Souls (Cuphead)

Chapter 3 (Forest Follies)

 Cuphead never liked forests. They scared him senseless. It wasn't because they were dark and creepy and hide awful creatures and was usually where the fairy tail heroes got in trouble, but because of spiders.

 Horrible, creepy, crawling spiders. He hated them. The way they could climb up the walls with their long, stalking, eight legs. Their lifeless, unseeing eyes. Their cold, dead look. He couldn't stand them. Even saying he was arachnophobia was an understatement.

 "I don't think we should go in there," he said, taking a step back.

 "C'mon, there probably isn't any spiders in there for miles," Mugman said, seeing the fear in his brother's eyes. "We'll be lucky to see anything bigger than a caterpillar in there."

 Cuphead shook his head.

 Their fangs, so sharp they pierced even Mughead (for those of you who don't know, Mughead is the name of Cuphead and Mugman's species) skin, and filled with poison capable of killing him.

 He shivered, even though it wasn't cold. "T-There could be f-f-fog in there," he said.

 He knew it was a low move, trying to make his brother scared. Mugman was terrified of fog. Had been since he got trapped outside during a foggy night. He was afraid of not being able to see around him, and of suffocating in it. Like Cuphead had arachnophobia, Mugman had nebulaphobia, fear of fog.

 Mugman shook his head, not taking the bait. "There's no fog in there," he said, and held out his hand, waiting for his brother to take it. "And there's no spiders in there, either. If there is, I'll kill them for you. Just like if there's fog in there, you'll steer me through it. Right?"

 Cuphead nodded weakly. Mugman stretched out his hand a little more. Cuphead shakily took it, and all the anger ebbed out of Mugman. His brother was scared. Being mad at him wasn't going to help.

 They stepped in, and the ring of trees they entered lead to a meadow, with another forest on the far side. A wide, open field. Daises waved in the breeze, white ones and orange ones. The grass was so long it reached their knees. Cuphead gripped his brother's hand a little tighter, and the two moved through, holding onto each other for comfort.

 Out of the corner of his eye, halfway across it, Mugman thought he saw something move. He turned his head, but whatever it was was gone. 

 He followed his brother again, just as something tackled Cuphead to the ground. A blur of orange and green, and Cuphead was flung to the ground. Mugman felt something grab his ankles and yank him down.

 A flower man with a yellow head, orange petals and a green body pinned Mugman to the ground, and raised a fist to hit him. He wrenched his wrist free, and somehow shot, his thumb sticking into the air.

 The man was flung back, and hit the ground. He didn't get up. 

 He saw his brother struggling to shoot, and Mugman did it for him, saving him. He scrambled away from the body, grabbed his brother's hand, and darted to the forest. Mugman saw why when he was up and running. More flower men were coming.

 They reached the trees, only to find more. Cuphead jumped onto an overhanging, magic-bound ledge, and hauled Mugman up, too. The fingers of one of them brushed his ankle, but didn't manage to grab him.

 Cuphead panted, brushing his fingers against a crack on his cheek. The flower man must've landed a blow to him. "Let me see," Mugman said, and gripped his cheek, brushing it with his thumb. It was bleeding slightly, so Mugman brushed the blood away with his sleeve. Cuphead winced as he did. "It's not bad."

 "How did you shoot?" Cuphead said, gesturing to the flower people below them, trying to get to them, but failing. 

 Mugman cocked his thumb up, and put his forefinger out, and a blue bullet magically fired from the tip. It was warm, and tingly. Cuphead tried the same position, and Mugman had to duck to avoid being fired at.