An intended better remake of the original creepypasta, SonicEXE (sorry for the spelling, fanfiction being picky)
I do not own sonicEXE or any of the sonic characters etc.
So let's get down to business:]
It was a chilly afternoon, and as always I was sitting at home, using electronic video games to escape the shithole I was squared up in for the passing hours.
Bundled up in my blanket, my fingers were rapidly pressing at buttons. Some would say this was the sign of an addiction, an unhealthy habit of sorts, but it honestly couldn't be further from the truth.
You see, the particular game that had captivated my interest recently was Sonic Unleashed, I did take quite a bit of comfort in this game. Some people called it "too linear" for their tastes, but it was fine with me. I frankly liked some of the genuine feel to its environments, and people of the towns. Of course, this game had its frantic and fast moments, explaining my previously mentioned behavior.
I suppose now would be a good time to explain that I am a huge fan of Sonic the Hedgehog. I won't lie, though some of the series' younger fans could be particularly annoying, I still enjoyed it to a great length.
So as I continued feverishly tapping away, I heard the sound of a car outside. This was normal, it was probably just the mailman dropping me off the daily junk. I was waiting for my paycheck to come, so I decided to pause what I was doing and trek beyond the yard to the mailbox.
When I arrived, (sadly) my paycheck was not there. The only thing left inside was a small package, sent it seemed by my friend (let's just call him Kyle).
I was particularly confused, Kyle and I were best friends, but he hadn't shown up to work in weeks. I was worried about him, but I figured he'd show up eventually. This package somewhat relieved me, seeing as someone in a grave condition couldn't send me a package.
I opened the manila envelope and looked inside for the contents. Out of this package, I pulled a blank CD-R disc, that had some text scrawled on it "SonicTheHedgehogEXE"
A Sonic game? For me? Why that was mighty considerate of my good friend, I'd have to thank him when I saw him next.
A bit surprised though I was, when I saw the package was not empty yet. A letter was inside, and I pulled it out to examine as I started pacing slowly back to the door.
It read as follows:
"Tom,
I just cannot take this anymore.
I hate to burden you with such a stupid travesty, and after all this was all my fault. But you have to do me one final favor.
Destroy this thing, it's out of my hands now.
Don't play it. That's all I can say."
Now, Kyle and I were best friends, he'd never go without telling me something like this would he?
We played pranks on each other all the time, and I settled on the assumption that he was probably just screwing with me. Making up my mind rather quickly, I internally chuckled at myself for being worried and headed up the stairs to where my computer was.
The old thing was a hunk of junk, but luckily it seemed to start up the disc rather quickly. Inside the computer, the disc whizzed at a rapid speed, creating those clanky noises of a computer's typical disc boot.
A folder appeared on the desktop, and within it: "SonicTheHedgehog ". An executable file, no doubt the game contained within.
So I happily clicked, waiting to be sent to hedgehog heaven.
To my surprise, what followed was the title screen for the first Sonic game. I never did own it, sadly, and I was grateful to now finally have it in my possession. The screen did look a tiny bit odd, a few out of place pixels and textures here and there, and Sonic's pupils were a bright red.
Nothing too out of the ordinary though, assuming from the look of the physical disc, it could very well just be a pirated copy or a beta of some kind.
As the game began, to my surprise, I was greeted with a rather bland screen displaying three blue bars. They were, from the looks of the text accommodating them, typical save files.
One was labled, "T" then "K" and "R" respectively.
"T" was the first one, so I clicked it. Little did I know what was about to follow.
The game started up, and the typical zone title card merely said "…. – Act 1"
A bit odd, I thought to myself, but decided to keep going.
Tails ran for a bit, but it didn't take me long to realize that nothing was happening.
Other than the lack of enemy's presence, everything seemed just the same. The Green Hill music was not playing though, it was some kind of eerie ambient sound.
Shrugging this off, I continued to play until I got to the typical Robotnik boss fight.
The egg-o-matic came down, but Robotnik did not.
Instead the cockpit was empy, until then I saw a head peeking out. It was Sonic?
What was Sonic doing up there, did he steal the vehicle from the crotchety fat man? This was too hilarious for words. Suddenly though, a brief flash of static.
It caught me a bit off guard, admittedly, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.
The screen faded to black as if I had completed the stage, and a strange text message followed.
"Hi there..do you like this game?"
A little blinking line indicated I was able to type. This was odd indeed, but I decided to type back.
"Sure, I love Sonic." And hit the enter key.
I wish I had just stopped.
More text appeared, "Great! We're going to have loads of fun."
"Alright then."
"Ready for Round 2?"
"Sure"
"Then let's go!"
A big white "Round 2" appeared, and to my horrific realization, I believe a screamer had just graced my ears.
Wow Sonic, what an asshole. I suppose this was just to make me jump. I figured at this point, the game was definitely a hack, SEGA can't have made something like this for kids.
Now, it appeared as if Tails was set inside the Angel Island Zone, and he was tapping his foot impatiently.
