I was inspired to do this story from zeroa5raven's Cuphead comic "Runaway Ball", which is a very cute and humorous comic on Deviantart. :)

Cuphead and all its characters belong to Studio MDHR. I own nothing.

Two Loving Uncles You Never Have To Fear

Mugman woke up suddenly and took a deep breath before getting out of bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning, seeing that morning had arrived. Stirring told him that his brother, Cuphead, was awake now. "Mugs, you okay?" Cuphead asked.

"Yeah," said the blue cup. "Just…I still wake up and think that we haven't won."

"I know," his brother said. "Some of the people that he tricked weren't happy with us, though they did seem happy when we stopped him."

They didn't dare speak out his name. The travels they had gone through to get away from the horror had been filled with danger and they had fought with others who had been tricked by the deceiving monster. But last week, they had beaten him and not only freed themselves from his clutches, but also freed the others so that he couldn't hurt them again.

Elder Kettle came into the room. "Boys?" He said. "Is everything alright?"

Mugman looked up at him. "Elder Kettle, we won, right?" He asked.

The kettle nodded, seeing what was bothering the boy. "You both stopped that monster and freed the others," he said. "And in such a short time. You both were very brave, going on a mission to free yourselves and in the end, freeing others tricked by him."

"We were never going to give him what he wanted," Cuphead said. "That would have been the wrong thing to do."

Elder Kettle picked them up and held them. "Yes, it would have been," he said gently. "But you two did the right thing."

He then smiled. "Now, breakfast is ready and Cagney and Specter asked me to send you two to their home," he said.

"Uncle Cagney and Uncle Specter want us to visit?" Mugman asked.

"Yes, they do," Elder Kettle said. "I have some cookies you can take over to them. Now, better eat up. They're waiting for you."

Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other worriedly. What if Cagney and Specter just wanted to fight them? The flower and the ghost had fought the two prior and were defeated, so why did they want to see them? Eating their breakfast, they went down the road to Cagney Carnation and Specter's new home. It was a nice house and looked cheery. With a nervous swallow, Mugman went up to the door and knocked politely.

A moment later, a blue ghost with two yellow eyeballs floating beside him opened the door. "Mugman, Cuphead. Come in," Specter said with a smile, beckoning them in. "You two didn't have to knock. We knew you were coming."

"Yeah, but…Elder Kettle taught us that knocking was the polite way to ask to come in," Cuphead said.

Specter smiled again before gently ushering the boys to the living room where Cagney was sitting in a chair and he smiled at the boys. "Hello, boys," he said in greeting.

"Hi, Uncle Cagney," Mugman said, trying not to tremble. "Um…Elder Kettle made you and Specter some cookies."

"Oh, that was nice of him," Specter said. "I'll get some drinks and we can sit and enjoy the cookies."

As the ghost headed off, Cuphead tried to think of how to politely escape without giving away that he and Mugman really were afraid to be there. "Well, Mugs and I have some homework to do and we promised Elder Kettle we'd sweep the walkway," he said.

Mugman instantly caught on. "Yeah," he said. "Sorry to run, but Elder Kettle did want that done today."

Cagney cocked an eyebrow, seeing the two little ones slowly moving away from him, but a couple vines wrapped around them gently, stopping them. "Boys, Elder Kettle said you had already done that yesterday and school is out on break this week," he said, his tone gentle and full of amusement.

Seeing that their plan didn't fool the flower, both gulped and Specter came out with the drinks. "Do stay, you two," he said with a smile. "Besides, Cagney and I wanted to talk to you both."

Cuphead tried one last tactic, holding his brother's hand. "Love to stay and chat, but we really do have to get back. We missed a few spots when we were sweeping," he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

Specter looked saddened as did Cagney before both looked mischievous. "Actually, I believe I see those few spots you two are talking about," the flower said with a smile.

"You…You can?" Mugman asked in astonishment.

"Why yes," Cagney said with a chuckle, raising his leaves, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Your tickle spots."

Specter grinned. "I see them too," he said as the yellow eyeballs floated near the boys.

Now they knew that their uncles had caught on to their attempts to escape and Cuphead grabbed Mugman's arm. "Mugs! Run!" He cried out, running out of the room, but the flower and ghost quickly gave chase as the two boys ran to get away from them.

"I suspected they were afraid," Cagney said. "Even though they defeated us fair and square and we saw they defeated that monster."

"Perhaps because we first thought they were going to turn us over to him," Specter said. "I don't think our little nephews should be afraid of us."

