Video games are possibly the most popular form of entertainment around. You will never meet someone who has not played a video game before. Others play these games for fun and others play in the spirit of competition. But there are people who take video games too seriously. However, I'm not talking about people who are over competitive. I'm talking about those who play to hold on to dear life.
Let me tell you my story. My name is Adrian and I have a best friend named Joseph. We obsess over video games. It's not a hobby for us, rather it's a lifestyle. We play video games with each other all the time. We're the best at fighting games, however. We would wipe the floor with our opponents in Smash Brothers. Doesn't matter which one. 64, Melee, Brawl, it doesn't matter. We would demolish anyone in that game.
So imagine our delight when we found out there was a Smash Bros. tournament being held in our neighborhood. It was to take place at the new video game store that opened up a week ago. It was to be held on a Saturday so Joe and I were totally going. We got the number of the store and called up to register for the tournament. The employee put our names down and we jumped for joy.
All Joe and I did for the next week was practice for the tournament. We didn't go to school for a single day. We led our parents to believe we both had an awful case of the flu. It worked like a charm! My main character was Samus and Joe's was Mr. Game and Watch. All we did that week was look up techniques and combos for our respective characters.
Saturday came faster then I realized. My mom drove Joe and I to the store. I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek and closed the car door. We walked to the front door and noticed the store was called "Play or Die". "How edgy" Joe said to me. I laughed and we both walked into the store. There were other participants in the tourney there. None of them seemed to be older than 16.
The clerk told all of us to head downstairs. Joe and I walked down giddily. Once we got to the bottom, I got goosebumps. The only thing down there was a Wii and a single television. There was a large clear bag of liquid with four hooks hanging from it. These hooks were tube shaped and clear so you could see inside them. Joe and I just stared and started to get anxious. The other kids stood there with a deer in headlights look on their faces.
The clerk yelled at us to grab a controller. Four volunteers went up. As they held their controllers, the clerk jabbed the hooks into their forearms. They all shrieked in pain. The kids watching tried to escape, but two men with knives were guarding the door. "If anyone tries to leave, they'll be turned into mince meat." said one of the guards. We all walked back and sat down on the cold, hard floor.
The match between the four participants had started. The characters used were Fox, Meta Knight, Wolf, and Zelda. Each played had three lives. After 5 minutes, the player using Wolf lost. As soon as he lost, you the room was filled with a suction noise. The liquid in the sack was going into the Wolf player's tube. The player tried to jerk his arm away, but he couldn't. The liquid poured out of the hook and into his body.
The room was filled with spontaneous screams. The player started to scream for help and he started to foam from the mouth. His ear began to bleed slightly and his pupils dilated. The player fell to the floor dead. The Meta Knight player screamed and tried to jerk his arm away. He got away, but not successfully. The hook ripped all the flesh off his arm. Several members of the audience including Joe threw up. The Meta Knight player fell into a puddle of his own blood and died. A minute later, the Zelda player died. He was injected with the liquid, screamed and died.
Everybody in the audience was crying. Four people tried calling for help on their cell phones but were quickly stopped by the body guard. They were all taken to the corner and stabbed to death. One of them tried to fight back but to no avail. There were five people left. Joe, the winner of the previous match, two other participants, and me. The next game started up. I chose Samus and Joe chose Mr. Game and Watch. The other two players chose Luigi and Marth.
The game started up and my heart pounded furiously. I chose to go after the Luigi player and easily got him down to his last life. I then got him to 90% damage, I charged up Samus's power beam to the max and fired it at Luigi. I landed the hit, and Luigi launched off the stage. The dreaded suction noise started again and the Luigi player cursed me during his final breaths. He choked to death on his own vomit.
Joe was giving it his all and started to punish the Marth player. He KO'd him in 2 minutes flat. The suction noises started again and the Marth player's flesh melted. Joe threw up and at that moment I realized something. Joe and I were the last standing. As soon as I realized this, the winner from the previous match made a run for the door. The clerk tackled him and broke his neck.
I started to cry and Joe was telling me something. I was so disoriented at the time, I couldn't make out what he was saying. I think he said something along the lines of we'll always be friends. I don't know why he said that, we were fighting for our lives. It was nearing the end. Joe and I has one life left and we both had over 100% damage. I charged up Samus's beam move and tried to avoid Mr. Game and Watch's attacks.
Mr. Game and Watch ran at me and I pressed the button. I hit him. Mr. Game and Watch flew off the stage and the game ended. The sucking noise started again. I burst out with tears and screamed to try and drown the noise out. I heard Joe faintly say "We'll always be friends, Adrian. I promise." I heard Joe scream and choke and then silence.
I just killed my best friend. The clerk took the hook off of me and told me that I am the champion and he gave me a ribbon. He then escorted me out. I walked out and fell on the ground crying. I was screaming. I killed my best friend! Why did this have to happen? All I wanted was to have fun! Bring Joe back! Bring him back!