Cuphead Kidnapped Collaboration

Memories

I fall to the ground, the liquid burning through my veins like fire. It suddenly subsided, so I stand up, grabbing my scepter. I hear the sounds of Mugman and someone else shuffling around. I squint to where the sound is. "Does anyone else hear that?" I ask. No one seemed to hear it. I hear static, signaling that the radio turned back on. It was Wally. "Your safe! Cuphead has defeated Jurah! However, Mugman is in horrid condition. Everyone is trying to help him, but they know this could be his final hour." He exclaims. "How can I get to you? And what about Grim? Is he alright?" I ask, picking up the radio. Matt comes close to me. "What if he's corrupted? This might be a trap." He whispers. "The infected are back to normal. But, Mugman has had a serious battle with King Dice. He got a concussion while having it, and Cuphead has been cured or the poison." Wally states. Dice? I'm going to kill him. I think gingerly. "How can I get to you?" I repeat, picking up the scepter and observing the Pearl on top of it, awaiting his answer. "You can't get to us if that watch is broken. I'm terribly sorry." Wally answers. Hearing this makes me fall to my knees. "I need to see him! Is there any other way?! Please..." I sob. I cough into my hand, and again see the crimson color of blood on it. "Well, only the Devil can do that, but none of us can trust our version if the brute!" Wally says. The Devil. Wait... "Isn't... Isn't Phantom a version of the Devil?" I ask, voicing my thoughts aloud. "I-I guess so." Wally says. "Then would he be able to get me there? If I could get to him, of course." I ask, wanting to hide the fact that I might be the new Phantom. "Well, certainly!" Wally says. "How would Phantom go about it? Would he speak into the Pearl on his scepter?" I ask. "Yeah!" He says. I'm not going to ask how he knows that. I think. "Okay. Matt, continue to speak with Wally for me." I say, giving him the radio. I walk away from the group, and look straight into the Pearl. "In a time of great need, taking me to where Mugman lies; Inkwell Isle." I say. My body glows a brilliant white, and I open my eyes to find myself kneeling in front of Wally, whose eyes are wide with confusion. I would be too. I look exactly like the female version of Nathan's character. "How did you...?" He stutters. "Long story short, I wasn't corrupted, I turned into a female Phantom. Now, where's Mugs?" I ask. "At Elder Kettle's Cottage, Cuphead and Elder Kettle are healing him!" Wally tells me. "They were h-heros again, all right." Grim says. I smile. "Alright. Thank you both. My friend Matt is on the other line. Ask him anything you may need too." I say, exiting the area to find the cottage. After a while I find it, and find myself bubbling with excitement. I run up to the door and knock rapidly. As I wait for an answer I twirl the scepter in my hand, trying to focus on something else. The door opens, and I see Elder Kettle himself. "Hello? How may I help you?" He asks. "May I see Mugs? He knows who I am and-" Elder Kettle cuts me off, and I stay quiet. "Come on inside." He sighs. "Thank you Elder Kettle. Wait, you aren't confused by my outfit? Grim and Wally almost had a heart attack." I ask, walking inside. "Not really. Cuphead and Mugman are in their room, talking and having fun." He says. "Thank you. Anything I can do to make it up to you?" I ask. "No! The only important thing is that my two boys are back to being healthy. May I make you some soup? I made some for the boys, and there's leftovers." The Elder asks. "Go ahead. I haven't had a good meal and a long while." I respond. I walk over to the Cups' room and knock on the door. Cuphead opens the door. "Um... Hello, do I know you?" He asks. I hear Mugs voice call after Cuphead, and grow excited. "Cuphead, that's rude! You should politely say hello!" I look back at Cuphead. "If my memory serves correctly, you yelled at me when I tried to help Mugs over there." I say, chuckling a bit. Mugs heads over to Cuphead, and whispers something I surprisingly catch. "Cuphead, who is she?" I blink away my shock. "Mugs? It's me, YN." I say, sadness and shock lacing my voice. Cuphead sighs, and I turn back to him. "I didn't want to tell you this, but, Mugman got a concussion. He lost his memory about the whole ordeal, meaning he forgot about you, and all that... H-he only remembers getting out of the void and helping me defeat Jurah." Cuphead explains. "Oh..." I murmur sadly. I lock eyes with Mugs and fake a smile. "Well, I'm YN. Your Mugman right?" I say, trying not to let my voice crack. "Uh, yes I am. How do you know me?" Mugs ask. Cuphead nudges his shoulder. "If it wasn't for her, Mugs, you would've died." He says. "Why don't you guys go have fun in your room? I'll be in the kitchen. Elder Kettle offered me some soup." I say, my eyes betraying my smile. "Okay. I'm sorry." Cuphead says, mouthing the last part. "Bye, I guess." Mugs says, walking back into the room. "It's fine. It's probably for the best." I mouth back, before heading to the kitchen. I sit on a chair at their kitchen table. "So, how did your reunion go?" Elder Kettle asks, handing me my soup. "Mugs doesn't recognize me. It's probably for the best though. Thank you for the meal, Elder Kettle." I say, having a spoonful. I smile slightly as the flavor fills my mouth. "Yes, I forgot about the concussion. Uhm... By the way, you can just let it out. I know how hard it is to loose a loved one. I'll make sure the boys don't hear you." He says, sitting across from me at the table. "It's not just that though." I say, having another spoonful. "Are there any other problems I should know about?" He asks. "To be honest, it didn't hurt me as bad as you may think when he forgot me. Everyone that's cared about me has left. It's just..." I let out a hard sigh, trying to figure out how I should word it. "I'm listening." He says. "The people I was with before I came here; they all had one thing in common. In every situation I'm in, it seems like I play a larger role. It's hard