A/N: Hello! I recently rewrote parts of Chapters 2 - 13 for more clarity and for better plot purposes. The overall plot hasn't changed hardly at all, but some semi-crucial details were altered. Anyways, here is the long anticipated return to Noel's perspective: Chapter 15. WARNING: This chapter has some nasty profanity and is PRETTY bloody! Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 15: To Break A Ruse:
THUD!
"Owww!" Noel exclaimed in pain. He had hit what he assumed was the bottom of the well that he followed Courage into. But when he stood back up, the dog was nowhere to be found. It was too dark to see anything.
"Hello?" Noel called out. "Courage, where'd you go?"
Everything grew extra dark and extra quiet once he descended into the well. But after a short, uncomfortable silence, a candle suddenly lit in a corner of the hole. It was able to dimly light the entire hole.
And over by the candle, Noel caught the disturbing sight of Courage's face, which carried both a look of anger and dejection.
"Courage?" Noel asked in fear
"How could you?" Courage asked in a crushed voice.
"What?" Noel asked again.
"How could you just take my life from me?" Courage responded weakly.
Noel was now scared for his life. He suspected the well to be a trap, but he honestly didn't expect Courage to actually trap him like this.
"Courage," he spoke. "What on Earth are you talking about? We've been over this. I'm very sorry for what I've done, and I'll never do anything like that again. It was very wrong of me. But I'm pretty confident now in saying that we're pretty even now."
"Even?!" Courage yelled loudly before advancing onto Noel. It scared the living daylights out of him, and he found himself trying to back away from Courage as fast as he possibly could. "Don't tell me we're even! After treating me the way you did, you still called the shots and ran the show! You still got to do and say whatever you liked, while I had to yield what I wanted for your wants!"
Beyond furious, Noel remembered that this was Courage that was yelling at him. He shouldn't be afraid of his poisonous attitude.
"Oh my GOD will you shut up?!" Noel finally barked back into Courage's face. "The only reason your wants got trumped by mine was only because you are such a pushover! I never knew your wants because you always suppressed them from me!"
"Oh PLEASE!" Courage spat into Noel's face. "There you go again you little selfish jerk! Must you win all the time?!"
"Must YOU win all of the time?!" Noel spat back.
Courage ever so slightly stepped back after Noel said that. But he crossed his arms in front of his chest, and then he fiercely stuck his nose in another direction.
"You are nothing more than just another encounter," Courage then said calmly. "You're just another terrible monster in a nightmare I never woke up from."
"God you're such an emotional WRECK!" Noel screamed at Courage.
"At least I HAVE emotions!" Courage barked back, facing him again.
"You are such a fucking hypocrite if you think you don't bottle things up the same way I did!" sprayed Noel. "There, even I finally admitted to my problem. But at least I don't kill an entire horde of zombies for fun when I'm emotionally unstable!"
"God, just leave me alone!" Courage shoved Noel. "You are a monster! No wonder none of your other owners ever wanted you!"
After Courage said this, Noel saw only red, and then nothing else.
WHAM!
Before Noel knew it, he was on top of Courage, bashing his thick skull against the ground.
"You monster!" Courage screamed again before kneeing Noel hard in the stomach.
All of the air left Noel's chest in an instant. He was now on his side completely incapacitated. And through his blurry vision, he saw Courage back on his feet ready for more.
"I never told you this directly, but you were always the worst traveling buddy."
KICK!
Noel barely stifled a whine after receiving that kick right in the face. He thought that kick broke his muzzle. As he carefully clutched it, it seared in pain. And then he recalled the kitchen fight he and Courage had a few weeks back. When did Courage get so much stronger?
After Noel finally let out an audible groan, Courage responded with, "Ohhh, you poor thing! Ha ha ha!"
Why was Courage acting like this? Perhaps his perception of Courage was entirely false after all. He saw Courage as a kind, caring, innocent, and true altruistic being. But not this Courage. As he looked into Courage's eyes again, he didn't see the innocent altruist. Instead, he saw a walking nightmare ready to tear tons of weak, living things apart limb by limb.
"W-what ARE you?" Noel finally started to cry in defeat.
