manic meets maria

 11/22/22 manic meets maria

"Can you teach me?" The blue eyes sparkled in excitement.

Manic felt taken aback. Most people hated that Manic was a thief. He practically got booted out of Knothole for it. But here was a bubbly blond hedgehog asking to learn how to steal. Manic scrunched up his face to try to see a lie in her. "Why?"

The girl giggled as she took a step back. She did have a bad habit of coming on too strong. "Robuttnik is hoarding a lot of food, medical supplies, and materials. If I can learn how to do what you do, I can get stuff we need from him. Like pickpocketing from his lackies for keys and such."

Manic nodded. Robotnik sucked end and made most places suck. She seemed so very eager. "You know people… don't like thieves. Even if you bring them materials they need, they'll… be mean. " He tried to choose nice words. 

She deflated as her ears laid flat. She picked at her fingers, thinking it over. She clasped her hands together as she looked up at him with a determined look. "I can handle it. I want to learn!"

Manic couldn't help but laugh. "You're an odd one." She gave a big toothy grin that Manic wouldn't mind seeing again. "Okay, we'll start with the basics and work up to field runs."

She bounced with joy. Happy squeals. She moved forward to hug him before pulling herself back. "Sorry, I hug lots." The have a nervous chuckle. "Oh, I need to repay you. I can cook a bit. I'm very handy so I can fix some broken machines."

Manic held up his hand as he laughed, "I'm good. We'll need to find a safe place to practice though. Since I'm not from here, do you have any suggestions?"

She nodded. "My home is well hidden from Ivo. We can practice there if you don't mind."

Manic shifted on his heels. "Sounds nice but it's bad to be too trusting. People could take advantage of you." He slipped into a protective brother mode.

She tilted her head. "You don't seem like a bad dangerous person to me." She looked up into a nearby tree. "And Rosie would have voiced something if she thought so too "

"Rosie," Manic scanned the tree looking for another person but finding no one.

A giggle behind him made him jump, but turning and seeing no one. Soon a pink hedgehog appeared as she grabbed Manic to steady him. "Sorry," she giggled. Her emerald green eyes were glowing. "I only wanted to play."

"You can turn invisible?" Manic let out in awe. "How?"

The young girl giggled as she let go of his hand and ran to hold onto the blonde hedgehog. 

The blonde ruffled the pink one's quills. "Chaos energy. It's in all living things. Some people can access it in amazing ways. Rosie here is one of the natural talents. Turning invisible for small bursts is one of them."

Manic nodded. "What about you? Can you use chaos energy?"

She gave nervous laugh, "I can, but I need a lot more training. And mine is a lot different than Rosie."

"Different how?" Manic mused. 

"Well chaos energy is very unique for each person who can access it." Sure beamed, excited to share knowledge.

"Maria thinks Sonik-kun can run fast due to chaos energy." Rosie beamed.

"I don't think," Maria looked offended. "I know. Nothing other than a strong affinity to chaos energy explains it."

Manic bit his lip at hearing his brother's name. If he was able to run fast due to using chaos energy naturally. He pondered what else he could do? Would he be arrogant about it? Sonic already had a big ego. 

Manic drove how RV following Maria's direction. Maria held Rosie in her lap as she gave directions. Manic was impressed but the tech jammers she had around her home to keep robuttnik out of it. It was high tech but blended seamlessly into nature. 

"Where'd you get the tech?" Manic mused.

"I scavenged it and put it together." Maria smiled shyly. She opened the door and let Rosie jumped down. "Be careful," she softly scolded as she carefully climbed out of the RV. 

Manic chuckled. "You're an over protective sister."

Maria froze at that. She fiddled with her fingers. "Do I seem like a good sister?"

Manic felt bad at hiking about something she was insecure about. "You're a great big sister."

Manic waved his hand gesturing to the kid happily watering plants. "I mean look at how much your sister likes you."

Maria looked guilty. "Amelia isn't my sister. She's a family friend's kid." She continued to pick at her fingers.

Manic shifted on his feet. He didn't do awkward silence well. "Well, blood isn't the only way to be family." Manic assured her. 

Maria nodded as she yelled up at that. 

"Maria and I will be sisters!" Rosie boldly announced as she watered some lavender. 

“See?” Manic chuckled. “Though ‘will be’ is a weird wording.” Manic thought to himself. 

Maria chuckled at Amy’s outburst. “How does my Miss Amy Rose know this will be?”

“I saw it!” she beamed proudly. “My cards are 100% accurate!”

“Oh? Are you a fortune teller?” Manic mused.

“Yes! I can tell Manic’s future with my cards.” 

Manic smiled as he gave a bow. “I would be honored.”