So this is easily one of my top favorite episodes of the season as it continued the story of the still terrifying pilot episode of the show. It had plenty of humor and horror that really outdid the pilot in many shapes and forms. So please enjoy.
"AHHHHHHH!" came a scream so loud that it shook the very house and jolted Avery awake from her sleep.
She sat up in bed, faster than a bullet, and placed a hand over her chest as she felt her heart beating faster than a horse on a racetrack. She couldn't tell where the scream had come from, but she had a very good idea. She could tell by the sound and pitch who it was that had screamed and where he'd been sleeping.
"Poor Courage," Avery said as pulled herself up into a more comfortable sitting position. "He must have had a pretty bad nightmare."
She also knew that if his scream had been loud enough to wake her up in another room, then chances are it had woken up her aunt and uncle as well. She turned her head to the alarm clock that she kept near the bed and could see the time. It was just after one in the morning.
"Yep, Uncle Eustace is going to be angry," she whispered to herself.
And sure enough, she heard the sound of Eustace and Muriel's door slamming shut a moment later. That was typical of Eustace whenever Courage ended up disturbing him while he slept. Usually whenever that happens, he'd run up to the attic and climb into bed with her. So she waited a moment for him to come up like she expected, but she couldn't even hear the sound of him coming up the second set of stairs towards her. He must have gone downstairs instead.
Avery sighed and said, "Better go find him before he gets himself into more trouble."
She pulled herself out of bed, stepped into her slippers and crossed over to the attic door. She stepped out quietly so as not to disturb her relatives anymore than they'd already been by Courage's screaming. Thankfully, this was avoided and she quickly walked down the stairs and through the living room to the kitchen. She peered inside and saw Courage standing by the sink, gulping down a glass of water, likely to calm himself down.
"You okay Courage?" she said from the door, causing the purple dog to jump a little.
He let out a frightened squeal as he turned to look at her, but calmed down when he realized it was her. He ran over to her and began babbling to her, likely trying to tell her what had just happened. Avery couldn't understand, but from what she gathered, he simply had a nightmare and that was all. She knelt down to his level and began to pat the little dog on the head.
"It's okay boy, it was only a nightmare. They happen all the time, even to me," she said to Courage and he seemed to calm down a little after she told him that.
Things were looking up, until a bright light shined into the kitchen through the screen on the door, bathing the both of them in a bright light. Courage slipped from Avery's touch and went to the door, throwing it open. The both of them looked out into the yard and a could see a bright circle of light shining down on the ground from something hovering above the farm.
"That is weird," Avery said and walked over to the door and looked out as well.
They both stared out at the circle of light for a couple of seconds before their gaze turned upwards towards the source. Hovering above the farm was a large metallic craft with many lights shining down on them as they rotated in the sky above.
Avery blinked as she stared at the sight of the craft and said, "Okay, this is VERY weird."
Courage pointed up at the craft and began babbling even crazier than usual, hopping around as he did so. Avery knelt beside him again and wrapped her arms around him, trying her best to calm him down. As far as she could tell, there was no reason to panic. Not yet at least.
It was then that a hatch opened up on the bottom of the craft and circular platter suspended by cables began descending towards the ground in front of them. Something was resting on top of it. It was hard to see at first, but as it drew closer to the ground it began to look clearer. Avery wasn't sure at first, but as it reached the ground it became obvious to her what it was. Resting across the top of the platter was a roasted chicken. A roasted chicken of all things.
Avery raised an eyebrow at the sight and said, "Is someone serving us dinner or something?"
She did get a shock however as the chicken suddenly sat up on top of the platter and turned the stump of it's neck towards them. Avery looked at Courage and could see the eyes bulging out of his head at the sight. Avery seriously couldn't blame him for that reaction. How else would anyone react at the sight of a cooked headless chicken sitting up on a dinner plate?
The chicken pointed at Courage and pulled a plunger out from behind itself. The chicken continued to point at Courage and made a slashing motion across it's neck, as if it intended to do the little dog serious harm.
Now it looked like there was a reason to panic.
Seeing the new danger, Avery pulled Courage away from the door and slammed the door shut. Courage regained his own composure and quickly locked every single lock on the back door. And for good measure, Avery grabbed a chair from the breakfast table and wedged it under the door knob to keep the door jammed shut.
"Courage?" came Muriel's voice from the dining room and a second later, Muriel opened the door and frowned at the both of them.
