Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog Chapter 23: Human Habitrail, a Courage: The Cowardly Dog + RWBY Crossover fanfic

Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog

Chap 22: Human Habitrail

Today was cleaning day. We have this once a week where all we did was clean the house, truck ad chicken coup. While it was long and tiring, it was necessary to keep this place clean and did help time pass. Unfortunately, because of Eustace's cheap ass and greediness, we have no vacuum. All we have is a broom which only does so much. As evidence by the giant dust cloud floating above us.

"Huh?" Eustace asked confused when he dirt and lint in his spoon that was supposed to contain the soup he was eating. He blew it off before eating swallowing what was left on the spoon. And it obviously it did not sit well as we could hear his stomach grumble in disapproval. "AAHHH! Needs salt."

"Eustace, if you'd get me a vacuum cleaner, we wouldn't have all this dust." Muriel calmly shouted at him while holding up her broom.

"We don't need no vacuum. You just ain't sweeping right!" Eustace yelled back.

"Oh really. Then why don't you get off your ass and show us how to do it since we're doing it wrong." I challenged. Eustace just crossed his arms and growled in anger. "Thought so."

'Was that really necessary Jaune?' Courage asked next to me. We were on the steps cleaning the railing as they get dirty quickly.

"To keep his ego in check, yes." I answered as I resumed cleaning the railing. A few minutes later, we heard a knocking on the door. "I got it."

I shouted and took off my gloves. Going down the steps, I went over to the door and opened the door and saw the resident fashionista of Beacon Academy. Team leader of Team Cfvy and partner of Velvet Scarlatina. Coco Adel. She was known around Beacon for her fashion and attitude. But also, for her fierce protection of her partner Velvet. We never really spoke to each other while I was at Beacon aside from the occasion hello when me and Velvet were talking or on the rare occasion hanging out. So, it was a definitely a surprise to see her here.

"Jaune." She greeted while tightening her grip on her purse. Which served as her weapon which also transforms into a mini gun. Something that can tear through dozens of grimm easily. And even easier if she uses her semblance.

"Hello Coco." I greeted back as sweat started to form on my head. Her only response was to smack me on the head with her purse which hurt badly. Thankfully, my aura quickly made the pain go away.

"Ow, what was that for?" I asked while rubbing my head.

"That was for putting my bunny in danger." She answered while lowering her shades to glare at me.

"Your bunny? Oh, you mean Velvet. Yeah, sorry about that." I apologized. Even though she was not in any real danger, she was the one who agreed to come. Though, I have a feeling that if I tell her that, she might kick my ass.

"It's fine. But if she ever gets hurt on these adventures, she says you have, you'll meet the business end of my weapon." She threatened. But then, her threatening aura changed to a more friendly one. "Well then, aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Sure. Come on in." I said moving to the side. Even though she just hit and threatened me, it was only because she was protective of Velvet and her team. Honestly, I would have done the same thing if I were in her shoes. "Sorry about all the dust, it's cleaning day here."

"It's fine. You should see how some dorms in Beacon get after just a few days without cleaning." She said before gaining a smirk. "Or when Nora gets her hands on coffee."

"Yeah." I agreed with remembering the few times Nora drank coffee and the mess we had to clean up afterwards.

"Oh, who's your friend Jaune?" Muriel asked walking up to us.

"Adel. Coco Adel." Coco answered with a smirk.

"And how do you know each other?" Muriel asked.

"We used to be classmates at Beacon." Coco answered.

"Marvelous. It's nice seeing Jaune have so many friends. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to sweeping." Muriel as she picked up her broom and began sweeping again.

"I take it this is your new family." Coco said while lowering her glasses to watch Muriel sweep while Eustace sits on his chair.

"Yes." I answered with a smile as I looked over them.

"And I take it this the dog that Velvet claims she can understand." Coco said pointing to Courage who came over when he heard this.

"Yeah, His name is Courage." I answered while patting Courage on his head. He then smiled at Coco as well.

'Hello.' Courage said waving at her. To our surprise, Coco smiled and shook Courages paw before giving him a scratch on his ears as well.

"So Jaune. Velvet said you had lots of other adventures as well. Care to tell them to me?" Coco asked. I chuckled at that before answering.

"Sure. But let's head upstairs so we are out of this dust filled room." I answered. She nodded and we were about to head upstairs but heard knocking on the door again.

