Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 86: Courageous Cure
Space
A spaceship is seen rapidly flying towards the Earth as if it was on a critical mission.
Inside the Spaceship
"Watch as the disease takes hold." A grief-stricken voice said as a metal door opened to reveal an orange alien with six arms. However, what was most noticeable about this alien was how bruised and battered it appeared. It almost seemed to have lost twenty fights in a row. One eye was blood-shot while it could barely open the other. Some liquid, which could be drool or blood, slowly dripped from its open and bruised mouth. After a few seconds, one of the arms struggles to raise itself. The alien notices this and becomes frightened. Then, for some reason, the creature punched itself in the face. Yet, if one were to look closely, they could tell that the alien had no control of its arms. "Poor fella. Nothing he can do to stop it."
"UH!" The alien shouted in pain as the arms started to torture it.
"ENOUGH! I CAN'T WATCH!" Another voice demanded with the metal door closing. We then see two aliens resembling the first walking to stand in front of the door. However, unlike the first one, these two were green. But what was most noticeable was that one appeared to be a scientist while the other resembled a military general. "This disease has claimed too many of us back home. Our race is beating itself out of existence. You'd think we could find a cure with all our knowledge and all our arms."
"We will find a cure, captain Lazzo." The scientist alien assured the other. "We located a race of beings who only use their arms to beat each other up, never themselves."
"Will we be able to hybridize with them and conquer this deadly scourge?" Lazzo asked as he moved to the observation window to gaze at Earth. The window soon changed to show a closer look at Earth and soon stopped at the farmhouse.
"We're bringing the subjects aboard momentarily." The scientist said as he moved to stand next to the captain.
Farmhouse
"What's happening?" I groggily asked as I woke up. Rubbing my eyes, I looked around my room and saw Nora and Yang soundly sleeping in their beds. Typically, they would be sleeping in the guest room. However, the room needed to be fixed after a pipe burst nearly destroyed it. Luckily, we had a bed in the cellar, which I brought to my room. Nora slept on my bed while Yang slept on the spare bed. As for me, I was sitting on the computer chair with Courage resting on my lap.
It was a month since the incident with the Goose God and Triton. After two weeks of crying, Eustace finally picked himself up and got a new truck. Iris had to go back to visit her family while Ren, Pyrrha, and Nora went back to Beacon. And everything has been quiet and peaceful since then. And because of this, I've been able to spend some more family time with Muriel and Courage. I even managed to finish and set some more details of the wedding. However, Nora appeared the next day with Yang. We were confused, but they quickly explained that they came to Nowhere to check out some stores and promotions they saw earlier. Yang also wanted to see if there were any new beers types she could try, while Nora wanted to browse through some pancake options and see what the stores offered. Unfortunately, when they were about to board the bullhead, they learned the airstrip back in Vale was closed due to an incident involving Ironwoods. Naturally, since they were now staying here in Nowhere, they decided to visit with Muriel, gladly letting them stay the night.
"Huh, the sky is moving. Probably just dreaming." I said when I saw the stars rapidly move at odd angles.
'Everything all right?' Courage asked through a yawn.
"Yeah, just a dream." I answered while trying to keep quiet and not wake up Yang or Nora.
"Eustace, I think I'm having one of those flying dreams again." We heard Muriel say.
"Well, dream of sleeping, and shut up." Eustace complained before, presumably, going back to sleep.
'You know, at one point, you're going to have to look for houses as I don't think Eustace is good with kids.' Courage said before yawing and falling back asleep.
'Probably should start looking for some tomorrow then.' I thought with a yawn before closing my eyes and falling asleep.
Next Day
*RRRIIIINNNGGG*
*SMASH!*
'Does she always do that?' Courage asked, stretching, referring to how Nora destroyed the alarm clock with her hammer.
"Always." I answered as I got up from the chair. When I was back at Beacon as a student, we always made sure to have spare alarm clocks ready as Nora constantly destroyed them.
"That was a good sleep." Yang said as she stretched.
"So, what's on today's schedule, fearless leader?" Nora asked as she made her bed.
