I've only played one hacked game in my life. At least, I think it was hacked. I'm still not so sure. But I don't think I ever will again.
Anyway, I was playing my DS when I got an email from GameStop saying that they got in a rare Sonic game, and that the first person to come in will get it. So I went in, but someone else already got it. I think it was my neighbor who did.
A few days later when I was checking the mail, I found the game in my mailbox. I brought it in with the mail and opened the case. He had put a note inside it. I pulled the note out and read:
Dear Rachel,
I saw you at GameStop the other day, probably coming for the game. I thought if I didn't like it I'd give it to you.
As you can tell, I didn't like it. “Didn't” and “like” really don't cut it. More like I'm TERRIFIED of it. I want you to throw it out now. If I were to throw it out, I'd go down with it. Please, get rid of it!
Your Neighbor,
Conner
I read the note over once more before looking at the case. It looked like the case for Sonic & Knuckles. The game inside was a DS card. I took out my other DS game and put in the new card.
The game started up with the classic SEGA jingle, but, it was slowed down and kinda fuzzy. I ignored it and soon the main screen came up on the top of my DS.
The main screen wasn't like the Sonic & Knuckles screen I'd known. The sky was dark and had a blood red moon. Once green grass was yellow and decade. Nice brown trails had become black and moldy. I'm surprised mushrooms weren't growing out of it.
Knuckles was missing from the screen but Sonic was there, terrified looking. His teeth chattered and he was biting his nails. His blue fur seemed ragged and needed to be cleaned. The brightness of his emerald green eyes seemed dull and shifted often.
Why was Sonic so scared? What exactly was the Blue Blur afraid of?
I looked to where it usually said SEGA 1994 in the corner, but now it said SEGA 666. This struck me as weird and creepy, but I still pressed start.
The first level came up. The sky was the same as the title screen. Dark and with a blood red moon. The mushrooms were burned and scorched. The ground was tore up and seemed to have little animal carcasses. Sonic was on the screen and looked to be crying. His appearance seemed exactly the same as the title screen.
Where the level name should've said Mushroom Hill: Act 1, it said Death Road: Act Blood.
I thought this was quite odd and tried to stay cool.
I made Sonic advance across the screen. He still seemed extremely shaky and nervous. As he kept running, the dead animals seemed to come more and more. A rabbit's head was torn off, a few squirrels broken to bits, and a duck, his feathers plucked out and his beak bent in odd directions.
Sonic's face seemed to turn green for a moment, but reverted back to blue.
Soon music started to play softly. It sounded like Team Sonic or Heroes or whatever theme song from Sonic Heroes, but it was slowed and static sounding.
I kept him running across the screen till he came to the spot where Knuckles would pull a lever and have gusts of air blow Sonic sky high, was just a person in a cloak who I believe was Knuckles. He seemed out of it, tired even.
Sonic just stood there, shivering uncontrollably. He backed up slightly before Knuckles took off his cloak, and the sight I saw scared me to death.
Part of his head was stitched up to hide his brain. Scars like Frankenstein were all about his body, mainly his torso, right leg and arm, head, and his mouth. His eyes had blood dripping from them like tears. Black was the background of his eyes and glowing red slits for pupils was in them. Blood covered his hands. His once nice red fur had darkened. When he somehow opened his mouth, I screamed.
His lips had stitches on them, obviously, but his teeth were sharp and jagged. He smiled demonically before letting an ear splitting laugh that reminded me of a demon from a horror movie.
The screen went black and writing came up on the screen:
You sEeM NerVOUs...wANt mE TO hElP?
I shook my head and the writing disappeared.
A new level came up. It looked like the Hill Top Zone from Sonic 2, only that the ground was above the lava. Sonic was in the middle of the screen, still scared to death. I made him run across the screen till he came upon Knuckles, who seemed to be in the middle of something. When Knuckles turned to face Sonic, he had blood around his mouth. I nearly puked.
Knuckles slowly walked toward Sonic, who, in turn, backed away, obviously scared. Sonic started to run, but got short stopped by orange fur on the floor that looked to have been chewed then spit out. Knuckles had just eaten Tails!