"Expecting someone Jaune?" Coco asked.

"No." I answered.

"I got it Jaune." Muriel said walking up to the door and opening it. And to our surprise, standing there was a gerbil in a suit. "Yes?"

"I have got the answer to your workday woes." The gerbil answered as he entered the house.

"You do?" Muriel asked.

"And what could your answer by to the work day woes?" Coco asked stepping down to stand in front of the gerbil. Clearly, she already knew something was up.

"Instead of telling you, allow me to show you instead little lady." The gerbil said as he picked up the bag next to him and walked over to Eustace. Ignoring the glare Coco sent his way. "Allow me the honor, sir, of cleaning your soup."

"My soup's fine. Go away." Eustace shouted at him while still eating his soup filled with dust bunnies. The gerbil ignored him and opened his bag and pulled out a vacuum cleaner. He then plugged it in, turned it on and used it to clean Eustace's soup.

"Not bad. Still needs salt though!" Eustace complained after tasting the soup now that the dust bunnies are gone.

"I can also see now that neither Velvet nor you were lying when she told me about how Eustace is like." Coco said glaring at Eustace.

"Allow me to ask you a few questions, to help fix you up with the perfect vacuum for your needs." The gerbil said as he pulled out a clipboard and pen.

"What kind of questions?" I asked.

"Standard ones to help me narrow down the choices." The gerbil answered.

"All right." Muriel said with a smile as she put down the broom.

"Do you have mole allergies?" The gerbil asked.

"Well, usually, I-" Eustace began to answer but the gerbil caught him off.

"If two trains leave Chicago at 9 A.M., do you snore? Have itchy eyes?" The gerbil asked.

'Huh?' Courage asked confused.

"Yeah, these are not standard questions." I said after listening to what he just asked.

"Um, what's Chicago Jaune?" Coco asked.

"I'm not sure. I've never been there. But I'm pretty sure it's a place." I answered. She nodded and we returned our attention to this gerbil.

"Mister-" Muril began but the gerbil caught her off.

"Actually, its doctor. Dr. Gerbil. But my friends call me Lulu Mae." The gerbil corrected.

"Dr. Gerbil. If you don't mind me asking. These question- I mean-" Muriel began trying to get her question out without sounding rude. Luckily, Eustace did so without hesitation.

"What in blazes are you asking all the junk for?" Eustace demanded.

"Science. My friends. It's science." Dr. Gerbil answered.

"Doesn't sound like science to me." I said getting suspicious.

"Now are you all alone here and far from police or other law enforcement officials?" Dr. Gerbil asked looking around nervously.

"No. There's one really close by." Coco immediately answered causing the gerbil to begin to sweat a bit. Unfortunately, Muriel did not see all the red flags and spoke up.

"Oh, hush now. Sorry for that. But the nearest police station is in Nowhere town and we're miles away from there." Muriel said with a smile.

"Does she not see all the red flags going up?" Coco asked astounded.

"She is an extremely pure and naïve soul who does not think someone or something is capable of being mean until they do so." I explained.

"Damn." She said after a long whistle.

"Ok. According to my careful figuring, this here beauty is the vacuum cleaner for you." Dr. Gerbil said pointing to the vacuum cleaner he pulled out earlier.

"Help! Help! Get me out of here! Hey! Hey! Is anybody out there? Help!" I distant sounding voice suddenly yelled out for help.

"Did you hear that Jaune?" Coco asked looking around before narrowing her eyes on the vacuum cleaner.

"Yeah. I don't think that is an ordinary vacuum cleaner." I said staring at it when we started to hear banging coming from it. Courage even tried to get Muriel's attention to it but the Gerbil noticed this quickly.

"Take a moment and give a listen to how smooth this machine sounds." Dr. Gerbil said as he used his foot to turn the vacuum on again. Drowning out the banging coming from within in it. After a few moments, he turned it off and the banging was no longer heard.

"Lock the door Jaune." Coco said as she tightened her grip on her purse. Ready to use it in a second. I nodded and went over to the door and locked it while Courage locked the windows.

"Madam. This fine machine is all yours." Dr. Gerbil said walking up to Muriel.

"Oh, my. I—I'm so happy I could clean." Muriel said as she sat down on the arm rest of Eustace's chair with a dreamy expression. Probably imagining an easier time cleaning.

"Don't worry. I got it all under control. Everything going to be fine now." Dr. Gerbil said to Courage as he guided him to the other side of the room.

