My searching did not take long. After a few minutes of interviewing the participants and the visitors there, something quite interesting has caught my eyes.

"Hmmm, these guys look not too shabby." I said that spontaneously as my eyes landed on a group of three boys whose their aura and charisma had really captured my attention. There was something astonishing about them. I could not really figure out what it was. Maybe their outfits were different and more outstanding than the others, or maybe the way they were carrying themselves in those outfit in such confidence that did it, I was not so sure. I was wondering the characters they were doing because they looked unfamiliar to me. But as much as they were interesting to my eyes, I had a little bit of doubt that I should feature them in the Hey magazine, because the difference they made seemed a bit off from the theme of the carnival.

One of them was topless with just a black pant on and fake tattoos on his body. Another one was in a character from the Star Wars, a Stormtrooper and both of them were 'guarding' the third guy in between them who was wearing a black suit with a robot head and to me honestly, the third guy had my attention the most.  To me his style was unique and humorous in the same time. From afar, I could see the robot head was made from a brown box with golden touch to it. The eyes were made from red, oval shaped bulb and the lips were drawn perfectly. I got Miss R to get her opinion about these trio.

"Ummm I don't think what these guys put on match the theme of this carnival," said Miss R.  "Especially that Stormtrooper guy! Isn't that from the Star Wars?"

"But the other one does look interesting, doesn't he?" I pointed to the guy with the robot head, hoping that Miss R would take a look at him. But there's no response from her.

"Miss R!" I half shouted.

"What! What is it, Marina?"

"That guy...he looked...interesting...right?" I repeated my question.

"That one? The topless one? Cute!" Miss R moved her eyebrows up and down and gave me such a naughty smile.

"Not that one! I meant the one with the box head," I gently pinched her hand.

"Cute? I meant I can't barely see his face!"

"I know... But what I'm saying is his style. He got flex!" I tried to convince Miss R who was then taking a few minutes to 'scan' that guy.

"Hmmm you are right... He's the only one wearing such costume today."

"So what do you think? For our magazine?"

"Okay. I think let's just get them and get the job done. Put aside their theme hit-or-miss outfits for a sec, and maybe later we can ask him to remove the box from his head as well. From there only we could tell if he's really a unique person or not," Miss R came out with a strategy.

"If it's not?"

"If not...then just drop him from the possible material for the magazine. Easy!"

"Alright then...Let's do it!"

We both came closer to approach them who seemed quite taken away with the exhibition of anime figures at one of the booths.

"Hi, we are from Hey magazine. Can we ask you a couple of questions?" I took the first step in. All three of them were simultaneously turning their heads on me.

"Sure! No problem!" the robot head guy responded, in a very robotic voice. That had made me look at Miss R who was ready to take our photo. Both our eyes were wide opened as we did not expect it at all that he could respond to us in a real robot voice. Miss R gave me a thumb up as a sign that it was a good material for Hey. She loved it and she believed Daniel would give a green light for this to be featured in the official vlog of Hey.

"Oh wow! How could you make that voice?" I asked him, impressed.

"I was born this way..." the robot man answered followed by a big, electronic laugh from him.

"So, can you tell me about the concept of the outfits that all three of you are rocking for the Animax Carnival today?" I asked further.

"I'm The Robotman!" the guy with the robot head said it out loud.

"Ah...The Robotman..." I just nodded at that, not really sure just from which anime this Robotman character was from. But since he introduced himself as that, I just followed along and called him Mr. Robotman from then on. Then I moved to the next guy.

"What about you?" I asked him still, even though it was obvious there that he was wearing a Stormtrooper outfit.

"I am Stormtrooper!" he replied in full spirit. 'Well duh...' I thought. But he's using just a normal voice, without any robotic effect like Mr. Robotman. Something interesting about him really caught my eyes, and it was just how white, clean and shiny his suit was. As I was observing the suit, my mind was playing a guessing game of how much Mr. Stormtrooper had spent on this suit. As far as I know, a suit like that could easily reach thousands of Ringgit. Now if he really had spent that much for this Animax Carnival, I had no doubt- he was really a die hard fan. But I was not sure if a Stormtrooper had made any appearance in any Anime series? I had no idea! Then I moved to the shirtless guy that Miss R deemed as the 'Cute' one.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki!" he blinked an eye to the camera. I took a glance at Miss R and she was all smitten. Her face was blushing and before she might lose it,  I grabbed her by the shoulder to remind her to keep calm and stay focused. Then I looked back at this self claimed Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki. Up and down. Well, it really was... interesting. I meant the character he was portraying! I had heard about the name before. It was the main character of the Bleach series. But why was he topless? I had watched a few episodes of the series and as far as I could remember, the main character, Ichigo Kurosaki were seen a lot in black outfits like Yukata, coats and alike. Hmm maybe he just wanted to show it off and grab the attention of the ladies in the carnival, including Miss R who has obviously shot by the Cupid now. Thankfully his body was quite lean so it was easy on the eyes. I could not imagine it if he showed up half naked with his belly overflowing to every direction!

