Mugman blinked. What happened? It was like he had blacked out or something. Like he was waking up from a strange dream. When he saw Cuphead his face brightened and he rushed over. He knew it! The Devil was wrong, his brother did come for him!

"Cuphead!" He shouted, about to tackle him in a hug, then stopped when he saw the tears rushing down Cuphead's face. "Cuphead, it's ok. I'm here, I'm safe. Let's get out of here, ok?" Cuphead just shook his head.

"I can't." He said simply. Mugman's face fell.

"What-what do you mean?"

"I have to go now Mugsy." Cuphead said. "But just know that I love ya. I love ya and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got you into so much trouble, that I put you in danger, that I always fought with ya. I'm sorry for being such a bad brother." Mugman was crying now too. Why was he talking like this? Why was he saying these things? It sounded like a goodbye. But it couldn't be, it couldn't!

"You're not. I promise you're not." Mugman pleaded. "Please, just come home with me! Whatever's going on we can work it out! We always do!" Cuphead shook his head again.

"Not this time," he said. He felt a tug on his soul and knew that he didn't have much time left, he was going to have to wrap this up. Mugman's eyes went toward Cuphead's chest. He saw it too. No, NO! This couldn't be happening! He thought his soul contract had expired! "Tell Elder Kettle I'm sorry too, and Chalice, if you see her. I'll miss you. I'll miss all of you." Mugman shook his head.

"No! No, I won't let you go Cuphead! I love you! There's got to be something we can do!" Mugman pleaded. Cuphead smiled sadly.

"I love you too Mugsy." He said simply. Mugman's tears flowed faster. He was racking his brain trying to think of something, anything, to save Cuphead, but he couldn't think of anything. This was all his fault, if he didn't listen to The Devil, then Cuphead wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself. How could he have thought that his brother didn't care? How could he have thought that, even for a moment? Now he was gonna lose him forever. In the end, he did the only thing he could think of to do. He held his brother close to him for the last time. Cuphead quickly embraced him back.

"Alright, you've said goodbye to your precious brother. Now hand over the soul!" The Devil said, reaching towards Cuphead. But then, something peculiar happened, the Devil didn't take the soul, he received an electric shock instead. "What?!" The Devil shouted furiously. "That's not fair! What sort of trick is this?!" The cups looked at each other wide eyed. What the heck was that? How did they do that? Mugman was the first to figure it out, a gasp escaping from his lips.

"When in doubt young man of mug….." he started. Hearing this, Cuphead caught on too.

"Give your brother one last hug!" he finished. That was it! They could still get out of here with both of their souls intact! All they had to do was keep hugging each other. The power didn't come from the sweater after all, it was the love. They both scurried towards the elevator, holding each other tight as The Devil raged behind them.

"That's not fair! We made a deal! You owe me your soul!" he shouted. The Devil threw everything he had at them. Fireballs, lava, electric shocks, but all of it just bounced right off them. The cups kept running and didn't look back until they made it to the elevator. "Nooooo!" The Devil shouted as they reached the elevator. "I'll get you one day, you little brat! Your soul belongs to me!" Cuphead removed one arm from the hug and pressed the up button as quickly as he could, not daring to breathe until he heard the telltale "ding!" of the elevator doors closing.

Once they were in and moving upwards, relief flowed through the both of them, especially Cuphead. He really thought that he was going to die for a minute there. After a beat, laughter started to pour out of Cuphead, along with some more tears, but this time they were tears of joy. He couldn't believe it. He was still here, he wasn't dead, and Mugman was back by his side. All was right with the world. Once he saw Cuphead laughing, Mugman couldn't help himself and joined in as well, tears also flowing down his face.

"We did it. I can't believe we did it." Cuphead said through his tears. "I really missed ya, you ding-dong."

"I missed you too." Mugman replied. "I'm really sorry Cuphead. I never should've let The Devil get to me."

"Sorry? You just saved my soul! Again! I would've been locked in the soul vault a million times over if it wasn't for you! Besides, you were right about me. I have been taking advantage of ya. But that's going to stop. I'm never gonna take you for granted again Mugsy, I promise."

"That's real sweet Cuphead." Mugman said. "But it's not necessary. I don't know what I said to ya when I was all demon-ified, but it's not true. I know you care about me, you just put your soul on the line to save me. You wouldn't have done that if you didn't care. Sure, maybe we fight sometimes, but that's just what brothers do. You're the best brother a mug could ever ask for. I never should've forgotten that." Cuphead smiled, and tried wiping away his tears, but more just kept coming.

"Wow, thanks Mugsy. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." They hugged again as the elevator opened its doors back to the surface world. "So, wanna head home?"

"You lead the way." Mugman said as they stepped out of the elevator. "But wait, Cuphead! Now The Devil owes your soul again! We're back at square one!"

"Eh, I ain't too worried about it."