Ever since I've played Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, I have been a huge Silver the Hedgehog fan. I have everything Silver. From posters to T-shirts, prints to plush dolls, stickers to figurines. You name it I had it.
One day, after a long day of school, I was searching on my laptop for some SEGA merchandise to add to my collection when I saw a website that read: Silver.EXE. It got my attention, and you know, being a Silver fan, my curiousity got the best of me. I clicked on the link. I saw in large white letters that read "Silver.EXE" across a light blue background. Silver was on the picture, his back was turned towards me, and his golden eyes stared right at me.
"Oh wow!" I said out loud as I read the words "New game" along the article's subtitle.
I had to get the game. I just had to. I mean come on this game was just coming out and being sold for $30! Where else can you find great deals like this?
Without a moment's hesitation, I placed in my order...Name, address, credit card information, and pressed submit. Now it was just a matter of waiting...waiting for the events that would change my life forever.
The game came in the mail three weeks later. It came in a small yellow envelope with my name and address written on it but it had no return address on it.
"Weird." I thought as I went back inside the house.
I placed all the mail on the dining room table except my package, which i clutched to my chest with anticipation. I went up to my room, closed the door, and tore open the envelope. Inside it was a note taped to the game's case.
"Hello, Alex. Thank you for your purchase of Silver.EXE. We have a feeling that you will enjoy this game so much you will play it to the end. Or DIE trying." -Yuji Uekawa
I thought of the note as a bit disturbing, especially where he bolded the word "die" but it could just be the seller wishing me luck. I shrugged my shoulders, ruling it out as just that.
I put the disc into my PS3 and waited for it to read and load. Something wasn't right about this game I noticed. SEGA 666 appeared on the screen in red letters and usually the games just have SEGA. The start screen popped up. It looked just the start screen of Sonic 2006 only it was Silver instead of Sonic. He looked like he was ready for a fight, but then, I spotted a small glitch in the game. The sky in the background was red....blood red...and the grass was gray. The game which looked so beautiful at first now had a creepy atmosphere to it. What scared me the most was the monster that was Silver. His eyes were two black voids with glowing red dots in the middle of them. And they were oozing blood. He grinned at me, his teeth were blood covered and sharp like a shark's after a messy kill. But what really got my attention, were that the designs on his gloves and cuffs were not the usual teal but bright red.
I pressed start. The screen went black for about 10 seconds then the character select appeared. There was only one character in the slot. Blaze. I chose the character. There was a hideous laughter coming from the screen as the whole thing faded to black. The first level had the name RUN LITTLE ONE. Blaze stood in the middle of the screen. The background was a scene from Sonic Rush. Using the left joy stick on my controller, I moved Blaze along. There was no music playing. Just the sound of Blaze's foot steps going pitter patter on the ground. Just then, the screen began to static for about three seconds, and when it cleared, the ground was covered in blood. the grass was grey and the sky was red like the start menu.
Blaze looked scared out of her wits. She had tears in her eyes as I moved her through the level. This wasn't right. It seemed like Blaze actually was worried, as if she knew something horrific was about to happen but had no way of telling me what it was. It wasn't long before she found Silver. His back was turned towards the screen,and he seemed to be starring off into the distance. The screen turned to a cutscene. Blaze called to Silver but he did not respond. She crept closer calling his name, but still there was no response. With a worried look on her face, she put a hand on Silver's shoulder and turned him around. He stared at her with those empty black eyes and his mouth twisted upward into a sinister smile. And then, all went black........
IT'S NO USE was the second level. Blaze was terrified. I tried to make her run in the opposite direction of Silver, but she was caught. Surrounded by a red glow. Blaze struggled against Silver's psychokinetic powers, crying, knowing there was nothing she could do. Silver laughed evilly.
"It's no use." he said, "so why even try?" He began to pull the helpless Blaze towards him. Laughing, his eyes began to glow brighter and a red light outlined his white furred body. With a flick of his hand, Blaze's body began to be crushed and a sickening crunch could be heard coming from the speakers. The poor cat's body crunched then split apart as blood gushed from her body. After that, the screen faded to black as Blaze's scream blasted from the darkness for about five seconds. Then, everything went dead silent.
The words I AM NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH appeared on the screen in white letters before the character selection menu popped up again. I dropped my controller. It hit the floor with a thud inches from my feet. What the hell just happened? Why would Silver do this to his friend? What happened to the Silver that was so kind and naive? I stared at the TV screen just horrified. Blaze's story said 100% complete but I wasn't staring at that but the left overs of Blaze. Her eyes were black and bleeding. She was crying blood and her tail was missing. Her fur was a dark purple and here left arm was chopped and hanging by a thread of meat. Her jaw was ripped out of her skull and the wound bled heavily.
What Silver did to Blaze was terrible. I had to find a way to stop him and fast. I picked my controller off the floor and selected the second character in the slot. Amy. Surely she could stop Silver.
The chapter was I'M NOT SONIC. And the part that was super creepy was that the scene was from Sonic CD where Sonic saves Amy. Only it was covered with blood and corpses. I used the joystick to move Amy along. She showed only a little bit of fear, obviously not so sure how she should feel. Another cutscene came in and I was left just to watch. Amy examined the corpses as she walked, her fear growing as she passed each one. She eventually came upon one particular body and started crying. I began to do the same as the victim was Sonic. Silver stood with one boot on Sonic's lifeless body. He held in one hand the head of Sonic and was using it like a sadistic version of a sock puppet. He seemed to be enjoying watching Amy suffer.
Amy stared up at Silver, begging him to stop. Silver turned to look at her. He dropped Sonic's head, stepped closer to her and placed his hand on her forehead. There was another blood curdling scream but louder this time as Amy's head crunched and exploded. Blood gushed everywhere and once again, the screen faded to black.
The screen went back to the menu. Both Blaze and Amy's progress showed 100% yet they were in their dead state. Amy looked worse. Her fur was a disgusting pickle green and her eyes also gone black and bleeding, the hammer she would carry was stabbed through her chest, her head was stitched together like a jigsaw puzzle, and she was covered in blood.
Despite my emotions towards this game, I knew i had to finish it. I selected the last file. Mephiles and pressed start. The level was from Sonic 06 when Silver meets Mephiles for the first time. But this scene had flames in the background as well. I ventured foreward, controlling Mephiles to the best of my ability. The black hedgehog looked exhausted for some reason and decided to sit down on the ground. I was confused.
"ARE YOU NUTS?!" I shouted at the screen but Mephiles didn't hear me but instead looked right at me as if breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging my presence outside the game.
"TAKE THIS!" came a voice, and as expected, Mephiles was sent flying across the screen and connected with a wall. He fell to the ground in pain. The black hedgehog stared up at Silver but showed no fear for the white monster in front of him. Mephiles rose to his feet and tried to fight back, but was soon surrounded by a red glow. He couldn't move. In fact, it looked as if he couldn't even breath. Silver was suffocating him. He was going to take his life!
"You shouldn't have tricked me!" grumbled Silver.
The screen went black again and I could hear Mephiles scream from the darkness as Silver finally finished him off. The scream lasted for 8 seconds, then, silence. I waited. Waited for what might come next. If anything, The screen began to static and then return to normal. Silver's face appeared. His fur was covered in blood and a deranged smile was on his face.
"W-What do you want?" I stuttered. "Leave me alone!"
Silver's grin widened, stretching from ear to ear. Those red dots in his eyes grew brighter with insanity and bloodlust. He cocked his head to the side and pointed at me through the screen.
"You're Next............!"