Cuphead and Mugman in "Fate Will Find You"

The Story of Young Dice

Mug sprinted back to the east side of the island. There by the railroad tracks was Dice's still crumpled up body. Blood had spilled all over the grass from his nasty wounds. A lazy green eye shifted in the little mug's direction as it came forth. The small glass body stopped a few feet away yet again. For he knew to stay a good distance away from the casino manager until he was certain that he wasn't going to lash out despite his condition. Mugman watched as the body tensed up as King Dice went to snap at him.

"I thought - *cough* *cough* - I told you - *cough* - to leave me alone!" The man's body shuddered as he coughed horribly. It was clear to the mug child that Dice's condition had gotten worse just in the hour he had been away. He promptly put down the Miracle Heal in front of the casino manager.

"What's this?" The king coughed, nearly spitting out a little blood.

"A Miracle Heal." Mugman replied. "The thing that saved me from death. It can do the same for you too." His little gloved fingers pushed it even closer to the man.

"I don't want it!" The adult pouted and tried his best to turn away from the child. Mug could see that it was a great effort for King Dice to even make the slightest of movements. Nonetheless, the die man tried to roll himself so that his back faced the young mug. Mugman grimaced as he found out that Dice's backside looked almost as bad as the front.

"Wanting it and needing it are two different things." He insisted. "And in this case, you need it." Gloved fingers inched it a little closer.

"Hmph!" Was the king's only response to this.

"I'd suggest drinking it sooner rather than later. It doesn't always work as fast as you'd like it to."

"Piss off!" Spat the back of the man's cube.

"Is that you saying that or the Devil?" Mug probed.

"Me! I have nothing to do with him anymore!"

"Then why are you acting so much like him?

"He was my boss. I did what he said." Dice almost sounded like he missed that cruel creature. Mug heard this in his voice. His tense body even seemed to relax a bit.

"Do you miss him?"

"No!" The king roared, tensing up again. "I've spent 35 years under his iron rule! Freedom is what I want! It's what I deserve! It just....feels different than how I imagined it."

"That's because you're hurt." Mugman pointed out. "You must have been young when he hired you. Did you prove yourself worthy to him?"

"No. I made a deal with him."

"A deal? What did he give you in return?"

"....It wasn't something for me." The die man hesitated to answer.

"Really? What happened?" The young mug questioned, now extremely interested in what Dice was saying. He watched as the purple suit crawled itself over to the face of the mountain that swallowed the train tracks. Then, with much difficulty, King Dice propped himself up against the stone wall, letting his broken arm fall into his lap.

"You sure you really want to hear the tragic story of young Dice?" The man groaned as his cube rested back on the rock.

"Yes!" Mugman promptly answered. Dice then motioned for the Miracle Heal to be brought to him. The mug child grabbed the bottle and cautiously stepped forward. His movements were slow and deliberate. Mug held out the vile as far as his arm could go. Dice watched as he took a couple of exaggerated steps forward and turned his mug away. For all Mugman knew, he should be preparing for the worst possible scenario. The king's green eyes rolled inside his head.