Title: Another Relative

Authoress: MidnightRosePrincess

Summary: Another relative of Muriel's is coming for a visit, making Courage nervous that it'll be like Fred all over again. However, when that's not the case, will Courage find in this visitor a new friend to protect? My 1st X-Over.

X-Over: Courage the Cowardly Dog/Ed, Edd n' Eddy

Midnight's Note: This is a crossover between my two favorite childhood shows, and I still remain a big of fan of both even though I'm in high school now. I wanted these to come together as a kid, but b/c back then I didn't have internet, I knew not the greatness of FFNet. I was inspired after discovering an amazing artist and writer on deviantart: Nintendo Nut1. She's the greatest artist for EEnE and Courage, and a great FusionFall player. I have yet to play FusionFall, but I know how most of the stories go. She's done art of where my favorite character Double D finds Courage hurt and takes care of him, reminding Courage of Muriel, whom he had to leave when the Fusion invaded. Her artwork remains my muse for this story, but this is my own idea, since I never copy other people's. I'm gonna ask her to read this and hope she reviews, b/c I think she has an FFNet account. If so, let me just shout to her: You're an awesome artist! Please review, and hope you like it! For those waiting on my other stories, reviews are coming next week at the earliest, unless I find some surprise time on my hands.

Disclaimer: I don't own Courage the Cowardly Dog, it belongs to John R. Dilworth. I don't own Ed, Edd n Eddy either, it belongs to Danny Antonucci.

^^^EEnE&CtCD^^^

Chapter 1: The Guest

In Kansas there was a little town called Nowhere. On its outskirts a little farmhouse stood, surveying the landscape all by its lonesome. Its only companions were the windmill next to it, the chicken coop to its side, and the truck parked outside. Inside its wooden walls, there was a cozy living room adjacent to the kitchen and small dining room. Stairs at the back of the living room led upstairs to a hallway which held the doors to a bedroom, bathroom, and a door at the end of the hall that, after a few more steps of stairs, led to the attic.

In it lived Muriel and Eustace Bagge, and their pet dog, Courage. Said occupants were in the living room watching the television when the phone on the small table in-between them rang. Eustace irritably picked up the phone and said, "We ain't got no phone!"

"Eustace," Muriel scolded while grabbing the phone out of Eustace's hand. "Hello, who is it?" Muriel asked, her other hand rubbing Courage's fur while he remained in her lap. Courage's ears perked upwards as he heard a voice on the other end of the phone talk to Muriel. "Oh, it's good to hear from you dear," she said, smiling. Eustace by this time went back to watching the television, uninterested. "Really? You did? Of course I don't mind. I see no problem in having him for some time. What does the lad look like now? It's been so long you know." There was a pause. "All right, that's fine. Goodbye dear," Muriel said, hanging up the phone.

"Who was it?" Eustace asked, glancing away from the television.

"Oh it was my dear grand-niece calling to tell me that she and her husband are going on a business trip and to ask if her son could stay here a while until they get back," Muriel answered.

"Another one of your relatives are coming over?" Eustace asked with raised eyebrows.

"Oh yes," Muriel said, "I haven't seen the lad since he was a wee thing, before they moved to Peach Creek."

"Peach Creek? Where's that?" the old man asked. Courage silently agreed, as he'd never heard of it either.

"Oh it's a small suburb up east," Muriel said, gently letting Courage get off her lap into the floor as she stood. "I'd best get to making some tea. The dear sent him early so he'll be here any minute," she said before going into the kitchen to start boiling the water for tea.

Eustace humphed before going back to the television and flicking the channel with the remote. Courage on the hand, was now extremely nervous. Courage had experience in dealing with his owners' relatives more than he'd like. Eustace's mother, Ma Bagge, was quite the piece of work, usually angry, and she didn't like Muriel much (a feeling that was quite mutual). But he'd rather deal with her than with the only relative he'd had the bad fortune to meet on Muriel's side of the family: Freaky Fred, her nephew. The freaky barber was, as he himself had put it, naughty, in that he had an obsession with cutting and shaving any hair he came across that caught his eye. Fred had been taken back to the 'home for freaky barbers' after his last visit, where he'd shaved Courage mostly naked. Courage still shivered at the thought of how much he'd missed his fur. He started shaking nervously, afraid of who this new relative might be like. What if he was worse than Fred and Ma Bagge? He howled quietly to himself.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Oh, that must be him," Muriel said as she came into the living room heading for the front door.

Courage went behind Eustace's big red chair to be able to get a good look and/or protection from whoever was behind it. He could swear he was hearing his heartbeat speed up loudly in his ears.

Muriel opened the door, "Come on in dear." She moved to the side, revealing the guest. Courage blinked as all of his wild imagination's conjurings disappeared from his mind at the sight of the human. In the doorway stood a normal-looking boy who appeared to be in his preteen years. He wore a red t-shirt that went two inches or so over his purple knee-length shorts and red knee-high socks with blue shoes. He had onyx eyes, and a slight gap in his front teeth that was mostly unnoticeable. And then there was the only thing slightly abnormal about the boy: on his head he wore a black sock hat that had two white stripes on the hat's right side that covered everything on the top of his head except for three hairs coming out at the nape of his neck from underneath it.

"Thank you, Ma'am," the boy said in a small, quite voice as he stepped inside, carrying with him a backpack and a suitcase. Once a few feet inside, the boy sat his suitcase down momentarily to shut the door behind him before picking it back up.