"Courage? Avery? What are the two of ya doing?" she asked.
Courage wasted no time and ran over to Muriel, pointing at the door babbling like a madman yet again and hopping around as he did so. He then first morphed into a spikey flying saucer, then he morphed into eggs covered in red splotches and then into a menacing looking red eyed chicken carrying a ray gun. All the while he was humming a climactic sci-fi tune that Avery couldn't quite place. He concluded by morphing back into himself and hopping around with a whine.
Muriel looked between Courage and her niece. Avery stood there, hoping that her aunt would get the message.
Her aunt remained silent for a few seconds before looking down at Courage and said, "That's it! No more liver for you."
Muriel then turned her attention to Avery and said, "And for goodness sake Avery, I really wish you wouldn't eat snacks this late. It's not good for you, plus I don't want you ruining that nightgown. It's delicate."
Avery pinched the bridge of her nose and said, "Aunt Muriel, I didn't come down here for a snack. I heard Courage screaming earlier and I wanted to check on him. And we both just saw something outside. Something horrifying."
Muriel shook her head and said, "Honestly you two. At this time of night it could be anything scurrying about. I'll just take a little look myself."
Muriel then walked over to the door and began unlocking it.
"Aunt Muriel, please don't go out there," Avery said, but Muriel waved her off and opened the door.
Muriel stepped out onto the back step and looked around the back of the house. The bright circle of light was gone, as was the craft that had been floating in the sky above. Avery looked from her spot by the door and wondered. Where had that headless chicken gone and where was it's ship?
"Well I don't see anything you two. Your imaginations must have been running wild," Muriel said as she looked about.
However before she could turn around to go back inside, a plunger, like the one they had seen earlier, appeared from the side of the house and grabbed Muriel in the back. The sudden surprise made Muriel, Courage and Avery all scream at the same time as Muriel was yanked backwards and away, leaving one of her slippers behind.
"Put me down!" Muriel cried out.
"Aunt Muriel!" Avery cried as she rushed to the door with Courage close behind her.
"Put me down! Oh you rude thing!" Muriel ranted some more as Courage picked up Muriel's slipper.
Avery looked off in the direction of the barn and turned Courage's head towards it. A pink light was glowing from the inside of the barn and they could hear Muriel's screams sounding from inside.
"AHH! Courage! Avery! Help!" Muriel continued to scream.
This was when the duo started running for the barn, Avery not even paying attention to the dirt getting into her own slippers as they ran along.
Muriel continued to scream as they got closer screaming, "Oh you dirty filthy thing you! What are you doing to me?"
The duo hid behind the door as they tried to catch their breath as they prepared to look inside.
"Take that thing off of me! AHHHH HAAAA! Wouldn't you prefer tea instead?" Muriel continued, getting a small eye roll from Avery.
'Really Aunt Muriel? Tea is your solution?' Avery thought as she and Courage creaked the barn door open just a little.
They both looked in and Courage howled at the sight while Avery just stared. Sitting inside the barn was the very craft that they had seen hovering above the farm just a few minutes earlier. It was bigger than Avery had expected, but the mere sight of it was unnerving.
"This does not bode well. Let's approach carefully," Avery said and then she and Courage got closer to the vessel.
But as they got closer, Avery's arm was suddenly jerked back and she was pulled away from the door of the ship.
"Ow! What's going-" she stopped when she looked at her arm and saw the bracelet glowing, like it was keeping her away.
"What are you doing?" she said as the bracelet pulled her away from the vessel.
Courage looked back at her and whined, but Avery shook her head in response and said, "Don't worry about me Courage. You go and save Aunt Muriel. I'll be ok."
Courage nodded and ran into the vessel while Avery began wrestling with the bracelet. She grabbed at it and tried pulling at it. She even went over to the wall and began banging the bracelet against the wooden wall of the barn.
"Will you just-" she began but noticed something else along the wall.
To her amazement, there was an electrical cord running from the vessel and into a power outlet that she always missed whenever she was out in the barn.
"Courage! Get help!" came Muriel's voice from inside the ship which was then followed by a whirring sound and then the sound of Muriel grunting over and over.
