Author's Notes: Hello again, fair readers! Been awhile hasn't it? Well, I'm trying to do better with my writing and I redid this chapter a few times before it came out the way I liked it. Anyway, enjoy and please R&R! (That's 'Read and Review' for those who didn't know it).

Courageous Ed

Chapter 3: Strange Arrivals, Stranger People

Eddy woke up feeling happy. Well, maybe not so much happy as he was satisfied to put the events of yesterday behind him. Yawning loudly, he sat up to find a mound of fuchsia fur on his chest. His anger was back with a vengeance and he had half a mind to introduce the canine to his not-so-forgiving floor. But, then that annoying feeling in the back of his head, that stupid thing Double D called his 'Superego' or whatever, urged against it. He sighed irritably and waited for the dog to awaken.

It's actually pretty good, Eddy thought, referring to the warm feeling he felt wafting off the dog. With that thought, his dog woke up. He groaned wearily and stretched himself, joints cracking and snapping away stiffness. His gaze met his master's and he smiled and gently wagged his tail.

"Finally." Eddy groaned in mock-annoyance "And you were complaining about me sleeping in?"

"Sorry." Courage said with a yawn "Kinda got tired from yesterday, you know with the…"

"Don't mention it…seriously, don't." Eddy was still trying to put that day into mental repression.

Let my therapist figure it out, the new teen thought with a shrug and went about getting ready. Ten minutes later, both he and Courage were ready and out the door.

CCC

Nine fifteen. Dear Lord, I'm late! Eddward thought as he was now rushing through his morning protocol. He got out of bed as quickly as possible without ruffling the sheets too badly, then grabbed his personal cleaning items and made a dash for the shower, emerging in a gasping heap as his normally ten minute shower was cut in half. He had to skip his recreational reading entirely and then nearly missed his carefully balanced breakfast of cereal and citrus, part of a balanced breakfast. He had just finished his last bite of juicy goodness before the doorbell rang.

"Morning, Eddy. Courage." He greeted the two with a smile and a nod.

"You alright, Sock head?" Despite his friends seemingly upkeep appearance, he noticed that it looked slightly messier, as if he'd been rushing.

"I'm fine, Eddy. I simply lost sleep because of a slight…disorganization of my personal items." The smart lad sincerely didn't want to have to explain that he had suddenly awoke to a room in chaos and had spent the better part of three-hours reorganizing.

Luckily for him, Eddy couldn't have cared less. Beckoning him, they made a beeline for Ed's house. Upon their arrival, their favorite lump was hurled out of the house and narrowly missed the Eds, instead landing head-first on the canine.

"And stay out until I finish my room or I'M TELLING MOM!" An irate Sarah proclaimed before slamming the door shut tight.

The two turned their attention to Ed, dizzily sitting up with a now ruffled and dazed Courage atop his buzz cut.

"Aw, my new fuzzy buddy wants ta be a hat!" Ed said in a cooing voice before plucking the dog from his head "Sorry, but I like my head just is!"

Double D wore a worried expression while Eddy's held only a glint of concern as they looked at the dog. The boy was going to pull out his first-aid kit when the dog shook his body in the signature canine fashion. When he was finished, his fur was as smooth and sleek as it always had been before.

"Intriguing." The boy mused thoughtfully as a dozen theories ran through his head

"Alright, guys." Eddy simply dismissed the happening and decided to get back to the topic at hand "Enough horsing around. Time to get scamming!"

Double D sighed. It was about this time that Eddy came up with his infamous scams. With a now routine reflex, he produced a pencil and pad from his hat and started jotting down the materials for today's escapade.

"I'm thinking…bags. No, designer bags! Wait, scratch that, Bag boys! Eds Lumps-for-Hire, for all your carry-on needs!" Eddy proclaimed with a grand waved of his hand.

"Eddy…If I may, I'd like to point out a few flaws in your plan." Double D could've sworn he heard a 'Don't you always?' but chose to ignore it "First off, what you just described is a bell hop service. Secondly, a more suitable name would need to be assigned as 'Lumps-for-Hire' is far too unprofessional. And lastly, who in the cul-de-sac would even need such a service?"

Before anything could even leave the short Ed's mouth, a loud rumble shook the pavement and rattled their ear drums. Ed's imagination screamed 'Earthquake!' while Double D tried to discern a more plausible source. Eddy, due to his low center of gravity, made him less stirred by the rumbling and was able to see a gleam in the distance.

