The cell mates here aren't what you'd call "kid-friendly".

A lot of them arrested for petty crimes such as shoplifting and mugging are a common breed for us. Murderers, and other more high-profile criminals run the inner workings of the jail planet while under the guise that the wardens here actually have any control over their prisoners.

What makes this increasingly difficult for the wardens is that since recently an outbreak on planet Obarion, the mental ward planet, the clinically insane have been moved here for their protection.

I am however friends with one, a… Sleethen Musm that has a Hannibal-esque mask around his jaw, and double layered gloves sewn onto his jumpsuit, so he won't be able to take them off easily. He's surprisingly civil most of the time, but he's got a fearsome temper that emphasizes why he's wearing the mask in the first place. His personal doctor, a Markazian man, came here and signed up as a warden, so he has more power to subdue his patient and to keep an eye on him so he doesn't end up killing someone.

I've been here for at least 10 years for armed burglary, conspiracy against the emperor, and violence against the emperor. And I have a ways to go. But never in my time here, have I seen a kid this young get convicted with something as big as planetary terrorism.

He looked like he just walked out of high school, tripped, and fell into the prison jumpsuit. The prison escorts had trouble bringing him into the courtyard, since he was flailing about claiming he was innocent (like they all do) and getting sassy to boot. My first impression was that he was a little dick, not gonna lie.

But after what I saw him go through on his first day, I wish I hadn't hesitated in helping him.

My Musm friend that I have mentioned earlier, Kayl, made a comment about the new kid, stating that he looked like you could just look at him the wrong way and he'd be on the floor sobbing, and seemed the vulnerable type. I disagreed, since there were a bunch of short-stuff powerhouses here. (have you seen what a Kerchu is capable of?) I did however agree that he appeared as such.

Now with new jail members we have a sort of 'christening' way of bringing them into the jail atmosphere, to ensure that they know what they've gotten themselves into. We refer to it as 'tenderizing the fresh meat'.

What we do first is let the newbies alone for the first two days, and let them get used to their surroundings, and find where everything is, talk to a few cell mates, etc. But then after that grace period, we take a seasoned cell mate that looks like they'd be the same skill as the newcomer, and have an all-out brawl to see if he's worth any sort of recognition.

If the newcomer wins, the newcomer has the grace of not being bothered for any sort of favors, including the ever so popular sexual ones.

However, if the newcomer loses, he is subject to be that cell mate's personal lap dog.

(I have lost the newcomer battle myself, but I ended up beating the cell mate's nearly to death when he tried to pull my clothes off. Had to give me my own cell because they couldn't recognize him after I was finished reorganizing his face and smashing his balls into paste.)

But then there's a problem: Nearly all of the cell mates recognized him. I heard the new kid's name bouncing around, "Ratchet."

This was hardly anything compared to the Ytachyian that ran his own gang within the jail who heard about the newcomer. And he was pissed.

See… This guy is named Ligea. Convicted kidnapper and sexual offender, and a hulking powerhouse. He was sent here by a report from the new kid Ratchet, and jailed immediately. The problem? The report said Ratchet himself was kidnapped and sexually assaulted, instead of it being just a kidnapping of a Markazian child. And Ligea did not like this, thinking he was purposefully sabotaged by the kid. Despite everyone telling him a lot of reports end up messed up, and mix up old cases with new ones if the species is similar, he was determined to make sure the kid suffered.

And did he make him suffer….

Ratchet was avoiding a bunch of huge blokes when Ligea came storming up, screaming, "You just HAD to make my sentence worse for me, didn't you, you little shit?!"

Ligea started swinging at him immediately, and Ratchet's just ducking his swings as he's saying, "What in the hell are you talking about? You kidnapped that kid! I didn't make jack worse!"

"THEN WHY AM I SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR KIDNAPPING AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTING YOU?!"

"I never said that! I told them the truth! It might've been a mista—"

"SHUT UP! I'm DONE with your shit, Lombax! And I think it's time you suffer for your shit!"

Two of his gang members started crowding around him. I went to get up and get involved, but Kayl just grabbed my arm and said, "It's best not to get involved." He nodded over to the group, adding, "They're probably trying to psych him up for that bullshit brawl you inmates do… either that or try to scare him into losing so he can be their personal cum rag."

"Just let them be idiots and continue on."

And I did.

The first thing Ligea's blokes try to do is swing at him from both sides.

Ratchet immediately ducks down and lands on his palms, flinging his legs out and kicking the guys' legs out from under them. Both hit the ground simultaneously, with Ligea looking ten times more pissed than before. Ratchet hops up, dusting his hands off grinning.

"Maybe you ought to think out your plans thoroughly before trying something like tha—"

-CRACK-

"—aaaaauuuh…?" One of Ligea's other lackeys snuck up behind him with a five pound weight and smashed him over the head with it. He staggered in place, his jaw trembling a bit, before he hit his knees and fell face first into the dust and dirt.

Ligea never played fair.

The Ytachyian pointed at him, and said, "Hold his arms and legs down, and someone hold his head still." The group did so, stretching him out to the point he couldn't even bend his knees. Ratchet was still in a daze, his eyes rolling about trying to focus. I couldn't see what Ligea had in his hand before, but he had crouched low, and brought the metal thing to Ratchet's face.

I jolted up, and Kayl, irritated, repeated, "For Orvus sake, Az! They're being stupid! Let them—"

He paused suddenly, and sniffed the air.

"What's the matter?" He sniffed a few more times before his face grimaced.

"There's blood. And it's fresh."

My head whipped over to where Ligea and Ratchet were. I wasn't sure if it was just sheer luck or just how bad the wound was, I saw a glistening of red.

That was my breaking point.

So I'm rushing over there, shoving Ligea and his lackeys off of the poor kid, and what I saw was a touch below horrifying and above disgusting.

Ligea, using a piece of scrap metal, had carved out his right eye, pulled it out, and mutilated it beyond repair. The natural lens was ground into the dirt, surrounded by the reddish pulp. The front part of his jumpsuit was drenched in bile, probably his body reacting to the blow to his head…

Now I was mad… but… not as mad as Kayl was…

He was seething furious. He started tugging at his mask, screaming incoherently, but mainly, "I'LL FUCKIN TEAR YOUR GUTS OUT AND STRING YOU UP BY THEM AND USE YOU AS A GODDAMNED PINATA!" Eventually he did get the mask off, and started chasing after Ligea's gang, and Ligea himself, and tailing not far behind was Kayl's doctor, shouting for him to calm down.

Since Kayl can disperse a crowd no problem, it got quiet real fast.

Then, I feel this… clawing sensation on my shoulders.

I look down, and it's the kid. He's awake, but just barely, his one good eye fluttering miserably as his right eye bled profusely. His lips were moving, but it was hard to tell what he was saying. He continued to claw at my shoulders, probably to try and grasp onto something. I hoisted him out further and muttered, "Hey. Take it easy…"

He let out a miserable whimper in response, and he fell limp in my arms, shivering.

I ended up bringing him to the medical wing, where he stayed for two months recovering.

He's alright now… got an eyepatch and some medication for his migranes. He's been bunked with me since I was the only one who gave enough of a shit to help him.

I sometimes wish I hadn't waited.