Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

Not Words But Actions

The sun set once more over the island of Inkwell. All of its residents bustled about to finish their business before packing up for the night. Cuphead and Mugman prepared for bed. They put on their appropriately colored pajamas: red for Cup and blue for Mug. The two boys settled into their beds with fluffy pillows behind their cups and wrapped up with the softest silk blankets they could imagine. Cuphead fell asleep fast like usual. Mugman, on the other hand, lay awake in bed, hoping and praying that the demon wouldn't torment him anymore. His heart pounded loudly, keeping him awake for quite a while. Eventually the little mug nodded off when he got tired enough.

The cold environment of the catacombs surrounded Mugman. He knew exactly where he was before he even opened his eyes. The young mug rubbed his arms with his hands in an attempt to warm up. It seemed to him that the catacombs got colder each night he visited them. His small eyes shifted right and then left before locking onto a large blob of sludge that lay before him. It narrowed and materialized upward as it formed all of the undesirable qualities that Mugman feared. Sludge dripped from its claws and teeth. The wicked smile formed on its mug and stayed stagnant. Its hard and angry eyes looked down upon the smaller and peaceful version of itself.

"So, you've come back to visit me again..." The shadow gargled between tightly closed fangs. "What game shall we play tonight?"

Mugman balled his fists and showed confidence in his body language. He held his mug high, stood up straight, and gave a hard stare back.

"No games!" Mug demanded. "You're not even real, so stay away from me!" The child was trying to convince himself that this version of his alter ego was a figment of his imagination. Nothing more than an over-exaggeration of his fear that transferred to the dream realm. Despite his words, the black shadow was unimpressed. It simply crossed its arms across its sludgy chest.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, kid." The shadow replied. Mugman knew that talking to this thing did no good. No matter how much he shouted at it or told it that he wasn't afraid, the sludgy creature just didn't care.

"I'm outta here!" The little mug replied, throwing his hands up in the air. He promptly turned around and started walking away from the skinny black body.

"Where do you even plan to go? There is no exit." It tried to deter the cup child from continuing with its trek. The shadow then realized that the young mug was going to ignore it. And this insulted it greatly. Arms fell to its sides as its smile drooped into a scowl.

"Don't you dare walk away from me, Mugface!" It hissed. Mug stopped in his tracks as he heard the familiar mocking nickname. The child thought that the mutated mug must have heard it from the Devil.

".....Mugface?" He wondered aloud as he started to turn around. The shadow met Mug's curiosity with a present of its own. Mugman saw a black clawed hand rocketing toward him. Bearing no bones or internal infrastructure, the arm stretched beyond any normal capability and slammed the child in the chest.

"Aaaahhh!" The little mug screamed as he was taken off his feet. Air escaped his chest as he traveled even farther through the catacombs in a mere couple of seconds. To Mugman, it felt as if a professional boxer had just slammed him a good one. His body violently clattered against the ground. It bounced a few times before ultimately coming to a full stop. The child's body shook as he tried to get his bearings. His chest heaved in and out as he struggled to get air flowing back through his body. He lifted his mug to see the sludge splat down in front of him yet again. The shadow formed the dark mug in a split second.

"Aren't you going to cry or scream?" It taunted.

"No!" Mug yelled back. Gloved hands pressed against the ground as he forced himself up. This time he intended to face the shadow without backing down. "Cuphead said that if you attacked me, then I should strike back! Raaahh!" Mugman roared as he launched himself forward, hands open wide as he prepared to grab the shadow. His opponent, however, did not seem concerned with this in the least bit. It simply stretched itself taller, making a hole in its torso that the young mug fell through. Mug crashed onto the ground yet again, this time landing on his right side and making an "oof" sound. The black body quickly shrunk itself back down. It then set itself upon the child with a delighted hiss. Clawed hands aggressively pinned down Mugman by his arms. He tried to resist against the shadow's power. The small, skinny arms did not even budge against the black body's iron grip. It smiled down upon its prey. That dastardly smile said that it deeply enjoyed watching the cup child struggle and fail time and time again.