Now I could tell Sonic's nerves were shot. He started shaking like crazy.
Knuckles kept advancing toward Sonic, an evil grin still on his face. He kept walking about 10 feet away from Sonic.
Sonic backed up and looked straight at the DS screen, tears running down his face, and made frantic gestures. Then he said, “Get me away from this monster Rachel!”
My mouth dropped open. Had Sonic just spoke to me, plus said my name? No. Impossible. He's just a video game character made by SEGA. There's no way...
Or, did he?
I shook off what Sonic said, or didn't say.
Sonic was still looking at me, crying, asking for me to help. But what could I do to help him? I pressed all the arrow keys. They did absolutely nothing to help him. I tries making him jump but he couldn't do that either.
The echidna picked up his pace and reached out toward Sonic. His grin had become bigger as he got closer. Soon, his hands grabbed both of Sonic's arms and broke them, then ripped them out of their sockets. Sonic screamed as Knuckles punched him in his stomach, tearing at his furry flesh with his sharp knuckles. Blood splattered everywhere as Knuckles murdered the blue blur.
He grabbed Sonic's jaw and cracked it off so he could not scream anymore. Sonic fell to the ground, and Knuckles put his hand on his chest and dug into him. He pulled his hand out to show that he had ripped out Sonic's still pumping heart. Knuckles then put it in his mouth and ate it.
I put my hand over my mouth. He had just ate Sonic's heart... This was not the Knuckles I knew and loved.
The screen went black and more words came up:
wASn't ThAt FUn? WOuLd YOu LiKE tO PlAY AgaIN?
I mentally noted no.
The screen then came back to the main title screen. Where Sonic was standing at the beginning, he was lying down, dead. I felt bad for the guy.
Soon, Mighty the Armadillo came up on the screen and kneeled beside Sonic to get a good look at him. Tears stained his face as he checked over the poor hedgehog.
Mighty stood up and looked at the screen. He seemed like he was afraid to find out what awaits him.
Regardless, I pressed start.
The level came up. It had the ground of the Evil Foundry from Sonic and the Secret Rings only pixelated. The sky was from the Oil Ocean Zone, but all the colors were muted. Music played softly in the background. It was slow and demonic sounding. I shivered.
Soon, the level title came up: Mystery: Act Life or Death. Great name don't you think?
I made Mighty run across the DS screen. His bright eyes seemed to dim as he ran, and his face seemed scratched up. I'm not sure what from but whatever gave him the scratches had been vicious to him.
Tears still came down his face as he moved through the level. He looked around nervously every few seconds to make sure no one or no thing was following him. I couldn't blame him.
He kept running until Knuckles was right in front of him. Mighty jumped back and ran the other way. Knuckles appeared, ghost-like in front of him. Mighty punched at him, but missed, because Knuckles was now over him. He threw another punch. Miss. And another, and another. All his blows missed until he became tired.
After Mighty became tired, Knuckles grabbed him and pulled him up into the air. He put his hand on to Mighty's throat and started to put pressure on him. Mighty struggled to breath and clawed at Knuckles hands. Knuckles let go of his throat and put his hands on Mighty's head. He digs his hands in and cracked his flawless protective armadillo shell. You could hear it as the shell broke open. The he went for his eyes.
I had to look away as he massacred the armadillo.
When it was finally over, my screen went black again and more words showed up:
BReaKINg hiM wAS gREaT... dON't YOu tHInK?
My stomach was spinning after I read that and headed to the bathroom. I stood over the toilet for about 20 minutes.
After the 20 minutes, I shut off the DS and headed to bed for the night.
When I drifted off to sleep, I had a nightmare.
I was in a dark room, with chains attached to my wrists. The room seemed to have no one in it and I was starting to panic.
Soon, the groaning started. I looked around until I saw the maimed bodies of Sonic and Mighty. The poor boys were torn apart and dead. So... How were they groaning?
“You happy now Rachel?” said a deep voice. “Are you happy that you gave us to... HIM?”
“If you truly didn't want us hurt, run. Run away from him!”
“SILENCE!!” yelled a very, very familiar voice. Knuckles walked out of the darkness, that stitched, evil grin on his face. “So, Rachel, you played my game huh?” He laughed demonically. “You're in my world now.” He then lunged at me and....
