It all started last year when Fred, a very talented video game player, got invited to the highest stage there could be for video game players in Miami. These professionals are amazing at what they do, and exceed in every video game they play, even sports games. They saw high potential in Fred, and decided it was a good idea to fly him out. Everyone in school was envious of Fred because he was famous now, and making more money than anyone could ever imagine. He was always practicing, and would always be praised by his peers for his excellence on the sticks. He also would always attract the cute girls at his school in Frisco, Texas because his skills were something no one ever could compete with. Fred was very arrogant, but he had a reason to be because he was not only the best video game player at the school, he was being noticed at the highest of levels. He was not only getting noticed by the best gamers out there, he was a part of them as well. Fred was known for being the best at Call of Duty, but had little to no experience in sports games like NBA 2K.
Jason, a fellow peer of Fred, is also a gamer but he doesn't have the accolades Fred had. Jason wanted an opportunity to approach Fred, and ask if he would have a video game competition, but only with NBA 2K. Jason had always been jealous of Fred since they met because Fred would always pull all the girls, and leave none for Jason. He also knew that he was superior at video games, which made him feel like he was a nobody.
"Hey Fred,"Jason shouted across a crowd of people. "I saw that you got invited to play with the best gamers in the world in Miami. I'm not jealous. I'm just curious how you got the invite because you aren't even that good."
"Hey Jason," Fred said boldly. "I think you are mistaken. I am obviously the best if I got an invite to play with the best gamers in the world."
It was obvious that Jason was jealous, and knew that he was good at games, but felt like he could put up a challenge with him. Fred would always be attracting the most popular girls, especially Angelica, Jason's crush. He was making millions off playing games, and just being liked by everyone. Except Jason.
"Since you are so good at games, why don't you play me on NBA 2K tonight and see how that works out for you?" said Jason.
Jason was very familiar with sports games, especially 2K, so he felt like this was finally his time to show off, and finally gain fame. He would always use the Celtics, and knew their playbook like the back of his hand, so it was an obvious choice he was going to play with them.
"HAHAHA, you really want to play against me," said Fred. "I will play against you, and embarrass you in front of everyone you know. I hope you lose so bad that you just retire from video games, and never pick it up again. Even though I am not that familiar with sports games, I know how to win."
Jason was very confident that he could take on the champ, and make him humble. Jason wasn't popular, he wasn't someone everyone knew, but he had confidence that he would be the one to beat Fred. Jason met with his uncle Phil to practice against him, and get him ready for his big competition. Phil was very good at NBA 2K, and knew he was the one he had to practice with to gain an edge up on Fred. Phil was the one who introduced Jason to 2K, so it was only right he had his time before the competition began.
When the news went around the neighborhood about Jason playing Fred in a video game that night, everyone was laughing because they knew Fred was going to smoke him. As the time came, Jason went over to Fred's mansion to being the competition. Fred invited everyone he knew over to watch them play because he just knew it would not go Jason's way, including Angelica, Jason's crush.
"Are you ready to get embarrassed in front of everyone I know?" Fred yelled as all his friends in the background did the same.
"GAME ON," Jason said boldly.
Fred was startled from the beginning, seeing himself already down ten points in the first quarter. He hadn't gone against this competition ever in his life, and was very desperate to get any points to fall. Larry Bird was cooking Fred all game long, as he already splashed 4 three-pointers in the first quarter. As the game continued, it just got worse and worse. Fred's friends started booing him, and told him that Jason should really be the one going to the highest stage."Sell your mansion, bro, you are trash." said his friend Larry. The smile on Jason's face was priceless. He was very happy, knowing that everyone would not only remember this day, but finally Angelica would know who Jason was, and what he was capable of.
Author Note: My story is based off of The Gambling Match from the Mahabharata. In the Gambling Match, all the people loved the Pandavas because they were good at everything, and made Duryohdhana very jealous. Duryohdhana wanted to set up a gambling match to show off his skills because he knew he had a good chance to win. The Pandavas did not care, and agreed to play even without knowing how to play one bit. In my story, I wanted to keep the same plot, but change the characters. Furthermore, instead of it being a gambling match, I wanted to make it a video game match. The story was all about jealousy, and how Jason didn't like Fred in the beginning because he was one of the best players in the world. My story is similar to the Mahabharata story, because Fred is similar to the Pandavas in a way that he agreed to play against Jason in a 2K without not really knowing how to play. On the other hand, Jason is similar to Duryohdana because thy are both jealous of their peers for being so good at their respective games. My story is also different in really important ways because Duryohdhana is a bad person, while Jason is someone who is just trying to get noticed by his crush for beating Fred in a videogame. I also thought it would be interesting to have this story take place with high school students, and make the match more modern.