There are times in which friendships can be broken over such trivialities, like a broken valuable item or trying to take something when he was not done looking at it. Some incidents are minor, others could have serious effects on friendships, but usually the only true solution to the problems is by mending them. It is how they follow their consciences as a means to apologize, forgive, and even make amends in a good manner that counts. In this case, let's flashback to the time when the Form Baton was all the rage in Diamond City ever since Wario "discovered" it at the Temple of Form, during the days of WarioWare's smash hit on the Nintendo Wii, WarioWare: Smooth Moves...
DISCLAIMER: WarioWare Inc. and Game & Watch are properties of Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft in spite of its company being absorbed unto Konami ever since March 2012.
-Mending a broken friendship-
[Overworld BGM: Intro - 9-Volt's stage (WarioWare: Smooth Moves)]
On a peaceful afternoon in Diamond City, 9-Volt had just returned to his house from school to show 18-Volt, his best friend, a Nintendo game system with two screens he had for as long as he could remember. "Whoa! Is that a DS Lite?" asked the big guy.
"Nope, it's a Game & Watch!" answered 9-Volt, who began playing the game. However, as each second passed by, 18-Volt became anxious enough to try it out, so he grabbed the Donkey Kong Game & Watch from the top.
"Lemme see! Lemme see!"
"Wait, I'm not done yet!" But try as he might, 9-Volt couldn't get 18-Volt to let go of his Game & Watch, and all of a sudden...
[Interrupt BGM]
SNAP! It broke in two!
And if that wasn't enough, 9-Volt got so mad over a broken game system - albeit unusual for a happy kid his age - he screamed at the top of his lungs: "GET OUT OF MY HO-O-O-O-U-U-U-U-S-S-S-SE!"
"AAAAHH!" 18-Volt panicked as he ran outside the house for dear life. "I'm sorry, li'l buddy! I'll make it up to you, I promise!"
[Sadness BGM: Sad Song (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars)]
A few minutes after the unfortunate accident, 9-Volt was still mad his best friend broke the Game & Watch in half, with tears coming out of his eyes to the point in which he couldn't stop himself from crying. He felt guilty for yelling at someone he knew well as a friend, usually knowing better than to release such an outburst over trivial matters like this. With no clue on how he would explain this incident to his mother 5-Volt or perhaps Mona, the teenaged redhead who used to babysit him when he was little, at least long before Wario founded WarioWare Inc. Though 9-Volt was fortunate his two distant friends from planet Bomber, Cheerful White (aka. Shirobon) and Cute Pink (aka. Pretty Bomber), were not present at the time of the incident, it did not change the fact that he yelled at his best friend over a broken handheld game system, let alone a Game & Watch. He closed his eyes tightly and curled himself into a ball in shame.
[End BGM]
All of a sudden, a purple wisp of smoke appeared out of nowhere, a miniature yet lanky man taking its place by floating above 9-Volt's left shoulder. The figure donned a purple business suit with a yellow tie, in addition to an all-too-familiar hat sporting an upside-down "L" up front and, though he also had two horns atop his head, a red barbed tail on his backside, and even a trident on his right hand. As 9-Volt pulled himself together and looked to his left, he saw the shoulder devil and recognized his sharp jaw, pointy chin, sharp handlebar mustache, and even his large pink nose all too well.
[Interlude BGM: Talking to Portrait Ghosts (Luigi's Mansion)]
"You...you're..." The child tried wiping tears from his eyes but could not stop crying.
The shoulder devil scratched his chin back and forth momentarily, as if to think of what to say without revealing his true motives. "Let's just say I'm here because I heard ya screaming at someone for breaking yer...whatever it was..."
"My Donkey Kong Game & Watch..."
"Yeah yeah. But listen, squirt, that big lug's finally outta yer hair and yer ma's not home, so no timeouts or groundings! Nothing to worry about. If anybody asks, lie to them so hard they'll never think you're lying. Trust me, kid, you're gonna grow up to be a sneaky, lying, cheating prank master just like good ol' me! All you gotta do is follow my lead every time I show up, and we'll get along just fine."
"But...but my mom said-"
"No buts!" interrupted the shoulder devil, placing his open palm in front of 9-Volt's face. "Seriously, you're such a yes-man for a mama's boy, but all of that will change soon enough with me around."
"And my ex-babysitter Mona-"
The shoulder devil interrupted 9-Volt again. "Ahhh, she's such a goody two-shoes, always tryin' to keep my bro in line and stuff whenever there's anything fun! 'Greed is bad' this, 'greed is bad' that! Bah!"
Upon hearing this, 9-Volt stopped crying. "You know Wario? Then you're..."
