When you're a kid that was poor, you went to the Laundromat a lot because you couldn't afford a washing machine. Because the city the place was set in a poor town, they knew the people who came would bring kids. It was a cool place. It had a kiddy corner, a crane machine and a few cabinets to play. They had KoF'98, Pac-Man, Sinistar and Metal Slug! As people kept coming, they thought of a fun way to pass the time, a tournament. Hello and welcome to this Community Writing Challenge!
This was at the end of Arcade gaming (2007), most kids who were there never experienced something like this. It was a fun little thing. The owner of the place even set a betting counter for people for those who can't play and sometimes he would participate himself. A teenager would call "Tournament" whenever it would start and so many people would line up and the cabinets and ask for participants. Me and few other kids were playing and we got to choose: beat each other's high scores in Pac-Man or Metal Slug, who can live the longest in Sinistar or fight each other in KoF. We voted and the game that came up was KoF.
The laundromat was the place I first met the game and I knew the controls and the moves well. The teenager would arrange who would fight who like an actual tournament and we would have our quarters in our hands. My mom watching hated betting, but somehow she bet on me to win. She put in a dollar as everyone else put a 20 bucks.It was me versus a 5 year old kid. At the time, I didn't care for many people. Don't hate me I was a kid!
We both played and the kid was surprisingly good. He had a cute little stool to sit on to reach the controller as he played. I wish my mom brought her camera for this. He picked, Clark, Ralf and Irori as I picked Kyo, Ryo and Terry, the only people I knew how to play. We fought and people gathered to watch: The mexican father with the thick mustache, the owner and the guy in his underpants washing what was on his back. It was only a few people, but it felt like a stage of people was watching. I beat his first guy and the mexican father said, "¡Ándale!" I beat his second guy, the father begins to sigh. Then I beat his last guy and he begins to cuss in spanish. You know the words my Latin American friends.
Then we both have to stop. The next two start to play as three more people begin to gather around the cabinet. It was two tweens fighting. They pick some of the more "Eccentric" characters: Mai, Benimaru, Chin, characters like those. The tweens fought like masters, it was as if they knew everything about the game! Specials, combos, finishers! They looked like gods playing if gods looked like ghetto mexican kids with one wearing a wifebeater. My mom watched in the distance and saw that she lost a dollar.
Amazingly, the fight ended within a few minutes with one of them winning. The host and another kids came to take their place and fought. Iori, Gorro and Terry vs. Mai, Yuri and Kyo. They started to fight as more people gathered. An old lady was cheering as men were screaming for the host. One guy brought some beers as they all cheered as if it was the Superbowl. I could barely see with all the people around the cabinet. They were both at their last partner, both at low health. One was to leave as the other was to tread on through the tournament.
Each person in the crowd was staggered by the fight, each man in the audience was saying "Oh" repeatedly in a subtle voice as they blocked each punch they threw at each other. As a small child, I couldn't see anything. All I could see was the legs and hips of the crowd surrounding the cabinet. Suddenly, I hear the crowd screaming and throwing their beer in the air. They started to chant "Combo!" as the host stood there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. I saw on the screen that his guy was doing a finisher. I was next to fight the two last people in the tournament.
I could not imagine what I was thinking. It was either fear, excitement or greaf that I had to fight one of these dudes. We all took a break for a while as the owner gave all the participants a Pepsi. It was nice as we all watched Batteries Not Included in the kiddie corner.
We all waited until the host called a play, and as he did, I was nervous. He gave me and the other kid a quarter as he started the game with the god that was the other kid. I wish I knew his name. I remember seeing him in Middle School a while back. Anyways, they both fought as the crowd gathered again around the cabinet. It was Iori, Gorro and Terry vs. Chin, Mai and Benimaru. As soon as the announcer in the game shouted "Fight!" the crowd was silent. They all watched as combos were thrown and punches landing, it was a hard to tell who was going to win in this fight. The owner started cheering the host's character: Iori. I could see him give a grin as the crowd cheered the name. He beat all his partners as his opponent lost the fight. They both smiled at each other and shook hands. The host looked at me and gave me a small smirk.
He signaled me over and gave me a quarter. He smiled as I was trembling in whatever I was feeling. He chose his characters: Iori, Gorro and Terry, and I chose mine: Kyo, Ryo and Terry. He patted me on the back as we chose the order, then the game started as the announcer shouted the dreaded words, "FIght!" Everyone was silent. They watched his actions, waiting for him to make a move, but he didn't move the stick. He had his hand laying on the yellow ball, but didn't move it.
He looked at me and smiled. He told me something in spanish, but I don't speak it. He gave me one punch in the game and I fought him. I beat all of his guys and the crowd around the cabinet cheered for a moment and someone outside offered more beers for the moment. My mom won in the betting booth and got $200. The host pat me on the back and gave me a Pepsi. After that day, he never came back. I wish I knew where he was, because after that, the tournaments died down.
This is a treasured memory in my heart and I know I will never forget it. I hope you enjoyed this little CWC and I hope this qualifies as one. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! If you guys have any laundromat stories to tell me, feel free and 'til next time...
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