I woke up with a start. It was just a dream, I told myself. Just a dream...
My DS was next to my bed and I picked it up and turned it on. The main title screen showed up and now had both Sonic and Mighty on the ground, beat up and dead.
Julie-su came on the screen and checked out both of them. She had a sad look on her face, and seemed like she wished she could reverse it.
I pressed start for the third time.
What was different was the laugh Knuckles had done in my dream sounded when I pressed it.
The screen came back up and the level unfolded before my eyes. It looked like a graveyard with headstones in your path. Julie-su had a shovel in her hands. I think she buried the dead Sonic and Mighty. She stood up and waited for me to move her.
I pressed the arrow key making her run. Music came up and sounded like a classic dramatic horror movie music. Like from The Shining or something.
Julie-su kept advancing across the small screen. The scene lasted for like ever. Where exactly was the end of it?
The screen would go black every few seconds and after the screen came back, the colors were darker than before. Soon, the screen just stayed black.
I waited for a few minutes before a hyper-realistic picture of Knuckles came up. His eyes glowed brighter and seemed to look into my very soul, the stitches on his head had ripped back to reveal his brain. An evil grin was spread across his stitched up lips, and his sharp teeth reminded me of Sonic.exe's. His fur was ragged and needed to be washed.
After a few minutes of looking at him, the screen flickered and that demonic laugh sounded. Then, the most horrifying words showed up above him:
YOU'RE COMING WITH ME
A hole opened up in the floor. I dropped my DS and stared at it. A hand popped out of it. Knuckles were poking out of it.
I backed up knowing who it was.
He came fully out of the hole that I now saw that it was indeed Knuckles. His raspy voice was all I could hear over my pounding heart. “You're the one who wanted to play my game. Now you're coming to hell with me.” He grabbed me by my ankles and started dragging me toward the hole. I clawed at the ground and screamed.
“No! Let me go you demon!”
But he wouldn't let go. Soon, most of my body was down the hole. I screamed as loud as I could for someone, anyone, to hear before he fully dragged me down to hell.
Anyway, I was playing my DS when I got an email from GameStop saying that they got in a rare Sonic game, and that the first person to come in will get it. So I went in, but someone else already got it. I think it was my neighbor who did.
A few days later when I was checking the mail, I found the game in my mailbox. I brought it in with the mail and opened the case. He had put a note inside it. I pulled the note out and read:
Dear Rachel,
I saw you at GameStop the other day, probably coming for the game. I thought if I didn't like it I'd give it to you.
As you can tell, I didn't like it. “Didn't” and “like” really don't cut it. More like I'm TERRIFIED of it. I want you to throw it out now. If I were to throw it out, I'd go down with it. Please, get rid of it!
Your Neighbor,
Conner
I read the note over once more before looking at the case. It looked like the case for Sonic & Knuckles. The game inside was a DS card. I took out my other DS game and put in the new card.
The game started up with the classic SEGA jingle, but, it was slowed down and kinda fuzzy. I ignored it and soon the main screen came up on the top of my DS.
The main screen wasn't like the Sonic & Knuckles screen I'd known. The sky was dark and had a blood red moon. Once green grass was yellow and decade. Nice brown trails had become black and moldy. I'm surprised mushrooms weren't growing out of it.
Knuckles was missing from the screen but Sonic was there, terrified looking. His teeth chattered and he was biting his nails. His blue fur seemed ragged and needed to be cleaned. The brightness of his emerald green eyes seemed dull and shifted often.
Why was Sonic so scared? What exactly was the Blue Blur afraid of?
I looked to where it usually said SEGA 1994 in the corner, but now it said SEGA 666. This struck me as weird and creepy, but I still pressed start.
The first level came up. The sky was the same as the title screen. Dark and with a blood red moon. The mushrooms were burned and scorched. The ground was tore up and seemed to have little animal carcasses. Sonic was on the screen and looked to be crying. His appearance seemed exactly the same as the title screen.
Where the level name should've said Mushroom Hill: Act 1, it said Death Road: Act Blood.
