Morning seemed to come over the island bright and early that morning. Both brothers were groggy getting up. They slowly changed into their clothes and dragged themselves out of their bedroom. Brown boots almost squeaked against the ground as the boys slid them across the ground, not wanting to fully pick them up. The thought of getting the demon out of his body fueled Mugman to push that feeling aside and prepare himself for the day. Cuphead followed suite when his sibling's attitude changed to a positive tone.
After having a hearty breakfast, the family set out to find a cure for the young mug. Both cup brothers left the house with a smile on their face. However, Mugman's smile quickly disappeared when they saw their friends bustling about the island. The young mug felt hurt as each one of his beloved friends neglected to say hi and even shied away from him. They dared not make eye contact with the questionable child. Cuphead tried to make conversation with the boxing frogs, Ribby and Croaks. They tried to usher the cup child away from the mug while he talked to them. He almost went, but then thought better of it. If they weren't going to accept Mugman being around, then he didn't want to talk to them. The young mug's gaze swept to the ground as his brother came back to his side. He just couldn't look at anyone at that moment, not even Cuphead. The child swallowed hard as he held back tears of rejection.
I guess word travels quickly throughout the islands. They never witnessed what happened at the market. But I'm sure Cagney told them...
Mug's hope grew thinner as he moved farther and farther away from his house. There were residents in every direction that did not trust him and did everything they could to keep their distance from the child. One wrong word and it may transform into a monster again. And no one wanted that. It was painful enough for some of Inkwell's residents the first time. The rest did not need to experience it first-hand to realize how destructive the cup child could be.
Cup, Mug, and Elder Kettle entered the middle section of the island. Bon Bon quickly hid her soldiers in her living cake castle as they passed by. Its mouth, which served as the gate, quickly closed. They were all happy to be out of the little mug's path. Icing drooped down its towers as the eyes narrowed. A deep bellow emitted from the sentient castle. Mugman uncomfortably rubbed his arms with his hands. The hope within his heart declined until it felt as if it flatlined, refusing to try anymore.
His mug turned to the right as he heard a hammering noise coming from Beppi's circus. The red and blue clown was finishing hanging up a banner just outside its entrance. "Free Balloons Today!" It said. His large clown shoes climbed down the wooden ladder he was up on. Mug attempted to greet the normally cheerful clown. He thought that if anyone could laugh it off, it would be Beppi. His glass body approached the balloon-like clown as he attempted a toothless smile and clawless wave. The bouncy clown caught sight of the young mug. Its head shrunk to a skinny balloon as his body took a dive behind a building. It crawled back into the circus from whence it came, not making eye contact with the cup child. Mug's whole body drooped in sorrow as he realized that no one would talk to him. Even his straw bent down over his brim.
"Maybe I will be stuck with this thing forever...." The poor mug sobbed.
"No, you won't!" Cuphead spat back. "We just have to find the right person. Someone who will see past the incident at the market." He placed a sympathetic hand on his brother's back and gave it a gentle pat. Elder Kettle and Cuphead noticed a balding head poke out from behind a building. Its purple tufts of hair cocked to the side in curiosity. Eyes stared in a magnified fashion. Mugman finally looked up and saw the man, too. Then the scientist emerged from behind the structure. It barged right up to the young mug.
"Fascinating!" Dr. Kahl beamed. He stared Mug straight in the face, invading the child's personal space. A gloved hand grabbed Mug's arm and lifted it up. It squeezed a bit as it felt up and down his limb. The scientist thoroughly looked it over.
"Absolutely fascinating!" The man repeated.
"You're-you're not afraid of me?" Mugman asked the human who was still too close to him.
"Curiosity before caution, I always say!" Kahl beamed as he continued to look the young mug all over. The man scrabbled down some notes on his pad after poking around at Mug's arms and torso.
