Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog (complete)

by vanquish356

All his life, Jaune wanted to have adventures. But after getting expelled from Beacon and disowned by his parents, he thought he would never be able to have that kind of that is, until he is taken in by an elderly couple with a pink dog. Now he is going to have what he always wanted. Adventures. Just not the type he thought. But at least he has a courageous dog by his side.

90. Le Quack Balloon

Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog

Chap 89: Le Quack Balloon

"Let's see, two cups of flour." Muriel said, reading the recipes from one of her many cookbooks.

"I have the flour." Glynda said, grabbing the flour from the cupboards.

"One cup of brown sugar."

"I found the sugar." Winter said as she poured sugar into the measuring cup.

"Two pounds of butter."

"Courage and I have the butter." I said while closing the door after taking out two ridiculous-sized containers filled with butter.

Currently, we were in the kitchen baking some Scottish Sweet Cookies. And with us were Glynda and Winter. Courage and I ran into them while we were out earlier today, shopping for groceries and things we needed for the wedding. They were sent here by Ozpin and Ironwood to 'investigate' some rumors about the locals seeing the mysterious maiden. Knowing they had no choice, they agreed to do so but only if they went alone and no drones or surveillance cameras came with them. While I was glad they were still keeping Iris a secret from Ozpin and Ironwood, I felt like there was another reason they came. And this feeling was only amplified when I spotted Winter, Glynda, and Iris coming out of a wedding shop. But before I could call her, Iris left with all the stuff they had brought. However, I didn't think anything about it nor question Glynda or Winter when they spotted us and came over as I trusted them and Iris. And after some small talk and catching up, we offered to let them come back to the farmhouse to rest for a while.

"Better make it four pounds." Muriel said as she took the containers. "I love my Scottish dream cookies buttery."

"Are you sure that isn't too much butter?" Glynda asked, concerned as Courage and I got two more pounds of butter from the fridge. But before we could answer, Eustace barged into the kitchen.

"MURIEL! You seen my glasses?" He asked as he used his hands to try and get a feel for what was in front of him. However, he was simply waving his hands in the air at the moment. Unfortunately, because he didn't have his glasses, he accidentally hit the butter containers we had just got out of the fridge into the air. Luckily, before they could fall on our heads, Glynda used her semblance to catch the containers and place them on the counter.

"Thanks, Glynda." We said, with her nodding in response.

"No, I haven't. Did you misplace them?" Muriel asked as she began to wash some dishes.

"Yes, I misplace them." Eustace answered before knocking over a chair, which fell onto his foot, causing him to trip. "OW!"

"Courage, Jaune. You both better help Eustace find his glasses. Be his guides. We wouldn't want him to lose his way."

"A little late for that." Winter whispered to Glynda, who nodded in agreement.

'I know I'm not going to like this.' Courage said as he put his leash on himself.

"Me neither." I said as we walked over to Eustace, who was under the table.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" He demanded before standing up and going through the table. Luckily, Glynda and Winter saw this coming and had already moved everything to the counter. "OWW! DON'T NEED NO GUIDES!"

"We'll be back in a bit." I said as I followed Eustace dragging Courage outside.

"When should we tell him?" I heard Winter say as I closed the door. For a moment, I wondered what they meant, but I shrugged as it was none of my business.

"My glasses, now where'd they go?" Eustace asked, getting my attention. Turning to him, I saw him checking the ground for his glasses.

"I don't think your glasses are outside the house." I told him.

"SHUT IT! Now help me find them." Sighing, I went over and sat next to Courage.

"We're going to be here a while, aren't we?"

'Unfortunately.' He answered before looking out toward the sunset. But his expression changed to confusion when he spotted something. 'Huh?'

"You see something-Why is there a hot air balloon coming toward us?" I began but asked when I saw a brightly colored hot air balloon coming toward the farm.

"I-I-I can't see. Oh, where? Where?" Eustace asked as he continued searching, unaware of what was happening even though the hot air balloon landed mere feet from him.

'Help! Help! Balloon. Balloon.' Courage said, trying to tell Eustace what was happening.

"You got my glasses?" He asked as he turned to face Courage.

'Who could it be this time?' I wondered as the hot air balloon's door opened.

"Le Quack is back." Le Quack announced, unknowingly answering my question as he stepped out of the basket.

'AAHHH!' Courage screamed in terror before running back inside the house. Luckily, Le Quack somehow didn't hear us.

"YEOW! What are you trying to do, bust my neck?" Eustace asked as he was unwillingly dragged inside by Courage. And because Eustace could not see, he tripped over the step, causing him to fly inside the kitchen and crash into the fridge.

