A challenger appears

Matt sits in front of his new computer rig, freshly setup and prepared to stream tonight. He has been dabbling in streaming when he plays video games, but after the bar he was working at closed, Matt has decided to try to make streaming work as a full time gig. So many people were making it big these on sites like twitch these days, and he was legitimately good at games, so maybe it would work out? Plus, he didn't need a big excuse to drop a huge amount of savings on a new computer setup.

Up until this weekend, Matt had been irregularly streaming to small audiences on a site similar to Twitch, with fewer restrictions on the content that could be displayed. This worked well for Matt's gaming habits as he often enjoyed gory or raunchy games and didn't want to have to deal with online regulations. This way, he could cater to a select audience and make sure that they were happy and regularly donating. Matt had actually gotten quite good at gauging the temperature of his chat by how the donations were flowing. Over the course of his brief streaming career, Matt had been raided a few times by larger streamers who he had encountered and beaten in game and even made the front page once when he had gone on an especially hot streak. This success had led Matt to think that if he really committed, he could make this work. So he bought the components, built the computer, and now he sat in his big black gaming chair as he was tweets out to his followers that he would be getting on to "Show everyone what I'm made of tonight, new rig and all!"

It is a Friday night, so things won't really pick up until people get back from their nights out and get in front of their computers. Until then, Matt warmed up playing some platformers while chatting with the small audience of regulars he had accumulated. If he was being honest, while Matt did do this in part because he enjoyed video games, he also had enjoyed the idea of being the center of attention on stream. Having a group of people who followed his moves and helped him when he needed it in game, all too eager to receive a moment of his attention as he called out their gamertag and thanked them for the donations. He couldn't quite describe what it was, but he new that it pumped him up to be watched like that.

After a few hours, the stream has switched over to Halo for some more competitive gaming. Matt has had a few off camera drinks and even took a hit off his bong once or twice, so he was feeling a little cockier than normal after he completely trounces another public lobby. His stream has ballooned to his biggest ever, hundreds of people watching and plenty of donations coming in. Is it the new setup, the drinks and ****, or the thrill of having all these fans? Matt doesn't know or care, because he has never played better before in his life.

And because Matt was flying so high on his winning streak, he was getting a little antagonistic with the chat, telling them that he could kick all their asses. All challengers welcome! Suddenly, an unfamiliar name drops a small donation to get a message through. The whole stream sees a user named BigDogV has entered the stream and wanted everyone to see their message. "My little brother came and told me some streamer was having too much fun picking on kids just trying to learn a game. I bet if you played a real gamer you would get destroyed."

Matt's face turned bright red, which he could see in his second monitor where his chat and video overlay was setup. "Hey, if they want to play a public match, they shouldn't be getting mad when they get beat. Its a video game, they can grow up."

The chat was erupting, most taking his side but some teasing him about beating up on a bunch of kids and think he was great. In between the chat arguing, Matt saw BigDogV's responses. "If you think you are hot shit, which I can tell right away you aren't, then beat me one on one. I will show your whole chat how big of a bitch you really are. Assuming you can even muster the courage to try?"

Again, Matt is initially flustered at being attacked so directly in front of his chat. In anger, he responds. "You are on! I'll setup the room."

As Matt began to setup a match for him and BigDogV in Halo, he saw a direct message pop up on his phone through twitter. It was from his opponent. "Hey jackass, you really embarrassed my little brother so I want to embarrass you. So how about a bet. If you win, I will record a video professing my eternal fandom and undying subscriptions to you. But if you lose, you will have to stream next weekend in an outfit that I pick out for you. I can order it on amazon and make sure it arrives right on time.

Matt couldn't say why he agreed to the bet so quickly. Maybe it was the drinks, maybe it was the idea of having this person record a video that he could gloat over on stream, or maybe it was the mystery of the unnamed outfit that both scared and intrigued Matt. Regardless, he was going to show this nobody what he was made of.