A Fun Memory.

Part II - In They Go

The line at the convention gates was incredibly long; if measured, it would be at least a mile. Snake was stumped, and his jaw fell even further when he checked the digital watch on his wrist. "It's only 7:00, and the gates open at 9:00!" he shouted to Hal over the noise. His companion however, still seemed full of energy and excitement. He was happily waving to anyone who so much as gave a glance, and not so surprisingly, there were many who did that. Their gaze seemed to linger longer than it should have, too. Snake was of course noticing this, no matter how preoccupied he was with Sunny, who kept hopping out of the grasp he had on her hand. He knew why everyone was staring.

I was quite disappointed at that time. They were more occupied with your get-up than my looks...
Don't remind me..

The line had barely moved an hour and a half later. Sit rep: Snake was growing grumbly, Sunny cranky ("I want an ice cream!!!") but Hal was as pumped as ever. "Look, Dave! That woman gave me such a big grin just now!!" he subtly pointed through the crowd at a Japanese youth who was staring at him with the most amused expression possible. Snake knew he had to do something, or she'd burst into laughter and ruin the pla- upset Hal. He walked over to the woman, Sunny still holding onto his hand, and flexed his muscles in desperation. The woman immediately walked off, mumbling angrily under her breath. "Chikan..." Snake sighed. At least there was no long-term harm. Sunny whined below. "What did she say, Uncle Snake?" She was only answered with a grunt. Hal never noticed this scene, he was too busy trying to chat with a Sailor Moon cosplayer, who clearly was edging away farther each second.

I wish the young woman had laughed at me in retrospect..
Hush, now. Listen to the pain me and Sunny went through.

It was around 10 that the trio reached the ticket counter, dragging their feet. At this point, all three of them felt like they'd already walked the entire convention five times. Even Emmerich was starting to pant and sweat heavily under his humonguos costume, though his grin stayed intact. Their task at the counter done, they entered the gates. And just then, it was like Hal's pants were on fire. He waddled off into the distance at as fast a pace he could muster in his garb, leaving behind his two companions. Snake couldn't hold back a groan, and neither could Sunny. "Ice cream..." she mumbled, sucking her thumb, with her knees bent. Snake took a deep breath and lifted her up, despite his protesting muscles. "Let's go find you something..."

Snake scouted hard for a food stall throughout the chaotic grounds. The noise was something else... even worse than gunfire. What made it all worse was that the people were not wearing dirty brown military uniforms. Instead, most of them were in the oddest, weirdest, simply jaw-droppingly bad attire Snake had ever seen. Both physically and mentally, he was suffering at this location. Quite a few teenage girls sidled up to him, many of them wearing highly suggestive "neko" costumes. At any other time, Snake would've even put down Sunny and gone after them, they'd done that good a job. But his main senses barely registered anything, let alone his desire centre. He simply pushed through the crowds, only focusing, with his dwindling strength, on the mission at hand.

At his hip, Sunny burst into tears, hating the utter cacophony ringing around her. She covered her ears, but not before she whacked a tiny, desperate hand in pain right onto Snake's face. "ICE CREAM!!!!!" she shouted in his ear. Snake nearly growled at her. "I'm trying my best to look for a stall, trust me...!" He stopped completely in defeat, circling at the spot in a last ditch effort. He was amazed... how could he fail? Suddenly, there was a squeak near his ear. "Ice cream!!!!" Snake turned to look at where Sunny was pointing. To his surprise, she was bang on correct; some distance away was a stall with a white and red striped awning, with "FOOD" in Japanese written on a chalkboard right next to it. "Did you just read Food in a different language, Sunny...?" Snake gasped. But the former never heard him over the noise, only wriggling happily in his arms.

She did that???.. You never told me Dave!..
You know I couldn't find a window to tell you later, after what had happened by then. Besides, I remembered this just now, so...