Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

Stealing the Spotlight

"If you don't mind, I think I'll just stay back here." The child solemnly replied. Cuphead raced back to his brother. Just as the young mug was going to sit down, his older sibling grabbed his arm.

"You don't want to be way back here, Mugs!" Cup dragged Mugman down to his assigned seat. The little mug reluctantly sat down. It's not that he didn't like sitting next to Cuphead, but he knew that his presence frightened the other children. And their behavior made it clear that he did not belong among the group anymore. The seat part of the black leather chair folded down as his small glass body barely weighed it down. Mug looked all around him. Multiplying sets of eyes stared down at the child. Cup began to talk to his friends as his younger sibling curled his legs up to his chest. Poor Mugman just wanted to disappear into the chair.

Bright spotlights lit up the large wooden stage as the first performers began their act. Sally and her husband sat at a small judges' table just in front of stage-right (or the left of the stage if looked at from the audience's point of view). A large sack of money sat at the edge of the table. It was filled with gold coins that the audience so kindly donated. Cup and Mug sat at the opposite side of the theater, or house right to be specific. The performances ranged from singing, dancing, acrobatics, and even stand-up comedy provided by Beppi. As the performances continued on, Mug began to uncurl himself and sit upright. He had been so focused on the wonderful acts that when he finally looked away, the children had shuffled nearly a whole row away from the cup brothers. They wished they could get even farther away, but the crowd-level prevented them from gaining any more distance. The little mug's eyes drooped when he realized that only Cuphead remained by his side. His mug then rested in his left gloved hand. A heavy feeling came over him. It was the feeling of dread. He dreaded that no one would ever treat him like an equal ever again. That he would remain an outsider – a freak – for the rest of his life.

A couple of hours passed by when the number of performers were starting to dwindle. Sally flipped through her list of acts, counting how many remained. Eventually, it came down to the final performance.

"Okay, so last up on the list is..." The woman immediately stopped reading when she realized that the act was given but there was no name associated with it. "That's weird. She didn't give me a name. Well, she was a last-minute audition last night anyway." Her attention then averted to the stage as she called out for the last performer to come onto the stage. "Come on out and show us your wonderful dancing, miss!"

A tall, skinny lady came twirling out onto the stage. For she was considerably taller than either of the humans sitting at the judge table. Her face was coated with makeup and she wore a long, frilled white dress. A vibrant red hat rested on her stout cylinder-shaped head. Skinny red legs protruded from under the dress, ending in golden shoes. Equally long and skinny green arms flowed in and out as she gracefully pranced around the stage.

"Her dress is so beautiful!" Sally commented. The female human's eyes sparkled at the dazzling appearance of the tall woman.

"You try to look away. But you can't, can you?" She said with a thick Russian accent as her body continued to whip around in a graceful manner. Mugman noticed this accent and got a feeling of déjà vu.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Cup asked his brother without looking at him. And he honestly wasn't expecting a response. The music pounding in the speakers was so loud that he would not hear a reply even if one came. Black seats vibrated throughout the theater. Sally tried to gesture toward her sound person to turn it down as she tried to cover her ears at the same time. It dimmed a little, but still not enough for two cups to converse. Even though they were sitting right next to each other.

"Something seems familiar about her, don't you think, Cuphead?" The young mug tried to call to his elder sibling. But Cup didn't hear him since the music was so loud. His cup stayed locked on the slim body that was completely in sync with the music.