His cries only seemed to bring more pleasure to the dog. "I've waited a long time for this," he spoke with pleasure.
"Really?" Noel asked, utterly crushed.
"Remember the barn?" Courage asked. "When I locked you inside, I actually set it on fire! Ha ha ha! But when I noticed that the wind blew some sand on it, I knew I lost this time. Then I acted all mopey and depressed on the bed, and I knew you'd come comfort me. And I knew that once I had you befriended, that would open up more opportunities to get rid of you once and for all. I thought you knew about the barn thing."
Noel could not believe what he was hearing.
"Then I thought I'd poison your cocoa from Ken's," Courage continued with a sinister grin. "But unfortunately, Ken was too fast and was finished before I even knew it. So when you were captured and brought here, I jumped right on in here too. I was going to find you to make sure you died. So I 'rescued' you from the lab, and then I led you to this inescapable hole. And now that you're here, I can FINALLY slaughter you, SLOWLY, with no witnesses."
Courage's grin grew unnaturally wide after he said this. He had the eyes of a true, deranged monster. And then he finally stood over Noel. Courage was almost all Noel could see, and he knew for a fact that Courage was going to kill him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Courage snarled viciously down Noel. He didn't even sound like a dog anymore.
Noel couldn't even shut his eyes this time because he was too scared. He knew that this monster was going to gouge his eyes and eat his throat out any second-
CHUT!
Courage gasped, and his eyes seemed to go back to normal. The hole was now dead silent again.
However, Noel spotted a small, dark something on Courage's chest. But that's when he noticed the dark crimson slowing flowing out of Courage's mouth.
Noel gasped in terror, which was followed by a disturbing tearing sound.
"Ah, AHHHHHHHHAHAHAHHH!" Courage screamed out in the most pain his vocal cords could let out. Courage desperately held his arms out in front of him, and his closed eyes now leaked with tears. The dark thing in his chest seemed to be growing longer outward and bigger. And now there was a LOT of dark blood pouring out onto his chest from around the dark thing.
Courage had been stabbed from behind with a VERY dark blade. And the killer was apparently not making his death any less painless.
Courage's screams turned into weak gurgles, as the blade tore through most of his chest. Courage's arms soon fell limp and swung. The killer seemed to raise the blade up even higher, which made Courage lean back completely. Noel knew Courage was dead when he heard his gurgles stop, and when he saw his eyes slowly went out of focus.
SQUELCH!
THUD!
The blade had disappeared from Courage's chest, and as his body fell, he hit his head HARD onto the ground right next to Noel, face-first onto the ground. Noel knew that the fall alone very well could've cracked his skull.
A black beagle dog (the same breed as Courage and him) stood where Courage had just died seconds ago. Noel couldn't tell if the blade was his arm or not, as its shape mysteriously shifted into a normal dog paw.
"Hey, buddy," the dog spoke with a friendly smile.
It was him. It was the voice from the memory lab!
"Y-you?" Noel pointed at him with a bloody paw. But then almost like hypnosis, his attention turned back to Courage.
Noel rolled over to look at Courage's body. Courage was face down in a growing pool of his own blood. His paws (which were by his sides) were twitching, along with his right leg and left ear. Noel could see some of his ribs through his open back wound. Noel had to look away for a second. Courage's tail was completely limp, which was a rare sight from Courage anyway. And other than the twitching spasms, Courage did not move at ALL. And everything was starting to set in for Noel.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Noel spoke in anger and grief. He scooted closer to Courage's body. He slowly rolled Courage over, cringing like he was hurting the poor pup. He got Courage to lie on his back, brought both of his paws to his stomach, and then placed his own paw on top of them. With his other paw, Noel held Courage's head up. His head was still heavy, but entirely limp. His mouth was wide open, and his tongue was still slightly hanging out. But what disturbed Noel the most was that Courage's terrified eyes were still wide open.
"Courage," Noel said softly. While he was too much in shock to process what just happened, he tried to close Courage's eyes multiple times, only for them to keep opening back up. After this, it then suddenly hit him like a wall of bricks. Before Noel even knew it, the tears showed up, and he was now howling in agonizing hysteria.
