E Knuckles — Sonic 3. Exe

"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.

Knuckles crossed his arms, a small smirk tugging at his mouth. "You had a bug in your system, Sonic. I just handled the debugging." Sonic 3. EXE e Knuckles

Sonic looked at his hands, then at the peaceful glow of the cave. "Remind me to never let a weird VHS tape into the Genesis again."

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. "You’re not the blue blur I know," Knuckles

Sonic.EXE let out a static-filled screech and vanished into a blur of black smoke. He reappeared instantly above Knuckles, diving down in a spindash that crackled with red electricity. Knuckles braced himself, his feet digging deep trenches into the sand. He caught the spinning nightmare with his bare hands, the friction smelling like ozone and burnt rubber.

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. Knuckles crossed his arms, a small smirk tugging

"Too slow," the glitch hissed, his voice echoing from everywhere at once.