"ONE WAY!"

With surprising might, the boy collectively pushed his friends and dog to the side, allowing a red moving truck to fly past. It was soon joined by two more, their roaring engines and horns fracturing the windows and shaking the thoroughly abused eardrums of the foursome. Then, they all together ceased, allowing for a much smaller camouflaged truck to pull into the shaken neighborhood.

Out of the truck stepped a man, somewhere in his mid- to late-thirties wearing a wife beater, which framed his well-developed upper body and army green cargos with tall black combat boots. His hair was a fiery crimson that seemed to be on fire, which contrasted greatly with his deep blue eyes. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a whistle and let out a blaring homage of its namesake.

From the red truck emerged at least two dozen men, all dressed in military uniform and posing at rapt attention. With another whistle, the heavy muscled men took hold of the various items in the truck and began loading it into one of the unoccupied houses.

"Way cool! We're part of a government conspiracy, guys!" Ed stated happily as he gripped the three in an oxygen-depriving headlock.

Of course, Eddy easily countered with his patented uppercut and they crashed to the ground. Rubbing his sore throat, he gave a glance at Courage and noticed that the fuchsias dog was wearing a look of worry.

"What's with you?" Eddy asked

"I…I-I know that guy." The dog's reply was merely whimpers to his companions

"He bad news or something?" Eddy asked with a jab of his thumb

"Or something."

Eddy turned and to his surprise the man had been standing over him. An excuse and a wise crack were having it out in his throat but a kind smile from the man promptly made their fight meaningless.

"Ha ha! Nice to see that the youth of today still have some spunk." The man spoke in a fatherly tone and tussled Eddy's trio of strands

"Spunk? But Eddy doesn't smell that bad." Ed said absentmindedly

"A good sense of humor too!" the man said before breaking into a hearty chuckle

"Um, excuse me, Sir?" the cap wearing Ed was weary of his question, lest he anger the man

"Ah, how rude of me! Guess if you spend time enough out on base, you're sure to get rusty at some things." He said apologetically "My name's Gen. Gen Neral."

"Oh, oh! Are you here to conduct dangerous experiments on wildlife? Or inject us with a serum that'll turn us into super-powered mutates who save the world from aliens?" Ed's eagerness was simply too fast for Edd's politeness

A stern, but at the same time light-hearted look entered his eyes "No, son. I'm not here to do any experiments, studies, or even tests. I'm here because I wanna settle down. Ya know, get a house, a wife, and maybe start a family."

Ed simply started at the man before giving him a dopy 'Okay!' and removed himself from his friend's head. Waving away the vapors that still clung to his hat, he cleared his throat.

"So are you a real general or are you just one of those die hard patriots?" Again, his politeness was outmatched by Eddy's rudeness.

"Both, actually. I'm a proud citizen of these United States, although I have served in other countries." He said proudly

"Really?" once again, Eddy had the floor "Where?"

"Oh, let's see…" he placed a hand on his chin and rubbed his bushy, red moustache "I've served in France, Sweden, Scotland, France, Germany, China, and even Australia at one point."

"My, that's an impressive track record." Double D pretty much elbowed his way into the conversation at that point

He would have gone further if the not for the resounding BOOM that echoed throughout the cul-de-sac. Gen's face became one of annoyance and anger, his eyes darting to a man struggling to lift what appeared to be a nineteenth century cannon.

"Careful with that! It's an antique that's been passed down since my great-grandfather, Ab Miral!" he shouted, the man nodding before carefully pacing towards the house.

"Do you have any more of those, um…antiques?" Double D hazarded a guess that he did.

"Of course I do! My family has generations of military memorabilia that's been passed from generation-to-generation. In fact, I just brought those I like most. The rest have to be put in a warehouse in the city." He explained with beaming pride.

Double D was on the verge of fainting when the man spotted Courage. The dog whimpered slightly, hoping that the man didn't recognize him.

"Ah, I didn't know you were here!" Well that hope's been dashed.

The man shook the dog's hand firmly, tears forming in his eyes as he applied the vice-like grip. When it was removed, now crinkled and pulsing pain, he blew on it furiously before shaking it back to form.

