Warning: Might be a heavy chapter for some. Won't give any more details to avoid spoiling. If there are some grammar, spelling, or any other editing mistake, I apologize in advance, I've been working for this draft for months last year, only when I had time.
Author's Comment: Sorry, Chapter is 2 weeks late, but I got it done. Again, might not be posting for a long time, probably by July again after my next exam.
Without further ado, Enjoy... or you know, bring tissues.
Chapter 8.5 "Heartache Pt 2"
Dozens of scribbles and strokes were heard from Cuphead's intense & messy, and Mugman's calm & concentrated waxy crayons pointed towards their respective papers. Mugman wiped his paper of the excess wax with his right backhand and then he held it up to get a good look.
It was a waxy drawing of Cuphead eyebrows scrunched and smiling with confidence while shooting his light blue peashooter to different directions to the air.
"What did you draw Cuphea-" Mugman turned to his brother, but his eyes-widened glaring at what he saw.
Cuphead, who was holding back tears behind his happy-squinting eyes and his laughter behind his left hand, showed the drawing of Mugman having a big open mouth while scattered around candy was being sucked into it like some black hole.
Mugman just stared at it with his jaw dropped, confused whether he should be laughing or be annoyed.
Cuphead burst out laughing as he pointed his finger at Mugman's dropped jaw. "YOU LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE PICTURE HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Man, that is not fair." Mugman then flipped his paper to look at his drawing and smiled sadly at it. "I even made ya super cool in this."
Cuphead came over, buddy hugged Mugman, and looked at his brother's drawn picture of himself.
Cuphead sighed. "Aw man, now I feel like a joirk."
Mugman giggled. "Nah, not really." He said as he looked endearingly at his brother.
"Aw come on!" Cuphead let go of his buddy arm and used it to nudge Mugman's elbow. "Make me silly!"
Mugman picked up a black crayon, put the waxy tip on the paper, and then confidently smirked at Cuphead with a raised eyebrow.
Cuphead folded his arms and smirked. "Bring it on Mmmuggo."
Starting from Cuphead's smile on the drawing, Mugman drew long squiggly lines to make a tongue three times longer than it actually was. He then shaded the inside of those lines with a red crayon.
Cuphead snickered. "Since when did I get a long tongue?"
Mugman tinked his chin with his crayon, then smiled as he had an idea. He picked up a brown crayon from the table. "Since ya did this." He drew a brown ball at the tip of that long tongue.
Cuphead raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"The pie duh!" Mugman nudged Cuphead's elbow.
Cuphead snickered, and then he burst out laughing together with Mugman at their drawings; the former had his forehead facepalmed, while the latter buddy-hugged the former and held up his drawing proudly.
When they were done, they let out a big sigh.
Cuphead smiled at his brother. "Bud, I still think yer nose is big." He casually booped Mugman's nose.
Mugman's eyes focused on his brother's finger that booped his nose, and he grunted as it was booped. "Cuphead! We made a deal!"
"I ain't a jokin' Mugs." He wiped his right hand left to right as if saying 'no'. With confidence, Cuphead pointed his thumb to himself. "I think it'll be a whackin' good look on me. Watch!" He suddenly yanked Mugman's nose off his brother's face.
"Nhey!" Mugman said with his voice sounding like he pinched his nose. He tried to grab his nose back, but then he suddenly had a small red nose pinned onto his face.
Closed eyes, Cuphead put on the big blue nose onto his face, giving it a small wiggle as he attached it in place. "How do I look?" He said with his deep nasal voice. He wiped his hand down his nose so that when he released it the nose bounced back and wobbled until it was still as straight.
Cuphead looked back at Mugman with a raised eyebrow and his flashing confident smile; the big blue nose was blocking the middle line of his eyes.
Mugman's mouth squiggled, and then he laughed out loud as he pointed at Cuphead. "YOU-HUHU L-HOOK SILLY!" His voice sounded squeakier.
Cuphead snickered and put his hands on his hips. "Yeah?" His voice was deeper and more nasally. "Well what does that make ya?"
Mugman wiped a tear of laughter. "W-hell that makes me…. Me…." He frowned, realizing that he was ridiculing his own nose. Abruptly, he started to sob; tears came out of his eyes, his mouth began to tremble, and his red nose started to run with colds.
Cuphead's chest jumped and his straw formed an exclamation. "NO! MUGS!" He shook his hands trying to stop his brother from crying. "I DIDN'T-! WHAT DID I SAY?!"
In a loud voice, Mugman started to wail again, with waterfall tears coming out of his eyes. He then ran away to the hall.
"MUGS!" Cuphead groaned with his deep nasally voice. "Not again! BUDDY WAIT UP!" He ran after his brother.
As he ran, Mugman wailed and left a trail of tears behind him. He ran past the railing on the left, and turned left at the end of it where the mouth of the stairs was.
"MUGS!" Cuphead now shouted frustratedly. "COME BAC- WOAAAHH!" He slipped from the trail of tears Mugman left behind, and then fell to a sit on his bum. He grunted, and then got up. "MUGSYYY!" He yelled angry.
Downstairs, along the eerily quiet hallway of purple walls with brick patterns and pink floors, Toriel stood there watching the end ahead and numbly wondering if she should keep going.
She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She kept quiet… and quiet… and quiet… holding her breath during this time… and then she exhaled, and a tear poured down her right eye. "No… not again…" Her eyes opened with renewed determination. "I have to do this." She took a step forward-
"WAAAAGHHAAGHHH!" The wails of Mugman echoed from above the stairs behind her; his voice sounded squeakier and higher pitched than usual. Soft footsteps started running down echoing & bouncing on the walls, and they (with the bouncing echoes) got louder as they got closer.
"TORIEL!" Mugman clung onto her robe." C-CUPHEAD HE-!" He sniffled.
Slowly, Toriel turned her gaze towards Mugman and she blankly stared at his face which had Cuphead's tiny red nose attached on his face.
Noticing her blank and numb stare, Mugman released her robe and took a step back. "T-Toriel?"
"MUUUUGGS!" Cuphead furiously yelled with his deep nasally voice from the stairs, followed by running steps towards him.
For a moment, Mugman turned to notice Cuphead running towards him, but then turned back to Toriel in concern.
Cuphead punched Mugman's arm.
"Ow!" Mugman said, mostly out of surprise.
"WHY CAN'T YA STOP BEING A WIMP AND JUST PLAY ALONG FOR…. Once…" Cuphead slowed as he noticed Mugman not paying attention to him, and instead looking at Toriel with deep concern.
Cuphead looked up, and saw Toriel looking back at them with a numb stare.
"Uhhh…" Cuphead proceeds to whisper to Mugman with his right backhand covering his left sidemouth. "Ya think it's the noses?"
"Oh! Right!" Mugman giggled.
They pulled out each other's nose out of the other's face, and then attached it to their faces.
