Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

I Can't Change It

Hey, you! The faun silently yelled into Cuphead's soul. I know you can hear me! Get your ass up, you traitor! Cup's creature immediately shot awake at the sound of the word traitor. David could telepathically hear the parasite snarl at him.

I still need your help up here! You need to wake up the kid or you'll both die!

The demon could feel the walls of Cuphead's soul slowly collapsing in towards himself as the Devil spoke. A sense of urgency came over him. It immediately started to search for the piece of energy its host still had. The metaphorical room of the child's soul was getting smaller by the second. Its walls were collapsing and closing in on the creature. Thankfully, he found Cuphead's last remaining energy. Within the nest of the cup child's soul, the fragment appeared to the demon as a glowing red silhouette of the boy himself. It lay motionless on the figurative floor. The parasitic creature rushed forward.

"Hey, kid! You gotta wake up now!" As soon as he touched Cup, the deteriorating room of the boy's soul melted away. The demon stood dumbfounded as his surroundings changed in an instant. In a flash of bright light, he was now standing on the island of Inkwell, specifically the far west end of it. The sun was out burning bright. For he had never seen sunlight. It was all new to him and almost too much. He turned away from the harsh sun like it might melt him if he looked at it. The demon, appearing as a black and sludgy sprite of a mutated Cuphead, stood peacefully outside of a building as he took in all the sights and sounds of the outside world. He was not sure what to think of it all. The building immediately caught his attention. Its black boots took a few steps toward the window. Inside of the hovel was the Devil, the kettle, and two mutated cup brothers, who looked a bit hostile toward one another.

"I remember this...." The demon drawled out as his clawed hands went to rest on the glass. Instead of getting stopped by a solid object, the black cup stumbled forward, passing through the wall like it wasn't even there. The parasitic creature came to a halt and looked around. However, the scene seemed to be playing out a bit differently than he remembered. Instead of the two cups fighting, it seemed like they had come to an understanding. Now they had turned on the Devil and they viciously fought against it. The sludgy sprite took notice that Cuphead seemed to take special care in keeping Mugman away from the furry creature's attacks. After shielding the mug from a powerful energy strike, the mutated cup actually spoke.

"Mugs, you gotta run! Now! Please listen to me!"

But the mug child merely snarled and kept battling. He pushed past his big brother, rushing headlong towards the master of darkness.

Thoroughly confused as to what was going on, the demon felt obligated to interrupt the heated scrap.

"Hey! What's going on here?" He growled, throwing his clawed hands into the air. Everyone looked at him. All except Cuphead immediately went back to what they were doing. As if his existence meant nothing to them.

"You gotta help me! Please!" The young cup begged.

"Why should I?" It snorted. "Give me a reason why I should indulge this fantasy."

"Because I can't bear to see Mugman die at the hand of the Devil again! Every time ends the same! Just in different and awful ways! Please! This needs to change!"

"So you're saying you've seen different iterations of the same scene? Like you're on an endless loop?" A single claw made a circle motion while the other hand rested on its hip.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying!" Cup cried out, nearly on the verge of tears. His sludgy alter ego merely sighed and face palmed.

"Don't you get it, kid? It can't be changed! No matter how many times you go through it! Look, this place isn't even real! It's all in your head!" He said, passing his claws through a shelf like he was a ghost.

"But if you just-!"

"No! We're running out of time! If you don't wake up, we're both gonna die!" It argued. "We're leaving! Now!" The demon marched forward, passing the Mugman and Devil copies that were too busy with their battle to notice him. A black hand pressed into Cup's chest and began to drag him away. As soon as he was pushed, Cuphead's mutated façade faded away instantly. It dissolved into a black web that also bubbled away into thin air. All that was left was the glowing red silhouette of the child. The copy of Mugman snarled and stopped what he was doing when his big brother suddenly disappeared. For he could not see his sibling's red ghost figure. The mutated mug looked around, utterly confused.

"Mugs, watch out!" Cup cried out in utter desperation, but his little brother couldn't hear him. Even the demon turned his large cup around to see what the sudden outburst was about. They witnessed the spade tail of the Devil get shoved right through the young mug's chest. His glass body made an awful shattering noise. Jaw and eyes dropped wide open. White life essence pooled around the black tail jutting from his chest.

"Noo! Mugs, nooo!" Cuphead burst out in violent sobs, trying desperately to get out of the demon's grip. But the black sludgy creature held firm. Tears streamed down the mug's face as he choked on his own life fluid.

"I'm sorry, kid. But none of this is real. It only proves that your brother would have died if this scene had played out differently than it really did. Your sibling is alive because of what happened. Consider yourself lucky that this didn't occur." Cuphead had calmed down by now. But he was still staring at his brother that helplessly gagged on his own fluids. "You need to let it go... because you can't change the past." The demon turned his large cup away from the child and stared off into the distance.

".....You're right." Cuphead finally realized. "This isn't real.... And I'm glad it isn't." He looked his brother's copy straight in the eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry, Mugs."

"Come. We need to go. They still need our help up there." The demonic alter ego turned the boy around and started to walk out of the house. They exited through the front door, which poured in blinding light as they opened it. The two cups walked directly into it, connecting them back to their body.

Reality came back to them all at once. The warm atmosphere, the hard ground, the sticky liquid clinging to the body, and of course....the pain. Cup's vision slowly came back to him. A slow blink brought a blurred version of it back. In front of him was a black blur, no doubt the Devil.

David saw the boy's body twitch and give a deep breath. This caused the furry creature to give a start, twitching his ears in anticipation. Dice and Kettle heard his noise of surprise. They looked over to see the cup child still sprawled on the ground. Mere seconds later, its jaw went to close with a moan of pain. Well, as much as it could with those oversized fangs protruding outward. The mutated cup realized just how stiff his jaw was and wondered how long he had been like that. A few more blinks later and his eyesight was coming back. The three adults watched as the child's hands balled into fists and pressed against the ground.

"Oh! Cuphead!" Elder Kettle gasped and moved over to help Cup when he attempted to get up. The glass body shook horribly as it struggled to find the strength to stand up. White life essence dripped off his clothes and nearly sloshed over his brim. His purple and white straw rocked to the front of his head, causing it to droop in front of his eyes that were now tightly closed. Large fangs gritted together as the mutated body got up ever so slowly. One of his boots slipped on his liquid and almost sent him down again. Luckily, Kettle and David caught the boy's arms.

"Come on, up you go!" The Devil said in not the most encouraging voice. It was more like he was tired of waiting on the cup brothers to recover. Cup's glowing eyes looked over to his grandpa as he panted wildly.

"Oh, it's so good to have you back, Cuphead! I was so worried!" The tan kettle hugged the oversized cup's arm. They then looked to where the mug child was sprawled rather lifelessly on the ground. Cup immediately became concerned about Mugman and gave a moan of worry King Dice's way. The die man looked from one mutated boy to the other with his gloved hand still resting on the mug's damp arm.

"What's taking so long? Come on, kid. Wake up..." Dice muttered as his voice went deep into the mutated mug's soul.