The world has many perplexing mysteries in its wake today, and whether it be trivial, or something one would deem a 'great mystery of life, one thing can be said; some mysteries are better left untouched. This is a story of one of those mysteries; though, this may sound silly, this particular mystery is of a cursed video game. Keep in mind as you read this that, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, this is a true story.
“Today's news story covers a series of what authorities define as 'unsolved missing cases'. We now take you to George and Ruthanne, the parents of a boy named Tom, who has been missing for two years, since the day this chain started. Would you care to explain exactly what happened the day before your son went missing?” The screen went to a woman who was in tears, with a man holding her tightly, comforting her. The man spoke; “Our son Tom had received a package in the mail containing a letter from his best friend Kyle, who hadn't been around in quite some time, Tom told us it was the first he'd heard from Kyle in quite awhile. Also in this package was some sort of computer disk with the word 'SONIC.EXE' written in permanent marker, we know our son was a huge fan of Sonic; he'd grown up with it after all, thanks to me working at 4Kids when he was younger. So, anyways, he decided to try it out, and the next morning, when we we went to wake him up for school, he and the contents of the package were missing, with only this creepy and very disturbing looking sonic plushie doll sitting on his bed.” The man held up the doll to show the viewers, “But the strange thing is; our son didn't own any dolls, much less this creepy one. We can't figure out where it came from. Come to think of it, Kyle's parents said he went missing the day he sent that package!”
The screen cut back to the news anchor; “In another related incident, when a young girl, Harley, who had also grown up with Sonic, reportedly went missing a day after, as her parents said, 'She was playing Sonic on the computer'. When asked if she had left anything behind, they said they had found a creepy Sally plushie doll with the eyes torn out on her bed, but wouldn't answer any further questions and declined the offer for an interview.”
“I can't believe this!” the young teenage boy said, with a sheer tone of disappointment to his voice, “My original Sonic And Knuckles cartridge for Sega Genesis is ruined, stupid lightning!” “Well, maybe that's a good thing, Dave.” spoke a kid with his plaid shirt tucked in, all nice and neat, wearing glasses. “Shut up, Wyatt, you nerd! Just because you hate Sonic doesn't mean you have to keep discouraging me about it!” Dave replied, “Not that,” Wyatt said, “Have you seen the news lately?” he asked, “There's been a string of disappearances related to the classic Sonic Games lately, I'd avoid playing them.” “Ha!” Dave scoffed, “You really believe all the media's bullshit? Sonic isn't evil!” Dave was cleaning the cartridge, it had fallen in the mud and been struck by lightning the night before during a terrible storm as he was walking back from his neighbors down the street. “I'm gonna see if by some miracle this thing still works.” Dave said.
As Dave finished cleaning off the cartridge, he rushed downstairs to try it out, as Wyatt followed behind, “I don't know why I'm bothering to stick around, I hate Sonic.” Wyatt remarked, “You've hated Sonic ever since they took Scourge out of the series, the only thing that'll get you to like Sonic again is if Scourge was put back in.” Dave said, popping the cartridge into the Sega and pushing the power button.
When the game started up, it looked a little bit glitchy, the sky on the title screen was going red and there were no clouds, the water was black, and Sonic was bright green instead of his usual blue. The really weird part was the title read "Scourge and Knuckles" instead of "Sonic and Knuckles". Dave had found this odd, he'd known the lightning had screwed the cartridge up, but it seemed strange that, coincidentally, Sonic's name was replaced with another canon character of the franchise; Wyatt, on the other hand, was all of the sudden interested because of Scourge now seemingly being in the game.
The first Zone, known as 'Mushroom Hill Zone' loaded up, only, it wasn't called 'Mushroom Hill Zone' but instead, 'Tag, You're It: Act 1'. The level played normally, with Dave playing as Knuckles, to which he remarked “Yay, my favorite character!”. But something else was off; there was no background music. Dave easily made it through the first Act of 'Tag, You're It', as it played just like the level normally did; it was when Act 2 loaded that things got a bit strange.
When the Second Act of 'Tag, You're It' loaded, instead of Doctor Robotnik waiting, it was Sonic, or 'Scourge', as seen on the title screen. Suddenly, Dave couldn't move in the game; the controls weren't working. Suddenly, Scourge ran at knuckles, and crashed into him, instantly killing Knuckles. The screen went black and the text came up “Ready To Become One With Me, Wyatt?”
The 'Mushroom Hill Zone; Act 1' started up again, but this time, it was titled 'Take Back Your Role' and instead of 'Act 1' it said 'If You Can', and THIS time, Dave was controlling Doctor Robotnik. Dave and Wyatt, at this point were getting a little scared, “T-this has something to do with the disappearances, I know it!” Wyatt said, panicking, “B-bullshit, it's bullshit!” Dave said, scared, but trying to hide it. Just then, Scourge faintly appeared behind Doctor Robotnik, Dave, able to move this time, ran through the stage as Scourge began to chase him. Dave, for some reason feared for his life as he was running from Scourge; he felt as if his own life was on the line.
Dave tried and tried to escape from Scourge, but he was too fast, and ultimately ran into Robotnik, instantly killing him. The Screen again faded to black, at the center of this black screen, the image of Sonic appeared standing in darkness, all but his face shrouded in shadow. Sonic's face looked demonic; His eyes were wide, black and crying blood, and there were two small glowing red dots in those eyes staring directly at Dave and Wyatt through the television. This Sonic also had a wide, demonic looking grin that literally stretched to the sides of his face like the Cheshire Cat, except this Sonic had fangs.
As if Dave and Wyatt weren't already freaked out enough, this face faded into scourges, except, it kept that grotesque, demonic look, and a text box appeared below it, “4Kids took away my future, so I shall take away theirs!” After reading this, a look of shock befell Wyatt's face, “he'd grown up with it after all, thanks to me working at 4Kids”, those words ran through Wyatts mind as he asked, “Where do your parents work?” To which Dave replied “My dad teaches kindergarten, and my mom works for-” Dave paused in shock, realizing what was going on, “4Kids...T.V.” he finished. Suddenly,
Wyatt started laughing maniacally, “You deserve this! Your parents took Scourge's life, now he'll take yours!” Wyatt yelled as he took out a Scourge Plushie Doll, which then began to glow an eery green, and suddenly, Dave grew smaller, and began growing red fur; Soon, Dave was transformed into a Knuckles Doll. Then suddenly, the Scourge Dolls eyes started glowing red, and Wyatt uttered the words, “Yes, Master Scourge...” as he walked over, removed the cartridge from the Sega; the cartridge then disappeared, as if it never existed at all.