"C-Cuphead?" The young mug quietly got his brother's attention. Cup's hands rested on his shoulders as he stared into his brother's eyes.
"I almost lost you twice in one day....but that won't ever happen again!" Cuphead beamed with joy in his eyes. He gently slapped Mug's shoulders, trying to get the same emotion to transfer to the young mug. Mugman's eyes, however, drooped down in guilt.
"I-I'm sorry, Cuphead." Mug apologized. "I-I couldn't get control.....I couldn't stop it." The young mug looked away, feeling ashamed. His left hand tenderly held his still injured right arm.
"Don't worry about it, Mugs. I think it's about time we go home!" Cuphead suggested with a wide grin. Mugman looked back at his brother. His eyes widened in shock as he saw something rise up behind his brother.
"C-Cuphead! Behind you!" The young mug hollered and pointed past the cup's shoulder.
"Huh?" Cup whipped around to see that a large spade tail had risen from the fire. It sliced right through the stone platform, sending it, and the brothers, hurling toward the hellfire. The two brothers screamed in terror as they grabbed onto one another. They feared the worst as they plummeted downward. All of a sudden, the platform they were standing on came to a stop. Cup and Mug slowly let go of one another as they looked around. They were now halfway down to the hellfire. However, the exit looked much further away than the flames. Their pupils seemed to shrink in fear as they stared down at the eternal flames. The heat from the flames were so immense that the liquids in their cups were close to boiling. They noticed four other circular stone platforms, besides the one they were standing on, floating in mid-air. Two to the left and two to the right of their platform. Before they could question each other what to do, a large figure erupted from the flames. The boys gasped in fear as the Devil's head rose to their level. His head was now massive. Neither of the boys were even as big as one of its ears. The glare from the flames made what was left of his fur tinted a bright red. A wide smile greeted the boys. Its bright yellow eyes narrowed as it focused down on the cup brothers.
"You boys are starting to really piss me off!" It hissed. "You willrot in Hell! There's no way you can escape me now!"
"What are we going to do, Cuphead?" Mugs frantically questioned his brother. The young cup shouted the only solution he could come up with.
"Just shoot, Mugs! And don't stop shooting!" Cuphead shouted and started spamming his red spread shot. His red arrows poked into the Devil's right cheek. Mugman began to spam his small blue shots at the other cheek. The large creature growled. It then prepared to use magic to create his own weapons. Cup and Mug noticed a small shape forming in his pupils. The silver shapes materialized into spinning axes. They began to home in on the brothers. Cuphead jumped to the platform on the left, and Mugman to the right, to avoid the magical weapons. Mug's right leg shook as he landed. Each step he took made his leg waver, and threatened to give out beneath him. He winced in pain each time. The boys did not let up on their magical shots that continued to poke the Devil's face. More axe shapes formed in the yellow eyes. They quickly materialized and spun towards each of the brothers. Mug dropped flat to his platform to avoid an axe shattering his head. Cuphead jumped clear over the spinning axe that had aimed itself at his torso. Mugman quickly resumed his rapid-fire magic shots as he stood back up. The axes started to come barreling at the young cups faster and faster. They had to jump, duck, and leap to other platforms to avoid the deadly weapons. All the while, they never stopped firing. Not even for a second.
This isn't working...Mugman thought. We won't be able to get in a decent attack with him always watching. Wait a minute....that's it!
"Cuphead, aim for the eyes!" The young mug called to his brother.
"Good call, Mugs!" Cuphead complimented. They both aimed their magic shots straight for the Devil's pupils. It began to hiss in pain and squeezed its eyes shut.
"Don't let up!" The young cup commanded. Confidence filled his heart as the Devil's vision was now disabled as long as they kept firing. Mugman happened to notice a small white object shoot out of the Devil's left ear. He watched as it ricocheted off the wall and headed right for him. Mug stopped shooting and quickly caught the object as it neared his chest. It was a humanoid skull. The jaws quickly opened and closed, making a chattering noise. Mugman gave a small scream of fright as he tossed the skull over the edge of the platform. The young mug gasped as he saw more of the skulls eject from the creature's ears.
"Cuphead watch out!" He tried to warn his brother.
"Huh?" The young cup wondered as he looked to his left. He immediately ceased fire when a chattering skull rocketed towards his cup. Mugman watched as his brother ducked down with his hands on his head. It was just in time, too. If his reaction had been even a second later, the skull would have smashed into his cup. The boys instantly forgot about shooting when a multitude of skulls bounced around in the chamber. They bounced and ricocheted in every which way. Cup and Mug ducked, dodged, jumped over, and even shot at the rapidly moving objects. The young cup stepped backward as a skull whizzed by his chest. He then jumped as one bounced off the platform just in front of his feet. Cuphead jumped back a little too far, and his foot slipped off the platform. His mouth and eyes shot wide open in shock as his body started to follow. He quickly grabbed for the platform. Luckily, his left hand was able to grasp the stone slab.
"Cuphead!" Mugman gasped as he saw his brother hanging by a thread. "Hang on! I'm coming!" The young mug immediately ran towards his brother, leaping between the platforms. He had to stop short at one point to avoid a skull that rocketed by his chest. It came within an inch to Mug's chest.
"Help!" Cuphead called out. "I can't hold on much longer!" Mugman hurried over to the farthest platform where his brother hung by a thread. The young cup could feel his fingers slipping off the stone slab. He closed his eyes as he feared the worst. Just when he thought he was going to plummet to his doom, his brother's hands clasped around his left hand. Mugman groaned as he yanked Cup to the platform.
"Thanks again, Mugs." Cuphead said as he placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. The young mug breathed heavily. The energy that the demon made him expend was now catching up with him.