"Hey, maybe you can help us!" Cuphead pointed out. "You see, Mugman has this....unwelcome guest in his soul. Do you know anything about separating such things from one's soul?" The young cup asked. Kahl, however, was still studying the other child. Mug stood there in confusion as the man's curious and greedy hands poked and grabbed all over his mug. Two fingers pulled at his handle. Then the hand moved to his brim. It was tilted down so that Kahl could look inside. He had noticed flames coming out of there when the mug's appearance had changed. Now there was only white liquid sitting in his cup. Kahl's hand then moved to the child's nose. Mugman flinched as his large, round nose was pinched.
"Um, Kahl?" Cuphead urged once again, not sure if the doctor had even heard him. The scientist continued his inspection, still not acknowledging the other cup brother. He pried Mugman's mouth open to look for the large fangs that had previously lined his jaws.
"Aaah." Was the noise that emitted from the young mug as his mouth was forced wider.
"Kahl, please. This is serious." Kettle interjected.
"Hmm?" Dr. Kahl murmured. He then realized that he needed to respond to the other members of the child's family. "Oh, right. A cure for the boy. With science, we can solve anything!" The scientist then pondered for a few seconds. "You know, I think I have just the thing you need, son." He said to the young mug with a snap of his fingers.
"Golly! You do?" Mugman asked, completely open to any suggestions. He wasn't sure if anyone else would be brave enough to talk to him like this middle-aged human.
"Yes!" The man beamed. "My DNA cleanser should do the trick!"
"A DNA cleanser?" Cuphead repeated, not sure that he truly understood the scope of this solution.
"This could work..." Elder Kettle said with hope.
"What does that mean?" The young cup whispered to his guardian.
"Well, if it works as the name suggests, it should eradicate any DNA that's not native to Mug's body." The kettle explained to his boy.
"Come! Come! We haven't a moment to lose!" Dr. Kahl grabbed the young mug's arm and dragged him along.
"Whoa!" Mug cried as his feet and body tumbled forward. The purple-haired man led the family to his laboratory made from an old garage. They had to pass through a junkyard to reach the entrance. Scraps and pieces of metal littered the junkyard. Kahl often used these scraps to make his inventions. His most prized creation, however, was the large robot that sat inside the garage, awaiting its creator's return. The scientist led the three visitors to the large silver doors that served as the main entrance to his lair. These doors were heavy. Meant to keep dangerous creations in, or keep threats out. Next to the doors was a keypad, for whom only Kahl knew the code to get in.
"This is a top-secret, very complicated code that none of you will remember." The man explained before hitting the top three buttons.
"But didn't you just push 1, 2, 3?" Mug inquired.
"It only appears that way to the untrained eye." Kahl tried to cover up his exceedingly easy code. He then chuckled nervously as he pressed the pound key. The doors flung open with loud banging noise. Mugman flinched at the loud noise. Cuphead was much more tolerant to powerful and unexpected sounds than his younger sibling. The mug had always been a bit jumpier than the cup. It was just a part of their personalities.
"Welcome to my laboratory!" The doctor exclaimed and threw his hands up in the air with pride. "Come in and make yourselves at home....but please don't touch anything without my permission." He persisted. The doctor was strict with his visitors, but it was for their own safety. Operation of such machinery from a non-professional could result in serious injury or even death, as he would explain to all his visitors. The building showcased Kahl's many inventions that he had created over his many years of being a mad scientist. They realized that his machines had been made with the scraps in the junkyard, so there were no grade-A quality inventions within that building. For he chose to work with what he had instead of buying expensive and lasting material. It wasn't that Kahl was poor by any means, but he tried to save his money when possible. Meaning he only upgraded specific machines if they proved to be of good use. Cuphead and Mugman noticed the man's large robot sitting in the far corner of the garage. Its yellow eyes followed the two children carefully. For it remembered that they took its master's soul contract by force. And it wouldn't soon forget about that.