"Ahhhahahaah, COURAGGGE!" Noel screamingly sobbed. "COURRRAGE! AHHahhahahh!" He finally hugged the pup, tighter than ever before, and sobbed right into his blood-soaked neck. He knew he was now a teary, bloody, snotty, sobbing mess right now, but the only thing Noel could feel right now was pain, and nothing else…
Well, there was something he felt. He felt something strangely warm on his shoulder.
As Noel looked back at it, he noticed that the dog who killed Courage was crouched beside them, and he had placed a gentle paw onto Noel's shoulder. Noel shook the paw away and jolted up. He grabbed onto the dog with both paws.
"WHYYYY?!" He screamed right into this dog's face. "OH GOD, WHY?!" Then he sobbed right back down onto his knees, and then back onto Courage's cooling corpse.
The dog patted him on the shoulder with his paw. This time Noel didn't bother to shake it away.
"I'm very sorry," the dog said in a voice that was entirely sincere, and for once not sarcastic.
This response surprised Noel, and so he craned his neck around to face the dog. The dog was not looking back at him. He instead stared at Courage's body.
"Why?" Noel asked in a shaky voice. He knew that he was embarrassingly vulnerable with his puppy eyes, but he didn't care anymore.
"He was gonna kill ya," the dog responded. "And I couldn't let that happen."
This answer only confused Noel even more.
"But why kill him though?" Noel asked again. "And why do you care?"
"I've had my eye on you guys for some time now," the dog said. "All he ever really wanted was ta see ya suffer. He hated ya from the beginning. He was only kind to ya to deceive ya. Remember, even you caught onta that."
"How on Earth did this dog know this?" Noel thought.
"He was gonna kill ya," the dog continued, seeming to have read his thoughts. "And you're too important for me to let die."
Noel's eye twitched after he said that. He then carefully set Courage's head down, and then he sprang to his feet. The dog then finally looked up at him.
"What is going on here!?" Noel hissed at him. "I know you're the bad guy, but what is all of THIS about?!"
"Hehe, ya got me," the dog held his paws up and closed his eyes for a second. "I may not be a good guy, but my mission is not to kill ya. His mission was, however." He pointed back to Courage's corpse.
"He didn't deserve THIS," Noel said strongly. "I know the true Courage-."
"True Courage?" the dog interrupted as he stood up too. He was about the same height as he and Courage, but Noel still felt intimidated. "What ya just saw was the true Courage!"
"The true Courage is loving!" Noel barked back. "The true Courage is blindly affectionate! The true Courage is hopelessly sympathetic!"
"YOUR true Courage doesn't exist," the dog spoke calmly. "Your true Courage was a facade created by the sick, demented real Courage to harm ya. YOUR Courage died as soon as he was born."
This was too much for Noel. He grabbed onto the dog's throat and squeezed tightly with one paw. Much to Noel's surprise, he was badly choking the dog without difficulty. The dog has both of his paws onto Noel's.
"You have ta listen to me!" the dog choked out.
"Why should I?!" Noel barked.
"Because I know how ta get outta here!" the dog choked.
Noel then suddenly felt very lost. Even though he so desperately wanted to escape this nightmare, he thought of what would happen if he escaped without Courage. He knew he couldn't return to Muriel without her Courage. He knew she'd probably die of heartbreak. And if he couldn't return to the farm, then where was he to go?
He shoved the dog to the ground and then cupped his face into his paws. He didn't cry, but he desperately wanted to. But after a bit of silence, he finally spoke up again.
"But Courage is dead," Noel finally cried. "You took him from me. Real Courage or not, you took both of them from me." Noel paused for a second. "And I'm fairly certain that you're the one who took my parents too. I no longer have a home because of you. I no longer have anyone because of you. ALL of this is because of YOU!"
Noel uncovered his face to look down at the dog. He still didn't respond, but he stared at the ground in pity. And when he still didn't say anything, Noel took a deep breath, and then continued.
"I- I have nowhere else to go. Why should I have a drive for anything anymore?" Noel wiped his eyes. Then he looked down at the ground in shame, ears dropped, and closed his eyes before continuing. "But you expressed that your mission wasn't to kill me?"