"Well, I'm glad to see a familiar face down here." The man's roaring chuckle filled the air once more "It's been nice chatting with you boys but I better get back to my things because someone has a habit of dropping my antiques."

The sentence and hard gaze was fixated on a single soldier, his face pouring sweat as he tried his darnest not to drop the increasingly heavy mortar. With a quick salute, he scurried off to give the struggling soldier a piece of his mind.

While Double D was breathing a sigh of relief, Eddy simply grinned and rubbed his hands in a greedy motion.

This can't possibly be good. The cap wearing lad thought nervously

CCC

Pain…Vertebra strained…Shoulder dislocated…Hands chafing. These were Double D's thoughts as he stumbled out of the house after nearly two straight hours of unloading and arranging the general's antiques.

"Curse my poor physical form." He mumbled softly, before said form promptly gave out and fell on the ground

He'd normally be wiping the grass clippings from his red bell hop uniform, but he was simply too tired to care. His neurotic tendencies would just have to deal with it for his body was far too exhausted to even try to care.

"Geez, Gen's gotta lota stuff." Eddy groaned, massaging the crick in his neck

Normally, he'd leave all the leg work to his two friends while he delegated from the sidelines, preferably with a coconut mug and umbrella. But, for some stupid reason, he gave in to Courage's scolding stare and rambling rant on ethics and decided to help out as well. Of course, if he was working, that meant the canine was as well. The fuchsia dog was looking decidingly spent, but he was still in much better shape than the rest of them.

"I was an ottoman guys!" Ed, as usual, proclaimed in his over the top voice

Indeed, the tall Ed had spent the better part of an hour as a comfortable footrest for the war veteran, directing the three's movements between sips of his glass of sparkling cider. Eddy rubbed his bruised neck and dug into his pockets. In hindsight, maybe offering two hours of back-breaking labor for two quarters was a bit, well, stupid, but at least it was one of the few scams they did that had only minor repercussions.

He cracked his neck extensor, feeling a burst of relief before the aching pain returned in full force. He groaned, knowing that he'd need a full home spa treatment to tend to his aches.

"Oh, Bellhops!"

Crap. Courage shot him a disapproving look; somehow he just knew Eddy had mental cursed. Now growing quite irked, he turned to face the source of this new voice. His gaze scanned the lanky figure of a brown haired man. His glasses were thin and purple while his long green overcoat and brown slacks flapped in the summer breeze. He even had a large scarf coiled around his neck, its long sleeve flittering behind him. Eddy once again found his conscious and sarcasm having yet another brawl over the use of his vocal chords.

"We are 'Lumps-for-Hire'! You bring it, we move it!" Ed had shouted their brand and slogan boomingly and gave a salute of servitude

"Oh, such nice boys." he clasped his long, stick-like fingers together. "I'm sorry but, I don't have use for your service at the moment."

Eddy finally regained control of his voice "But didn't you just move here? Or are you just visiting or sumthin'?"

Double D quickly scolded him on his rudeness, but the man paid it no heed, a smile forming on his lips "Yes, me and wife just moved here from the city. Our old neighborhood had become quite...uh, crowded."

He reached into his pocket and produced a brightly colored and laminated brochure. The cover was a picture of a family of four standing in front of a respectable looking house with a peach acting in place of the sun. The brunette smiled from ear-to-ear.

"Then yesterday, This appeared on my doorstep." he opened the brochure wide, showing various pictures including youths engaged in active play, businesses run by friendly owners, and a large, modern school with a dignified women teaching the attentive class. "After reading it, I just knew me and my wife would be happy here."

Eddy snickered. Whoever printed up that pamphlet definitely made it BTE (Before The Eds). It almost made him feel bad that the guy was going to be in for such a rude awakening next time one of their scams went awry.

"Excuse me, sir?" Double D was determined to get a word in edge wise this time "But where is it that you and your wife are staying?"

He asked this out of both concern and curiosity. On the one hand, he was elated that he now had two new neighbors of which to chat with as both seemed to be reasonable gentlemen. On the other hand, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread because he knew that there was only one other house that had been vacant.

"I live just done lane." The Eds, and for reason Courage, all paled in unison. "Come with me. I'll it to you. If you'll excuse my narcissism, my house is truly the most beautiful in all the cul-de-sac."

