Kitten: Yay! I'm back, and I survived Semester Exams! Woo! I hope everyone's having a nice time!

Kitten: I know this one's a rather long chapter, but I love writing 'em! Anyways, enjoy, guys!

~Chapter 4-Failure~

Cuphead and Mugman stood in front of Cagney Carnation who was glowering down at them. The two boys glared harshly in return.

Cuphead looked at his brother, "Ready, Mugs?"

Mugman nodded, "Ready, Cups."

The two jumped into the battlefield, launching themselves at the monsters, beginning to shoot their lasers at him.

Cagney growled, trying to hit the boys with his vines, but kept failing, especially with Cuphead.

However, Cups abruptly yelled out in pain as he was thrown to the ground by one of Cagney's vines.

"Cups!" Mugs exclaimed, concerned, while dodging Cagney and shooting lasers at him.

Cup grunted, slowly getting up, revealing a crack on his head. He yelped as he was attacked again, being thrown against a tree roughly, falling onto the ground once again.

Mugman gasped and growled, turning back toward Cagney. The blue clad boy gathered up his energy and aimed his lasers right at one of his eyes, literally blowing one of them out.

Cagney screamed in pain, holding his socket with one of his vines.

Mugs took this opportunity to run over to his brother, helping him up.

"Cups, are you okay!?" He exclaimed, alarmed.

"I'm fine..." Cups mumbled in response as he slowly managed to get up.

Mugman gasped at the cracks on his brother's head. One more hit and...

"Cuphead!" Mugman gulped. "I don't know if you can take much more! Why don't you let me take over for now?!"

"No way, Mugs!" Cup riposted stubbornly. "What if you get hurt too!?"

"I won't! I'll be careful, I promise!"

"But Mugs-" Cup's eyes widened. "Mug, get down!" He exclaimed, and when Mugs turned around, he yelped when he was snatched up by Cagney, holding him in a crushing grip. Cup tried to grab his hand as Mugman reached out, but no avail.

Cagney cackled wickedly, throwing Mugman from vine to vine. Cuphead growled. "Let him go, you damn prick!"

Cagney only laughed again. "Or what? What will you do? Kill me? Take my soul? Ha! I'd like to see ya try!"

Cup growled, gladly accepting the challenge. He jumped forward and began attacking Cagney, careful not to hit Mugs, who's eyes were filled with concern and fear for his brother. After a while, Cups was beginning to become weak. The milk in his head, needed for strength, was halfway empty, he was beginning to feel dizzy, he was bruised all over, the boy was breathing heavily, and he could barely stand.

He wiped his bloody nose with the back of his hand, and decided to go in for one more attack. Trying to aim as directly as possible, Cuphead aimed for Cagney's final eye and shot it out with his lasers. He then jumped up and cut his vines, grabbing Mugman in the process, causing them both to hit the ground.

Mugman screamed in agony as he hit the ground in a different direction, sliding on the dirt hard. As his head hit the ground, his world spun and turned black on him.

Static filled his ears. Mug groaned as he opened his eyes halfway, his vision blurry, and then as he opened them fully, his vision became clearer and was met with the blue sky. The boy groaned, rolling on his side before he forced himself to sit up. He groaned again as he held his head in his hands. The pain of his migraine hit him like a thousand shards of ice.

"Ugh...C-Cuphead?" He muttered, rubbing his head. When he didn't hear a weak mumbled reply, his head shot up and his eyes widened as realization struck him. Mug grunted as he jumped to his feet, his world spinning, nearly falling again, but he kept his balance.

"Cuphead!?" Mug exclaimed, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Cuphead, where are ya!? Cups?! Hello?!"

When there was no reply a second time, Mug chewed his lip, worried. Abruptly, a slight groaning sound rang in his ears. The boy spun around, and when he did, he felt like his heart would stop right then and there.

There was Cagney, fallen and drained on the ground. His roots and vines were scattered all over the place, and he was beyond unconscious. He was gone. And right under him, was Cuphead. There he laid, in the same state as Cagney. Unmoving.

The blue clad cup's eyes filled with silver tears. "Oh golly, Cups... No...no no no no... no, please! Please!"

He rushed over, falling to his knees and grunting as he grabbed hold of Cuphead's limp arm, huffing and puffing, struggling to pull his brother out. Once he did, his horror doubled. There were three cracks in Cup's head, his head was completely empty, there were rips and tears in his clothes, and he was badly bruised all over.

