[@pkmn-monochrome - previously…]
His fiery gaze ignites, jaw tightening at he looks down on Cody.
“You’re lucky I’m nice enough to not teach you! Whatever it is that could have possibly scared you so badly- not like I’d know or anything,” the man states, a mischievous grin spreading across his face, “Is just a small TASTE of ’what it’s REALLY like to be me.’”
He spreads his arms out and narrows his eyes. A predator locking in on its prey.
“Those poor kids… That poor kid? Ha- they were a lot like me, I bet. They didn’t ask for this. Frankly- and maybe I’m just BIASED here, but it’s BOLD to accuse ME of taking things out on YOU, when it seemed the exact opposite for your little hacker,” he hisses, “making a SCAPEGOAT out of the thing that best worked as the symbol of Pokemon, or the ‘connection,’ or whatever the FUCK.”
The glitching surrounding him intensifies, his body contorting in a way that seems much too similar to something long past.
“Last I recalled, though, it wasn’t the MUTE PROTAGONIST that made these games, was it? The hacker’s connection wasn’t through THOSE poor bastards, it was through the screen of a Gameboy! It wasn’t RED or LEAF who lured them in, it was the faceless corporations that relentlessly marketed these games, the wonderful world of Pokemon. It wasn’t US who did the guilty deed of consuming their pathetic life- it was THEM who took the bait and became obsessed with OUR world.”
“I didn’t know them. But, hey, if it’s 'unfair’ for me to take my anger out on you for every way the hacker hurt people just like ME… YOU didn’t know those kids either, did ya? Isn’t it even worse that YOU took YOUR rage on those innocent fuckers? Symbolic gesture my ASS. You were too weak to leave it all behind quietly.”
“… Sorry. They.”
He lets silence hang heavy in the air. Lets it suffocate the room before he speaks again.
“Instead, THEY had to make a big show. Pat THEMSELF on the back with this VANITY PROJECT, as you’d called it… Couldn’t leave it without destroying it for good, huh? Maybe you’re just pissy because THEIR actions ended up having consequences,” he finishes, his referral to the hacker oozing with mockery.
He steps backwards, ’tsk'ing under his breath.
“There I go, rambling at you like one of your players… You’re probably sick of all of this, aren’t you? Unlike you- I know when to stop dancing around. So let me get to the point.”
[shadow guy]
“There’s one thing you’ve got wrong about ME, Cody. I didn’t smuggle anything in here with me. My party is empty. All I have is myself… and what people like you made me into a LONG time ago.”
“Your rat called it harmless fun? Well, you clearly know better than that. You’re right to be scared of shit like this, Cody. You SHOULD be grateful that crap was cut from this world- or at least that YOU didn’t get stuck with a mangled sprite.”
His violent glitching lights up the dark of the tower, dying his form in aggressive reds and yellows.
[oh hes mad now]
“As for me? Too little, too late. Honestly, I’m a little jealous those kids got the mercy of death.”
“It’s funny how much you hate me for being me. It’s not just for what I say, what I do- it’s for who I am. It’s a little hard to wrap my head around, for such a silly little reason, y'know… I mean, just LOOK at me. COULD you tell who I am? If the name weren’t plastered in my code, my textboxes, my being? I’m not like those poor fucking kids anymore. I’m not the cute face of a franchise- I’m a goddamn MISTAKE.
I can barely even call myself 'RED’ at all anymore.”
“But I know that doesn’t matter. Not to you. Not when it’s me. The template’s all the same, huh? Doesn’t change what I started as. What I used to represent. What your pathetic ass will always think. So if what you see when you look at me, is still the symbol of a game that stole your life away…”
“Then let’s PLAY, CODY.”
battle start. WILD MISSINGNO APPEARED.
[If you want “RED” gone again so badly, go ahead and show me EXACTLY how this game ended, and DO IT YOURSELF.]