Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

Interview with a Demon

Morning came all too quickly yet again. Cuphead found himself waking up before his sibling. Perhaps that was a good thing, he thought. The young cup would be able to get a word in with Elder Kettle before Mugman got up. Was it possible that his grandpa would be ready to talk this morning and give up information about the reason someone tried to assassinate him? Cup was about to find out. The kettle shuffled himself into the kitchen to prepare breakfast like usual. His boy approached him before he got busy.

"Morning, Cuphead." Kettle bellowed.

"Good morning, Elder Kettle. I was wondering if you-" But before the young cup could finish his sentence, the elderly person interjected with his own idea.

"Noticed that Mugman seems to be hallucinating? Yes, quite."

Cup was confused at why his guardian would suggest such a thing.

"Hallucinating? What makes you say that?"

"Mugs often talks to himself like there is someone else around. Have you not noticed this?" Elder Kettle explained, sounding like Cuphead should no doubt agree that he has seen such behavior.

"I've only seen him do that once." Cup said truthfully. "He claims it is just the demon talking to him." The little cup tried to keep his response calm to deter the kettle from worrying even further. Despite his attempts to keep the truth low-key, mention of the demon made Elder Kettle uncomfortable.

"That is troublesome....." He said with his voice trailing off. Kettle recalled the memory of Djimmi telling him that episodes only got worse and could even drive oneself to commit suicide. But he wasn't about to tell that to either of his boys. He knew Cuphead in particular would freak out and make a big scene at that kind of news. No, it was better to keep that to himself. Kettle was the only one that need worry about that. There was no need to plant a seed of dread into his boys' minds.

"I've set up an appointment with Djimmi so he and Mugman can discuss his mental state. Djimmi plans to keep the conversation low-key to avoid provoking the demon. He has assured me that he is comfortable with having Mugman around for a little while." Cuphead nodded to his guardian in agreement. But deep down Cup felt that his brother was being treated like an animal. In particular, like a large cat that would claw your eyes out if you played with it for too long. No one wanted to be around him for an extended period of time. And that hurt both of the boys. Cuphead for the fact that he was also labeled in a way and because he was concerned about his brother's mental welfare. There was always the possibility that the demon was telling him bad things.

"Why can't I be there with him?" The young cup asked, feeling a bit offended for being excluded on a matter that was important to him too.

"I need you to come with me to see Forkington. He claims that Mugman hurt Spoonfred yesterday." His voice grew stern, thinking the boys had wandered away from home. Interaction with other people most likely meant they had left their designated boundaries. But Cuphead assured him that they obeyed what Kettle had said.

"That's not true!" Cup spat. "Mugman was just asking them to leave our yard. Spoonfred got knocked over by Ribby's nephew."

"See? That's exactly why I need you to come with me. You know what happened and can explain so to Forkington." Elder Kettle urged.

"If he'll even believe me...." Cuphead said with his gaze falling to the side and sounding agitated with the prim and proper utensil. At least, he tried to act that way even if he wasn't always true to what he said. He tended to see things in a way that blamed others instead of himself. Even when there was clearly no logical connection between what he claimed and what actually happened.