The last thing you remember before being maimed brutally and having your soul forced into the disc you found was playing an odd game you found on your doorstep, called simply "SONIC.EXE". It had been scribbled on the disk in black marker.

You awaken now in a black void, tied by each limb with four red chains shackling you in place. In front of you was a hedgehog floating in place, seemingly busy and humming a slow lament to the void. It then turned around to look at you. Yes, it certainly resembled Sonic the Hedgehog, but its entire design went against the philosophy of the Sonic aesthetic. Whereas the blue blur had aerodynamic and smoothed out quills with pointy ends, this thing's quills were jagged and sharp in each edge, and its muzzle--more of an extremely humanistic jaw, fit with the crease of a chin--housed irregular, sharp yellowed teeth stained with blood, the space behind its teeth seemingly a black, neverending void. You swear something was swirling inside. The shoes it wore wasn't the hotrod red that Sonic the Hedgehog was known to wear--it was a dark black with a single white stripe going across each, with a bend in the middle that suggested it was more of an actual organic foot than shoes. Its eyes, entirely black, featured red pupils that only dilated smaller with delight at seeing you awake, painting an uncanny image of...interest. A very, very strong interest in you and your humanity.

"Oh, yes, yes, you're awake...very good, new friend, very good. You woke up just in time--I'm just about to give you a vessel to play in." A sudden hum comes from the void as the vessels of numerous Sonic characters floated in place, their appearances hollow and blank. Their eyes lacked pupils, only whites. Their designs seemed somewhat inconsistent, if not a bit frayed. It was obvious these weren't the actual character; This thing probably recreated them to the best of its ability, hence the inconsistencies. "Do you prefer Amy Rose? Maybe instead, I'll give you...Metal Sonic? Oh, how entertaining that'd be...you'd put up a good fight for me, won't you, new friend?"

The being turns back around, swiping through every vessel like a catalogue. "But do refrain from Tails, Knuckles, and Eggman. I'm afraid those three are already taken. Ohhh, perhaps I should give you the vessel of Sonic...? Yes, complete the original 'Classic Sonic' team that I've come to love..." It giggled. The noise bounces from the void to your ears like a slithering serpent. "But...you'd need a lot of respect from me to prove you deserve his skin. Let's see how much you impress me before we get to hasty, shall we?"