Cuphead and Mugman in "A Recipe For Evil"

Unexpected Visitors

Back at the dock where the cup brothers were dropped off, the compass-faced captain stood leaning his weight on his oar. The sound of broken up snores filled the area. For he had somehow mastered the art of falling asleep while standing up.

A hatch on the bottom of his boat opened up. Two faces poked out of the cargo hold. One was a golden cat and the other an anthropomorphic spoon. For they had stowed away on the boat not long before the cup brothers had set out on their quest. The cat – whose name was Kiki – had taken off running the way she liked to. Her owner, Djimmi the genie, knew this was pretty usual for her. But this day he had noticed a scared look in her eyes, as if she had a vision of something bad going to happen. Behind those emerald eyes, the feline could see snippets of what was to be. Whether they were soon in the future or farther away tended to vary. But she had seen something that caused her to run off. Djimmi had asked Spoonfred to go after her and bring her home. Being a good lad, the young utensil did as he was asked. For he felt the cat was a good friend of his and would do anything for her anyway.

He had followed Kiki to the boat and caught her as she jumped in. Even at that moment, the captain was taking a little snooze and didn't notice either of them hop into his boat. But before Spoonfred could leave with the feline, the cup brothers came charging into view. Kiki wiggled out of his grip and pawed at the cargo door. The young spoon merely nodded and got down in the cargo hold like she suggested. She clearly had seen something important and Spoonfred was willing to help her. Not long after they got settled in the small dark space, the cup brothers and the captain boarded the boat as well. And before Spoonfred could have any second thoughts, they were shoving off to who knows where. He could barely see anything from the cargo hold. The young spoon tried squinting to see through the cracks. All he could ever make out was the blue sky or a glimpse of one of the cup brothers. He listened as Cuphead asked the captain various questions. But the seaman didn't seem to know much. The gentle rocking of the boat eventually lulled him to sleep in that dark and warm environment. Kiki curled up on his lap and succumbed to the hypnotizing waves as well.

Now on this new land, the two of them had woken up from their nap and looked around to see if anyone was watching. The captain certainly wasn't. He was out for the count. They started to sneak off the boat, careful not to make a lot of noise and disturb the cloaked seaman. Spoonfred ever so carefully closed the cargo door. It moaned as it neared the closed position. The utensil cringed and looked to the ferry man who snorted a bit but ultimately stayed asleep. As soon as she was certain they would not be spotted, Kiki took off running inland. Her path seemed to have a clear purpose, Spoonfred realized as he followed her. The utensil didn't have much time to look around if he wanted to keep up with the feline. He found himself gazing off at the shops in the center of town. When he looked back, the cat had created even more space between them.

"Hey, wait up!" Spoonfred called. "Where are you going?" But he would soon be finding out. They had left the town and were headed out into a field. The young spoon weaved about the vegetable crops that were laid out in nice even rows. The golden feline eventually stopped by the feet of somebody. "Sorry, mister!" He said and scooped the cat up, not having seen who the person was.

"Spoonfred?" The person said. The young utensil jumped at the sound of that familiar voice. He finally looked up to meet their gaze and realized it was his own father, the anthropomorphic fork. His neatly pressed red suit and tie did not seem so prim and proper anymore. There was clearly dirt and grime all over it. "Father?" Spoonfred said in shock of seeing his dad.

"It's good to see you, son!" Forkington beamed. "Come and give your old man a hug!" The fork proceeded to hug his boy. Spoonfred, on the other hand, squirmed away from his dad's reach. Forkington looked a bit surprised about this at first as his arms closed around air. He then stood up straight, realizing that he would need to earn that kind of respect from his son. It had been a long time since they ever had a sense of trust between the two of them, if you could even call it that. "I can't say I blame you for reacting in that way..." Forkington's voice trailed off as did his gaze. He cleared his throat before looking back. "But it's great to see you!"