Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

A Bad Omen

It was late into the night when Mugman woke up from a deep and dreamless sleep. A small smile came over his face at the thought that he might have chased off whatever was haunting him in his subconscious. For the first time in what seemed like a long while, Mug felt at peace in his bed. He was not screaming and waking up his brother either, which was another plus. Cuphead was finally getting a good night's sleep too. The young mug rolled up his right sleeve to check on the wounds. He took a feel about the puncture marks. Each one seemed to have been sealed up nicely. They still stung a bit as his fingers rubbed over the sensitive skin. Mugman gave a sigh of relief at the thought of being free from the pain. Everything seemed perfect at that very moment. Mug closed his eyes. He was eager to put himself back to sleep again.

Just as he was nuzzling his mug into the pillow, the sound of creaking windows invaded his mind. The mug's eyes shot back open as his head whipped around to find his windows. They were slightly open, letting in a gentle breeze. The very ends of the curtains whisked around in the wind like ghosts.

I didn't leave that open, did I? Mugman wondered. The child shuffled himself out of bed and went to close the glass doors.

"Hssss!" Came a noise from the corner of his room. A jet-black cloud-like shadow hovered in front of their closet. Two piercing yellow eyes slid open from within the gaseous mass. Mug stared at the intruder and gasped, immediately recognizing those sinister eyes. Fear froze him on the spot. He watched as the golden shapes flashed over in his brother's direction. They then settled back onto the little mug. Uncomfortable moans started to come from Cuphead's bed.

It continued its hissing noise as the cloud hovered toward Mugman. The mug child instinctively scrambled back into his bed. He tried to cover himself with the sheets, pulling them up as far as they could go. They did not seem to go any farther than his mouth as he watched the shadow fester at the foot of his bed. His heart beat so fast that he thought it might explode at any second. The child's hold on the sheets only tightened as he tried even harder to cover his face. He thought that maybe – just maybe – if he couldn't see it, then it couldn't see him either. It was a stupid thought. But he was desperate for anything to prove this thing was just a figment of his imagination.

This is all just a dream! I'm going to wake up any second now! Mug tried to convince himself that none of this was real. An arm started to materialize from the shadow. Four fingers clearly took form but were still partially see-through. A scream started to build in the little mug's throat as the fingers reached out for him. The index finger pointed right for his nose and kept inching closer. Mugman's scream that had been building up let loose when the clawed finger was mere millimeters from his nose. The screech startled the shadow, making it flinch. Its claw jolted and grazed the child's large sniffer so lightly that the boy didn't even feel it. Mug watched as the dark shadow recoiled and poured itself out the window.

Meanwhile, Cuphead's once peaceful dream started to change after those familiar gleaming eyes flashed in his direction. What started as a friendly play-wrestling with his brother began to change into a much darker atmosphere. The cup brothers were inside their house, which turned to ruin in a split second. Broken pictures and furniture littered their living space.

"What's going on?" Cuphead wondered as he looked around. Color seemed to drain from the environment. All emotion had been removed from his home. His gaze whipped back to Mugman who began screeching as if he were pain. His brother seized his mug with his gloved hands as he nearly doubled over onto the floor.

"Mugman! Are you okay?" Cup tried to rush toward the mug child to help him. Claws grew from under the gloves. The little mug glanced back up at him with a growl in his throat and eyes glowing bright. Mugman stood up tall and towered over his older brother.