"No, I'm not gonna kill ya," the dog finally spoke softly. "Why dya think I saved your life?"
"I honestly wished you hadn't," Noel said in a choked up voice.
"Ohh, but don't say that just yet," the dog said with a smile.
"What are you getting at?!" Noel exclaimed. "You've expressed interest in me and clearly my parents too. Why?"
"Hahaha, you still haven't figured it out yet!" the dog laughed.
"Enough of these mind games!" Noel's patience finally left him for good. "Just tell me!"
The dog just continued laughing. He rolled over, pounded his fist onto the ground, and then he finally calmed down. "Ah man! I'm so surprised ya haven't found out yet! Anyone with half a chromosome would be envious of ya!"
"ENVIOUS?!" Noel choked the dog again. "Did you not hear what I just said?!" He was able to easily choke the dog again, but that didn't get him to stop laughing.
"You moron!" the dog laughed again. "Look at yourself! Don't ya see how powerful ya are?!"
Noel then realized how easily he was able to overpower this villain. He also realized that his other paw was balled up into a fist ready to punch.
"What am I doing?" Noel thought to himself. "This isn't me!"
Horrified with himself, he then let the dog go, who dramatically gasped for air before laughing again.
"You see!" the dog continued. "You don't even know ya full potential!
"But-," Noel couldn't believe it. "-how?"
"Well, it's worth noting that your abilities are also more powerful in different realms than they are in ya own," the dog added.
After Noel examined his own body, he looked back down at the dog, who was staring straight into his eyes.
"I can show ya your true potential," the dog spoke sincerely.
Noel backed away, feeling like he was offered a deal from the Devil himself.
"Ya have every right to be reluctant," the dog added. "I'd be reluctant too, trust me. But ya have the potential to do things most couldn't even dream of."
"Could I save my parents and Courage?" Noel spoke without even knowing he did.
"That's justa start," the dog smiled while standing up. "But you'll need my help ta show ya how to access such abilities." He reached his paw out for Noel's.
Before Noel could take his paw, an alarming question popped into his head.
"Why are you doing this?" Noel asked him. "What do you have to gain from this?" He stared into the dog's eyes, as they stared right back.
"A brother," the dog spoke softly and with emotion.
Noel's tail started to wag uncontrollably, as he couldn't believe what he just heard. Was this his brother?! His long lost BROTHER?! Of course! He also must've witnessed the kidnapping of their parents! He was probably hiding in that dumpster too! And these "answers" he'd been providing for Noel were for him to show Noel his strange abilities, and then for the two of them to team up to find their parents. Of course! This all made sense now! This was destiny!
Noel finally reached for the dog's paw. As he grabbed onto it, it fell through his own. The dog's paw had turned grey and into ash. Once Noel looked back at the dog's face, he noticed a mystical, magenta spike sticking out from his neck. His entire body went grey and swiftly disintegrated into a pile of ash.
"What?!" Noel screamed as he stared down at the pile below him. Someone from behind grabbed him by his shoulder. Just as he was going to beat this person into a pulp, he turned around and came face to face with someone he was too happy to see again.
"Shirley!" Noel screamed. He hugged her tightly, but then stopped upon realizing how weird her body felt.
"Hehe, stay off you idiot," she said. "That was too close, no?" She pointed down at the pile of ash.
"But-," Noel tried to say now that he was back to his senses. "He killed Coura-," he was interrupted as Shirley grabbed onto his muzzle and forcibly turned his head to face where Courage's corpse was.
Courage's butchered corpse was no longer there. Instead, there was the butchered corpse of an older, larger, yellow beagle dog that looked nothing like Courage. The body was surrounded by weird, ash-like flakes that seemed to disintegrate more with time. All of this time, this was NOT Courage!
Noel's mind was spinning out of control.
"There's a lot you should know," Shirley said, as she freed Noel's muzzle.
"Courage?!" Noel asked shaking Shirley. "Where is he?"
Shirley's expression looked defeated. "It is not looking so good."
End of Chapter
A/N: UPDATE! I now have the full plots for the next two chapters written. Now I just need to rewrite them into a story format, and then they'll be good to go. They'll likely be out sometime in the next few days. ;)