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For some reason, Genri was one of the first to wake up. Seizing the chance for a warm shower, he dived in. He and Allie's boyfriend, being the only ones awake, were given the honor of fetching breakfast for everybody. As part of their stay they were given complimentary passes to the breakfast buffet - CHANCE! The two loaded up two trays with baked goods, eggs, cereals, juices (man was that passion fruit good), and anything else they deemed edible.

First off was to check in for the masquerade and turn their skit materials in. But Genri couldn't get in without a pass! He and Allie's boyfriend went to take care of that, and met up with the others at masquerade check-in. The line went a tad slow, since the first group had about 2.8 million questions to ask staff, but eventually Genri and the others got their materials in. So now, it was time to head back for more skit practice! (Hey, if you were gonna throw people around and do flashy kicks, you would practice as much as possible too!) Everybody was talented enough to get the hang of it in half an hour, so now it was time to get into costumes!

More importantly, it was time for the Pink Pirate to make his appearance! Justin had a grin on his face as he told Genri, "You know, this time we're going to go all out, cuz at AX that was half-assed makeup."

Genri - *GULP*

But this isn't about Genri, this is about Lamui! One hour of make-up application, and voila, Genri was no more! He was accompanied by Justin and Umigoddess, who changed into Gekka Gackt and Mana. Wayne opted for his Pokemon costume, and Allie Skuld put on Dakki (quite a shame really, Genri wanted to wear Taikoubou to take pictures with Allie, but I Lamui shot that down with the quickness - Dakki wasn't really finished anyway!)

The first objective was to take lots of pictures by the harbor - the great weather plus the scenic view made for some great backdrops! Along the way, the group amazed the locals, who were genuinely impressed with their costumes, instead of looking at them strangely! Taking photos is draining though, and soon Umigoddess started whining about how hungry she was. They headed to Anthony's Fish Grotto, a pretty good seafood restaurant.

Before they knew it, it was nearly 4. Masquerade dress-up was at 6, and everybody wanted at least 2 hours of preparation. But before heading back to the hotel, they showed Allie around the dealer's room, since she hadn't been in there yet. Along the way they were interviewed by a random group of people, complete with a video camera! Lamui wasn't much in the mood for talking though, so he pretended to be a Japanese cosplayer, and spoke rudimentary Japanese, punctuated by occasional "SUGOIIIIIIII~!"s. They also ran into Hichan of Phoenix Seed! She looked so adorable in her Mima outfit from Perfect Blue! But no time for long conversations, they had to run back to the hotel!

In a frenzy of towels and hot water, Lamui managed to get most of the make-up off, as he needed to be as clean as possible for his next role: CHUN LI! Yes, Lamui wholeheartedly volunteered to be the third angel of Chun Li's Angels. They hauled their outfits back to the convention center a little late, with Umigoddess and Allie looking like two mega-teeny boppers (their hairs were split down the side in preparation for Chun Li's hairbuns). It only took them a couple minutes to change into their outfits, and the rest of the prep time was spent on creating Genri Li! Lamui's reaction to the finished product:

"Wow, I look HOT!"

By 7:30 everybody was ready, and the wait began for the masquerade to start. It wasn't uncomfortable; quite the opposite actually. Everybody waited in the green room, which was a large, air-conditioned room with water! There was also a large screen TV, so people could see what was happening on stage. They spent the wait chatting with a cute Yuna cosplayer from Final Fantasy X, but soon it was their turn to line up backstage. Genri Li was becoming extremely nervous - it almost felt like he was cosplaying for the first time again!

"#40 - AMC and AGSMA present to you a wonderful dish, featuring a medley of justice, betrayal, and a dash of PMS for spice!"

The skit turned out wonderfully - all the timing was perfect, and the crowd loved Umigoddess tossing Lamui around. In fact, they loved it so much that the group actually won an award, courtesy of Anime Pavilion! Other notable skits included an adorable Digicharat skit featuring ParaPara, an AWESOME skit featuring Yun from Street Fighter 3 and Mai from Fatal Fury fighting (using real martial arts no less!), and an original creation, a Sith Mistress of some sort. The quality of the costumes was astounding - some of the outfits were genuinely on a professional level.

After the awards, the group went outside to have their pictures taken - Lamui was slightly disappointed that more people wanted pictures of just Umigoddess and Allie, but I suppose that was a good thing. The scary part was that Lamui was getting used to wearing Chun Li's 3 inch heel boots! Genri was starting to surface again though - he opted for heading back to the hotel as soon as possible. He was relieved that other than a few friends, there was no one at this con who would recognize him and spread rumors. Cue the arrival of Galewolf, a friend of his from IRC. He showed up and probably wouldn't have noticed him, but Lamui caused Genri to blurt out his name:

Genri - "HANK?!"
Galewolf - "....Genri?"
*dash*
Galewolf's friend - "Damn, I didn't know girls could run down the escalator in those heels!"

Everybody arrived back at the hotel around midnight. It was then the hunger pangs kicked in. Genri and Wayne volunteered to scope out downtown for any food places still open. Unfortunately, most of the places had closed shop at 1. It seemed like they would have to return empty-handed. But what was that? In the distance, a pale white sign shown. Genri squinted:

"....JACK IN THE BOX!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yes! Genri didn't fulfill his duty from AX to have Jack in the Box, but it looked like Fate was ready to give him his chance! Loading up on Ultimate Cheeseburgers and 99 cent Chicken sandwiches, the two hurriedly returned - to find half the people asleep.

Genri - "Does that mean I get to eat their sandwiches?"

The smell of food was too tempting though, and soon everybody was up to munch. Justin and Hichan went out to burn off energy by playing hide and seek. The others, their bellies full, went to sleep, with smiles on their faces. Lamui especially - this was a con he enjoyed immensely, as he had no interference from Genri most of the time. The combination of the friendly people, the professional staff, and the overall optimism and positive energy the con exhibited cheered everybody up from the disappointment that was AX. While he didn't get to go to the Spiderman movie panel, Lamui was pretty sure Genri enjoyed it as well. As Lamui drifted into the unconsciousness, allowing Genri to reclaim his body, he thought to himself. What a disappointment that Genri's retired - this will probably be his last appearance. But perhaps there will come a time when he will come raging up from the recesses of Genri's consciousness again.

Beware, for the Pink Pirate still sails the waters of darkness. He's out there.

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