Introduction[]
(Slink and Toby stand on a bench on the playground with Buster between them. Arthur, Brain and some other kids watch.)
Slink: Ladies and germs, gather round. Our good friend Buster the Brave will now do something so incredibly amazing...
Toby: Something so shocking, horrible and embarrassing...
(Buster looks uncomfortable. Arthur addresses the camera.)
Arthur: Whoa! Wait a second. Stop everything!
(Everything freezes except Arthur.)
Arthur: Something is very wrong with this picture. First of all, he called Buster "brave". Buster brave? You should have seen him on Halloween!
(Flashback: Arthur and Buster go trick-or-treating, Arthur as Bionic Bunny and Buster as a pirate. A kid in an alien costume passes them.)
Buster: (gasps) Arthur, aliens!
Arthur: Buster, it's just a costume!
Buster: Oh, yeah. I forgot.
(They walk on and Buster sees his reflection in a window.)
Buster: (screams) Arthur, pirates!
Arthur: Oh, brother.
(The flashback ends.)
Arthur: And second of all, if Buster's their “good friend”, why does he look so nervous? Slink is holding a paper bag. And what's in the bag anyway? (He takes a peek.) Oh, no!
Title Card: Buster Roars (Lion)[]
(Buster walks over the playground holding a transformer robot.)
Buster: You can't hide forever, Captain Aster-Read. And when I find you, I'll...
(Arthur looks out of a tube slide holding another robot.)
Arthur: Eat my boots, Star-Buster!
Arthur+Buster: (battle noises)
Arthur: Escape. Escape. (He transforms his robot into a rocket plane.) (plane noises)
(Buster transforms his robot into another plane and they race across the playground into the sandbox.)
Arthur+Buster: (battle noises)
(Two older boys, Toby on inline skates and Slink on a skateboard come on the playground.)
Arthur+Buster: Whoa.
(Slink jumps over a bench with his skateboard.)
Arthur+Buster: Cool.
(Toby spins around a lamppost.)
Arthur+Buster: Wow!
(Toby and Slink run through a dry fountain.)
Slink: Righteous skating, Toby.
Toby: Radical land surfing, Slink.
(They do a complex salute with their fists.)
Buster: That was great!
Arthur: Yeah, will you teach us how to do that sometime?
Toby: Aren't you kids a little young?
Slink: After all, you are playing in the sandbox.
Arthur: Oh, I was just ... looking for something I lost.
(They pretend to search.)
Buster: Arthur, I found it. Here's your penny.
(Toby and Slink are gone.)
***
(Later, Arthur puts on skates at the playground while Buster rides a skateboard.)
Buster: I'm gonna jump over the bench. Watch! (He jumps and the skateboard rolls away.) Oh, no! Come back. Oof! (He lands headfirst in the sandbox.) At least it didn't hurt too much.
(Arthur slowly circles the lamppost.)
Arthur: How am I doing?
Buster: Great, just don't... There is a metallic clang and Arthur sits on the ground. ...let go.
(Buster rides through the fountain. When he jumps out, the skateboard hits his shin.)
Buster: Ow!
Arthur: Whoa! Oof!
(He falls in the sandbox.)
(Buster tries kicking up the skateboard. It hits his nose.)
Buster: Ow!
(Arthur and Buster ride towards each other.)
Arthur: Nice moves, buddy.
Buster: You too.
(They try to high-five and bump into each other.)
Arthur+Buster: Ohh!
(They fall back onto a bench.)
Buster: Boy, I wish Toby and Slink were here to give us some pointers.
(Toby and Slink come by.)
Slink: You don't need pointers. You need an emergency room.
Toby: (chuckles) Come on, Slink, let's make tracks.
Arthur: Aren't you guys gonna skate today?
Toby: Are you kidding? Comic Mania just opened. (He notices Arthur’s skates.) Strap-ons? How uncool.
(Toby and Slink leave.)
Buster: Hey, Arthur, I’ve got an idea. Let's go to Comic Mania.
***
(Arthur and Buster enter a comic book store.)
Buster: Arthur, look! It's the very first issue of Bionic Bunny versus Techno Turtle!
Arthur: (gasps) Be careful, it's probably worth a thousand dollars!
Toby: Ha! You couldn't pay me to take that baby comic.