"Is something wrong?" Glynda asked when she saw me enter the kitchen, close the door, and lock it.

"Has something else shown up?" Winter asked, placing her hand on her weapon. But she and Glynda became confused when they saw Courage transform into a balloon followed by a blimp.

"You're right. I should make it five pounds of butter." Muriel said, misinterpreting what Courage tried to tell her.

"What's happening, Jaune?" Glynda asked as Muriel went over to the fridge.

"Someone Courage and I face a while back is here again. His name is Le Quack, and he is a duck."

"A faunus or an actual animal like your boss, Charlie?" Winter asked.

"An actual duck that can speak like us but is also skilled and decisive."

"Do you have any idea why he has returned or what he could be planning?" Glynda asked.

'AAAH!' Courage gasped, getting our attention before I could answer.

"Courage, what's wrong?" I asked as Muriel grabbed her book.

'BOOK! BOOK!' He answered, pointing toward the book in Muriel's hands.

"Hmm. I didn't notice this before." Muriel said, sounding surprised.

"What is it, Muriel?" Winter asked.

"We need two ounces of rare Swedish vinegar." She answered, causing me to groan.

"I don't see what the problem is." Glynda said, confused.

"Rare Swedish vinegar is only available in Sweden. And that's roughly a ten-hour trip by plane." I explained.

"Oh, these are Swedish Dream Cookies." Muriel said as she closed the book. "Now, how are we going to get to Sweden to get rare Swedish vinegar?"

*Knock Knock*

"WE DON'T WANT ANY!" Eustace shouted as he somehow managed to get to the door and open it despite not being able to see.

"I am Le Quack of Swedish Hot Air." Le Quack introduced himself before turning toward Muriel. "I take you to Le Sweden, oui?"

"Oh my, how lucky." Muriel said, surprised.

"Wait. How exactly did you know that we needed to go to Sweden?" Glynda asked through narrow eyes.

"And while I'm not too familiar with Sweden, your accent reminds me of France." Winter added, making me wonder how she'd know that as she had never been to France.

"Uh, yes. I was raised in France, hence the accent. But I moved to Sweden and started my business."

"That still does not answer my question on how you knew to come here at the exact moment we need something from Sweden." Glynda said, taking out her riding crop while Winter took out her sword.

"A true Sweden always knows when someone somewhere needs our special vinegar."

"I do need some Rare Swedish vinegar." Muriel said, unaware of the danger.

'No! No! No! Don't go.' Courage warned as he jumped and clung onto Muriel's apron.

"Le Balloon is waiting." Le Quack said as Courage got off Muriel.

"How thrilling." Muriel said as she followed Le Quack to the balloon while Courage tried to stop her by holding her apron.

"Where are you taking me?" Eustace asked, still holding onto Courage's leash as he followed us.

"What do you think he's planning?" Winter whispered.

"I have no idea, but it's probably money considering the last time we met, Glynda and I stopped him from getting the lottery and blew up his hideout." I answered.

"Then he must be targeting something big in Sweden. But what?" Glynda asked.

"I guess we'll just have to find out."

"I always wanted to see the world from a balloon. Get above it all." Muriel said as Courage continued to try and warn her but failed.

'That makes one of us.' I thought as I knew my motion sickness would act up as soon as we got in the air.

"I ain't going nowhere without my glasses. I ain't even going nowhere with my glasses." Eustace complained.

"Suit yourself, Eustace." Muriel said, annoyed, before regaining her excitement and turning to the rest of us. "Let's all go to Sweden to get some Rare Swedish Vinegar so we can make those Swedish Dream Cookies."

'Yes. I'll take this.' Courage cheered before taking his leach away from Eustace.

"Le basket only holds two. Everyone else stays; we go, oui?" Le Quack said with a chuckle as we reached the hot air balloon.

"As if that's going to happen." Glynda warned.

'NO!' Courage said, scared.

"Oh, that's a shame. Everyone, I'll be back in a flash with the vinegar." Muriel said before entering the basket.

"Are you sure you want to go alone, Muriel?" Winter asked, eyeing Le Quack. "This basket seems like it can fit three or four people comfortably."

"I'm sure. In the meantime, why don't you all help Eustace find his glasses? He'll like that." Muriel answered as Eustace found and grabbed Courage's leash again.

"We'll be back later in the day." Le Quack said as he entered the basket. "Now stand back; take-offs are usually, how'd you say, rocky."

"OOOH! This is so- Lighter than air." Muriel said, wonder in her voice as the hot air balloon rose into the air.

"Courage. What are you doing?" I asked when I noticed him clinging onto the basket.

