A world of ninjas, cyborgs, and zombies wasn’t enough for me. There was no way to know what type of adventures awaited my cousin and I, but I knew they involved a convention full of people. The only redeeming fact would be the comfort of all the video games I could fit into my schedule.
I sank in my passenger seat at the sight of the convention center’s packed sidewalks where everyone else lived out their heroic fantasies as cosplays. My eyes locked onto the tiny screen in my hands as I played an indie puzzle game to distract myself, despite pot holes that rocked the van.
Valora, my cousin, leaned out her driver window and shouted at the many costumed con-goers she admired. She almost hopped out of her seat whenever she spotted another Link cosplayer with the typical sword, green outfit, and blue shield. She would wave frantically at any of them who looked up to see their twin driving by.
“Only at a place like this can our fantasies become real. Isn’t this amazing?” Valora’s voice was hoarse from all the screaming she’d done in the past five minutes. “August? Get your head out of that game. Don’t try to escape this.”
“I’m here.” I sighed and turned off the Cat Tower 3 app on my phone. “What’s there to be cheerful about? That crowd looks like a tempest. And this is five hours before any of the Day Zero events begin.”
Valora’s mouth curved into a cruel smile. “We’ll stand in line for at least two hours today.”
I stared at my cousin in horror. “You’re about to say these are the quick lines, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “People coming in Friday have to stand in line for three hours. And everyone coming Saturday morning shouldn’t plan on seeing anything until evening.”
I shifted my view to the many people outside. “With the crowds as bad as they are, I’ll be happy to spend all my time in the gaming hall.”
Valora cleared her throat as she cruised past a park across the street from the convention center filled with medieval heroes and foam swords. “You’ll have five days to change your mind about being so closed-minded. Everyone is having the time of their lives. And you will, too. You might even try cosplay.” She smirked at me.
I furrowed my brow and crossed my arms in front of my Starcraft t-shirt. My cargo shorts and tennis shoes weren’t going to change, either. “Not to sound ungrateful for your bringing me to Anime Blast, but the cosplay scene isn’t for me.” I peeked out at the foam sword battles and had to hide the slight grin that betrayed my lips.
“Skulk away in the depths of the gaming hall, then. Miss out on all the fun.” Her eyes darted toward me for a split second. “Are you eyeballing the larpers?”
“Never.” I shook my head. “Okay, I just noticed they weren’t doing any moves from games or shows.”
“You taking the time to pick apart something?” Valora grinned. “Must mean you like it. Maybe you can sneak away from your gaming hall to go try some larping. I tried their dojo workshops a couple years back and it was so much fun.”
“I’ll do some research and think about it.” I saved a search query on my phone to learn more about sword fighting with foam weapons.
“Wow, such progress. Imagine what Grandma will say when she finds out I got you to go outside for your gaming.” She turned toward a wide driveway, past cosplayers having their photos taken by the parking garage entrance and its concrete pillars.
“You do know my favorite type of role playing is turn-based or MMO, not live action?” I felt confident my defiance had crushed her hopes.
Valora ignored my efforts and instead waved at an Asuka cosplayer in a Trek uniform. “That’s such an amazing mashup!” They exchanged Vulcan gestures and we left the last rays of daylight behind us.
Busy crowds of cosplayers shifted to frantic people with duffle bags and roller cases navigating through endless rows of subterranean parking. Cars were packed into every space, including loading areas. Some drivers gave up their quest and parked in the way of other cars while their passengers spilled out with as much luggage as possible. We scooted past the chaos and went to the next level down, there the scene repeated itself. The third level had less people, even less light, but just as many parked cars.
“We delve too greedily and too deep, and will disturb that from which we must flee.” Valora chuckled as she rounded the ramp down to the fourth level of parking.
I nodded and cracked a small smile at the reference. “You! Shall! Not! Park!”
“Then what do I see ahead?” Valora gently sped up the van to approach an empty spot in an otherwise packed row. “Not even giant eagles could deliver a better salvation than this.” She parked the van and the engine’s newfound silence revealed her deep, gleeful breaths. “We’re finally here, August. Anime Blast! Five days of comics, movies, and cosplay. Oh yeah, and maybe a few video games.” She raised her hand toward me.
I responded to her high five, but my smile was only a quarter the size of hers. “Is there any way we can go straight from here to the convention? I’d like to avoid that crowd.”
Valora shook her head. “We have to get our badges to get in. And the only way to do that is the lovely ordeal known as Line Con.” She grinned as if she had a great idea. “You could try chatting with others as we zig-zag through the front courtyard. There’ll be plenty of girls your age.”
I huffed and rolled my eyes. “When did you suddenly become my aunt? You’re only three years older than me. Besides, I can echo those uncomfortable family conversations, too. Valora, now that you’re out of high school, how’s the job hunt?”
My cousin shuddered. “Fair point. I won’t bring up your being a shy boy if you don’t speak about my lack of career goals.”
“Deal.” I exchanged a fist bump with my cousin. “So great to spend time with family and not get pestered with horrible questions.”
“Play all the video games you want when we’re in line.” Valora grabbed her shield-shaped backpack and hopped out of the van.