I thought this was quite odd and tried to stay cool.
I made Sonic advance across the screen. He still seemed extremely shaky and nervous. As he kept running, the dead animals seemed to come more and more. A rabbit's head was torn off, a few squirrels broken to bits, and a duck, his feathers plucked out and his beak bent in odd directions.
Sonic's face seemed to turn green for a moment, but reverted back to blue.
Soon music started to play softly. It sounded like Team Sonic or Heroes or whatever theme song from Sonic Heroes, but it was slowed and static sounding.
I kept him running across the screen till he came to the spot where Knuckles would pull a lever and have gusts of air blow Sonic sky high, was just a person in a cloak who I believe was Knuckles. He seemed out of it, tired even.
Sonic just stood there, shivering uncontrollably. He backed up slightly before Knuckles took off his cloak, and the sight I saw scared me to death.
Part of his head was stitched up to hide his brain. Scars like Frankenstein were all about his body, mainly his torso, right leg and arm, head, and his mouth. His eyes had blood dripping from them like tears. Black was the background of his eyes and glowing red slits for pupils was in them. Blood covered his hands. His once nice red fur had darkened. When he somehow opened his mouth, I screamed.
His lips had stitches on them, obviously, but his teeth were sharp and jagged. He smiled demonically before letting an ear splitting laugh that reminded me of a demon from a horror movie.
The screen went black and writing came up on the screen:
You sEeM NerVOUs...wANt mE TO hElP?
I shook my head and the writing disappeared.
A new level came up. It looked like the Hill Top Zone from Sonic 2, only that the ground was above the lava. Sonic was in the middle of the screen, still scared to death. I made him run across the screen till he came upon Knuckles, who seemed to be in the middle of something. When Knuckles turned to face Sonic, he had blood around his mouth. I nearly puked.
Knuckles slowly walked toward Sonic, who, in turn, backed away, obviously scared. Sonic started to run, but got short stopped by orange fur on the floor that looked to have been chewed then spit out. Knuckles had just eaten Tails!
Now I could tell Sonic's nerves were shot. He started shaking like crazy.
Knuckles kept advancing toward Sonic, an evil grin still on his face. He kept walking about 10 feet away from Sonic.
Sonic backed up and looked straight at the DS screen, tears running down his face, and made frantic gestures. Then he said, “Get me away from this monster Rachel!”
My mouth dropped open. Had Sonic just spoke to me, plus said my name? No. Impossible. He's just a video game character made by SEGA. There's no way...
Or, did he?
I shook off what Sonic said, or didn't say.
Sonic was still looking at me, crying, asking for me to help. But what could I do to help him? I pressed all the arrow keys. They did absolutely nothing to help him. I tries making him jump but he couldn't do that either.
The echidna picked up his pace and reached out toward Sonic. His grin had become bigger as he got closer. Soon, his hands grabbed both of Sonic's arms and broke them, then ripped them out of their sockets. Sonic screamed as Knuckles punched him in his stomach, tearing at his furry flesh with his sharp knuckles. Blood splattered everywhere as Knuckles murdered the blue blur.
He grabbed Sonic's jaw and cracked it off so he could not scream anymore. Sonic fell to the ground, and Knuckles put his hand on his chest and dug into him. He pulled his hand out to show that he had ripped out Sonic's still pumping heart. Knuckles then put it in his mouth and ate it.
I put my hand over my mouth. He had just ate Sonic's heart... This was not the Knuckles I knew and loved.
The screen went black and more words came up:
wASn't ThAt FUn? WOuLd YOu LiKE tO PlAY AgaIN?
I mentally noted no.
The screen then came back to the main title screen. Where Sonic was standing at the beginning, he was lying down, dead. I felt bad for the guy.
Soon, Mighty the Armadillo came up on the screen and kneeled beside Sonic to get a good look at him. Tears stained his face as he checked over the poor hedgehog.
Mighty stood up and looked at the screen. He seemed like he was afraid to find out what awaits him.
Regardless, I pressed start.
The level came up. It had the ground of the Evil Foundry from Sonic and the Secret Rings only pixelated. The sky was from the Oil Ocean Zone, but all the colors were muted. Music played softly in the background. It was slow and demonic sounding. I shivered.