Eddy and Edd raised an eyebrow. Was this guy dense or was he just blindly optimistic? They knew the house he spoke of quite well. It was the fabled 'House of the Haunted' as Ed so eloquently put it. The place had an especially prominent connection with the trio of Eds. For it was there, at that dreadful house, that they were mock 'wedded' to the Kankers, force to pull their cart as they were made fools of in front of the entire cul-de-sac, and subjugated to the worst reception in known history.

As they rounded the corner, they stopped cold in their tracks. In front of them wasn't an old, decrepit house that had been victim to the abusive hand of Mother Nature. They did not see a field of weeds and dandelions or the tricycle that had been captured and left to rot. No. What they saw was a beautiful, three stories Victorian-Era abode that was dressed in the most luscious shade of pink. Windows were glared with perfection in chorus with their brilliantly dapper window sills that held the most gorgeous arrangement of flowers they'd ever seen. There was also a lawn, freshly clipped and weeded, with a swing woven into a majestic oak that towered into the heavens.

"…Wow…" No other words could quite come close to describing the beauty of the structure before them. Even Double D's extensive vocabulary failed him, his mouth agape as he stared in awe at the house before him.

"Breath-taking, isn't she?" the man dreamily clasped his hands together, his brow lowering in an arch. "Oh, how rude of me. I didn't even introduce myself. I am Dr. Gerhart."

Something inside Double D's head flickered on at the utterance of the suffix 'Dr.' "Incredible! A real doctor, in our own cul-de-sac! I can't tell you how many questions I have for you! Where did you study? When did you get your degree? Do you have a Master's? Are you taking an intern? Do you write recommendations? Because if so, I have plenty of things I wish to-"

Eddy grabbed the smart Ed's rambling mouth and tossed him aside. This always happened whenever something scientific came into play. It only took the mention of the word doctor to turn mild-mannered Eddward into a hyper-crazed fan boy. The fuchsia canine raised a brow and looked at his master. The boy shrugged; he himself had no idea how he could make such a complete metamorphous.

"Well, would you look at that." The man glanced down at the watch "Time to dust the bedrooms and scrub the bath. Good day, boys!"

With yet another confused unified stare, the Eds shrugged and walked back down the lane.

(-x-)

Today had been an arguably successful one. Gen had caught up with them later, digging into his pocket and handing them each a ten dollar bill. Eddy's resulting shout of jubilations had shaken the entirety of the cul-de-sac and beyond. He had even dared to defy gravity and caught at least a whold ten seconds before coming down to earth. The general had felt quite bad for giving them only a meager sum for all their hard work. Of course, his explanation was lost as Eddy was too caught up with the gorgeous greenback in his palms.

After dashing to the candy store and buying some very satisfying Jawbreakers (he even bought one for Courage, which was strangely gravy flavored), the Eds parted ways for the evening. At that point, the young lads was far too exhausted to continue with their high-profile shenanigans.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Courage asked as they neared his master's abode.

"Beats me." He responded with a shrug "Guess I'll read some comics or sumthin'. Maybe even listen to a few records."

Courage gave a memorable grin. The husband of his previous mistress had been a very dislikable and cruel man (to him especially) but, he always seemed to calm down and mellow out when he was listening to his old records. The dog dared to even hazarded he had superb taste in music. The fact that the newly turned teenager even had a record player and actually listened to them said quite a bit about his character.

Courage's trip down memory lane abruptly smashed into a reinforced steel wall. With an Oomph! he fell to the ground and wondered why the boy had stopped so suddenly. He gazed over his side and mirrored his owner's look of confusion. In front of the duo was a cardboard box, sitting at the foot of Eddy's door, taped neatly with a small address in black print.

'To: 125 Peach Creek Cul-De-Sac.

From: Your Aunt Muriel'

The short lad looked at the address than the package and back again. His Aunt had sent him another gift? Not that he ungrateful, or that he didn't want it, but he couldn't help but feel yet another trickle of dread wash over him. He shook his head and shrugged. A gift is a gift after all.

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." The canine received a quizzical stare from the slightly taller boy "An old saying."

Not wanting to pursue it any further, he gripped the box and attempted to lift it up.

The resounding SNAP! As his lower vertebra systematically crumpled one after the other told him two things: First that he forgot to lift with his legs and second that this thing was heavy. Snapping his spine back in some semblance of shape, he decided to push the package along instead. Of course, this approach didn't fare much better but with the added help of Courage, the two managed to get the box inside. After thanking whatever force had decided to leave it on the doorstep, the Ed's curiosity urged him to open the box.

