Nickel often wondered what happened to Infinite after the war. Whether he existed in another dimension, or whether he was in Null Space, or whether he was perhaps just mulling around in some secret place besides, the vermilion feline didn't know. He didn't really want to have to find out where the jackal was, but he couldn't help his curiosity.
Thankfully, he knew one thing - since the Phantom Ruby was dormant, if Nickel did encounter Infinite at some point then there wouldn't be any destructive mind games to be played. Nickel was very much grateful for that.
These and similar thoughts were bouncing around Nickel's very active mind as he stared rather numbly at the ceiling above the chair where he lay. It was nearing noon - he should have been keeping an eye on the little girl living with him and making sure that she wasn't getting herself into trouble.
"Ambush!" Nickel felt the full force of that little girl pouncing on him, nearly knocking him off the chair.
"It's not an ambush if you announce it!" he laughed, lifting Lily up from his chest. "That ruins the whole idea of an ambush."
"But it's more fun!" Lily argued.
"Well, you're not wrong there." Nickel paused. "Also, you gotta be careful when you do that. You could've made the chair fall over."
"Sorry, mister Nickel."
"Eh, it's alright. I know you didn't mean to do that."
Before either of them could start a new topic of conversation, there was a knock on the door. "Wonder who that is," Nickel said.
Opening the door revealed a visitor that was all too familiar, though certainly not in a familiar position. The jackal, mask missing, was on his knees before the cat, clutching his side in what Nickel could only reasonably conclude was pain. His white and black gloves were stained with his own blood.
"Lily!" Nickel called. "Get the first aid kit!"
"Okay!" she called back.
Nickel hoisted Infinite from his knees and virtually carried him inside to the bedroom that had been left vacant. A faint sound that could have been mistaken for a display of gratitude came from the jackal.
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When Infinite had recovered enough to talk, Nickel asked him a few questions.
"How'd you end up with that gash?"
"I got cut," the jackal replied curtly.
"Really? Hadn't guessed," Nickel snarked back. "How'd you get cut, then?"
"There were a few Resistance members ransacking everything near my hiding spot. I wasn't going to take my chances with them, so I fled, leaving everything behind. It would have slowed me down. On the way, some wire caught me. That's the story."
"So you run away from Resistance members to go to the house of a Resistance member. Why? Also, how'd you even know I lived here?"
"I saw you here before. I just assumed you lived here, and I was right." Infinite let out a breath. "About why I came here? Honestly, it's because you're probably the only person alive who wouldn't kill me on first sight."
"You've got a good point." Nickel raised his right hand and electrified it. "Doesn't say anything about second sight, though."
Infinite shielded himself on instinct, before realising his adversary-turned-caretaker's choice of weapon to threaten him. "You have powers of your own now."
"Yeah," Nickel said. "Interesting to note how the tables have turned, wouldn't you say?" The feline de-electrified his hand, before sighing through his nose. "But unlike you, I don't use my advantage to overpower those at my mercy. Unless they're a robot."
Just then, Lily came in, carrying a rather oversized roll of bandages that almost threatened to knock her over should she take a wrong step.
"Okay - I don't think we'll need that much, Lily," Nickel said to her, chuckling discreetly. "Maybe just a tiny bit less."
The xanthic kitten let the giant roll fall from her hands, before she herself fell backwards rather comedically in theatrical exhaustion. Nickel laughed again. "Alright, don't worry about it. I'll work with the big roll."
Instantly she was back on her feet with a smile, before bouncing out of the bedroom door.
"Cute girl, don't you think?" Nickel asked as he began changing the bandages.
Infinite seemed to hesitate, though it wasn't due to his pain. "I don't care for emotions like that. They are a sign of weakness."
"Weakness, huh? Remind me: who won the war, and who's currently stuck in bed with no strength to do anything other than talk?"
The jackal, in indignation, tried to rise. "I am not weak. I am - "
Nickel cut him off, pushing him back down. "Hate to break it to you, but you kinda are right now." Infinite grumbled something incoherent, but it didn't take that many brain cells to figure out that he wasn't exactly happy. "Be grateful. Like you said, I'm probably the only person alive who'd spare you and help you like this."
"Fine." Nickel finished his task, leaving Infinite to stare at the blank roof above them.
Just as the feline was about to leave the jackal alone, he caught some quiet words: "She is kinda cute."
Nickel simply grinned.
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That night, Nickel was sat in a chair next to Infinite's temporary resting place, awake but only so to make sure the jackal didn't try to run off before he could do so without imminent risk of death. Infinite himself was awake, staring at anything that wasn't Nickel.
"Infinite, what's your name?" Nickel suddenly asked.
"Is that some sort of trick question?" Infinite questioned in return.
"No. What's your real name?"
