More mishaps in both worlds ensue, all the while Keyla, Patricia and their fellow adventurers - Mona included - get closer to the end of their quest, and the solution to the age-reversing fiasco to boot.
DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph and Sofia the First belong to Disney; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and Winx Club is rightfully owned by Iginio Straffi. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl. All arcade games, movie franchises, etc. mentioned in GJA #3 belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.
Chapter 5: The more the pettier
[Overworld BGM: Inside a House (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker)]
Minutes after being spanked twice in day, Wario was called over to dinner by 5-Volt, who also could not wait for her trusted allies to undo Rudy and Rudeena's infantizing magic. The sooner it was done, the better for all of Diamond City, let alone those close to mother and son. She got out a toddler's chair for Wario to sit on, and a can of spinach with a picture of a world-famous, spinach-eating sailor man, which she opened up with an automatic can-opener. Then she poured its contents onto a bowl before placing it on the table in front of Wario, and got out a Mickey Mouse spoon 9-Volt used to eat cereal with when he was in kindergarten.
But Wario didn't like eating spinach. He hated the way it looked, just the way he remembered from his younger days. One time, his own mother fed him some spinach, claiming it to give a kid some strength, but he spit it out...which, of course, earned him a stern warning that if he didn't eat it, he wouldn't get any ice cream for dessert. He started crying and screaming until his mom calmed him down by making airplane sounds as she spoon-fed him.
Despite his flashback, 5-Volt was in no mood for making airplane sounds just so Wario would behave. He was not her son, nor was he well-behaved as opposed to 9-Volt.
"Me want stwawbewwy ice cweam," the infantized CEO spoke in a childlike manner.
"No, young man," said 5-Volt, "you eat your food that's on the table."
"Uh-uh! Me wants ice cweam! Spinach mega yucky wike bwocowwi! Me wants ice cweam now and pway Stweet Fightuh and new Soopuh Smash Bwuddas!" He pulled out what 5-Volt instantly recognized as the Ultra Hand, a toy manufactured by Nintendo in the late 1960s. It consisted of several criss-cross-connected plastic elements, and operated on the "lazy tongs" pantograph principle. One end of the Ultra Hand had scissors-like handles and was indeed operated like scissors, extending when the handles were to be pinched together and retracting when parted. The other end had two bowl-shaped grips with which ball-like objects, which came with the Ultra Hand, could be gripped whenever the toy is fully extended. In Wario's case, he used the Ultra Hand he "found" while he was running around the house, to open a nearby freezer, grab a small, cylinder-shaped carton of strawberry ice cream, and pulled it back towards him.
"Where did you get the Ultra Hand? Nuh-uh, young man! Hand it over."
"But-"
5-Volt interrupted the stubborn CEO, "No buts. Do you want to be returned to normal or not? Now hand over the Ultra Hand. Please and thank you."
"Uh-uh! Me wanna pway with Uwtwa Hand after ice cweam time!" He used the aforementioned toy to open the cap and grabbed a tablespoon amount of ice cream as though it were a spoon.
"Put down that Ultra Hand and ice cream or you're in trouble. I mean it. Wario, I am not playing around." She placed her hands on her hips in a stern position. "I'm not gonna say it again. If you put that ice cream in your mouth, you're gonna be in big trouble, young man. Ah! Nah-ah!"
"Ahhh..." Wario made a noise to emphasize that word as he opened his mouth, but immediately after touching just a tiny bit of it with the tip of his tongue, 5-Volt got up to grab him, sitting back down to place him face-first on her lap for yet another spanking on the tush. "WAAAAAAH! HA HA! WAH HA HAH! AH, HA HA HA HAAA! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I WANT MY MOMMY!"
"I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice but to put you in time-out for 10 minutes. You are to sit in a corner until you stop crying and screaming. Lucky for you, I'm not the kind of parent that would put naughty children in closets just to get them to behave themselves. I don't know how you were raised, but bad behavior will not be tolerated in this house, understand?"
Wario huffed in response, albeit still in tears. "Yes, mommy..."
"I'm not your mother, but in this case, I'll let it slide...but only until you're back to normal."
Suddenly, Phosphora walked into the kitchen with a yawn. "What's all the commotion?"
"Ohhh, just little Wario being Wario in this day and age..." 5-Volt paused momentarily to let out a groan. "My son was never all too difficult for me or Mona to raise right, even if he did stay up past his bedtime now and then."
"I'll say. Are Mona and the others back from teaching those bratty Macrohards a lesson?"
"Sigh...not yet, I'm afraid. Why don't you take over while I go lie down with 9-Volt and Pit in bed?"
The Lightning Flash shrugged it off and simply nodded. "Okey-dokey. I guess my friendly bowling match with Mona can wait for little while longer..."
[End BGM]
[Interlude BGM: Waluigi Island (Mario Party 3)]
Elsewhere up the hills in the fair kingdom of Enchancia, Purple Basilisk, Trigger Bomber and Mosquito Bomber were looking around for Mona's team from atop a cliff about ten feet off the ground, having prepared themselves a booby trap to ensure a safe capture of Sofia's Amulet of Avalor. "Got the see-saw nailed to the ground, and a cannonball on one end just like you ordered, boss!" said Mosquito Bomber. "Big enough like a bowling ball to flatten someone like a pizza! But why'd you make me so frail?! I nearly sprained my back when Trigger and I had to carry it around because it is HEAVY."
