi flew out at the boys, groaning out, “Raaaahhh.” “Ah!! A mummy!!” No sooner than Mug had said that, the next mummy that flew out wore an apron and a beehive wig over the wrapped up turban. “Raaaahhh.” This time, the groan sounded as if Djimmi himself were making a rather poor attempt to sound like a mother. “Leave the nice genie man alone! Or else you'll be grounded for the next two months!!” “Oh no, so scary.” Cuphead deadpanned with a sarcastic tone, before shooting at the mummy, making it fade away. “So, ya want scary eh? Put up ya dukes, fellas! Hiya!” Djimmi's eye sockets extended out, launching out his eyeballs that formed planet rings around themselves, at the brothers. “Woah!!” Cuphead scrambled to dodge, turning his plane harshly as he accidentally pulled into a roll to avoid the projectiles. “Oopsie. Talk about an Eyeball Mishap. How'd that even happen?” Another mummy flew out, and headed straight towards Mugman. “Huuuuuur-” The Dummy Mummy was cut off as it just so happened to cross the path of the mug's next incoming mini-bomb before he could process the incoming attack. “Y'know on second thought, maybe that Eyeball Mishap worked out better for me. Hiya!” Djimmi launched out his eyeballs yet again, but this time, Cuphead wasn't able to dodge, and as one eye pushed his left wing down, the other pulled right wing up, forcing the red plane into another roll that caused the young pilot to lose control. “Ahh!! No, no, no, no!!” “Cuphead! Don't over-correct, and pull up!!” With that bit of advice, Cuphead managed to level out his plane again, and pulled up. “Whew..” “Aw man, you were really on a roll, kid!” The boys both focused their efforts, and as Cuphead's bullets hit Djimmi the slug right in the neck, one of Mugman's bombs conked him right on the head, forcing his teeth to protrude outwards from his mouth. “Ouch! I mean-! Is that the best you got?!” Mugman got some distance , then lowered himself to meet Djimmi's sluggish form. He then pulled himself into an aileron roll, and forced the magical energy from his body out, launching a blue Chomper Missile. However, the missile would never hit the slug genie, as the second he saw it incoming, he shivered in fear, and quickly closed the sarcophagus, who's once serious face now shed a single tear before it hopped away. Boink, boink, boink, boink, boink, CRASH! The screen shook as the sound of breaking glass was heard off-screen.“Owie, I got glass in my eye! Aahh!!” The brothers gave each other a shared look of unamusement.

As they looked forward once more, they saw Djimmi before them again, meditating just as he had been earlier. A thin, clear swirl surrounded his head and face as he rolled his head in a clockwise motion. “Huh? What's he doing? Wo-woah...” Mugman mumbled, suddenly feeling completely out of it, as if someone was peering through his memories. The same clear spirals slowly materialized over the boys, but only for a few moments before Djimmi's turban suddenly transformed into a massive light-bulb. “That's it! Hah hah hah hah!” The brothers finally managed to snap out of the strange trance once the spirals went away, just in time to spot a smaller version of Djimmi's turban slowly floating and spiraling down towards them. “Since you two are so fond of playing the roll of the Devil's little puppets...!” Djimmi suddenly changed into a large, disembodied hand that quite clearly belonged to him, he then grabbed a wooden control bar that appeared from seemingly nowhere, and flew up off the screen. “Introducing, for the first time ever, Puphead!!” A wooden marionette flew up, bouncing once the strings suddenly stopped moving. However, this hadn't been just any simple marionette, as his head took the shape of a wooden mug, with a small red nose, and a straight, blue-green straw sticking out, from the head. Puphead also wore a light red t-shirt with matching red shoes and shorts that matched his straw. Mugman shuddered at the sight of the wooden doll, he'd never liked marionettes, they creeped the heck out of the poor preteen, and the similarity to his little brother and himself didn't at all help.

Puphead skipped along through the air, inching closer to the brothers before his legs suddenly stopped moving. He stuck his right arm out and pointed, a small hole opening up at the tip of his finger as his head fell over to the right, limply.

