“Ok, say Grimm!” they guys behind the camera says to us. “Grimm!” We say in unison as he takes to picture. I lift up my mask and try rubbing my eyes to get rid of the flashing lights. Looking right and slightly down I see two of my best friend. Natali or just Nat having a dopey smile on her face as she looks to the photo guy, Alexandria or just Lex straitening out her short orange and white dress.
Hmm, guess I should introduce myself eh? The name is Adam Winger. I am the tallest of our odd trio, yet also the youngest (Sort of). I am currently wearing a black jacket with an intricate white design beneath a red wilted rose on the back, with a red t-shirt with black lines running parallel to the collar, black jeans with a shiny black belt with domino marks, a pair of black shoes with read soles, black gloves with a red symbol looking similar to the symbol for omega. Finally I have a very familiar white mask with unique red designs on it.
If you couldn’t tell from that very detailed description I am dressed as the biggest douche and worst villain in RWBY history: Adam Taurus. Though I am missing his weapon, but I figure I could get it here. I first found RWBY when I was watching some older episodes of RvB and finding the first trailer in the related selection of the video. Needless to say, I was immediately hyped and hooked.
Even if I do not like him, I decided to go as Adam just because I can make it work. I have great attention to detail so it only took three days to get my outfit ready. My height at was also the same as his at six foot four, as well as normally having my brown hair styled into a blown back look. All I had to do was dye some of it red and Boom! Perfect replica Adam.
My friends and I are at San Diego Comicon, each of us here for our own reasons. I am hoping to meet some of the main and guest voice actors for RWBY and RvB, as well as get some new merchandise for my collections. See unlike some, I prefer to watch YouTube based shows. I.E shows started and made for YouTube. Aside from the aforementioned RoosterTeeth shows, I watch smaller animated shows like Underverse, SMG4 animation, and Black Plasma Studios Minecraft animation.
I noticed that my copy of our picture was done and walked over and payed for it before putting the photo carefully in my inner pocket of my jacket. Looking around I notice Lex waiting for me and Nat by the entrance hall for the merchandise booths. Lex is wearing a knee length orange dress with white ribbons and ties, showing off lots of her back where she has a very iconic tattoo and a short blue wig with an orange band going through.
For those not wise in the way of anime, Lex is dressed as Levi from Fairy Tail. Fitting as she is quite the book worm and is pretty short, despite being the oldest of us.
Looking back at the photo booth, I see Nat slightly lost in thought, her pink wig obscuring her right eye. Aside from the wig, Nat is wearing a red ascot around her neck, a lower thigh high black dress, a pink shoulder-less shirt, blank and grey striped stockings sniff black flat shoes. Yes, Natali I dressed as Lucy/Nyu from Elfen Lied.
Never seen it myself, I was told it had as much needless nudity as Game of Thrones.
“Hey Nat. Ready to go to the merchandise booths?” I call to her as she gets her copy of the photo.
“Yeah, c’mon Nat! I wanna see if I can get some more Celestial Keys for my collection! Or maybe a pair of Wind Reader glasses!” Lex exclaimed, still waiting for us by the entrance.
“Alright, alright we’re coming.” Nat says, the two of us chuckling at Lex’s excitement.
Looking around as we walk in, I see that we could be here for quite a while, seeing as there are just so many booths to look through. Turning back to ask if Nat wanted to go alone, I stop myself when I notice Nat’s head was down and she seemed nervous about something.
“Hey Nat, you ok?” I ask worried. As she looks up at me, I notice her face is bright red. Seeing her blushing I look around the area seeing quite a few cosplayer in rather risqué outfits, like Yoko from Gurren Lagaan, and Momiji from Ninja Gaiden. I look back at her with a deadpan stare, seeing what happened.
“Sorano teasing you again?” I ask. Nat meekly nods and I sigh. See Natali is a very unique individual. Believed it or not, she actually had a second personality living in her head. No, it is not like in Split where a different personality, suddenly takes over. Natali has an entirely different person living in her head. Her name is Sorano or just Sora. She was made after Nat was hit by a truck. No seriously. Anyways Sora can be rather snarky and teasing at times, especially if it concerns Nat and dating.
Taking a quick look around to ensure no one is watching, I lift my mask and glare at Nat’s forhead. “Sora, stop teasing Nat. We both know she’ll look for someone when she is good and ready.” I say as though I was her big brother. I see Nat relax and take a breath of relief.
“Thanks Adam.” She says more relaxed.