to handle y'know?" I say, having more of my soup. "I understand. Can you wait here for a moment?" He asks, getting up to leave. "Of course." I murmur. I wait until he's gone, and let out a soft whimper, a few tears streaming put of my eyes. I wipe away the tears, careful not to mess up the make-up I had on. I wonder what he had to do. I think. He comes back in with a potion. "I wanted to save this Memory Heal until Mugman got over the trauma. But, if you want to, you can give it to him now. He seems perfectly time since he's reunited with his brother and escaped the the void. But, I worry all that time alone could've changed him." He says, giving me the potion. "What would you do? I want him to remember, but at the same time, I want him to get over the trauma first." I say, conflicted. I quick finish the soup the Elder had given me. "I would ask Cuphead. He and Mugs have a brotherly bond, so Cuphead can tell his decisions." He responds. "Alright. Thank you Elder. Do you think I could learn your soup recipe sometime?" I ask. "Certainly. Now, go talk to Cuphead." He says. I walk over, and knock on the door. I tap my foot, awaiting a response. Cuphead opens the door. "Oh, it's you again. How can we help?" He asks. "It's, uh, it's not 'we', it's 'you'. I need to talk to you privately for a moment." I explain. "Oh, okay. Mugs, I'll be back!" He says, yelling the last part. He shuts the door, and I kneel to his height. I explain about the potion, and how I'm torn between the options the Elder had given me. When I finish I do my nervous habit of scratching the back of my neck. Cuphead nods. "Of course you can give it to him. He deserves to remember the person that helped save his life." He says. "You really think I should give it to him?" I ask, still unsure about the situation. He smiles and nod. I return the nod as I stand up and he leads me into their room. "Oh! Um, hello." Mugs say. "Hey. Uh, do you think you could drink this for me?" I ask. That was way too direct! I cringe at myself. "Um... Okay." He says, taking a sip. His eyes light up. "It tastes like Skittles!" He exclaims, drinking more. "I'm glad." I laugh, sitting down cross-legged on their floor. Mugs blinks a few times, then looks over at me. "YN!" He exclaims, tackle hugging me. "I remember now!" He says. "Heh. Yeah." I say, hoping he wouldn't notice the tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "How could I have forgotten you?" He asks himself regretfully. "It's fine. Happens in my universe sometimes too." I laugh. "Besides, it's nothing new-" I cover my mouth. Did I seriously just let that slip out?! "Well..." Cuphead says, putting his hands in his pockets. He wasn't gleeful anymore though. He was sad. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I should probably say it." He says. "W-what?" I ask. "Did Kettle tell you the reason he was planning to give the Memory Heal to Mugs later?" Cuphead asks. "So he could recover from the trauma. He told me when he gave me the potion." I answer, turning my head to look at Cuphead. "That was the half-truth... You see, the reason is that your going to forget about all of this tomorrow. Jurah placed you in a time loop when you got over here. It was going to reset at the beginning of your story, but since there's no more need for Mugman to go there, and the watch is broken..." He trails off, looking at the ground sadly. "You're gonna forget about Mugman..." He finishes sadly, refusing to make eye contact. "W-what? No. Tell me that's a joke. That's a joke right?" I laugh panicked. You could see all my emotions flooding my gaze. "Oh yeah. You see, I accidentally reset your timeline. Jurah reset it... I made a deal with him. He would reset your version of the timeline before I came in if I gave him a part of me..." He explains sadly. "Why would you do that?!" I scream. Tears were streaming down my face. I probably looked a mess. "Where's Jurah?! I'll make him take back the deal!" I growl. "Jurah was sent far away from here... But there's no doubt he'll return..." Mugman says. "I'm sorry, it was going to destroy your universe if you could tell the future. King Dice and Jurah showed me your future, of you getting hunted and murdered. I couldn't let that happen to you." Mugman says. "You do realize I don't care right?! Nobody cares about me! I live on the streets Mugs!" I yell. "Yeah, but, you have friends. AJ, Matt, Mark, you have them." Mugs points out. I feel the slightest bit of comfort in his words. "Plus, you live with Random Encounters. Nathan, Nate, AJ, Gwen, you have a roof over your head. I'm sorry, but there wasn't any other way." Mugs explains. "I would give all that up to remember you!" I cry out, the last of my tears falling from my eyes. "I couldn't let that happen. Everyone you knew was going to die. You're multiverse was going to be torn apart. You... You need to forget about Inkwell Isle. Our version of it anyways." Mugs explains. "No... Please.." I collapse on to my knees. I look up. "Is there anyway I can have one memory?" I ask. They both embrace me in a hug, and Mugman hands me a note. "To remember me by. Just... Don't mention this to your friends when you wake up, okay?" He says. "Y'know, Elder Kettle was supposed to teach me his soup recipe." I say, laughing quietly. "I'm sorry. I thought you would've wanted me to protect you." He jokes. "No! It was devine! Can you write it down somewhere for me?" I ask. "Okay!" He says. He quickly writes it down then looks up. "Y-your fading away!" He exclaims. "Jurah must have reset the time loop. Yours anyway." Cuphead explains. "Just give me the note! Quickly! And tell Elder Kettle I say thank you." I say in a slight panick. Mugs writes something else down, then gives it to me. "Goodbye Y/N." He says. "Bye. And Mugs... I love you. Don't forget that." I say as the rest of my body fades away, leaving the boys by themselves. Mugs starts to cry after I completely vanish. "Don't worry Mugs. We did the important thing... We saved her." Cuphead comforts. "I guess your right." Mugs says, wiping away his tears.