It was late into the night when Mugman woke up from a deep and dreamless sleep. A small smile came over his face at the thought that he might have chased off whatever was haunting him in his subconscious. For the first time in what seemed like a long while, Mug felt at peace in his bed. He was not screaming and waking up his brother either, which was another plus. Cuphead was finally getting a good night's sleep too. The young mug rolled up his right sleeve to check on the wounds. He took a feel about the puncture marks. Each one seemed to have been sealed up nicely. They still stung a bit as his fingers rubbed over the sensitive skin. Mugman gave a sigh of relief at the thought of being free from the pain. Everything seemed perfect at that very moment. Mug closed his eyes. He was eager to put himself back to sleep again.
Just as he was nuzzling his mug into the pillow, the sound of creaking windows invaded his mind. The mug's eyes shot back open as his head whipped around to find his windows. They were slightly open, letting in a gentle breeze. The very ends of the curtains whisked around in the wind like ghosts.
I didn't leave that open, did I? Mugman wondered. The child shuffled himself out of bed and went to close the glass doors.
"Hssss!" Came a noise from the corner of his room. A jet-black cloud-like shadow hovered in front of their closet. Two piercing yellow eyes slid open from within the gaseous mass. Mug stared at the intruder and gasped, immediately recognizing those sinister eyes. Fear froze him on the spot. He watched as the golden shapes flashed over in his brother's direction. They then settled back onto the little mug. Uncomfortable moans started to come from Cuphead's bed.
It continued its hissing noise as the cloud hovered toward Mugman. The mug child instinctively scrambled back into his bed. He tried to cover himself with the sheets, pulling them up as far as they could go. They did not seem to go any farther than his mouth as he watched the shadow fester at the foot of his bed. His heart beat so fast that he thought it might explode at any second. The child's hold on the sheets only tightened as he tried even harder to cover his face. He thought that maybe – just maybe – if he couldn't see it, then it couldn't see him either. It was a stupid thought. But he was desperate for anything to prove this thing was just a figment of his imagination.
This is all just a dream! I'm going to wake up any second now! Mug tried to convince himself that none of this was real. An arm started to materialize from the shadow. Four fingers clearly took form but were still partially see-through. A scream started to build in the little mug's throat as the fingers reached out for him. The index finger pointed right for his nose and kept inching closer. Mugman's scream that had been building up let loose when the clawed finger was mere millimeters from his nose. The screech startled the shadow, making it flinch. Its claw jolted and grazed the child's large sniffer so lightly that the boy didn't even feel it. Mug watched as the dark shadow recoiled and poured itself out the window.
Meanwhile, Cuphead's once peaceful dream started to change after those familiar gleaming eyes flashed in his direction. What started as a friendly play-wrestling with his brother began to change into a much darker atmosphere. The cup brothers were inside their house, which turned to ruin in a split second. Broken pictures and furniture littered their living space.
"What's going on?" Cuphead wondered as he looked around. Color seemed to drain from the environment. All emotion had been removed from his home. His gaze whipped back to Mugman who began screeching as if he were pain. His brother seized his mug with his gloved hands as he nearly doubled over onto the floor.
"Mugman! Are you okay?" Cup tried to rush toward the mug child to help him. Claws grew from under the gloves. The little mug glanced back up at him with a growl in his throat and eyes glowing bright. Mugman stood up tall and towered over his older brother.
"Calm down, buddy! There's no need to-!" Cup stopped talking when he realized claws started to form on his own hands. "No! NOOO!" He cried as his body snapped and changed itself. His mutated and large-fanged self stared his sibling straight in the eyes. A growl gurgled within his throat.
"What am I doing? Stop! I don't want to hurt Mugman!" He tried to yell, but no one heard him. The young cup could tell his body was going to lash out at the mug child. And Mug was going to strike back.
The two cups began to viciously whack and slice at one another with their claws and teeth. Cup tried desperately to get his body to stop, but he couldn't control anything it did. It was as if he had been detached from his body. Still watching every move, but unable to alter it in any way. He could only watch as his claws dealt nasty wounds to his little brother. They were just as devastating as the wounds inflicted on him by the so-called mutated bat that had tried to assassinate Elder Kettle. Their white life essence splashed onto the floor as it ferociously dripped from their glass bodies. The cup brothers soon began to get tired from their sudden and violent fury. Their blows slowed to mere taps as they began to lean their weight on one another for support. He could see Mugman's body heaving in pain and felt that his was doing just the same. The mug picked its head off of Cuphead's shoulder and stared back at him with a look of vengeance in his eyes. Growls still gurgled in their throats. Cup's clawed hand took a quick swipe at his brother's head. The sharp weapons tore down the front of the child's mug. A scream emitted from him that sounded very realistic. In fact, it was Mugman's real scream that he heard from within his dream. Cuphead was immediately jolted awake.
