Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

A Sinking Feeling

"Thanks, Elder Kettle! You're the best!" The young mug beamed.

"You're welcome, my boy." Kettle backed off from the embrace. "Now it's about time you got ready for breakfast." Mugman obeyed his guardian's words and quickly got dressed. The family of three ate their breakfast before discussing what they all were doing that day.

"After I drop you boys off for the youth group, I'll go talk to Djimmi about an antidote." The kettle explained. Cup and Mug often joined in the activities of a local youth group when school was not in session. Especially during summer, when the boys had loads of time on their hands.

"Oh, yeah! The youth group! I forgot about that!" Cuphead said with a big smile on his face. Mug, however, looked worried.

"A-are you sure they're going to want me around?" He asked his guardian.

"Of course! It's not like you go on rampages for the fun of it." Elder chuckled, trying to keep things light-hearted.

"I guess you're right. There shouldn't be a problem!" Mugman replied with more confidence.

Elder Kettle walked the boys over to the group's meeting place of the day. Their meeting place varied day-to-day. It normally correlated with the specific games and activities they would take part in. The group planned to stay on the first island and play simple games such as duck duck goose, hide and seek, and tag this very day. Cup and his family passed by the old mausoleum on their way to the designated spot. Mug eyed his hiding spot, knowing that it wasn't secret anymore. Not to Cuphead or Hilda. They then saw a group of kids bustling about in front of the woods. All of the children clamored around the leader of the group who was a land-bound fish. Her scaly body was an orange color, her fins yellow, and wore a red bow resting just above her left eye.

The family of three approached the group. Cuphead walked faster than his brother and eagerly greeted the fish.

"Hey Ms. Angel!" He called out. Mugman came forward, stopping just behind the young cup.

"H-Hello everyone!" The young mug cautiously called out. None of them knew how the group was going to react to seeing Mugman. Had they all heard about the incident at the market? If so, what rumors had they heard? Would they be scared? A multitude of eyes shifted in the cup brothers' direction. The children all tried to huddle behind the only adult among them. This confirmed Mug's suspicion that they did not truly want him around. He realized this before his brother did.

"What's wrong with all of you?" Cup questioned. "It's just ol' Cuphead and Mugman! We won't bite!" The children didn't react negatively to Cuphead, and let him approach the group. Mugman then tried to do the same. Gasps could be heard among the group. The young mug stopped in his tracks, feeling unwelcome among his peers. His eyes and mouth curled down in sorrow. Elder Kettle realized this and walked up to his grandson, resting his gloved hands on Mug's shoulders.

"This is still Mugman. Nothing has changed." Kettle told the group. "And he should be treated as such."

"Are you sure he's not gonna....you know?" Angel the fish asked.

"Absolutely not!" Elder Kettle said firmly. "The only reason such a thing would happen is if you attacked him first."

"And no one here would do that, right?" Cuphead made sure his peers promise to be friendly with his brother.

"No! Never!" They responded.

"Then everything will be fine! I want to see everyone having fun!" The red cup announced to the group. Mug still wasn't sure he wanted to hang around people that were afraid of him. What if something did go wrong? What if he unintentionally hurt someone? No, it just was not a good idea. Not to Mugman. He slowly turned around to face his grandfather.