"My, you've grown so much, dear. I'm sure your mother told you who we are, but I'll introduce us just the same. I'm your great-aunt Muriel, but you can just call me Aunt Muriel. This is my husband, Eustace," Muriel said before turning to Eustace, "Eustace, this is Eddward."

"It's nice to meet you," the boy, Eddward, said, "But you can just call me Edd."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Eustace said, clicking off the tv, "Where's me paper?"

"Oh, here sir," Edd said, handing Eustace a rolled p newspaper, "I picked it up on my way in."

Eustace humphed and took the paper before opening it and began reading, hiding himself in doing so. Edd blinked at the behavior but didn't seem at all offended by it.

"Where you from again?" Eustace asked.

"Peach Creek, Sir," Edd said.

"You rich?" Eustace asked, peeking over the paper.

Edd blinked at the question. "Mother and Father work very hard and make enough money to support themselves and me, but we're basically average," Edd said, though looking slightly unsure.

Eustace humphed and went back to his paper, uninterested again, signifying the end of his part in the conversation.

"And finally, this is Courage," Muriel said, gesturing for Courage to come out from behind Eustace's chair. Courage, at Muriel's command, came out from behind the chair to stand beside her, not longer shaking as much but still nervous as he stared up at the boy.

"Oh," Edd said, "Mother and Father aren't fond of animals. Uh.. Hello, boy," Edd said, giving Courage a nervous smile.

Courage cocked his head to the side for a second before nodding. Apparently this boy was just as nervous as he was.

"Thank you for having me, Aunt Muriel. I hope I'm not intruding," Edd said, "My parents got the call for the business trip so suddenly and no one else was able to take me in, so..."

"Oh, it's nothing dear. We're glad to have you," Muriel said, smiling at Edd. "The only spare room we have is in the attic. It's quite spacious though and we fixed most of the leaks. If any more pop up, just ask Eustace if he can fix it," she said, Edd nodding. Muriel looked down at Courage, "Courage, why don't you show our guest upstairs to his room so he can get settled while I start making lunch?"

"Um-hm," Courage hummed, nodding his head. He went over and tugged a bit on Edd's shorts to get the boy's attention away from Muriel, who was walking back into the kitchen. Edd looked down at him as he started to go towards the stairs and followed. Going up the stairs, Courage noticed the boy was having some trouble carrying the suitcase, which did look a little over average weight. His manners getting the better of him, Courage slowed down and got under the suitcase, starting back up with it on his back, which wasn't too hard considering all the times he'd had to carry Muriel to safety.

"Oh, why thank you, Courage," Edd said.

Courage couldn't help but smile, seeing nothing wrong so far with the boy, and led Edd up to the attic door. Once Edd was next to him on the last of the small steps, Courage opened the door to reveal the attic. It had a high ceiling that was slanted on both sides, making the house's pointing roof. There was one window in the wall across from the door, looking out over the front of the farm. In the corner to the window's right was Courage's computer, who was turned off to save electricity for the moment. Though Courage couldn't complain, because the computer honestly got on his nerves sometimes. In the corner to the left of the window was the head of the spare bed they usually moved in for guests, though lately they'd left it there anyway due to Courage getting kicked out of the old ones room by Eustace because he'd wake up screaming from nightmares. There was a small trunk at its end, where ones clothes and belongings could be kept. Above them was a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling, a switch on the left side of the door from where they stood. And Muriel was right, though a it small, it was spacious enough for one to move around in.

Courage looked up to Edd to see the boy's reaction to the room. Said preteen had stepped in and was looking around at the room. Courage followed and set the suitcase down by the empty trunk and sat down. Edd went over and inspected the computer for a minute before setting his backpack down onto the bed. He looked down at Courage, "Thank you for your help. Would you mind giving me some privacy whilst I unpack?"

Courage shook his head and went out of the room, pulling the door shut by the door knob as he went. Before shutting it completely, he looked through the tiny crack and saw Edd opening his trunk to start getting things out, humming while he did so. Smiling at how the action reminded him of Muriel, he shut the door closed quietly and started to make his way back downstairs to help Muriel in the kitchen if he could.

Edd doesn't seem so bad, Courage thought, He hasn't shown any meanness like Ma, and I'm not getting that creepy feeling I had when Fred was around. Courage smiled a bit wider, Who knows? This may not be so bad after all.

^^^EEnE&CtCD^^^

Midnight: Well, there's the first chappie. ^_^ I'm actually getting really excited about this story and am starting to plan out the adventures Double D and Courage will have in the future. I will definitely make sure my favorite characters from Nowhere make an appearance: Shirley especially, Kitty & Bunny, Computer, Dr. Vindaloo if the story calls for him, and as for a villain, I'm not sure. Katz has always been my favorite villain even though he used to scare me, but since I have read some Katz/Courage slash before... I really am averted from hurting him too bad, and will probably make him switch sides. Tell you what, why don't I let you fans decide! Tell me who you want in your reviews to be a featured villain in this! The choices are:

1) Katz (though he CAN'T get hurt too bad & prepare to see him switch sides)

2) Le Quack

3) Mad Dog

4) Queen of the Black Puddle

5) That Asian Guy (Ya know who I'm talking about: "Watch where ya goin' ya foo!" He'll probably appear anyway.)

And that's the choices! I'll see if I can set up a poll on my profile, and if it works, say your vote in the review and the poll just to be safe. The winner will definitely appear, and probably so will the runner up. If Katz wins, I may squeeze in the third place winner. Anyway, that's all for now. Cast your votes and give me reviews, they keep me going!