"Nothing really." I answered as I grabbed some clothes.
"Then how about we head into town later." Yang suggested. "I saw this flyer for a fight club yesterday, and I want to see if we can join."
"I'm not too sure we can do that as aside from us, no one in Nowhere has aura or semblance. But after breakfast, we can head into town to see anything else. Speaking of which, what do you guys feel like-" I began, but Nora cut me off.
"PANCAKES!" She answered, startling Courage and causing him to fly to my head in fear.
"All right. I'll see what I can do." I said, chuckling as I removed Courage and placed him on the floor. However, we all sighed in irritation when Eustace shouted from his bedroom.
"KIDS! DOG! GET ME MY NEWSPAPER!" He demanded.
"I'm still impressed by how you're able to stand him and not snap after all this time." Yang said, annoyed. "I know I would have after only an hour."
"I ask myself that every day." I answered with a sigh. "Anyway, let's get changed so we can head downstairs to make pancakes."
Ten Minutes Later
"Wow, it's bright today." Yang said as we walked down the stairs. The light coming from the window was so bright that we had to squint.
"Yeah, it's never been this bright before." I added as I used my arm to block some of the light. "But anyway, what pancakes do you guys want?"
"How about some chocolate and blueberry pancakes." Nora answered excitedly.
"Alright. I'll get right-"
*Knock Knock*
'Who could that be?' Courage asked as he moved towards the door.
"Are you expecting anyone, Jaune?" Yang wearily asked as she and Nora readied their weapons.
"Not that I am aware of." I answered as Courage opened the door, only to be nearly blinded by the light.
'Huh?' He asked, confused when we spotted two silhouettes about fifteen feet from us.
'DAMN, THAT'S BRIGHT!' I thought as I quickly covered my eyes to avoid being blinded.
"Does anyone see anything?" Nora asked, trying to see anything but couldn't due to how bright the light was. However, before we could say anything, we heard Courage scream.
'AAAAHHHHH!' He screamed with squishing sounds following right after. Luckily, he moved towards the center of the living room, allowing us to see him and not get blinded by the light.
"You know, at this point, I'm pretty sure there is nothing that Courage can do or transform into that would surprise me." Yang commented when we realized that Courage's body flipped inside out. Hearing footsteps, we looked to the stairs and saw Muriel walking towards us in surprise.
"Courage, you should really put on your clothes." She told him, unaware that she saw his organs, despite seeing his beating heart. She then hummed as she headed towards the kitchen.
"Muriel. There is something you might want to see." I said, running up to her. Courage soon joined me, having somehow put his organs back inside himself.
"And what would that be?" She asked, smiling. But before we could answer, Yang and Nora pushed us to the ground.
"WATCH OUT!" They shouted as a comically large gloved hand tried to grab us. Unfortunately, while we managed to avoid the first one, a second one caught Muriel.
"OH, MY! AHH!" She screamed as the hand dragged her across the living room.
"MURIEL!" We shouted in fear.
"HEY! NO ONE IS LEAVING UNTIL I GET MY BREAKFAST!" Eustace shouted, uncaring of the danger Muriel was in at the moment.
'GOTCHA!' Courage grunted as he grabbed Muriel's boot, only to be dragged along with her. Once the hand got them out of the house, a second hand appeared and grabbed Eustace before pulling him out as well.
"Come on." I said as we all rushed outside. However, as soon as we reached the door, a third hand appeared and caught us before we could react.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Nora asked as we struggled to break free.
"I'm not sure." I said as I closed my eyes as the light was blinding me. Soon, however, we were released from the hand and landed on the ground but still couldn't see anything.
"Kill the sanitizing lights." A voice ordered with lights turning off a second later, allowing us to see clearly again without being blinded by them. However, we did have to do a double-take when we saw exactly what gave the order.
"COOL! ALIENS!" Nora said excitedly upon seeing the eight-armed green creatures in front of us.
"Oh, my." Muriel said when we realized that we were in giant glass domes.
"Um, I'll say this again. but what is happening?" I asked, confused and worried.
