Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 9: The Duck Brothers
It was a week since the whole King Ramses Curse incident. Since then, the house has been rebuilt and everything is back to normal. Well, what can be considered 'normal' around here. Eustace is also somehow back. And I am not sure how that happened. Most likely reason is that he annoyed King Ramses so much that he threw him out of the underworld and back into the realm of the living, which really sucks as we are now stuck with him.
Right now, it was two in the morning and I had just finished talking with Ren and Nora. Well, mainly Nora as Ren could never stay up past a certain time without falling asleep suddenly. I did want to talk to Pyrrha but she was still with her sponsors. Putting my scroll away, I made myself comfy in my bed, closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep. But as soon as I did, an extremely bright light came through my window which woke me up. Placing my hand in front of my eyes to block the blinding light, I reached for my scroll to check the time. Seeing that it was still 2:10 in the morning, I got up from my bed to see what could be causing this light as the sun is not supposed to come up for another three hours. Heading over to the window and opening it, I looked out and that a bright had encircled the house and only the house as past that it was dark as it should be. I quickly went back inside and shut the window. But as soon as I did that, I heard Courage scream downstairs followed by the sound of marbles hitting the floor which I can only assume is Courage's eyes popping out of his head again. Worried, I was about to go down and check on him when a shadow past by me. Turning around, I saw that Muriel was somehow being pulled up to the source of the light. With the light disappearing right after. Hearing Courage outside, I raced downstairs and outside to see what is happening. Only to hear Eustace insult Courage.
"Stupid dog." Eustace said bitterly.
'But, but, but. But it was up there.' Courage tried to explain what he saw while pointing up to the sky. Like usual, instead of listening, Eustace just pushed Courage to the side and headed back inside.
"Courage, did you see the same bright white light I saw just a few minutes ago?" I asked him.
'Yeah. And I saw Muriel float from the bed and out the window.' He answered while trying to remain calm.
"Yeah, I saw her float outside my window as well and up towards the sky with the bright light disappearing right as she passed my window." I told him.
'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?' He asked as he started to bounce up and down.
"Calm down Courage. Let's head back inside and think this through carefully." I told him as I placed my hand on his shoulder to calm him down which worked.
'Alright.' Courage said giving in. We went back inside the house and went to the master bedroom to make sure Eustace is asleep. But once we got there, we saw Muriel back in the bed sleeping.
'What's that thing on her head?' I thought as I saw a green helmet with an antenna on top of it.
"You already caused enough trouble today." Eustace suddenly said. He was already back in the bed. Courage, had apparently panicked when he saw the helmet and tried to get Eustace's attention to it. Only for Eustace to kick Courage away. "Don't wake me up again."
Not giving up, Courage then went over to Muriel side of the bed. I went over to her side as well to inspect the helmet. Taking a look around the helmet, I tried to see if I could find a logo or brand name to see where it could have come from. Even a marking would be useful but there was nothing. Taking a step back, I tried to think of who could have done it but came up with nothing.
'Who do you think put the helmet on her Jaune?' Courage asked.
"I have no idea Courage. There is nothing that says who placed it there." I answered.
'Well, for now, let's just focus on getting that helmet off her.' He said as he sniffed the helmet.
"Right." I agreed. Moving towards her, I was about to see how I can take it off her without harming Muriel or triggering something. However, that went out the window as Courage gave a tap on the helmet and the antenna suddenly lit up.
'Crap. What's going to happen now?' I thought as the antenna started flashing for a moment before stopping and staying on. I got my answer in the form of Muriel suddenly getting up and off the bed. She then walking away and exited the room.
'Where's she going?' Courage wondered.
"Probably to whoever put that helmet on her head." I answered. "Courage, follow her. I'm going to grab my sword and shield and meet back up with you as quickly as I can."
'Right.' Courage said as ran out of the room to catch up to Muriel.
I quickly raced back to my room. Reaching under the bed, I pulled out my sword and shield and hooked them onto my waist. Grabbing a sweater, as despite what most might think, it can get a bit cold around here at night. Hearing Eustace's truck turn on, I moved over to the window and saw that Muriel had gotten in the truck and turned it on. Knowing she would be gone in a matter of seconds, I opened the window and jumped out. My aura cushioning the landing. Standing back up, I ran to the truck and managed to jump and latch onto the back of the truck just in time. Looking to my right, I saw Courage had also grabbed onto the back as well.