"And this is the device that will save you from the darkness!" The scientist pointed to a silver metallic machine. It looked like he had placed a torpedo shell on top of two connected pipes that were attached to a mesh of trash can lids, which was its base. Mugman looked the gear over, not sure that this was such a good idea anymore.
"Are you sure that thing is safe?" The young mug questioned his human friend.
"Of course it is!" Kahl replied, having no doubts about his technology. "Now let's get you strapped to the table."
"The table?" He asked nervously.
"Yes! Yes! Right over here!" The scientist led the child over to a table that bore the same color as the rickety looking invention. There were four clamps on the piece of metal. Two down by the bottom, one to the right, and one to the left.
"You're arms and legs will go through these." Kahl explained.
"I figured as much." Mug said as he turned around, prepared to be strapped down. His body pressed against the cold table. The young mug shivered as the clamps tightened around his wrists and legs. Kahl noticed the boy shivering.
"It's a bit cold, eh?" The man asked.
"Y-yeah." The young mug replied, knowing fully well that the cold wasn't the reason for his shivering. The poor child was scared for his life at the hands of this seemingly feeble invention. Kahl had not put the same pride and effort into this piece like he did for his robot.
"Sit tight while I warm up the machine." The human scrambled back to the metallic hunk and turned it on. Cuphead went up to wish his brother luck.
"Don't worry, pal. I'm going to be right here the whole time." Cup touched Mug's shaking hand.
"Unless you want your DNA cleansed, I suggest not touching him." Kahl warned the cup child. Cuphead let go of the trembling hand. "I must also insist that spectators take a spot behind the blue line on the wall." Elder Kettle and Cuphead saw a blue line nearly fifty feet away from Mugman.
"Why that far?" Cup wondered.
"In case something goes wrong, the visitors have a prime opportunity to escape from any danger." The doctor replied without looking at the family. He continued to press buttons and turn knobs on his invention. "Now go on. Off you go!" He urged the kettle and cup to take their safety position. A gloved hand shooed the cup child away. Cuphead reluctantly left his brother's side. Mugman watched as his brother and Elder Kettle traveled farther and farther away from him. Upon reaching the mark, they turned around and stared at the young mug. It made him feel uncomfortable. Like he was a monster even to his family. An outsider that nobody wanted, an animal that should be kept inside a cage.
"This isn't going to hurt, is it?" Mug asked the scientist that was just finishing with the tweaking of the machine.
"It won't hurt a bit!" Kahl called back as the machine started to hum and store energy. "Just try not to thrash around." He said quickly over the ever-increasing volume of his invention.
"What?!" Mug screamed in fear. "W-wait a minute!" Before Mugman could say anything more, a green ray of energy shot from the pointed end of the machine. In a split second, it reached the young mug's chest. His body started to glow green from the equipment's weird energy laser.
"Aaah!" Mug gasped as his body was engulfed with the unknown matter. His eyes squeezed shut for a second. One slowly opened up and then the other one followed he realized he was not in pain.
"Hey! This isn't so bad!" Mugman beamed. Cuphead and Kettle smiled from afar when they heard him say this. The laser sent a low, continuous vibration throughout the child's body. Nothing more than a mere tickle sensation. It felt a bit odd to him, but no pain present at all. Kahl and the young mug then noticed something off. The missile-shaped machine started to shake. Something rattled on the inside of the metallic hunk.
"This isn't right..." The scientist then started to push buttons and turn knobs, trying to get the piece of metal to work right. It began to shake even more violently. "Come on!" He yelled at the inanimate object and jump-kicked it. His body fell to the ground as Mug noticed the green ray darken. When the deep green ray made contact with his chest, he started to scream in pain.
"Ow! Ow! Aaaah!" The young mug's screams intensified just as the pain did. His body tried to thrash around, but it was held still by the metal clamps. Poor Mug truly felt trapped. He had no way to escape this torture session.
"Kahl, shut it off!" Cuphead and Elder Kettle called to the mad scientist. The young cup curved his hands around his mouth to project his voice. Kahl barely heard the voices above the loud clatter of the machine.