"We apologize for this slight inconvenience." The alien wearing what appeared to be military clothing said as he moved one of his eight arms.
"Um, this is more than just a slight inconvenience.' Yang commented, annoyed.
"COFFEE! I WANT COFFEE!" Eustace shouted.
"What do you guys want?" I asked.
'Hopefully, nothing bad.' Courage said, worried and shaking.
"With your indulgence, we would like your help in preventing our race from becoming extinct." The alien answered.
"WHO CARES?" Eustace complained but was silenced by a punch from Yang.
"Oh, you poor dears." Muriel said while clasping her hands together.
"Um, wow. I was not expecting that." I said, surprised at the answer.
"Yeah, and I'm not sure how much help we can be. We're good at defending people from small enemies and are always up for a fight, but we've dealt with something that could wipe something from extinction." Nora nervously added.
"But that doesn't mean we won't help." Yang confidently said, with Nora and me nodding. However, that did not mean we were going to let our guard down, as we still don't know how they want us to help them.
"Everyone, we're being asked to help these nice odd-looking strangers from becoming extinct. I think it's only neighborly to give them a hand." Muriel told us.
'NO!' Courage shouted, worried.
"Don't worry, Courage. We'll keep an eye on them." I assured him.
'I don't trust this.' He nervously said.
"I know, but I don't want them to die. Plus, we don't have that many options at the moment." I told him.
"So, how exactly can we help?" Yang asked.
"And what is threatening your race? Is it a creature or something?" I asked, curious.
"OH! WE CAN BEAT THE MONSTER LIKE WE BEAT GRIMM!" Nora shouted as she readied her weapon with Yang doing the same a moment later.
"All questions will be answered momentarily. Begin D.N.A. transfusion." The military alien ordered.
"Right." The alien wearing a lab coat said before pressing some buttons on the console in front of him. Soon, fifteen suction tubes came down from the ceiling and attached to our bodies.
"EH?" Eustace asked, confused.
'AAHHHH!' Courage screamed with his tongue popping out with mouths on it with tongues sticking out of those mouths.
"WATCH THE HAIR!" Yang shouted as she grabbed and tore the suction tube that nearly attached itself to her hair. However, another one appeared and stuck itself to her lower back.
"What in Oum's name is that?" I asked, worried when a green liquid started flowing down the tubes.
"What?" Eustace asked as the liquid reached us.
"That tickles." Nora said, laughing as the liquid started entering our bodies. However, that soon stopped when we noticed that our skin turned green. Although, had I not been worried about what the liquid was, I would have mentally remarked how the aliens were lucky the liquid did not affect our hair. Otherwise, Yang would be pissed, and they would be in a world of hurt.
'Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.' Courage said, panicking.
"Okay, this is too much. Nora, can you-why can't I move?" I began before realizing that I could barely move my arms or legs.
"Hey, I can't move either." Nora said as she struggled even to turn her head.
"WHAT DID YOU TWO DO!?" Yang shouted, her eyes now a flaming red along with her hair. However, try as she might, even she could not break free.
"Courage, help us." Muriel said with despair in her voice.
'Hang on.' Courage said as he jumped onto Muriel's head and tried to remove the suction tube but failed. He then tried to use his teeth but to no avail either.
"We only need help from those that walk upright like us. You, four-legged one, you can relax." The scientist alien said before pressing a button on the console. Soon, a blue gloved hand appeared and grabbed Courage.
'NO!' He shouted as he held onto the tube but was ultimately pulled away towards a nearby reclining chair. Throwing him into it, the hand disappeared before reappearing with a second hand beside it and plastic wrap. It then used the plastic wrap to tie down and secure Courage to the chair so he could not escape.
"I'm sure my science officer can calm your fears and answer your questions by explaining to you exactly what is happening. " The military alien said. "Jay."
"Right." The scientist alien said before moving towards and making sure the suction tubes were securely attached to us. "You all are being infused with our D.N.A. so that you can become hybrid beings and develop antibodies to the disease that is destroying us. We will then extract the antibodies from you and create a serum that will cure us."