'This is not like her.' Courage said as he struggled to stay on. Grabbing the back of him, I tossed him onto the back of the truck before climbing in myself.
"Your right about that Courage." I told him as I sat down next to him.
'Where do you think they are making her go?' He asked.
"I don't know. Hopefully to them so we can make them take the helmet off her." I answered.
Half an hour later
We were driving for a while. I even told Courage to get some rest while I keep watch. He seemed hesitant at first but agreed after a bit of convincing. As we continued down the road, I felt my worry continue to grow for Muriel. Hopefully we can save her soon before anything bad happens. And when we remove the helmet, hopefully no damage is left behind. Ever since she took me in, I began to see her as my new mother. Before her, with the Arc family, I never really knew a warm mothers touch. Just the harshness of beatings and yelling's that I will never amount to anything. But not with Muriel. She always helped me and made sure I was okay and encouraged me. She is so friendly and always treats me as her own child.
'Wait, does she see me as her child? I should ask her at some point.' I thought as I wondered how does Muriel actually see me as. But before I could go deep into it, a light nearly blinded me. Turning to where it was coming from, I saw that we were nearing what seemed to be a secure military base.
'Best wake up Courage now.' I thought as I started to shake him awake.
'Huh? Are we there yet Jaune?' He asked as he stretched a bit.
"Apparently. We are close to a secure military base. And they have lookouts. Get down." I answered as I pushed him down low so we won't get caught by security personal. Soon we reached the gate of the building.
"HALT! WHO GOES THERE?!" The security guard demanded.
'Crap, this can go bad really quick.' I thought as I moved to grab the hilt of my sword. Ready to take action if necessary. Fortunately, it seemed like that was not necessary.
"Oh, it's a sweet old lady." The guard said as he walked up to the truck and saw Muriel in it. He then pushed a button to open the gate and allow us access into the place.
'Really. Just like that!' I mentally shouted as how idiotic the guard was to let a stranger in to the base just like that. Turning to Courage, I saw that he had the same look of bewilderment at guard as I did. We passed by a few buildings, before coming to a complete stop in front of one of the buildings. Standing back up, we saw Muriel turn off the truck before getting out. She then walked into the building, Courage and I got off the truck and were about to follow her in when we heard a rolling sound come from behind us followed by some yelling.
"I TOLD YOU TO STOP DOING THAT!" The voice said. Seeing that the voices came from underneath the truck, we looked under it and saw a golden egg and two ducks with different color eyes arguing with each other. One of them also had a remote in his hands.
"Oh, you're not the boss of me." The duck with purple eyes countered as he pointed at the other duck.
'Not the strangest sight I have seen. But I bet they are the one's controlling Muriel.' I thought as I moved myself to lunge and grab the remote from them. But a cough from Courage shifted their attention from each other to us. 'Damn it.'
The ducks quickly fled from underneath the truck with Courage chasing them. Knowing that Courage was after the remote, they started to pass it back and forth between themselves. Seeing that it was going to be a bit before Courage might actually manages to catch the remote, if at all, I decided to help him and end this game soon.
"HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" The duck with purple eyes demanded as he struggled to get out my grip. Ignoring him, I simple grabbed the remote from his hands. "HEY THAT'S OURS!"
"Not anymore." I told him. Looking over the remote, I began to wonder how they controlled Muriel with only two buttons. But before I could try anything, I got pelted in the face by something. Letting go of the duck, I moved my hand up to my face to see what hit me. And to my surprise and confusion, it was an egg that hit me. Looking to where it came from, I saw a big pile of eggs next to the duck with greens eyes.
"Really." I said as I took out my shield to block more of the eggs thrown at me. Unaware that the purple eyed duck had taken back the remote.
"So, who's complaining now? Huh? Huh?" The green-eyed duck asked as he continued to throw eggs at me.
'This is getting annoying.' I thought I moved forward with my shield still raised.
