MOCHI > The Scrapbook > Convention Memories > Anime Central > 2000

And on the third day, MOCHI rested ....

Well, it wasn't much of a rest. In the early part of the morning, MOCHI made a quick round of the dealer's room before some of the members had to head out to the airport. [Insert quick hugs and tearful waving at the giant airplanes here.]

The remaining members of MOCHI went on a bit of a shopping spree at the local Mitsuwa. There was, of course, the customary restock of Japanese snacks and other goodies. Sugar Bomb made a beeline for the liquor store to see if they had some rare Japanese scotches. He was hoping for some Nikka's Yoichi single malt, but had to settle for some Suntori instead. Over at the bookstore, Daifuku was pleased to find some beautiful Japanese papers and two CDs.

Daifuku: [flipping through the stack of CDs] Doesn't look like there's anything new in here .... Oo! A Starchild OP/ED collection. 2CD set. [flips the CD case over]. I've got some of these already, but there's definitely some things in here I'd like.
[Sugar Bomb and Spiky look bored.]
Spiky: Uh, we're going to go look over at the magazines to see if there's some other modeling magazines to leaf through.
Daikfuku: [preoccupied] Uh, yea. Sure.
[Sugar Bomb and Spiky escape.]
Spiky: Phew!
Sugar Bomb: [looks at the pile of stuff at Daifuku's feet] Do you think she's going to make us carry it all back to the car?
Spiky: I hope not. [thinks for a second] You know, I hope that there's room in the car. The Gara armor is pretty big.
Sugar Bomb: [looking over in the corner where the CDs are kept] Uh oh.
Spiky: [alarmed] What?
Sugar Bomb: I think .... [looks harder] I think she's ... swooning or something.
Spiky: Really? [looks over at the CD corner] Well, it looks like she's hyperventilating now. Oh, wait. Now she's bouncing up and down.
Daikfuku: [running over] Looklooklooklook! It's a CD for Love Love Shou Comi Island!
[Sugar Bomb and Spiky look at each other, confused.]
Sugar Bomb: Er ....
Daikfuku: [looks exasperated] It's for one of Koyasu Takehito's radio shows!
[Sugar Bomb and Spiky look at each other.]
Spiky: [whispering to Sugar Bomb] Uh oh.
Sugar Bomb: [whispering back] Yea. We know what we're going to be stuck listening to in the car on the way back.

The real fun, of course, came later that evening. Yes, here's where Gameworks proceeded to suck out huge amounts of time and much money.

To give you some background:

A long time ago, when cosplaying had not yet taken over their lives, Daifuku and Spiky were very fond of playing video games. There was one game in particular that ate many, many of their quarters. It spawned phrases that entered their everyday vocabulary, like "Elf / Valkerie needs food, badly". It consumed free time like there was no tomorrow. The game was Gauntlet.

Now, Sugar Bomb, being the deprived child that he was, had never played the game. He figured out what the references meant, but it didn't have any real meaning for him. Imagine his surprise when, in the Gameworks, Daifuku and Spiky saw the Gauntlet: Legends machine. Imagine his confusion about the noises of rapture that Daifuku and Spiky made. But, he was a good sport. Plunking down $20 for one of the Gameworks cards, they settled down for a few, quick rounds of Gauntlet before heading out.

Famous last words.

Much of the afternoon and evening flew by in a flurry of sword-slashing and monster-mashing (with a few B.F.Gs thrown in). Whoever thought up the trick of having the card "recharge" machines take credit cards was an evil, perverted person who understood human psychology all too well. Only after there were ominous announcements on the PA system about the possibility of breaking out the riot gear in order to get rid of the lunatics playing Gauntlet were the members of MOCHI finally pried away from the machine.

But they'll be back ....

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