"Happy Plums Save the Day"…with cameo appearances by Reginald Baggs and Joseph Williams!!!!!
Byleth saw the look on Courage's face and immediately wondered why he was smiling. At the same time, Abigail and Leonard Stromwell got up and gasped at the two forms behind Byleth. Byleth also turned around and gasped as well.
Hovering in the air, surrounded by an aura of green, were none other than Reginald Baggs and Joseph Williams, the founders of Nowhere.
"You are not going to lay a finger on that dog," ordered Reginald.
"Oh?" questioned Byleth. "And who are you to tell me what to do?"
"My name is Reginald Baggs," said Reginald, "and that is my friend, Joseph Williams."
"We are friends of Courage, the dog you see there," added Joseph.
"He helped us open the doors to our final resting place, and we just happened to be in the neighborhood…"
"Bah!" exclaimed Byleth. "Who do you think you are, barging down here and ordering me to stand down? I was just having a bit of fun anyway."
Courage slowly inched his way over to where Leonard and Abigail were sitting. Things didn't look good at the moment, despite the familiar visitors.
"Well, Reginald and I implore you to let the dog go, as well as let the Stromwell couple return to their final resting pl…"
"Never!" shouted Byleth. "They are prisoners! They broke many of the ethical and moral policies that keep this place operational." Byleth brought his hand behind his back, away from Reginald and Joseph. Courage, Leonard, and Abigail watched in horror as a ball of red, ectoplasmic energy formed in Byleth's palm. "And I cannot allow you to release them!"
With that, Byleth threw the ball of energy at the two founders.
"Look out!" yelled Reginald as he and Joseph dodged them.
"So you want to play rough, huh?" retorted Joseph. Both ghosts suddenly produced balls of energy themselves. Within seconds, red and green spheres were flying everywhere.
Courage, Leonard, and Abigail tried to get away from the melee, but there wasn't much cover besides the tower and the confines. They pressed themselves up against the tower. Courage looked at the bright light up to the left and the black fog down to the right. He wondered why some big booming voice from either place didn't interfere.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," said Leonard to Abigail.
"That's alright, Leo," assured Abigail. "At least you kept your promise. That's all I need to keep me happy." She smiled at her husband.
"Happy?" thought Courage. "That's it!" A light bulb appeared over his head. He reached in his pocket and took out the bag of Happy Plums that Dr. Zalost had given him. If they could make an angry doctor happy, why not a temperamental spirit?
The only problem was: how was he going to get Byleth to eat them?
Thinking of no other plan, Courage ran into the scuffle, keeping his eye out for any incoming energy balls and praying that none of them would snap the rope.
"I'm growing tired of this," said Byleth angrily. He was just about to start another onslaught when he felt something kick his foot. The balls of energy stopped flying as Byleth looked down and saw Courage holding up a clear plastic bag with big reflective eyes.
The pathetic sight made Byleth laugh. Reginald and Joseph stood still, ready to attack if Byleth made any move towards Courage.
Byleth tried to stop laughing as he slowly leaned over. "What do you have there, dog, a peace offering?" Byleth slowly took the bag from Courage as the founders looked on cautiously.
Byleth glared at the contents. Courage gulped, hoping Byleth would eat them.
"Okay, dog, I'll play along. I'll need all the 'strength' I need to get rid of these two ghouls." Byleth abruptly threw the plums, bag and all, into his mouth. He chewed the contents for a while and swallowed it. To Courage's dismay, it didn't look like it had any affect on him.
"Now, then…" grumbled Byleth. Another ball of energy began to form in his hand, and judging from his line of sight, it looked like he was going to break the rope that was holding Courage! Reginald and Joseph readied themselves as Leonard and Abigail remained where they were. They were afraid if they made a break for it, Byleth would hit them before they made it.
Suddenly, the ball of energy in Byleth's hand disappeared. The red glow that illuminated him died out. "Now…now, I just had a thought."
Everyone, the four ghosts and Courage, were startled by this sudden mood change. Byleth's voice was still deep, but was now less threatening. His eyebrows, which had been in an angry position for the longest time, were now beginning to recede.
"Before anyone goes anywhere, I think I'd better check this with higher authorities. It's stuff like this that got me kicked out from both worlds in the first place." Suddenly, Byleth broke into a run towards the bright white light. "Nobody move! I'll be right back!" He disappeared into the light.
Courage and ghosts didn't move. They were too shocked by what had just happened. All four ghosts slowly turned and stared at Courage.
"Was that one of my inventions?" asked Stromwell. "I don't recall making anything like that."
Courage shook his head.
"Those looked like plums to me," said Reginald, scratching his head.
Courage nodded.
"Gee, what did you put in them?" asked Joseph.
Courage just shrugged. Muriel always said that she put lots of love and affection in her plums. "My happy plums can make anyone happy," she used to say.
Just then, Byleth ran out of the light and rushed past them. "Still don't go anywhere!" He ran off into the black fog.
"Sorry we didn't get here sooner, Courage," apologized Reginald.
