(Prologue - Sonic’s P.O.V)

I ran and ran and ran. Away from this monster. He killed everyone I know and loved. He killed the innocents. Ripped them apart limb by limb and ate them in front of the still living victims. And I was forced to watch every single second of his madness. I couldn’t see clearly anymore as the tears were swelling up in my eyes trying to escape but I wouldn’t let them. I had to stay strong. For my friends. For everyone. I didn’t want to be here, playing this game of survival with the demon. I should’ve never came here. I should’ve ripped that letter to shreds while I still had the chance.

Their voices keep repeating over and over in my head. “It’s all your fault Sonic!” “Because of you, we have to die!” “I thought you cared about us! Are we worth nothing to you?!” “I hate you, and I hope you burn in hell!” I couldn’t do anything. How do I begin to tell them I was screaming my heart out, begging him to spare their lives and take mine instead. They couldn’t hear me. My mouth was covered in a rag that heavily reeked of blood and guts. I was tied in a chain and a rope against a chair. I watched them die. They all blame it on me. And… They were right. It is all my fault. I couldn’t save them. And I could’ve spared their lives.

I could’ve saved them all.

Taking a right turn at a fork in this weird maze of a castle, I was met face to face with a purple brick wall, almost ran head first into it too. It was getting harder and harder for me to breathe. I’ve been running for what seemed like days. I can’t stop either, or he’ll find me, which is what I tried to do when I headed back in the direction I came from but Sonic.exe was already there, standing in the end of the hallway, disappearing and reappearing in a black smoke until he was a little too into my personal space. Before I could even open my mouth, he had me pinned against the wall around my neck, choking me.

“Just as I thought, you’re too slow.” He had a wicked grin on his muzzle, too wide and too long to be considered normal. “Any last words, mortal?”

I couldn’t answer him, as I was struggling to breathe through his extremely tight grip. Even with the ability to speak once more I wouldn’t know what to say. This demon managed to make me go insane. He destroyed what hope I had left of getting out of here. He crushed my dreams, chewed them up and spat them out back at me. I felt empty inside. There wasn’t anything worth living up to anymore. Yet I still fought. I grabbed Exe’s hands, making a feeble attempt to loosen his grip. I didn’t want to die, not like this, at least.

“Look at you, the Hero of Mobius. Can’t even save yourself from this fate. Just earlier you were so confident in defeating me and the tables have turned in my favor. Am I too strong for you, or are you just a pathetic little weakling?” Those words stung me. Just a pathetic little weakling. I growled and put my feet against the wall since he was holding me up, and I used the wall as a leverage to push him away from me and my neck. It worked, for about five seconds.

“I don’t care what you say! I’m not giving up!” I shouted as Exe once again held me in the same position, except way tighter.

“Remember the deal? If you win, I’d let you go. But since I caught you, you have to suffer your inevitable fate.”

“Inevitable? So you LIED?!”

“No. You lied to yourself. You can’t escape my wrath. There is no hope for you. No one is going to save you. But I will admit, playing with you was way more interesting than the many other souls. Will I miss you? A little.” Growling, the demon shook his head, maybe having regretted saying the last bit. “Now it’s time for you to die.” He strangely loosened his grip, enough for me to catch my breath once more. Was this his way of showing mercy?...

“I hope you never get to see the light of day ever again.” That was the last thing I ever said to him. He raised his other hand, his fingers as sharp as they ever would be, and brought them down on my stomach, cutting into it pretty deep. Then he shoved his hand into the fresh wound, grabbed my heart and ripped it out, and held it up to where I can see it. He let me go by that point, I laid on the tiled floor, twitching with what little energy I had left.

Then everything went black.

(Yep. Remade the prologue.)