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!"
"What are you doing here?" His son asked, ignoring the previous comments.
"Well, those bee cops are trying to give me another chance. As you know, they had sentenced me to some time in Inkwell Penitentiary for…child abuse. I only lasted a few days in there before I begged to be let out. Believe me, you do not want to go to Inkwell's prison. Some real wackos in there. I had told them that I would do anything to avoid such an awful environment. Instead of letting me rot in the slammer, the signed me up for hours of community service. I guess they saw something in me that said I could change. And I have changed!" Forkington tried to convince his son, who merely cocked his head to the side. The young spoon was trying to decipher if he was being truthful. "I know you don't trust me – not after everything that's happened between us – but I really am trying to do better! Because I want to be the father that you have always deserved." The utensil said with a soft tone. Spoonfred's tense body relaxed a little. Something really did seem different about his demeanor. Different in a good way. As if the prison had scared him away from treating others with disrespect. It really showed him that he needed to treat people how he wanted to be treated.
"So…you're doing community service right now?" The spoon cautiously asked.
"Yes, I'm helping these folks out with whatever they need. It seems as though a lot of the people on this island have reformed through community service as well. Or so I've gathered by talking to them. Right now, I'm helping Miss Esther pick her crops." He held up a basket full of wheat. "Although you probably have better things to do than-"
"Do you need some help?" Spoonfred interjected.
"You really want to help me?" Forkington's eyes widened when his boy volunteered to assist him.
"Sure, I'll help you for a bit and then go try and find Cuphead and Mugman. They might need some help, too."
His father nodded in response and then explained that most of the crops were going to Esther's saloon. There was a batch that was going to another resident of the island. Someone who was known for his cooking.
"Would you mind helping me take this load to Chef Saltbaker? He requested a certain portion of these items and I don't think I can carry it all in one go." The fork explained. Spoonfred happily obliged, carrying his share of the ingredients to the bakery. His father stopped outside the shop before going in.
"Stay close, son." He said in all seriousness. "Chef Saltbaker may seem all bubbly and happy, but I think he's still got a screw loose."
"You mean he's not reformed?" This made Spoonfred nervous about going inside. His mind immediately went to all the bad things that could possibly happen; locked in the freezer, tossed in the oven, hacked apart by a big knife. The young spoon took a big gulp and forced his mind to stop wandering. Kiki could sense his unease and climbed up to his shoulders. Her warm, golden fur made him feel a little better.
"I'm not sure. I've just got a feeling that he's not being truthful about his intentions relating to the project he's working on." Forkington explained.
"What's his project?"
"I don't know. He's keeping it very secret." His father took a deep breath. "Anyway, in we go!" Forkington opened the door with his back much like Mugman did earlier. He held it until his boy had gotten through the door. It was all empty in the shopfront. The trapdoor had been left open in anticipation for the fork's return. Forkington motioned with his head that they were going down to the cellar level. The cat gently draped her tail around the boy's neck in a comforting manner as they went down the spiral staircase. Similar to Mugman, the young spoon felt that this level seemed very much like a dungeon rather than a cook's place. The two utensils opened the door to the backroom and stepped in. Chef Saltbaker was right there to greet them.
"Ah, Forkington! You're just in time with those supplies!" The salt shaker beamed. "Oh, looks like you've gained a little helper. Is this your son?" He leaned down a bit to get a good look at Spoonfred.
"Hey there, chef. This is my boy, Spoonfred." The fork introduced him.
"Spoonfred." Saltbaker repeated. "Nice to meet you, lad." He shook the child's hand, who took it back as soon as he could.
"Hi there." The boy said shyly, trying to hide his concave head behind the crate he was carrying.
"Good to see you taking after your father's hard work ethic. You can go ahead and set those supplies down on my desk over there." The salt shaker motioned to a cleared space on the counter.
Actually, he's taking after me. Spoonfred thought as he put the crate down with a thud. But that comment made him realize how alike he and his father were. They both worked helping others with whatever they needed to earn their trust and friendship. Trying to amend for things they had done wrong in the past. Perhaps they weren't so different after all…
"Why not take a look around? I'm sure my bakery has lots of items of interest for a young utensil such as yourself." Chef Saltbaker said to the child. Before the spoon could answer, Kiki's ears twitched.
"Mrrp!" She chirped and jumped down from his shoulders. Her small, slender body took off with a purpose yet again.
"Hey wait! Kiki!" Spoonfred called and ran after her.
"Sorry about that." Forkington apologized to the salt shaker. "My boy's cat tends to have a mind of her own."
"No worries." The chef said, motioning with his hand that it was no big deal. "I've actually never had a pet. Would you recommend it as a good experience?"
"Oh, you'd probably have to ask Spoonfred about that. He's the one that takes care of her all the time." The fork explained.
"Spoonfred sure sounds like a responsible little fellow." Saltbaker complimented the utensil's son.
"Yeah, he really is." Forkington said, realizing how much his son had grown since the last time he saw him back on the main Inkwell island. That was months ago now.