"Tah dah!" They both said, while doing their jazz hands with their center hands forward and their outer hands spreading outwards that they looked like they were forming a big Y.
Numb, cold, and indifferent, Toriel just stared at them for a few seconds of silence… and then she took a deep sigh and closed her eyes. "You are too innocent…" She shook her head.
The boys frowned. From a stop, they slowly retracted their jazz hands to an uncomfortable stand.
"What…?" Mugman said, confused and more worried than ever.
Toriel looked towards the end of hall. "You wish to return to your home, do you not?"
Still worried, Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other, and then they slowly turned back to Toriel while saying "Yyyyeeeaaaah….?"
Toriel paused in silence, still staring at the end of the hall ahead.
Mugman's mouth squiggly smiled nervously. "W-we'll stop by more often!" He shyly raised his index finger.
"Yeah!" Cuphead buddy hugged Mugman, and the latter smiled in relief. "So we can have more pie!" He splayed his hand in explanation.
Mugman's eyes widened. "Cuphead!" He glared at his brother.
Cuphead blinked as he noticed Mugman's reaction. "Oh! Right." He smiled at Toriel. "We'll bring Elder Kettle too!"
As if to argue with his brother, Mugman opened his mouth and raised a finger, but then began to tap his chin in thought with that same finger.
"Actually… Yeah!" Mugman smiled. "What he said!" He pointed his thumb to Cuphead.
In their buddy hug, Cuphead and Mugman clinked each other's heads and winked at each other.
"Thoughtful… as usual." Toriel said numbly as she kept looking onwards. She took a deep sigh. "But no… that's impossible."
Smiles fading, Cuphead and Mugman started to worry again. They looked at each other and saw they were thinking the same thing.
"Oh-kay… Toriel you're startin' tuh scare me." Cuphead's eyes squeezed in worry.
Toriel took a step forward, and then stopped with her feet together. "Ahead lies the exit to these ruins."
Cuphead and Mugman gasped, then looked at each other, and squealed while they held each other's hands and danced their feet by running in place quickly.
"Golly that's swell!" Cuphead looked at Toriel.
"We can go home!" Looking at his brother, Mugman gently squeezed his brother's hands with his own. Cuphead looked back, met his brother's eyes, and nodded.
"I'm going to destroy it." Toriel said, her back still turned towards them.
Once full of hope, Cuphead and Mugman's smiles turned into horrified frowns as they turned to Toriel. "Wh-what?!"
"No one will ever try to leave again." Toriel turned her head a quarter towards the boys just so she could see them in her right periphery. "Children. Please be good and go upstairs." With that, she looked forward and walked on to the end.
A few seconds of shock passed, but then Cuphead and Mugman gasped as they noticed her moving away. "NO!" They leapt forward and grabbed onto her dress.
As she felt the tug, she stopped taking another step. "You don't understand… my naïve children. I am only trying to protect you."
"From what?!" On the floor, Cuphead looked up to Toriel. "The monsters?!"
"From Asgore." Toriel said the name in a deep blood-curdling voice
Cuphead and Mugman shuddered at his name and it made them let go of Toriel's robe. They mouths were left wide open, wanting to gasp, but they were so scared that nothing came out.
"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate." Toriel held out her right-hand face up, representing the human.
"They come." She brought her right-hand to her left-hand that caressed it.
"They leave." Her right-hand slipped from the grasp of the left-hand.
She took a long pause, her right-hand shivered as she did. She then closed her right-hand to a fist. "They die."
On the ground, holding their breaths in fear, Cuphead and Mugman stared at Toriel's right-fist. They held each other's hands and felt a comforting warmth in this cold and anxious tale that had overpowered their auras once full of energy and fun.
"If you leave the ruins…" Toriel turned her head a quarter slowly. "They…" She kept turning, now half-towards them. "Asgore…" She now looked at them, who were still holding hands and looking back worried.
"Will kill you." She spoke the last words slowly and heavily.
Whimpering. Squeezing their grasps on each other's hands tighter. Gulping. Mugman started to crawl back a bit, but Cuphead was staying put trying to be brave and be the front for his brother.
Toriel's eyes looked down in a sorrow. "I am not going to let that happen." She looked back to the end of the hall far ahead. "Not again."
Cuphead and Mugman (who was slightly behind the former) looked at each other.
"A-again?" Mugman looked back at her.
Toriel did not answer to that question, and just looked on. "This is your final warning." She shot a strict stare at them. "Go to your room."
With that, Toriel hurriedly walked on.
Scared, Cuphead and Mugman watched her go, and they even looked at each other just silently asking what just happened.
Trying to muster courage, Mugman took a deep breath, and then got up.
"W-WAIT MUGS!" Cuphead raised his whispering voice. "WHAT'RE YA DOIN?!"
While looking back with an insecure look at Cuphead, Mugman took a step forward. "I-I'm-!" He took a deep breath. "I'm gonna be brave." He looked forward to Toriel. "M-ms Toriel! E-Elder Kettle might be-!"
As she walked forward, Toriel's hands blazed with orange fire, then she turned around and swiped her right backhand behind her, drawing a horizontal line of fire on the floor between them.
Cuphead and Mugman screamed, and the former got up to catch Mugman into a protective hug while they shivered in terror.
The line of fire grew into a tall wall reaching up to Toriel's chest.
"Don't make me ask again." Toriel said coldly with the flickering fire reflecting on her numb eyes.
After turning around and walking a few steps, Toriel went left where the corner turned, and she disappeared from view.
Still hugging, Cuphead and Mugman panted as they watched Toriel go.
"She…." Cuphead panted. "S-she tried tuh-…." He looked in concern at Mugman, who was shivering and whimpering in the hug.
Mugman buried his face onto Cuphead's chest. "M-maybe…" He started to cry. "M-maybe w-we should just do what she says… I-it'll… i-it'll… I dunno…" He started to wail again.
"Okay…" Cuphead panted as he patted Mugman's back gently. "Okay… w-we should just…"
While in their hug, guiding Mugman, Cuphead slowly turned them around and they slowly walked towards the stairs.
"Y-you…" Cuphead looked at Mugman. "Y-you okay pal?"
In response, Mugman buried his face onto his chest even more, shivered more violently, and tightened his hug even more, to which Cuphead just patted his brother's back and took the intense tightness like a brother.
They walked on and on, back to where they're being kept… but they knew they could not call it 'home' anymore.
Laying in the small twin-sized bed, Cuphead and Mugman hugged each other, numbly staring at the walls over each other's shoulders. Lost… confused… conflicted…
But then… there was Toriel… she took them in when they needed help… she healed them when they were hurt… she laughed and played with their jokes… but now… with the fire and the warnings… was this really the same Toriel?
