Hello, my fellow fanfic readers 'n' writers! No need for an introduction to this here final official chapter, let's just dive in.

The disclaimer can be found in the first official chapter.

Nickel and Silver headed back toward the Resistance Headquarters at Silver's behest. The cat hadn't exactly been planning to return so quickly, what with there being so many others that needed help further away - and the fact that he needed to find a place for he and Lily to stay (thanks for destroying everything, Infinite) - but the hedgehog had wanted everyone else to know what had happened to Nickel.

"Is it really just three days since I left after we beat Infinite and the Doctor? Feels like a lot more than three days happened," Nickel remarked.

"Well, like Sonic said, a lot can happen in three days," Silver answered as Lily shuffled around on Nickel's shoulders.

"Fairs." Nickel reached up a hand to settle the sleeping girl. Her almost silent purring spiked ever so slightly at the contact.

"She must really like you if she's purring," Silver commented.

"I know. I'm a cat myself, Silver. That's how we work." There was a slight pause, during which Nickel was sure Silver felt a little foolish. "Don't hedgehogs purr, too?"

"We do? I never have."

"You wanna talk about not knowing your own body? There you go," Nickel mumbled, making sure that he wasn't heard. More loudly, he continued, "Yes, you do. Not the loudest, and definitely not very deep, but it's there."

"Huh. That's so weird! I have to tell Sonic about it."

"I'd bet my house on Sonic knowing already, except it's destroyed," the vermilion feline remarked rather snidely. "How much further?"

.

Arriving at the HQ, Nickel and Silver knocked on the door. The sharp rapping sound stirred Lily ever so slightly, and she raised her tired little head from where it rested on Nickel's.

"You're up, it seems, Lily," Nickel said. She made a questioning sound that could have been mistaken for his name. "Yeah, it's me. Mister Nickel." No other sound came from her; Nickel assumed she'd gone back to sleep again. "Well, guess she's not up then. Brilliant."

Presently, the door slid open and let them walk in. Suffice to say, the faction was surprised to see Nickel back so soon, and even more so to see that he'd found a little friend.

"This is Lily. Silver and I found her in a prison in Leaf Forest and she's staying with me," he said in response to their questions. He then shifted his hands so that Lily was being held up by only his left arm, and he held out his right. "The reason I'm here is, well, to show you something that happened very soon after I left." With a thought his hand sparked and became enveloped in crackling electricity.

The reactions ranged from fascination (mostly from Tails) to varying degrees of surprise, Shadow's the most muted and Knuckles' the most evident.

"Wow," Amy said.

"You're an electrokinetic now? I don't think we know any," the two-tailed fox stated.

"It's actually quite fitting, considering how you liked the lightning wispon," Espio spoke up. Nickel suddenly noticed that, and he had to agree that it was rather serendipitous.

"That's insane! It's like you're your own wispon now, rookie!" was Knuckles' statement, quickly followed up by, "Man, I gotta get outta that habit." Nickel shrugged. He was used to it by this point.

"How'd that happen?" Vector questioned as Charmy tried to poke at Nickel's electrified hand, recoiling at the small shock. Nickel had to wonder what the bee thought would happen.

"It's kinda my fault," Silver declared, before beginning the tale from his perspective.

Nickel let the grey hedgehog talk, but he was taken to one side by the ebony hedgehog. "What kind of energy is that?" Shadow asked.

"Not sure. We think it's Chaos, though."

Shadow 'hmph'ed, without any prominent haughtiness. "I didn't think Chaos energy could manifest itself into electric abilities. And, of course, I am the expert on the topic, so that says something."

"Maybe something was added to it? Something the Doctor put in to make it like that."

"What does the Doctor have to do with any of this?"

Coincidentally, Silver had reached the part involving the fateful trap. Nickel held his free hand out toward the storyteller, and Shadow nodded once. "I see. Well, maybe that's a possibility. A lot of things are possible with Chaos energy." Shadow paused, but didn't allow Nickel to do or say anything. "What about the girl?"

"Lily? What about her?"

"Why are you taking care of her?"

"Her parents are dead. She kinda needs someone to take care of her. Plus, she trusts me, so..."

Shadow let out another 'hmph'. "I can respect that. It won't be easy, you know. Civilisation is still in ruins, and it will be difficult to care for her in this environment."

"I'll do it. She doesn't deserve to be alone anymore. That's just not right."

"Good answer, Nickel." The cat's ears pricked up - Shadow never said his name. "Don't let her down."

"Because if I do, I'll have let you down," Nickel finished.