Courage then came running out of the ship, screaming at the top of his lungs. Avery watched and then ran over to the plug and grabbed it with both of her hands and began trying to pull at it, having a hard time because it was so heavy. Courage wrapped his arms around her began to help pull her back while she grasped the plug. After a few attempts, the plug fell from the wall and to the ground, causing all of the lights on the ship to turn off and the barn go dark. The machine that Muriel was hooked up to also powered down to stop.
Back at the house, Avery and Courage rushed in through the back door and stopped to catch their breaths in the kitchen as they rested against the table.
As soon as Avery was able to speak, she looked at Courage and said, "Courage, I need you to run upstairs and try to wake up Uncle Eustace. I'm going to try to call the police or anyone else who can help us."
Courage nodded and ran out of the kitchen and to the stairs. Avery took the time to go to the phone and attempt to dial for help. But as she did so, she noticed that there was no dial tone coming from the phone. She pressed down on the receiver multiple times to try test it and sure enough, there was no tone at all. She had a bad feeling and wanted to be sure of what she was thinking. She went over to one of the side windows and looked out, only to see that the phone line had been cut. The chicken must have thought ahead and disabled the line after it first arrived. Either way, there was no calling for help now.
She was then startled by the sound of her uncle yelling from upstairs followed by him screaming, "You rotten dog."
Courage must have done his job a little too well as a few seconds later, she could hear the sound of them running from the bedroom, down the stairs and into the living room. She was standing by the kitchen phone when the kitchen door burst open and Courage ran through, screaming and being followed closely by Eustace giving chase.
As soon as Eustace was out the door, Avery followed quickly behind them. They ran all the way to the barn, Eustace demanding that Courage get back to him. But as Avery looked back at the barn, she could see the pink glow from earlier was back indicating that the Chicken inside had powered his ship back up. And neither Courage or Eustace seem to have taken notice.
"Oh no! Please don't be too late," she said to herself.
Courage ran into the barn, closely pursued by Eustace. The pink dog ran onto the ramp leading up to the ship and ducked right as Eustace was jumping for him. Avery watched from the door and paused as she watched Eustace jump into the ship.
She heard him land on the inside and say, "Who the heck are you?"
What scared her more though was the sound of her aunt's grunts like they had heard earlier. Knowing how to stop it, Avery ran from the door and back to where she had and Courage had unplugged the ship earlier. Just as she had expected, it was plugged back in. Courage came by her a few seconds later, clearly having gotten the same idea. The dog wasted no time because as soon as he saw the plug in, he pulled out a giant pair of clippers and then cut the cord with them, powering down the ship completely once again.
They ran from the plug and were just about to run into the ship, when the metal door suddenly closed in front of them with Courage running right into it.
"Hey! What are you going to do with that thing?" came Eustace's voice from inside. "Hey! Oww!"
Courage began to pound at the door with his fists and Avery joined with him in trying to get it open. Meantime, all they could do was listen to Eustace's pained grunts and howls as their efforts yielded no results. In an act of desperation, Courage whipped out an blowtorch and face shield, much to Avery's surprise, and began to cut the metal of the door and he managed to get the door open... right as Eustace let out one last pained howl.
Right as the door opened, they both felt relief as soon as Eustace's face appeared in the doorway.
"Yeah!" Courage yelped as he lifted his face shield.
"Oh thank goodness," Avery said as she wiped the sweat from her brow.
Their relief however was short lived as the rest of his form stepped into view, revealing that his head was no longer on his own body. But rather it was now on the roasted Chicken's body instead.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Avery said with wide eyes at the sight and could see Courage's eyes were practically bugging out at the sight as well.
The Chicken stared at them both and began to growl at them like a feral animal. Courage then pointed the blowtorch at the ground where the Chicken stood and blasted the spot, causing the Chicken's rear to catch fire. It screamed with a howl that sounded just like Eustace's and landed in a nearby barrel of water, moaning in relief as it cooled the heat from the flames. Avery and Courage took this oppurtunity to run into the ship to grab Muriel, Courage throwing the blowtorch and face shield aside.
Muriel was fast asleep again and Courage began shaking her, trying to wake her up. Avery even tried waking her up after grabbing her shoulders and shaking her slightly harder, but their efforts did not help. So instead, Courage slipped Muriel's slipper back onto her foot and started carrying her out, Avery detaching the plunger from Muriel's head in the process. Courage and Avery went to the door, but before they could get out, the Chicken reappeared in the doorway, carrying a different plunger and ready to go after them again.