Asgore… The name sent shivers over their spines. They imagined a beast more vicious than the Devil… a bloodthirsty smile with the silhouettes of the cups on his sights… would it be right to just listen to Toriel? Leave Elder Kettle forever… leave Inkwell Isle… stay here… Elder Kettle…
Mugman just tightened his hug just to snug in comfortably. "Good night." He said glumly as he closed his eyes.
Cuphead tightened his hug in response, and closed his eyes as well. "Good night."
Warmth… in this cold dark room, they could only feel some form of relief in each other's hugs… much like the warmth of home... home…. Home…
Home…
Home… the humble brown mushroom house, the crackling fire, the creaky rocking chair of Elder Kettle…
The forest where they ran around, laughing and playing together… Mugman desperately trying to catch Cuphead while the latter just spit raspberries and then ran into a tree in their game of tag, making the former tag the latter and laugh to his heart's desire… and then, them playing hide and seek but with the unfortunate discovery of a beehive in Mugman's hiding spot within the tree, which then got them all stung all over.. and then, them counting stars and drawing constellations on the roof when Elder Kettle supposedly tucked them in for the night…
The Root Pack... Hilda… Djimmi… Ribbey and Croaks… Ms. Chalice… Everyone… Toriel?
She stood there in the constellations. "The puzzlezz are vaiting for youzz my childrenzz!" She then flapped her arms like wings and began to squawk like a crow.
'Asgore!' A loud whisper echoed from around the boys, making them sit up at the roof in vigilance.
'Asgore. ASGORE! A-ASGO-ASGORE!' The voice echoed again, with the last being the loudest, and this time the boys held each others' hands and readied their finger guns with the other.
"Cu-…her…." A fatherly voice spoke with its second syllable being muffled.
"Huh?!" Cuphead and Mugman looked around trying to find the source.
"Please…" The fatherly voice grew more desperate. "Wake up!"
Mugman looked at Cuphead, who also looked back. "Wh-what?!"
"You are the future of humans and monsters…" The same fatherly voice spoke desperately.
"Oh-kay…?" Confused, Cuphead looked to Mugman, who shrugged his shoulders while still staring in confusion.
The voice made them so uneasy that they went back to hugging each other, and closing their eyes.
"C-cuphead?!" Called out an endearing elderly and familiar voice. "Mugman?!"
Popping their eyes open, Cuphead and Mugman turned and shifted their gazes everywhere to find the source of the voice in the now dark void.
"E-Elder Kettle?!" They called out.
"Boys! Boys?!" His voice sounded very worried.
The void turned into Elder Kettle walking in the rain while wearing a raincoat in the forest.
"It's time to go home! Where are you?!" Elder Kettle's voice cried out in despair.
In panicked waking, Cuphead and Mugman's eyes popped open, and they gasped. "ELDER KETTLE!" They yelled as they jumped out of the blanket and shook in the air (like they were shock-electrocuted) with their straws turned into exclamation points.
They both scrambled out of bed, banged the door open, rushed to the main hall, ran back down the stairs, sprinted through the long purple hallway that now, near the end of the corner, had a horizontal black ash mark on the middle of the floor, held hands, and then they turned left to see:
Like deafening rocket booster engines blasting off, powerful and colorful fires blazed from Toriel's two hands towards the large arched door that was about a foot higher than her.
"Hey!" Cuphead stomped his foot furiously.
Immediately, Toriel's hands stopped blasting fire, revealing a violet door charred black on its upper-half; whatever design the door had in the middle, it was covered by black.
Toriel sighed. "So… you really do want to leave so badly after all…" She slowly lowered her hands and turned only a quarter towards them; she was facing the upper right corner of the room.
Mugman took a breath and took a right foot forward. "Ms. Toriel ma'am, thanks for everythin'…. But we really gotta go! Ya can't keep us in here!" He jabbed his index finger to the floor.
"Yeah!" Cuphead pointed an index finger at Toriel. "It ain't all about you lady!" He jabbed that same finger to her.
"CUPHEAD!" Mugman glared at Cuphead as he gripped the latter's hand tighter.
"WHAT?!" Cuphead yanked his hand away from Mugman's slightly painful grip. "It's like ya said Mugs, we can't stay here! Elder Kettle's waitin' for us back home!"
Closing his eyes, Mugman sighed. "Well… yeah!" He opened his eyes and faced Toriel. "Like my brother said, Elder Kettle's prolly worried sick 'bout us so we really have to go!"
"And I've told you already…" Toriel sighed, and kept looking at the upper corner. "If you leave, you will die…" She made a long pause. "…just like the others." Her voice weakened and sounded it would break.
Looking down, Mugman shuddered at the thought.
"Pfft! We're not like the others!" Cuphead flicked his left hand down. He then buddy-hugged Mugman. "WE have a brother." He winked at the latter.
Mugman snickered. "YOU…" He touched his brother's chest with his pointing index finger. "Have a brother. WE…" He pulled Cuphead closer that they clinked. "Have each other." He winked.
Cuphead grumbled, his cheeks blushing from embarrassment. "Not now Mugs!" He pushed Mugman away (while Mugman grunted slightly annoyed). He then smirked at Toriel. "We've beaten the devil and won!"
Mugman gasped and beamed. "Oh yeah!" He snapped his fingers. "We could definitely give a wallop tuh any dum dum who gets in our way!"
"Yeah buddy!" He smiled with confidence at Mugman. "It'll be easy as pie!" He giggled. "Get it?" He elbowed Mugman.
Mugman groaned. "Cuphead." He rolled his eyes with a smile on his face that he's trying to wipe off.
Toriel glared coldly at them. "Even if it were me?"
"Yeah!" Cuphead and Mugman said confidently while raising their fists and held hands to the air… but then their smiles faded into frowns of horror.
"I'm in your way…" Toriel slowly and eerily turned to them. "Would you fight me?" Her cold and numb eyes stared directly at them. "Would you…" She looked at the corner of her eyes for a moment, and then back at them; her body was now facing them. "Hurt me?"
Cuphead and Mugman made a shuddering gasp.
"If you want to leave… Prove it to me then." Toriel elegantly and gently flipped her palms face up and laid them at the ready. "Prove to me that you are strong."
Their breaths grew into shudders. Cuphead and Mugman took a couple of stutter steps back. "N-No…" They shook their heads in disbelief.
PING! Their pink hearts beneath their chests popped into visible.
Out of thin air, above each of Toriel's palms, two sparks grew into candlelight fires, then flickered into larger multicolor flames.
Shocked and confused, Cuphead and Mugman's faces turned into cold and sad frowns respectively; they knew there was no way of changing her mind. They held each other's hands and, with each of their free hands, they formed finger guns with the tips of their index fingers humming with power and glowing with a red spread shot for Cuphead and a blue peashooter for Mugman.
The fireballs on Toriel's hands blazed into flames two-times larger. She swirled her hands clockwise and then pushed forward while joining her fireballs together into a blast of two long-tailed spiraling comets flying and hurtling towards them.
