Cuphead and Mugman in "A Recipe For Evil"

Escape Plan?

"Why, it's a trio of little cups! They've been so useful to me. Just like you, they agreed to gather some supplies for me." The chef explained. Mug let himself take a step out from the shelving unit he was hiding behind. He considered letting himself be known and rain on the salt shaker's parade. But as soon as he took that step, Forkington noticed him. This made the young mug retreat back to his spot. Would the utensil rat him out? But the fork continued the conversation as if he had not seen him.

"So is that little one in the jar in the spices aisle invited?" Forkington asked about Tsundere. It seemed as though he were giving information to help Mugman.

"That thing? Oh, no, not the demon. I think it's past its usefulness. Between you and me, that thing is a pushover. Couldn't get as much use out of it as I'd hoped." The chef explained.

"...Use out of it?" Forkington nervously asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"You shouldn't ask about things that you wouldn't understand." Saltbaker said as he used a cloth to clean a sharp looking knife. Clearly he wanted to keep some things a secret and didn't take kindly to people probing at his motives.

"W-well, if you're done with it...why not give it back to the kid you got it from?" The utensil tried to get a bit more information out of him, knowing that the demon's owner was listening. Chef Saltbaker let the knife fall to the table, the blade catching the wood and sticking its handle up.

"Give it back?" He growled, not even looking at the utensil. His glass hands dropped to the table, causing a slam that made Forkington flinch. "Why would I let vermin like that go? They all deserve to rot for what they've done to me. That parasite is going to be an example of what happens to those that hurt Chef Saltbaker!"

Forkington immediately apologized for asking about the demon. The fork kept the chef busy by inquiring about recipes and cooking tips. This gave Mugman a chance to do something without being seen by the seemingly mad chef.

Screw the trade. Mug thought. I'm taking Tsundere back whether Saltbaker wants to let him go or not. The way that the salt shaker talked about his demon made the young mug mad. But the way that he said "past its usefulness" worried Mugman. The dragon-worm had warned him that he was not doing too good. He just had to get the parasite out of there no matter what.

Mug left the supplies where he was standing and crept his way to the aisle that Forkington mentioned. He made his way down the aisle, reading off each of the spices. Mugman had to backtrack a couple of steps when he realized he had nearly passed his demon. He climbed up onto the second shelf where the shape of the black mug resided. The sludgy form of the demon was curled up in a ball on its side. It lay in a puddle of black inky liquid that still seemed to be shedding off him. His back was facing the glass. Mug quietly tapped on the glass with a couple of his knuckles. The young mug noticed that Tsundere was considerably smaller than when he last saw him. The parasite weakly rolled its mug over when he heard the tapping. It saw the young mug pressing its hands on the glass. Tsundere reached up and touched the glass with his sludgy hand. Their two hands aligned on each side of the barrier. Mugman's heart sunk when he saw the look on his creature's face. It said that he felt abandoned and that he was now accepting his fate. Believing he was beyond help at this point. Sure, Mugman finally came back, but what good would it do now? The demon slowly took his hand away and turned back around to wallow in despair, letting a silent breath out from between its big teeth. He didn't have the energy to do much else. Without a host, Tsundere's condition had declined fast.

"Help me get this jar open and we can get out of here." Mug whispered to the creature. But it did not react to his words. The mug child reached up. His gloved fingers could barely reach the lid of the tall jar, not to mention unscrewing it. "Tsundere, please! I can't get this open by myself." The creature still said nothing. There was nothing it could do.

Unable to open the lid, Mugman got around back and attempted to push the jar. He had to put his whole body into it to get the object to move. For he knew if he pushed it off the shelf it would shatter. It would definitely alert Chef Saltbaker, but that was a chance he was willing to take to save his demon. They would have to book it out of there once the crash sounded. The jar eventually teetered over the edge. It fell and made the deafening shatter sound that alerted his enemy. The crash seemed so loud when the environment was quiet. Mug jumped down as the parasitic creature lay among the shards of broken glass. Miraculously, there didn't seem to be any pieces stuck in the sludgy figure.

The young mug wasted no time in scooping up the shrunken creature and take off running for the exit. To his dismay, Saltbaker came around the corner. Definitely not the corner he was hoping he would come from. For now the salt shaker blocked the way to the exit instead of coming from behind, like Mug had anticipated. The mug child gasped and skidded to a stop. He did an about-face and went back the way he came. Mug was forced to take the long route and back by the wheelbarrow he had left sitting there. Having remembered it was there, the young mug easily weaved around it. Saltbaker, on the other hand, did not know of its presence and ended up knocking his knee on it as he rounded the corner and keeled over. About half of its contents spilled out from the impact. Mugman took a few turns, desperately looking for a shorter way back to the door. The chef's pantry was truly like a maze for one that was not familiar with the layout. He eventually saw the exit and made a beeline for it.

Forkington stepped out into the aisle and blocked the way out. He went to turn around again when he found the salt shaker coming up behind him. Mug thought he was trapped for sure. With people coming at him from either direction, he had to make a choice on what to do. Choosing what he thought was the lesser of two evils, he ran towards the utensil.

"Catch him, Forkington! Don't let him escape!" Saltbaker called. Mugman was ready to push right through the fork, putting on the steam to make sure he could get by. To his surprise, Forkington stepped out of the way. The two made eye contact for a second as the mug child ran by.

"Go, kid! Run for it!" He heard the fork quietly say to him. And Mugman didn't hesitate to do so. For he was willing to take every opportunity to gain some ground on the mad salt shaker.

"Why did you let him get away?" Saltbaker asked as the utensil proceeded to block the aisle again.

"It isn't nice to keep people locked up." Forkington answered, standing up to the chef that was considerably taller and bulkier than he was.

"Get out of the way!" The salt shaker growled.

"N-no!" The fork said nervously. He realized Saltbaker's temper was rising and that made him scared of what the former convict might do to him. Forkington noticed a broom propped up against the endcap of the shelving unit. His gloved hands grabbed it and prepared to use it as a weapon if needed. "Y-you'll have to go through me first!" But his voice was shaking with every word, telling Saltbaker that he was scared of this confrontation. The chef laughed at his feeble attempt to stop him.

"You're funny, Forkington. But let's go ahead and put the broom down. Saltbaker gently pushed the broom handle away from himself. The utensil took a quick jab at the salt shaker, surprising both the chef and himself.

"Oof!" Saltbaker said in surprise as the broom handle bounced off his chest. But he quickly recovered and returned his attention to the fork. The chef promptly knocked the broom out of the utensil's hand and picked him up by his shirt.

"Listen here, Forkington." He said, letting his voice get real low. "I oughta put you in the meat locker for betraying me. But I like you and I'm sure I can still get some use out of you."

"Wait, no! Please! Put me down!" Forkington begged as the salt shaker dragged him towards the back of the room. For he didn't know what the chef would do to him. What diabolical thoughts was Saltbaker thinking? To his relief, he wasn't thrown in any freezer or oven. The salt shaker merely tied him to a chair with some rope. It was definitely uncomfortable for sure, but at least he wasn't in imminent danger. Forkington struggled against his binds to no avail.

"Why don't you just hang here for a bit while I go retrieve the kid and his demon?" Saltbaker taunted him and then turned to make his way out of the bakery.