Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 39: Record Deal
"Thanks for letting me stay here while I practice for my upcoming performance Muriel." Weiss said as she took a break from her singing.
"No problem dearie. I'll be in the kitchen if either of you need me." Muriel told her before heading back into the kitchen.
It was a week since Eustace blew up the house from his anger and the product he got from the experimental institute. Which surprisingly, shut down three days after the incident. Yang had gone home to spend time with her mother Raven. But the next day after she left, Weiss came to visit. She said she wanted to visit and possibly find inspiration for her upcoming performance. Initially, I thought it could only be something appropriate for formal gatherings. But she then explained that now that her grandfather is back in charge and Jacques is now banned from Atlas, she can sing whatever she wants now instead of what Jacques wants.
"Do you have anything idea on what you are going sing at your performance Weiss?" I asked as I sipped my tea while scratching Courage's back.
"Not yet Jaune. Still have no clue yet." She answered a bit worried that she wouldn't be able to think of anything in time for the performance.
"Don't worry. I know you'll find inspiration and make a great song in time for your performance." I assured her.
"Thanks, Jaune. But I don't think inspiration-" She began but was cut off when the door was kicked in by Eustace.
'OOH!' Courage screamed in terror at hearing the door hit the wall. Scaring him and making him jump to my head in fear.
"What the hell Eustace? Ever heard of-" I began angrily but was cut off by him.
"Shut up." He said as he rushed to the closed and pulled out an old record player. He then moved it next to his chair and pulled out a record from his hat. Sliding off the cover, he placed it on the record player and turned it on.
'Huh?' Courage said confused as the music started to play.
"Never heard this type of music before." I said as I tried to recall ever hearing it but came up short.
"Neither have I. Though, I can say I am not a fan of it." Weiss added.
"Ah, now this is what I call music you three. Nothing like that stupid rock and roll you kids listen or sing." Eustace said smiling as he sat down in his chair.
'Blech.' Courage said while sticking his tongue out.
"Muriel, come listen to my new Velvet Vic record." Eustace shouted out to her.
"Be there in a blink. Just cutting off the crusts off these sandwiches." Muriel replied followed by the sounds of a knife hitting a cutting board.
"Got to find just the right spot." Eustace said as he lifted his chair and brought it closer to the record player. "Oh."
"This is ear grating." Weiss said as she started to cover her ears.
"Yeah, it certainly is." I agreed as I covered my ears as well. I was about to suggest we head to another room when Courage's scream suddenly cut in.
'AAHHH!' He screamed. Quickly look to him, we saw a smiling 'ghost' come out of the record player.
"Dragsville." The ghost said as he went back into the record player when Courage dove to the record player and moved the needle away.
"HUH? STUPID DOG! Keep your record-stopping music paws off me music." Eustace shouted angrily. Courage then began to try and warn Eustace but he wasn't having it. He grabbed Courage by the ears and kicked him out of the house.
"Did you see that Jaune?" Weiss asked uncertain.
"You mean a man/ghost thing coming out of the record player then yes." I answered. Looking to each other, we got up and went outside to join Courage. Looking around, we saw him running back to the side of the house. Following him, we went over to the side of the house where he was looking through the window.
"Are you okay Courage?" Weiss asked him.
'Yeah. But worried about that ghost thing.' He answered which I translated.
"What could it be?" She asked.
"I have no idea. But it can't be good." I answered.
Looking back inside, we saw Eustace put the needle back on the record. The music instantly started playing with the ghost coming back out a moment later. Fully this time as it left the record player. Following it, we saw that it floated to the piano we brought from the cellar to help Weiss practice. The ghost then seemingly became a living person and started to play the piano exactly like the music that was coming from the record player.
'AAAHHH!' Courage screamed with the top part of his head ripping off from the rest of his body for a moment.
"Either that 'person' really loves whoever made this 'music' that he learned how to play like them or is the person that made it." Weiss surmised as we listened to the music and noticed that it sounded exactly like that on the record player.