After an alarmed gasp from each, letting go of each other's hands, Cuphead and Mugman jumped into a curled-ball front flip to dodge the spiral through the gap on the center… but as halfway through their front-flip, their butts touched the multicolor fire from the top of the ring.
Midair, Cuphead and Mugman goofily screamed in panic and pain with tears rushing like waterfalls out of their eyes, while their legs flailed around, and their hands were covering the sides of their bums.
On the floor, the two brothers ran around in a frenzy of screaming while trying other ways to put the fires out on their own (such as sliding their bottoms on the floor, bouncing them, or patting them out). Then, still screaming, they ran around circling each other for about one, two, three times until they quickly pulled their heads popping up from their necks, and then (like buckets of water) threw the milk from their own heads towards each other's backsides. As the fire hissed into steam and left big charred spots on the tush of their shorts, Cuphead and Mugman's eyes (on their detached heads that their hands were carrying) squeezed shut and their teeth gritted as they felt the sting lessen… and finally as the sting receded, they sighed with smiling relief.
"Thanks buddy." Cuphead and Mugman said in sync as their straws, that were facing each other, formed into fists that bumped into each other.
They opened their eyes, and then those eyes bugged out, and then they screamed, with their bodies shivering, as they saw a colorful fireball blazing towards them. Feet spinning like super-fast bicycle pedals, their bodies ran, but then they grunted as their bodies slammed into each other, causing them to drop their heads clinking and rolling to the floor.
The fireball blasted just above their necks (where their heads were supposed to be).
Toriel grunted coldly and unimpressed. She crisscrossed her wrists and conjured more fires on each hand.
Heads on the floor, Cuphead and Mugman whimpered and shivered (their straws formed into exclamation points, and their pupils shrunk and shivered).
"SHE'S GONNA TOAST OUR BUTTS AGAIN!" Mugman cowardly yelled.
Their bodies grabbed a head and plugged it into the X spot on their collarbones.
Wrists crisscrossed, Toriel whipped her backhands spread apart, and the fireballs from each hand multiplied into eight fireballs that hovered in the air for a while and then dashed towards the boys in the middle; four each were homing for either Cuphead or Mugman.
The boys dashed and tumbled in opposite crisscross directions, dodging the fireballs as they dashed towards the back of the room. Cuphead and Mugman willed their bodies to aim their finger guns of where they saw Toriel, and then they fired… but their shots hit the walls respectively in front of each of them on opposite sides. The boys looked at the walls they fired at confused, and then they looked at their bodies to see they were wearing the opposite-colored shorts; their heads were on the wrong bodies.
Meanwhile, the eight fire balls that divided into two pairs of four bounced on the corners of the room back towards the boys.
The boys tumbled to the center, each knelt on one knee closest to each other while their other legs were lunged to opposite side; they posed like action stars holding their guns up. Smirking, they then held their own head handles with the use of their bodies, pulled their heads out of the wrong neck, hovered it over their respective necks, gave each other a light clink, and put their heads back to their respective necks… but then the fireballs that bounced from the corners behind them blasted onto their butts again, and they jumped up screaming and crying in pain while flailing their legs around and covering their bums with their hands.
Side by side, they landed on their chins with their butts pointing to the ceiling, while flames kept burning on their bums like they were brazens, and Cuphead and Mugman just stared annoyed, unamused, and uncaring.
"Alright we get it…" Cuphead said annoyed. "We're really hot!"
Mugman groaned. "Not now Cuphead."
Cuphead and Mugman licked the tips of their index fingers and pressed the flames on their bottoms, extinguishing them with a 'tssss' sound from the steam.
"Yeah, tell that to every joirk that made puns while we got our butts kicked back home." Cuphead said, still staring at space unamused.
As he chance-glanced at Toriel, Mugman's eyes bugged out in shock. "LOOK OUT!" He pushed Cuphead to the side and he dashed away opposite of him, leaving a puff of white smoke behind, to dodge a fireball that instead exploded on the ground they were on.
Toriel brought her wrists together, palms forward, and hands spread open horizontally. From the center, where the wrists met, she shot a continuous shower of smaller fireballs towards the boys.
Standing up after their roll, Cuphead and Mugman grabbed their head own handles, and gave them a hard spin that their heads spun very fast. Meanwhile, their straws turned into hands glowing with pink energy; their heads turned into spinning helicopters with a pink spinning energy ring which then parried the fireballs that flew towards them.
Toriel gasped as she saw her attacks being swatted away like flies.
The boys then jumped up with the pink energy ring from their straw hands being seeped inward the tubes of their straws and into the milk in their heads. Their heads stopped spinning, and they looked fiercely at Toriel while their bodies were twisted to the right with their fists pointing towards that direction as if to wind their own bodies up like toys. Then, they aimed the mouth of their cup-heads towards Toriel and spun their bodies counterclockwise really really fast and unleashed a spinning blast of milk towards her.
Toriel's eyes widened, and with fast reflexes, she unleashed, one from each hand, two powerful multicolor fireblasts towards each blast of milk that was coming towards her. The fireblasts and the milk blasts met in the middle gap between, and it resulted in a thick steam building up between Toriel and the boys. Each of her fireblasts were being pushed by the blasts of milk, the boys' power was stronger in this attempt, but even if she could be stronger otherwise, Toriel willed her blasts to weaken instead and then frowned in acceptance.
The milk blasts hit her hands, and then her body, and they were powerful enough to slam her body towards the door behind her.
Cuphead and Mugman landed on their feet on the ground and watched the wall of white foggy steam cautiously with their finger guns glowing with their respective red and blue energy pointing towards it.
I'm… I'm determined too…
In the steamy fog, two colorful fires blazed from within, and those two fires were wiped sidewards to dissipate the fog and reveal Toriel with sharp canines on her teeth and a fiercer stare towards the boys, who then gasped and backed off a bit.
Toriel blasted the ground, and a wave of large pillars of fire came towards them in one… two… and three. The boys split up (Cuphead ran forward, while Mugman backflipped) and Cuphead just stood in the gap between the first and second pillars of fire as he kept firing with his red spread shot, while Mugman just stood in the gap between the second and third fire pillars as he fired his blue peashooter shots from afar. The bullets pierced through the fires creating gaps within the fire, and they kept hitting Toriel, who just stood there secretly gritting the teeth beneath her fierce frown, bearing the pain.
Mugman saw the suffering expression Toriel bore on her face, and in a compassionate look, he stopped firing his shots. "Cuphead!" He started to run forward to his brother.
Hands drawn together, from the gap between her palms, Toriel formed a big multicolored fireball twice the size of the boys. She launched it forward, and Cuphead gasped as the fireball was hurtling towards him, but then he was tackled from behind (by Mugman) and they both disappeared in a puff of white smoke, and then reappeared on the other side of the fireball behind it. They both fell to the floor with Cuphead below, and Mugman's head stacked on top of Cuphead's.
