The sun set once more over the island of Inkwell. All of its residents bustled about to finish their business before packing up for the night. Cuphead and Mugman prepared for bed. They put on their appropriately colored pajamas: red for Cup and blue for Mug. The two boys settled into their beds with fluffy pillows behind their cups and wrapped up with the softest silk blankets they could imagine. Cuphead fell asleep fast like usual. Mugman, on the other hand, lay awake in bed, hoping and praying that the demon wouldn't torment him anymore. His heart pounded loudly, keeping him awake for quite a while. Eventually the little mug nodded off when he got tired enough.
The cold environment of the catacombs surrounded Mugman. He knew exactly where he was before he even opened his eyes. The young mug rubbed his arms with his hands in an attempt to warm up. It seemed to him that the catacombs got colder each night he visited them. His small eyes shifted right and then left before locking onto a large blob of sludge that lay before him. It narrowed and materialized upward as it formed all of the undesirable qualities that Mugman feared. Sludge dripped from its claws and teeth. The wicked smile formed on its mug and stayed stagnant. Its hard and angry eyes looked down upon the smaller and peaceful version of itself.
"So, you've come back to visit me again..." The shadow gargled between tightly closed fangs. "What game shall we play tonight?"
Mugman balled his fists and showed confidence in his body language. He held his mug high, stood up straight, and gave a hard stare back.
"No games!" Mug demanded. "You're not even real, so stay away from me!" The child was trying to convince himself that this version of his alter ego was a figment of his imagination. Nothing more than an over-exaggeration of his fear that transferred to the dream realm. Despite his words, the black shadow was unimpressed. It simply crossed its arms across its sludgy chest.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, kid." The shadow replied. Mugman knew that talking to this thing did no good. No matter how much he shouted at it or told it that he wasn't afraid, the sludgy creature just didn't care.
"I'm outta here!" The little mug replied, throwing his hands up in the air. He promptly turned around and started walking away from the skinny black body.
"Where do you even plan to go? There is no exit." It tried to deter the cup child from continuing with its trek. The shadow then realized that the young mug was going to ignore it. And this insulted it greatly. Arms fell to its sides as its smile drooped into a scowl.
"Don't you dare walk away from me, Mugface!" It hissed. Mug stopped in his tracks as he heard the familiar mocking nickname. The child thought that the mutated mug must have heard it from the Devil.
".....Mugface?" He wondered aloud as he started to turn around. The shadow met Mug's curiosity with a present of its own. Mugman saw a black clawed hand rocketing toward him. Bearing no bones or internal infrastructure, the arm stretched beyond any normal capability and slammed the child in the chest.
"Aaaahhh!" The little mug screamed as he was taken off his feet. Air escaped his chest as he traveled even farther through the catacombs in a mere couple of seconds. To Mugman, it felt as if a professional boxer had just slammed him a good one. His body violently clattered against the ground. It bounced a few times before ultimately coming to a full stop. The child's body shook as he tried to get his bearings. His chest heaved in and out as he struggled to get air flowing back through his body. He lifted his mug to see the sludge splat down in front of him yet again. The shadow formed the dark mug in a split second.
"Aren't you going to cry or scream?" It taunted.
"No!" Mug yelled back. Gloved hands pressed against the ground as he forced himself up. This time he intended to face the shadow without backing down. "Cuphead said that if you attacked me, then I should strike back! Raaahh!" Mugman roared as he launched himself forward, hands open wide as he prepared to grab the shadow. His opponent, however, did not seem concerned with this in the least bit. It simply stretched itself taller, making a hole in its torso that the young mug fell through. Mug crashed onto the ground yet again, this time landing on his right side and making an "oof" sound. The black body quickly shrunk itself back down. It then set itself upon the child with a delighted hiss. Clawed hands aggressively pinned down Mugman by his arms. He tried to resist against the shadow's power. The small, skinny arms did not even budge against the black body's iron grip. It smiled down upon its prey. That dastardly smile said that it deeply enjoyed watching the cup child struggle and fail time and time again.
"Did Cuphead also say to take your punishment like a good little tea cup?" Black pointy teeth hissed down at Mug.
"No way!" He yelled right in the shadow's face. "Cuphead would never say something like that!"
"You know it's true! Don't lie!" It replied in utter joy.
"Get off of me!" Mugman demanded as he tried to lift his arms once more.
"Heh heh..." The shadow laughed as its smile widened even farther. Mug watched as the creature's black mug started to lean down closer to him. His eyes widened in fear. For he did not know what awful things the demonic creature would do to him.
"Wh-what are you doing?" He asked his adversary that stopped moving. Its mouth then opened slowly and almost mechanically. A long black tongue dangled over the lower jaw. Mugman watched as the snake-like tongue slithered down toward his head.