"Mugman!" He gasped as he sat up. The red cup's eyes were stretched as wide as they could be. Gloved hands rubbed against his head in an effort to stimulate the fear out of his system. He then realized that Mug had actually made that scream for real.
Will you stop that? People are trying to sleep! The demon growled.
"What happened? Another nightmare?" Cup questioned, still on high alert from his dream.
"Th-the Devil!" The little mug stuttered out as he trembled violently. "H-he was in our room just a second ago!"
"Where?" Cuphead urged for details. There certainly didn't seem to be anything in the room at that moment. But if the Devil had truly invaded their house, that was a big problem. Both cup brothers knew that meant their family was in grave danger.
"He was right at my bed." A gloved finger pointed to the spot in which he had seen him. Mug then looked to the opened window. "But he went out the window." His trembling still had not died down any. The child's blue and white straw continually rattled against his brim. It was starting to annoy the demon, who was already cranky that he had been rudely woken up.
You're positive that it was the Devil?
"Are you sure it was the Devil that you saw?" Cuphead and the parasitic creature asked him at the same time.
"Yes! Yes!" The young mug frantically replied. His brother got up from his bed and went to investigate where Mugman claimed to have seen the king of darkness. There was clearly nothing at the foot of his bed anymore. Cup proceeded to look out the window to make sure it was gone. His cup looked left and right before ducking it back into their room and closing the window.
"Well, he's not here now." Cuphead concluded. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"
"No, I wasn't! At least....I don't think so." Mug was starting to doubt whether what he had just seen was actually real or just in his head.
You must be certain if we are to help you. The demon stated.
I know. I just.... The little mug's grip on the blankets tightened as he fought to comprehend what was reality.
"I can't tell what's real anymore." He confessed. The young cup could hear the worry in his sibling's voice. Still shaken himself, Cuphead climbed onto the mug's bed.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt?" The cup child asked his little brother, feeling him over. It turned out that he needed reassurance himself. To be assured that his nightmare was in fact just a nightmare as well. Mugman felt the hands gently squeeze on his arms and shoulders. One even felt onto his nose and cheeks.
"I'm okay."
The child's demon sensed that the young cup did not feel like himself either. In fact, it felt very familiar to how the little mug felt each night after being jolted awake by his own screams.
Cuphead seems a bit off, too. It stated. Almost like how your body feels when you wake up from a nightmare. Mug realized that it wasn't just his body giving off that vibe when the demon mentioned so.
"I bet you had a nightmare, didn't you, Cup?" He brazenly asked, not even thinking how odd that would sound to the young cup. "The way he looked at you before coming after me.... He must have done something to you."
"Huh?" Cuphead flinched and removed his hand from his sibling's shoulder. It was as if Mugman could suddenly read his mind. No, it was just a lucky guess, the red cup thought. "Maybe I did have a nightmare," He confessed. "But that doesn't mean the Devil gave it to me." Dismissing the dream as just a coincidence seemed like the most logical answer to Cuphead at the moment. But Mug persisted that was not the case.
"Don't you see, Cuphead? He's messing with us!" The little mug said, sounding desperate to prove his point. His hand reached out for his big brother again. If he could touch Cup, then he could possibly get more information about his nightmare. A gloved hand seized the cup child's arm. It seemed to tense up as it was grabbed. He felt a vibe of fear and guilt run through Cuphead's body. Mug gasped as he realized that fear was of hurting the very person that was touching him.
"W-were we fighting in your dream? That must be why you asked me if I was hurt and felt all over me. You were checking for wounds." The specific details of Mugman's explanation scared the little cup. He truly was able to read his mind. And this freaked Cup out. His arm tried to escape the little mug's grip.
"Stop it, Mugs! You're really freaking me out!" He yelled. "We were both dreaming! End of story! Please just let me sleep in peace for one night!" Cuphead then gasped himself as he watched the silhouette of his brother flinch as if he had been physically hit.
"I'm sorry, Cup." Mugman said, shrinking back as he let go. His body nearly went to ball up to protect it from physical harm even though neither one of them had actually lashed out at one another. The young cup realized that his little brother's wish was the same as his. They both wanted a night without terror and stress, Mug desiring it even more so.
"No, I'm the one that should be sorry. I should be helping you instead of yelling at you." Cup confessed, feeling ashamed of what he just said.
"But what can we do about nightmares?" Mugman wondered aloud.
"I don't know." The little cup replied. "Maybe we should talk about this in the morning when Elder Kettle can help us." Mug stayed quiet and just shifted uncomfortably in his bed. He highly doubted that their guardian would be helpful in this matter. All he seemed to do lately was avoid any and all questions thrown his way, especially questions by the mug child.
"Get some sleep, Mugs. You deserve it." Cuphead said, patting his sibling on the shoulder before returning to his bed. The young mug looked back to the window one last time, hoping and praying that what he had seen truly was a dream. He then cocooned himself in the sheets to lull himself back to sleep.