'Trying to go with Muriel.' He explained as his leash started to choke him.

"Your leash, Courage." Glynda reminded.

'Oh.' Courage gasped when the leash gave no more and forced him to let go of the basket.

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FIND MY GLASSES! NOT JUMP ON MY HEAD!" Eustace shouted after Courage landed on his head. "Stupid seeing eye dog."

"What should we do now, Jaune?" Winter asked.

"Follow them." I said before running after Muriel with Courage following and dragging Eustace behind him. Winter and Glynda looked at each other hesitantly before running after us.

Hot Air Balloon

"Gorgeous." Muriel said as she peered over the side of the basket. Hearing steps next to her, Muriel turned to her side and saw Le Quack kneeling next to her while holding what appeared to be a bungee cord.

"Le safety belt." He lied with a smile.

"Very thoughtful of you." Smiling, Muriel lifted her foot so Le Quack could clasp the metal part around her ankle. Once done, he moved to the other side of the basket. "Grand. Grand. I feel weightless, so relaxed, and without a care."

But that changed when the floor suddenly disappeared from underneath her feet.

"HEH! HEH! HEH!" Le Quack laughed as he watched Muriel plummet back to the ground while standing next to a red lever.

With Jaune

"Okay, where did they go?" I asked as we began desperately looking around for the balloon.

"Do you hear that?" Glynda asked, getting our attention.

"No." I answered with Courage shaking his head. "What do you hear?"

"It's very faint. Sounds almost as if someone was screaming." Winter added. As soon as she said this, we began to hear the screaming.

"Yeah, and it sounds really close." I said, looking around for the source. "It kinda sounds like-"

'MURIEL!' Courage suddenly shouted as he looked past us. Turning to where he was facing, I felt the color drain from my face when I realized that the screaming belonged to Muriel, who was falling rapidly toward the ground.

"MURIEL!" I shouted, mortified as we raced toward where she would land.

"AAAHHH!" Muriel screamed as she continued to plummet to the ground.

"MURIEL! WE'RE COMING!" I shouted as we ran through a field of jagged rocks. Fortunately, none of us were harmed, aside from Eustace, who was bruised by the time we got to the end. And soon after, we reached the spot where Muriel was about to hit the ground. Moving right underneath her, we prepared to catch her, but something pulled her back to the hot air balloon at the last moment.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Muriel screamed as she landed in the basket.

"It seems like Le Quack used a bungee cord to keep Muriel safe but pushed her out against her will." Winter said.

"But why?" Glynda asked.

"We can ask after we get Muriel back." I said as we continued to chase the balloon.

'Careful for the cacti.' Courage said as we entered a cactus field. Unfortunately for Eustace, we kept forgetting that Courage was dragging him along against his will.

"WAIT! OW! WAIT! STOP! OUCH!" Eustace shouted in pain as he kept getting hit by the cacti with lots of needles going into his skin.

Hot Air Ballon

"You enjoy le bungee, oui?" Le Quack asked a shaking Muriel.

"I-I-I..."

"Oui. See, the only way to get the Swedish Vinegar. You must drop and pluck. And take Le grand bounce, okay."

"I-I-I..."

"Let us do practice again, oui?" Le Quack said as he grabbed the lever.

"NO!" Muriel begged, but it fell on deaf ears as Le Quack pulled the lever. "AAHHH!"

"But there is no Swedish Vinegar." Le Quack said as he pulled down an image of a giant piggy bank guarded by dozens of artillery cannons. "Only le piggy bank de Sweden, where all the Swedish money is kept. Heh! Heh! Heh! And you are going to help me make le withdrawal tres big."

"AAAHHH!" Muriel screamed as she landed in the basket. However, she was beyond mortified at this point, with her clothes shredded. "I must say, once you get past the terror, this could be something like fun."

She then passed out from the sheer amount of fear and adrenaline.

New York City

With Jaune

"So this is New York?" Winter asked as we rapidly approached the bustling city filled with skyscrapers and people who never sleep.

"And how did we get here so quickly? I thought we were in the center of the country with this place being on the coast?" Glynda asked.

"Yes, this is New York, but Courage and I have only been here once. And I'm not sure how we got here so fast." I explained as we entered the city.

"Where are we now?" Eustace asked as we tried to keep track of the balloon, which was proving difficult because of all the tall buildings.

'Hang on, Muriel. We're coming.' Courage shouted as we stopped at the end of the sidewalk.

"Is it always like this?" Glynda asked, referring to the constant near-deafening sounds of cars honking and people shouting.

