Sonic wasn't himself. His fur was darker, his eyes glowing with a jagged red light that leaked like spilled ink. He was , a glitch in the code that had grown teeth.

"You’re not the blue blur I know," Knuckles grunted, slamming his massive fists together. "You look like a bad firmware update."

Knuckles punched downward, driving the EXE entity straight through the floor of the jungle into the hidden caverns below. They tumbled into the , where the Master Emerald sat pulsing with a steady, calming green light.

The digital mist cleared, revealing a version of Angel Island that shouldn't exist. The colorful jungle had turned a bruised purple, and the music—usually a triumphant beat—was a slowed, distorted heartbeat.

Standing in his way was . He didn't care about glitches or "creepy-pastas." He only cared about the Master Emerald.

As Sonic.EXE touched the gem, a wave of pure chaos energy washed over him. The red eyes flickered and died. The jagged teeth smoothed out. The dark fur faded back to a familiar, bright cobalt blue.

Knuckles crossed his arms, a small smirk tugging at his mouth. "You had a bug in your system, Sonic. I just handled the debugging."

Knuckles didn't let up. He used his strength to shatter the illusions EXE was trying to build, punching through ghost-walls and fake traps. With one final, massive upper-cut, he launched the glitch toward the Great Emerald. "Access denied," Knuckles muttered.