'Huh?' Courage asked confused.

"What do you have under control?" Coco demanded.

"Are you feeling relaxed?" Dr. Gerbil asked ignoring Coco.

"Oh, yes." Muriel answered.

"Good. Now then..." Dr. Gerbil said as he went over to the vacuum. He then turned it on, flipped a switch on the side before aiming the hose at Muriel and Eustace. And to our surprise and horror, it sucked them both into the vacuum.

"WHAT THE!" I shouted in surprise. Coco grabbed her purse and tried to rush him.

"Now, now. No need to get fussy." Dr. Gerbil sad as he pointed the hose at Coco which sucked her in. But then he aimed at the top of the steps, flipped the switch and have it toss Coco up the stairs at incredible high speeds.

"COCO!" I shouted and immediately rushed to the side and unplugged the vacuum so he couldn't use it on me.

"Did you really expect it to be that easy?" Dr. Gerbil said before doing the same to me. Except, instead of sending me up the stairs, he aimed at the wall and launched me at and through it. But I made it only half way.

'AAH!' I heard Courage gasp followed by the sound of something shattering which I can only presume is Courage.

"You're free now. Finally, free." Dr. Gerbil said before the sounds of him packing up and exiting the door was heard.

Hearing that, I tried to get myself out of the wall but was struggling to do so. Luckily, someone pulled me out easily. Shaking my head, I looked up and saw Coco with a pissed off expression. Turning to my side, I also saw Courage looking out the window.

"Thanks Coco." I said as she helped me up.

"No problem. Now, how about we pay back what that rodent did to us." She suggested.

"Right." I agreed

'He's getting in his car.' Courage suddenly warned.

Nodding, we exited the house and saw that the gerbil was in his car and about to drive away. We rushed over to the car and just as it was about to leave, we grabbed onto the back bumper. But as we did so, it raced away at extremely high speeds. Knowing that we could get spotted if Dr. Gerbil turns around, we started to climb under the vehicle. Luckily, there was enough room for us to be there comfortably. Though Coco wasn't too thrilled at possibly getting her clothes ruined.

'The things I do for love.' Courage exclaimed.

"You mean, the things we do for love, right Courage?" I asked with a chuckle. He smiled at this and nodded.

"I wonder what allows you to be able to understand him?" Coco asked looking between me and Courage.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Came up with a few ideas but none of them fit seeing as Nora, Blake, Velvet and Professor Peach understands him as well." I answered.

Coco seemed like she was about to say something but stopped when we all had to quickly tighten our grip as the car came to a sudden stop so as to not be sent flying. Hearing the door open and close, we saw that Dr. Gerbil got out of his car and now leaving. He also had in his arms the vacuum cleaner. We waited a moment so as to put some distance so we could follow him but then we saw him approach a hole and jumping in it. Judging by the mailbox and door mat, we can only presume this is his home. Letting go of the car, we got out from underneath and approached the hole. I was about to question how we're going to get down the hole only to shut my mouth when Courage smiled before just jumping in followed by Coco. Sighing, I jumped in as well. But this is the part where we should have wondered how do animals do this as it was an extremely deep hole that took us a few seconds to even see the floor.

"Ow!" I grunted when I hit the floor hard followed by Courage landing on top of me. Coco on the other hand, landed softly next to us. Getting up, we dusted ourselves off before looking around and seeing many different pathways the gerbil could have gone through.

"Which way should we go?" Coco asked as she looked around.

"Courage, do you hear anything?" I asked. He seemed irritated a bit but then lifted his ear to try and hear anything. After a moment, he seemed to tense up a bit.

'I hear some footsteps coming from this way.' He said pointing to the entrance to the Soutwest of us.

"What did he say?" Coco asked.

"He said he heard some footsteps coming from this way." I answered.

She nodded and we headed in that direction with Courage leading the way. But because of the complexity and maze-like layout of this place, we very quickly started to feel lost. After a few minutes, Courage lost the sounds of footsteps and we fully became lost. But we couldn't stop as we had to keep going and find the Muriel and Eustace. We felt like we were walking for about half an hour before we caught a break. Though, not in the way any of us expected.

'AAH!' Courage screamed.

"Courage what's-huh?" I began but got confused when I saw a tiny lady with plungers as feet and hnds walking towards us.

"That's new." Coco said lowering her shades to get a better look.

