Cuphead looked around at at the remaining holes then back to his brother. Sure it seemed like this whole thing had turned into a tedious endeavor with more junk yielded than anything, but Mugman really wanted to finish up the search alone? Then again, they didn’t need the dog gnawing Mugsy’s leg off either. “Yeah, I guess I’d better. We’ll come back to help if it takes ya too long.” Probably. If he remembered to. He’d probably remember to. Yeah. Probably.
The cup then scooped up the balloon dog in his arms. “C’mon Bitey, let’s go get us some hot dogs.” The dog barked excitedly and attempted to bounce around a bit in Cup’s arms. “No no no, you stay put.” He tightened his grip, turned and gave a nod to his brother, and then walked off towards the gate to Isle 2.
A single gloved hand waved goodbye to his brother as he walked away, before the owner turned and kneeled back down in the dirt. Mugman went through the motions of sifting through the dirt of a nearby hole, piling it to the sides of the growing hole.
He sent a backwards glance towards the direction his brother had disappeared, scanning for a flash of red among the trees.
Mugman straightened back up, swiping at the front of his shorts to get the dust off. That dog sure had caused quite a ruckus with all it’s runnin’ around. He had no idea where it could have hidden his nose- heck, it may have dropped it somewhere along the way. He sure wasn’t about to spend all night searchin’ around on a wild goose chase for his sniffer.
The cartoon mug breathed in, then snapped his fingers.
And with that small sound, the space next to him went from empty to filled in an instant. To his side stood another mug-identical to the first from his head down to his shoes.
This one- unlike the original, had a bright blue nose secured snugly on his face.
Mugman smiled wide at the sight. He hadn’t been _completely_ sure that the other’d copy like that, but it looked like things had turned out just dandy after all. How perfect!
“Hey pal mind if I borrow this? Thanks!”
Without waiting for an answer Mugman had gotten up close to the copy’s face, pinching the other’s nose between his finger’s before plucking it off with a single quick tug. The copy took a step backwards in surprise as the blue ball came away with little resistance.
Goal now in hand Mugman lifted the blue ball up to his face, pressing down on it til it seemed to click on with a snap. He let go and gave his head a good shake. His nose bounced back and forth a bit from the movement, but it stayed on just fine.
“Gosh, perfect fit! Sure is a good thing I had you around.”
The newly nose-less clone lifted his fingers to brush against the empty spot on his face, nodding with a slightly confused expression. Was he gonna get that back? He hadn’t had one for long, but he was pretty sure he had liked it better that way. He’d ask about it later.
“Sure thing, so what do we do now boss?”
Mugman gave a light shrug followed by a short hum.
“Oh, that’s all I really needed you around for. It’s been swell, but I really need to catch up to Cuphead now. And before I can do that, you gotta go. Can’t have him freaking out when he sees both of us, haha.”
Mugman laughed at that last thought, his doppleganger chuckling as well. Yeah, Cup would freak out for sure if he saw the two of them hanging around together. It was best if they split up for now and regrouped lat-
That thought fizzled out as the original swung his hand up to point his finger at the copy, a finger which was now glowing with soft blue light. Mugman smiled brightly.
The clone’s expression flashed from confusion to disbelief and then for just an instant fear before the bullets hit him. His body fell to the forest floor, which was followed by a thud and the distinct sound of ceramics shattering.
Mugman lowered his finger, looking down at the remains of the clone and watching as it seemed to melt away into nothingness. Lucky for him the bodies didn’t seem to stick around for long after death- it’d be a real pain to deal with otherwise.
Now finished with things here, Mugman turned around to follow along the same direction his brother had left. There was a spring in his step and he whistled a cheery tune as he made his way out of the forest. It looked like everything’d worked out pretty all-right with that after all!