“Wuh-oh.” Puphead's whole arm began to vibrate as he began shooting at the brothers. Three large, round blue bullets flew out at the boys, and one last pink bullet sailed straight for Mugman! The end of his blue straw closed up as a gloved hand formed. Mugman rolled forward, and parried the round bullet successfully. “I did it!!” “Mugs! Keep firing!!” Mugman tried to use his mini-bombs, but with the shells flying out the way they were, Mugman couldn't get close enough to reach the puppet. He switched his weapon back, keeping a constant line of fire as Puphead shot four more round bullets at them.

Suddenly, Djimmi's mouth appeared from the bottom of his turban, and small black bullets shot out in a circular shape from the red gem. “Woah!!” Cuphead panicked, attempting to dodge the smaller bullets, only to run into the large pink one, leaving the nose of his Aeroplane with a white X-shaped bandage. “Cuphead!” “Don't worry kids! This beating's for free – no strings attached!” Djimmi taunted, firing out more bullets in sync with his little puppet. Djimmi knew just how to defeat these kids. Overwhelm the red one, and frighten the blue one. Unfortunately for our heroes, Djimmi's little scheme was working. Cuphead's Aeroplane couldn't stand much more, but there was no way Mugman would be able to fight on his own! “Cuphead!” “I-I'm fine! Let's just end this quickly!!” Cuphead scowled. He knew they could do this, but he also knew he couldn't last much longer. Mugman looked over at Puphead, assessing the situation. It would seem Puphead was created from their own memories. So if this were Cuphead before him, or even himself, where would he need shoot? Mugman knew he wouldn't want anyone hitting his handle, but there was no way to reach it on the puppet from where they were. What about the belly? Cuphead's tummy was always ticklish, but it also seemed to bruise easily. Wait, that was it! “Aim for his belly!!” Cuphead flew lower, keeping his fire constant as he focused more on dodging the bullets from Djimmi and Puphead, as Mugman flew up to be at straw-level on the marionette. Once there was a break from Djimmi's bullets, Cuphead was able to focus his aim properly, and fired right where he expected Puphead's belly button to be. It was evident that the puppet tried to move his hands to cover his stomach, but the tension in the strings wouldn't allow for it. Cuphead kept up his fire, trying his best to keep an eye on the turban behind him. Puphead evidently didn't like that one bit, his legs curled up to block the fire and he straightened up his head, only to lower it to try and protect his tummy. Mugman seized the opportunity and opened fire the second he saw the handle on the back of his head come into view. With a puff of smoke, Puphead's face changed to have X-es for eyes and a frown, as his hands folded up, and his straw formed a halo. “Knockout!!” “Huh?” “Wait that's it? Whew! Thank golly that's over with.” Cuphead sighed.

