A gift story for Coffewithsprinkles on Deviantart, as a big thank you for the Cuphead story she did for me. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)
Cuphead belongs to Studio MDHR. I own nothing.
Really Just A Playful Clown On The Inside
Mugman giggled as Specter lifted him up into the air playfully, spinning gently around so that the little mug giggled more. Cuphead in Cagney Carnation's arms as the flower followed after the ghost and the other little cup. The two boys were under the watch of their uncles and the flower and ghost had heard about a circus coming to town and Beppi was going to be there too. At first, Cuphead and Mugman weren't really sure about going after hearing the balloon-like clown was going to be there.
"He's kinda scary," Mugman had whimpered, clinging to Cagney, who comforted him.
"Kind of like how Uncle Specter and I were before we proved to you boys we were really harmless?" The flower asked gently.
"In a way, yeah," Cuphead replied, clinging to Specter, who rubbed his back.
"Beppi really is a soft-hearted clown," the ghost had said. "But…the monster that tricked him wasn't nice to him, finding it funny to pop all Beppi's balloons and mess with his other tricks before you two stopped that monster."
"It's good that that monster can't come back," Cagney said. "Beppi has some very amazing tricks I think you boys will like."
"What kind of tricks?" Mugman asked curiously.
"Magic tricks for one," Specter replied with a smile. "He could possibly find a coin in your ears."
"Or create a long, colorful scarf from just one scarf," Cagney said.
Cuphead's eyes widened at hearing the kinds of tricks. "How does he do it?" He asked.
The flower and ghost chuckled. "If you let us take you to the circus, you'll get to see, little ones," Specter said.
The two boys eagerly agreed and they were all headed down the road to the circus. The boys were eager to run ahead, to which their uncles allowed them as the calliope music they heard became louder and the two brothers were eager to see the circus and ran back to their uncles, grabbing their hands and pulling them lightly, making the two adults chuckle before Specter lifted Cuphead up to sit on his shoulders and Cagney helped Mugman onto his stem to give the young one a piggy-back ride as they continued on until they reached the circus grounds.
"Whoa! Look at the tigers!" Mugman exclaimed, his eyes wide.
"And the seals!" Cuphead said, pointing to some seals who were playing around with a ball, balancing it on their noses perfectly.
Finding good seats, the four watched as the circus began first with the lion act. Exclamations of wonder and surprise echoed from the audience as the lions did various tricks, like balancing on balls and jumping through a ring of fire.
Next came the monkeys with their funny act of doing tricks like trapeze artists and then came the elephants with their amazing tricks, like dancing while playing a tambourine or spinning slowly around on a stool with one foot. The elephants then trumpeted, to the delight of the audience, as they headed out and the seals were up next.
Then, after the tigers had done their act, it was Beppi's act and the balloon-like clown came out on the stage, his red and blue colors blending in with the fancy red suit he had on, but then he walked up to a mirror, looked at himself and then looked like he had an idea and slipped into a cylindrical box on one side and came out the other side, this time wearing a blue suit with sparkles. He waved as the audience clapped and then he went to walk towards a bench with various objects, but then tripped over his own feet, over-exaggerating his stumbling, which made the audience laugh.
Cuphead and Mugman giggled too. "He's funny!" The blue cup said.
Cagney chuckled. "Ah, Beppi. Always one to over-exaggerate," he said.
"You know he does it for the laughs," Specter said, smiling. "And it is quite a hit with children."
"True," the flower agreed.
The next trick was selecting a member of the audience with a child and having the adult hold up a coin before handing it to Beppi, who put the coin in his hand and rubbed his hands together before opening his hands to reveal the coin was gone. He glanced around, as did the child who was in her guardian's arms before Beppi pretended to have an idea and reached up, 'pulling' the coin from the young child's ear. The little one was so surprised her mouth dropped open, making the audience laugh at her expression and Beppi then gave her the coin to keep and the audience clapped before seeing the clown pull out a white scarf and show it to the audience before stuffing it into his pocket and then he pulled on it to reveal not only had it changed color, but it was connected to more scarves to form one long, beautiful, colorful scarf that seemed to have no end as he continued pulling it out of his pocket, until he reached the end, pulling out a clown shoe before looking down at his right foot to see his right shoe was gone. The audience laughed so hard that some nearly fell out of their seats as Beppi looked embarrassed and quickly put his shoe back on before suddenly stopping and acting like his shoe was stuck or heavy. Pretending to tug hard, he suddenly fell back as he came free and landed on a plush mat with his feet pin-wheeling in the air. The audience laughed again and clapped as he got upright and stood proudly, holding out his arms in a 'there you have it' gesture before he suddenly looked around and motioned for quiet. Falling silent, everyone watched as a dumb bell was brought in and Beppi looked at it and it seemed heavy. He motioned for someone to come by and lift it. A strong man came out, but couldn't lift it.