"Glad to see we're on the same page." Shadow looked at him with an expression that begged for a smirk, before turning away and back to the group.

Presently, Lily stirred again. This time, she seemed like she was more awake and wasn't going back to sleep. Nickel carried her over to a chair in the corner and gently set her down, kneeling in front of it as her big blue eyes slowly opened.

"Mister Nickel...?"

"Lily?"

"Where are we?"

"In the Resistance HQ."

Her heavy eyes widened. Nickel smiled a little at her expression, especially when she looked past him and noticed the heroes of Mobius there. "You know them, mister Nickel?" she whispered, as though she was scared her presence would cause them ire.

"Yes. I do. How did you think we got in here?"

Lily didn't answer that question, and that only made Nickel smile yet more.

"Is this where I'm gonna stay?"

Nickel paused. That would be smart. Until somewhere habitable was available, she could stay here and not be in imminent danger of any evil forces attacking; simultaneously though, the HQ probably wasn't the place to house a little girl, with it being rather dangerous itself; id est, housing various weapons that certainly could pose problems.

Besides, by the way she worded her question, Nickel got the feeling she meant permanently. Which definitely was not the case.

"No, you'll be staying with me."

"But where, mister Nickel?"

The crimson-coloured cat had a small joke on his tongue - very small - but as small as it was, it was inopportune. "That's a good question. I don't know yet, but when we find the place, it'll be perfect."

"I hope so..." Lily said in a small voice.

At that very moment, who should speed into the room but the Blue Blur himself, nearly breaking down the semi-automatic doors on his entry. "Hey, everybody. What's happenin'?"

Shadow gestured with his pointing finger toward Nickel. "This is happenin'," he said in a slightly mocking tone.

Sonic didn't seem to notice, and even if he had noticed, he didn't apparently care. "Whoa! Hey, buddy! Wha - oh, who's the girl?"

"Glad to know where I rank on the list of interesting things," Nickel spoke drolly, making Sonic chuckle. "Fills me with so much confidence."

"Naw, I was just curious, is all. Besides, you're pretty high on the 'friends' list, so you got somethin' goin' for ya."

"Deffo at least higher than Shadow." Sonic chuckled again.

"I heard that, kid," the Ultimate Lifeform grumbled, though it was true.

"I still wanna know who the little girl is," Sonic stated.

"Right, right. This is Lily." Nickel looked back at the xanthic cat; she was looking between him and Sonic, seemingly wondering how the scarlet feline could converse so easily with who was undoubtedly the biggest hero in the world and probably others too. "I found her in one of the prisons, in Leaf Forest."

"Oh, that old place. Haven't been there in a while. How'd you get her out? Did you just break down the door or was it somethin' else?"

"I mean, I guess you could say I broke down the door, but not necessarily in the way you might think." Nickel elaborated without prompting. "The locks are electric, right? So I broke them down with this." He sparked up his right hand and showed Sonic his new ability. Needless to say, Sonic found his friend's "upgrade" way past cool.

After a bit of storytelling from Nickel about how his electricity came to be, the cobalt hedgehog turned his attention to the girl on the chair. "Hey there. You're gonna be staying with Nickel, I'm guessing?" She nodded yes. "That's good! Nickel's a great guy. He'll take care of ya just fine. You don't gotta worry about anything."

Lily nodded again, and Sonic smiled at her shyness toward him. She seemed very comfortable with Nickel - perhaps it was Sonic's reputation.

Nickel spoke up. "Lily, you don't have to be scared of him. He's really nice when you get to know him. Just - don't mind the cockiness and randomness he likes to emit sometimes."

"Well, now you just ruined the surprise," Sonic complained.

"A truly delightful surprise it would have been." That made Lily giggle just a little bit.

"Well, take care, 'kay?" Sonic ruffled the fur on Lily's petite head, making her ears lower forward. "I'm sure we'll be seein' each other again sometime."

"Okay. Bye, mister Sonic."

"She's a lot like Cream, huh?" Sonic asked, directed at no one but Nickel heard him.

As he left, Nickel felt a tug on his hoodie. Looking down, he found Lily staring back at him with big blue eyes that made the answer to any petition she had "yes".

Thankfully, it was a rather simple one. "Can I have some water, please?"

"Sure. I'll go get it for you." Nickel half-walked, half-ran to the water fountain that always had a stockpile of cups to be used. Filling one, he chuckled to himself. "I'm gonna enjoy living with Lily. I already know."

And that brings us to the end of this short introduction story! Barring a little outro, there's nothing more that needs to be added. If you've read this far, let me know what you thought of it.

'Til next time, see ya later!