"A manifestation of your troubles I may be, but a guide to the path that's awesome I truly am! You're close, I'll give ya that, but enough about who I am; what I'm here for is to get ya to teach that game-breakin' jerk a lesson once and for all that he'll never forget! Prank him so hard he'll be too scared to even think about touching yer stuff, ever again! He stole from you, and now it's your turn to steal from him and everyone else who dare to spoil your fun!"
[End BGM]
9-Volt was at a loss for words on what to do from here, stuck between following his own integrity and trusting the shoulder devil-esque representation of Waluigi. Just then, a glowing white aura appeared on his right shoulder, revealing a miniature version of a certain auburn-haired girl he knew in his dreams to be older than him by one year. The shoulder angel wore a minty-green dress that a young princess in a Medieval kingdom would wear, only it wasn't too girly. Rather than sport a brooch like Peach's dress did in the Mario games, it had the famed Nintendo 64 logo, though sometimes it would have a Nintendo GameCube logo or even Hudson Soft's bee logo instead. Either way, she technically had the appearance of a traditional angel from heaven with white wings on her back and a glowing, golden halo floating above her head.
[Comfort BGM: Rydia (Final Fantasy IV)]
"Don't listen to him, 9-Volt!" warned the shoulder angel. "He's using you as a means to destroy your innocent being in front of everyone altogether!"
"Is that you, Phoebe?"
"Yes. I'm the same girl you befriended in your dreams when you were five years old. I took the guise of a shoulder angel upon hearing the bad news about the broken friendship between you and 18-Volt, so I could not only guide you on the path of righteousness, but to also protect you from that shoulder devil as I'm still your guardian angel this day."
The moment Waluigi glanced over to the shoulder angel, he grumbled to himself, "Why that little runt! I dunno who she is, but she just made the biggest mistake of her life by buttin' in on my plans! I've got other snot-nosed brats to tempt, and I'm not leaving without persuading sissy boy here to get back at those who dared to defy him by becoming the ultimate prankster like myself!"
While the lanky man was ranting quietly, 9-Volt tried to explain himself to Phoebe, "I just don't know what to do here. I didn't mean to yell at my best friend...I mean, I never do that to you at your house in Video Game Dream...ohhh, what was I thinking?! I'll never forgive myself!"
"Shhh, it's okay." Phoebe fluttered a bit closer to kiss 9-Volt's cheek. "I know you didn't mean it, but what you need to do now is go to 18-Volt and apologize to him. I bet he's sorry he got a little too excited about wanting to try out your Game & Watch, so therefore, what you'll also need to keep in mind is learn to forgive. Trust your morality."
[Interrupt BGM]
[Alert BGM: Waluigi's Island (Mario Party 3)]
But Waluigi rudely butted in by offering his "words of wisdom." "That's right, 9-Volt! Morality in Latin means prank and pillage those who destroyed your property for no reason! Get the hint? C'mon, kiddo...you know you wanna be a prankster like that yellow 10-year-old kid." He snickered by attempting to fly into 9-Volt's mind through the left ear only to be intercepted by Phoebe in return for interrupting her.
"9-Volt's mom doesn't plan on raising him to be like that boy you're referring to, and neither did Mona when she was still babysitting him. I can't make him stay an innocent child, but I can still guide him to be just that, even if it means stepping in to protect him from evildoers like you!" She revealed her true form by magically growing back to her normal size, whilst still maintaining her angelic wings and halo.
"So you can make yourself a few inches taller than him once more, big deal! Two can play at this game!" The shoulder devil-esque version of Waluigi swung his trident around in a circle with a spell, making himself taller into his regular appearance like in the Mario games in spite of the purple business suit, barbed tail and black horns he still endured. "Wa, ha ha ha! It's wedgie time for both of you! What're you gonna do now?"
9-Volt could only whimper in fear to himself. "I am never yelling at my friends again after this..."
"Shhh, everything's gonna be okay, 9-Volt. I'll get us out of this predicament." Then Phoebe turned over to Waluigi once again. "No wonder Mario and Luigi don't like you in real life, so here's what's gonna happen: I'm gonna put you in timeout by sending you back whence you came! I may not exist in the real world as of yet, but that doesn't mean I can't fight bullies like you, Waluigi!"
"Ha ha ha," chuckled the lanky prankster, "that's just too rich! A pint-sized damsel-in-distress, acting tough by saying she's gonna put me in timeout like a mommy would!"
"Be quiet! You'll do us and everybody else a favor and think about what you've done to these 'snot-nosed brats' you might have tempted!"
