while I'd beat MK many times- as we all had, I'd not yet gotten to Reptile. this would have been the 90's. i had ridden my bmx (remember Gt's?) down to lamppost pizza to play some games. Lamppost always had a pretty great lineup which included an MK and SFIICE among others. Anyways, usually my buddy B would have been with me but today, for some reason he was not. I start playing. I'm using Johnny Cage because I'd recently learned his moves. I get to the pit stage, the witch is flying by the moon- i think that was a requirement if I remember right- and like a cheap, cheating little bastard I crouch and then high kick my opponent to two flawless victories and a fatality. I am suddenly transported to the bottom of the pit to face Reptile. i can't fucking believe it- none of my friends have done this yet, hell I haven't even seen it done before. I look around. There's no one to witness my great accomplishment.
A few minutes later i'm at the payphone outside the bathrooms using one of my precious quarters to call my buddy B and tell him what just happened. I'm so excited -I can still remember being excited- but B's not home, no one is, the call goes to there cassette driven answering machine. With a great lack of self awareness and like a raving lunatic- I leave a message- breathlessly, rapidly explaining in as much detail as possible what had just taken place in the quickly expiring seconds before the machine cuts me off.
And then I hang up, reach into my pocket, and retrieve another quarter...