"Watch out!" Cup abruptly called out and pulled him to the side. Mugman looked back at his brother to see a chattering skull latched onto his brother's arm. That would have been Mugman's back if Cuphead had not reacted so quickly. The young cup winced as he tried to pull the sharp object off. He ultimately succeeded and tossed the skull downward into the flames. But not before it cracked his arm. White liquid pooled at the surface of his black shirt. Mugman gave him a worried look. But Cuphead quickly shoved his pained expression away once again.
"Don't worry, it's just a scratch." Cup tried to reassure his brother. By this time, the Devil was starting to open his wounded eyes. The massive eyes fluttered open. Its once yellow eyes were now tinted red around the corners. They then squeezed back shut as the creature started to sob loudly from the immense pain it was in. Large tear drops started to rain down on the platforms. Mug had to jump to the next platform over to avoid a tear drop coming down on his head. They heard it sizzle against the stone slab as it soaked into the rock.
"That's not good!" Cuphead commented as smaller drops landed next to his feet. The platforms soon began to quake and even crack apart beneath their feet. They saw the middle platform was clear of the tears, and quickly jumped their way over. The tears caused all platforms but the middle one to plummet down into the flames.
"There's nowhere for you to go!" The Devil yelled between sobs. He then summoned a ring of blue flames to come down on the boys. Cup and Mug watched as the rotating flame wheel came closer and closer to them. In a moment of panic, Cuphead released an orange charge shot at the wheel. The wheel exploded and the blue flames fluttered down and around the platform.
"Charge shot at the eyes, Mugs!" Cuphead yelled to his brother that was standing right next to him. Both young cups charged a final attack and released them. They traveled to the creature in a second and hit it directly in the pupils. The Devil raised its massive hands and rubbed them across his bloodied head uncomfortably. It stretched and pulled its skin and remaining fur.
"NOOO!!!" It screamed in defeat.
"Yeah! We did it!" Cuphead rejoiced and high-fived his brother. A loud rumbling sound reached their cups.
"Huh? What's going on?" Mug wondered aloud. Cuphead bent down and looked toward the flames. The hellfire roared upward towards the living creatures. It sensed their living heartbeats and started to reject them.
"Wait, no! I'm still in here!" The Devill roared in fear. It knew that the flames were going to erupt like a volcano and attempt to push them out. If they even survived the eruption, that is. The large black creature started to thrash around inside the chamber. It slammed left and right into the walls. Rocks fell out of the chamber walls. Cuphead and Mugman started to panic themselves. They started to frantically look around for a way up to the exit.
"There's gotta be a way out!" The young mug exclaimed, hoping and praying there actually was. Cuphead realized that their platform was in the middle of nowhere. The vertical walls were nowhere in reach. And trying to climb up the Devil spelled suicide. Even if the Devil's thrashing around didn't kill them, it could easily shatter them with one swipe of its massive paw.
"Mugs..." The young cup began to say. "We're trapped in here. There's no way out." Mugman realized that Cuphead was ready to accept his fate. Being incinerated seemed like the only option given to him. Mug's eyes drooped in sorrow.
"So this is it then?" The young mug questioned as the chamber collapsed around the brothers and the flames prepared to belch out.
"If this is our last moment, then I just want you to know that our brotherhood is the most precious thing to me. And I'd also like to apologize to you again." Cuphead confessed. He put a gloved hand over his heart. "I'm sorry for betting our souls, Mugman. I'm sorry for everything." The young cup's eyes began to well up with water. Mug slowly shook his head. He didn't say anything. His body just rushed forward and enveloped his brother in a hug. Mugman squeezed him tightly and closed his eyes as he prepared for the end. Cuphead did the same. Then it came. A flood of flames roared upward. They heard the Devil roar in pain as he was shot upward. The fire threatened to burn off all his fur as it took the power it had given to him. It had given him the power to grow and use magic. The fire now punished the creature for not killing or being killed himself. It pushed the creature up and out of the hellfire chamber. The Devil continued to scream until he hit the ground with a painful thud. He landed on the arm that Mugman had previously snapped. The Devil did not roar in pain anymore. For he did not have any lung power left to do so. Strength had all been drained from his mortal body. All it could do was lay on the ground and hope its victims had perished in the fire.
Please....please just let Cuphead live, Mug thought as he hugged his brother. If only one of them could live, he wanted it to be Cuphead. He felt that his brother deserved another chance at life.
"Mugs? Mugman!" He heard his brother say.
"Are we dead?" The young mug asked without opening his eyes. He feared the worst if he opened his eyes. Would Cuphead be the demon again? Would they both be ghosts? Trapped in the hellfire? He didn't even want to imagine the possibilities that could befall his eyes.
"N-no." His brother replied. "Did you do this Mugs?" The young cup questioned about something. Mugman hesitantly opened his eyes. A magical blue veil surrounded the two brothers. They both looked up in awe as they stood safely on the ground outside of the hellfire chamber. Cuphead reached up and touched the blue veil. It did not hurt him. In fact, it didn't even react at all when the young cup came in contact with it. Mugman then copied his brother and touched the magic. The young mug flinched when the magic entered his fingers.
"It wasyou!" Cuphead beamed. "You saved us! Mugman that was amazing!" The young cup threw his arms around his brother in pure joy. Mug's eyes drooped in confusion.
"But I don't even know how I did it...." Mugman confessed. "All I know is that I wished for you to be safe."
"Thanks to you, we're both alive!" The young cup cheered as he pulled away from his brother.
"Yeah." Mugs replied with a small smile. "So what are we going to do with him?" He pointed to the black body that lay in a pool of its own blood. The creature fearfully looked at them with its yellow eyes as they took a few steps toward him. It feared the mug that broke his horn and arm, tore off his sleek fur, and bloodied what remained of his coat. Cup and Mug realized he was too hurt to lash out anymore.