"Probably. Again, Courage and I have only been here once." I answered as we waited for the light to change. Luckily, it did so as soon as I finished answering. We then began carefully making our way across the street when we heard a familiar but irritating voice.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU FOOL!" Di Lung shouted as he rode his bike toward us. But instead of stopping, he rode into Courage's extended leash as Eustace was still standing on the sidewalk. "ACK!"

"And here I thought the cars blaring horns would be the most annoying thing we deal with today." Winter said, aggravated as Di Lung got back on his feet.

"WATCH WHERE-" He began, but Winter froze him with ice dust before he could continue.

"We don't have time for this." Glynda said as she used her semblance to bring Di Lung inside a store so he wouldn't get run over by a car.

Looking toward the sky, we saw the hot air balloon heading toward the harbor. Luckily, we spotted a cruise ship that was about to leave port. Running as fast as possible, we reached the boat as it started to set sail. Thankfully, we managed to get on board via a hole in the ship's side at the last moment as the boardwalk finished. Although, we did wonder why there was a hole in the ship's side so close to the waterline. But I didn't have much time to think it over as my stomach started to churn.

'Damn my motion sickness.' I thought as I ran to the nearest bathroom.

Three Hours Later

Rome

"WEE!" Muriel shouted in joy as she rapidly approached the ground.

"OVER THE FOUTAIN!" Winter shouted as we ran towards the fountain. Unfortunately, we were too late as Muriel landed in the fountain's water.

"Wai. She's still there." I said as Courage, and I jumped into the fountain. And the momentum caused Eustace to fly into the fountain as well. But before we could grab Muriel, the bungee cord pulled her back to the hot air balloon.

"This the Mississippi?" Eustace asked as he resurfaced.

"Where are we again, Jaune?" Glynda asked.

"Rome." I answered as we got out of the fountain. "Somehow."

Hot Air Balloon

"I'm getting the hang of this; I am." Muriel said as she opened her hands to show Le Quack the coins she snatched from the fountain.

France

Two Hours Later

"There they are." Glynda said, pointing to the hot air balloon.

'MURIEL! We're coming.' Courage said as we chased after the balloon. Unfortunately, because we were not paying attention, we ran through a crowded area full of people trying to eat. And as a result, they began hitting us with various types of bread. Luckily, they only managed to hit Eustace.

"Must be in France." He said as he held his head in pain.

"WEEE!" Muriel cheered, getting our attention. Looking to where it came from, we saw her coming down the side of the Eiffel Tower toward an unsuspecting guy reading the newspaper. She then grabbed his slice of cheese, croissant, and beret.

"Stupid American." The guy said as Muriel flew back to the hot air balloon.

"I can taste those cookies already." Muriel said as she landed in the basket filled to the brim with various treasures Le Quack tricked her into getting. "MMM."

"Yes, we are soon ready to make le big pluck." Le Quack said, smirking.

Sweden Bank

"Swedes were smart bringing us in to guard their money." A general said to his lieutenant.

"Big roger on that."

"Go." The general ordered. The two then pulled the ropes attached to the two cannons next to them. But instead of firing, they exploded. "I win."

"That's why they call you general, General."

Because they were hurt and buried underneath the cannon remains, the general and lieutenant were unaware of the hot air balloon floating above the piggy bank.

"Is this where they keep the rare Swedish Vinegar?" Muriel asked, curious as she gazed down upon the heavily guarded bank.

"They keep the vinegar under piles of Le green leave." Le Quack lied. "So first, we must remove the leaves."

"Are you sure this is legal?"

"Qu'est que c'est, legal?"

"Okay then. Let's do it." Muriel said, smiling before she moved to the center of the basket. Le Quack nodded before pulling the lever. "WEEE!"

Diving into the piggy bank, Muriel grabbed as much money as she could before getting pulled back up. Placing the 'leaves' down, she jumped out of the basket to get some more 'leaves' to try and uncover the vinegar. She did this a few more times with the basket now overfilled with 'leaves.' Yet, despite the numerous times she's done this, she did not see any vinegar, and no one else saw her dive into the piggy bank.

"If you don't mind me saying, I emptied out the place, and I didn't see anything that looked like Rare Swedish Vinegar or even plain vinegar." Muriel said as she put down the leaves that she was carrying.

"Oh, le vinegar, it is there. Absolument."

"Well, I suppose I can take another peek." Muriel said as she turned around and got ready to jump. But before she could dive, she noticed a leaf on her shoulder. She then took it off to better examine it. "These leaves. Very peculiar. They look like foreign money."

"Really?" Le Quack asked before pushing Muriel out of the basket.