"What's huh? Who the heck are you?" Eustace shouted at the person from inside.
"Groovy-o, Daddy-o." The person answered while looking back at Eustace yet not stopping in playing the piano.
"Oh, it's Velvet Vic." Eustace said surprised.
"Well, that answers that." I said at that.
"But now comes the question, why was he in that record or record player?" Weiss asked. At that moment, we heard the kitchen door open and Muriel came out a moment later holding a tray full of sandwiches.
"Hey, Muriel. Looky who's here." Eustace told her. Muriel turned to Velvet Vic who winked at her.
"How lovely." Muriel said unfazed by everything.
'Oh, no.' Courage said worried.
"How do you do, Mr. Velvet?" Muriel asked.
"Swingin." He answered while continuously playing the piano.
"Lovely. Please help yourself to a sandwich." Muriel told him while moving to the record player and placed the tray next to it. She then turned and headed to the kitchen. "I'll go get some tea."
"Head cheese and onion sandwiches are my favorites." Eustace said as he grabbed two of them.
"Even out here and muffled, the sound is still annoying." Weiss said as the music started to grate our ears. But at that moment, the record finished playing. "Oh, thank Oom."
"Dragsville." Velvet Vic said as he became a ghost again and flew back into the record player.
'Phew.' Courage said relived that Velvet was gone.
"Seems like he can only appear from the record when its being played. But when its finished, he gets pulled back in." I said realizing the connection between him and the record player.
"It shouldn't be hard to keep him contained or get him away then." Weiss said annoyed as she noticed that Eustace was looking at the record player.
"Got to hear that again." He said as he moved the needle to the record again. The music started to play with velvet coming back again.
"Great." Wiess said through gritted teeth.
'NO!' Courage screamed with his eyes inflating before exploding.
"You want the sweet bread stuffer, or can I have it?" Eustace asked as he ate through each sandwich Muriel brought.
"Come on pops, lets swing." Velvet Vic said while patting the seat next to him.
"Oh, I don't swing. I got a condition." Eustace explained.
"What condition does he have Jaune if any?" Weiss asked curios.
"Aside from the condition of being an ass and lazy, I'm not sure to be honest." I answered.
"From how Yang described his mother, I actually think it might be genetic." Weiss said glaring at Eustace while covering her ears as the music was really starting to annoy her.
'Here you go.' Courage said to Weiss. In his paw was some earplugs.
"Thanks." She said as she took the ear plugs and put them in. Sighing in relief that she could no longer hear that music.
"How's about it Mama? Do you swing?" Velvet Vic asked when Muriel reappeared with the tea and a bowl full of sugar cubes.
"Well, when I was a wee girl, I did play a bit." She answered before placing the tray on top of the piano. "Move over."
"In my opinion, Muriel does make better music than Velvet Vic." Weiss suddenly said. Turning to her, we saw her remove the ear plugs and smile at Muriel's music. "How many instruments does she know how to play?"
"I'm not sure. I know about the piano and sitar. And I think I heard her once play the drums a bit." I answered while making a mental note to ask Muriel on how many instruments she knows how to play and see if she can teach me. 'Will make some nice mother and son bonding.'
"Take it home, baby girl." Velvet Vic said getting our attention. "You're hot."
'EEHHH! AAHHHH!' Courage screamed at this. Looking to him, we saw that his head came off again but this time with a spring undeath it. Corkscrews, spring and washers came out from his body and land near us. Grabbing them, I moved to Courage and put them back in and tightened them. Wiess then forced his head down before spinning it. Once done. He was back to normal for the moment.
"How's about it, dads? Care to cut a slice of rug?" Velvet Vic asked jumping to Eustace.
"I told you, I got a-" He began but was cut off when Velvet Vic grabbed his hand and started to swing him around like a rag doll. After a few moments of this, Velvet Vic put Eustace back on the ground before spinning him so much that he flew into the closet through the door.
"Ouch. That had to hurt." I said seeing him smash through the door and hear him crash into everything that was in there.