"New! What's the matter with all of you? Haven't you all seen a lady before?" The lady asked rhetorically.

"Let's cut the chit chat. Have you seen another two humans the gerbil took?" Coco asked. Courage even took out a photo of Muriel and Eustace to show her.

"He's doing terrible things over there. Terrible." She answered pointing to another direction.

"Thaks lady." I said as we rushed past her.

"BUT THEY AIN'T GETTING MY LINT!" She yelled out which caused us to pause in confusion for a moment before running again. After a few minutes, we came across a river with a boat large enough for all of us. Getting in, we were surprised to see that boat started go by itself.

"Do all boats start and stop by themselves?" Coco asked surprised.

"Some apparently do." I answered recalling the one in the sewers when me and Courage were looking for Iris's dog.

"Well, since we have a bit of time, why don't you tell me of that adventure you and Velvet had together." Coco suggested. I took in a deep breath and was about to tell her when the second most annoying song I have ever heard graced our ears.

'IT'S DR. GERBIL'S WOOORLD!'

"Yeah, that's not going to get annoying real quick at all." Coco said already annoyed with the song.

"Definitely." I said agreeing with her as it's already starting to grate on my eardrums.

Looking up, I saw an amusement park style sign that read 'World of Doc Gerbil.' Entering the tunnel, we soon saw different giant-sized versions of products that Dr. Gerbil probably created. First there was a giant box full of rising food that are supposedly called knishes. Next was a giant tube of toothpaste. As soon as we passed it though, the cap flew off with toothpaste coming out of the tube. Finally, we saw a giant bottle of nail polish with the top coming off with the tip coated in the polish to show us the color.

'IT'S DR. GERBIL'S WOOORLD!'

"That food back there was called a knish? Do you know what that is Jaune?" Coco asked.

"Nope. Do you Courage?" I answered before turning to Courage.

'It's a snack food consisting of a filling covered with dough that is typically baked or sometimes deep fried.' He answered which I then translated to Coco.

'IT'S DR. GERBIL'S WOOORLD!'

"Okay, this song is really starting to get on my nerves." Coco said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, same." I said as I saw a few more items pass us by. Such items were something call shell shine, something for eye lashes and more nail polish. Looking over to Courage, I saw that he was pulling his ears in frustration.

'IT'S DR. GERBIL'S WOOORLD!'

'Here, this should help.' Courage said as he pulled out a few giant balls of cotton and gave it to each of us before taking out some more and placing it in his ears.

"Thanks." Coco said as she put them in her ears. While it did not drown out all the noise, it did help to reduce it by a lot.

'IT'S DR. GERBIL'S WOOORLD!'

'Look!' Courage suddenly said pointing ahead of us, looking to where he was pointing, we saw a giant glass window and behind it were the gerbil along with tiny Muriel and Eustace.

"Alright. Let's go." I said as I took out the cotton and jumped out of the boat, onto a rock and onto land and raced over to the window. Though, Courage did not seem to realize it was a window and ran into it.

"Haha, You okay Courage?" I asked trying not to laugh while Coco laughed anyway. Looking through the window, we saw that the Gerbil put Muriel and Eustace in what looked to be a hamster cage before leaving the room.

"Okay, so how do we get in?" I asked.

"I got that covered." Coco said. Turning to her, we saw that she transformed her purse into its gun mode.

"Wait!" I said moving in front of her.

"What?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"While I trust you to not hit Muriel or Eustace, let's try not to destroy the place or alert the gerbil." I answered.

"Then how do suggest we get in?" She asked.

'I got that covered.' Courage said. He crawled under the window over to a giant spray can that was on the other side. He climbed it and pulled of the top and entered the spray can.

"What's he doing Jaune?" Coco asked confused by what she saw.

"I have no idea." I answered.

Even though I knew Courage could do many things, there is still things that he could do that I didn't know about. Such as what he did know which was pull down the nozzle of the spray can which turned him into a mist which allowed him to go through the vent and enter the room. He became a solid mass again when he neared the floor. Shaking it off, he then rushed over to where Muriel and Eustace were. And after a quick bickering from Eustace, Courage used the vacuum to suck them from the cage. Unfortunately, as soon as he did that, Dr. Gerbil came back into the room.

"COURAGE! RUN!" I shouted at him hoping that he would hear me. Luckily, he did and ran to the window where he used the strong suction of the vacuum to pull off the glass separating us.