“Sike!” Djimmi appeared before them with a puff of smoke, he whistled, signaling for his turban to float back onto his head. “Betchya didn't know I could throw my voice like that, did ya?” Djimmi yanked the corner of his mouth off his face and chucked it at the brothers, and much like a boomerang, his grinning mouth came back to him, Djimmi catching it in his hand. He placed his mouth back on, but rather than the usual grin he'd been giving the brothers from the beginning, it almost seemed like he was gritting his teeth at them. “.gnorw no siht tup syawla I !spoohW” Using his two index fingers, Djimmi pushed the two corners of his mouth, twisting it until his grin was right-side up again. “But in all seriousness...Now I'm really mad!! You may be able to shoot magic finger guns and launch little bombs and drink outta your own heads, but can you do this?!” Djimmi twirled around as he descended downwards and out of view. “Um...probably?” Mugman shrugged. Suddenly, Djimmi spiraled back into view, four times larger than he had been just moments ago. His eyes glowed yellow, and he circled his gigantic hands in a confusing-looking motion. Three magical pyramids faded into view, each with a closed, light blue-green eye on all four sides. “Um, never mind!!” “W-woah!” Cuphead bit his lip nervously, looking at everything around him as he kept his thumb firmly pressed over the shooting button. The three pyramids circled the brothers, Djimmi shot them a glare and four clear rings shot out from the gem on his turban. “Cuphead, move!!” Cuphead pulled into a nose-dive, but almost crashed right into a pyramid in the process. “Ah!” Suddenly the pyramid's eyes opened, and Cuphead flew away, feeling that he should flee. After five seconds, four purple cosmic beams fired out from the pyramid, pointing up, down, left, and right, cornering Cuphead as he tried to avoid the beams. “M-Mug...” The child was close to trembling, this was far too much for him, and what's worse was that Mugman didn't seem to hear him. Djimmi smirked, then fired another set of mental rings at Cuphead. The boy saw them coming, and tried to steer out of the way, but doing so caused him to fly into one of the cosmic beams, just before its fire stopped. “Aaaahh!!” Cuphead shrieked, the cosmic blast hitting his body hard. “Cuphead!!” Mugman flew over to his baby brother. “Cuphead, are you alright?!” “Mugman, I-I can't d-do this!! Th-there's too much going on, I-I can't--” Cup shook his head, tears starting to build up in his goggles. “Cuphead, yes you can, I know you can! Alright?!” “B-but Mugman!!” “Shh! Don't worry about that, alright?!” “One more hit, and my plane's going down! I-I can't!” “Just hang on, alright! I won't let you go down!! Just stay calm, take deep breaths, and keep firing! Don't worry about whether or not you're hitting him, just keep shooting and dodging!” “That's what I've been doing!! And it's not working!!” “Just a little bit longer! Okay?!” Mugman expelled the magic of his full Super Meter from his body, melding and morphing with his Aeroplane as he formed a Super Bomb. He flew close to Djimmi, only to be hit by a sudden cosmic beam, causing him to detonate early. “Mugs!!” Mugman backed up from the explosion, flying right next to Cuphead. “I'm not hurt...Shaken, but not hurt.” Mugman bit his lip, having just lost his plan. “I wasted my Super.” There was a pause as the brothers stared down the large genie. “I have one.” “What?” “My Super Meter's full! But there's no way I could make it to him if you couldn't!!” “I know you can do it, Cuphead! Just wait for my cue, alright?” Cuphead looked ahead, worried. It took him a moment, to decide before he glanced at his brother with a soft nod. “Alright...” So the brothers waited, never ceasing their fire on Djimmi.

Soon the pyramid's cosmic rays vanished, and Mugman saw Cuphead's opening. “Now!!” Cuphead unleashed his Super, melding with his Aeroplane as he sailed towards Djimmi. Mugman then noticed another Pyramid open its eyes, and feared Cuphead wouldn't be able to move over it in time. “Cuphead!!” The cosmic beam shot out, just barely missing Cuphead and allowing him to get even closer. “What?! No!!” Djimmi fired another set of rings at the Super Bomb, but Cuphead managed to swivel under them. Djimmi gasped after he saw it, just as Cuphead crashed right into his cob-pipe, causing him to inhale and choke on the tobacco inside. Djimmi began sputtering and coughing, puffs of smoke coming out of his mouth as he did. “You did it!!”

As the final few notes rang out, Djimmi shrank back down to his normal size, his magic carpet allowing him to stay within the boy's view as his massive coughing fit knocked him to his arms and legs. “Ha! Take that, Djimmi!!” “Hey, you finally got his name right!” Cuphead paused. “I did!” He beamed. “But, Djimmi...We need your Soul Contract.” Djimmi was too busy coughing and gasping still, but with the snap of his fingers, the contract appeared before Mugman. Mugman looked it over before plucking it from the air, and shoving it into his cockpit for the time being. “Thank you...Come on Cuphead, let's go. Floyd's not gonna be too happy when he sees your plane.” “I...Yeah, let's go.”

#Cuphead and Mugman: Don't Deal with the Devil #Pyramid Peril #Cuphead #Mugman #King Dice #Djimmi the Great #Puphead #Word on the Wind! {Rebloggable Content}#Drabble #Rewriting #You're Supposed to Hit the Queue Ball!#((Fun fact: The day I finished this was the same day the DLC was announced.))#((There was also a bit of cut content that I just couldn't fit in here but this was super fun to write))#((I was going to include a Popeye reference and have him sing a parody of Popeye's little I'm Popeye the Sailor Man))#((Then the little *toot toot* Popeye does with his cobpipe XD))

21 notes · View notes