Cuphead Oneshots

Sleepwalking

This story was requested by @Sandrastar1

It was a Friday night meaning the two brothers  could stay up later since they didn't have school the next day. The clock read 12:37 am and the boys were in the middle of binge watching tv. Elder Kettle entered the room. "*yawn* you boys are still up? It's past 12, go to bed"

"Aww, can we stay up for 5 more minutes?" Cuphead pleaded.

"No, 5 minutes means at least another hour to you"

"Fine" the brothers sighed in unison.

The boys dragged their feet all the way to their bedroom and changed into their pajama's. Even though they still wanted to stay up, the boys were exhausted.

"Goodnight Cuphead" Mugman said.

"Night Mugsy" Cuphead replied.

The two of them practically fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillow. Cuphead awoke at 4:00 am to talking coming from outside his room. He looked down to the bottom bunk to see that Mugman wasn't there. "Again?" Cuphead muttered to himself as he exited his room. He found his brother walking around the cottage while still in a deep sleep. Cuphead reached his arm out to bring Mugman back to their room but he stopped when he heard what he was saying "Cuphead..... Cuphead don't........... Cuphead".

Cuphead knew nothing about how the brain worked so he had no clue why his brother was saying his name. His face looked concerned which didn't make sense to him, they were best friends! He decided to just return Mugman to his room and bring it up with him and Elder Kettle in the morning however he couldn't rid his body of a worried feeling. He figured this wasn't a good thing so he was worried about what was troubling his brother so much that it even affected him in his sleep. It was 10:00 am when Cuphead awoke to Elder Kettle calling him. "Cuphead! Breakfast is getting cold"

He had never been a morning person so it took him a while to get out of bed. Elder Kettle sat at the table and started reading the newspaper. "Look who finally woke up"

Cuphead just sat down and tiredly ate his breakfast. It was fairly normal for him to act like this is the morning so Elder Kettle didn't question his behaviour. By the time he had finished eating, he had much more energy and Mugman had already returned to their room. Cuphead put his dishes in the sink and went to talk to his brother. "Uh, hey Mugsy..."

"Hi! You wanna go play outside?" Mugman asked.

"Maybe later, I gotta ask you something"

"What?" Mugman's expression quickly grew worried.

"Do you remember anything after you fall asleep?"

"Umm... sometimes I remember dreams but that's about it. Why?"

"Last night you were sleep walking and you kept saying my name"

"Really?"

"Yeah and you looked really worried, is there anything about me that's bothering you?" Cuphead asked.

"No, you know I always forgive you when you get into trouble so I don't know what it is" Mugman said. "How often do I do it?"

"It's happened nearly every day for the past few weeks"

"Well it's no big deal, it's not like I'm leaving the house or anything"

"But there's clearly something bothering you and I don't want you to just put up with whatever it is. We should tell Elder Kettle"

"Okay, let's go"

The boys explained what was happening and Elder Kettle decided to take Mugman to the doctor since it could be something serious. Even though it was for his benefit, Mugman really didn't want to go because doctors made him anxious. The doctor asked him some questions about his life, symptoms, and reviewed his medical history. When he figured out the issue, he called Elder Kettle into the room to discuss treatment, leaving Cuphead alone in the waiting room. This stressed him out even more, his mind was racing. "What if he's dying?" "Is it my fault?" "What if he's never cured?" These questions wouldn't leave him alone.

After 10 minutes, both Mugman and Elder Kettle returned but they both wore a serious expression. Neither of them spoke on the drive home and Cuphead couldn't find the courage to speak up since he figured all of this was his fault. When they got home, the two of them went to their rooms and Cuphead just listened to the radio in attempts to get his mind off of everything. Once he was more relaxed, he approached his room and knocked on the door. "Mugman? Can I come in?"

"Yeah!"

"You sound happy"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, you seemed pretty upset at the doctors"

"Oh that, that was just because the doctor told me I have to take pills in order to stop the sleep walking" Mugman said as he pointed to a small bottle on their dresser.

Cuphead walked over to it and read the label. The word that stood out to him was benzodiazepines. "The heck is this?"

"They're anxiety pills"

The worried feeling returned to Cuphead again. "Anxiety?"

"Yeah, and the doctor said that... you're the cause of it"

The color in his face turned white. "M-me?" Cuphead asked.

"Yes, you know I love you but you're constantly getting yourself into trouble. Either you're about to get your soul taken or you're about to blow something up. Mugman confessed.

"I'm sorry... I just don't think before I act"

"Believe me, I know that and now I think it's time we fix it, I'll try to stick with you more and help you through it"

"If you say so..."

Later that day Mugman saw Cuphead walking by their room with a bucket of paint and water pistol. "Uhh Cuphead? What are you doing?"

"Elder Kettle told me to paint the fence and this way it'll be faster" Cuphead replied.

"Really? You're gonna have to refill it a bunch of times and you'll get way less paint with the pistol than with a brush"

"Oh..."

"Instead, I'll help you with it"

"Okay, thanks!"

The devils carnival reopened later that week and Cuphead was eager to go. "*sigh* fine we can go but promise me you won't lose your soul again" Mugman said.

"I promise, now c'mon!" Cuphead said as he dragged Mugman out of the cottage.

Since Cuphead was really good at it, he spent most of his time at the Soulball game. Inevitably, Cuphead got caught up in the attention he was getting and didn't stop playing. Mugman took the ball out his brothers hand and turned him around to face him "Cuphead, is it better to quit now while you're ahead or risk losing your soul for a few measly points?"

"Quit now I guess..." Cuphead said sadly.

To cheer him up, Mugman bought him ice cream and he ended up feeling a lot better about walking away. Over the next couple months, Mugman continued to help Cuphead control his impulses and as a result, he ended up being stressed less and was able to stop taking the pills after 2 months. Occasionally, Cuphead's impulses got the best of him however he ended up getting into trouble much less and it was all thanks to Mugman.