𝙄'𝙢 𝙎𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜...

      Oh, you can't even imagine how tired I am. There was one day when I was terribly tired of all this. Things were going well for me then. One day I fell ill and lay in bed for about three days until I recovered. Thank you at least that this time Eggman did not attack our village for long days and gave us all a rest, including me. However, although I recovered, I had almost nothing left. It is simply impossible to work in such conditions when you were previously sick and did not go to work for long days. After all, you need to go to work every day, walk a long time from home to work, sit there or work somewhere for hours, and then also walk a long time back home. This is really very hard work and that’s why I just gave up on it all when I got sick for three days. And although I managed to pay all the bills and taxes, during this time, while I was sick, I ran out of all my money, all my groceries, food and drink. I was already thinking that after I recovered, I would go to the store and buy more food, but no. I remembered that I had also run out of money. I was hoping for a salary, but they wouldn’t give me a salary because I didn’t go to work. They didn’t even give me time off, and waiting until I get old so I can do nothing and receive a pension every month, oh, how many more years will I have to wait. I don't even know what to do with this. At least go and entertain everyone with your stunts and acrobatics in order to somehow earn a little money by being an ape! But I don't want to embarrass myself like that. I don’t even know what to do with this. And the situation was actually not funny at all. And who should I ask for help? No one will just help me or give me money. Even Tails still has problems with his debts, and I’m generally afraid to go to Amy and ask her. What if she refuses me or spits on me, and then breaks off our friendship with her, thinking that I am friends with her only for the sake of money. Although in reality I am not at all like all these nasty capitalists who think only about themselves. No one will give me much money. I don’t even know what to do, at least turn to Chaos itself. One day, while I was going to work and my stomach was growling from hunger, I couldn’t even stand it and howled at the sky: — CHAOS, WHY DID YOU PUNISH ME SO FOR??? A??? WELL YOU HAVE PITY FOR ME!!! HELP ME AT LEAST SOMEONE IN HEAVEN!!! Without waiting for an answer and in despair, I moved on. God doesn't help anyone that easily. You have to earn everything yourself, as many people say. And so, while I walked on in despair, suddenly the sky became covered with clouds and it started to rain. At that moment, someone behind me said in a scary voice with echo effects: — Hey, you pathetic hedgehog! — I turned around and saw Mephiles himself. I recognized him immediately and said his name out loud: — Mephiles? — Yes, it's me. I heard that you were complaining to heaven that your life was bad and unfair? As soon as I heard your moans and pleas for help, I immediately ran to you. — he answered me and I was shocked that my eyes bulged out. — What? No, I don't believe you. You are a demon, and demons cannot be trusted. Get out of here! — Where? I can't just leave. You called me and I won’t leave so easily until you ask me for help. A debt of honor, let's say. — he explained to me, and I continued to resist: — Listen, I don’t have time to communicate with you. I have a lot of problems here. There is no money and there is a lot of work, and there is little food. Yes, and I didn’t call you on purpose, but by mistake. After all, when you shout to heaven, first of all you expect help from God. But he hasn't answered me yet. — That's it! And if God does not answer you and does not help you, then only a demon will always help you. That is, I! I can even help you just like that without your request. I know that you now live poorly and there is not even a roof over your head. It’s immediately clear that you will be lost without my help, but I will help you and this is not discussed. Just tell me just one word “I agree” and you will immediately get everything you want from me. In response, I waved my hand and turned my back to him, deciding to ignore him and move on. However, this persistent bastard did not lag behind me and followed on my heels. — What can you give me? You're just a demon. You can't do anything else except kill and destroy. Even create or repair. — Really? Did you see this? — he asked me and I rolled my eyes and turned to him. He took ordinary soil from the ground, pressed it in his hands and sucked some dark energy from his powers into it. When he opened his hand and showed what he had done, instead of dirty earth, he had a real rose in his hands, which also smelled deliciously with a pleasant aroma. Yes, her scent quickly reached my nose from afar. — Do you see? I'm not as evil or cruel as you and most of you think about me. — But how? — I was in such shock, and he puts this very rose in my hands, and then it suddenly turned into twenty banknotes, each of which was five thousand dollars. I almost lost the ability to speak. — How did you do this? You're a demon. — Let’s just say, ask all your questions to the screenwriter, who is probably the only one who loves and respects me. — that’s all he could answer me. And it seems to me that he broke the fourth wall, just as I am breaking it now. — Everything you need, money, house, food, water and everything, everything you crave so much now, you will get it all only with my help and very quickly, without any difficulty. Why should you break your back in vain and suffer, and also die of hunger. After all, think for yourself. This world is unfair to you. Not only will no one give you money, but they won’t even spare you your work. And all because of such a little thing as illness. I understand you perfectly, Sonic. Do you think that all over the world some people do not live in poverty and do not suffer in the same way as you, and then die of hunger. You're not the only one, Sonic. But what can you do when this world is ruled by egoists who think only about money and themselves? You can't fool human nature! — And you’ll really give it all to me? — I asked with suspicion, since I suspected in advance that something