Mugman swallowed hard. "C-Cups," He choked out, shaking his brother. "H-Hey, c'mon. Wake up. W-We won, bro. We got his contract. Come on, get up who we can go take a break and then start again. W-Wake up, Cuphead. I'm n-not in the mood..." He choked on a sob as a few tears fell down his face. "...F-For y-your stupid jokes. I'm serious, C-Cup." He shook the older boy harder. "Wake. up. Please. Th-This isn't funny. You're starting to scare me. Please stop it, Cuphead. Quit playing around and open your eyes already. C-Cuphead..."

No movements from Cuphead. Just pure, eerie silence. The only thing that filled the air was Mugman's shrill, uneven and shaky breathing that came out as heavy and harsh gasps.

Tears ran down the other mug's face like a faucet, and it took him a minute before the younger cup finally broke into sobs, grabbing his brother and pulling him onto his lap, holding him there as he gasped through heavy sobs, shaking and quivering like a leaf. "P-Please C-C-Cup..." He rasped out, "Please. Don't leave me and Gramps. Please. We need you..."

Mugs wasn't sure how long he had cried. But minutes turned into an hour. By then, Mug's crying had turned into soft sniffling and gasps, shaking hard as he clutched at his brother. His eyes glistened with silver tears as some dripped off his face. He tried to inhale and exhale evenly in an effort to calm down, but each time he looked at his brother, his crying fits started all over again.

After his most recent crying fit, he was exhausted. He wanted to go home. He wanted Cuphead to snap open his eyes and yell, "I gotcha, Mugs! You should have seen your face!", and tease him as Mug burst into another fit of tears, screaming and yelling at him about how he had scared him to death, but at the same time go on about how gosh darn relieved he was that he was still alive, and pull him into a tight hug, holding him and sobbing with immense relief.

Mugs wished it was a sick, cruel, twisted joke. He hoped it was a sick, cruel, twisted joke. He wanted to be a sick, cruel, twisted joke. A smile. A snicker. A laugh. A smirk. Anything.

But deep down, he knew it wasn't. Not in Cup's case. He felt like he was living his worst nightmare. He had never been so terrified in his life. He had never been so mad at Cup in his whole life. How dare he! He had promised Mug a long time ago that he would never leave him! Did he lie to him?!

But he didn't know something like this would happen. His mind reasoned with him. And it isn't your brother's choice whether he pulls through or not. Death is not an option. Never has been. Never will be. If that was the case, he would be jumping up and teasing you.

Even more tears streamed down his face and Mug resisted the urge to break down again. He only made a small whimpering noise as he buried his face in Cup's chest, his black shirt absorbing Mugman's tears. He sniffled loudly as he hugged him, burying his face in his cold chest even further.

The poor boy stayed like that for a few minutes. Right before he was about to pull away, something tugged at him.

THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.

Mug gasped shakily and his eyes widened. He pulled back and placed his gloved hand on his brother's chest. Same reaction.

THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.

Mugman choked on a sob as tears of relief filled his eyes. Cuphead was alive. He was alive. But just barely. If he wanted his brother to stay that way, he had to get home. And fast.

Mug grunted as he picked his brother up in his arms. "Don't worry, bro," He whispered. "You're gonna be just fine, I promise. Just stay with me, okay? Don't leave me."

A small, weak groan came from Cups in response, and Mugs took that as a sign to get going. The boy began running off as fast as he could, his brother securely in his arms.

For the first few weeks, Cuphead didn't stir while he was in bed. The whole time, Kettle watched carefully over Cuphead in a chair next to his bed, while Mugs kept his distance, hiding behind walls and corners, and peeking out from them. Kettle attempted over and over to get his youngest grandson by his brother's side, but he would always come up with some excuse such as, "Actually, gramps, I'm kinda hungry. I'm gonna go pick up some food. I'll see ya guys in a bit!", or, "Hey, gramps, you mind if I go out for a while? I'm gonna go see how the other debtors are doing", and the last excuse such as, "That's okay, I'm gonna go play outside for a little while.", and he would say nothing else, only walk off.

Kettle couldn't blame his grandson for being scared. His own brother almost died in front of him for goodness sake! If that isn't terrifying and scarring, he didn't know what was. And to have it happen to such a sweet boy like Mugman, especially when he's only a child and has such a strong bond with Cuphead! It just shouldn't go down that way. It isn't fair to him. Not to anybody.

