This little gem comes from yours truly...
The Jackson Residence - 8:21am
Suicide. At least, it should have been, thought Detective Norris as he stared numbly at the young man's body, swaying gently in the air-conditioned room. The late Richard Jackson had been home with his family the entire evening, going up to play video games in his room at nine. His parents had been there the entire night, and the quaint suburban home had been locked up tighter then a Scotsman's piggybank. Christ. Someone would've heard if the goddamn kid was being murdered.
"Kids," mumbled Lieutenant Michaels, "one day they're playing baseball, next they're hanging themselves. I blame rap music and video games."
"So you think Jackson killed himself?" mumbled Norris, gazing intently at the corpse.
"Well yeah," stuttered Michaels, suspecting that he had just missed something rather obvious. "I mean, the kid's mom said he went upstairs to play his games. Next morning he was hanging from the ceiling fan by a controller. He even left a note." The officer motioned to a crumpled yellow post-it pad that read "I can't feel the sunshine."
"Then how do you explain his eyes, Michaels," interjected the detective, nodding toward the blue head, lolling above the makeshift noose. Gold coins sparkled in its eye sockets. "Are you saying that a suicidal boy calmly jammed two coins into his own eyes before doing the hanging himself?"
"No, sir…" squeeked Michaels as he backed away from the detective.
All the pieces fit for this to be a suicide, save for those strange coins. Norris had heard of some cultures placing money over the eyes of the deceased as a payment for whatever reaper they believed in, but the man seriously doubted a young American kid would have bought into that kind of hoodoo. A quick search of Richard's room turned up no signs of occult interests. But then, what were those coins?
The detective reached up and carefully removed the golden discs. The eyes behind them were the full of broken blood vessels. They resembled crimson rubies, thanks to the nooses' serpentine grip.
Hold on, thought Norris. They weren't coins at all, but tokens.
Tokens bearing the face of some cartoon animal.
****
Dunkin Donuts - 10:00 am.
Norris sat alone in the local coffee shop, staring at rubbings of the tokens, savoring the brief relief of a cup of joe. He had questioned Jackson's grieving mother about the golden trinkets, but she swore that she had no idea where her late son had found them. Maybe they were arcade tokens or something. Obviously the kid liked video games. Hell, one was still running in his room when his lifeless body was found. The game system was now in an evidence locker with the mysterious coins.
"Mom!"
Norris peered up to see a little boy being dragged by his mother across the coffee shop. The boy was clutching a Game Boy or something, and he was staring wide-eyed at the rubbings on the table.
"Mom! That man has pictures of Sonic," gibbered the child excitedly.
Norris glanced down at mascots that had embossed the tokens. "You know this character?"
"Sure! It's Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing alive," the boy ranted enthusiastically, before his mother, wary of strangers, dragged him away. Sonic the Hedgehog? What the hell is that? Some kinda cartoon?
Norris took a swig of coffee and nearly choked. There was something in his drink. He spat out the bitter beverage and was horrified by what he saw.
Another Token.
***
The Police Station - 1:00 pm
Detective Norris sat in his cramped office fingering the mysterious token. No one at the coffee shop had admitted to putting it in his drink, and the beverage had never left his hands since he purchased the damn thing. This case was getting pretty queer, and Norris was sure the tokens were the key.
Sighing, he reached out to his desktop, and googled the words "Sonic the Hedgehog." The internet was lousy with entries. Apparently "Sonic" was some kind of videogame character. "Figures," mumbled Norris, as the smirking, spikey visage of a blue hedgehog appeared onscreen. It was the same as the ones on the tokens. Obviously, Richard was a video-game junky, but the question remained, where did the poor kid find the tokens? "Hopefully not in his coffee," chuckled Norris grimly.
He entered the words "Sonic the Hedgehog Tokens" into the search engines. After a brief pause, the results came back.
"Sonic R…."
*Vrrrrr*
*Clink*
The computer's CD drive slid open, revealing yet another token.
***
The Jackson Residence - 5:00pm
He was back at the scene of the crime. The boy's body had been taken to the morgue, but the room still radiated the chill of death. Richard's mother didn't understand why the detective was back, but she trusted that he had his reasons.
