Spartan, Warrior of war.

Ah, one the few times of the year I get out of my home, dress up in badass cosplay, and flaunt my general fandom knowledge. The vast My Little Pony fandom, the subtle Halo lore, and all the way to the lovely dark rage quitting game called Dark fucking Souls. The event I'm talking about is the local Anime con that I attend EVERY year wearing a different masked custom for fun and so no one recognizes me from some my rude behavior. Eh fuck them. I stumbled upon it online looking for a nice convention thats a short drive from my home and slightly smaller than normal ones on terms of slight social anxiety of the Fluttershy of levels.

This year I'm going as one my favorite video game characters of all time. I mean ALL time as i've had him since I was a child and I was the freaking best at the games. He starred in the First fanfiction I've ever read along with books I spent WEEKS nitpicking facts form the small paper back pages.

None other than Master fucking Chief Petty Officer Spartan John 117. Sir! Promission to give the Convenient there bomb back? The most badass scene of gaming history,

I am not nearly as tall or as wide framed as the 7’2 enhanced super soldier giant in armour but my natural 6’2 height and generous frame along with shoulder stuffing, and shoe padding definitely makes the illusion much more believable and more life like.

 Naturally with the badass and glorious armour many wanted to take pictures with me and OF me along with the plastic M6D pistol I ordered from the same website as the shiny, badass, hyper realistic looking custom.fitted Mark VI MJOLNIR armour as most places don't sell it in my size and only one place MAKES this beautiful looking cosplay outfit. Now imagine having to CUSTOM order the fucker along with going to a tailor to get the measurments need for it. But it was worth every. Single. Penny. This year i'm being extra nice so I can wear it AGAIN next year. And the year after that and you kinda get the point.

Some I’m in one of the less populated tunnels leading to a food or arts areas but I always loved looking at every vendor I could including the more poorer but honest vendors that could only get a place in the hall to a minor area of the convention.

Give some of them a chance, some might have cool object such as swords fitting a certain cosplay someone's missing, or something you've might of never seen before but more genetic vendor items. Cant help whats the norm.

As I near the middle of the hall a vendor in a dark corner making him almost unnoticeable as no one seemingly sees him walking past the honestly disturbing and off putting man and that's something form a Gears of Wars fan. Especially the second one. Wormy.

I guess what caught me most of all was the man or thing behind the counter. Haunched over, dark, and overall having a presence of harmful mischief. All in all he seems like Discord if he aimed for complete and utter mental scarring.

He catches the fact I seem to uniquely notice his wares, “Come, come. Look my wares, buying any shall change your fate with change of body and mind along with your soul.” Creepy but a real damn good hook line.

I got closer to the stall and when I say it was in the shadows I mean I turned on my damn flashlight on the helmet to see the item on display better. Basically what I found is a cosplay paradise.

A portal gun that almost seems real down to the glowing, the occasional noise, and the futuristic white metal/plastic.. A fucking Lancer from Gears of War series so detailed that it smelled like oil and gasoline, it bounced light off it to the degree I instantly knew it was at least metal plated and I think I see part of an engine connected to the chainsaw part. An Evoker form the Persona series following the game design of the gun as the other items so detailed that the flashlight bounced off the metal?!? on it surprising me as there usually made from a strange hard foam along with a bit of blood?

Countless other little relics form games, animes, and books I could spend days squealing and fangirling (I am a guy.) over for fucking weeks. Some are from fandoms I don't know even know! But what pretty much gave this man my money, my wallet and anything else he wanted is most realistic fucking MA5B Assault rifle and the Universal Translator also known as the M90 Close Assault Weapon System. They both look like they’ve been through war. Knicks missing from the gun, scratches only war time could produce and gauges from other bullets are seen on both.

I look at him though the mask smiling gleefully behind the helmet taking out my wallet form a pouch on the armour sense it's a full body costume and the thin t-shirt and pants under it are only KINDA unreachable from the previously mentioned full body custom?

“Hey, how much for this?” I pick up the assault rifle and the shotgun duel wielding but I’m slightly surprised by its weight as it's heavier than plastic should be. Fitting into the hyper realistic motif of his shop. Definitely metal plated form the way it does not give in to my fingers ever so slightly. Real nice and fits in my arms better then any firearm I’ve ever shot but again this is fantasy and sci fi kinda sadly. Remember murderous aliens? Yeaaa deal breaker of the ulitmate not wanting to be slaughtered kind.

“125 dollars for both.” His voice still sends shivers down my spine. Only thing that would make it worse is the echos in Elizabeth Greene’s voice form Prototype. Also known as blood, blood, ohhh pretty flying body part AH MISSILE.

I quickly get over that creepy little fact due to me this is a bargain, I’m very desensitized to horror, and nothing can beat Elizabeth Green's voice. Fucking nightmare fuel bottled and contracted..

Metal plated cosplays like this should cost in the fucking thousands. Hey more money for MOI! The money was in his hands faster than he could blink or I could think.

A moment after walking from his stall I absent mindedly put the shotgun on my thigh which a strong CLANG forces me to notice its sticking to my thigh plate as if it's magnetize. Holy fucking shit it is. I feel a panic attack began to set in as my chest tightens and everything seems too small. I again on muscle memory put the MA5B on my back resulting with the same clang. Gentle yet urgent electronic beeping and a red bar flashing at the top of my vision distracts me for a moment from my panic attack as yellow lighting dances around my vision making that blinking red bar turn to a light almost cyan bar filling up to its end with a pretty ping.

Next is unimaginable pain, pain from everything from my toes to my damn eyes. The pain climaxes as does my screaming before I simply pass out from the pain and fall unconscious into a sudden portal to a dark, evil seeming forest.