"Infinite. You've been using it the whole time." He paused. "Why are you even asking this now?"
"Infinite is not your real name," Nickel replied shortly.
"What makes you so sure it isn't?" Infinite asked.
"Okay, how 'bout this." The cat faced the jackal. "Let's assume I'm wrong, and your name is Infinite. Then, by nature of what that name is now associated with, people won't even look at you with the tiniest bit of sympathy. All they'll see is a true monster, with no respect for others and no right to be respected by others."
"I've lived with that before, I can always do it again."
"But now," Nickel continued, cutting Infinite off, "let's assume I'm right. If I'm right - and I know I am - then you're no longer you. You've put on a mask to hide the person beneath, whomever that may be. You've taken on a name that isn't your own. And over time, those have evolved to become who you are. You've become a mask with a name that doesn't belong. And the person you once were, the true you, is gone forever. Dead. You are dead." Nickel paused, smiling almost sinisterly, before he began again with his voice eerily airy. "Tell me: how does it feel? How does it feel to breathe when you're dead? To be an empty, hollow husk, while convincing yourself you still exist? Surely you must know, right? You know something not a lot of other people know, and I want you to tell me. How does it feel? To be alive, and to be dead, at the same time?"
Infinite seemed to lose all words at Nickel's little speech.
Nickel turned away from the jackal and reassumed his regular voice, smile all but gone. "Look. I don't know what made you like this. I don't know what kind of trauma you've been through. I don't even know if you're listenin' to me right now. What I do know, is what it's like to put on a façade. Something to hide the real you from everyone else."
Infinite scoffed. "Yeah, sure."
"Don't believe me, do ya?" Nickel let another smile cross his face, this one sombre. "You're talking to someone who's been cripplingly shy all his life. I cannot tell you how many times I've been asked if I talk at all. I can't talk to people, I can't meet people, nothing." There was a pause. "I only survived because I was good at what I did, and because I put on a mask of absolute silence. Since I didn't usually talk, it fit how everyone saw me anyway."
He turned back to Infinite. "You've seen how much I can talk, just today. I do have things to say, I just can never say them." Another pause. "But, like I say, I don't know what you're like, what you've been through, but if anyone else knows about putting on a façade, it's me." Nickel sighed through his nose. "Good night." He got up, not waiting for a response. It wasn't coming. He switched off the light, walked out the door and returned to his chair, falling asleep with relative ease. Nickel probably couldn't say the same for the jackal.
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The next day, Nickel checked up on Infinite virtually immediately after getting up.
The canid was still sound asleep, even after Nickel turned on the light - which honestly wasn't necessary at all, the room had windows that allowed the early morning sun's rays to brighten up the space after the night.
"Asleep, are ya?" Nickel mused. He yawned, before walking over and shaking Infinite very excessively.
"Stop, stop! What do you want?" Infinite asked between rocking back and forth, eyes open and focusing on the red cat.
Nickel ceased, and caught something immediately. "When did you fall asleep?"
"Late," was the answer.
"How late?" Infinite didn't answer. "Very, I think is the answer you're looking for. You look haggard and your eyes are bloodshot. What's goin' on?"
The jackal hesitated further. "As much as I don't want to admit it, especially to you, what you said last night got to me. I did some thinking, late into the night, and I reached a conclusion."
"Which is...?" Nickel prompted.
Infinite sighed, more in annoyance and regret than anything. "I did put on a figurative mask, and I let the power that the Phantom Ruby had get to my head. And now, seeing as how I am without the Ruby, I suppose I'm just me again. Just a mercenary whose squad got killed off by Shadow."
"Speaking of Shadow, is he the one who called you weak in the first place?" Nickel asked. "You don't like being called that, apparently."
Infinite bit back his usual retort. "Yes. And pathetic."
"And you expected not to be called weak by him?" He didn't give the jackal time to answer. "He's just overpowered. Everybody's weak to him. Myself included."
"It was humiliating. The most humiliating day of my life - and, his comment came after the rest of my squad died. I was very angry, and I wanted to get back at him."
Nickel chose his next words carefully. "Fair. If I'd been in that position, I'd be furious too." Infinite nodded in agreement. "That said, the way to get back at him is not to gain power to prove you're not weak. At least, not while you're not on his side."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me put it this way. Shadow will never not think you're weak. But if you earn even a tiny part of his respect, he won't hesitate to defend you if you get into trouble." Nickel chuckled. "At least, not all the time."
"With power comes respect."
"Respect is a two-way street when it comes to power. Yeah, power brings respect. But if people with power respect you, you get a different kind of power. Just knowin' that people high up on the power rankings respect you makes you feel stronger yourself."
Infinite didn't say anything straight away. Nickel allowed him time to formulate his thoughts.
After a surprisingly long time, the jackal opened his mouth again: "...Zero."