"So, would you mind to share with Hey readers, why are you coming here today? Are you guys a big fan of the Animax and a regular of its carnival? Or do you just come to look around?" I continued with the interview.

"We are here because we really really love Anime!" answered Ichigo Kurosaki, in full Kurosaki's move that showed us his enthusiasm.

"Yeah!" continued Mr. Stormtrooper, raising a fist to the camera in Miss R's hand.

"Well it is a different case for me," Mr Robotman butted in.

"Oh really? Well tell me then, what is your motive coming here today Mr. Robotman?

"My motive coming here today is to find me a long lost princess..." he replied.

His random answer has made both Miss R and I laughed out loud.

"Ah I see. So how is it? Have you found the long lost princess you are looking for?"

"Yes I have found her!" Mr. Robotman moved his head up and down.

"Oh really? That's amazing! So where is she? Is she around here now?" I looked around the space to see the princess.

"She's here."

"Well then show us," I honestly became quite excited at that moment. I was such a sucker for a romantic story like this.

"Sure!" Mr. Robotman then digged his hand in the pocket. He was searching for something nobody knew. "Look!" It's a small mirror and he flaunted it right in front of my face. That had me laughing a little. He was being naughty but quite adorable to me. I knew what he was doing at that time. He was trying to say that I was the one he was looking for at the event. That I was 'The long lost princess'. 'Silly him' I thought to myself.

"You are the princess I have been looking for!"

"Oh me?! Are you serious Mr. Robotman?" I asked him back pretending surprised, just playing along with whatever it was that he was up to. A little fun when working never killed nobody right?

"Yes! You are the princess, Marina!"

Miss R and I were both looking at each other soon as this stranger robot  mentioned my name. The character that I put on to just play along with him flown out my body right away, making me felt naked and shocked. I looked down on my anime costume. The only thing that mentioned who I was, was a name tag that said "Media". That was it. There was no 'Marina' written anywhere!

"How do you know my name, Mr. Robotman?" I asked him, but with a serious tone this time. He did not answer my question. Instead he just gave me a little laugh. In front of us, there was Miss R busy recording. She also looked quite serious now, like she was covering a criminal scene.

"Who are you for real Mr. Robotman? Who is this guy behind this costume, actually?" I asked again, also in a deep, serious tone. Mr. Robotman touched the box head. Slowly he took it off, revealing his true, real face.

"Eddie?!" I shouted. My mouth was half opened, I believed.

"Do you know him, Marina?" asked Miss R.

"Very well! So so well, Miss R. He was my schoolmate."

I looked at Eddie with my head shook left and right, still in disbelief that he was the actual guy underneath the Robotman mask.

"All right.. all right...maybe you should close your mouth now Marina, before you start drooling," teased Eddie.

"Oh...sorry..." I laughed. "What are you doing here, dude?"

"I told you earlier right? I was looking for a long lost princess," Eddie joked around.

"Oh come on! Be serious please!"

"Okay okay sorry! I'm just accompanying my friends here. So I thought why not I do it in a costume as well. And so, tadaa.." he seemed proud with the Robotman mask. "Oh by the way, let me introduce you...this is Joe, and this is Nas."

"Hi! I'm Joe..." Mr. Stormtrooper took off his mask to say hi. Nas on the other hand just waved his hand at me slowly.

"Excuse me, am I interrupting you guys?" all of the sudden one of the organizers showed up.

"Oh not at all. Is there anything can I help you with?" I replied.

"It's this Miss, in a few minutes we are going to do a game show, and if it's okay with them, I would love for these three gentlemen to participate in it, soon."

"Oh really? But why us?" asked Eddie.

"To be honest, we really like what you guys are wearing. Very interesting and they fit the theme very well. We need these kind of costumes in the game show as it will be aired in the Animax channel later!"

"Wow! you got prizes for joining in?" Joe alias Mr. Stormtrooper asked. He seemed quite interested and excited for it.

