Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

Who's to Blame?

Cuphead stared on at the two people that concluded their story. His mind was boggled at all the new facts he had not been aware of. He did not know what to even say or think.

"So, cupface, what do you think of our story? A bit of a shocker, eh?" The Devil immediately put him on the spot. Poor Cup merely swallowed hard, hoping that he wouldn't have to judge one of them based on their past. This was the first time he realized how hungry and thirsty he was. For his throat seemed to scream in agony for some sort of sustenance.

"Thus, we come to the question that we all want to know..... which one of us is to blame?"

The little cup's gaze whipped back and forth between the two of them. What should he say? It seemed to Cuphead that they were both responsible to some extent.

"Um...." He squeaked out as the metal cuffs still ate away at his wrists and anchored him to that spot.

"Is it your seemingly innocent grandfather that keeps secrets from you? Or is it me, the one who was tricked into this role and then left to rot by his best friend?" His voice escalated to a roar by the end his question. The black figure leaned over the faded glass body, trying to intimidate it.

"David, it's not fair to ask the boy to-"

"My name's not David!" It roared and raised a fist above the kettle's lid. Cup watched as his poor grandpa flinched and prayed that he would not bring it down.

"There's one thing I don't understand." Squeaked the young cup's voice.

"Huh?" They both said and turned to Cuphead. The Devil immediately forgot about punishing the elderly glassware and stared intently at the child. Its tensed fist parted as the paw returned to his side.

"If you knew that the Devil was on the island, then why did you let us stay with you?"

"I didn't want to just let you." Kettle admitted. "Your parents wanted a place to settle down and raise a family. I tried to deter them from choosing Inkwell, but they were so confident that it was the perfect place to raise you boys. They liked the people, the atmosphere. There was nothing wrong with it in their eyes. Your mom and dad even offered to help me to make the house even bigger." The elder then paused for a second. "I never thought that Dav-....erm, the Devil would ever bother with you when he was guaranteed to have me."

The furry creature began to laugh. It started low but then escalated to a hearty laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" He nervously asked the possessed creature. David slowly ceased his maniacal cackling, whipped his tail left and right in glee, and rested his piercing gaze on the kettle.

"It seems the old kettle forgot to read the fine print!" It sneered.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"If you had taken time to read every detail of the contract, you would know that it does not exclude any of your blood relatives from enslavement, torture, and death....without any reasonable notice." He added the last part quickly. Their very contract unfolded from a set of gray fingers that magically summoned the parchment from a secret compartment in his soul contract library. And there they were, the exact words the creature had just spoke. They were staring the kettle right in the face. Bold and enlarged text at the very bottom below his signature clearly stated this condition. But the poor elderly glassware didn't remember these words being here, and especially not having been that large. For he realized that David had probably made it very small at the time and tucked it away in a corner where he certainly would not look. The guilt of it all seemed to manifest in the old person's heart.

"But! But! I never meant for-!" Kettle began to pant and sweat wildly.

"Who's to blame for your family's deaths now?" The Devil rubbed it in his face. He then retracted the contract, willing it to teleport back to its place. "However, if you still refuse to believe this to be true, just ask your boy." A gray paw gestured to the cup child that sat there with a look of utter horror on his face. Poor Cuphead couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could his guardian have been so careless when signing a lifelong contract? Water bubbled to his eyes as he stared at Kettle, instantly forgetting about the other person in the room.