Courage howled as the Chicken appeared and quickly spun around, Avery kicking the Chicken back and forcing him to tumble down the ramp again. Instead of trying the main door to the craft again, Courage ran for a ladder in the center of the room and climbed up it, carrying Muriel with only one hand in the process.
Avery joined him at the ladder and as she watched Courage climbing up the ladder one handed, she couldn't help but watch and think, 'How strong is this little guy?'
She quickly climbed up the ladder behind him and in short order, they reached the top of the ladder and Courage threw open a hatch at the top. He tossed Muriel onto the roof of the vessel and then reached down and threw Avery onto the roof as well, surprising her. From there, they climbed to the rafters at the top of the barn and out the window leading to the roof of the barn. Courage set Muriel out onto the barn before he and Avery climbed out as well. As soon as they were all out, both Courage and Avery began scanning the rooftop, looking for a way to get to safety.
Courage then spotted a wire that ran from the roof of the barn and over to the house. Since they were pressed for time, he hoisted both Muriel and Avery over his head and started walking over to the wire.
Avery let out a yelp of surprise and said, "Courage, you don't need to carry me. I can walk on my own."
But when she looked back at the window and saw the Chicken sticking his head out the window, she quickly changed her mind and let Courage carry her along as well.
Courage ran across the wire, a difficult feat considering that he was carrying two people above his head and looked back to see that the Chicken was following them across the wire and was keeping pace with them. Courage howled in fright and began running faster.
In the meantime, Muriel began to stir in her sleep and as she lifted her head she said, "What a terrible dream. Avery dear, did you have a bad dream as well?"
Avery was about to answer when Muriel said, "How about we have a spot of tea? It helps after a bad dream."
To Avery's surprise, she looked down to see that Courage was pouring a cup of tea as he continued to run across the wire and lifted the cup of tea up to Muriel, who took it gratefully and began to sip it. He then poured a second cup and handed it up to Avery as well, his face never losing it's frightened expression. He and Avery looked back to see the Chicken was still in pursuit on the wire. Avery then started drinking her tea very quickly to calm the nerves that were now hitting her hard.
Courage whined and tripped as Muriel's slipper fell from her feet again, causing her bounce across the wire as Courage lost his grip on her. Avery also slipped from Courage's grip, but was able to grab the wire and hang onto it for dear life. She did watch her aunt as she miraculously bounced along the wire and came to a stop still sitting on the thing, wondering how she was able to stay on.
Courage reached down and pulled Avery up and set her on his back as he began to crawl along the wire, making his way towards Muriel. But just as they got to her, Muriel fell over and would have fallen to the ground if Courage hadn't grabbed onto the wire with a free hand and grabbed her with his other hand, nearly sending both him and Avery falling to the ground as well. Avery shrieked as they nearly tumbled and held onto Courage tightly, trying to keep a firm grasp on him as she looked down at the ground below. A fall from the top of the wire wouldn't have killed her, but could have caused damage to her body were she to land roughly.
As he held on, Muriel's slipper suddenly smacked Courage on the head as it was thrown at him from above. Both Courage and Avery looked up to see the Chicken standing right above them, glaring down at them. He then began to stomp on Courage's fingers, trying to get him to let go of the wire. Courage let out a terrified scream as the Chicken continued its evil work and then Courage began crying out in pain.
This went on for several moments, the Chicken smiling in sadistic glee as Courage's fingers began to come loose. However this was short lived as the Chicken got a better look at it's surroundings. The wire was no longer high up in the air, but rather the portion they were on was now hanging low to the ground instead. By the time it realized this, it was too late. Courage, Muriel and Avery were now standing safely on the ground and it stared at them in surprise. Followed by Avery smiling smugly at the Chicken, waving goodbye as Courage let go of the wire, sending the Chicken flying and screaming into the air.
The Chicken flew all the way back to the barn and it crashed through the roof as it landed. Courage let out a little cheer and Avery sighed in relief while Muriel turned her tea cup upside down, disappointed to see that she had drank all of her tea.
Their celebration was short lived however, as the pink glow returned and the sound of machinery starting up was heard from the barn. This was followed by the barn exploding into splinters and the vessel rising up into the dark sky.
All three of them screamed at the sight as the vessel loomed closer and then hovered directly over them. The hatch on the bottom of the ship opened up and out came a mechanical arm that was carrying the largest plunger that any of them had ever seen. Courage lifted both Muriel and Avery over his head again and began to run away from the farm, dropping Muriel's slipper again as the plunger came down on the spot that they had been standing.