"I'll see ya later, gramps!"

Kettle didn't even get the chance to mouth a "goodbye" to his grandson, as when he turned around, all he saw was the back of the boy speeding off. He sighed. "Oh, son..." He turned back to Cuphead and sighed once again, squeezing his arm gently.

"Please wake up soon, Cuphead..."

Luckily, Cuphead's injuries were pretty easy to mend. It had been 3 weeks since the boy had awakened, and he was in pretty amazing shape. Elder Kettle gently wrapped Cup's arm up in a bandage. Cups winced when he pinched it too hard. "O-Ouch..."

Kettle sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry, son. I'm honestly not used to doing this."

Cup chuckled, "No worries, ol' man, I'm used to this by now."

Kettle smiled, continuing to wrap him up. He got out the glue and began fixing Cup's chips and cracks. "It's just... your brother's so much better at this than I am. He knows exactly how to repair the right way, and the right angles. He's very amazing when it comes to mending." He finished, gluing back on the final chipped piece on his head.

Cup rolled his eyes and chuckled bitterly. "Yeah. If only he were actually here. Can't even take out 5 minutes of his day for me anymore."

Kettle frowned. "Cuphead," He started, walking over and standing in front of him. "Your brother is not trying to hurt you. You do know that, don't you?"

"Heh. Yeah, sure I do."

"Cuphead."

"What?"

Kettle raised a disapproving brow at him. "I don't think you're being very understanding right now."

"What?" Cuphead snapped. "Gramps, I've been completely understanding! I've tried to get him to talk with me, but he just won't... talk, okay!? I've tried every single tactic I know, but it just... ugh! It's not working with him!" He growled, infuriated, and turned away, arms folded smugly over his chest with his glare firm in place.

"Well," Kettle sighed. "Did you try apologizing to him?"

"Of course I di-" Cup startled to ramble, but his eyes widened and he spun around to face his grandfather. "Apologizing!? Gramps, I ain't got nothin' to apologize for!"

"Really?"

"Of course I don't! I didn't do nothin' wrong!"

"You didn't do anything wrong intentionally." Kettle corrected.

"Huh?" Cup asked, confused.

Kettle sighed once more. "Tell me this, Cuphead. Do you know what happened 7 weeks ago?"

"W-Well, yeah! I got hurt in a battle with a debtor. No big deal."

Kettle shook his head. "You almost died, Cuphead."

Cuphead froze, startled. "S-Seriously?" He murmured.

"Yes. You're lucky to have survived." He cleared his throat. "Now. Answer me this. How would you feel if... Mugman saved you, and then your world goes black for the shortest of time, and then when you open your eyes, you find him on the ground. Limp. Not moving."

"I...I don't..." Cup trailed off.

"And no matter what you do, you can't wake him up. As of right then and there, he's dead. There's nothing you can do about it. He's gone forever, and you are never getting him back."

Cup's breath hitched. "G-Gramps, please. I don't wanna-"

"No, Cuphead." Kettle said sternly. "You need to understand."

Cuphead swallowed, looking back up at him cautiously.

"As I was saying. He's dead. As far as you know, he's gone. You've lost him forever. And that guilt is drilling into you like a nail. Because you feel like you could've done something, but you didn't. And now he's not there. Because of you. Or at least, that's the way you feel it is. Now, tell me. How would you feel?"

"...Scared." The red cup answered honestly. "Terrified, honestly. I'd be crying for weeks. I would have never felt so scared in my whole life."

"Mmm." Kettle nodded.

"He'd... be gone..." Cup said, slowly beginning to catch on. "...Forever... and I would never forgive myself. Without him, I'd... see no point in being happy anymore...even if he did survive... I'd be too scared to approach him because I'd be terrified he may disappear again..." He trailed off, looking at his grandfather.

"Now we know how Mugman feels." He nodded.

"I...I didn't know, I just... figured I'd be okay in the end... I didn't know I'd scare him like that..." Cuphead whimpered, now feeling terrible.

"Perhaps we should be less reckless in our decisions, and think about the feelings of those around us, and think about how our actions may affect them, yes?" Kettle asked.

"Yes..." Cuphead sighed shakily. He abruptly hugged his grandpa, startling him. "I'm sorry, Gramps!" He cried. "I'm so sorry! I'll be careful from now on, I promise!"

