Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog

Chap 4: Courage and Jaune Meet Bigfoot

It was nighttime, and Courage and I were in the kitchen having a snack. Well, if you can call pie and a glass of milk a light snack. It was a week since the lady from the puddle. Luckily, we haven't seen her since, nor had we encountered anything that could hint at her trying to seduce Eustace again. Which was a good thing as my sword and shield were rusted beyond use from going underwater. Unfortunately, I had to throw them away and order new ones. Thankfully, I have enough money from working at Charlie's diner that I could afford new ones. They should arrive next week, and hopefully, nothing wrong happens until then.

But as I dug into the pie and Courage drank his milk, we heard a loud crash come from outside. Putting down my fork, we looked at each other for a moment in wonder and confusion. However, we became worried when we heard a loud growling from outside that sent shivers down our spines. Getting up, we went over to the window to check outside and see if we could find out what caused the noise. But with each step we took toward the window, the growling became louder. Looking outside, we tried to find the noise source, but it proved difficult as it was almost pitch-black. Hearing the growling again, we looked toward where it was coming from and saw a giant creature eating something.

'AAAAAAHHHHHH!' Courage screamed in terror before moving back to fan himself with a fan that he pulled from his pocket. He then ran toward the living room, where Muriel and Eustace were watching a movie.

'What is that?' I thought, trying to make out whatever the creature was.

Yet, it was too dark to make out any details. Hearing the door open, I turned around and saw Courage returning with Muriel behind him. But instead of coming to the window, they went outside. Worried, I followed them out to see if we could spot the creature. Unfortunately, after looking around for a few seconds, we found nothing out of the ordinary aside from the trash cans the creature raided. One of the bins even had a giant bite mark on the side.

"Oh, it's just the raccoons. They must be hungry." Muriel said when she noticed the trash outside the bins.

"That was no racoon." I said as Muriel entered the house.

'What was that thing?' Courage asked, scared, as we continued to scan the area.

"I have no idea, Courage." I answered. Once we were sure the creature was gone, we turned off the backlight and went back inside. However, as a precautionary, we locked the door. Hearing the oven open, we turned and saw Muriel taking out a pie and placing it on the windowsill.

"This is our lovely dessert for tomorrow." Muriel said as she patted Courage's head before ruffling my hair. "Goodnight, you two."

'I hope we make it until tomorrow.' Courage said, scared.

"Don't worry, Courage. We will make it." I assured him as I scratched his ears to calm him down. "Anyway, we better head to bed as it's late."

He nodded before heading to Muriel's room while I went to mine. Once in my room, I changed into my pajamas and got into bed. But I could not fall asleep as I kept thinking about what could have been that creature that destroyed the garbage. And considering what I had seen so far since moving to Nowhere, it could honestly be anything. Ever since the lady from the water, I have been very open-minded about what I could face. I had even begun to wonder if the mythological creatures I learned about when I was younger were real. Perhaps whatever ate the garbage was a mythical monster, except real. Knowing that stressing over it won't fix anything, I decided to go to sleep and worry about it in the morning.

Yet, I could not fall asleep no matter how hard I tried. My mind refused to settle down and kept wondering what the creature was. For about the next ten minutes, I kept tossing and turning and tried different positions to fall asleep but failed. Sighing, I got up from my bed and headed to the kitchen to make some warm milk. Warm milk was something that almost always knocked me out in minutes. But as soon as I exited my room, I heard something fall down the stairs. Racing over to the steps, I noticed that Courage had fallen down the stairs. The reason he fell was that he could not see what was in front of him due to him holding a giant pair of binoculars to his face. Yet, he was unfazed as he quickly got up and ran towards the kitchen. Thinking that he saw the creature again, I quickly followed after him. Entering the kitchen, I saw Courage frantically looking around to see if the creature had entered the house or not.

"Courage, what did you see?" I asked, worried. Hearing a growling coming from the window, we looked over and noticed something was trying to get the pie that Muriel baked earlier. Gasping, Courage immediately dove for the pie.

'Racoon or not. You're not getting this pie.' Courage said as he struggled to prevent the creature from taking the pie. Knowing that he was about to lose, I had to confront the creature. And while I didn't have a sword or shield, I could at least try and scare it off. Quickly racing outside, I rushed towards the window.

"HEY!" I shouted out as I rounded the corner. While I still couldn't make out the creature, I saw its two eyes widen in shock when it saw me. It then ran away faster than Ruby could ever hope to achieve.