Cuphead smiled at Mugman above him. "Thanks pal!"
"Cuphead!" Mugman gently raised his voice to Cuphead below him. "Toriel! We-!"
Just then, Toriel conjured another huge fireball and then fired it at the boys.
Mugman gasped. "Look out!" With his arms and legs, he pushed Cuphead to the right, all while the fireball hurtled towards himself.
KABOOM!…SHATTER!
As he landed and heard the explosion, Cuphead looked back to where Mugman was, but what was left was a big black burnt mark on the floor with smaller rays of black burns spreading radially from the center (shaped like a sun). He gasped. "M…Mugs?" he crawled to the ash slowly, his eyes shivering in horror.
A groan came from the left side, and Cuphead looked towards its source. He found Mugman slumped on the corner wall, still intact with no burns on his face or his clothes, but his head handle was chipped off and he fell to the floor on his right; the fireball didn't hit him, but the force of the explosion pushed him to the wall.
"MUGS!" Cuphead yelled with tears trickling from his eyes as he stood up and ran to him.
Toriel gasped, her eyes shrunk, and she covered her mouth with both her hands.
Cuphead reached Mugman. "Buddy?" He held his brother's shoulders.
Mugman just groaned in pain.
Breathing stopped… and then intensified into raging deep breaths. "That does it…" Cuphead turned to Toriel with a furious stare; his pupils turned crimson red with a sinister energy.
From his right pocket, Cuphead brought out a plastic toy knife with the blade colored in gray plastic and the handle in orange.
As she saw the knife, her terrified gaze turned softer, as if she was accepting it. From covering her mouth, Toriel spread her hands wide to her sides and conjured two-multicolored flames that were smaller than they usually were.
Growling, huffing, and puffing, Cuphead then dashed forward and ran towards Toriel with a finger gun on his left hand and a toy knife on his right.
Toriel pushed her hands forward and unleashed another showering fireball attack.
Cuphead kept running forward, even if he knew he could get hit. But the showering fireballs just hurtled to the side, leaving a large gap in the center for Cuphead to run safely to.
With a sinister bloodlust smile on his face, Cuphead leapt to the air, held his toy knife high in the air, and stroke a vertical overhead slash right down the middle of Toriel.
For a moment, Toriel's body turned into dust while retaining its shape, and she yelled in pain.
Slumped on the wall behind Cuphead, Mugman groaned as he rubbed his head. Blinking his eyes open, a blurry figure of someone with a black top and red shorts ducking under a multicolor fire attack, which was fired towards the ceiling from the white arms of the figure wearing purple in front of the black and red one; the sound of the fire attack was slightly muffled due to his dizziness. The finger gun from the black and red one glowed yellow and an ascending 'zhooming' sound was beaming up.
Vision clearing. Hearing stabilizing. Mugman blinked to see Cuphead firing a yellow charge-shot at Toriel, whose body, for a moment, turned to dust but retained its shape, only this time the dust form stayed longer before it reformed back to her stable default, and she screamed in pain.
Mugman gasped, and his eyes widened in horror. "CUPHEAD NOOO!"
He ran to Cuphead, who started to give a sadistic giggle as he held his finger gun and toy knife proudly.
Mugman grabbed hold of Cuphead's hand which held the finger gun. "BRO WHAT'RE YA-!" He gasped as he saw Cuphead's crimson pupils and toothy carnivorous smile.
"OUT OF THE WAY WEAKLING!" With his voice sounding demonic (lower pitched and as if gurgling with blood), Cuphead pushed Mugman away very strong that the latter fell to the floor, but did not show any sign of pain due to how scared he was.
"Cup…" Mugman reached out his hand to Cuphead but…
Laughing like an evil maniac, Cuphead ran forward with his hands gliding to his sides like an assassin; he held his toy knife on the right and finger gun on his left.
Toriel unleashed another attack of tiny showering fireballs, but the quantity of the fireballs is fewer, and were all moving away from Cuphead as he got closer.
With his haunting maniacal laugh, Cuphead spun horizontally and slashed Toriel across her stomach, and again she screamed in pain.
Her body turned into dust form again, this time retaining for about longer seconds, but then her body kept flickering back and forth from dust to her regular body as she panted and tried to catch her breath.
Mugman did his 'dash' move towards Cuphead and tackled him with a really tight hug from behind. "CUPHEAD WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YA?!"
Cuphead squirmed and struggled from Mugman's hug; the white in his eyes were turning yellow, and the red color in his shorts and the two stripes in his straw were turning purple. "I need… TO BE STRONGER!" His voice turned demonic on the last phrase. "YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE A WIMP ABOUT THIS AND GET IN THE WAY AGAIN!" He gave two hind kicks towards Mugman's legs, and Mugman yelled in pain as he let go of Cuphead due to losing control of his arms.
Mugman tried to catch Cuphead with his arms again, but the latter was too fast. "NOO!" He yelled with his strongest voice. He fired a shot of his peashooter to Cuphead, aiming for his foot, but Cuphead jumped over, and the shot went to Toriel instead. Toriel screamed in pain again, this time weaker from all the hits, and her body was flickering from dust to stable.
Mugman gasped at what he did, and tears started to form in his eyes.
A sinister cackle came from Cuphead. "Thanks pal!" He looked behind him with a demonic carnivorous smile at Mugman.
The sound numbed everywhere, and only Mugman's voice echoed. "CUPHEEAAD! PLEAAASE! NOOOOO!" He ran towards his brother.
Cuphead leapt up held his toy knife overhead, and prepared to strike.
Panting from all the pain, her body flickering in and out of stability, Toriel just stared numbly at Cuphead, at the knife he was carrying… and then closed her eyes.
SLASH!
…
…
Huffing…. Panting… Groaning in pain…. Toriel held the part in her chest which was slashed, and her body just continuously flickered from dust to stable… dust... stable… dust…
Huffing… Panting… Cuphead just smiled devilishly at the deed he has done. Then… He was punched in the face from his left by a white-gloved fist.
"OWW!" Cuphead yelled in pain, but then he was punched again with the other gloved fist, and he was knocked to the ground.
Huffing… Panting… with tears in his furious eyes, Mugman approached Cuphead who was groaning on the floor and grabbed his shoulders. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" He shook his brother.
Huffing… Panting… With a blurry vision in his eyes… Cuphead blinked repeatedly to see Mugman with tears streaming from his furious eyes staring back at him. "B…Bro?"
PUNCH!
"OW! MUGMAN!" With an angry face, Cuphead caught Mugman's fist before he punched him again.
"WHY DID YA DO THAT!" Mugman tried to pull his fist back but Cuphead's grip was too strong. "WHY DID YA DO THAT WHY DID YA-!" He blinked his eyes and started to sob.
Cuphead stared at him, bewildered at what his brother was talking about.
Urgh….
Turning towards the direction of the groan, Cuphead gasped to see Toriel was hurt.
