Cuphead and Mugman in "A Recipe For Evil"

The Trickster

While Cuphead was gone, Mug and Chalice took a short walk in the forest. Sitting around seemed to make things worse. It caused the young mug dwell on his thoughts...his guilt. They came across a small clearing that held a few lumps sticking out of the ground. Mugman approached one thinking it was a bush at first. But then he felt it and realized it was stone that was heavily covered in plant growth. He looked to the other lumps.

"Is this...a cemetery?" He wondered aloud.

How fitting.... Perhaps that's a sign....that this should be my final resting place. Tsundere sighed.

"No, that's not-"

Can we please sit down for a minute? The bumps are getting to me. Up against this tombstone is fine....maybe it will end up being mine too. The demon weakly chuckled. Not wanting to argue with his friend during what might be his last night alive, Mug sat down leaning against the tombstone. He had not realized the headstone was cracked until he felt it against his back. Tsundere's breaths stayed shallow. This was worrying Mugman. How long did he really have? The demon said until morning, but he was starting to doubt this.

Chalice came closer. She began to hover around the young mug and studied the dying creature. The ghostly chalice even ventured a quick poke a couple times to see what it felt like. Tsundere raised his head and grumbled at her but didn't have the strength to swat her hand away.

"Does it always make that noise?" Chalice asked.

"Really only when he feels that someone is too close." Mug replied.

"Oh, well, pardon me. How am I supposed to help ya when I don't know much about him?" She insisted, throwing her hands up in an innocent manner. The demon sighed and laid its head back down on Mugman's lap. For he was giving up on trying to deter the female's curiosity.

Ms. Chalice was not sure what to do about the situation. She wanted to help in some way, but it just felt awkward being alone with Mugman and his demon. If only there was a way to distract them from the bleak situation. Even for only a moment. And then an idea came to her.

"I think I got something we can do for a few minutes. Wait here for just a sec." Ms. Chalice summoned herself a portal to the astral realm and floated through. It closed behind her, giving the two friends a minute of silence. That quiet was shattered as the chalice opened another portal and dropped a full and heavy sack of items to the ground with a loud clang. Mug flinched as it sounded nearby.

"Why don't we look through this bag of loot I swiped from the King's treasure room? Not even Cuphead knows that I got this stuff. He was off looking for you when I stumbled upon this treasure trove. Looks like some of this is from around the world." She said as she opened the bag and poked her head in to look about.

Around the world? Tsundere seemed to show interest. His black mug tried to turn and look where the female had set down the sack.

"Okay, let's see it." Mugman agreed.

"That's the spirit!" She beamed. "No need to be all doom and gloom while Cuphead's getting us help." The ghostly chalice plucked her way through the bag, taking out each item. There were all sorts of jewels and treasures and she explained what each one of them were. But then one in particular seemed to catch her eye.

"Say, take a look at this!" Chalice said and pulled out an old relic. It was a circular item with a brown frame around it. Inside the frame was a light tan color, almost like skin, surrounding a large eye with a green iris. There was a small steel ring at the top that seemed like it would have acted like a keychain lock. The ring appeared to be broken in such a way that if it once opened, it certainly no longer could. Of course, this is what Chalice noticed first.