Hearing a loud thud come from inside, I went back into the house and saw Courage against the wall with the pie on his face. Oddly, the pie tin was in the shape of his face. Seeing the mess, I went over to the sink, soaked a small hand towel, and rushed back to Courage. Unfortunately, as I began cleaning his face, I realized that the pie was unsalvageable.

"Ahem." A voice said, getting out attention. Looking up, we saw Muriel none too pleased with what she saw.

'But-But-But-' Courage said, trying to explain everything but failed.

"That's alright, you two. I'll make another pie in the morning. But next time, use a plate." Muriel said, cutting him off. She then turned to me. "Jaune, be a dear and finish cleaning him up. And then head to bed as it's mighty late."

"You alright, Courage?" I asked him as Muriel returned to her room. But as I kept cleaning him up, he helped speed up the process. Although, not in the sense of cleaning but instead eating the pie remains off his head.

'Yeah. I'm alright. Did you see what was on the other end of that pie?'

"No, all I saw was a big pair of eyes. And that was only for a split second as it ran away so fast. But honestly, I'm so tired right now that I'm unsure if I actually saw something."

'There was something on the other side of that pie. Or my name's Alloicous. And it's not.' Courage said as he went over to the window and looked outside.

"I know, Courage. But whatever it is, it's gone now. Let's head back to bed, and we can come up with a plan tomorrow."

Courage nodded in agreement as he ate the last piece of pie off his head. Exiting the kitchen, we headed back to our rooms. Luckily for me, as soon as I laid my head down on the pillow, I fell asleep instantly.

8:00 A.M.

It was early in the morning, and I was in the kitchen with Muriel. We were baking another pie as the other got destroyed last night when Courage tried to prevent the creature from taking it. Opening the oven door, I placed the pie in it before closing it and setting the timer. Once done, I went over to the sink to wash my hands. Turning off the faucet, I dried my hands before going over to the table to pour Muriel and me a cup of tea.

"Thanks again, Jaune. The pie should be done baking within the hour." Muriel said as she sipped her tea before beginning to wash the dishes.

Nodding, I headed to the living room to see what Eustace and Courage were doing. Entering the living room, I saw that they were watching the television. I was about to ask what they were watching when an announcement came on.

"This is special Nowhere News. There's a bigfoot in these here parts. He's been terrorizing Nowhere." The reporter announced.

'That is one skinny ass reporter.' I thought as I saw the reporter was almost bone thin. Walking over to Courage, I sat down next to him and scratched his ears as we continued to listen to the report.

'Now we know the cause of all them disasters.' The reporter announced as images of various places and incidents I had never heard of appeared on the screen. Such as a giant rock statue and a massive sinking ship that easily rivaled any ship that Atlas ever built and what seemed to be a coliseum of some kind.

"We found proof positive that bigfoot is here." The reporter continued before bringing up a picture that showed a giant footprint. "I, hear, tell that a reward is being offered by the Nowhere Museum."

"A reward?! That's for me." Eustace excitedly said as he moved his chair closer to the television.

'Greedy bastard. Something big is happening, and all he cares about is the money.' I thought in disgust as I shook my head at him.

"25 dollars and a lifetime membership." The reporter announced the reward. However, if what he had just shown was true, it did not seem like much of a prize. Yet, then again, I'm still getting used to the currency of Nowhere, where they used dollars as opposed to Remnant, where lien is the currency.

"ZOWIE!" Eustace shouted, startling me. Turning to him, we saw that he had gotten up from his chair and was dancing. "A lifetime membership?"

'Can you believe this guy?' Courage asked with a deadpan look. I just shrugged my shoulders as we continued to watch Eustace dance.

"Oh, baby!" Eustace shouted in joy before jumping and clicking his heels together. Only to be rewarded with the sickening sound of his back cracking. Landing back on the floor, he placed his hand on his chair to stay up while his other hand went to his lower back in pain.

"If anyone has any information about any strange doings lately, contact us."

"A reward. A reward. And a lifetime membership to boot. Oh!" Eustace said with a laugh, momentarily forgetting about his pain.

"But, my friends, be careful." The reporter warned before the television turned off by itself.

"What's all the excitement?" Muriel asked, entering the living room while drying her hands.

"I'm going to get myself a bigfoot." Eustace declared before he made straightened himself, momentarily forgetting his back pain. "Ah, the reward. That's for me. That's for me."

