FicWad

To pass the time, Manic decided to work in the commissary and take a few classes to get his GED.



He wasn't thrilled with working with Dingo, but the mutant didn't seem to have any hard feelings toward him.



For the first few weeks, Dingo didn't even seem to recognize Manic, in spite of trying to capture the royal siblings for over a year.



Manic didn't bother to tell Dingo who he was and simply tried to be civil as they did their jobs.



Dingo glanced at Manic. "Oh, I remember you."



"Took you long enough." Manic thought.



"How'd they catch you?" Dingo asked. "Did they make more Sonic tonic?"



Manic stopped stocking the shelf. "I'm Manic, Sonic's the blue one." He replied. "I guess I'm the easiest one to catch. You and Sleet caught me several times."



"Oh." Dingo said, setting a box beside Manic. "Well, how's Sonia? Is she single?"



"I hate to break it to you, but she's married to Knuckles now." Manic replied.



"That high society jerk?" Dingo asked.



"No, a different guy." Manic replied.



Manic didn't want to remind Dingo of who Knuckles is just in case the mutant somehow got out of prison and tried to go after the Chaos emerald or emeralds.



He wasn't sure how many Chaos emeralds there were, but assumed there were three. He was certain that the power stone in Mobodoon was a big Chaos emerald as well, but he never asked Knuckles to confirm his theory.





"No hard feelings, mate, it was just a job to us." Dingo said finally. He handed a box to Manic. "Sleet thought it would be a good idea to get on Robotnik's good side."





Manic set the box under a counter. "He never had a good side."



Dingo nodded. "We found that out the hard way." He replied. "It was either continue working for him or face the roboticizer. You've seen it before, right?"



"I've been put in one at least once, faced it… a couple of times, at least." Manic said, counting it off on his fingers. "I've lost count. Anyway, you could've defected. The resistance would've loved to have had the info you and Sleet had."



"I never thought of that." Dingo replied.



Manic shrugged. "Don't feel bad. I've done some stupid stuff myself." He said. "You're better off not asking."



Dingo continued on with his work, to Manic's relief.



He didn't want to explain any of his dumbest moments to anyone, let alone Dingo.
***
Manic shuffled back to his cell after work.



Bartleby was on the other end of the hall, heading toward Manic's direction.



"Aw, crud." Manic mumbled. He knew Bartleby was in prison for some kind of insurance scam, but he was hoping he wouldn't ever bump into him.



Bartleby looked away as he passed Manic, as if he was too ashamed to look in the hedgehog's direction.



He smirked as Bartleby quietly passed by.



He would've made a snide remark, but decided not to. Mostly because he didn't want anyone to twist his words against him.
**
About five months into his prison stay and Manic hadn't had any problems with any of the inmates.



Apparently, some of the inmates at least knew Farrell or worked for him, so they left Manic alone due to his association with one of the top gangs. Mostly because they were too afraid of a brutal payback.



Manic strolled around the yard, the only time he could get any sort of fresh air.



"Hedgehog!"



Manic flinched and turned around. "Speak of the devil…."



There was Sleet and he looked none too pleased with the hedgehog.



"Back off, Sleet, the war's over." Manic said, raising his spines. "It's not my fault you sided with Robotnik."



"No, but it's your fault I'm here." Sleet replied.



Manic realized Sleet had nothing to lose, given the fact he had a life sentence, and prepared himself for a fight.



Sleet rushed over to Manic.



Suddenly a bunch of other Mobians (mostly bug-like ones except a Mobian rabbit and tenrec) stepped in front of Manic.



"That's one of Farrell's boys." One of the Mobians said. "If you know what's good for you, you'll back off."



Manic eased away before anything could happen and he got dragged into it.
**
Manic had been keeping himself pretty busy over the course of the year.

He got his GED, was taking some college classes, and was still working in the commissary. Sleet left him alone for food after getting his tail handed to him by a bunch of other inmates.

He would be released next month for good behavior and he was anxiously waiting for the day he would leave his cell for good.



Manic sat on his cell, eating ramen noodles he had made with some hot water from his thermos.



Manic hated ramen noodles, but it was certainly better than any of the standard prison food.



"Ugh." Manic muttered. "I kinda see why Dingo would trade with me for these."