Slink: If you kids want a really cool comic, check out Pea Brain and Nut Head.
(He hands Buster a comic that parodies ‘Beavis and Butthead’. The characters on the front page move.)
Pea Brain+Nut Head: (stupid laughter)
Slink+Toby: (imitate stupid laughter)
Buster: (laughs unconvincingly) Laugh.
Arthur: But I don't get it.
Buster: Neither do I, but they don't have to know that.
Arthur: (laughs unconvincingly) That peanut sure cracks me up. Haha!
Toby: He's not a peanut, he's a pecan.
Buster: I think they're really starting to like us. We just need one more thing to make it perfect.
***
(Arthur and Buster stand in front of Billy’s Burger Barn. They have dressed up “cool” to impress Slink and Toby. Buster wears sunglasses. Arthur wears a black T-shirt, a baseball cap backwards, and what seems to be baggy pants.)
Arthur: I don't know about this, Buster. These are my dad's shorts. I'm afraid they're gonna fall down.
Buster: Trust me, Arthur, this is going to work. Just let me do the talking.
Arthur: All right. How do I look?
Buster: Great. At least I think so. I can't really see anything.
(They walk into the burger joint, where Slink and Toby are eating. Buster walks into an empty chair.)
Buster: Oh! (Arthur points the right way.) Hey, fresh dudes. Mind if we chill your crib?
Slink: What??
Buster: Me and my homefry here would like to be in your possum... well, I mean, heh heh, posse.
Toby: Er... What's he trying to say?
Arthur: He's asking if you could show us some of those cool skate tricks, and, you know, just let us hang out with you guys.
Slink and Toby look at each other.
Slink+Toby: Nyaa.
Arthur: Come on, Buster, let's go.
Slink: (whispers to Toby)
Toby: Wait, you guys, we changed our minds.
Arthur+Buster: Really?!
Slink: Yeah, you two seem pretty cool, but we'd like you to just do one thing, just to make sure that you're cool enough.
Buster: Sure. No problem.
Arthur: What is it?
Toby: Nothing really. Just a little... dare.
***
Shortly afterwards, Arthur, Buster, Toby and Slink stand in front of a food store.
Arthur: Buster, what if someone we know sees us? I think these guys are just trying to make fun of us.
Buster: Come on, Arthur, it's just one little dare.
Arthur: Well... all right.
Buster: Me-me-me-me-me-meee...
Arthur: A-hem!
Arthur sees his mom and D.W. come around the corner.
Arthur: (gasps) Oh no!
D.W.: Arthur!
Arthur: Um... Sorry, Buster, I gotta go!
Buster: You can't let me do this alone.
Mrs. Read: Just in time. We're doing some shopping and you could use some new pants.
Arthur: Great! Let's go right now!
D.W.: Mom, I think Arthur's sick. He hates clothes shopping.
Buster: (sings off-key:) “Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb…”
Toby+Slink: (snigger)
Dogs howl. Arthur covers his ears. Jane stares in surprise.
Buster: “Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow.”
D.W.: Yep, something weird is definitely going on.
***
Later, Slink, Toby and Buster stand outside the Sugar Bowl.
Slink: Okay, Buster, you know what to do.
Buster: So, after I do this, you'll let me hang out with you, right?
Toby: Sure. It's just a little dare to prove you're not chicken.
Buster walks into the Sugar Bowl, where Francine, Sue Ellen, Arthur and Binky are sitting.
Arthur: Hi, Buster. Did those guys teach you some cool skate tricks yet?
Buster: Excuse me, Arthur. Er, Binky, I have a message for you.
Binky: What?
Buster: Um, let me think. Oh yeah, your mother eats gym shorts.
Binky: What?!
Francine+Sue Ellen: (gasp)
Arthur: (gasps)
Buster returns to Slink and Toby with an ice-cream cup in his face.
Buster: Phew, that wasn't so bad. Mmm, strawberry.
Slink+Toby: (laugh)
Arthur watches them through the window.
Arthur: Oh, Buster.
***
Lakewood plays baseball against Mighty Mountain. Buster slides to a base where Slink is standing.
Umpire: Safe!
Slink: (whispers in Buster's ear) Come on, just this one last dare.
Buster: O-okay. He calls to the dugout. Psst, Francine, I, er, I need advice!