“Honestly I’ll probably read the tournament rules so I can get in and wreck newbs in endless matches.” I hopped out of the van with only my phone and a portable charger in hand.
“Is that what you call bush camping in default gear?” Valora raised her key fob to lock the van.
“Duel me anytime.” I crossed my arms. “Let’s see you mock my skills when I do a trashcan emote over your corpse.”
“You want a duel?” My cousin looked around and put her keys back in her pocket. She rounded the back of the van before I said anything.
“What? You have a portable PC rig in there?” I followed her, curious as to what she could be up to. As far as I knew, my cousin hated shooter games.
Valora opened the back of the van and pulled out two foam swords meant for skits. “These are my trusted Master Swords, but I doubt they’re going to get damaged.”
I shook my head. “I’m not a larper.”
“Bull.” She jabbed the hilt of one of her swords at my hands until I snatched it away from her. “You said you’re up for a challenge. So I’m challenging you. Duel me, you little chicken.”
I examined the sword and wobbled it in my hands to adjust to the light weight of the foam. A slight grin escaped upon my lips as I took a practice swing. “Why are you doing this now?”
“First, you were talking big like you wanted a duel.” She chuckled. “Second, the way you were ogling those larpers, I know you’re going to end up out there embarrassing yourself. So best to get you some practice. Third, we need to have a bit of fun before standing in an endless line.”
“Those sound like good enough reasons.” I jabbed the sword through the air, aside of my cousin but practicing the right height for each jab with her in mind. “How do these work?”
“These are skit swords, but we’ll just go with basic larp rules.” Valora twirled her sword with a fancy yet threatening flourish that showed her practice with the weapon. “First one to score a hit on the other’s torso wins.”
“You want me to stab you?” I blinked but did all I could to hide a grin.
Valora smirked. “I want you to realize how far you really are from being able to back up all that trash talk.”
“I’m about to kill you with your own Master Sword.” My smile as huge. “Which, in the near future, will be my sword.”
My cousin rolled her eyes. “If only you had a future.”
“Charge!” I slashed at my cousin, who only had to sidestep my sloppy and telegraphed attempts to cut her across the chest. I spun around expecting the fast maneuver to stop her from seeing just where my sword would end up, but she parried with the simplest flick of her weapon.
“Nine. Ten.” My cousin burst out in laughter. “You’ve had ten seconds of free chances. Now it’s my turn.”
I attempted to bluff a hop to the right, then a hop to the left. Video games made evasion in combat seem so much easier, but I felt my fast shifts in direction were still of a huge advantage.
Everything ended when Valora stabbed the soft sword into my chest, directly at my heart. The impact was an unmistakable win. “Not even bunny hopping could save you. Remember not to be so boastful the next time you get into a sword fight.”
“The live action fights aren’t my thing.” I returned my sword and watched as Valora put them away before she locked the van. “I’ll get my wins on a computer.”
“In any event, neither of us can get wins if we don’t have our badges.” Valora pointed to the garage stairwell. “To victory!”
An unsettling stillness filled everything like the world paused for a split second. There was silence for that brief moment and the only way I knew my cousin sensed it, too, was she turned to look at me with a concerned glance. A fraction of a second later, the lights flickered. Not just the lights in our deep, dark level of the parking garage, as gasps echoed down from the floors above. We both tensed at the same time, poised to find cover, but we were left with only a few seconds of flickering lights before the muffled echoes from above went back to normal.
I stood and took a deep breath.
Valora did the same, but a cruel grin flashed on her face. “Does it make me a bad person if every time I think there’s an earthquake I kinda hope we’d go through a huge apocalypse? Like, this is it, we’re seeing our boring, mundane world for the very last time.”
I cast a disgusted look at her, but only managed it for a short moment before I smiled, as well. “I have the same thoughts. It would be great to leave the real world behind, perhaps forever with no threat of return.”
“It’s why we’re here, escaping to a land of wonder.” Valora pushed herself away from the van and took the lead spot as we went down the wide corridor through parked cars and toward a dimly lit elevator door.
“Escape?” The man’s voice was only a short distance away and hidden in the cars, coming from someone who sounded to be in tremendous pain. “Excuse me, you two.” The request came from the same aged man who let out a wet, painful cough.
Valora and I spun around to meet the stranger. I was caught off-guard for a split second, then embarrassed when my cousin pushed me backward like a child that needed protection. She balled her hands into fists and put herself between myself and the strange man while all I did was widen my eyes to get a good look at someone who might need help.
The man stood at the opposite end of the lane from us and wiped black oil from his lips onto the sleeve of his filthy and ragged white shirt. His costume implied some character who was supposed to be from a post-apocalyptic show, down to the detail of stained pants and bare feet covered in scabs that looked real enough from a short distance away. Except his scabs had to be fake, they way the cracked ones bled out black oil. He grinned as we made eye contact and made labored attempts to drag his legs through painful limps along the garage wall as he approached.
“What show is that from?” I stepped out from behind my cousin and toward the unusual stranger. “That’s amazing cosplay.” In my mind, I hoped it was cosplay, at least.
The ragged man curled his dry lips into a psychotic smile, as if he was a villain from his favorite show. Small lines of black oil formed inside the cracks, which was an amazing level of cosplay ingenuity.
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