"TORIEL!" Mugman yelled. He dropped his brother and ran to her.
Cuphead just stared in horror, confused as to how it happened. He used his right hand to start pushing himself up from the floor, but he felt a rod-like item was held in it. He flipped his right hand open, and gasped as he dropped the dusty-blade toy knife and hurriedly crawled away from it. He looked at Toriel again to see that her physical form was flickering from dust to stable more and more; she had a slanted vertical slash on her robe.
"You…" Mugman held her arm right arm. "Ya gotta get back up. Ya-ya need to rest." He tried to lay it behind his shoulders.
"No…" Cuphead's breathing started to panic. "No, I-I couldn't have-!"
Mugman tried to walk, but in addition to his exhaustion from the fight and Toriel's weak state, he could not support Toriel to move. "Toriel! Come… ON!" He gasped, as suddenly the weight of carrying her became lighter.
From the other side, Cuphead took Toriel's other arm and carried it over his shoulders. "On the count'a three Mugs."
For a few seconds, Mugman just looked at his brother confused, but then nodded in agreement. "One."
"Two." Cuphead counted.
"No…." Toriel breathed heavily, and gave a weak chuckle. "My sweet children…" She just kept breathing.
Cuphead and Mugman just looked at her in confusion.
Cuphead shook his head out of distraction. "Come on!"
"No!..." Toriel kept panting, her form was still flickering. "Please…. Just listen…"
A tear streamed down of Cuphead's left eye.
"You… you are both stronger…" She kept panting, and her dust form kept lingering for longer seconds. "Than I had expected…"
Sobbing, with tears falling from both his eyes, Mugman looked at her. "T-Toriel?..."
"But you… you cannot… waver…." She kept panting. "You cannot lose focus…"
Cuphead closed his eyes, and tears streamed from his face, but he stubbornly motioned to start carrying Toriel.
"If you go beyond this door…" Toriel kept panting, and her dust form kept persisting. "Eventually… you will find an exit…"
Both of them gasped and opened their eyes wide.
"Home…" Mugman whispered.
"Yes my child…" Toriel smiled, she gently turned Mugman's head from the top to face him to her, and she wiped a tear from his left eye with the back of her right index finger. "Home-!" A sharp pain came from her abdomen, and she quickly covered the slash on it with her right hand.
"TORIEL!" Cuphead and Mugman raced to catch her elbows and stopped her from falling by letting her shoulders lean on their chests, while the boys carried her with their hands.
She panted. "Asgore…" She breathed more slowly, her form started to flake and dust started to fly away from her body. "Do not let Asgore take your soul. His plan…" Her voice became softer. "His plan… cannot be allowed… to succeed…" Toriel groaned in pain.
Her arms faded into dust for a moment, and they went through the boys who tried to catch her in vain, and then her arms caught the floor, stopping her from falling.
The boys held her arms as more tears started to form.
"Toriel…." Mugman gave a light tug at her arm. "Please…"
She smiled and gave a weak chuckle. "Be good… and be good to each other… won't you?" She then placed her hands on top of their heads and gave soft rubs to both while they watched her body turn to dust. "M y …. n…" Her face turned gray and dusty as she spoke.
As if a gust of wind had blown, her entire form dissipated into dust, and the boys gave shivering gasps as they watched her dust fly. The thick dust that formed Toriel's body grew thinner and thinner… until a white upside-down heart was left behind floating before them. The white upside-down heart trembled violently for a few seconds, then broke into two halves… which then dissipated into bits.
Silent. Panting. Horrified eyes wide open. Toriel… Toriel she… Slowly, they both looked at each other.
"Wha…" Mugman kept panting. "What have you done…"
"I…" Cuphead panted, his head shook, his shocked eyes had tears falling (but fewer due to adrenaline), and his heart pounded of guilt and fear (especially with Mugman in front of him). "I-I didn't…" He stuttered a step back.
"Ya didn't?" Mugman's cold voice matched his cold and heartbroken stare. He walked towards Cuphead and aggressively snagged the collar of his black turtleneck (and Cuphead shivered and whimpered loudly as it happened). "YA DIDN'T WHAT?!" He screamed; he stared furiously straight into his brother's eyes while they were practically in face-to-face proximity.
"I-I-I-I DIDN'T-! I-MEAN-!" Cuphead's voice shuddered as he sobbed. "I-I DUNNO WHAT HAPPENED I-?!
"WHADDYA MEAN YA DUNNO WHAT HAPPENED?!" Mugman violently shook Cuphead once.
Cuphead wailed. "MUGS STOP-!" He managed to plead out of his whimpering scared-to-death voice.
"I KEPT TELLIN' YA TUH STOP!" Mugman shook him again.
"I-I-!" Cuphead gasped for breath (the grab on his collar was a little tight), and he grabbed hold endearingly on Mugman's wrists. "Y-YOU WERE-! I DIDN'T!"
"QUIT YER SCRAMBLIN'! SPIT IT OUT!" At the last three words, Mugman yelled at the top of his voice while he shook Cuphead with trembling force.
"YA GOT BEAT UP PRETTY BAD MAN!" Cuphead yelled at the top of his voice too, as if he were pleading for his life. "Y-YA G-GOT BLASTED, A-AN-AND I SAW YA, Y-YA CHIPPED YER HANDLE!" From his left pocket, he brought out his brother's head handle.
Mugman gasped. He let his right hand go of Cuphead, and then touched the back of his head to indeed find that it was broken off.
"I-I-I GOT SO BOILED UP I-I-I-!" Cuphead heaved for breath again, this time from sobbing. "I-I-I LOOKED AT 'ER AND THEN…" His eyes looked left and right, trying to remember what happened. "I-I DUNNO I BLACKED OUT! I ONLY THOUGHT ABOUT YA AND-AND- THEN TORIEL AND-AND- THEN…" His eyes suddenly looked towards the floor on his right.
Mugman's shocked gaze followed the direction Cuphead looked, and he gasped as he saw the plastic toy knife laying on the floor. The grip from his left hand on Cuphead's collar loosened, and then he looked at his brother.
"Mugs… After everythin' Toriel…" Heavy streams of tears fell from Cuphead's eyes. The desperate grip of his right hand on Mugman's left tightened. "Why would I do that Mugs?... Why would I…" He looked down at his shaking hands. "Why… did… I…" He started to sob. Slowly he knelt down to the floor and covered his face with his hands in shame.
Mugman's breathing slowed down, and his gaze at his brother turned more understanding as the seconds went with Cuphead's sobbing filling the silent room. He remembered the red eyes that replaced Cuphead's when he was on a rampage. Somehow… he knew it wasn't him. But how it happened… he didn't know. He knelt down and watched Cuphead while the tears in his own streamed down once again.