"N-no! Stop!" The child desperately cried out, knowing that it wouldn't really stop the shadow. It was just an instinct to tell his tormentor to go away and not to hurt him. Mug turned his head to the left as the tongue rolled up the right side of his face. He screamed in fear as the black tongue seemed like it was getting a good taste of him. It felt sludgy but not quite wet against his cheek. His body shook violently, desperate to escape the situation. The shadow had no intention of letting the cup child up anytime soon. It was just having too much fun tormenting its prey. Mugman watched as the tongue folded back up into the mouth. The black jaws closed down as the edge of the tongue licked its fangs in contentment.
"Your fear....I can taste it!" It hissed down at the young mug.
"No....I'm not scared." Mug mumbled to himself. His eyes then locked onto his enemy's with confidence. "I'm not scared!" He repeated loudly.
"It is in your nature to be afraid of me." The shadow simply replied. It watched as the child desperately tried to free itself from its grip once more. The little mug groaned as he put all of his effort into an attempt to escape the locked claws. His body seemed to deflate as his latest efforts failed. Mugman took deep breaths as he tried to regain his strength.
"Heh heh...." It laughed. "Your words conflict with what your body says. It's pitiful really. You try so hard to be confident.....but you're just not!" The shadow sneered at the cup child.
"Your words don't affect me!" Mug spat back, trying to uphold the brave attitude.
"Perhaps not the words...." The black mug started. It then leaned down as close as it could to Mugman, pressing its nose against his. Two brims clinked against one another. The little mug's once confident eyes drooped as the deathly black eyes stared into his. "But the actions speak much louder..." Mug almost began to whimper in fear. It was a natural response that he couldn't help. He closed his eyes, hoping that the shadow would back off. Mugman knew that if he couldn't see the danger, then he wouldn't make pathetic noises of fright. The demonic creature became annoyed with the child trying to avoid its punishment.
"Look at me!" It hissed. Mug refused to open his eyes. He lay there not making a sound or movement. "I said look at me, you pathetic child!" The shadow demanded as it strengthened its grip on Mugman's arms. Claws poked into the cup child's glass skin, creating cracks. Mug heard the cracks forming and tried to hold back a scream of pain.
"Nnnnngh...!" The young mug couldn't help but make a noise when his adversary attempted to shatter his arms. Small eyes shot open as tears flooded them. The child began to breathe audibly.
"Heh heh! Now that's more like it!" The shadow smiled wide. Water flooded down the child's face. The black mug knew that its prey cried because of both the pain and the fear it experienced. It was a perfect combination that brought exhilaration to the creature's sludgy body. The shadow couldn't ask for anything better. Unless, of course, that feeling could be replicated each and every night for the rest of time. Mugman couldn't help but make his whimpering noises as he felt a sense of defeat.
"C-Cuphead! Help! Please!" The young mug cried out, hoping that his brother could hear him in the real world.
"Crying for help, eh?" It chuckled. "Just what I wanted to see!"
"Please wake me up!" Mug called out again. The tears just kept flooding down his mug. It was now a waterfall that he could not stop.
"Waking up won't solve your problem, kid." The shadow stated. It then let go of the child with its right hand and reared back. Mugman's eyes widened as he saw the claws poised to strike. He screamed as loud as his lungs allowed as they came down in a black blur.
In the real world, Cuphead had heard his brother call for help. He hopped over to the blue mug's bed as fast as he could. Gloved hands immediately shook their sibling to save it from whatever predicament it was in.
"Mugs! Wake up!" The young cup called. Cuphead barely saw Mugman's eyes shoot open in the darkness. Still panic-stricken from his nightmare, Mug did not realize that he was actually awake. He sensed that someone was directly in front of him and lashed out at the body.
"Get off!" The young mug shouted and pushed Cup's body across the bed.
"Whoa!" Cuphead cried and scrabbled his hands against the sheets to keep from falling off. Mugman gasped as he realized whom he just shoved.
"Cuphead! I'm-I'm so sorry! I thought you were the demon!" He desperately apologized.
"Don't worry about it, bro." The young cup assured his brother that he was okay. Cup then inched closer to his brother, and away from the edge.
"I-I did what you said." Mug explained. "I fought back, but it was just too powerful!" Cuphead looked sympathetically at the young mug.
"These nightmares are getting pretty serious. I think we need to tell Elder Kettle tomorrow morning." He explained to Mugman.
"You're right. I can't keep going on like this..." Mug grabbed his blankets in his hands. His grip tightened at the thought of experiencing that much fear and mental torture every night.
"Hmmm..." Cuphead rubbed a finger on his small chin. "If it appears again, try fighting it. But this time give it everything you've got. Pretend like it's a real enemy." Mugman shuffled uncomfortably in his bed.
But I did give it my all...
The young cup noticed that worried look on his brother's face.
"If it's too much, yell for me at the first sign of danger." Cuphead offered his assistance. This made Mug feel a bit better knowing that Cup would have his back.
"Thanks, Cuphead! I can always count on you, big brother!" Mugman beamed before settling back down under the sheets. Cuphead gave a nod of understanding and went back to bed as well.