"'m sorry?"
"My name. Zero."
Nickel let a small smile overtake his face. "Cool name."
"What do you mean, 'Cool name'? It's a number."
"Would you rather be called Three?" Zero looked at him sideways. "At least Zero is the best out of all the number names." Nickel smiled drolly, before continuing. "And besides, not like 'Infinite' isn't based off a number concept anyway."
"I hate that you're right." Nickel chuckled; alongside his laugh he heard Zero laugh too.
"Look at us. Laughing as if we weren't mortal enemies some weeks ago," Nickel said. "Who knows? If you get some kind of act together, there might be hope for ya."
Zero's smile vanished almost instantly. "What?"
"I'm just sayin'," Nickel elaborated. "Since you're gonna be alive and everything, you might wanna turn things around, y'know?"
"I can't. I don't know how."
"All you gotta do is be nice and not kill anybody. Be like Lily." Zero looked at Nickel in slight confusion, prompting further explanation. "She's nice, friendly and she always likes to help people. That's all you gotta be."
"I'm not gonna be a saint, you know," Zero said.
"Not askin' you to. Just be like her and don't be evil. Easy enough."
"Really?" The jackal sounded disbelieving.
"The Doctor can be not evil for the Olympics, and you're not as evil as he is. If you were, this'd all be an elaborate plot."
"Who says it isn't?"
"So you put yourself in imminent danger of death from bleeding out to gain some kind of advantage. Because that makes sense."
"People have done that before."
"Have they succeeded?" No answer came from Zero. "Thought not. Or maybe they have," Nickel continued, "and then they fell in love and switched sides anyway. Do you want that?"
"Not necessarily, but I wouldn't mind," Zero said coquettishly, and proceeded to burst into laughter again at Nickel's deadpan face.
Just then, Lily appeared in the doorway. "Um, mister Nickel?"
"Yes, Lily?"
She held up a note. "Someone put this by the front door."
"Hmm." Nickel took the slip of paper and skimmed it. "Ooh. Fantastic."
"What?" Zero asked.
"Someone nearby is sellin' their house on the cheap, and they wanna know if we know anyone who'd be interested."
Zero perked up a little bit, but not for long. "I don't have a lot."
"I'll cover it. We've got enough."
"Mister Nickel? Really?" Lily asked, incredulous. Zero also had a nonplussed look on his face.
"Are you crazy? Misguided? - " the jackal began.
"Yes," Nickel interrupted. "I wear a hoodie in the summer. I have electric powers. I took in a former supervillain and made sure he was okay. I am crazy. This is nowhere near crazy." Nickel sighed through his nose again. "Look. You're just gonna cut yourself again if you're always running around hiding from the Resistance. There's an offer for a house, you take it. Plus, how would you feel if you were a normal person and a supervillain, former or not, came up to you and went "I wanna buy your house"? I'm doing you a massive favour by buying it for you."
Zero was still struggling for words. "I don't deserve that from you."
"I didn't deserve to be friends with the Resistance and yet we're here. Just take this gesture as a token of acquaintanceship, or whatever."
Zero stopped arguing and hung his head. "Thank you. I owe you one, Nickel."
"No problem, Zero. Now lemme go talk to this person and sort out the house situation. See ya later. Lily," he turned to the six-year-old girl, "make sure he doesn't try anything silly."
"Okay, mister Nickel." She turned to Zero and gave him the 'eye am watching you' gesture. Nickel laughed and started to head out.
"Oh, by the way, Zero," the crimson cat said just before leaving. "That's a pretty cool-lookin' scar." He didn't bother waiting for an answer that time either.
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The deal was done very simply and quickly, and Zero was moved into the house as soon as he was capable of handling himself without help. With his directions, Nickel had been able to recover his things from his previous hiding place. The vermilion feline had even given the black-and-white canine his communicator, after moving all contact data to his screen. "To let me know if you need something," he'd said.
On the way back to their house, Lily asked, "Mister Zero isn't so bad, so why did he turn into that Infinite guy?"
"He wanted to prove that he wasn't what people thought he was. He thought that was the easiest way." Nickel paused. "He'll probably have to apologise to the Resistance for that, as well. That's another rollercoaster entirely."
"Do you trust him, mister Nickel?"
"Not totally, no. Not yet. But it definitely feels like he's at least trying to do a little better, so I think we can trust him for now." Nickel smiled. "You shouldn't be thinking about these kinds of serious subjects like that, Lily. You're young and you should be enjoying life while you're young."
"I just don't want him to do anything bad to you."
"Aww, how nice of you, Lily. I don't want anything bad to happen to you either."
Hopefully, as the days passed by, nothing untoward would indeed happen, and they could continue to enjoy their time together - now, potentially, the three of them.