Never in his life did Mugman see Cuphead saw so devastated. Even when they had lost their souls to the Devil, Cuphead always kept a smile on his face. They sang songs, they buddy walked to every debtor they had to face (some walks hippy-happy, while others were miserable), and even with this dread they felt within them, they kept reminding each other how sticking together would get them out of every trouble they were in.
Cuphead kept beating his thoughts with questions. Did he do it? Was it all a trick? Was he controlled? He didn't know anymore. He just knelt there sobbing and sobbing while in deep shock and shame of what had happened… of what he did. He was alone, he felt so alone… he felt that he deserved not to be saved from this misery… for once, he felt he needed to answer for what had happened… and this was it…
And then… he felt a tackling hug.
Cuphead opened his eyes and saw that Mugman was hugging him.
Mugman had his eyes shut tight and his hug wrapped even tighter.
Shocked, Cuphead's eyes welled with new tears. "M-mugs? No… Wh-why?"
"I…" Mugman took a pause, and then sniffled. "I would've done it too…" He whispered as tears fell from his eyes.
Shocked eyes widened, and Cuphead's chest started to shudder. "Wh-what?!"
For a moment, Mugman's eyelids squeezed shut… but then opened with tears falling from them. "If she hurt ya… If ya weren't the same again…" He just looked down… and kept silent while he let more tears fall.
Cuphead's tears fell. "No…. no ya wouldn't Mugs stop…" More tears fell as he squeezed his eyes shut. "You wouldn't… You're not… You're…" He started to wail.
With that, they just wrapped each other in their desperate hugs, not caring how painful they were being to each other. It was usually funny when they did stuff like this, hugging each other 'til the other choked… but now, they felt the world was against them; they needed to be sure that they weren't alone, and that they would have someone to hold on.
"I never wanted this Mugs…. I never wanted this." Cuphead kept sobbing.
"Me too Cuphead." Mugman sniffled. He tried to be just silent, and strong. "Me too…."
They just stood there clinging to each other's hugs; Cuphead was practically leaning and giving all his weight to Mugman, and the latter was trying his best to stand strong, even though he wanted to break down too. Their thoughts circled and circled over what could've been, what they could've changed, and what would it take to stop this from happening… not like this… not like this…
Not like this…
The room got darker, and darker, and darker… until it was pitch black. Their sobs were echoing in the darkness louder and louder. The boys opened their eyes to see what was causing the echoes, and they gasped and broke apart as they discovered they were no longer in the same room.
They looked back at where the hallway they came from was supposed to be, but it was not there. Mugman looked to where the door was, it was not there.
"C-Cuphead?" Mugman asked nervously.
Looking in opposite directions, they both took a step closer to each other… but then the floor vanished and suddenly they were falling and screaming at the top of their lungs as they did. Falling and falling, and screaming and screaming into the bottomless black void, Cuphead and Mugman flailed their arms around in search of something to grab hold of… and then they saw each other.
"CUUUUPHEAAAAAAAAAD!" Mugman screamed as he reached his arms for his brother.
"MUUUUGMAAAAAAAAAN!" Cuphead screamed as he reached his arms for his brother.
Reaching and reaching, they kept swiping the air almost catching each other's hands… and then they finally grabbed hold of each other's right wrist.
Cuphead pulled Mugman towards himself, and the latter caught Cuphead as they both hugged each other very tight and fell… fell… fell…
Their tears were falling upwards due to the speed at which they fell.
"Don't let go buddy." Cuphead said as he kept holding Mugman. "Don't ever let go."
Mugman made his hug as tight as he could. "I won't…" He sobbed. "I'll never."
They fell… and fell… and fell… alone in the silent void… alone without anyone to save them…
They fell…
And Fell…
…
And fell…
…
And fell…
…
Until a whisper came.
"Wow…." That same whisper of two familiar voices said.
Surprised, Cuphead and Mugman opened their eyes, and instead of an infinite black void…
A giant 360-degree image of the majestic door that marked the entrance to the ruins with Cuphead and Mugman holding hands as their eyes filled with awe appeared before them. The fall of gravity did not feel treacherous anymore, and instead it felt like they were in a dream. Without breaking their hug, they kept watch of the image as it shifted into another.
"And… our cupbrohood." Mugman's voice echoed loudly in the space.
"Just… don't. Say. The L-word." Cuphead's pretend-fearful voice echoed into space.
The giant 360 image changed into that of Cuphead and Mugman (with leaves sprinkled onto his head like it was cereal) holding hands after the latter took the oath.
Mugman suddenly giggled, and it caused Cuphead to giggle to.
"Heeey! Why're ya laughin?" Cuphead smiled to Mugman, who just shrugged his shoulders in response.
"You know bro, I believe some day he'll be brave enough to get the cheese." Cuphead's echoing voice said.
"Yeah… me too bro… Me too." Mugman's echoing voice responded.
The 360-image changed into Cuphead and Mugman holding hands while they watched the mouse hole on the bottom of the pink wall patiently.
Cuphead and Mugman smiled with relief at this vision.
""Uhh, what did I say?" Cuphead's echoing intrigued voice said.
The 360 image showed them by the leafless tree with red leaves on the ground, and Mugman was just leaning closer to Cuphead's non-existent ear.
At this, Cuphead and Mugman's mouth started to squiggle-smile a bit, and they snickered.
There was a long pause… until
"Piss a cake." Mugman's whispering voice said.
Starting from loud snickers, Cuphead and Mugman burst into their loudest laughter they ever had to the ceiling, and that laughter echoed through the halls… a really loud laughter that they had felt really really familiar with. As they felt strange with this all too familiar laughter, they opened their eyes.
In front, they saw a wide purple wall. They looked below them and then sidewards to each other, and they saw that they were not standing, but slumping and leaning cheek-to-cheek side-by-side each other looking like an upside-down V.
"Whoa! WHOOAAHH!" They yelled as they lost their balance and fell backwards.
Leaves rustled beneath their heads as the boys crashed into the pile of them. Looking up, they saw the top branches of the leafless tree.
They both gasped.
"N-no way!" Mugman made a whispering exclaim.
Mugman got up hastily, followed by Cuphead who just followed his brother's lead.
Turning to his left, Mugman gasped, his pupils shrunk, and his hands covered his mouth in shock. Cuphead followed behind Mugman, and he gasped too.
Before them, was a small rectangular castle-like house standing in front of them; it had a doorless castle doorway with large cubes of rocks lining the arch, crenels lining the borders of the roof, and two long red beds of leaves flanking the left and right of the doorway… they were back in front of Toriel's castle-house.
"Wh-…." Cuphead turned to Mugman. "What's goin' on?..."
Mugman blinked repeatedly, trying to clear his vision for any chance that it might be blurry or it might be tricked. "C-c'mon…" He started to walk towards the entrance of the house.
Cuphead stood there watching and wondering what Mugman was doing, but as soon as he noticed they were gaining distance, he scrambled and ran to catch up with his brother.