Courage ran to the wheelbarrow, putting Muriel inside and then setting Avery on top of her and began running as fast as his little legs would allow him, which was surprisingly fast. But as fast as he ran, the alien vessel was faster and it began plunging the ground behind them as it got closer and closer. Then it loomed over them and then hit ground directly behind them, forcing Courage to lose his grip on the wheelbarrow and sending both Muriel and Avery tumbling out.
Thankfully he had gotten them close to a river and set them both on a raft that was resting on the shore for some reason. He got them out onto the river and began directing the raft down the river. But they could only go as fast as the current would allow, so it was easy for the alien craft to catch up with them and hit the raft, sending them back to shore.
Once again, luck proved to be on their side as Courage then found a motorcycle near where they landed along with some helmets. He placed the ladies on the motorcycle, put the helmets on their heads and began driving the bike as fast as he could away from the river. But unfortunately, Muriel's other slipper came loose and got caught in the wheel of the motorcycle, causing Courage to lose control of the bike and it crashing near a round lit up pad.
Courage landed on the pad, thankful to see that neither Muriel or Avery were harmed in the crash. Courage shook his head clear and he looked over to see Muriel pouring herself another cup of tea and Avery sitting right next to her, trying to clear her daze from the crash.
"Fancy some tea you two?" Muriel asked the both of them.
Courage didn't answer, but instead looked at the sign above the two of them.
'WARNING! ROCKET BASE! KEEP OFF!'
Courage looked down at the lit up pad he was lying on and panicked a little when he realized where he was standing. But some whirring above him brought his panic to an end as he looked up to see that the craft was just above him with the plunger ready to come down again. He could see the Chicken in the window as it pulled the lever, bringing the plunger down towards him again. Courage screamed and jumped clear of the plunger as it hit the pad. But as the Chicken pulled the plunger back up, it took the pad up with it.
The trio sat in a safe spot and watched as a rocket launched right out of the hole where the pad once stood and flew up towards the alien vessel. They looked up to see that the main door to the craft was open and that the Chicken was standing right in the doorway, ready to jump out. But before he could, the rocket made contact with the vessel, blowing it to pieces in a fantastic light show that looked grander than anything that they had ever seen on the Fourth of July. There was zero chance that the Chicken could have gotten away from that.
"Lovely fireworks, eh you two?" Muriel said as they watched the display.
Avery could only chuckle in response.
Not long after, the trio were back at the house just sitting at the porch. Courage was lying on the porch, looking both relieved and content. Muriel standing near him, looking over Avery's arms, making sure that she hadn't hurt herself during the night's events.
"Aunt Muriel, I'm ok. Just a little shaken up is all," Avery said in exasperation as Muriel let go of her arm.
"I just want to be sure dear. Looks like nothing's bruised or broken. Good thing you didn't scuff that bracelet of yours either. It looks too beautiful to be damaged," Muriel said, eyeing the bracelet itself.
Avery looked down at the bracelet which, for once, had been mostly quiet tonight. Though it did lead her to the plug that the chicken had been using, allowing her and Courage to buy themselves more time to save her aunt.
She chuckled and said, "Yeah. I doubt I'd be able to damage this thing, even if I tried."
"And thankfully you didn't tear or dirty up your mother's nightgown. There's too much sentimental value with it," Muriel added and Avery nodded.
"I know Aunt Muriel. I know," Avery said the last part a little glumly.
Muriel sat down on the front steps of the porch and set Courage down on her lap as Avery sat next to them. The three of them looked out over the yard as the night went on.
Then Muriel pointed at something out in the yard and said, "Oh, there's Eustace with my slipper."
Avery and Courage looked out and, to their horror, they did indeed see Eustace approaching the farmhouse with Muriel's slipper in his hand. Only now, he was walking around WITHOUT HIS HEAD much to Avery and Courage's horror.
All Courage and Avery could do, was scream at the sight.
Not gonna lie, the very first time I saw this episode I was only nine years old and the ending terrified me to no end. Easily the most terrifying ending in the entire season. Can you really expect anyone to not be terrified by the sight of a headless Eustace walking towards the farmhouse in the dark of night?
The next episode will be Klub Katz. I look forward to Katz's return to this story.