Little did she suspect, Norris wasn't really sure either.
After considerable research, the detective had discovered that the tokens were part of an old video game, called "Sonic R." It apparently wasn't a very good game - hell, some asinine website called it "cursed" - but it was a game none the less. The odd thing was that there was no mention on any site of the tokens being actual objects. They were supposed be part of the game. Still, Norris had a hunch, and his hunches were usually right, so he decided to check back with the Jacksons.
And there it was. Wedged with several other games on a dusty bookshelf, was a copy of "Sonic R." As Norris reached for it, the setting sun cast swaying shadow across the room. For a moment it looked as if the boy's corpse had returned, but it was simply a cruel trick of the light.
He picked up the game, and opened it's slightly sticky jewel case. Inside, a shiny disk glinted back at him.
Son of a Bitch! The CD was gone.
It was another token.
That made five in all.
The lights went out, leaving Norris in the comparative gloom of the dusk. He called to Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, but there was no answer. They were probably in the basement, looking for the circuit breaker.
*CLICK*
In the shadows near the bed, a small TV/VCR combo in the corner flickered to life. A distorted fanfare warbled out of the tinny speakers, and the words "PREPARE FOR CHALLENGER" faded onscreen. Bathed in the ambient blue light of the screen, Norris cautiously stepped toward the television. Being a cop, he was not easily spooked, but this was getting kind of eerie.
*CLICK*
The TV was off, once more.
The hairs on the back of Norris' neck began to rise defensively. The temperature seemed to drop, and a red glow enveloped the room. The very air itself stank of death, and all Norris could hear was the oppressive buzzing of flies.
Something very soft, and slightly fuzzy brushed up against his hand.
Detective Norris looked down and did something he had yet to do in his thirty years on the force.
He screamed.
***
The Jackson Residence - 6:00pm
When the detective hadn't come down in nearly a half an hour, Mrs. Richardson climbed the stairs to her late son's room to investigate. She hadn't heard a peep from the man since his sudden arrival.
She put her ear to the door.
*Thump*
*Thump*
*Thump*
"Detective Norris?" she inquired through the closed door.
*Thump*
She carefully opened the door and peered inside. To her horror, Detective Norris's body was hanging from the ceiling fan by his own necktie, his lifeless body bumping idly against the wall.
*Thump*
Two gold tokens had been jammed into his eye sockets.
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This creepy catch is from Dooblegem....
TD they called me. Maybe that's why I had this fate...
I played "Sonic R," all the way to the character.... The Tails Doll....
When I got the character, it seemed harmless enough... My friend was with me, pointed out how my nick-name 'The Dragon' had the same initials as 'Tails Doll'. Two dreaded initials I mentioned before, TD...
We laughed about it, laughed about me being the Tails Doll.
That night I lay in my bed, my eyes wide open... I didn't feel right, as If something was in me that didn't belong... I heard a creak on the floor-boards and turned too see a small figure, that reminded me of Tails, hovering towards me. The Tails Doll.
It raised a knife, held within it's bloody paws. I got ready too scream at the pain, yet it never came. The knife went in and I felt nothing.... The Doll pulled the knife out and started to pull oven my leg at the cut. All I saw was white in there.
White stuffing.
A voice resonated in my head. "You'll need stitches on that."
When I woke up in the morning, my sides had massive stitchings down them....
The letters 'TD' were written on a toy maker's label coming from my leg....
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"Sonic Lover" tells us a tragic tale with a big body count...
Back when Sonic R had just come out, I worked at a video game store in Idaho.
A shipment of 50 Sonic R games came in. Not knowing what the consequences would be, I put them on display in the store. They were all sold in a week or so. I kept a list of the customers who'd bought the game on a clipboard.
About a month later, the police entered my store and questioned me. It appears that there had been about fifty murders that week, and the victims had all been found in the same condition: in front of their Sega Saturns, which were always on with Sonic R in them.
The police found my clipboard of Sonic R buyers, and someone mentioned that the list looked kind of familiar. They compared it with the list of people who'd been murdered.
It was a perfect match.