"Of course! If you guys are interested, let's go to the respective hall one floor up," replied the organizer.

Eddie, Joe and Nas looked into each other, obviously thinking about the offer.

"How is it guys? Are you in? I got no problem at all!" Eddie expressed his willingness.

"Count me in!" added Nas.

"Well then let's do it! I think it's going be fun!" shouted Joe.

"So how is it? Are you guys in?" the organizer tried to confirm it.

"Yes we are in!" said Eddie.

"Great! Now come with me! We've got a little briefing to do," the organizer said happily.

Miss R and I wanted to join them to the hall where the gameshow would take place. However, we were told that anyone from TV stations, newspapers or magazines were prohibited from entering the hall to see the recording of the game show.

"I'm so sorry Miss, I can't allow both of you to get in as you are both from Hey magazine, I might have to face the consequences, if I do," the organizer told us.

"Why is it so strict?" asked Miss R.

"Because we are protecting the content from possible leaks before it is officially aired on the channel."

"Oh wow! This is not just any game show it seems!" responded Miss R.

"Well.. looks like it!" I sighed. "Never mind… Eddie, Joe, Nas… hope you guys having fun in there! Break a leg all right!" I cheered them up.

To be honest that restriction disappointed me a little bit. I wanted to have more conversation with Eddie. We had not met for a long time. I did not even have the chance to ask him what had been going on in his life. The surprise he gave me earlier had also made me feel more excited.

However, we had to abide by the rules. Eddie, Joe and Nas were leaving me and Miss R.

"So...what are we doing now?" asked Miss R.

"Let's just continue with work," I responded while rechecking my 'to-do-list' in my phone.

"Oh man!" I shouted, hitting my forehead. I just realized something very important.

"Why? What is it?" Miss R asked.

"I should have ask for Eddie's phone number! Ah damn it!" I replied, in full regret and anger.

"Oh...Aren't you guys friend on Facebook or something?" asked Miss R. From the way she questioned me, she seemed to remind me that we were no longer in 2004.

"Hmm you are right!" I clicked on the Facebook application on my phone and searched for his long forgotten profile.

"Marina!" I heard someone shouted my name, loudly.

"Marina, it's Eddie!" informed Miss R, pointed to him.

I turned around and he was still there, just about to take the escalator up. He was aware that his shouting had attracted other people's attention too and so he was just moving his lips this time, not to gain any more attention. I had no problem with it, because even though it was voiceless, I could still get it what he tried to say- 'See you'.

"Okay!" I replied also in mute, just raising my thumb up for him. He smiled, and went up the escalator with his two buddies, going to enjoy their thirty minutes of fame.

Less than an hour later, Ally showed up in his Inuyasha costume, as he promised. I took no time to tell him about what had happened in the carnival, including about Eddie, alias the Robotman.

"Well well well...looks like the game is getting more and more interesting!" said Ally after I told him about Eddie.

"The game? What do you mean?"

"You...Eddie...and Daniel..." answered Ally puzzling around. But I knew it immediately just what he meant by that.

"Wooo...don't get it wrong okay! I have nothing to do with Eddie. We were just high school buddy okay!"

"Yeah...nothing to do with him...YET!" Ally gave me the most skeptical face known to human. I knew he was starting to speculate things up.

"You and your speculations!" I tried to stop him from talking more about this.

Miss R and I continued our task for that day. Throughout the event I was quite happy with all the findings we got from it especially everything that Daniel requested, including short interview with May'n and also coverage on the Cosplay competition there in which Daniel claimed as a 'compulsory material' for Hey's upcoming issue. Miss R, Ally and I stayed there in the event up until the very last minute and the closing ceremony was such a blast!

*****

It was almost 8 p.m. and I started to look around for Eddie, who had promised to meet me again there. Well...maybe not a proper promise, but I took that 'See you' sign he gave me earlier as a promise and I believed that he would keep his word and look for me. In fact, I had even sent him a message on Facebook letting him know that he could text me on Facebook Messenger whenever he wanted.

I really wished to see Eddie again before we went back home. If an hour was too long, a few minutes would do it. I just wanted to know what he had been up to. That was it.

__________________________________________________________

© Kid Haider

© KID HAIDÉR

© KidHaider

© KIDHAIDÉR

© Mohamad Khidir Bin Mohamed Yazir

© Mohamad Khidir Mohamed Yazir

© Khidir Bin Mohamed Yazir 

© Khidir Mohamed Yazir 

© Khidir M. Yazir