Cuphead and Mugman in "A Recipe For Evil"

We're Not So Different

In the northern forest of the island, Chef Saltbaker still wandered about. Half the time he picked up items to aid in healing. The other half he spent lost in thought. Mainly about how much time he had wasted messing around with ideas on how to get to the astral plane. He had been so blinded by desperation that he had wasted years of his life toying with things that had gotten him sent to prison. Even after he had gotten out, he went right back to his bad habits. The chef kept playing the children's words back in his head. About how Ms. Chalice told him that nothing survives in the astral plane and Spoonfred saying that Sue would not have wanted this kind of life for him. He very much regretted his actions now. If only he could undo all the wrong he had done.

Saltbaker reached down and plucked a handful of weed-like growths from the ground. He heard a rustling behind him. It was definitely not the first or the second one he heard. No, there had been plenty of those throughout his trek. The salt shaker began to get a bit annoyed by his follower. He had known the fork was following him for a while now. Saltbaker sighed before ratting out his stalker.

"I know you're following me, Forkington. You can stop trying to hide now." He said without turning around to look.

The utensil emerged from the brush, disappointed that he had been spotted.
"How long have you known?" The fork asked sheepishly and uncomfortably rubbed his arm. His head dipped down a bit, not wanting to make eye contact with the chef.

"Long enough." Saltbaker said tersely. "You're following me to make sure I'm doing what I said I was. Well, you can see that I am." He turned around and lifted up a fistful of twigs, plants, and herbs. "If you haven't noticed, I don't exactly have anything left to fight for. My bakery's gone, my wife's....*gulp* gone. I still don't want to believe she's gone. How do you move on when everything you love is gone? I've done some bad things that my wife wouldn't be proud of. I just....don't know where to go or what to do from here...." His grip on the plants tightened in his anguish.

"You know, I haven't exactly been a good person myself." Forkington confessed to the chef. "I used to beat my kid and enforce strict rules."

"What? Why would you do that?" Saltbaker said aghast.

"Well, I guess it might have stemmed from the fact that I never actually asked for a kid. My dream growing up was to be wealthy and successful. And I did achieve that. My life had been going exactly how I wanted it to. That was until the day someone left a bundle on my doorstep. Inside it was Spoonfred and his birth certificate stating that I was his father and only living biological relative. Officially under my custody, I had no choice but to take him in and raise him. Unfortunately, my desire to not have a child came through a lot more often than I'd like to admit. Every time I would admonish him, Spoonfred apologized and told me he would try to be better. Spoonfred eventually left me on his own accord. That was after Mugman showed him a different – better – way of living. I didn't realize how much I actually cared for him until he was gone. I just... felt empty after he left. So now I'm working hard at my community service because I want custody of my boy back. But more importantly.... I want his trust, his love."

"Forkington....I wouldn't have known any of that. Your relationship with him doesn't hint at any of that right now." The salt shaker said in awe.

"That's awfully nice of you to say. But I still have a long way to go to achieve his full trust." His gloved fingers nervously ran along his fork prongs. The utensil then cleared his throat. "Anyway, what I'm meaning to say with all my ramblings is that if someone as deplorable as me can have a second chance, then so can you." Forkington placed a hand on the chef's shoulder.

"I....I don't know." Saltbaker was unsure about that.

"I know...for sure. Those boys back there are willing to help you....and so am I." He finally got a smile out of the salt shaker.