"I don't either," the carnation said in agreement. "I'll get Cuphead. You get Mugman."

"Alright."

The boys had decided to split up and hide, listening closely for each other in case the other was found and listening for their uncles, trying to be quiet. Mugman was hiding in a room he had found open and he was underneath a pile of blankets, keeping very still and watching for his uncles. Suddenly, he felt something gently poke his sides and he jumped a little, glancing back to see two blue ghost hands phasing through the blanket and he hunkered down, but the blanket was removed by a chuckling Specter. "Peek-a-boo!" He said in amusement, catching the small blue cup before gently tickling his sides.

Mugman burst into giggles, squirming as blue fingers tickled his sides and then moved to his stomach. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" Specter said teasingly. "I've got you, my little nephew."

"AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The small blue cup laughed. The reason his laughter alternated was because the ghost switched back and forth between his sides and stomach.

"My, my. Ticklish and absolutely cute," said the blue ghost. He had grown fond of Mugman and Cuphead and he didn't like seeing them scared of him, but he had a feeling that was changing with each laugh coming out of Mugman's mouth as he tickled him.

Finally, the little blue cup curled up. "Uncle Specter," he gasped out, tears in his eyes from laughing.

Specter kindly stopped, seeing his nephew was all tickled out. "Aww, all tuckered out?" He asked in a soft, teasing voice, but Mugman nodded in response and Specter picked him up gently, holding him in a hug. "Come on, let's go see if Uncle Cagney had any luck finding your brother."

Laughter followed his statement. "Looks like he did," Mugman said as they followed the sound and found Cagney grinning as he tickled Cuphead with his leaves and his vines, making the small red cup squeal in laughter from the tickles.

"Cootchie, cootchie, coo! Look who's so ticklish," Cagney cooed, smiling as he watched his nephew try to escape. He then spotted Specter and Mugman and smiled. "Hey, Specter. Want to tickle Cuphead with me?"

"Sure," said the ghost, gently handing Mugman to the flower and some vines came up to form a sort of bed beneath the tired little cup, who gave a tired giggle when a leaf playfully wiggled across his stomach.

"Aww, he's a bit tired, hmm?" He asked, but it was more of a gentle question.

"Yes," said Specter before looking at Cuphead, who was laughing but trying to get away. "Looks like this little one can't wait for more tickles."

Feeling not only leaves and vines, but also blue fingers tickling him, Cuphead laughed his hardest, trying to escape, but his two uncles had him and he was getting a bit tired. "Uncles," he managed to gasp out.

Seeing their nephew was tired, they stopped and while Cagney held Cuphead, Specter held Mugman. "Why were you boys so afraid of us?" Cagney asked.

Both cups looked surprised. "We…We weren't," Mugman stammered out.

"So the homework and sweeping were things you really had to do?" Specter asked gently.

Now caught, the brothers looked away in shame, but felt their uncles gently force them to look at them. "We know when we battled you boys you were both scared," Cagney said. "But when you went up against him and defeated him, we owed you two a great debt."

"You saved us too, and a lot of others who are grateful to you," Specter said. "You boys never have to fear us."

"You're our favorite nephews," the flower said.

"Is…Is that why you asked us to come here?" Cuphead asked.

"Part of the reason," Specter replied. "We have a surprise for you two."

Seeing them look curious, the ghost and flower walked down a hallway and opened up a red and blue door to a room that had twin beds, one with red covers and one with blue covers. There was also a game system and a lot of others things. "This is your room, boys," Cagney said. "Specter and I decided to make room here for you two in case Elder Kettle asked us to watch you two and also if you two ever wanted to sleep over."

"You did this for us?" Mugman asked in surprise.

"Of course," Specter said. "As a thank you to you boys for saving us and because we're fond of you. After all, you two are our favorite nephews."

Both brothers smiled. "And you guys are our favorite uncles," Cuphead said before feeling sleepy. "Thank you, Uncle Cagney. Thank you, Uncle Specter," he said, laying his head down on Cagney's shoulder. Mugman echoed his brother's words and laid his head down on Specter's shoulder.

"You two can take a nap, if you'd like," Cagney said kindly.

Soft snores answered him and he and Specter tucked the boys into their new beds before letting them rest, smiling as they watched them. "We're very lucky, Cagney, to have two brave boys as our nephews," said Specter.

"Yes, Specter," said the flower in agreement. "We definitely are."

When you guys leave reviews, please be gentle. This is my first Cuphead story and I'm not overly familiar with the game. Thank you.

GoldGuardian2418