“No prob. You told me how much teasing Sora can dish, so I just act accordingly.” I respond, waving the problem off.
“Hey! You guys coming or what?!” Lex yells impatiently from ahead of us.
“Hold your horses, we’re coming. Just talking to Sora.” Nat replies, to which Lex just nods with an ‘ah’ and continues on. It funny, we have been friends for almost a decade now, yet when Sorano showed up, it seemed like we just got closer somehow.
Despite being the youngest of us, I am usually the one to scold and talk down Sora and Lex from doing something potentially stupid and dangerous. And, thanks to my height and frame, I am able to pull my punches if absolutely necessary to protect them. Thank you judo and kendo club!
While I am a huge nerd in terms of YouTube shows and the like, I am actually the most social of the three/four of us. I am going to be starting college in the fall so I am trying to make my time off as wonderful as possible, for me and my friends, new and old.
As our group walked in and see the isles of booths, comics, movies, tv shows, anime, games and beyond. To my pleasant surprise they had booths for some of my favorite YouTube shows too. Glitchtale, Underverse, RvB, Death battle and so on. Though when I went to a RWBY booth, I was disappointed that they didn’t have Adam’s weapon in stock.
At some point, I went on my own with the girls staying together, just wandering the sea of entertainment, when a particular booth caught my attention. It didn’t have a specific theme so to speak. I was just a black booth with at least one thing from every single fandom I have ever seen and then some!
“Hey girls! Come check this stuff out!” I call to my friends, the duo quickly coming over to my sides, eyes widening at the spread of merchandise in front of us.
Looking around the booth, I almost didn’t notice when the owner of the booth stepped out from the back. I was both rather surprised and unsurprised when the merchant from Resident Evil 4 walked out, his pocket heavy with ammo (just the fake stuff). However, I was surprised as he spoke.
“Hello strangers. What’re you buyin?” He asks his voice perfectly mimicking his characters scratchy and tired tone. I can see in my peripherals, Natali gaining a smile that could probably put the Grinch to shame.
“Hello merchant, I like the selection here.” I say back in a completely terrible attempt at the merchant voice in comparison. He quickly begins to chuckle at my response, making me feel a little embarrassed.
“Heh heh, thanks for the response. You have no idea how hard it is to use that voice.” He says in a rather relaxed Texan accent.
Though as he says that, my mind begins to wander and latch onto something. As an active person online, as per any nerd, I have heard stories about people disappearing at cons. Specifically, people who have a run in with someone only known as The Merchant. I begin to worry slightly, before banishing that train of thought to the ether that is my mind as the ‘reports’ are rather contradicting as he would be in several cons all over the world at the same time if it were true.
I look around the booth, seeing all sorts of merchandise, before feeling a tap on my arm by Nat, who is pointing at three items in particular. A pair of Wind Reader glasses, a pair of Dicloni horns and the thing that’s caught my attention the most. Adam Taurus weapon: Wilt and Blush, a katana and shotgun sheath. I raise my mask to get a better look at the weapon duo, seeing them to be professionally made.
“Hey, how much for the Wilt and Blush?” I ask, exited at the prospect of owning them.
“The Wind Reader glasses too.” Lex adds in, her own eyes full of excitement. Nat just raises her hand and points to the pair of horns, her shyness kicking in.
“Heh, well, for the Wilt and Blush, that’s about $250. The glasses I’ll sell for $100 and, just for you, I’ll give you this.” He says, reaching into a drawer and pulling out what looks like a scroll with the Fairy Tail emblem on it.
Lex raises her eyebrow at it and asks, “What’s that?”
The Merchant responds in a rather calm voice, “This scroll has all the potential words for Solid Script Magic.” This causes Lex’s eyes and smile to widen.
“Deal.” We say in unison, me taking out my wallet and giving five fifty’s, Lex taking out her purse and giving a hundred. I take the weapons in hand, vaguely aware of Nat getting the pair of horns for a ridiculously low $25, and quickly secure them to my waist, looping them onto my left side. Looking back I see, Lex with her new specs on and Nat with the horns on her head.
“Alright you three. Enjoy your trips.” The Merchant says as we turn to leave, confusing us. Suddenly, I begin to feel dizzy. I feel around my head, feeling the fake horns I have almost hidden away in my hair, turning from plastic to bone-like. Looking around I see Nat slightly panicked and Lex falling unconscious, myself soon following.
‘Nat, Lex, Sora...’