"Now, what's wrong with your bigfoot?" Muriel asked, confused as Eustace headed into the dining room.

'Maybe it was bigfoot that was here last night.' Courage said, panicking. 'Although I certainly hope not.'

"You might be right, Courage. But let's not jump to any conclusion just yet."

'Your right. But we can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to do something.'

"Alright, Courage. How about we head outside and try to find any clues that could indicate that Bigfoot was here last night?" I suggested.

'Good plan.' He said, pulling out a gigantic magnifying glass.

"Alright. Let's head outside then." I said, standing up.

Exiting the house, we decided to first head to where we usually place the garbage cans as that was where we think we first saw the creature. Arriving, we began to look around for any clues. Unfortunately, aside from some pieces of garbage, we found nothing. We then decided to split up to cover more ground to try to find anything that could confirm that Bigfoot was here recently. But as I continued to search, I could not help but wonder what the people back at Vale would think if they learned about this. They would most likely think that I had lost my mind. But, had I been paying attention, I would have avoided falling into the hole in front of me.

"Ow." I grunted in pain. Getting back up, I walked over to the hole's edge and climbed out.

'You okay?' Courage asked as he came running up to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Courage. Just wasn't paying attention to where I was going, that's all." I assured him as I dusted myself off.

Hearing Courage gasp, I turned to him and saw that he was in complete shock. Curious but concerned, I turned to what he was looking at and realized the hole I fell into was actually a massive footprint. An enormous print that we were sure belonged to Bigfoot.

'AAAHHH!' Courage screamed in fear before dropping his magnifying glass and running back to the house.

"Courage, wait!" I shouted, only for it to fall on deaf ears as he kept running back to the house. Knowing that he would need help, I ran after him back to the house. Getting there, we entered and went to warn Muriel about the potential danger. But as we raced through the dining room, we saw Eustace going over an assortment of tools. Curious, we stopped and watched what he was doing.

"Mousetrap, fishing pole, fly swatter, iron torture collar. Ha, ha. Now I'm ready to get me a bigfoot." Eustace said as he checked off each item on his clipboard.

Getting impatient, Courage went up to Eustace and tried to tell him what we saw. He even turned into a giant hairy foot to try and help get the point across. But Eustace, being Eustace, ignored him and grew angry that Courage was even near him.

"Get away from me. I'm going to get me a reward." Eustace growled but wickedly smiled when he mentioned the reward. Courage was about to try again but stopped when we heard the doorbell ring. Knowing Eustace would only slam the door on whoever it was unless they gave him money, I went to answer it.

"Hello." I greeted as I opened the door. On the other side was a tiny old lady who seemed devastated as she was on the verge of crying. "Are you alright, miss?"

"Please, mister. My little boy is lost. Have you seen my little boy?" She asked.

"Sorry, but I have not seen any lost boy recently. Do you have a picture or something, so I know what he looks like when and if I see him?" I asked.

"No. But I can get one. I'll be back later."

"Alright. I'll be here. And if I see him, I'll let you know."

"Thank you, young man. You're so kind." She said before leaving. Once she was gone, I closed the door.

"Who was that, Jaune?" Muriel asked as Courage stood next to her.

"Some poor lady who lost her little boy. She said she will be back later with a picture so we can know what her son looks like." I answered.

"How sweet of you to help." Muriel said, smiling. She then stepped to the side as Eustace exited the dining room. "Oh, Eustace, where are you going?"

"Going to get me a Bigfoot." Eustace answered before exiting the house. We looked at each other for a moment before Muriel finally broke the silence.

"Come on, Jaune and Courage. Let's have some pie." She said before entering the kitchen.

'Who can worry on an empty stomach?' Courage asked, smiling. Chuckling, I nodded in agreement as we headed into the kitchen. However, as soon as we entered, we got a big surprise. Muriel was feeding a giant hairy creature with big feet some pie.

'AAAHHHH!' Courage screamed in terror. Thinking that Courage was challenging him, the creature roared back even louder. They kept screaming for a few more minutes before finally stopping.

'That must be Bigfoot. Not at all what I thought he would look like.' I thought as Courage, and the creature stared at each other.

"I think I'll have a wee cup of tea." Muriel suddenly said, unaware of the tension quickly building. Fearing a fight might break out, I quickly stepped in between Courage and Bigfoot.

"Don't worry, Courage. I won't let him hurt you." I said as I stared down Bigfoot, who matched it with his own.

