After playing out in the rain, Fanboy and Chum Chum catch colds. Stuck in the Fanlair together, one thing leads to another, and they get into a fight. Then Kyle shows up at the door just to get out of the rain, and Fanboy and Chum Chum each want to claim Kyle as his new best friend.
They then fight over him, which pleases Kyle as he has never had a true playmate before. Fanboy has the first temporary victory, and suggests all kinds of energetic activities to Kyle, but Kyle is better suited to board games. But when Fanboy turns even a simple game of checkers into roughhousing like he does with Chum Chum, Kyle refuses to play with him and then Chum Chum shows up again to take Kyle as his own friend.
Chum Chum teaches Kyle how to play action figures, but he too has his own ridiculous rules that frustrate Kyle. Kyle then calls the two out for their made-up rules (not that they mind it, however) and "calls shenanigans", and Fanboy and Chum Chum take it as an invitation to play their wildest game Shenanigans, in which a multitude of their clones cause chaos. This enrages Kyle and results in him being launched out of the Fanlair.
Fanboy and Chum Chum then find themselves no longer sick or angry with each other, and they reconcile as Fanboy decides to never repeat whatever it was that started the fight... and then it starts raining again and they decide to go play in it.
Tropes
- Aesop Amnesia: Fanboy and Chum Chum resolve to not do again what lead to their feud—and moments later they set off to play in the rain, which is what made them sick and indirectly led to the fighting.
- An Aesop:
- Try not to let something get in the way of your friendship with someone else.
- When playing games, some people come up with their own ways of playing unlike the way they're played traditionally; it's important to accept each other's differences.
- Though you may have a lot of friends, there is only one whom you consider your true best friend.
- Arc Words: "Best friend(s)".
- Artistic License – Biology: The titular boys get sick due to playing in the rain, which is impossible in real life as a cold comes within 3-4 days after coming into contact with the virus if not treated. They also immediately feel better after Kyle is launched out, when a cold normally wears off after about a week.
- Bittersweet Ending: The boys' cold breaks and they reconcile, but Kyle has been launched out and left with no best friends or playmates, given his experience, it's clear to him neither Fanboy or Chum Chum will be such for him.
- Book Ends: The episode starts with it raining and the boys play in it, then it ends with them watching the raining and going out to play in it again.
- Bottle Episode: The whole episode takes place at the Fanlair, save for a scene at the school in the first scene.
- Calvinball: Calling "Shenanigans" around the duo leads to some...interesting results.
- Catch Your Death of Cold: Both FB and CC end up catching colds when playing in the rain.
- Clone Army: The boys summon these as part of the "Shenanigans" game.
- Feud Episode: Between Fanboy and Chum Chum after getting sick. It isn’t until the end of the episode that Kyle is launched out and their sickness breaks that they go back to being friends again.
- Fictional Board Game: Fanboy has several, as he lists: Killer Robot Frenzy, Zombie Attack, Violence Fight, Violence Fight 2 (now with more violence), and Mr. Unicorn's Teddy Bear Dress Up Fashion Show, which Kyle takes an interest in, but Fanboy says he and Chum Chum melted all the pieces on account of seeming too lame for them.
- Foreshadowing: Fanboy telling Kyle he and Chum Chum melted all the pieces from a girly game he took interest in because it was too lame for their alley is the first sign of how outlandish and random the two can become when they play their games and make up their own rules for such.
- Got Me Doing It: Kyle coming to the Fanlair causing the duo to fight over him as a "best friend" eventually causes him to experience their anger toward each other prior to his entrance.
- Instant Illness: When FB and CC play in the rain, they begin to sneeze badly. Cut to the Fanlair moments later, where they are on the couch with colds.
- Irony: Kyle comes to the Fanlair and is surprised to hear from the boys that he never actually had anyone want to play with him. However, he later refuses to play with them himself, hence their games have made-up rules.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Despite wanting to have a friend to play with, Kyle was right to reject both Fanboy and Chum Chum and call them out because they make up their own game rules.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After everything Kyle does due to being unacceptable over the boys' made-up rules, he is promptly punished by being thrown out onto the moon.
- Me's a Crowd: The first obstacle sent out in the duo's "Shenanigans" game are miniature clones in their likeness.
- Obfuscating Disability: When the remote control's batteries are dead and neither boy feels well enough to get off the couch and turn on the TV, Fanboy pretends he's been blinded by fever to get out of the task.
- Only the Leads Get a Happy Ending: In the end the boys apologize to each other for their feud and become friends again, but Kyle has rejected them both as his playmates and was launched out, and seeing what happened, it's clear he'll have no best friends.
- Rage Breaking Point:
- The head of Kyle’s ninja exploding is the very last straw for him, causing him to shout at the boys for their made-up rules, though they don’t mind this.
- An early one is done by Chum Chum due to Fanboy sneezing in his face and he calls a fight.
- Reaching Between the Lines: Done by Fanboy when he reaches over the line of his Splitscreen Phone Call with Lenny to get some nachos.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Kyle gives one to the boys upon getting sick over their random-ruled games, even though they seem to not react in sadness by this.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After suffering through games with made-up rules and the "Shenanigans" game as well, Kyle decides he has had enough of all that nonsense and demands to leave. Fanboy assumes it's part of the game, and they provide the perfect exit by shooting him to the moon.
- Shout-Out:
- The plot to this episode is pretty much a combination of "Pinapple Fever" and "Naughty Nautical Neighbors" from Spongebob Squarepants.
- The episode's title also alludes to the actual war of the same name.
- Sick Episode: The titular duo get sick for the majority of the episode.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't know what happens to Kyle after he gets blasted to the moon.
- Your Head Asplode: The head of Kyle's ninja explodes, which is what pushes his anger over the mark.