was wrong here. — Certainly. But of course not for free. I will give it all to you if you will give me your soul in return. — he answered me and I immediately realized what the catch was. — That is, you want to say that if I, for example, sign some piece of paper, even one that doesn’t actually solve anything, then my house, for example, will turn from a one-story homeless trash into a huge skyscraper made of precious stones and that’s it all? — That's right! — Mephiles answered and conjured a certain contract in front of me, which said that if I sign it, then I will receive everything and be satisfied, but in return I will sell my soul to Mephiles. Then he also conjures a ballpoint pen and hands it to me. — Here! Sign it! — No. — I immediately refused him. — Listen, just sign this stupid and useless contract. I don't have much time, you know? — I do not care! I absolutely don’t care about all these demonic things and conventions, and besides, I don’t trust you. So I will only answer you this way: Take your stupid pieces of paper and leave me in three letters! I can manage without your help. Mephiles immediately lowered his head and removed the contract. — Fine! I thought you'd be smart, Sonic. You don’t have long to live anyway, and you’ll immediately die of hunger, without even having time to earn enough to buy a hamburger. I just wanted to help you, but you refuse such a kind and generous offer. And so he turned away from me and began to leave. I also turned my back to him and walked on, trying not to pay attention to him. On the one hand, I knew that I did everything right, but on the other hand, I wondered what if he himself was right. I haven’t eaten or drunk for probably the second day, and my stomach hurts because I didn’t eat anything on time. I probably won't last another couple of hours. Realizing this with a heavy sigh, I still decided to agree to the condition. — WAIT!!! — I shouted to Mephiles and he turned to me. I sigh heavily again and speak. — I agree. — Wonderful! — he raised his lower eyelids in front of his eyes and ran up to me, handing me that same contract with a pen. — Sign here! Taking the pen in my hands, at first I did not dare to sign for a long time. I honestly thought that this was probably a bad idea and it would be better to refuse again. But I didn’t have long to live, and I still wanted to live. Moreover, in my short life I still haven’t managed to do so much. I’m also tired of suffering from the fact that my stomach growls from hunger and doesn’t even let me sleep at night. It’s still difficult for me to sign my name and surname. The contract and the pen immediately disappear, and the demon himself tells me: — Good boy, Sonic! I knew that you would come to your senses and make the right choice. However, I have to warn you about something! Of course, you will get everything you wanted, but... You signed not just a document, but a document of death. And therefore, if you suddenly, by accident or not by accident, die or simply die, then I will return your soul back to you. But at the same time, when you are resurrected after death, you yourself will become a demon. And you will remain a demon forever. — he explained to me, grinned evilly and disappeared from sight, as if he was not there at all. At that very moment the rain stopped pouring and the sky became sunny and blue again. It seems like nothing has changed. Because of my curiosity, I decided to first go back to my house for at least a minute and check. Is it true that everything will be as he promised me, or he deceived me and in fact I did not receive anything like that. But no. Mephiles was right. When I returned to my home, instead of my house there was a very tall skyscraper, built of concrete walls and decorated with diamonds and emeralds. I was in such shock that I even screamed in surprise. It was awesome that there are no words. When I went to my house, there was an elevator inside, and inside the elevator there were buttons. True, instead of numbers they had names, such as kitchen, bedroom, living room, toilet, bathroom and others. Apparently Mephiles slightly overdid it, making my house the largest, that he even divided each room in my house into floors, making them the largest at one time. Apparently for my own convenience. In general, I didn’t mind this and immediately went up to the floor with the kitchen. And there were full of refrigerators, and inside there was a lot of food, too many to list. And fried chicken, and rolls, and cakes, and chocolate and everything, everything, everything. And most importantly, it was all very tasty, without seeds and without other flaws. I felt like a handsome prince in a fairy tale who had finally found his promised happy ending in his life. The most important thing is that at least I won’t turn into a demon if I eat and bulk up too much. Although it may be better to become a demon from overeating than to become a pig or even a pig-demon. Half an hour later I was a little late for work, but for that I had eaten too much. Now I don’t need to go to work, because now I have a good house, a lot of food and money. I even think maybe I should invite all my friends over for the holiday and have fun with them in honor of this. And you can share the money with everyone. Maybe I’ll even take a bunch of money, go out into the street and give it to all the poor and homeless people to make their lives easier. I dreamed about it so much, just thinking about it and imagining all this in my head, that I went with a full belly to the balcony and decided to look around. The view from the very high floor was very beautiful. I was so carried away by the beauty of this view that I folded my hands in the steam room. However, due to the fact that I became fat, the railing could not support me, broke and I fell out of the balcony with a huge belly. — NO-O-O-O-O!!! — I screamed as I fell. But no one had time to come to the rescue and save me. I fell to the ground and... Died? Yes, he died. I literally hit the ground. And then, being in the dark, I heard the voice of Mephiles: — “If you suddenly, by accident or not by accident, die or just die, then I will give you your soul back. But at the same time, when you are resurrected after death, you yourself will become a demon. And you will remain a demon forever."

