More Recent Classic Fairy Tale Re-Imagining Awesome

So previously, Rapunzel grew up in Mother Gothel's villa until her twelfth birthday when she learned her real history and got put in a prison on top of a tree for four years, after which she escaped with the help of her over-long hair. She managed to dodge the interest of a pompous popinjay who would have treated her badly and set off on the path to adventure.

That was the first chapter, and like I said, it was nice and all, but maybe not that awesome. Not yet. The second chapter, "Rustling up Some Grub," is where things start getting interesting. New characters are added, more action and adventure happens, and we (and Rapunzel) start learning a lot more about the world.

Rapunzel manages to stumble out of the forest and finds a small town in the distance. She decides to head there to cool down, seeing as it's pretty hot out.

Ah. Yes. Anyway, she finds a saloon.

Before Rapunzel can counter that little factual error, she gets pressed into sweeping up the saloon, to preemptively pay for a bowl of stew, I guess.

And then this happens:

So they get into a but of a tussle, and just as a pistol is pulled to take out the goose, this happens:

So the boy in a dress lunges at the fellow with the gun and it falls and misfires.

So they take advantage of the confusion to skedaddle.

 Well, that was fun. Barroom brawls, always good for a laugh.

The pair get away from the town as fast as their newly acquired mounts can travel, and they end up at a small, secluded spring.

Not exactly off on the right foot, the pair of them. Jack starts to change out of his dress.

Rapunzel rifles through the saddlebags and finds something else to wear, something that isn't the same dress she's worn for the last 4 years.

When she comes out, she looks rather silly. Jack, barely keeping from laughing at the fact that she's technically in under-clothes, suggests a belt. I don't know, it's really more of a lateral move if you ask me.

So Rapunzel decides to make fun of his fashion, especially his bowler hat. He defends it on the grounds that it's the latest fashion back east, and that he's from a place called Shyport, "Which happens to be the largest and most fashionable city in all the new world territories." Rapunzel doesn't care, it still looks funny.

They get to talking as the sun sets, and Jack says they won't be found because he's the only one who knows about the spring. Hideouts have become his specialty, as he's been laying low for a while.

So, yep. She tells him everything, and we get more of the difference between our two leads:

And so the great friendship . . . or partnership . . . or whatever it is begins. Mainly out of necessity--Rapunzel doesn't trust Jack not to steal something else and run off with her in the lurch, but he does know the terrain.

And it's not long before they find a use for their particular skills. At a nearby ranch they're heading to in order to find some food for their journey:

Jack and Rapunzel do a "are you thinking what I'm thinking" routine, with Jack thinking they ought to break into MacMillan's ranch at night to steal the reward money, but with Rapunzel thinking they should rescue the kidnapped daughter.

Ah ha ha, yes. "Punzie."

AH!

Ahem.

Something tells me she doesn't like that nickname.

Hmm, but she doesn't get super-ultra mega-mad at Jack when he calls her that. Hmm . . .

SO! Anyway, Heck Burnbottom's gang are also the folks Jack got into a mess with before meeting Rapunzel, so he knows their hideout.

Or . . . where their hideout used to be. However, they were pretty messy and left a trail of debris to their new hideout, and Rapunzel follows that.

He's talking about his goose, there.

So Jack goes over their meager belongings, finds the dress he wore in his first scene and comes up with . . . possibly not the worst plan, but not a good one, for sure.

Okay, so then they come up with the real plan. They wait 'til nightfall, and send in Goldy first. Night sentry sufficiently distracted--

With the bandits unarmed, Rapunzel smacks one in the face with her hair.

However, she adapts quickly.

Unfortunately, while Rapunzel's been being amazing, Jack's been having more trouble.

In fact, their goose would be pretty well cooked . . . if not for, well, their goose.

But she doesn't run away. She does something awesome.

Told you. Awesome.

And so the girl rides behind Jack to his discomfort the whole way back to the ranch.

Turns out, she ran off the ranch in search of her pet, and that's how she got grabbed in the first place. But, Rapunzel and Jack brought her back! Yay!

Ah. Oh.

Uh-oh.

So they get tossed in prison. And at the prison, they're recognized as the folk who stole those horses from the saloon at the beginning of the chapter.

Drat.

Things are definitely looking down.

Until they suddenly aren't.

Why, it's the keys! Right across from the cage. I guess they don't get too many bright criminals around these here parts.

. . . or very bright jailers.

Yeah, Rapunzel uses her teeth to untie Jack. And just then:

This draws in the Sheriff, who at first just wants to eat the goose, but then notices Jack's not tied up--

Outside, they find their horses. Well, not their horses, the horses they had stolen--oh, you know what I mean. Rapunzel doesn't want to take them, as it would be continued stealing, but Jack convinces her it's the fastest way to get to Gothel's villa. Finally agreeing, she climbs on and says the second they've freed her real mother, they're bringing the horses back. Then she reminds Jack that stealing was what got him in trouble in the first place.

And that's the end of Chapter 2. 2 more chapters to go, and they just get better from here.

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; huh. And I thought I wouldn't be able to do this today. Shows what I know.