"And after you all are cured, we'll be fine as new?" Muriel asked, hopeful. The aliens looked towards each other before giving us answers that scared us.
"Ask him."
"I can't bother with that now."
"AAAAHHHH!" Everyone screamed in terror.
"I only wanted to be a good neighbor." Muriel said, upset.
"Next time, let the neighbors get extinct and get me my breakfast." Eustace scolded.
"You're so lucky I can't move otherwise; I would deck you for saying that." Yang said, her eyes briefly changing to red before reverting back to green. She then huffed before turning to the aliens. "So, what exactly is this disease that's affecting your species?"
"This deadly scourge takes away all motor control we have of our arms. It then causes the arms to attack the body with anything they have at their disposal. And if nothing is in range, the arms will attack by punching, strangling, choking, etc." The scientist alien explained.
"But what makes you think we will even produce the antibodies to this disease?" I asked, curious.
"You see, the disease makes the host attack itself by turning the arms against it. We deduced that the only way to create antibodies is to find a race that only uses its arms to beat others up, never themselves. And after much searching, we found your race." The scientist alien explained.
"But what makes you think we love fighting others and not ourselves?" Nora asked, nervous and hoping they would let us go.
"I must admit, at first, I was doubtful that we found the correct species. But after the two young females admitted they loved a good fight and readied their weapons before learning what was threatening our race." The military alien explained.
"Oh." Yang and Nora nervously said.
"So, um. Does the D.N.A. cause any mutations or something?" I ask, curious.
"You'll see as the D.N.A. should be taking effect." The scientist alien answered.
For the next few moments, nothing happened. However, that changed when we felt an excruciating sharp pain shoot through our bodies. Even with our aura, the pain was agonizing to the point that we would have collapsed if we could. Veins even started appearing on our faces from how intense the pain was. Unfortunately, and to our shock and horror, the pain was soon the least of our problems as pink tentacles appeared underneath Muriel's apron. Then, five eyestalks grew on Eustace's forehead and began blinking. Yang started screaming as a yellow dragon tail grew from her backside, and her ears transformed into yellow dragon ears. Nora, meanwhile, screamed as white, almost angelic-like wings sprouted from her back. Feeling a knot in my stomach, I grunted as rabbit ears popped out of my head.
'NO!' Courage screamed.
"That was... painful. At least the pain is over for now." I huffed as we caught our breath.
"Unfortunately, not. We have to wait for them to accept our D.N.A. and stabilize." The scientist alien commented.
'Oh, no.' I thought as the pain returned tenfold.
Muriel and Eustace started screaming again as Muriel's neck transformed into a spring, and branches sprung from her ears. Eustace grunted as something tried to protrude itself from his stomach. After a few seconds, it succeeded and revealed itself to be a cow head the mooed. Looking towards Yang, we saw bright orange-red scales grow along her arms and legs. Turning towards Nora, her wings took on a glossy appearance as her hair changed to light brown as angelic wings appeared on her head. Feeling the pain again, I saw jade crystal form on my face and rabbit ears.
"Hmm. What happens next?" The military alien asked, curious.
"Not again!" Yang said through gritted teeth as the pain returned. Luckily, the pain went away after a few seconds. But that is only because six arms grew from our stomachs.
"Please tell me that's it." Nora huffed, fatigued.
"Right. Now we administer the disease and then hope for antibodies to form." The scientist alien told the military one.
"How will we know if they form antibodies?"
"If they form antibodies, the disease would not affect them. If they don't start beating themselves up, we're saved." The scientist explained before pressing a button on the console.
"Please don't hurt." I begged as the strange orange liquid flowed down the tubes and entered our bodies. And to our relief, we felt no pain. "Oh, thank Oum."
"Hey, I can move my hands again." Yang said, getting out attention. Turning to her, we saw her moving her hand in circles.
"Now, we'll see how they're reacting." The scientist alien said.
"Not if we get out beforehand." Yang warned as she tried to free herself. Unfortunately, she only had control of her hands and not limbs. For the next few seconds, we tried to escape but failed.