I was immediately taken into custody. Luckily, though, I was released, since nobody could find any evidence other than the lists to connect me to the deaths.
I have since found out about the Tails Doll curse, and I wish I could have gone back in time and stopped myself from putting those stupid Sonic R games on display. Well, it's too late now.
To the families and friends of the fifty victims ... I give you my deepest apologies.
-Ray Mariaki
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This close call is comes compliments of Berserkedrage...
I was reading around your site and noticed the Tails Doll stories, which I though were nothing more than fake superstitions and just humor when I first read it...
How wrong was I...
I didn't think much of it because you mentioned that the Gems collection version was safe, that is until I read the most recent story mentioning that the Tails Doll had found a loophole via getting Super Sonic's Emerald-infused energy in "Tag 4 Characters" mode and using that energy to break the seal. Having just finished Sonic CD with all the Time Stones acquired successfully, I was in the mood to play some Sonic R, and was hovering around my usual character selections when I noticed the Tails Doll and though to myself "Hmmm...I think I'll go and play with Tails Doll and try and catch Super Sonic" (It might have been TD itself trying to get me to help him escape)
So anyway I start and make my way to tagging the other 3, getting them out of the way. Then I started chasing around Super Sonic, whom I thought was doing a really damn good job at not getting tagged (more than usual at least).
Eventually, SS slips up and I manage to touch him...
Nothing happened...in my mind I was thinking "I knew it was nothing really" and went to turn off my GameCube, then went for the TV but I stopped before hitting the power button on the screen...
Sonic R was still on the screen...
Then I started hearing softly, but distinctly, "Can you feel the sunshine"...
Then the screen flickered black and I saw it...the gem...the eyes...
"What have I unleashed?" I though, then I heard in my mind "You though I was a fairy tale, mortal? No matter, for you will have the great honor in being one of my victims"
While I was hearing this I was singing (weakly) "Super Sonic Racing" for some weird reason...
Tails Doll slowly hovered closer and closer...but then suddenly there was a bright flash from nowhere -- it was so bright I had to shield my eyes.
When I was able to look again, Tails Doll was nowhere in sight...
I though that I somehow survived, somehow lucked out, but wondered how...the answer showed up on my TV a few seconds later...
It displayed "YOU MADE A GOOD FUTURE" and all of the Time Stones, while playing the music for finishing a level in Sonic CD. It disappeared once the music ended...
I turned my GameCube back on and looked around the settings, and I noticed that the clock was wrong by about 20-30 minutes, more or less, the same time I had started playing. I then realized what had happened when that bright flash appeared...
The Time Stones from Sonic CD turned back time!
I think that both Sega and Miyamoto must had included it as a fail safe for if the Tails Doll broke the seal -- seeing that they already know the Tails Doll is a sinister foe.
So it's important that everyone knows that the Time Stones can contain TD, but you must have gotten them in Sonic CD, and I don't exactly know how they were activated (Perhaps it was singing "Super Sonic Racing"?, I'm not gutsy enough to tempt fate again...)
Still, I just hope that TD doesn't find another loophole somehow...
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Novkris sends us these ominous glitchs, bitches....
The Tails Doll manifests itself in different manners; I have yet to see it in the real world…but it mocks me in the cyber one…
I beat Sonic R on my computer and was racing for fun on Regal Ruins as Super Sonic. I enjoyed bumping into Metal Knuckles to knock him off the road and make him come in last. In the 7th race I just let Metal Knuckles be and raced normally. I finished first…or so I thought! At the last second the order of players started messing up and as I crossed the finish line second…
"What?!" I thought, expecting Metal Knuckles to have outsmarted me. But no -- Tails Doll was first. The order was as follows:
Metal Knuckles 5th
Metal Sonic 4th
Egg Robo 3rd
Super Sonic 2nd
Tails Doll 1st
On the victory screen the Tails Doll stared directly at me. I was more pissed then scared and exited the game in a hurry to cool off.