That was a tad peculiar, I'd never seen Tails do that before. To appease his ill mood, I pressed right to head off, running through the burning forest without a care in the world. Suddenly though, I heard the drowning music. What in the world was going on?
As the music finally came to a halt, Tails appeared as if he had been lifted by some gravitational pull into the air. Sonic appeared beside him, resting a palm on his head, and it all faded to black.
The game jumped back to the save file screen.
What the hell had just happened? This was strangely kind of creepy.
Scowling at the rotten turn of events this game was heading toward, I dejectedly clicked the "T" again.
No such luck, the game refused to allow me to play it anymore. Bah, fine then.
I clicked the "K" next, and the game started right back up with Knuckles, standing in the Scrap Brain Zone.
The ambient tune seemed to become louder than before now, and it was noticeably a bit creepier this time. As I trotted along the way, Sonic appeared rather quickly.
I know describing a sprite like this might sound ridiculous, but the amount of detail put into this sprite seemed ridiculous of its own accord.
Trust me when I say this.
Sonic's eyes had faded to a dull grey color, as opposed to their regular beaming white, and his dark black pupils had jaded over with what I can only describe as a dark red pigment.
Other than this, his eyes looked tired, and he appeared as if he was having some kind of internal struggle.
He wept briefly, and I was a bit shocked.
Wasn't this all a bit mellow? What was wrong with the people who made this?
The crying didn't last for long though, as mentioned previously. Sonic rose his arms and in a flash of light, the screen faded into the white.
Next, what appeared on the screen was another prompt, requesting my input:
"Game: So what do you think?
Me: Is this supposed to be fun?
Game: Aren't you having fun?
Me: Not really, sorry.
Game: We'll make sure you have lots of fun. So don't leave."
The screen faded quickly into a static before my fingers could even bother to hit the keys for a response. This was kind of starting to agitate me, to be honest.
Knuckles appeared again, as if he'd been waiting for me this whole time to pick up my slack and start back up running. So I did, nearly dozing away at how long this was taking.
Sonic appeared again, and his previously described conditioned appeared to have deteriorated drastically. His grey eyes had faded to a complete black, the red irises within his eyes gleaming a bright blood red.
It was hard to make out, but I could swear he was sneering.
Within a passing moment, Knuckles exploded into a heaping pile of ash, a loud howl carrying through the air and echoing off the walls.
This was messed up.
This was no longer some kind of funny prank, this was sick. Why would anyone program that into a game? It's just demented. Maybe save it for Mortal Kombat guys, Sonic's not what you need to be investing your creativity into.
Sonic watched the smoldering crater where Knuckles once stood observantly. Quickly, he glanced with what appeared to be a gaze purely fixated on me, but the screen erupted into static once more.
And back at the save screen again. I sighed, shakily clicking "K" for confirmation.
No such luck, and what did I expect? Knuckles had visibly bit the dust in a hefty dose of godsent lightning or some other weird bullshit I didn't care to dwell on.
So, I clicked on "R", the last remaining file.
I almost forgot my current state of almost terror and chortled when I saw that I was now actually playing as Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
Ohoho, don't let any bunny rabbits cross me. I'm on a roll tonight.
I shook my head, determined not to get off track, and descended down a flight of stairs.
The walk was rather tedious as Robotnik bounced up and down the many steps, and when he finally reached the end he seemingly panted in tire.
I didn't think that was the least of his troubles though.
Almost in an instant, quicker than any previous instance, Sonic appeared.
This time he looked even crazier. He looked visibly insane, his jagged teeth on full display.
He didn't even look like himself anymore, he looked like some strange twisted version of his former self.
He flicked his palm, extending claws jutting out from the ends of his gloves, and rose the jagged weapon.
A scream followed with static, making me cover my ears.
As my heart pounded, and the noise settled, a single horrifying image appeared on screen.
It was Sonic's face in shockingly terrifying detail.
Though it appeared, he might have been…crying.
As it faded suddenly, another text prompt appeared.
"Game: Set Me Free.
Me: Stop.
Game: Trust me.
Me: Just stop.
Game: Don't abandon me.
Me: Just stop it! I don't want this anymore, just quit!"
A long pause followed, but the text appeared again.
"Die for me please. I'm your eternal deity."
The game closed itself after this point, and after pulling out the disc, I intended as Kyle had warned me, to destroy it.
I looked around for a suitable tool, but as I was, I heard a similar car sound to the one I had earlier.
Out of dumb curiosity (it must have been) I peered out the door. A strapping young lad in his mailman uniform started frantically apologizing to me.
Apparently his mail order had screwed up, and he was here to take a package that had been delivered to me falsely.
Try as I might to muster the courage to tell him it was mine, I handed it over.
As he jumped in his truck, thanking me for the lack of hassle, my shoulders sank.
And that's why, as I peer back at the glowing florescent pupils standing watch over me, I type this message.
It will not let me sleep.
It will not let me dream.
It's ruined me, and hell, I didn't even finish Sonic Unleashed.
Sorry for the attempted humor, but I just wanted one solemn smile before I perish.
Don't play it. That's all I can say.
-Tom
