It's time for me to make a Courage The Cowardly Dog fanfic...and yes, I know that the show is probably before your time...if you want a brief summary, it's about a dog who lives in the middle of nowhere along with a couple of old folks. Muriel is nice while Eustace is mean. And for some strange reason, Nowhere is full of all sorts of unnatural and downright frightening things.
If you're familiar with the series like I am, you're probably aware that Courage was adopted by Muriel after his parents were launched into space by a mad scientist...well, what if the Bagges adopted another animal. This one happens to be a cat...and no, she is not evil. Muriel may not be the best judge of character in the world but rest assured that she made a good choice...just like she made a good choice with Courage. She's not always bad at judging others. She picked a very good name for Courage indeed.
In fact, she's going to pick a good name for this kitty as well. You should already know what it is.
Chapter 1: Hello Kitty
Eustace was on his way home from work. His boss had docked his pay for something rather petty. Hopefully he would feel better on his way home from work. His wife was certainly sweet towards him, even if he was rather irritable.
"Stupid manager..." said Eustace. Why was he working for him again? Apparently he needed the money. Of course, when you lived in Nowhere, you didn't exactly need much money to pay the rent. Seems not many people were willing to purchase houses that were in the middle of nowhere.
Still, at least the traffic was light. It made getting around a lot easier.
However, on the way to his car, he noticed that there was a black cat stuck in the tree. It seems that somebody knew how to climb up trees yet didn't know how to climb down them.
"Meow!" exclaimed the cat.
Eustace scratched his bald head.
"How did she get stuck up there?" asked Eustace. Could she climb up a tree but not climb down it?
It was probably not his concern. To his knowledge nobody had been pasting posters to trees detailing a missing cat, so he probably wouldn't get a reward if he returned it to anyone.
He decided to continue onward to his truck. That cat could find her own way out of that tree. She had nine lives.
"Meow!" shouted the cat.
However, it quickly became apparent to Eustace that the cat's meowing was getting on his nerves. He was surprised how loudly she could meow.
Now that he thought of it, wasn't there that cat who was running businesses? He wasn't sure why there was a cat instead of a person running a business, but he had a dog that was able to shape shift, so he decided not to dwell on it. Personally he thought that his wife was too trusting. That cat seemed sinister for some strange reason.
"Meow!" exclaimed the cat.
Eustace sighed.
"Fine! I'll help you out of that tree! Are you happy now?" shouted Eustace. Hopefully she would leave him alone after this.
"Meow..." smiled the black cat.
Eustace pulled out a ladder and picked up the cat.
He then set her down on the ground.
"There! Now go home! Like me!" exclaimed the man. Surprisingly, he had done something that was rather kind...albeit after some persuasion.
Curiously, the cat didn't seem to have an owner of any kind, judging from the lack of collar.
However, she didn't seem to be aggressive.
Not only that, but she had taken a liking to him. She was rubbing her face against his ankle.
"Purr..." said the cat.
It was apparent that she wanted to come with him.
"What? You want to come with me? Why would you want to do that? I'm stuck living in the middle of Nowhere along with my wife!" exclaimed Eustace. Muriel didn't mind, but personally Eustace thought Nowhere was a miserable place to live in. He had lived there since he was a child and it was not fun for him at all...though it helped that his mother was abusive towards him.
She started to follow him as he made his way back to his truck.
Eustace sighed. It seems that the cat wasn't so easily swayed.
"Not only is Nowhere a barren desert, but I happen to have a dog! I don't think you'd like living with one...on account on you being a cat..." noted Eustace. Of course, if it weren't for Muriel, he likely would have gotten rid of Courage a long time ago.
Strangely, the cat didn't seem to mind that. Last time he checked, cats were gynophobic. The dogs always seemed to be chasing them.
Eustace could have sworn that would work, but much to his surprise it did not.
"Hmm...let me think of another excuse as to why the cat wouldn't want to be with me..." thought Eustace, putting his hand on his chin.