The next day, I enjoyed a game of tag as Super Sonic in Radical City with my friend over. I tagged Metal Knuckles in the first 10 seconds, Metal Sonic shortly after and Egg-Robo easily. I only had to find the Tails Doll. The map showed him located in the ricocheting area where one of the coin is right before the slot machine thing. I looked for him for hours…
Later I finally found him…floating there…outside the track, in the grayness of Radical City…it was staring right at me, floating there, motionless. That image always haunts me…
I never play tag in Radical City anymore…
This is entirely true -- all glitches in the game revolve somehow around the Tails Doll…don't be surprised if next time you are on Radical City the Tails Doll is missing…if you are alone…don't scream…it can taste fear…
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Metalvirus 9000 bravely shares with us this tragic tale...
Tails doll. The curse that would haunt me the rest of my life.
I thought that the myth was just a fake and funny way to amuse people. I was wrong. I had gotten Sonic Gems for my birthday. It was a blast. I played through Sonic CD, and beat Sonic the Fighters more times than I could remember.There was only Sonic R left. I eventually got 100% on that too.
The next day, I had got 3 of my friends to come over and play Sonic R with me. We had matches in every stage. I had noticed that one of my friends used Tails doll the whole time. I warned him about the curse. He just laughed.
That was the last time he ever laughed.
He wanted to do a 4-way tag match to prove that the curse was fake. I said sure. I choose Metal Sonic, and my friends chose Tails, Super Sonic, and he chose the Tails doll. The chase began. Tails doll eventually got me, and my 2 other friends. Super Sonic was the only one left. He evaded him for a while, and slipped up and got tagged.
My friend's face started to shrivel up!
He fell down, dead. The TV turned black. Can you feel the Sunshine was playing. Suddenly, the TV buzzed on and "A new challenger" appeared. I passed out. When I woke up, my house looked like a doll house. I searched for my friends. I found them. They were in my room. They were all dolls. I screamed, and felt something soft hit my leg. I looked down.
The Tails doll was staring right at me.
He jumped up, and flew inside of me. I passed out again. When I woke up, I was in my bed, and was holding something. I was holding my friends. They were still dolls. My mom came in. I told her all about it. She said that I had no friends with those names.
I started to cry.
It has been a week since that day. My friends that were turned into dolls are now inside a glass case. The Tails doll is inside of me. I warn you, if you don't want your life to be a nightmare, than PLEASE dont use Tails doll.
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PuppyLuver warns us that evil does not discriminate...
The story I must tell shows just how far the Tails Doll curse can go. I have never played Sonic R in my life(seeing as I didn't get into it until Sonic Adventure 2 came out on Gamecube) and yet IT has tried to get me. This is my story.
I was working on a comic series based on homestarrunner.com and had no ideas for the first story arc. While 'net surfing, I happened to come across your Shadow thingy (I looooooove Shadow) and I poked around on it. The Sonic R curse was what inspired me. It had given me nightmares the first time I saw it. That's when I knew that the first story arc in "Homestar & Friends" would be scary. Very, very scary.
It was quite simple: Homestar buys cursed game and doll, Homestar plays game, Tails Doll possesses Homestar, Tails Doll(as Homestar) tries to kill everybody, Homestar's sister defeats Tails Doll, end of story arc. I started working on it immediately.
I never put any pages of it on deviantART because of what almost happened to me. I was listening to a Heywood Banks CD at the time. The song that was supposed to come next never came. Instead, it was a song I had never heard before.
"Can you feel the sunshine? Does it brighten up your day?"
I thought my CD player was just messing up (it was at least 5 years old) when I recognized the lyrics to the song.
It was the song all victims of the Tails Doll heard.
I turned around to see the fuzzy monstrosity. It had a wire and a fillet knife in its hands. And it came at me, yelling something like "Shumpy". That's when I passed out.
I woke up a few hours later with a gash on my right leg and a wire wrapped around my hand. I tried to tell my parents what happened, but they thought it was just to get attention. To this day, I've still yet to convinced them.
I'm telling you this to warn you, you don't have to play Sonic R to be a target. Don't draw pictures with the Tails Doll in them, don't write fan-fiction with the Tails Doll in them, even if it's just an obscure reference. Because if you do, IT WILL GET YOU.
Now that you've heard my story, I have one question for you:
Can you feel the sunshine?