'What do I do? What do I do?' Courage asked, worried.

Turning to face him, I was about to try and calm him down but became surprised when he pulled a giant watermelon from behind his back. He then reared back and threw it at Bigfoot. Not expecting it, Bigfoot did not react in time, resulting in the watermelon hitting his head. The watermelon shattered upon impact and left behind a new hat for Bigfoot. Angered, Bigfoot retaliated by throwing a nearby pie at Courage. But he missed as I pushed Courage out of the way, which resulted in me getting hit by the pie. Removing the pie tin and licking clean whatever remained on my face, I turned to Courage and noticed that he was using the kitchen door for cover. He then pulled out a tomato and threw it at Bigfoot. He missed, however, as Bigfoot leaned to the side. Knowing that he also needed cover, Bigfoot flipped the kitchen table on its side to act as a makeshift cover.

'Where are they getting these things?!' I wondered as I dodged the roasted pig Bigfoot threw at me. Feeling a tug on my pants, I saw Courage holding a whole cooked turkey. Knowing what he wanted me to do, I grabbed and then threw it at Bigfoot. Unfortunately, I missed him as the turkey hit the table. But before I could say anything, I saw a few bananas strike the table. Turning back to Courage, I realized that he was tossing the bananas but was blindfolded.

'Show off.' I thought, smirking as Courage now held a cauliflower. Turning back to Bigfoot, I saw that he was now angry and had what I presume was a crab cake. Knowing things were about to get intense and that I could not produce foods from thin air like these two, I decided to stand on the sidelines and make sure Muriel did not get hit. Walking over to her, I picked up a chair, placed it next to her, and sat down.

"Fancy some tea, Jaune?" She asked me as she held out a cup of tea for me.

"Thank you, Muriel." I said as I grabbed the cup of tea.

She smiled as we resumed watching the massive food fight between Courage and Bigfoot. Right now, each side was throwing a constant stream of food at the other. Every single type of food you could think of was thrown. At one point, I think I saw Courage throw a whale while Bigfoot threw a jack o lantern. Yet, that wasn't even the strangest thing as Courage began using a fish as a bat to launch the food back at Bigfoot. Yet, Muriel kept sipping her tea as if everything was normal despite all that was happening. Shaking my head, I turned back to Courage and Bigfoot and realized that they were now somehow making small objects of real-life things. The first item they created was a lady holding a torch, followed by a military person and an elephant afterward. Laughing, Courage threw a pineapple in hopes of creating something but only ended up destroying the elephant. But to everyone's surprise, the food flew to Courage and Bigfoot and turned into food clothes and food hats. A banana flew to the radio and turned it to a channel playing some tropical dance music.

'Oh, I just have to do this.' I thought as I got up and turned off the lights in the kitchen before turning on the middle one to give off a pseudo dance floor.

Smiling, Courage and Bigfoot moved to stand underneath the light and began to dance. I even heard a lady start to sing in sync with their dancing. Smiling, I sat back down and continued to watch. Honestly, this was adorable. Courage looked adorable, while Bigfoot seemed like a big friend who just wanted to have fun. This made me quickly realize that Bigfoot wasn't a threat and was friendly. They continued for a while, switching up dancing styles every few minutes. However, the fun stopped when Eustace came into the kitchen.

"Hey. What's for dinner?" He asked, unaware of everything that had just happened. He looked around, oblivious to the mess, before gasping once he noticed Bigfoot. "AAAHHH!"

'This can't be good.' I thought, worried when Bigfoot started screaming in terror with Eustace. Terrified, Eustace dashed out of the kitchen, leaving behind a confused Bigfoot.

'Don't worry about him, Bigfoot.' Courage assured him.

"Yeah, he was just shocked, is all." I added, walking over to them. But in the back of my mind, I wondered where Eustace went.

Bigfoot looked at us, shrugging before continuing to dance. However, a rock interrupted his dance when it came through the window and hit him on his head. Luckily, it only dazed him for a moment, and he was okay afterward. Unfortunately, the window breaking caused Muriel, who had fallen asleep at some point, caused her to wake up.

"Wha- What's going on?" She asked as she looked around the kitchen.

'Oh great, here comes a lecture.' I thought, mentally preparing myself for the beating that was sure to come along with the lecture. However, I quickly remembered that I was no longer with the Arc Family. But before Muriel could say anything, we heard chanting coming from outside.