"HEY!" Both ducks suddenly yelled. The eggs no longer being tossed at me; I looked towards them and saw that Courage had snuck up behind them, grabbed them by their necks and started smashing their heads against each other.
'DO YOU GIVE!? DO YOU GIVE!?' Courage asked as he continued to slam their heads together. Lowering my shield, I quickly moved closer to them and grabbed the remote from them again.
"That's enough Courage. We got the remote now." I told him. He let them go and the ducks immediately gasped when they saw I had the remote again and fled the area.
'Yeah, that's right! You better run.' Courage taunted them as they left.
"We got them Courage. No need for taunting." I told him with a chuckle. He smiled before moving next to me.
'Okay. We got the remote. We just need to figure out how this works.' Courage said as he took the remote from me and tried to get Muriel to come back to us. But it proved more difficult as there were only two buttons on the remote.
'How does this thing work?' I wondered as we continued to press the buttons hoping that we would get a response we wanted.
'Come on. Come on.' Courage begged as he kept pressing buttons. We continued doing this for what felt like ten minutes until we heard more footsteps coming near us. Looking up, we saw the ducks return with a new remote
"WE HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT!" The green eye duck declared before pressing a button. I was curious as to what he meant but got my answer when Eustace walked forward with a similar helmet on his head to the one that Muriel was wearing.
'AAAHHHH!' Courage screamed before pressing the right button about a dozen times. Only stopping when Muriel suddenly burst through the wall of the building. Muriel and Eustace began to fight. But right before they did, I heard a fight bell ring and a mysterious voice sing.
'Oh, Mama. You know what I want.' The voice said before music started playing. As I watched the fight, I was reminded of a game I saw when I was much younger.
'This strangely reminds me of the game Rock-em Sock-em Robots.' I thought as I watched the fight.
"We'll knock her block off." The green-eyed duck taunted.
'You and who else?' Courage challenged as he continued to basically randomly press the buttons.
'This is going to be a close one. Hopefully Muriel does not get hurt.' I thought in worried as I continued to watch the fight.
'Yeah, yeah, Right jab. Left hook.' Courage shouted. Acting like he was a couch in an actual boxing ring.
"No. No. Cover his face." The purple eyed duck told the other.
"Leave me alone. I know what I am doing." The green-eyed duck countered. Only for that to immediate be disproven when we managed to cause Eustace head to go flying into the air.
"Oh, you know what you are doing, hey?" The purple-eyes one mocked.
'Shake it baby.' The mysterious voice sang again as the fight continued with Eustace's head coming back down and leaving no mark of what just happened. The fight went on and only stopped when the ducks had Eustace deliver a low blow to Muriel.
'HEY! HEY!' Courage shouted as we walked over to the ducks. 'Let's have a fair fight. No low blows.'
"Okay, okay. Any other rules?' The ducks asked annoyed.
'Yeah, for one thing. None of this.' Courage answered before poking the eyes if both ducks.
"Ouch." Both ducks said in pain.
'And, none of this.' Courage added before kicking the shin of the purple-eyes duck.
"OW!" The duck shouted in pain as he hopped up and down while holding his shin in pain. Courage turned around and was about to do something to the other duck but I grabbed him before he could do so.
"That's enough Courage. Just telling them would be enough." I told him.
"Thanks." The purple-eyed duck said as he rubbed his shin.
"Anything else you don't want in the fight?" I asked Courage.
'Yeah. No bonks on the head.' He answered while smirking at the ducks. As if to say he was going to do it to them as soon as he got the chance. But a bonk on his head from me stopped him and wiped the smirk from his face. We then returned to our side of the fight.
'Come on baby.' The voice sang as the fight resumed. We continued the fight for the next few moments. All the while hoping that we'd win and Muriel is unharmed in the end. After a few moments the fight ended in a double K.O. as both Muriel and Eustace's heads flew up into the air. Their bodies then fell to the side with the lights from their helmets turning off.
"OH!" The ducks gasped at what they saw.
'Shit!' I thought panicked as I ran over to Muriel's side. Looking her over, it seemed that she was fine except from the extended neck. At least I hope, as I don't if that hit and the helmet turning off caused some harm to her brain.