"Yeah," added Joseph. "Remember when we revived you in that cave after my battle with Reginald? Oh, of course not, you were unconscious, sorry. Anyway, not only did we bring you back to life, for lack of better words, we also created a spiritual link between us and you, so that when you finally arrived here, we'd be able to meet you again."
"We were a little shocked when we detected your presence here so soon," admitted Joseph. "But when he arrived here, we saw you were still alive."
Turning to Leonard, Reginald said, "You're going to have to tell us all about this portal you created."
Before Leonard Stromwell could thank Reginald for the remark, Byleth returned. "Okay," he said, "I talked to the guy up there and the guy down there and they said exactly as I thought they would say." Byleth pointed upwards. "He wants me to set the Stromwells free." Byleth pointed downwards. "He wants them to be kept here or be sent to where he is for eternity. So, I decided…"
"Mr. Byleth!" said a small voice suddenly. Everyone turned and saw a small ghost with a cherubim face running towards them. "Mr. Byleth, sir!"
Byleth sighed. "What is it now?"
The cherubim ghost stuttered, "A…um, another stillborn from the reincarnation department has been left in your realm again, sir."
"That's the fifth one we've had in the last…well, that's it. I'm sick and tired of those slackers dropping off souls here in my domain. I'm going to personally go there right now and straighten this whole thing out. Let the guy in charge know that, okay? He will know soon enough the evil powers of…"
"Okay, bye, sir," said the ghost and floated off.
Byleth rubbed his forehead. "Okay, I've dealt with you and Abigail long enough, Leo. You two are free to go…but only because I have a very busy schedule, and if you ever cause another fiasco like this ever again, I'll make sure you'll pay dearly for it, understand?"
"…y…Yes! Yessir!" said Leonard Stromwell happily.
"Good. Now get lost." With that, Byleth walked off into the fog.
Abigail and Leonard immediately started a victory celebration, which Courage, Reginald, and Joseph soon joined in.
"I've never been so happy!" said Stromwell as he hugged his wife again.
Just then, a flash of light and sparks of electricity shot out from the portal that Courage was still attached to. Strange whirring sounds were coming from the gateway.
"Oh no!" gasped Stromwell. "The portal is malfunctioning!"
"Keep it steady!" shouted Agent R on the other side of the portal.
"I can't!" yelled Kevin. "Everything's breaking apart!"
It was true. The century-old machinery was finally beginning to take its toll. Sparks were flying out from everywhere. The agents were trying to man the controls as best they could, but it would be seconds until the entire thing shut down entirely. Zalost and Shirley stepped back from a control board that had become to hot to handle. The Duck Brothers stood by the rope, ready to pull Courage in.
"The signal," whispered Kevin. "C'mon, Courage, give us the signal." The signal, by the way, was if Courage was in trouble, he would tug on the cord three times.
Sandy bit down on her paw with worry as the portal began to break down.
"Quickly, Courage!" shouted Stromwell. "You must go back through the portal or you'll be stuck here in this world for quite a while."
Courage looked at Stromwell in shock.
Reading the expression on Courage's face, Stromwell nodded sadly. "Yes, Courage, I'm afraid that once the portal shuts down, it will shut down for good. I'm the only one who knew how to operate it correctly, so this might be the last time we shall see each other."
Courage nodded in agreement. After all that had happened in the last few days, Courage was saddened to hear this news.
"But cheer up, Courage," reassured Stromwell. "Like your friends, Reginald and Joseph, I will always be looking out for you."
Courage smiled as he told himself not to cry. His tail wagged as Stromwell patted Courage on the head, even though the dog didn't feel anything.
Abigail approached Courage as gave him a quick kiss on his forehead. "Thank you, Courage," she said softly.
"Farewell, Courage," said Reginald.
"Yes," added Joseph. "It was a pleasure meeting you again. I only wish it wouldn't have been cut so short."
With that, Courage grabbed the rope and was just about to tug it three times, when he suddenly remembered what Kevin told him to do. With a rush of frantic energy, Courage began babbling a bunch of syllables and was waving his arms.
Stromwell, who didn't understand what Courage was babbling about (not because he didn't understand Dog, but because Courage was talking too quickly), looked at the two founders to see if they knew what the dog said.
"I believe he's asking you where the treasure is, Leonard," said Reginald.
"Ah, yes, of course," said Stromwell. He motioned to Courage, and whispered in the dog's ear the location of the tax money.
Then, large bolts of electricity and steam were streaming out of the portal. It wasn't going to stay open much longer.
"Go, Courage! And thank you for everything...fellow citizen of Nowhere."
"Good-bye, Courage," called Abigail, Reginald, and Joseph.
Courage smiled, waved with one paw, and tugged the rope three times with the other paw. Immediately, Courage was yanked off his feet and flying backwards towards the portal.
The last thing he saw were the smiling faces of Reginald Baggs and Joseph Williams, as well as Leonard and Abigail Stromwell walking hand in hand towards the bright white light at last.
Courage felt a brief stinging sensation as his body left the spirit world and came back into his own world. Moments later, an explosion of dirt, steam, fire, and debris slammed into Courage, who was still flying backwards in the air. The blast sent everyone flying a short distance into the lab experiments in the room. They were shaken and slightly bruised, but unharmed.