Kettle chuckled, rubbing his grandson's back. "That's alright, Cuphead. I forgive you. I'm just happy I didn't have to lose a grandson. About that promise... you'll be keeping it for a long time, yes?"

"Yeah! For the rest of my life!"

Kettle laughed, "Very good. I'm proud of you." He pulled away and wiped away the tears in his grandson's eyes. "Now. Why don't you go see your brother? I hear he's at that lake today. The one you two used to go to when you were kids, I believe?"

Cuphead grinned.

Mugman sighed, walking over and staring into the reflection of the lake. He huffed tiredly, picking up a few rocks and throwing them, allowing them to skip a few times in the water, causing ripples, before finally falling into the cold blanket of ocean blue. He smiled a little bit and threw a couple more, beginning to enjoy it. Before he threw another one, one rock abruptly was thrown into the lake in front of him. But he didn't throw it.

"Ya know, I really enjoyed doing that when we were little. Ya dig me, Mugsy?" He heard a familiar voice comment. He froze, looking down into the lake and saw the reflection of his brother behind him with a small, awkward but goofy grin plastered across his face.

"C-Cups!" He said, startled. "Uhh... h-hey. Umm, how ya feeling, bro?"

Cup shrugged. "I'm fine. Gramps wrapped everything up for me. It's all good."

"G-Great." Mug said. "Well, I guess I should head out..." He said, nervously beginning to walk off.

"Hold up, Mugs!" Cup exclaimed, grabbing his brother's shoulder. "I... I wanted to apologize."

Mug looked at him, surprised, but then he looked stern. "What for?"

"You know... freaking you out like that back with Cagney. I didn't mean to. I actually made a promise to be more careful and less rash. Who knows how long that will last." He joked, hoping to brighten things a little bit. When he saw Mug's angry expression, his smile dropped.

"Don't joke about this, Cuphead!" Mug snapped, infuriated, jabbing his finger in his brother's chest. "Quit makin' jokes outta' everything! It's annoying! It's downright rotten! This ain't a laughing matter, ya idiot! This is serious! Knock it off!" He exclaimed, getting up in his brother's face, causing Cup to gulp nervously. The younger then stomped off and sat down in front of the lake, pulling his knees up to his chest.

"It ain't funny," He repeated, his voice cracking as his eyes filled with tears and they streamed down his face. "It's scary..!" He choked out as he buried his face in his arms just as he broke down into sobs, his shoulders violently wrenching and his little body shaking.

Cuphead looked down, feeling like a cruel jerk all over again. He felt as if making his brother cry twice or more is the most rotten thing he's ever done.

The red cup slowly walked over and sat down next to his brother. "C'mere, Mug," He said softly before grabbing him and hugging him tightly.

"Shhh... it's okay, Mug... I'm okay... shh... it's alright, bro..." Cup soothed as he rubbed Mug's back in circles as the boy sobbed into his chest while gripping onto him like his lifeline.

"I...I was *Hic* S-So scared..."

"Shh... I know... I'm sorry...I'm so sorry... it's okay now...Shh... I gotcha..."

"*Hic* Y-You *Hic* C-Could've died, d- *Hic* dummy!"

"I'll be more careful from now on. I won't be as rash. Shh... it's okay now... I'll be more careful. Okay?"

"P-Please *Hic* P-Promise me, Cuphead"

"I swear. I'll be more careful. Alright?"

"*Hic* O-Okay..."

"Okay. Shh... it's alright, bro... just breathe... I gotcha... it's okay... I'm here... I'm not going anywhere, I promise..." Cups said gently as he continued to rub Mug's back, hugging him tighter.

After a few minutes, Mug's sobbing died down to small sniffles. He was lying down, his head resting on his brother's lap. "I love you, Cuphead." He murmured sleepily.

"I love you too, bro." Cuphead said with a grin, stroking his mug shaped head gently. "So? Am I forgiven?"

Mug smiled tiredly. "Forgotten." He yawned. "Can we go home now? I'm tired..."

Cup chuckled. "Of course we can, bro. C'mon."

The red cup brother tried to get up, but found that something weighed him down. When he looked, he saw Mug fast alsleep with a smile, his head resting on Cup's lap.

Cup rolled his eyes with a grin. "Oh, Mugs..." He sighed. "What am I gonna do with ya?" He picked Mug up in his arms as he stood up, and walked home, glad that everything was okay.