"AAHHH!" Muriel screamed as she fell toward the piggy bank.

With Jaune

"Wow." I said, tired as we slowly walked toward the outer perimeter of the fortress. Had we been here under different circumstances, I would have questioned why a piggy bank was being guarded as if it contained all of Sweden's money.

"I have never run that much in my life." Winter panted.

"Now. We just need to find the hot air balloon and find a way to bring it down without harming Muriel." Glynda added as Courage took out a pair of binoculars.

"Do you see them, Courage?" I asked.

'AAAAAHHHHHH!' He screamed while pointing above the piggy bank. Straining my eyes, I felt the color drain from my face again when I saw Muriel dangling above the bank. But what made me nearly pass out was the fact that I noticed Le Quack cutting through Muriel's bungee cord.

"Quick. We need to save Muriel." I said, about to rush in, but Winter and Glynda stopped me when the alarms went off.

"We can't just rush in, Jaune. We need to find a way to rescue Muriel quickly." She explained.

"And it will take too long to climb up this bank. Plus, I doubt the guards would even let us near it." Glynda added.

'Then what are we supposed to do?' Courage asked as he hopped up and down while looking left and right.

"BIG GUNS! HO!" A familiar voice ordered, with almost all the cannons turning to aim at the hot air balloon.

"I think I have an idea. But you two might not like it." Glynda answered.

"What do you have in mind?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"If we can get inside, Winter could redirect the cannons to aim toward Muriel. The thing is, you and Courage will have to climb inside the cannon and be fired from it."

"Alright."

'I know we're not going to like this.' Courage said with a whine.

"But what about the guards? While I can redirect the cannon, I'm unsure if we can sneak past them, and I certainly do not want to cause some international crisis." Winter asked.

"Don't worry about that. I recognize the voice that gave the order. The general has no idea what he is doing half the time. And if he is here, then his lieutenant is also here. And that means no one else is here." I answered.

"Alright. Let's get inside so I can-" Winter began but stopped when we heard Eustace grunt.

"OOH! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" He asked. Turning to him, we noticed that half of his body was inside a cannon. But before we could pull him out, the cannon started to move to aim toward the balloon.

"Courage. You're leash." I warned when I saw the leash tightening. Thankfully, he managed to unhook it before the cannon lifted itself to aim at the sky.

"What's going on?" Eustace asked as the cannon turned toward the hot air balloon.

"Oh, my." We heard Muriel say, worried when she realized all the cannons were aimed at her.

"FIRE!" We heard the general order. "Shoot the balloon. Go boom!"

*BOOM*

"Come on. We don't have much time." Glynda said after Eustace was launched from the cannon and went through the hot air balloon, leaving behind a giant hole.

"OOH, LA LA!" We heard Le Quack say in shock before pulling out a saw. He then used it the cut through the bungee cord. Not wasting any more time, Courage and I went over to a nearby cannon and began climbing to the top while Winter and Glynda went to the control room or the general.

"This is going to hurt." I said as Courage, and I entered the cannon.

And I was right, as a second later, we were shot out of the cannon, which caused us to feel immense pain. But we ignored it as we focused on catching Muriel as Le Quack cut her bungee cord. Luckily, we managed to catch her before the cannons could focus on her. Unfortunately, the angle of the cannon caused us to fly away from the bank and crash through the front window of a closed store.

"Ow." I said as I slowly stood up before helping Muriel. "Are you okay, Muriel?"

"I'm fine, dearies. Thanks for saving me." She answered with a smile. "Oh."

"What's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"Nothing's wrong, Jaune. I just noticed that we found some rare Swedish Vinegar." She answered. "That little man was right. Boys, we're going home to make cookies."

"That sounds good." I said while sitting down as I was exhausted. However, I nearly jumped right back up when we heard the door slam open. Thankfully, it was only a concerned Glynda and Winter.

"Is everyone alright?" Winter asked.

"Yeah, we're fine." I answered.

"We're just about to head home to make those dream cookies." Muriel added.

"While that does sound divine after a day like this, how are we going to get back to the farm?" Glynda asked.

'You got to fly, baby, fly.' Courage answered as he took out and put on a pilot's cap, causing Winter and Glynda to chuckle while I groan at the idea of having to fly home. And judging by the sounds my stomach made, it was not happy at having to fly to get back home.

Notes:

Next Chapters: (1) Bride of the Swamp Monster with Neptune and Iris. (2) Goat Pain with Blake and her parents and possibly Iris, not sure yet. (3) House Calls with Neon and Flint. (4) Rumplekiltskin with Coco. (5) Uncommon Cold with Team Rwby and Penny.