Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 70: Katz Kandy
"MMM...Heavenly." Muriel said as she stirred the contents of the pot.
"It does smell heavenly." Ruby said sniffing the air. Her mouth slightly drooling.
"I can't wait to have some." Nora said excitedly as Courage and I brought Muriel the apples with sticks in them. We were making some caramel apples for a contest that Muriel is part of. Though it was proving a bit difficult as Nora and Ruby kept trying to get a taste of the caramel. In fact, this is the third batch we're making since those two devoured the previous two batches. Yet despite this, we all just smiled and made another batch.
"Don't worry. Once this batch is done, I'll make some for the rest of us." Muriel said smiling at them. She turned to us as we placed the apples on the table. "Ah, you two did a marvelous job with the apples."
'Mm-hmmm.' Courage agreed.
"The caramel is just about ready for dipping. I'm sure we're going to win the Nowhere Sweet Stuff contest. First prize like always." Muriel said as she stopped stirring the pot.
"Oh, Jaune. Where is the farmer? I haven't heard him complain?" Ruby asked.
"He's at the beach most likely. He left when Muriel asked him to clean the porch. Saying that he had to get something at the hardware store. But we all know that is a lie." I answered before turning to Nora. "Speaking of which, how's Ren?"
"Renny's fine. He's just busy with some Beacon and helping Pyrrha with some leadership classes." She answered.
"Okay. The caramel is done. Now it's time for dipping." Muriel interjected as she placed the pot full of caramel on the table.
"YAY!" Ruby and Nora cheered with some droll coming out at seeing and smelling the no doubt delicious caramel.
"Calm down you two. Let's coat the apples first. Then both you can have any remaining caramel." I said as I moved the pot away from them.
"Okay." They agreed before dashing over to the apples and began to dip them into the caramel.
Ten Minutes Later
"And done." I said as I placed the last coated apple on the tray with the others.
"Now we can lick clean the pot." Ruby said excitedly.
"Hold on you two." I said as I took the pot to the counter. Pulling out two bowls, I scooped up some of the remaining caramel and placed them into the bowls. Grabbing the bowls, I brought them over to Nora and Ruby. "Here."
"Delicious." They both said as they essentially began to devour the caramel. Chuckling, I turned around and saw Courage licking the pot clean.
'Ha, ha, ha.' He laughed as most of the caramel was on his face rather than in him. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a wet paper towel and began to clean his face.
*Knock Knock*
"Can one of you get that while I start cleaning up?" Muriel asked.
"I got it." I said as I washed my hands before heading to the door.
"Are you expecting any one Jaune-Jaune?" Nora asked. Her face covered in caramel.
"Nope." I answered as I opened the door. Only become confused and only slightly concerned when I saw a gelatinous creature standing in the doorway. "Definitely not him though."
'AAHHH!' Courage screamed when the creature growled before slamming the door when the creature tried to grab us. A small part of the creature's arm being cut off and falling to the ground.
"Now Courage that wasn't very polite. Shutting the door on a guest" Muriel chided.
"I think that was the right thing to do." Ruby said as she and Nora stood up from their seats when the creature reformed in front of us from the small part the got cut off when Courage slammed the door on him.
"No, it wasn't. He's mad now." Muriel said scared. "Oh, my."
'Oh, no.' Courage gasped.
"We got this." Ruby said as she and Nora took out their weapon.
'HI-YA1' Courage screamed while performing a flying kick at the creature. Only to fly through the creature and end up hitting the wall.
"On second thought. I'm not sure how effective we will be." Ruby said. Now second guessing it they can even hurt the creature since Courage flew right through the creature.
"You okay Courage?" I asked as he slid to the floor.
'Yeah. Just wasn't expecting that.' He answered while rubbing his head.
"OH, OH!" Muriel gasped when the creature growled at us. She then grabbed the caramel apples and began throwing them at the creature. Only to do nothing aside from leaving a hole in him which he quickly fixed.
'OW! OOH! OW!' Courage moaned in pain as while the apples didn't do anything to the creature, it did have the intended effect when the apples hit Courage in the head and left him dazed.
"HELP!" Muriel screamed when the creature used its arms to trap Muriel and hold her captive against the ceiling. Encased in whatever the creature was made of.
"WE GOT YOU!" Nora shouted as she threw Ruby and I to the ceiling. We tried t pulled Muriel free while Nora battled the creature. Only for both to fail as the creature barley acknowledge Nora'a attacks while Ruby and I got sucked into the creature.
"Blegh." Ruby said disgusted.