"Groovy-o." Velvet Vic said before moving over to the record player and removed the needle from the record.
"OOH!" Muriel said surprised as she was pulled into the record player.
"MURIEL!" Weiss and I shouted in horror.
'NO!' Courage screamed while ripping himself in half.
"We won't be jamming to these old tunes anymore." Velvet Vic said as he took the record and smashed it against his knee. Breaking it into pieces. At this moment, Eustace was seen sticking his head out of the hole in the closet door. His head was also inside a fish bowl.
"Oh! Swingin." Eustace groaned in pain.
"Got to split pops. I'm going on the road." Velvet Vic said while sliding to the door and opening it.
"Hey, you make money on the road?" Eustace asked curious and surprised.
"He really has a two-track mind. Food and money." Weiss said glaring at Eustace. Not liking that he reminded her of her father.
"Sacks, daddy-o." Velvet answered.
"Ah. You're going to need a road manager, ain't you?" Eustace asked greedily as he took the bowl of his head.
"Groovy-o. Let's book." Velvet Vic said as they left the house and closed the door. Going around to the front, we saw them enter Eustace's truck before driving off. Turning around, we ran back into the house where the remains of the record were.
'MURIEL!' Courage shouted.
"Maybe we can fix this. Hand me some tape." I suggested as I started to move the pieces together.
"Here." Weiss said handing me a roll.
"Thanks." I said as I grabbed it and started to tape the pieces together. But the end result wasn't that good as it barely resembled a record. Courage then grabbed it and put it on the record player.
'I hope this works.' He said as he placed the needle on the record. But the music came out raggedly and skipping a lot. But luckily, Muriel came out a second later.
"Oh, my." Muriel said as she looked like a puzzle piece put together wrong.
'NO!' Courage screamed in horror.
"Time for a different plan." Weiss said as she removed the needle from the record which caused Muriel to get sucked back in.
"Like what Weiss? Cause I am clueless here." I asked as I look at the record worried.
"I can't believe I'm going to say this. But maybe Dr. Vindaloo might know." She answered,
*sigh* "Worth a shot." I said as I grabbed the record. Heading to the door, we made our way to the doctor.
One Hour and Half Later
"Surgery, pick up line twenty-two." A lady said over the P.A. system.
After a long trip, we were now in Dr. Vindaloo office. He was a bit surprised that we came in but agreed to listen to us. Courage was now telling him about everything that happened with the record and Muriel.
"Yes, yes. The evil singer has trapped the round woman in this record. What's up with that?" He asked.
"Can you do something doctor?" Weiss asked worried and concerned at what he would do with the record.
"Yes, I have just the thing. This machine will clone you another record, good as new." He answered as he took the record and placed it into a weird purple machine. It hummed to life with lights come out of it with the dial pad on its side doing the same. A moment later, a fresh record came up from the top.
"Huh, that's convenient." I said as I took the record and placed it on the record player behind us.
"Hopefully Muriel comes out alright." Weiss said as the music started to play. And to our relief, the music sounded exactly the same. And a moment later, we saw Muriel start to come out.
'Yay.' Courage said as we saw that so far. Muriel seemed to be coming out correctly.
"Thank Oom that-" Weiss began but stopped and had her jaw drop at what we saw.
'AHH!' Courage gasped as well when Muriel fully came out. She seemed alright at first, until you realize that she had two heads this time.
"Oh, my." "Oh, my." Both heads said at the same time.
'NO!' Courage screamed while Wiess quickly took off the needle which made Muriel go back into the record. Courage then went to the machine and grabbed our still broken record.
"Now what?" Weis asked.
"Let's find where Eustace and Velvet Vic are first. As we still need to get Velvet Vic back into the record." I answered. They nodded and we left Dr. Vindaloo's office.
"So, you don't want to check the flip side?" Dr. Vindaloo shouted after us. And I had to smack my head for not thinking that.
