Chasing After A Legend

Sound of Silence

The cave was wrong.

Light flickered across stone where there was no source for it, and rainwater clung to walls far too deep underground for the storm outside to reach. Droplets drifted sideways through the air, then abruptly changed direction and fell upward.

At the center of it all –

"ʞɘɿɔɔɘɿ--VVVV-REEEE!!!"

Whatever this was – this red streak plastered upon a void of black – it kept screeching.

Rose pressed herself against the cave wall, hands over her ears. The sound still seemed to come from everywhere at once, rattling through the stone and straight through her skull.

Too distracted by the painful ringing, Rose didn't even realize when the creature lunged at her.

That was when the other pixelated mess sprang into action.

"GN-GN-H-OOORAU"

Missingno threw itself in front of her and took the impact.

The two distortions collided in a burst of static, like the tearing of fabric, something striking a screen rather than a body. The purple-tinted Missingno warped on contact, its shape stuttering, folding in on itself... and then it changed.

One moment it was a jagged cluster of fragments, the next it unraveled into something longer, thinner, wrong in a different way. It stretched, twisted, and wrapped around the screaming thing like a glitch trying to overwrite another glitch.

"Poli-li-ra!"

Poliwrath charged before it could break free.

His fist crashed into the enemy's side hard enough to send a shock through the cave. He followed with another punch, then a third, each blow making the creature's form jerk and scatter before snapping back together.

Then it shrieked and lashed outward. Something struck Poliwrath without visibly touching him.

"Wrragh!"

He was thrown backward and skidded through the damp stone, catching himself with one hand before he could slam into Rose.

"Poli!" She exclaimed in concern.

Poliwrath immediately pushed himself back up.

Missingno surged again. Its shape flickered from one form to another as it rammed the threat into the wall, the two of them disappearing into a mess of black, red, and purple fragments.

Rose could barely follow it. Her eyes couldn't decide what was real, only that one of them was fighting for her.

"VVVVVVVVVVVV--REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE--!!!"

The scream intensified.

Rose doubled over, covering her ears as tightly as she could. Missingno's body shuddered and began breaking apart, pieces of it blinking in and out of existence. Poliwrath staggered as well, one hand going to the side of his head.

"P-Poli...!"

"Wrr..."

Poli forced himself upright, just as the bundle of dark pixels lunged for Rose again. He stepped into its path and unleashed a glowing fist that slammed into the creature, stopping it inches from him. It flickered violently around the blow, but instead of being knocked away, its body seemed to fold around his arm.

"Poli?!" His eyes widened, and he jerked backward, but the distortion tightened in response. He couldn't break his arm free.

At least, not on his own.