"What's wrong?" I asked confused.
"The monster is made of gelatin. Really sour gelatin." She answered. Curious, I took a hesitant taste and it was indeed really sour gelatin. Yet, I had a strong feeling on who could have made this. But before I could really think about it, Nora joined us trapped.
"Hello." She said joyfully. But quickly turned a sour face when she inadvertently tasted the creature as well. "Gross."
"It's up to you, Courage." I called out to him.
'I know.' He whined before pulling out some whisks and tried to use it on the creature. Only for it to back fire and sent him flying. Knowing that it was useless to fight the creature, Courage decided to try and free us by using some tweezers. Only to get sucked in and trapped as well. The creature growled in satisfaction before opening the door and exiting the house.
"Where do you think he is taking us?" Nora asked.
"I'm not sure. But I have a feeling we will be facing a foe we face before." I answered.
Two Hours Later
"AAHHH!" Muriel screamed as we approached what looked like a candy store. Looking up at the sign, I immediately knew who was the owner.
'Katz Kandy. Knew it was him. Out of everyone we face before, he is the only one crafty enough to make a gelatin creature.' I thought as the creature opened the door and entered the store.
"Well, at least it brought us a to a candy store." Nora said as she and Ruby eyed all the different candy they saw. We could tell they would be licking their lips had it not been for the fact they did not want to taste the creature again.
'Is that a good thing?' Courage asked. Though, I knew that his real question was directed at Nora and Ruby that were eyeing the candy.
"No. Sugar rush to end all sugar rush." I answered.
"Least it has manners." Ruby commented as the creature went up to the desk and rang the bell. A moment later, the owner showed himself.
"YOU!" Ruby and Nora shouted angry,
"Welcome to Katz Kandy. I'm Katz." He introduced himself for some reason despite all of knowing who he is. "Ha, ha, ha."
"I thought you were swallowed by the giant hole in the ground back at the farmhouse." Ruby said shocked.
"Yes. Pity. But unlike those you probably faced before, I always have an escape and contingency plan at the ready whenever I plan on doing something." He explained before admitting. "Though, this one was more luck than anything."
"We'll kick your but again." Ruby declared which caused Katz to chuckle.
"Yes. We'll see. Follow." He said before commanding the creature to follow. Katz then headed to the other side of the room and lifted a hatch to reveal stairs leading down. The creature followed him and once downstairs, it sent us flying to the corner of the room. Yet, we were still trapped. But only for a moment as the gelatin gave away and freed us.
"Oh." Muriel moaned dazed.
"So, good of you to come. I hope you all found my jam... tasty." Katz said laughing.
"Jam? We thought it was gelatin." Ruby said confused.
"Really bad and sour tasting gelatin." Nora added making Katz eye twitch in annoyance.
"What do you want Katz?" I asked annoyed.
"You see, it's been my misfortune to place second year after year in the Nowhere Sweet Stuff contest. Sad, isn't it?" Katz explained as he walked over to closet. Opening it, he showed us the dozens of second place trophies he earned.
"So, it's our fault that you are bad candy maker?" Ruby asked annoyed.
"If it's the secret ingredient in my caramel coated apples you're wanting, your out of luck" Muriel said defiantly.
"Yes, well.' Katz began before cracking his neck. "We'll see about that."
"We won't-" Nora begena before passing out.
"What's hap-" Ruby began before passing out as well.
"You see. In knew that some of you would be there was well and would try to protect her. That's why I added a little something extra. Have a nice nap." Katz explained before me and Courage passed out as well.
Half Hour Later
"Oh." The weak moaning of Muriel woke me up.
"What?" I asked slurred as my vision returned albeit blurry. But it quickly sharpened when I saw Muriel hanging on a candy cane above a git pit of taffy. "MURIEL!"
"I see your finally awake. Along with your dog and friends." Katz said when he heard me.
"What's happening?" Nora asked
"Where's Muriel?" Ruby asked as well.
"Up there." I answered.
'OOOHHH!' Courage screamed when he woke up and saw the predicament Muriel was on.
"Feeling a little strung out?" Katz asked Muriel before cackling.
"We have to save her." Ruby said before trying to move. Trying being the key word as it turned out we were trapped by something. Even Nora seemed to have trouble breaking free.
"Do you expect me to tell you my secret ingredient?" Muriel asked confused. "Is that what you're wanting?"
"Yes... and if you don't, I'm afraid I'll pull this and that will pull you." Kat answered while pointing to the taffy puller.