Francine: What does he need advice for? He just has to run home as fast as he can.
Francine walks up to Buster. He kisses her.
Arthur+Muffy: (gasp)
Brain: Where's he going now?
Arthur: He's running home as fast as he can.
Francine chases Buster out of the ballpark.
Francine: BUSTER BAXTER, I'M GONNA PULVERIZE YOU!!!
Arthur sees Slink and Toby giving each other the thumbs-up.
Arthur: I think I have to talk to Buster.
***
Arthur catches up with Buster as he’s walking home.
Arthur: Hi, Buster! Erm, have Toby and Slink asked you to do any more dares? Buster nods slowly. What is it this time? Buster writes on a piece of paper. "I'm not allowed to talk for the whole day"? That's crazy. Buster shrugs. You can't let them make you do all these dopey things. Are you sure they're really going to let you be their friend?
Buster: You're right, Arthur.
***
Buster walks into the video arcade, where Toby and Slink are playing a Pea Brain and Nut Head game.
Pea Brain+Nut Head (on screen): (stupid laughter)
Buster: I just wanted to let you guys know, that I'm not going to...
Slink: Hey! I thought we told you not to talk!
Buster: Er... I'm tired of doing dopey embarrassing things just so you'll be my friends.
Pea Brain+Nut Head (on screen): Game over! (stupid laughter)
Toby: But, Buster, we were about to initiate you into our ultra-secret brotherhood of daredevils.
Slink: And teach you skate tricks that have been passed down by the masters for centuries.
Buster: Tricks?
Buster imagines standing before a Buddha statue in a temple on a mountain. He is holding a skateboard while Toby and Slink sit before him in monks’ robes.
Toby: You have completed the training, long-eared one. Show us what you have learned.
Buster holds the skateboard over his head and bows.
Buster: The Salamander.
He does a looping.
Buster: The Boomerang.
He throws his skateboard like a boomerang and it comes back.
Buster: And Crane Flying Over Water.
He lies on his board and flies through the air waving his arms.
Buster: Honk! Honk! Honk!
The fantasy ends. Buster shakes his head free.
Slink: If you want all our secret knowledge, you're gonna have to do a really special dare.
Buster: (gulps)
***
Several kids play on the playground. Arthur and Brain play in the sandbox with transformer robots.
Arthur: Must escape!
He transforms his robot into a rocket plane. Brain transforms his into a beeping UFO.
Brain: I added a couple of special features to mine.
Slink, Toby and Buster come.
Buster: Wow, cool spaceship. Can I see it?
Brain: Sure, Buster. Try it out.
Slink: Come on, it's time for the big show!
Toby and Slink stand by a park bench looking impatient.
Buster: Er, Maybe later. There's something I have to do.
Buster joins Toby and Slink on the bench.
Slink: Ladies and germs, gather round. Our good friend Buster the Brave will now do something so incredibly amazing...
Toby: Something so shocking, horrible and embarrassing...
Slink: He's going to eat this bug.
He pulls out a glass jar with a cricket inside.
Kids: (gasp)
Buster: (gasps)
Slink hands Buster the jar.
Slink: Go on, buddy. They're waiting.
Buster hesitates and looks at Arthur who shakes his head.
Buster: You eat it!
Slink: What?!
Buster: I dare you to eat the bug!
Toby: Come on, how stupid do you think he is?
Slink: Yeah, how stupid do you think I am?
Buster: Ohhh, you're saying it would be stupid to do something just because somebody dared you to do it?
Slink: That's right!
Buster: Well, thank you for telling me, I guess I won't eat it then.
He hands Slink the jar and leaves.
Toby: Wait, er.. I mean... Slink?
Slink: Nice work, Einstein! Here, take this thing.
Toby: No, you take it!
Slink: No, you take it!
***
Buster and Brain play with transformer robots in the sandbox.
Buster: (robot voice:) You may be tricky, Brainbot, but I bet there's one thing you can't transform into.
Brain: (robot voice:) I can transform into anything.
Buster: (robot voice:) I dare you to turn into a washing machine.
Brain presses a button on his transformer, which transforms into a washing machine.
Buster: Quickly, Captain Aster-Read, put your dirty laundry in him! You shouldn't do something just because somebody dares you, Brain. Don't you know that? I though everybody knew that.