"Now, look what you did." The purple-eyed duck yelled at the other one.
"What I did?" The other duck questioned.
"Now, what are we going to do?" The purple-eyed one asked.
"Why asking me?" The other asked annoyed.
"Oh, so you don't have all the answers, hey?" The purple one questioned.
"Just leave me alone." The green-eyed one begged before crying.
"Stop telling me what to do." The purple one begged before crying as well. Feeling sorry, but also curious, I went over to them.
"Guys, what wrong?" I asked them.
"It's-It's our brother." The green one answered.
"H-he's in there." The purple one continued.
"Will you stop interrupting me." The green demanded. "Our brother was captured. And now he's going to get cooked unless we get him out of there."
"And now we'll never get him out." The purple one added.
"We didn't mean to hurt anyone." The green one explained.
"We just wanted to get our brother out." The purple one finished.
'Why didn't you just ask for help?' Courage asked.
"I told you we should have asked for help." The purple one said turned to the green one. Sensing they were going to argue again, I quickly moved in and wrapped my hands around their beaks to stop them before they could start.
"Can you two stop arguing for a moment." I told them. They looked at each other for a moment before nodding.
"Okay, now what?" The purple one asked.
'We'll help you get your brother out.' Courage answered.
"You two will?" The green one asked surprised but hopeful.
"Of course. Now's here's the plan." I told them. The came closer and I told them of the plan. It consisted of placing another helmet on Courage and having them control him and get their brother out. They agreed and disappeared for a moment before returning with another helmet. They placed it on Courage and turned it. And just like that, Courage was sent in to get the third duck brother out.
'Hopefully, Courage will be alright.' I thought as I watched him go through the wall of the building and head to the duck brother.
Ten Minutes later
"I don't know how we can ever thank you both." The green-eyed duck told us. We were on the streets outside the military base. Courage was successful in getting the third duck brother out completely unharmed. And after untying him, we were now being thanked by the duck brothers.
"Me neither." The purple one added.
"I'm so happy, I could..." The third suck brother began but stopped when all three ducks suddenly laid a golden egg.
"All right. Can we just stop doing that?" The green one asked.
"You did it too." The purple one countered.
"I was just over come. I won't let it happen again." The green one defended himself.
"Don't try and hide your emotions." The third duck brother told him.
"I'm not hiding anything." The green one said. "I just don't think it's appropriate that duck brothers to lay eggs." At that moment, the same bright light from before, which turned out to be their spaceship, appeared above them and slowly pulled them up.
"I don't think it's right for you to judge us." The third duck brother said.
"Maybe we should have just left you there in the kitchen, huh?" The green one threatened. They would have continued arguing, but the ship finally pulled them into the ship.
'Oh, do they ever stop arguing?' Courage asked.
"I never had a brother with the Arc family, only sisters. And we argued a lot. I can only assume that it's the same with brothers." I explained.
'Oh well. Hopefully they won't get captured again.' Courage hoped.
"Hopefully. But right now, let's get Eustace and Muriel in the truck and back home." I told him.
He nodded and we went back over to them. Getting there, we saw that their heads had returned to normal. Picking them up, we placed them on the back of the truck. Getting to the front, I turned on the truck and began to make our way back to the house. After about half an hour, we made it back to the house. Exiting the truck, we picked them up and carried them inside the house and put them in their bed. Putting the covers over them and making sure they were okay; we removed the helmet from Muriel. Once that was done, I headed back to my room, put my sword and shield away and got into bed and fell asleep.
8:30 A.M.
I was in Muriel's room standing next to her. She and Courage were laying down on the bed. Eustace came over to us and placed a try filled with food and a few cups of tea. He then walked away from us and exited the room through the wall.
"How lovely." Muriel said as she began to eat her breakfast. "Can you believe the treatment we're getting?"
'Uh-Huh.' Courage agreed. He then moved the tray away a bit before moving the blanket as well. 'Technology.'
'How amazing it is.' I thought in agreement with a chuckle at how amazing technology can be. Already thinking of all the ways, we can have fun with the helmet on Eustace.
Note:
Next Chapter will be The Clutching Foot.