"I'm trying! I'm trying!" He yelled back, still furiously pushing buttons. Meanwhile, Mugman felt like his body was almost collapsing in on itself. As if there was a magnet at his center and his skin wanted to fold inward toward it. Eyes squeezed shut yet again. When they opened back up, they were glowing bright yellow. Red fire burned furiously at their centers. The young mug stopped screaming and started breathing heavily. Fangs and claws popped out as he instantly doubled in size. Mug gave a yank with his right arm. The metal clamp flew off the table like a cork being released from a bottle. He repeated this action with his left arm. Claws then reached down and sawed through the metal that bound his legs. The demonic mug dropped to the ground with the beam still pounding him. Fiery pupils locked onto the machine. With an effortless jump, Mugman traveled high above the object that caused him pain. The mutated mug let out a roar of vengeance as he prepared to bring his claws down on it. His powerful weapons sliced down the middle of the torpedo, breaking it in half. A large explosion tossed the scientist across the lab. He screeched as his frail human body tumbled along the floor. Miraculously, none of his bones had been broken from the forceful explosion or the hard ground. His perfect white jacket was now almost completely black from the smoke and glasses cracked. The man could barely see out of his spectacles.
Mug's body emerged from the thick clouds of smoke that encircled the remains of Kahl's machine. It roared once again, summoning dark blue magic to his hands. The mutated mug started lobbing the magic at Kahl's other machines. Each one of the inventions that was hit by the otherworldly magic disappeared in a fiery explosion in an instant. One by one, the human watched as his inventions went up in flames. It made him freeze up for a few seconds. His jaw dropped in utter shock at what was happening. But then the scientist realized he needed to lock down the building. He scrambled his way over to the wall and punched a red button. An alarm blared throughout the building. The mutated mug snarled as the sound rang through his head. His gaze shot upward to the flashing red lights and then fell downward. It noticed the human hovering over the button. A growl bellowed in his throat.
"Uh oh!" Kahl squealed as he started to run away. Mug gave chase. The glass body leapt forward and tried to bring its claws down on the man. Kahl ducked and sped up just in time to avoid the claws. Instead of slicing the scientist, the possessed child cut one of his tables in half. Glass beakers and test tubes shattered in all directions. A few shards found their way to Kahl's back. Small daggers pierced the human's back, causing him to cry out in pain, and lose his train of thought. This tripped up the man as he fell forward, collapsing on the concrete ground. A blackened body turned around to see the monstrous mug shifting in his direction. Its pupils followed the human's movements carefully. The mad scientist gasped as he swiped his hands and feet on the floor in an attempt to swiftly get up.
Cuphead saw the man in trouble and tried to rush toward them.
"Screw the safety line!" Cup shouted as he started to run past it. A gloved hand grabbed his arm and yanked him to a stop.
"No, Cuphead!" Kettle stopped his boy.
Kahl made it to his feet only for Mugman's boots to stomp right up to him. A clawed hand slammed into his chest with an open palm, sending him flying across the lab again. Elder Kettle quickly pulled his son out of the way as the human's body came tumbling their way. Kahl slid to a stop just next to Cuphead and Elder Kettle. The human moaned in pain as he sat up, rubbing his head. Both his head and chest pounded with pain, not to mention the sharp pains on his back that seemed to drive a little farther into his skin. He tried to adjust his glasses so that he could see past the obtrusive fault lines that ran from the rims to the center of the glass. His two guests redirected their line of sight from him to the mutated mug. The man noticed the possessed child staring in their direction with a growl in its throat. Flames roared loudly behind the cup child as a fire spread through the mad scientist's laboratory.
"Th-that thing!" Kahl accused. "It's destroying my lab!"
"Don't make any sudden movements...." Kettle said without taking his gaze off his young mug. "He won't attack if we're not threatening." The middle-aged man thought the child's grandfather seemed too confident about this observation when this was only the second time he had witnessed this transformation. Nonetheless, the human stayed still like the tan kettle suggested.