Meanwhile, Kiki ran off through Saltbaker's store. She would stop, look around, twitch her ears, and then take off in another direction. The feline did this a few times before finally picking the right direction. Kiki trotted up to a large jar. Something black seemed to be laying at the bottom. She gave a soft trill to get its attention. A black mug face with big teeth lifted up and saw her. The sight of the familiar face gave the demon hope to escape yet. He immediately sat up and put his hands on the glass. A black inky substance seemed to drip off him, almost as if he were melting down slowly but surely. Tsundere realized he faced the dilemma of how to communicate with the cat that he needed help. But then Spoonfred rounded the corner and saw the feline staring at the sludgy creature. The young utensil slowed as he approached the jar that was considerably bigger than he was.
"I know you….don't I?" He cautiously asked the creature that still held a resemblance of Mugman. The mug head eagerly nodded, hoping the kid would come even closer and have an opportunity to get him out. "You're Mugman's demon…aren't you?" Spoonfred realized as they stood mere inches apart, only separated by the layer of glass. "How….on earth did you two get separated?" Tsundere snorted and shook his head. "You're right. I don't need to know that right now. The fact that you two are separated and it's affecting you is good enough explanation for me. I'm getting you out of here."
The young spoon jumped and tried to reach the lid. He had made a few of these attempts when someone grabbed his wrist. Spoonfred gasped in alarm, thinking that it must have been Chef Saltbaker. To his relief, it was only his father.
"What are you doing, Spoonfred?" He asked. "We don't even know what this thing is."
"It's the demon that was in Mugman!" His boy explained in a hushed voice.
"A demon?!" The fork gasped.
"I don't know how they got separated, but he doesn't look too good."
"How can you be sure that it needs help?" The fork questioned. Tsundere realized there wasn't time for this jibber-jabber back and forth. So to be outright clear, he took some sludge from his melting body and wrote "HELP" on the jar so that they could read it. As much as he hated to beg for help to begin with (especially from the fork that had previously tried to hurt him and Mugman), his state was only getting worse. At this point, he was willing to get help from anybody. Now was not the time to be picky about such things.
"And you're sure if we let that thing out, it's not going to hurt us?" Forkington wanted to be absolutely sure about this. Spoonfred looked back to the demon.
"I'm certain." He said with confidence.
"Okay, let's do it." The fork said, taking a deep breath and putting his trust into his son's judgement. They began to step towards the jar when a voice came from behind them.
"Hello, boys. Looks like you found the demon that I caught." The salt shaker put himself between the utensils and the jar. For he was holding his favorite sparkly butcher's knife, which made his guests back off without question.
"How did you catch him exactly?" Spoonfred asked.
"Oh, pish! The details are irrelevant." Saltbaker made a motion with his hand that said he didn't care what methods he had to use.
"You didn't hurt him, did you?" The young spoon persisted.
"Hurt it? No way! Although these things don't seem to last long in captivity." The chef tapped the glass with his knuckles, causing the demon to fall onto its back.
"Please, I urge you to let him out." Spoonfred was still trying to be polite but his patience with the chef was dropping.
"Ya know, you and that mug kid from earlier seem to think that this thing is a person. That it has feelings or something. It acted like a monster when I first caught it. But now it seems to be weak." Saltbaker gave an exasperated shrug, raising his knife high and clearly visible to everyone.
"Hey, that's not-!" The spoon started to yell at him when his father covered his mouth before they both got in trouble. Spoonfred tried to fight against his dad's grip, but Forkington held strong.
"You're right, Mr. Saltbaker. And we're sorry for snooping about your stuff." He started to slowly back off towards the door, keeping his child under control. Kiki followed, looking back at the demon with her emerald eyes every few steps. She knew it was wrong, too. "You still need some herbs, right? So we will be on our way to get those."
"Ah, yes! You still have the list of ingredients for my secret spice?" The chef beamed, seeming to forget about their intrusion just now.
"Yes, sir. We'll get those for to you no problem." Forkington had to drag his son every step of the way out of the shop. Spoonfred clearly did not want to leave the demon down there to suffer. The fork eased up on his grip once they were outside of the bakery.
"Let me go!" The young spoon said and pulled himself away from his father. His gloved hands dusted himself off in disgust of that grip the fork had forced him to endure.
"I'm sorry, son. If we make Chef Saltbaker mad, he definitely won't be willing to let the demon go. We just need to go about it in a different way." Forkington said. A couple of gloved fingers tapped on his chin as he pondered this.
"Well, you were right about one thing: Chef Saltbaker is definitely a bad guy." Spoonfred realized. "I've gotta find Cuphead and Mugman. Perhaps together we can get the demon back."
"So where to first, son?" The fork asked.
"Wait…you're coming with me?" Spoonfred was surprised that his father didn't dip out from the dangerous mission ahead.
"Of course! Community service is about helping those in need…and that demon definitely seems like it needs help."
"Thank you, father!" The young spoon beamed and hugged his dad. Forkington merely put on a humble smile and caressed his boy's head. Kiki sat watching the two utensils. She gave a contented slow blink with her eyes. Mission accomplished for Spoonfred, the purr deep in her chest said. "Come on, let's start searching for the cup brothers. They can't have gone too far if the demon is trapped in the bakery."