Looking like he was thinking, Beppi then looked like he had an idea and motioned that he needed large muscles and so decided to pick up the dumb bell himself and the strong man would pick him up. A rather tense moment followed before the strong man successfully picked up Beppi who was clutching the dumb bell and held him up high as the clown held up the dumb bell, making the audience clap until the dumb bell bent in half and when Beppi went to check why it had, the ends suddenly sprayed him with grape jelly and powdered sugar, to which he smiled and the audience laughed even harder.
Cuphead and Mugman were giggling too. "That was pretty funny," Cuphead said.
The show ended with the trapeze artists doing their amazing stunts and Cagney and Specter stood up after that. "What did you boys think?" Cagney asked.
"It was awesome!" Mugman said. "Especially Beppi's show."
"That was pretty cool," Cuphead said. "Do you think they'll let us go visit him before the next show?"
Specter smiled. "Let's go see," he said.
Beppi was in his dressing room cleaning the jelly and powdered sugar off his face when a knock came at the door and the security man told him two boys said he was their uncle. Curious, he looked and saw Cagney and Specter with Cuphead and Mugman. Now very curious, he let them in and told security to let no one else in. He then turned to his friends and the boys. "Hello, everyone," he said with a smile.
"That was an amazing show as always, Beppi," Cagney said.
"Thank you, Cagney," the clown said appreciatively.
"You made that little one's jaw drop with the coin in the ear trick," Specter said.
"Ah, that never fails to surprise the little ones," Beppi said with a chuckle and looked at the boys. "What parts did you two enjoy?"
"The scarf trick," Cuphead said, giggling.
"When you got 'stuck' and fell back on the mat," Mugman said, also giggling.
Beppi chuckled before looking curious. "I haven't seen you two since our battle," he said, his face growing a bit somber. "I didn't think you boys would want to be near me after that."
The cup siblings looked at each other. Beppi sounded very sad, almost like he didn't like that he had forced them to battle him because he knew they were on an awful errand for the monster that had tried to ensnare them. Mugman creeped closer, looking unsure, and Cuphead was behind him as they went up to Beppi, who continued looking sad.
Cagney suddenly lit up. "Specter," he said, catching the blue ghost's attention. "What do we do to make our nephews laugh when they're sad?"
Specter looked thoughtful and he perked up, but Cagney motioned him to not say it aloud. "It's something that always works," the ghost said.
"Perhaps the boys should try it on Beppi?"
The boys tried to make sense of their uncles' words and then they lit up, understanding what they were saying. When the boys were upset or feeling down, Cagney and Specter tickled them and often tickled them to show the two how much they loved their nephews. Giggling, Mugman and Cuphead turned to Beppi, who was looking confused before seeing both boys raise their arms up in the silent question of if Beppi would pick them up. The clown did so, curiosity growing.
Until he felt twenty fingers begin tickling his neck and underarms. Letting out a surprised laugh, Beppi collapsed as if he had been deflated, but the boys giggled and continued tickling him to make him laugh.
Squirming, the clown laughed, his squeaky laugh bouncing off the walls and making his ticklers and the two spectators laugh too.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOYS!" Beppi tried to speak, but a loud squeak left his throat as Cuphead found out that his elbows were ticklish and Mugman began wiggling his fingers into the red and blue stomach. More laughter erupted from the clown before Beppi snapped his fingers and two long balloons appeared, gently wrapping around the boys and acting similar to ropes. Seeing this, Specter and Cagney chuckled, knowing what Beppi was about to do.
Cuphead was trying to escape while he giggled, but felt the clown's fingers tickle his sides, which made him laugh. Mugman, seeing this, couldn't help giggling too, giggles that became laughter as Beppi pulled him closer too and began tickling him.
"My, my, who knew you two were so ticklish?" Beppi said teasingly as his fingers wiggled into their stomachs, making them laugh their hardest before he stopped, not wanting to tire them out, though they looked a bit winded.
Mugman managed to get free of his balloon prison, giggling when the balloon playfully wound around him again. "Do you control balloons, Uncle Beppi?" He asked.
"I do, as a matter of fact," the clown said. "And…Uncle Beppi?"
"Why not?" Cuphead asked. "Yeah, you kinda scared us when we battled you, but on the inside, you're really just a playful clown. And to be fair, you didn't know that we weren't going to let that monster have what he wanted."
"That is true," Beppi said, a warm smile on his face as the boys surprised him with a hug and he hugged them in return. "Are you boys staying for the next show? It's going to be a bit different."
"Really?" Mugman asked, his eyes wide.
Cagney and Specter, having seen the circus before and knowing that each show was different from the first, nodded. "Yes, we will be," Specter said. "The boys haven't been to the circus before and we felt it was time for them to experience it."
"And experience the amazing show that you always put on, old friend," Cagney said with a smile.
Beppi smiled and hugged the boys, who returned the hug. "You all might want to catch your seats now," he said. "Because it gets packed out there pretty quick."
"We can't wait to see what other tricks you can do, Uncle Beppi," Cuphead said as the four headed out to get their seats and the clown got ready for the next show. He chuckled.
"Uncle Beppi," he repeated. "Those two boys are more than heroes. They're gems."
He got some more magic tricks ready, ready to wow the crowd, especially the two little boys who saw him as an uncle.
Beppi is a rather cool character. :)
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