[End BGM]
[Fight BGM: Victory in the Dream World (Mario & Luigi: Dream Team)]
Much to Waluigi's surprise, however, Phoebe got out a magic wand resembling Rosalina's from Super Mario Galaxy and used it to transform him into ten bowling pins in a triangular fashion, all bearing his appearance as though he had appeared in the first two Mario Party games via the Bowl Over minigame prior to the third installment in the spinoff series (when in reality, he didn't show up until the latter). With another wave from the wand, 9-Volt's room was temporarily changed into a clean, two-lane bowling alley with bumpers covering the gutter on both sides. What frightened Waluigi even more was Phoebe snapping her fingers once, transforming the wand with a poof into a classic black bowling ball, which she now held on her right hand by its three finger holes. As for 9-Volt, he stood beside her on the front end of the lane, knowing that both his room and the Nintendo collection aren't affected in any shape, size or form in reality.
"Are you sure this is gonna work, Phoebe?" he asked worriedly.
The girl, still in her dress but now in her bowling shoes, flashed him a friendly wink in response to his question. "Mm-hmm. Trust me, 9-Volt."
Taking careful aim and remembering her training, not to mention her own lessons she taught 9-Volt on occasions, to be a better bowler, she stepped to the line with both hands on her bowling ball. While she wouldn't exactly call herself the best bowler in the world as she and 9-Volt are still learning, she is still capable of being a good sport in the long run. She took four steps, swung her arm backward, and forward before releasing the ball straight down the lane. The Waluigi pins panicked in fright but could not move as the magic fueled by 9-Volt's dream prevented them from doing so. In fact, 9-Volt wanted to apologize to 18-Volt all along but could not find the heart to do so at the time.
"AAAAAAAHHH!" screamed the Waluigi pins. "No no no no no no no no no no-"
Phoebe's enchanted bowling ball struck them with a loud CRASH!, with 9-Volt cheering for his other best friend for having bowled a strike to save him. The pins that were knocked down merged back into Waluigi in his regular form prior to disappearing in a puff of purple smoke back whence he came, while the bowling alley was changed back into 9-Volt's room.
[End BGM]
[Ending BGM: Onett (EarthBound)]
The young boy expressed his gratitude by hugging Phoebe, and let her hug him back. "Thanks for coming to save me. I hope it's not too late to find 18-Volt and apologize for yelling at him earlier. I've learned my lesson..."
"Maybe we still can. Here, take my hand and I'll walk you over to wherever he may be. Remember that while I've yet to exist in your world for real, I still have the ability to protect you. Where do you guys usually go to buy some video games you like?"
"The Toy Express shop on Interstate 310; sometimes we go over to a video game store run by Shop Manager Iwata close by. They're not too far from where I live..."
"I see. Now c'mon, don't be scared. I'm right here for you, 9-Volt."
"I...I trust you, Phoebe..."
"That's good to hear. Okay, just a little more...that's it, hold my hand nice and easy...there we go!"
Meanwhile on Interstate 310, 18-Volt had been looking all over Toy Express for a replacement Donkey Kong Game & Watch to buy for 9-Volt. Suddenly, he spotted a small group of kids and teenagers lining up at Shop Manager Iwata's video game store to get just the dual-screen game system 18-Volt was looking for all along! He immediately gathered his bearings and dashed next door to scoot around the kids lining up for the Game & Watch. In the meantime, 9-Volt and Phoebe arrived on the scene minutes later and went inside.
"Well...this is it," he said nervously.
"I hate to say this," added Phoebe, "but in order to apologize to 18-Volt, you'll need to let go of my hand first. Only you can do it."
9-Volt nodded slowly. "I know, you don't exist outside my dreams."
The girl flashed him a reassuring smile. "There will be a time in which I do someday, at least close to your house. Do the right thing, sweetie, and remember always that multiplayer is the ultimate expression of friendship when put to good use."
"That's true. I'll do my best to remember it...okay, here goes nothing..." He walked to the counter where the shop manager showed off the Game & Watch and reached for it whilst looking at 18-Volt, who was also picking it up, to his left. They both stopped there, with 9-Volt expressing remorse for what he did earlier. "...I'M SO SORRY!"
"M-me too, li'l buddy...I guess I did get a little too excited back there..."
"Same here, but I've learned my lesson. You'll always be my P2!" The Nintendo fans shook hands and reconciled, thus mending their friendship once more, much to Phoebe's contentment.
"And I'll always be your P3, 9-Volt. See you around Video Game Dream the next time you go to bed at night..." With that said, she vanished into thin air, sharing the same belief that she may someday come into existence in the real world.
THE END
(Ending Credits)
9-Volt - TARA STRONG
Phoebe - HYNDEN WALCH
18-Volt - CHRIS RAGER
Waluigi - CHARLES MARTINET
[End BGM]
[End Credits]
And that marks the end of the story of a rekindled friendship, long before the events of Diamond City Chronicles #3: 9-Volt and Phoebe's Dream Adventure in my stories.