***

      Suddenly I opened my eyes and was reborn. Now it was as if I was controlled by another personality. I barely changed in appearance, but my eyes turned black and my pupils began to glow red. With those eyes, I looked more like Metal Sonic. True, all living flesh and blood. I even had real blood flowing instead of tears from under my eyes, and instead of normal teeth I had sharp fangs. I really became a demon, just as Mephiles warned me. Tails ran up to me first. — Sonic, are you okay? — he asked me. Apparently he saw that I fell from a high roof and killed myself on the ground, but by some miracle I survived. However, when he saw my creepy eyes, he bulged his eyes and ran away screaming. I, without controlling myself, ran after him and wanted to kill him. Horrible. Even I myself would never have thought of this, but since I became a demon, I couldn’t control myself and for some reason I really wanted to kill my best friend. I had almost caught up with Tails and grabbed him when I suddenly heard a familiar voice: — STOP, SONIC!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? — I stopped and turned towards the voice. It was Amy herself who screamed at me. When she saw me, she was also scared, but she just gasped and stood still. Apparently she wasn't as scared of me as Tails. — What's wrong with you, Sonic? — Isn't it visible? I became a demon. — I answered her immediately in a scary and distorted voice. — Became a demon? This is not good! — she answered me a little scared. — Who are you anyway? — How? Do you not remember me? I'm Amy Rose, your best friend who loves to hug and kiss you. Didn't you find out? — I don't care who you are. I don’t love anyone and I would rather destroy everything here and kill you all. — Why are you so angry and rude? Don't be like that! Do you want me to calm you down a little with my hug? — she immediately offered me her help. If only I could, I would scream at her to do it. However, my other personality made me shout: — NO!!! I DO NOT CARE!!! I DO NOT NEED THIS!!! I AM EVIL NOW!!! ABSOLUTE EVIL!!! AND BY THE WAY, I WILL LET'S START WITH YOU!!! By luck, she was still not afraid of me. She just ran up to me and hugged me, closing her eyes in one. — Quiet, Sonic! Just hug me and everything will be fine! — LET ME GO!!! I WILL NOT HUG!!! — I also screamed demonically, but suddenly the other one stopped resisting and, feeling that Amy’s hugs were very warm and pleasant, I also hugged her back. By the way, this is even for the better, because this is what I really wanted to kill her. Although the real me would never want this. The hugs were so beautiful that I even cried blood instead of tears. Suddenly, I clenched my teeth and my head started to hurt. Instead of blood, I now began to cry with real tears, and my eyes and teeth became normal again. I immediately came to my senses and took control of myself again: — Oh, my head! Amy? — Yes, Sonic. It's me. — she answered me and let me go. I didn't even have to break free. — How are you feeling, Sonic? You became a demon, but my love and hug saved you and made you the same. — I know. I saw everything myself, I even tried to resist, but the demon’s personality was stronger than me and forced me to almost kill you. It’s good that you thought of hugging me in time and survived. — Yes, I'm glad you're your old self again. But how did this happen? Why did you become a demon? — she asked me, and I explained everything to her, what happened from the very beginning, when I met Mephiles until when I accidentally fell and died, and then was reborn as a demon. — Horrible! But don't worry, Sonic. I'm very kind. I know that all such evil, bad and cruel actions are always treated with kindness, love and positivity. And since I am always very kind to you and love you, I saved you from this curse. You don't have to worry about it. — Yes, Amy. Thank you so much! — I thanked her and hugged her again myself. Even Tails, having calmed down a little, returned and also hugged with us, having learned that now everything was okay with me. How glad I was that this whole nightmare ended so quickly and I became the same again. Fortunately, after this my soul returned to me and I will no longer become a demon, but it’s better to try to forget about Mephiles! Except that the same skyscraper still remains despite the conventions. So I still did what I planned. I had a party at night and invited many friends. We had fun, danced and walked until the morning. I gave away too much money to poor and homeless people, thereby helping them. It was not real life, but a real fairy tale. True, he did not live long. Eggman was just about to attack us one day and accidentally crashed into him, after which he fell apart and fell. But I did not lose heart. I still had some food and money left. Therefore, I sold and removed all that destroyed trash, and with the remaining money I built myself a new house, exactly the same as it was before. Now I will appreciate my old house, which for some reason I hated and called homeless. I hope this story will serve as a lesson for you too, kids. Never rely on the help of all sorts of Gods, demons and Devils! You always have to achieve everything yourself. You must definitely do all your business yourself, earn an honest living yourself, not be lazy, and then everything will probably be fine. I’m telling you this, as probably the first hardworking hedgehog, giving you useful advice. I hope that my life story will serve as a lesson to you. I learned this lesson a long time ago and from now on I will try to never get into such an ass again. And I will never sell my soul to anyone again, and even more so I will never enter into any contracts with anyone until I have thoroughly read them and their terms and conditions, otherwise I will suddenly lose something again, just as I almost lost my personality forever.