"M-Mugman? Y-yer freakin' me out…" Cuphead held his brother's hand.
For a moment, Mugman looked at his brother. "S-sorry… I just… I just had a strange feeling…"
Cuphead raised an eyebrow. "'Bout what?"
"Well… if we're back here…" Mugman kept walking to the entrance of the house. "If we woke up there… like that… 'exactly like we did yesterday… wouldn't that mean…"
They entered the house, and immediately they were greeted with the same familiar scent of butterscotch cinnamon seeping into their nostrils. They felt a familiar hunger and craving that had gotten them all goofy… but it didn't feel right to them.
"Surprise!" By the door, a familiar motherly voice said from behind as she stomped her foot forward towards the boys.
Cuphead and Mugman screamed, hugged each other, and they pointed their finger guns towards the direction of the voice and stomp.
There, Toriel was enthusiastically and happily smiling as she was shaking her jazz hands towards the boys. "That's butterscotch pie you are smelling!" She let out a giggle as she covered her mouth with her right hand. "It turned out, you were right! Those two flavors do mix well together!" She placed her hands on her lap as she leaned closer to the boys and smiled at them endearingly. "Like two best friends!"
Slowly lowering their finger guns, the boys looked at her with tears in their eyes.
Toriel's smile faded into an astonished frown. "Wh-what's wrong?" She looked back outside, then back at the boys with her thumb pointing towards outside. "A-a while ago you two were so curious about my surprise, and then now- OH!"
She was suddenly given a really big hug on her legs by Cuphead and Mugman, and her arms backed away in such surprise. She looked at the boys, confused by their sudden behavior, then smiled at them endearingly, and then gave them her own warm hug as well.
Toriel chuckled. "I'm glad you really like the surprise my children." After a few more seconds, she then lets them go, and sets her hands on each of their shoulders. "But! I have another big surprise for you!"
From bending forward, Toriel stood straight and then headed towards the hall on the right.
With confused and disbelieving frowns, Cuphead and Mugman just watched her go as if she was a ghost. Then, they looked at each other, held each other's hands, and just followed her along the familiar hallway they knew. They walked past the light torch, and then stopped behind Toriel, where she stopped before the first door on the left.
"Here it is!" Toriel said as she took a deep breath.
Gently, she grabbed their hands and together they looked at the door in front of them.
"It's a room for the both of you! I hope you like it!" With that, she rubbed the top rims of their heads endearingly.
Toriel looked at the door with such hope, while Cuphead and Mugman looked at it still in shock, but now with a bit of numbness.
A warm scent came before them, and Toriel took a few loud sniffs. "Oh my!" She covered her mouth with her left hand. "Is something burning?!" She looked alarmed towards the direction of the kitchen. "Oh my… Uh…" She turned towards the boys. "M-make yourself at home!" She said as she was making a run towards the kitchen.
Cuphead and Mugman ignored her, they just kept staring at the door.
They felt… numb, miserable, confused… this scene was all too familiar… like it was… scripted… and they were the only ones who knew… but… they looked at each other… and with that look alone, they silently agreed that they felt the need to follow it somehow.
Exactly like before, Cuphead and Mugman opened the door, with the latter turning the knob, and the former pushing it. Before them, was the familiar warm room that had filled them with excitement… but now it didn't feel real anymore.
"So…" Cuphead felt obliged to speak. "Wh-what do you wanna do?" He slowly looked strangely at Mugman.
"I…" Mugman took a shuddering breath, and then slowly looked at Cuphead. "I wanna cuddle." He said numbly.
Numb, Cuphead looked a few seconds more at Mugman, and then slowly turned to the bed. Like it was scripted, like it was a scene he just had to reenact for the sake of it, he walked over to the bed, sat on it, looked at numb, miserable Mugman standing in the doorway (where he used to used to see his brother's devastated face turn into cute pure joy), and then he opened his arms for a hug.
Mugman saw his brother's arms, remembering how excited he was to see his brother's prank turning into a dream come true. But this time, like an empty soul, he just walked over to Cuphead hugged him, and together they laid in that same bed that was too small for either of them.
Mugman just stared at the wall in front of him (behind Cuphead), trying to understand what just happened. Fighting Toriel… Toriel dying… and then Toriel welcoming them into her home as if they had just gone back a few steps… how did it happen? Was this really Toriel? He didn't know anymore. He was ready to shut his eyes… but then Cuphead squeezed his hug really really tight on Mugman, then he sobbed and crashed onto his brother's shoulder. Mugman felt his eyes water so much that he couldn't help but crash into Cuphead's shoulder as well.
Horrified, confused, devastated… Toriel… Toriel…
They never wanted it to happen again.
End of Chapter 8-
(Cutscene)
"A-as-g-gore huh?!" Mugman looked up to Toriel. "W-well… Me and Cuphead could take 'im!... I-I think!"
Cuphead giggled. "Nice!" He smirked and nudged Mugman's elbow.
Mugman gasped and stars formed on his eyes. "Thank you!" His fist cuddled on his chin.
"Buuut, lose the 'ya think' next time?" Cuphead teased as he raised an eyebrow.
"I know, I know." Mugman blushed and he mumbled, to which Cuphead just giggled.
(Cutscene)
Mugman turned to the stairs, and saw Cuphead furiously catching up to him. Quickly, he hid in front of Toriel, using her as a cover while he peeked at Cuphead. "Y-YOU'RE BEING A BIG MEANIE!"
"HUMBUG!" Cuphead pointed at Mugman while trying to get closer (but Mugman was just going around Toriel away from Cuphead). "I DIDN'T SAY NUTHIN'! I SAID YA NOSE'LL LOOK GOOD ON ME! YER THE ONE WHO'S MAKIN STUFF UP!"
Mugman mumbled nervously. "Y-you…" He started to peek his head more. "You weren't sayin' nuthin 'bout my nose?"
Cuphead made a snarky laugh. "Come on! Look at me!" He stood proudly with his fists on his hips, and his big blue nose held high. "I dun' care whatcha say, I'd keep this look forevah."
Feeling his heart warm, Mugman couldn't help but smile. He slowly came out of hiding with his index fingers touching together repeatedly, and he walked to Cuphead.
When Mugman was close enough, Cuphead playfully punched Mugman's arm.
"Heey!" Mugman rubbed his arm and frowned at Cuphead.
Cuphead giggled. "Just messin' with ya bud." He opened his arms.
Mugman immediately took the hug. "Yer such a joirk."
Cuphead smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "L-word." He tightened his hug.
Author's Comments: Yep. Sorry if it wasn't what you guys expected, but I wanted to continue to capture the essence of Undertale, where you had the choice of venturing into either Genocide, Pacifist, or Neutral types of endings.
I was considering if I would include the warning 'Character Death', but it would be a spoiler if I put it above.
Almost done with this arc, and I promise I won't make a single arc as long as this in the coming chapters.
See you next time!