"Hey! I got control ag-OOF!" Nora began before grunting when the extra arms started hitting us in the face.
"I knew I should have been a telemarketer." The alien scientist commented, sounding exasperated.
"OOH! OH!" Muriel screamed as the hands yanked on her cheeks while the others tore the branches out of her ears.
"AAAHHHH!" Eustace screamed in agony as the hands pulled his ear, nose, and tongue. They released them before poking him in the eyes. "OW!"
"Anyone got any ideas?" Yang shouted as she tried to grab her hands to prevent them from punching her.
"No." Nora answered as two hands punched her in the gut. "OOF!"
"OOH! And I had such high hopes for the day. OOH!" Muriel said as the hands kept hitting her already bruised face. Unfortunately, the suction tubes eventually came loose because of how hard the hands were hitting us.
"LOOK OUT! DISEASE JUICE!" The alien scientist shouted as they covered themselves with their arms as they were coated in the liquid.
"COURAGE! WE NEED YOUR HELP!" I shouted as I managed to grab two of the six arms. Only to let them go when three others hit me in the stomach while the last one hit me in my groin. "Why?"
'Hang on.' He shouted as he tried to bite through the plastic wrap, which was proving quite resilient. But he stopped when he noticed a weird-looking alien cat walking by him. Getting an idea, he whistled to get the cat's attention. The cat then walked over to him and used its claws to absolutely shred the chair to pieces. Now that he was free, Courage laughed as he made his way over to us while the cat jumped onto the chair and fell asleep.
"I don't think that is going to work." Nora said as Courage tried to keep two of the six arms from hitting Muriel. This was proven true when the other arms picked Courage up and threw him away. Hearing Eustace laughing, we turned towards him and saw that he managed to trap three of the extra arms. However, another reached across the ship and pressed a red button on the wall.
"WHAT?!" Eustace exclaimed, shocked when a trap hole opened beneath his feet. He fell through the floor and presumably out of the ship. "AAHHH!"
"Well, that takes care of him." Yang commented as she broke the hands of three of the extra arms. However, the other arms were still beating her up. And since her aura ran out, the bruises were more noticeable.
"Courage, it's no use. Save yourself." Muriel told him.
'No, I won't-' He began but was interrupted when a tube flew into his mouth, forcing him to swallow the disease liquid. He managed to free his mouth from the tube before spitting the liquid out of his mouth. 'BLEGH!'
"COURAGE! ARE YOU OKAY?" I asked, worried.
"Courage, you drank the disease!" Muriel said, equally worried.
'EEE!' Courage exclaimed as he looked down at his body. But, after a few seconds, nothing happened. 'HUH?'
"Wait, shouldn't the disease have affected him?" Nora asked, confused.
"Maybe he's immune. Perhaps they can use him to get the antibodies." Yang suggested as she broke the hand of the last extra arm.
"Jay, the four-legged one is immune. Can we get the serum from him?" The military alien asked through pained grunts.
"First, we have to hybridize him." Jay answered before making his way to the console. But, as he tried to press the button, he struggled to keep his arms under control but failed as they punched him away.
"Courage, help us." Muriel said with fear in her voice as she managed to grab all the extra arms.
"Yang, do you think you can help him?" I asked as the arms kept hitting me.
"Sure. Just give me a moment." She answered as she winced in pain when she placed her arm on her stomach. Breathing in painfully, they both ran over to the console. However, they became confused about what button to press. "What should we do?"
"The big sliding thing." Jay said through pained grunts as his arms kept hitting his face.
"Got it." Yang said as she moved the slider. The suction tubes went still for a moment before the disease liquid changed to the D.N.A. liquid. "Now what?"
'Something probably disgusting.' Courage said, momentarily forgetting Yang couldn't understand him, before heading over to a tube and began drinking the liquid. 'EEWWW!'
"I wonder what Courage is going to transform into?" Nora asked, curious as Yang helped her get control of the extra arms. After a few seconds, the changes began with Courage having the body of a corn.