Purple Basilisk replied, "That's because your figure is meant to go well with your flight agility when it comes to dodging enemy attacks. Duh!"
"I hate to complain, boss, but why are we doing this again?" asked Trigger Bomber.
"Because," the humanoid snake answered with a forced groan. "And given our lack of resources at the underworld hideout thanks to Princess Ice-Happy and her merry witches with dark and lightning magic..." He grumbled to himself as he put on a pair of Iron Boots. Then he made as big a leap as he could off the cliff, landing on the see-saw to launch the cannonball up high, but instead of the ball flying towards the heroes walking by, it flattened him in a manner similar to that of a Wario Land game! Mosquito Bomber flew down the cliff onto the surface, rolled the cast-iron ball away, and pulled out an air pump to bring her boss back to his normal shape.
"Heh heh heh, you sure weren't kidding when you mentioned human girls being crazy about flowers!" boasted Trigger Bomber. "Now THAT is one foolproof plan sure to net us the amulet! If we can't use magic like what's-his-name could-"
"Cedric, I believe," interrupted Purple Basilisk. "If my hunch is correct, they'll stop for a moment so Princesses Keyla, Cherry and Sofia can smell the flowers. Now, can anyone tell me what other Earthly creature is crazy about flowers?"
"A bee," replied Mosquito Bomber. "Why?"
"One beehive launched at them from this catapult over here, and out comes the bee swarm for the sting of the century! They'll be flailing their arms wildly just to get the bees off, Sofia might accidentally drop her amulet for us to steal!" The humanoid snake cut the rope holding back the catapult with a combat knife, flinging the beehive at the heroes as planned! The moment it landed on the flower field with a thud, the bees flew out in anger to sting them, but stopped halfway as soon as they saw a surprised Sofia. With her amulet on, she could talk to and understand animals and insects alike.
"Hey, wait a minute, ladies!" shouted the queen bee. "That's the famous Princess Sofia, the fairest and most kind-hearted of all from Enchancia! She and her friends don't deserve to be stung."
But Sofia's friends could only hear the bees buzzing about, since they're not wearing the Amulet of Avalor. However, she could still translate for them. "They're telling us not to worry about getting stung."
"Ahh, this place just keeps getting more interesting everyday," said Calhoun.
Mona added, "Guess we don't need to have a Bee Badge on as long as Sofia's with us."
"Bee Badge?"
"In The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds," explained the redheaded adventurer, "whoever wears it after presenting a Golden Bee to the Bee Guy, will magically make all bees friendly, meaning no more stings. Then again, wouldn't you wanna have one on too, in real life?"
[End BGM]
"Besides, she's too nice a person," the queen bee told the worker and drone bees as Mona's team continued to listen on. "It's those three jerks on the other side who are using us just to steal her amulet!"
[Panic BGM: How Far (Mario Party 5)]
"Protect the kind and courageous Princess Sofia from evil!" shouted the bees in unison, following behind their queen to sting the ever living daylights out of Purple Basilisk, Trigger Bomber and Mosquito Bomber. Apparently, even artificial Bombermen like the two can get stung by bees, wasps and/or hornets.
"YEEEOOOOWWWCH!" screamed Purple Basilisk. "NOT THE BEE STINGS!"
"OW, OW, OW, OWCH!" winced Mosquito Bomber. "Sting THEM, not us!"
Trigger Bomber, on the other hand, tried to blast the bees with fragmentation and German grenades alike, only for both the painful stings and his flailing arms to make him drop them on the ground, blowing himself up in the process. "AACK! Get offa me, you jerks! GET OFF ME!"
[End BGM]
To end it all, the queen bee trumpeted a "dun da-da-dah" sounding buzz, prompting the bees to group with her into a big, golf club-shaped formation. Aiming carefully with their stingers ready, the swarm launched themselves backwards and forward at the panicked villains, swatting them far away by the rear until they were out of sight. Finally, the bees formed a big hand to wave at Sofia, letting her know it's safe for everyone to continue the journey prior to reentering their beehive.
[Defeat BGM: Foolish Bowser (Mario Party 3)]
"Unnnngh...Owwwww! I've definitely lost my desire to send bees, rather than the mosquitoes alone, after people whenever I'm in my Final Smash form!"
"You can say that again, Mosquito..." grunted Trigger Bomber. "So what now, boss?"
"You take my spellbook and prepare to summon the apparitions of the Imperial Forces, the moment you catch up at last," ordered Purple Basilisk. "Me, I think I'll lie down for a while...but NOT a word about the bee stings, to anyone! Especially Icy!"
[End BGM]
TO BE CONTINUED...
The moral of this chapter: Screw with the bees, and you'll get your comeuppance in the end. I've never been stung by one before (nor have I ever thought about messing with them), but I know by heart that it HURTS. Guess I must be one lucky guy, even if I'm afraid of bee stings in this day and age...
