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One might wonder why famed jujutsu sorcerers Gojo Satoru and Toge Inumaki are sitting impatiently at a cheap metal table. A cheap metal table, no less, bolted to the floor of a Jersey Shore arcade, waiting for some service. Was there something so important that the two needed to hightail it to New Jersey?
"Tuna mayo?" Inumaki inquired, using his safe word.
"I'm glad you asked," Gojo responded. "You see, there's a Grade 1 curse that appears in the dead of night, out there on the beach."
"Salmon." Inumaki's safe word for agreement and understanding.
"In the meantime, I figured we might do something fun and particularly American. That's why we're ordering cheapo pizza at a pinball arcade."
"...Salmon."
Gojo paused, then craned his head closer to Inumaki's partially-covered face, with an expression of curiosity.
"Y'know, I was just thinking to myself… Do you think there are other safe words besides rice ball ingredients?"
"Bonito flakes."
Gojo laid back in his chair. "Come now. "Pollack roe" and "tuna" can't be that different from saying "pepperoni" or "bagel", etc."
"...Pickled mustard leaf…"
"No, I'm willing to bet that you can at least order a single pizza! Now, excuse me while I go to the bathroom or something."
Gojo was probably telling the truth, but - typical for him - some time after getting up, he got distracted by a pinball table. Inumaki knew this, because Gojo was the only other one in the place. "Look, everyone, we have guests" sounded faintly in the background, in a distinctly bitcrushed Anjelica Huston performance.
No sooner did Gojo leave than did a baggy-eyed waiter approach the table with a notepad. "Good afternoon. What could I get you?"
No turning back now. Despite Inumaki panicking and shaking, he managed to eke out "Pizza…"
The waiter jotted it down. "What toppings would you like?"
"Mmph… pepperoni…"
"Is that a small, medium, or large?"
Inumaki, knowing that size words probably were cursed coming out of him, jittered further. Hoping it would help, he made an L shape with both of his hands. It confused the waiter, but he got the message.
"Large pizza with pepperoni should be ready in 20 minutes."
Inumaki nodded, having stopped shaking with the ordering out of the way. He walked over to find Gojo, who was still hammering at Addams Family and definitely not in the bathroom.
"You did it," Gojo said without turning away. "I knew you could. By the way, I made the bathroom part up."
"Walleye pollock roe," Inumaki cursed under his breath. Well, curse as in "shit" or "fuck".
"Hey, I had to try it out somehow."
Inumaki, a little peeved at Gojo's petty scheme, decided to get back at him in an equally petty manner.
"No, no, no! Get the extra ball!" the machine balked at Gojo.
"Damn it, I'm sure as hell trying to," Gojo whispered to himself.
Aha. Inspiration struck.
A little context is in order. On Addams Family, once you have your extra ball lit, there's a small ramp at the very back of the table you have to launch your current ball onto. Not a particularly easy shot, but a naturally flowing one. Anyway, Gojo had his ball resting on the right flipper, ready to make that shot. Release, flip… it zoomed towards the ramp… and then, Inumaki pulled down his scarf and said something damning.
"Extra ball."
The entire building seemed to shake, as Gojo jumped from the vibrations of Inumaki's cursed words. Or… was it that?
"Geez, that was loud. I thought a gunshot went off," Gojo quipped casually, referring to the replay knocker. "Inumaki, I'm good enough at pinball to not need a curse to help me."
Raspily, yet smugly, Inumaki said "Grilled salmon cream cheese."
Gojo stopped. He smartly housed the ball on an upright flipper before dedicating his other hand to another task. He groped his own crotch, and needless to say, something was off.
"...Oh. I get it."
In The Addams Family, Bally's 1992 pinball table designed by Pat Lawlor, based on the 1991 film of the same name, Gomez [Raul Julia] will shout "Showtime!" right before your 3-ball multiball begins.
From here on out, Gojo can reference that in real life, and it'll suddenly make sense to someone else after he pulls his pants down.