"BIGFOOT! BIGFOOT! BIGFOOT! BIGFOOT!"

"Oh, this can't be good." I said, worried as the chanting continued. Concerned, we walked over to the window to see what was happening outside. And what was saw sent chills down our spines. There was an angry mob demanding for Bigfoot to come out. Also, every single one of them had either a pitchfork or torch in their hands.

"Bigfoot. Come on out." Eustace demanded, holding his iron torture collar.

"We should have seen that coming." I said with Courage nodding in agreement. It was clear as day that Eustace was obsessed with getting the reward, and we should have expected him to get a mob when he spotted Bigfoot. Hearing footsteps behind us, we saw Muriel pick up the rock with an angry face before stomping out of the house.

"Who threw this rock?!" Muriel demanded.

"Get out of the way, Muriel. There's a Bigfoot in the house." Eustace warned but also threatened.

"You'll get a big lump if you throw another rock." Muriel warned.

"BIGFOOT! BIGFOOT! BIGFOOT!"

'Crap! That door is not going hold long!' I thought, panicking when some of the mob tried to break down the front door with a makeshift battering ram. Turning back to Courage and Bigfoot, I noticed that they were both shivering in fear.

"Come on, Bigfoot. We have to get you out of here." I told him. I was about to grab his arm but stepped back when he suddenly roared in anger before running through the wall to confront the mob. Quickly going after him, we saw that the mob and Eustace were cowering in fear yet remained where they were.

"Wait. He's not as bad as you think he is!" I shouted, hoping to get their attention. Courage even transformed into an angel to try and help get across that Bigfoot was friendly. However, it fell on deaf ears.

"What are you, men or what? Get that, Bigfoot. I want my reward. And my lifetime membership." Eustace shouted to the mob. This somehow made them lose their fear and start making their way over to us. Courage and I stepped in front of Bigfoot to stand between him and the mob. Ready to protect him and give him a chance to get away.

"What are you all doing to my boy?" A familiar voice asked above the cheering of the mob. Curious, the mob moved to the side to reveal the old lady from earlier.

"Theodore." She shouted out while waving.

"Mommy!" Bigfoot shouted out in joy. They began racing toward each and embraced each other once they reunited.

"AW!" The mob said, smiling at the loving affection between son and mother.

'Such a touching moment.' I thought as they continued to embrace each other. However, the moment was interrupted when Eustace placed his iron collar around Bigfoot's leg.

"Ha, Ha. The reward is mine." Eustace cheered. Only to be hit in the head by Muriel's rolling pin.

"Eustace, take that collar off the child's ankle." Muriel demanded.

"NO!" Eustace shouted, crossing his arms.

"YES!" The mob demanded, becoming angry again.

"Make me!" Eustace challenged. The mob did not take this lightly and began to chase after Eustace.

"Ahh. Stay back. Ahh!" Eustace said, scared, before running away with the mob hot on his heels.

'That's what he deserves.' I thought as I went up to Bigfoot and started to remove the collar around his ankle. "There you go, Bigfoot."

"Thanks." Bigfoot said before giving me a bone-crushing hug.

"No problem, big guy." I said as he released me.

"Theodore." His mom said, getting his attention. "Next time you want to play, stay in our backyard."

"Sorry, mommy." Bigfoot apologized.

"How many times have I told you? You stay around the house." His mom chastised him as she grabbed his ear and made him follow her back home.

"Such a lovely family. Don't you agree, Courage?" I asked. He nodded with a tear coming from his eye as we watched the mother and son return to their home.

"Now, how about we all enjoy some pie?" Muriel asked, getting our attention.

"Sure." I answered while Courage excitedly nodded.

Soon, we were on the front porch eating some pie. As we ate the pie, I thought back to the Arc family and how this would have never happened when I was with them. No love or affection. Just cold shoulders. After years of that, I began to think that a family's touch can only happen with those that are the same and never make mistakes. Yet I was proven wrong today as Bigfoot did make a mistake in leaving his home, yet his mother still loved him despite what he did. Looking over at Muriel and Courage, who were both eating pie, I realized that I was now with people who genuinely cared for me despite my flaws and any mistakes I had or might make.

'There's a little bigfoot in us, isn't there, Jaune?' Courage asked, smiling. But before I could answer, a banana suddenly appeared in his mouth as the lady I had heard earlier began to sing again.

"Don't worry, Courage. I gotcha." I said, trying not to laugh as I removed the banana from his mouth.