Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

The Great Battle

Before them the purple demon began to grow, nearly filling up the whole throne room. Its tentacles felt about, snaking around any stalagmites and stalactites they came across. The three of them watched in horror as energy just seemed to radiate from its center. None of them had ever felt anything so powerful. It instilled fear deep inside each one of them. In fact, its energy was so thick that the parasitic creature's core began to levitate above the cavern floor. David felt these psychic waves and finally opened up his yellow eyes, tongue still licking the ground. His gangly body shakily got up on all fours. He winced as he put weight on the arm that Cuphead had thoroughly bitten.

"Bow! Bow before me! I am the alpha now!" Boomed a voice telepathically for all to hear. It was so loud that it shook the cavern and traveled deep into the mortals' souls, like it was a speaker playing inside their minds. They all shivered at the tremendous power that seemed to have some sort of control over them.

"Stop! Cease! I order you!" The Devil spat back.

"You are no one's boss anymore!" It argued. A tentacle wrapped itself around David's neck and flicked him into the air. The black body crashed to the ground with a pained moan. "When I'm done with you there will be nothing left! Your reign is over!" Mug and his family watched as the muscular appendage grabbed him again and began to toss the already limp body around. The young mug no longer found joy in the Devil's suffering. For now it was just a creature that sorely needed help at that moment. Before Mugman could think anything else, the hand latched to his arm started to pull him away.

"Come! We must get out of here while it's distracted!" Elder Kettle urged his boys toward the exit. Cup was ready to follow his grandpa, but the mug child knew that leaving David was a death sentence for him.

"No!" Mug shouted and yanked his arm away from the kettle. "I'm not leaving here without David!"

"He can take care of himself." Kettle tried to convince his boy.

"Does THAT really look like 'taking care of himself' to you?" He asked while pointing to the black creature that was repeatedly getting its head slammed against the ground. Mugman's temper was raising at his guardian. Why did he insist on not helping his friend? It just didn't make sense to the little mug. "He's YOUR friend!" He added.

"Please Mugs! It's too dangerous!" The elder pleaded, trying to reach out to him. But Mug shied away from the gloved hand that attempted to grab him again.

"I promised Dice that I would save him. And I'm going to do it with or without your help!" Mug asserted before racing off into the tangle of tentacles. Cuphead gave a concerned roar as his little brother entered the danger zone.

Brown boots pounded against the cavern floor toward the furry body. Mugman noticed a tentacle whip the Devil's back every time he tried to get up on all fours. The parasitic creature was taunting its master, letting him get almost up before ultimately smashing him back down. Skinny limbs shook horribly under the demonic creature's body as it was forced to eat stone for the unknown number of times now.

"Stop this now!" Mug roared and punched a pulse of dark blue energy forward. It exploded on the muscular appendage, making the flopping thing flinch away from its target. Besides startling the demon, it had no other effect on the creature's health.

"You....!" Grumbled the colossal nucleus center. It now homed in on the little mug's energy. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to me!" For it remembered how the boy so rudely plucked him from his previous nest. And he intended to punish the mug for doing such things. Tentacles started to snake their way toward Mugman. The young mug ducked and weaved, narrowly missing their curling ends that seemed to home in on him. One came down at him from above. He was so focused on this tentacle that he all but forgot to look at his feet. A second exterior vein tripped the boy. Mug began to pitch forward. Two muscles swatted his mug front and back, ultimately ping-ponging him between them. His glass body made contact with the ground for only a second before yet another squid appendage wrapped around his torso. Claws quickly came out as he tried to hold onto something. They merely scraped along the ground with an awful sound. It dragged him backwards and ultimately into the air. The mug child watched as he was brought level with the translucent center.