Three Hours Later
We searched all over Nowhere for Eustace and Velvet Vic but did not find them. We were about to give up but caught a break when we saw a poster for an upcoming Velvet Vic concert. Looking it over, we saw the location of the event and that it was starting soon. Heading to the bus station, we made our way over to the concert. After about an hour of traveling, we finally made it to the concert and saw that it was packed. For the slightest moment, we wondered where could Eustace be before we remembered.
"Ticket line." We all said at the same time and headed over and indeed saw Eustace charging a fortune to everyone who wanted to see the show. Getting there, Courage attempted to try and tell him but Eustace quickly cut in.
"Leave me alone, you stupid dog and kids. Can't you see I'm busy getting rich?" He said bitterly. He then grabbed the record and flung it with Courage still hanging onto it far away. "Ha, ha, ha."
"Weiss." I said turning to her. She nodded, pulled out some ice dust and froze Eustace. I then turned to the rest of the line. "FREE ENTRY!"
"YEAH!" Everyone shouted and ran inside ignoring the frozen Eustace.
"We should go check on Courage." I said about to go find him but Wiess stopped me.]
"Wait, there is something I want to do first." She told me.
"Okay. What you are you going to do?" I asked. She smirked and pulled out some dust that I realized was fire dust. I immediately knew what she was going to do and nodded. She walked around the table and grabbed all the money Eustace just made and placed the dust crystal inside.
"Okay. Now we can find Courage." Weiss said smiling as we walked away from the burning bags of money. All the while imagining Eustace's reaction to seeing all the money he made turned to ash. Pushing through the crown of people, we eventually found Courage telling what happened to Shirley.
"Hello, Jaune." She greeted with her usual bored expression.
"Hey, Shirley." I greeted back with a smile. Ever since the incident with the demon in the box, we would occasionally meet up and I would help her around her wagon and bring her food as well. "Weiss, this is Shirley. She helped us save Muriel and Eustace when Eustace's greed nearly got us stuck in a box by a demon."
"Shirley the Chihuahua. That looks like a medium." Weiss said trying to come to grasp at what she is seeing.
"Don't act so surprised child. I know you have seen weirder." Shirley told Weiss with a frown.
"Shirley, can you help us with this?" I asked while pointing to the broken record.
"Courage told me what has happened and the solution is very simple. To get Velvet Vic in and the wife of the stupid one out. You have to play the record while he is performing the song." She explained.
"Okay. But how about the record. Can't you fix it?" Weiss asked uncertain.
"I'm afraid that no magic can fix this." She said regretfully.
"Damn it." I said while trying to come up with a way to fix it. Luckily, Shirley suggested something we should have done in the first place.
"Go digital." She told us.
Farmhouse
We were back at the farmhouse after another long trip. At least this time we had Eustace's truck to make it quicker. Going to my room, we turned on the computer and started the process of getting this record fixed or make it go digital. If we can put up with the computer's insults.
'Twits. Of course, Muriel is stuck in the record. Modern music is bad for you.' The computer told us.
"Just do it you ass." I told the computer while Courage typed it in.
'No need to get testy. Hand it over.' The computer told us irritated. Nodding, we turned to Weiss who opened up the scanner and placed the record on it before closing it. The computer scanned it for a moment before a tray came out with a cd on it.
'Yay.' Courage said in joy. Turning off the computer, we made our way back to the concert.
Concert
Arriving back at the concert, we parked the truck and headed around back. We also brought with us a boombox and the disc. Seeing a sign that read 'back stage,' we stopped with Courage beginning to dig through the ground. After a few minutes, we passed the fence and were on the stage. Getting out, we saw that Eustace had gotten free form the ice and had two large bags of money next to him as he overlooked Velvet Vic playing the piano on stage. But as I saw that, an idea came to mind.
"Hey Weiss." I said getting her attention.
"Yes Jaune?" She asked turning to me.
"Did you figure out a song for your performance yet?" I asked her as I set up the boom box.
"Yeah. I think I have." She answered while looking to the disc and giving a small smile. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason. Just wanted to know." I answered as I placed the cd in before pressing the button which closed the tray. Music started to play with Muriel coming out a second later. Appearing next to Velvet Vic on stage.
