Lord X

Rumors foretell of a supposedly haunted disc of Sonic the Hedgehog, its contents completely unmarked save for "SONIC.EXE" being written on its front. It's said that the disc holds a terrible secret, and horrible things are said to befall those who dare to play it. After ten long years, filled with nothing but cycles of torment, the game fell into the hands of René Wurz, better known online as Luigikid Gaming, a YouTuber known for his coverage on such games. It was only natural that he would play this game as well.

Just like so many times before, the tale begins in a modified version of Green Hill. As always, Tails was the playable character, albeit this time without his signature namesake. However, the game's façade quickly drops as corpses line the path ahead, the plantlife withers away, and a strange laugh is heard in the distance. That of itself wasn't enough for the game, however, as the remaining plants slowly started gaining eyes and mouths, staring and gnashing away at nothing while the sky shifted to an orange sunset. At the end, Tails would find "Sonic", only for him to suddenly shift, his fur paler and his eyes empty black voids. The realization that it's not the Sonic anyone knows sets in as the screen cuts to black.

The scene cuts back to a familiar sight; Angel Island has been set ablaze yet again. The only way to progress is to simply run forward, leading to "Sonic" ditching his disguise before giving chase, just like so many times before. Tails ends up outrunning the false hedgehog, but ends up tripping, unable to get himself back to his feet. As the fox wailed, "Sonic", truly known by the name of "Lord X", would descend from above, letting the player know of its intention before suddenly teleporting right in front of Tails. As the poor boy looked up, he saw whatever pupils Lord X have roll into the back of its skull, the sound of cracking bones accompanying the sight as its jaws unhinged. Before anything could happen, the screen cut to black, leaving only Tails' screams and the player's imagination to fill in the blanks of the fox's grizzly demise.

The game opens back up to the title screen, only for Lord X to suddenly invade, corrupting it before sending the game to a brand new layout: A character selection menu presents itself out on screen, two unfortunate souls of Knuckles and Eggman to the left and right, and Tails in the center. With him as the only option available, Tails is selected, his eyes flickering with static before descending down into the crimson storm below.

Tails finds himself somewhere new, a land that would never fly under any official Sonic game. The floor seemed to be made of nothing more than the screaming mounds of flesh of those who came before. Dead animals filled the air to give chase to the young fox, and giant pillars of teeth seemed to be infused into the ground.

Avoiding everything the brave new world has to throw at him, Tails finds himself face to face with... Cream? Unlike her normal self, her fur was purple and red, and one ear covered her face to hide away from the world. From everything Lord X has put her through, any hope for the girl is gone, and she could do little else but whisper a prayer before curling into herself, unresponsive to anything else in the world.

Past the rabbit lay a room filled with what could best be described as twisted plantlife, with a single piece of it coming to life and whisking Tails away yet again. After Tails gives a brief talk to the player, he finds himself in an empty black room. As the being watches in the distance, appearing briefly just to taunt, Lord X decides to open up about the circumstances of his creation.

Lord X comes from a place known as the VOID, a place unknown to humans, where darkness and silence linger throughout. He was created by complete accident, a "mistake" in his words, born from nothing more than the energy within colliding in such a precise manner that life sprung from within.

Exiting from the room, Tails finds himself back outside, the path a