Kahl noticed that the monstrous mug seemed to hone in him. Small shapes formed in the flames of the child's eyes. A shadow of himself and the scientist materialized in the flames. It was small, but the man could make out that the mug picked up his silhouette by the lab coat. The mutated shadow leaned its head down, making its liquid cannon level with the human's head. Flames erupted from the mug and engulfed the balding head in hellfire. Mugman gave a wicked chuckle through his gritted, smiling teeth. Kahl panicked as he saw this vision in the demon's eyes. He couldn't help himself as he screamed and scrambled over to the nearest wall. The human's erratic movements made the mutated mug excited. Its lust for blood drove it forward at a dangerous speed. Kahl pushed another red button. This time a shatter-proof glass dome started to come down in front of the scientist and his visitors. They could only hope that the wall would make it all the way to the ground before Mug reached them. All three of their bodies tensed up as the mutated mug came within ten feet of them.
A sigh of relief came over them as the mug's glass body bounced off the nearly invisible wall. Its head shook back and forth, trying to recover from the impact. A snarl bellowed out of its mug as its pupils locked back onto its target. Kahl's robot came rushing up to the side of the dome. It worried greatly about its master as it could not get around the dome to protect him. Fire blocked its path to the scientist.
"Poor Mugs." Kettle sighed. "What are we going to do with him?"
"Right now we need to get him out of that state!" Cuphead urged.
Mugman stood in silence for a few seconds. The monstrous mug breathed heavily as it looked the dome up and down. Two clawed fists then balled. The demonic mug raised them in the air. A loud banging noise rang throughout the lab as the child pounded on the shatter-proof glass. It kept repeating its double punch to the glass. Kahl gasped when cracks began to form on the dome.
"Unbelievable!" He said in awe. But then he realized if the mug got through, he would be the first one to get pummeled. The scientist looked to his robot. "Douse him!" Yellow eyes nodded in understanding. A skinny, silver arm elongated toward the top of the shatter-proof dome where there was a small circular opening. The four-fingered hand opened up at its palm and let out a powerful blast of icy air. It immediately poured onto the monstrous mug, who was still pounding on the glass with all his might. Mugman's movements quickly started to slow. Ice latched onto his head and clothes. His pounding became a mere tap as he started to freeze in place. Despite being frozen, the demon was still hell-bent on breaking the veil that kept him from his prey.
"Mugman! You have to stop moving or you'll shatter!" Cuphead called loudly so his brother could hear him on the other side. The mutated mug listened to the smaller cup and ceased his punching. Cup noticed that the robot was still pouring its icy blast on his brother.
"Doctor, you have to tell your robot to stop!" The cup child demanded.
"Cease! The boy has had enough!" Kahl told his most prized creation. It stopped without hesitation at its master's word. Cuphead walked up to the glass and put a gloved hand just below the cracks that had formed. Mugman stood there completely still, unable to move anymore. Both the young cup and Elder Kettle felt sympathy for the little mug. For they could not understand how he felt at that moment. Was he surprised? Angry? Upset? But they knew that being cold was no fun. Especially if it threatened to suck the life out of them. And being frozen was certainly a life-threatening situation for a creature made of glass. Any slight movements could shatter the child's body. But hopefully not beyond repair. The kettle then turned to the mad scientist.
"Surely you have a way to unfreeze him, right?" He asked the human.
"Certainly!" Kahl beamed. "I just wouldn't advise it until he reverts back to his normal self."
"Open the dome." Cup said sternly.
"Are you crazy?!" The doctor shied away from the button. His clammy, shaking hands tucked into his lab coat. "No way!"
"I'm not asking!" Cuphead spat back. He did not make eye contact with the human or his guardian. The cup child's gaze stayed locked on his brother.
"Kahl, please. Just do what he says." Kettle urged the man.