As he did, his smile widen as he dug out the first of its contents. The moment Courage saw it, his fur and features turned ghost white. In Eddy's hands was a computer monitor dim and dull from disuse and deactivation. The boy seemingly ignored his reaction and eagerly set about setting up the electronic wonder. A computer was something the boy had wanted ever since his brother had returned with his own three summers ago. He had berated his elder sibling endlessly about every aspect of the device. Maybe later, half-pint was his response and the smaller brother had to reluctantly agree. Now, he had his own and he knew it had to be at least a hundred times better than his brother's.

"Hey…um, where does all this stuff go?" Eddy was tangled up in wires and cords, completely lost as to what do first.

Courage sighed and gripped a section of the bundles in his paw and with a tug, sent the short teen into a spin, untangling him and giving him a douse of dizziness accompanied by nausea. He shook his head, pushed down bile and was ready to berate the creature, but sopped as he saw him attaching and reattaching wires. It was surely a sight, and quite a laughable one at that, watching as the pet showed more technical know-how than his master. When he was done, the dog found a chair and hopped into it, using it to gain the few inches of height needed to turn on the monitor.

The sight of the azure screen lighting up was like a beckon to the greedy Ed and with little remorse, he shoved Courage out the chair and onto the floor. His eyes lit up with a happiness that was normally reserved for Ed, even chanting an 'Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!' as he waited. When nothing happened, he pressed a key.

Nothing, so he pressed another.

Nothing still, so he pressed yet another.

Yet again the screen showed nothing and his patience had started to wan as he now started typing full words.

As another few seconds passed, he had forgone any bit of patience he might've had left and went about typing a flurry of words on the keyboard. The sheer force had caused the plastic hardware to shake and rattle violently as he continued to write in rage.

"Would you mind typing a bit slower, you ninny?"

Eddy's tirade stopped as he suddenly stared at the screen; the appearance of large, yellow print and the British-accent had caught him completely off guard.

"And before you ask, yes: I did speak. Much more fluently then you ever could."

The curiosity he might've held about the computer died went he heard it utter…erm, type those words. He may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew from experience and being around Double D that those words were what most people commonly referred to as insults.

"You got somethin' ta say ta me?" he jabbed his finger against the screen as if it were the computer's chest.

"My word, it seems your vocabulary is even more deteriorated than the Twit's."

Okay, now he knew he was insulting him. He growled threateningly and only the presence of Courage's paw against his chest prevented him from bringing force his whole wrath on the hated device. He typed a few words on the keyboard, a look of annoyance on his face.

"Oh! It's you, twit. I'd recognize your sloppy keying anywhere."

Annoyance turned to downright resentment as he typed in another set of words.

"Oh, so this simpleton is your new master? I'd think he was related to the farmer than the round woman."

Eddy had expected Courage to give the computer a very hatful look, but instead he gave a knowing smile. Typing in another series of strokes, the screen suddenly filled with words.

"No…No, not that…Don't you daaarrreee…"

The fuchsia dog buffed his knuckles and smiled "Off switch." "Ya gotta love it." Eddy finished for him before stepping down from the chair to make dinner.

Afterwards, he and his pet enjoyed a few blissful hours of smooth jazz, pop rock, and even a classical symphony (which the boy strictly forbade him from telling anyone) before washing up and preparing for bed. Courage took up his spot next to his master, you was currently restless. For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, he wasn't going to like the coming days ahead. The thought passed quickly, however, and he drifted back to sleep.

Author's Notes: Finally, I'm done with the Prologue! You read right, these past three chapters have been the prologue to CE and the next chapter marks the first real chapter of the story. I've planned to do an episode worth of Courage in each chapter, with a few two-parters here and there, so I really don't know how long this story will last but be prepared for some good times.

Kudos to those who caught the pun in Gen's name and speaking of which, since he was never named in the series, I just used the name they gave him…with a little creative license. Kudos also to those who remember just who the good doctor is and what episode their from along with his 'wife'. And finally, the computer. How could I possibly have Courage paired with Eddy and not give him the computer? Given how sarcastic he is (I'm only making this assumption based on his voice) , I'd think people would get a kick out of watching them interact with each other.

Not much else but expect a chapter sooner than you think. TTFN!