He came up with an idea.
"Have I ever mentioned how scary my dog is? He's huge! And vicious!" lied the farmer. Of course, Courage was anything but, and Eustace was lying through his...nose?
The cat simply purred. She thought that was exciting.
"What? You're still not frightened? I swear, you must be fearless or something!" exclaimed Eustace.
"Meow!" exclaimed the cat. That had a nice ring to it. She would go by that alias by now.
"Fine...you can come with me. But you had better not get between me and my wife like that stupid dog..." said the farmer. That cat really was persistent with being with him.
The cat nodded.
"I guess I'll call you Fearless...I swear, nothing scares you at all...unlike someone I know..." noted Eustace. It amused him so much to scare Courage with that scary mask.
Fearless purred. Seemed that they were the same wavelength.
Eustace drove home to his house along with his new cat.
Currently, she was sitting in his lap.
Eustace wondered why a cat would take a liking towards him when nobody else would do the same, except for Muriel of course.
They entered the house.
As Eustace had said, they were living in the middle of Nowhere. Fearless was curious why he would live there of all places. Perhaps he didn't like having people over to visit.
"Hey Muriel...you remember the time that you adopted the stupid dog and brought him home with us? Well, I went ahead and did the same...only with a cat." explained Eustace.
Personally Eustace thought adopting the dog was the worst mistake that she had ever made...though to be fair Courage didn't have anyone else to turn to. Someone had tried to launch him into space...and they had succeeded with his parents. Would they ever be back on Earth again?
Muriel was rather accepting. She didn't mind having guests at all...in fact, this was one of the things that often got her and Eustace into trouble.
"I wasn't expecting to find any animals out in Nowhere...but the more the merrier!" exclaimed Muriel. She simply loved having company.
Courage raised an eyebrow. He sure hoped that whoever it was, they weren't planning to threaten his family. That adorable duckling wanted to kill Muriel...and for some strange reason was fond of Eustace.
"So this is my new home...I guess it really is in the middle of Nowhere...and yet for some strange reason, I get the feeling that the Bagge family get a lot of guests..." noted Fearless. Why did so much creepy stuff happen in Nowhere?
Curious, she noticed the dog that Eustace had mentioned...and yet, he seemed to be hiding behind a chair. Was Courage really as vicious as Eustace claimed he was?
Not only that, but he seemed rather small. She got the feeling that she was bigger than he was.
Courage decided to take a look at the new cat. He had a bad feeling about this.
Already, Courage's imagination was running wild. He thought that Fearless was some sort of demon that wanted to murder his family. His family kept getting all sorts of guests that more often that not wished to murder them. He in particular remembered Benton Tarantella who turned out to be a serial killer who wanted to resurrect his partner. Why was their house buried over his grave anyway?
"This is the big and vicious dog that he warned me about?" questioned Fearless. Apparently, he simply didn't want any more pets after Courage. But since Eustace couldn't persuade her not to live in the house he brought her in anyway.
Why did he think that he would take Muriel away from him, anyway? Sure, Muriel was sweet and friendly but Eustace was the one who brought her here in the first place.
At that very moment, Eustace decided to put on his familiar scary mask.
Fearless wondered what he was doing.
She was about to find out.
As soon as Eustace put on the mask, he waved his hands back and forth.
"Ooga ooga booga!" exclaimed Eustace.
Courage's jaw dropped in shock, and his eyes widened. For some strange reason, this always scared him.
"Aaaaahhhhh!" screamed Courage at the top of his lungs. He was completely terrified!
Courage frantically ran up the stairs, wanting to get as far away from Eustace as possible.
"Works every time." remarked Eustace, taking off the mask. Perhaps he should go shopping for more scary masks. There was one that he wanted to try.
However, he noticed that unlike Courage, Fearless wasn't scared of the mask at all.
"Huh?" questioned Eustace.
"What a silly-looking mask..." spoke Fearless. She wondered where exactly Eustace had gotten such a thing.