"Very well...." Dr. Kahl went back to the button. "But you two are responsible for whatever he does from here." The two nodded in understanding. The scientist closed his eyes and turned his head away from the button as he pushed it. Cuphead watched as the dome slowly rose above his head. Cold air flooded the lab. Clouds of icy wind swept over Cup's feet and legs. The once contained freeze now spread about the building, pushing back some of the flames that tried to eat their way forward. With the dome lifted, there was now a direct path between the doctor and his creation. Kahl's robot rushed to the man's side, ready to protect his creator from the violent mug if needed.
"Hey there, buddy!" The young cup said calmly. "You okay?" His frozen brother was unable to respond. "We'll get you out of there in a jiffy! Just hang tight..." Cuphead then noticed blue flames frothing at the mug's brim. A layer of blue flames rose from the boy's glass body. In an instant, the cup child broke free from his icy prison with a roar. Its clawed hands flew up into the air. The roar ceased quickly. Mugman then took a few deep breaths before ultimately falling to his hands and knees. Its glass body shivered from the cold. Cup rushed up to his brother. Two gloved hands were placed on the mug's shoulders.
"Mugs?" The young cup tried to get the demon's attention. Piercing yellow eyes looked at the smaller cup. "No one wants to hurt you." He explained. Cuphead looked over his shoulder and made the doctor actually promise that. "Isn't that right?"
"Yes, yes, absolutely!" Kahl cried out, hoping that this promise would keep him safe. His robot reluctantly nodded, making metallic squeaks.
"Let's go home, Mugs. You've been through a lot." The tan kettle urged.
"Elder Kettle's right." Cuphead replied. "No more stress for today. Everything's going to be okay." Mugman started to shrink back to normal as his brother talked calmly to him. Claws and teeth disappeared as the eyes squeezed shut. They opened to reveal the little mug's small, innocent black pupils.
"C-Cuphead?" Mug's body language immediately changed now that he was himself again. Instead of being strong and confident, the glass body now drooped. For he knew that he had done something wrong. The young mug now looked up to Cuphead instead of down. "I'm cold..." The child said. His glass body started to shiver when it realized that he was still chilled from the icy blast.
"Not for long!" The young cup planned to remedy that quickly. "I'm going to make a big fire when we get home." He then helped the younger cup to his feet. Glass arms wrapped around the mug's own self as he attempted to keep his core warm. Mugman noticed Dr. Kahl and his robot huddled in a corner. The robot hovered over the human like a vulture protecting its meal from other scavengers. Mug shivered as he took a few steps in their direction.
"Kahl...I'm-I'm sorry!" The child apologized. "I realize that I tried to slice you... and punched you across the lab..." Mugman's gaze fell to the floor as the guilt seemed to weigh his mug down.
"Don't worry, lad!" The doctor replied, trying to be cheery. He didn't want Mug to feel any more hurt than he already did. "I'll be fine! And all my machines can be rebuilt." The human then turned to his robot. "Speaking of my machines, would you be so kind as to douse the fire and collect any salvageable parts?" It happily did as its master asked. However, it still kept an eye on the person that caused injury to its creator. Kettle saw a curious look in Kahl's eyes. This meant the scientist had questions for which he wanted answers.
"You boys go on home. I'll catch up to you in a minute." The elderly glassware explained.
"Okay, Elder Kettle." Cuphead helped his brother to walk home in his cold state. Dr. Kahl then went up to Elder Kettle. He was curious to know why the mutated mug acted violent to everyone except Cuphead.
"Why is it that the child only listens to Cuphead?" He asked. "It is most intriguing... "
"Well, I think it may have something to do with the fact that it was in Cuphead before entering Mugs." Kettle explained to the human.
"Wow! That's a lot to take in! I must document this encounter!" The doctor gasped. He then placed a hand on the kettle's shoulder. "I wish you boys luck in getting that thing out of the poor child."
"Thanks. I think we'll need it." Elder Kettle confessed.