'Come on.' I thought as we struggled to get free. But it was then I caught a whiff.
"Is this... candy?" I asked while taking a whiff of our restraints.
"It sure is." Nora answered as she already freed herself by eating the restraints.
"Never thought gum could be used cuffs." Ruby said before eating it. "Yum. Strawberry."
'Follow me.' Courage said as he freed himself and blew a ginormous bubble that somehow lifted him off the ground and up to Katz.
"Cool." Nora said as she too blew a bubble as big as her. And a second later she also started to float up to Katz.
"Me next." Ruby said excitedly as she tried to blow a bubble. Only for it to pop before it could get big enough. She tried again only for the same result to happen.
"I got you Ruby." I said as I blew a bubble.
Grabbing her hand, we began to float to the top where Courage was already fighting Katz to try and save Muriel. We tied to get off only to realize we didn't know how to. Which caused us to float to the ceiling where the bubble popped. Causing us to fall to the floor. Luckily, our impact was softened as we landed on Katz. Getting up, I was about to try and pull the lever to see if we could free Muriel. But as I tried to, Katz grabbed my leg. Causing me to trip and fall down the stairs. Courage tried to help but ended up coming with me. Not wasting a moment, I grabbed Katz leg and brought him down with us, Down the ridiculously long staircase.
"Go on. You two go him." Muriel cheered.
"OW! OW! OOF!" Kat, Courage and I shouted in pain as we continued to go down the stairs. This lasted for what felt like ten minutes. But it could have just been a few second before we finally reached the floor.
"Oh." We all moaned in pain as we got up. Shaking my head, I saw Katz trying to go for Courage but I tripped him before he could do so.
"Keep it up you two. You can do it." Muriel cheered again.
"Nora. Ruby. Get Muriel." I shouted as I struggled to keep Katz pinned.
"ON IT!" They shouted before getting to work.
"Get off." Katz demanded as he managed to escape before pushing me off.
"You've become a real pain in our ass Katz." I said as stood up and walked over to Courage.
"And so have you both. But seeing as how I outmatch, lets settle this with a game of sport." He suggested.
"Like what?" I asked curious and slightly nervous.
"A staring contest." He answered as he lied down and began to stare at us intensely.
'Do we have to?' Courage asked nervously but began to stare back all the same.
"If not, you both can go bye-bye." Katz answered. Only to get knocked out a moment later himself by Muriel with a rolling pin that she got from somewhere.
"He sure is annoying. All this trouble for me secret ingredient." She said annoyed.
"Are you okay Muriel?" I asked.
"Just fine." She answered smiling.
"What should we do him Jaune?" Ruby asked.
"Take him to the police." I answered.
"I got him." Nora shouted as she easily picked him up. Nodding, we began to head up the stairs. Only to be surprised when we saw Eustace by the steps. This caught us off guard a bit but it was enough for Nora to accidently drop Katz in the batch of taffy he was using to threaten Muriel earlier into giving the secret ingredient.
"Oops." Nora said nervously. Looking into the batch of taffy, we saw that Katz landed into the taffy maker itself.
"WHAT IS THE SECRET INGREDIENT?" Katz asked between getting pulled and squashed by the taffy pulling machine.
"If you must know. It's vinegar." Muriel answered. "I use it in all my recipes."
"Vinegar? Vinegar? Its vinegar!" Katz shouted when he realized the ingredient was much simpler than he probably thought.
"Blah, blah, blah. Where's my dinner?" Eustace demanded annoyed.
"Well, let's head back home and make another batch of caramel apples." Muriel suggested. We all nodded and began to long trip back home. Though, Courage and i did have to carry Nora and Ruby as they both somehow managed to eat a ton of candy before we even got out of the store. They had a sugar rush before passing out a few moments later.
Next Day
'First prize in the Nowhere Sweet Stuff contest goes to Muriel Bagge.' The announcer declared over the p.a. system. 'For the 43rd year in a row.'
"YAY!" We all cheered.
"Congrats Muriel." Ruby said.
"We knew you could do it." Nora added.
"Thanks dearies. I couldn't have done it without your help." Muriel said as she held her first place trophy. And just past her was Katz that was in the shape of a giant green sausage.
"Sad isn't it." He complained. We just rolled our eyes as he does deserve second place as he is a terrible sweet stuff maker.
Note:
(1) Evil Weevil with Weiss and Winter. (2) Tower of Dr. Zalost with Neo, Roman, Ruby and Blake.
Changed the ending a bit to more fit as Nora and Ruby were both there.