"GET BACK HERE!" Dr. Gerbil shouted.

'IT'S DR. GERBIL'S WOOORLD!'

"Come on." I shouted and grabbed the vacuum as we ran away from him. After a bit of running, saw the boat we were on earlier close by. But I knew we had to slow down the gerbil. Luckily, we saw something that could help us. A giant bottle of deodorant,

"Jaune, help me with this." Coco said going to the side. We picked it up and flipped it upside down so the tip was on the floor. We then moved back while pressing it down which caused the ground to become slippery. After heaving covered a good ten feet with it, we were about to toss it away but Courage grabbed it and used it on himself. But regretted it when his armpits exploded.

"Remind me to never get anything from this guy." Coco said when she saw Courage's armpits explode.

"Will do, but first let's get out of here." I suggested.

They nodded and we got into the boat. Turning it on, we began to drive away. But as we did so, we heard the gerbil shout in surprise. Apparently, he did not notice the ground and was sliding uncontrollably.

'Look out!' Courage said bringing both our heads down as a giant bottle of bubble bath fly over our heads. Unfortunately, its cap came off and the soap dripped into the river which caused a massive amount of bubbles to form up.

'IT'S DR. GERBIL'S WOOORLD!'

"Keep going Jaune." Coco demanded as we drove through the bottles and away from the bubbles.

Though, we all did sigh in relief when we could no longer hear that music anymore. Unfortunately, we soon heard the roar of another engine. Looking behind us, we saw that the gerbil had his own speed boat at the ready. He chased us through his tunnels, past a small water fall and eventually out of his home via a small pipe that we somehow fit through easily. After that, I turned back and saw he was still chasing us. He even had giant tweezers out to try and grab the vacuum back.

'AAAHHHH!' Courage suddenly screamed.

"Damn it." I yelled as well.

"What is it?" Coco asked.

"There is a water fall ahead and we are caught in its pull. I don't have control anymore." I answered as I turned the boat around to try and get away but nothing happened as we were still being pulled towards the giant waterfall.

"SHIT! What do we do?" She asked when she turned and saw the water fall as well.

'I got an idea. I just hope it works.' Courage said when he turned on the vacuum.

"It's a longshot but it's all we got." I said as I moved over and helped him point the hose of the vacuum to land. For a brief moment, it seemed to not work, but after a second, we started to get closer to land.

"Got you." The gerbil suddenly exclaimed when he jumped onto the boat. "Now give me back my-Huh?"

"Goodbye." Coco said as she smacked him with her purse which sent him flying back to his boat and eventually over the water fall. We did not hear him scream during his fall, though it could be because of the roar of the falls. A few seconds later, we were finally pulled to land thanks to the vacuum. We then jumped of the boat to safety.

"Okay, now that he is taken care of, we can head back home." I said as grabbed the vacuum.

"Yeah." Coco and Courage said agreeing with me.

Two hours later

We finally reached the house again. After a bit of walking, we decided to go back to the entrance of Dr. Gerbils home and used his car to drive the rest of the way. It was now dark when we got to the house. Getting out of the house, we entered the house into the living room. Turning the vacuum back on and switching it to blow, it released Muriel and Eustace back to how they were before all this happened.

"Ahh, thank you all for saving us." Muriel said as she hugged all of us.

"IT'S MY LINT!" A voice suddenly screamed.

"What's... huh?" Eustace asked surprised. Looking into his soup, we saw the lady from earlier was in his soup.

"You don't touch my lint. It's mine, all mine." She said again before laughing.

"So, what should we do about that Jaune?" Coco asked.

"I have no idea. All I know, is that I just want to rest now." I answered.

"Yeah, a rest sounds good." Coco agreed,

"Speaking of which, Ms. Adel, would you like to stay for dinner?" Muriel asked. Coco turned to me to which I just smiled.

"Sure." She answered.

"Marvelous." She said before going into the kitchen.

"Now, we just need to figure out what to do about that lady." I said turning back to the bowl. Only to see Courage suck the lady back into the vacuum. He turned back to us and cackled with us.

"Well, that solves that." Coco said smiling which I just smiled as well.

Note:

(1) The Quilt Club with Coco. (2) Ride of the Valkyries with Nora, Ren and Iris. (3) Hard Drive Courage with Penny (4) Conway the Contaminationist with Weiss.