"She's not afraid of the mask either? Good grief..." remarked Eustace. He had picked a good choice in naming her Fearless...though he wondered why Muriel ever named her dog Courage. He seemed so easily scared.
Fearless wondered why Courage found that mask to be so scary. It didn't seem harmful.
"I don't get it...why does he get scared so easily?" inquired Fearless.
Surely Eustace couldn't be that scary. He was the one that had adopted her, after all.
She decided to approach Courage.
"Aah!" screamed Courage.
"What's the matter?" asked Fearless.
"It's a cat! A big scary cat!" exclaimed the dog. Why did Eustace bring her here?
"I've heard of a scaredy cat but not a scaredy dog...this is ironic..." noted the cat.
"You're going to kill Muriel and Eustace! Of course, I will admit that Eustace and I aren't the best of friends, but I don't want him dead!" shouted Courage.
"Kill Eustace and Muriel? Why would I do that?" asked Fearless.
"Well, there was that cat that ran a business that he used to commit murders..." noted the dog.
"Yeah...I don't think most cats are like him..." answered the cat.
"There was also a cat that kept beating me up...though of course she had a reason for that." stated Courage. Though he was frightened of her at first, he eventually realized that for once his family wasn't in danger that time.
"I've heard of her...she was depressed up until recently. Seems she and Bunny are close...too bad that evil dog tried to drive them both apart." noted Fearless.
"So...you're not going to kill Muriel and Eustace?" asked the dog.
"Eustace agreed to adopt me...with some persuasion, so no." answered the cat.
Courage sighed in relief.
"Maybe I misjudged you. Still, I wasn't expecting Eustace to adopt a cat..." stated Courage.
"He told me that you were big and scary...I accepted his challenge. I was actually kind of disappointed when I saw you cowering in fear..." noted Fearless.
"I live in the middle of Nowhere...you can't be too careful. Nowhere might as well be the most dangerous place on Earth!" exclaimed the dog.
"If it's the most dangerous place on Earth, then why do you live here with Muriel and Eustace?" inquired the cat.
"Well, I suppose it's rather nice when you aren't being attacked by supernatural horrors..." noted the dog.
"I actually like the horror..." noted Fearless.
"I certainly don't! I think Muriel and Eustace should pack their bags and move elsewhere..." remarked Courage.
"Pack up their bags and move elsewhere? But I just got here..." questioned Fearless.
"Why did Eustace adopt you, anyway?" inquired the dog.
"Oh, that's simple. I got stuck in a tree and Eustace got me back down..." answered the cat.
"Huh. I didn't think that he would do something selfless." noted Courage. He was surprised that Muriel would marry someone like him.
"Well, it did take him some persuasion. He told me that you were big and scary...I don't think that was true..." remarked Fearless.
"If you want someone big and scary, you should see the foot fungus that grew on Eustace's foot once!" exclaimed Courage.
"Right..." nodded the cat.
"So...I guess we're going to be living in the same house from now on?" asked the dog.
"I guess so...rest assured that I won't try getting between you and Muriel. She's too sweet of an owner for my taste. But I suppose Eustace can marry whoever he wants." noted Fearless.
Courage sighed in relief. He didn't want anyone taking Muriel away from him...though of course he wouldn't mind if Fearless caused Eustace to take his mind off of tormenting the poor dog.
Naturally, Fearless decided to take a cat nap.
"I guess I'm going to be living with a cat from now on...well, at least it's not an evil cat like that crazy red one that's always running businesses that he uses for murder!" exclaimed Courage.
Why did he encounter Katz so much, anyway?
Well, he decided to take a nap as well.
He could sleep on the couch.
Courage went to sleep.
"Zzz..." murmured Courage.
Fearless may have nine lives...but considering what Courage has survived, I'd say he at least has a dozen. He was lucky to escape from that cruel vet as a baby so you could say that he's been a survivor since birth. That's pretty dang impressive!
In the next chapter, the Bagges are going to be visited by a ghost.