Slowly, everyone slowly got to their feet. They saw the square-shaped portal was still intact, but instead of light, there was only the wall of the room on the other side. The machines that had been keeping the portal open were virtually destroyed. Dust and scraps of metal were everywhere. The only lights were now coming from torches on the walls that no one had noticed before. There were also large candelabras standing on every table. No one had noticed they were lit because the light from the portal had grabbed everyone's attention.
Courage thanked everybody he could think of that he had not been on the other side of the portal when it exploded.
Instantly, Courage became surrounded by congratulations, hugs, pats, kisses (from Sandy), and questions, especially from the agents, who were incredibly eager to know about what was on the other side of the portal.
Kevin soon calmed everyone down, pried Sandy off of Courage, and asked, "Did you ask Stromwell where the treasure is?"
Courage shakily nodded his head and hugged Kevin by the neck. As he did, Courage whispered to Kevin the location of the treasure, according to what Stromwell said.
Kevin let go of Courage and pointed to the corner of the room that was near the entrance to the cave (the one with the big door.)
Everyone got up and ran over to the corner, except for Agent R. He quickly grabbed Kevin by the shoulder and said, "You have quite an unusual talent, Kevin."
"What do you mean?" asked Kevin innocently.
"Don't play dumb, Kev," laughed Agent R. "You really think I didn't notice Courage whisper something in your ear? You can understand what Courage says, right?"
Kevin saw Courage and Sandy staring at him with shocked expressions. "No," said Kevin stubbornly. Then, seeing that it really didn't matter by now, he shrugged his shoulders softly and said, "I can understand all dogs…pretty much."
"Ah," said Agent R. He and Kevin slowly walked with Courage and Sandy towards the corner of the room where everyone else was waiting for them.
"How come you didn't tell me this before?" asked Agent R.
"Duh! Because you were secret agents who would've sent me off to some government facility to be experimented on or something," answered Kevin.
"Well, I'm glad you kept it a secret for this long," said Agent R. "Because by now, my fellow agents and I are pretty much fed up with this business. Besides, I think we've experienced some stuff that's a whole lot weirder than the ability to talk to dogs."
"That's true," laughed Kevin.
The two looked at Courage and Sandy talking and giggling to each other.
"What are they saying now?" asked Agent R.
"Oh, just cutesy, boyfriend-girlfriend stuff. You wouldn't be interested."
Overhearing, Sandy lightly punched Kevin in the leg.
Finally, the four of them reached the far corner of the room, away from the portal. Everybody was standing around a lone table with a few beakers on it. Courage began pointing frantically to one of the beakers.
"What does it mean?" asked Agent Gammon.
Everyone, except Agent R, was equally curious. Agent R had a hunch and looked under the table. A wire came out of the wall and up through the table.
"We're supposed to move one of the beakers, right?" asked Agent R.
Courage nodded his head. He instructed Kevin to lift him up onto the table. Courage walked over to the beakers and looked at Agent R. Together, the two zeroed in on one particular beaker. Without hesitation, Courage grabbed the beaker and tried to lift it, but it didn't budge. This was the right one. Just like Stromwell told him to, Courage turned the beaker a quarter to the right.
At once, and entire section of wall sunk into the floor next to the table. Not far inside, to the surprise of everyone, were several wooden treasure chests.
"That's it! That's the treasure!" shouted Kevin. Everyone began dancing around and celebrating again. The Duck Brothers had no idea how important the treasure was, but since everyone was celebrating, they might as well to.
Eventually, everyone tried to drag one of the chests. It took everyone to drag it, because it was VERY heavy. There was also a large lock on it that had to be broken off. A large metal rod that had been used in a semiconductor experiment was used to eventually break the lock. All four agents opened the chest's door.
Everyone was expecting the usual "gold coin" treasure, but instead, there were packs and packs of old dollar bills. Kevin held one of them up. The bills were dated '1900' and looked brand new.
"Wow," said Agent R. He looked at Kevin. "There's enough money here to buy your whole family a mansion!"
With a start, Kevin suddenly remembered that his family had been evicted from their apartment and had nowhere to go. His parents, Eustace, and Muriel were asleep back at the house (thanks to Stromwell's sleeping spell) and Katie was back there too.
"Yeah," said D.M. "Didn't Stromwell's bio say that there was a reward for discovering this money?"
"I think so, yeah," said Kevin. He was still in shock by the discovery. "But, where would I begin? I…"
"Here," said Agent R. He gave Kevin a piece of paper. On it was a printout of a website for Kansas State Realty. "I figure this might be a good starting point."
Kevin didn't know what to say. Sandy hugged Kevin's leg as he stared at everyone.
"Wow, this is so incredible. I…I wish this moment could last forever."
At that moment, a man's voice startled everyone.
"HANDS IN THE AIR!!! NOBODY MOVE!!!"
Everyone turned with their hands raised and saw a man in camouflage gear pointing a machine gun straight at them.