One morning, like any other day, I was wandering aimlessly to no particular place when I had happened upon what seemed to be a quarter that was sitting there just waiting for me to pick it up. I approached the George Washington metallic portrait and grabbed it in less than the shake of a lambs tail. Holding the quarter in my hand told me that this was unlike any quarter, it was as if it had been waiting for me to pick it up, since it had been resting next to entrance of an establishment with lights and sound exuberating and emanating from its remote location. A young lad, like myself, exited through the double doors in defeat of what had seemed to be an arcade of some sorts. So I thought it would be best to enter.
Immediately in front of me, there was a crowd of guys lined up and screaming at the top of their lungs waiting for their turn against the champion. "Next victim!"
I stepped forward through the masses at the amazement of how many people there were lined up for what appeared to be, "Marvel Vs. Capcom 2," a game not for the feint of hearts. The enthusiasm from the crowd overwhelmed my senses and gave me just enough ambition to want to give it a shot. A first time player like myself could only hope to survive this. I patiently waited for other competitors to squander their loose change on this leader of sorts who was the reigning champion of this game. At first it seemed like a typical fighting game between two opponents, but the amazement of having three fighters and assisted attacks was too much for me. I watched as each player would combat with a frontal attack and then combining it with an air combo that would be equivalent to a super move. Some would need assistance from their remaining players, others would fight the good fight, "mano e mano." One after another, competitor after competitor, suffered a similar fate that would be irrevocably safe to say to sum up in one word, "defeat." By now, the fallen retreated back to darkness from wence they came to the womb of their mothers waiting to cradle them to sleep while I stood their wondering if I should dare to step forward. There was no one left in sight, the only people left were me and the winner who looked around to see if there were any more opponents. When our eyes met, the first thing that entered my mind was a quote from Oscar Wilde, "She lacks the indefinable charm of weakness."
She pulled up a stool beside her and tapped on it twice with her hands. I took a few steps forward. Before sitting down I noticed that she was on the last level facing the boss, apparently someone tried to step in as she was going through her routine of practicing beating this game, I knew I had no chance, but at least she was hot. I sat down ignoring the smell of her perfume, put in the quater, and was directed to the character select screen. I didn’t know who to pick from or where to begin. I had three choices, 2 too many. I started looking for Ryu hoping that I would be able to remember my street fighter moves, fortunately there was Akuma and Ken, I chose both. The last character was wolverine. While selecting the characters, I was allowed to choose what type of assists to help my fighter, I didn’t even know what the assists did. Her three choice were Cable, Magneto, and a Sentinel, I knew I was in trouble. The screen loaded to the opening round, "Ready, Fight." For the first time in my life, I began to pray.