'Oh?' He asked, confused. However, he started grunting in pain when each kernel popped into popcorn. Once done, all that was left was a string body. But before we could say anything, Courage's nose elongated with whiskers growing from the top of the nose. Right after that, his ears changed into butterfly wings. Yet, after a couple of seconds, his head returned to normal, with his body transforming into a watermelon with extra arms appearing on top.
"There, you're ready to produce serum." Jay told us.
"But how is he going to get it to everyone?" Yang asked.
"The sprinkler system." I said, pointing towards the wall where the pipe was located. "Nora, do you think you can break the pipe off the wall and place it inside Courage?"
"I'll... try." She answered through gritted teeth before running over to the wall with Courage. Getting they used their combined might to be able to rip the pipe off the floor. Usually, Nora would be able to do it alone, but she was too injured from getting beaten up by the extra arms. Plus, her aura was depleted by this point. Courage then stuck the pipe in himself before squeezing his watermelon body. For a moment, I thought it wouldn't work, but it did as the sprinklers let out a pink liquid.
"AHH." We all sighed in relief as the arms stopped hitting us. Some even fell to the ground in exhaustion as they no longer had the strength to remain upright. Turning to the aliens, I walked over to them with a limp.
"Now that you have your serum, can you change us back to normal?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"Yes. Just give us a moment." Jay said as he struggled to get up before leaving.
Half an Hour Later
"There. That should be enough to cure everyone, Captain Lazzo." Jay said as he turned off the valve he placed on Courage. Curious, Lazzo took the vial and drank some of the serum.
"AH! And it's tasty too." He said with a refreshing sigh.
"Okay, I need everyone together so I can extract the D.N.A." Jay said as he took out a device that resembled a vacuum with five plungers on the front.
"Nora. Come down. We're about to change back to normal." I called out to her.
"Aw." She whined as she flew down to us. After curing everyone, Nora became curious about her wings. And after a quick test, she learned that she could fly with them and hasn't stopped since then. With a pout, she flew down and landed next to us. Smiling, Jay pressed the button on the device which sent the plunger towards us. They then sucked the alien D.N.A. out of us.
"Right." He said as he put away the device. For the first few seconds, nothing happened. But then we reverted back to normal, with even the bruises disappearing.
"That's better." Yang said as she roller her arms a bit before fixing her hair.
"Ah, much better." Muriel said, smiling.
"Now, can you guys drop us and our home back to where it belongs?" I asked.
"Of course." Lazzo said before leaving the dome with Jay.
Five Hours Later
"Ah, so good to be home." Muriel said as she rocked in her rocking chair with Courage laying in her lap.
"And to finally have pancakes." Nora said as she devoured the pancakes I made for everyone.
"Although, I'm curious as to how you're going to fix the foundation." Yang said as she drank some coffee. Typically, she would have gone for some beer or soda but didn't feel like either.
"There are some people in town that are willing to help me with that." I answered while sipping on some tea.
"I just hope that Eustace finds his way back." Muriel said.
"You think he's actually going to get back, Jaune?" Nora asked with a mouth full of pancakes.
"Considering he's returned after being mummified, I'm sure he would find his way back soon." I answered.
'I wonder where is he is right now?' Courage asked, curious.
Mars
We see Eustace, still hybridized and angry, sitting on a rock with his arms folded. Across from him was a space dino stirring a pot filled with strange mush. The dino then lifted the spoon and forced it into Eustace's mouth. However, Eustace spitted it out immediately.
"That ain't ham and eggs. I want ham and... I want eggs." Eustace complained before being force-fed another spoonful of the mush. "MOMMY!"
"HA, HA, HA, HA!" The alien laughed before continuing to feed Eustace.
Notes:
(1) The Hunchback of Nowhere with Blake and Velvet (2) The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Loveable Duckling with Pyrrha, Ruby, and Zwei.
Transformation: Yang changed into a dragon. Read some stories of her name translating to yellow dragon. Nora had the wings of a Valkyrie because of her name. Jaune's change was finding out the jade rabbit represents the moon in Chinese culture.