Soon, the level title came up: Mystery: Act Life or Death. Great name don't you think?
I made Mighty run across the DS screen. His bright eyes seemed to dim as he ran, and his face seemed scratched up. I'm not sure what from but whatever gave him the scratches had been vicious to him.
Tears still came down his face as he moved through the level. He looked around nervously every few seconds to make sure no one or no thing was following him. I couldn't blame him.
He kept running until Knuckles was right in front of him. Mighty jumped back and ran the other way. Knuckles appeared, ghost-like in front of him. Mighty punched at him, but missed, because Knuckles was now over him. He threw another punch. Miss. And another, and another. All his blows missed until he became tired.
After Mighty became tired, Knuckles grabbed him and pulled him up into the air. He put his hand on to Mighty's throat and started to put pressure on him. Mighty struggled to breath and clawed at Knuckles hands. Knuckles let go of his throat and put his hands on Mighty's head. He digs his hands in and cracked his flawless protective armadillo shell. You could hear it as the shell broke open. The he went for his eyes.
I had to look away as he massacred the armadillo.
When it was finally over, my screen went black again and more words showed up:
BReaKINg hiM wAS gREaT... dON't YOu tHInK?
My stomach was spinning after I read that and headed to the bathroom. I stood over the toilet for about 20 minutes.
After the 20 minutes, I shut off the DS and headed to bed for the night.
When I drifted off to sleep, I had a nightmare.
I was in a dark room, with chains attached to my wrists. The room seemed to have no one in it and I was starting to panic.
Soon, the groaning started. I looked around until I saw the maimed bodies of Sonic and Mighty. The poor boys were torn apart and dead. So... How were they groaning?
“You happy now Rachel?” said a deep voice. “Are you happy that you gave us to... HIM?”
“If you truly didn't want us hurt, run. Run away from him!”
“SILENCE!!” yelled a very, very familiar voice. Knuckles walked out of the darkness, that stitched, evil grin on his face. “So, Rachel, you played my game huh?” He laughed demonically. “You're in my world now.” He then lunged at me and....
I woke up with a start. It was just a dream, I told myself. Just a dream...
My DS was next to my bed and I picked it up and turned it on. The main title screen showed up and now had both Sonic and Mighty on the ground, beat up and dead.
Julie-su came on the screen and checked out both of them. She had a sad look on her face, and seemed like she wished she could reverse it.
I pressed start for the third time.
What was different was the laugh Knuckles had done in my dream sounded when I pressed it.
The screen came back up and the level unfolded before my eyes. It looked like a graveyard with headstones in your path. Julie-su had a shovel in her hands. I think she buried the dead Sonic and Mighty. She stood up and waited for me to move her.
I pressed the arrow key making her run. Music came up and sounded like a classic dramatic horror movie music. Like from The Shining or something.
Julie-su kept advancing across the small screen. The scene lasted for like ever. Where exactly was the end of it?
The screen would go black every few seconds and after the screen came back, the colors were darker than before. Soon, the screen just stayed black.
I waited for a few minutes before a hyper-realistic picture of Knuckles came up. His eyes glowed brighter and seemed to look into my very soul, the stitches on his head had ripped back to reveal his brain. An evil grin was spread across his stitched up lips, and his sharp teeth reminded me of Sonic.exe's. His fur was ragged and needed to be washed.
After a few minutes of looking at him, the screen flickered and that demonic laugh sounded. Then, the most horrifying words showed up above him:
YOU'RE COMING WITH ME
A hole opened up in the floor. I dropped my DS and stared at it. A hand popped out of it. Knuckles were poking out of it.
I backed up knowing who it was.
He came fully out of the hole that I now saw that it was indeed Knuckles. His raspy voice was all I could hear over my pounding heart. “You're the one who wanted to play my game. Now you're coming to hell with me.” He grabbed me by my ankles and started dragging me toward the hole. I clawed at the ground and screamed.
“No! Let me go you demon!”
But he wouldn't let go. Soon, most of my body was down the hole. I screamed as loud as I could for someone, anyone, to hear before he fully dragged me down to hell.