Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

New Goals

Mugman roared at the creatures once more. In a split second, he felt his body shrink back down to its normal size.

"Mmm?" It wondered. Mug felt his body lose all of its weapons in the next second. The sudden change in stature sent the child tumbling to his bottom.

"Hey! What gives?" The young mug spat, rubbing his head with a gloved hand.

You don't need to perform a full transformation to wield the powers. The demon calmly explained as its host stood up.

"I don't?" He wondered out loud.

No. It replied. My power is yours and yours is mine. We....share our strengths with one another. The parasitic creature was still a bit hesitant to talk about friendship and sharing. It still very unnatural to him to do so. Such concepts were not even thought of back in Hell. Anyone who ever uttered a word about something positive would be killed right on the spot, no questions asked, and no second chances given. There could be no such weaknesses in the dark realm.

"How do I do that?" Mugman asked him.

All you need to do is mentally focus on the power you wish to use.

"Really? Let me try!" An enthusiastic mug focused on his hands, trying to summon that dark blue magic he had access to in his mutated state. To the child's surprise, it actually came into existence. He gave a small chuckle in the thought that he was doing it by himself. The mug child attempted to throw it forward. He watched as the ball of magic barely gained any height before dropping to the ground. It skipped a few steps before vanishing, almost as if he were skipping stones in the water. The once cowering devils cackled at the mug's attempt to attack them again. It had lost its power, they thought.

"It didn't work." Mug stated, sounding disappointed.

Maybe not now, The demon replied. But in time you will be able to do it without my help. Just keep practicing. For now, just say which power you would like to use and I will lend it to you.

For a creature that was supposed to be inherently negative, the demon was becoming much more supportive of its host and what it desired. As if it understood that his opinion wasn't the only one that mattered anymore.

The child's vision scanned the training ground, noting where each one of the mini devils were going. They began to stalk back toward him slowly, still wary of what the mug child would do next. The dark creature noticed the kettle looking particularly worried. It assumed this was because Mugman had been talking out loud instead of keeping quiet when speaking to him.

Oh, and maybe you should not talk out loud. It mentioned.

"Why not?" Mug said much quieter than he had been talking.

Well, others can't hear me, so it seems weird to them that you are talking to....well, yourself. The kettle is watching right now.

Mug looked to his left and saw Kettle looking wide-eyed at him. He could tell that his grandpa was bewildered at what was going on. The little mug tried hard not to have a guilty look on his face that he was hiding something. Mugman felt it was best that he kept his conversations with the demon a secret. How would his family react if they knew it talked to him? Would they isolate him? Send him for more psychiatric help? No, he would rather not find that out.

He seems a bit....concerned about you talking like there's someone else around. The parasitic creature explained. However, concerned was a light way of putting it. As long as you think it, I will hear it. I promise. It added.