"What?! Muriel, get off of there, you stage hog!" Eustace shouted to her.
"Hey, mama. You blowing my gig." Velvet Vic told her.
"Well, I never." Muriel said crossing her arms.
"Now Courage." I told him. He nodded and stopped the boom box from playing. The result was Velvet Vic this time going into the cd. Seeing that the music stopped, the crowd started booing. Knowing this was my chance, I went up to the mic. But not before going up to Muriel and whispered my plan.
"You're a good friend you are Jaune." She told me while nodding to what I told her. I then went up to the mic.
"Sorry for the interruption everyone. But Velvet Vic is currently unavailable for some time. However, the show must go on. Please welcome to the stage, special guest star and amazing singer, Weiss Schnee." I told the crowd which cheered almost instantly.
"Jaune. What are you doing?" Weiss demanded.
"Don't worry. I know you're going to do great." I told her. She glared at me before breathing in and out. She nodded before stepping up to the mic and began to sing while Muriel played on the keyboard. Weiss seemed a bit nervous at first but the crowd cheering encouraged her and she quickly became confident again and sang from the heart.
"This has got to be all your fault. You stupid music hating dog and kid." Eustace said bitterly getting our attention. Turning to him, we saw him running to the door with his money but tripped when he stepped into the hole Courage dug to get us in here. At that moment, Shirley showed up.
"I'll take that." Shirley said taking the cd that contained Velvet Vic before going up to Eustace and taking his money. "And this."
"Hey! That's mine." Eustace whined.
"Licensing fee." Shirley countered before leaving with Eustace crying when he saw his money was gone now.
"Swinging." We heard Muriel say as she stopped playing as Weiss finished her song.
"Thank you all for being a great audience." She said while giving a small bow before they both left the stage,
"You tow did great-OW!" I began but grunted in pain when Wiess stomped on my foot.
"That was for doing this without giving me a heads up." She explained before giving me a quick hug." But thanks for allowing me to do this."
"You're welcome." I said with a smile.
"Well children. Let's go home and celebrate. I'll make some chicken dumplings as well." Muriel told us as she made her way past the weeping Eustace and towards the exit. Followed by a drooling Wiess and Courage who both loved the dumplings.
Next Day Farmhouse
"Isn't that nice? Eustace just loves his music." Muriel asked as Eustace played yet another record on the record player.
Weiss and I were sitting on the couch watching the desperate Eustace go through his entire record collection to try and summon Velvet Vic again. He has so far gone through about forty records but each had the same result in that no one came out. Which is the way we want to keep it.
"Come on out. I know you're in there." Eustace begged.
"Will he ever learn or give up?" Weiss asked as she sipped some tea before resuming her meal of chicken dumplings.
"Someone? Anyone! Who the heck are you!?" Eustace demanded as he placed his head into the record player. But then got sucked into it by something with the music stopping a second later. "But I don't do no do-si-do. I got a condition."
"Nope." I answered as we heard Eustace shouted as he did the do-si-do with whatever pulled him into the record player.
Note:
(1) Serpent of the Evil River with Weiss and Blake. (2) Sand whale strikes back with Team Rwby's mother. (3) The Mask with Blake and Velvet. (4) Muted Muriel with Ruby and Weiss. (5) Car Broke, Phone yes with Pyrrha. (6) The last of the star makers with Winter and Iris. (7) Night of the Scarecrow with Qrow, Ruby and Yang. (8) Thousand years of Courage with Sun and Neptune. (9) Wrath of the librarian with Blake. (10) Squatting Tiger, Hidden Dog with Nora and Ren. (11) Cabaret Courage with Wiess. (12) Family Business with Winter. (13) Curse of Shirley with Qrow, Yang and Ruby. (14) Goat Pain with Blake and Iris(?) (15) Journey to the center of Nowhere with Peach. (16) Forbidden hat of Gold with Port and Oobleck.