"Guy. Put me down."

Nickel was currently being pulled out of his house by a cyan force, a force that he couldn't escape due to its strength but one in whose confines he could still emote with relative clarity. And right now, his expression was perfectly deadpan as he considered his captor.

"Come on! You and I are going on a trip," the culpable hedgehog said.

"Why didn't you just knock on the door and ask like a normal person?"

Nickel could see the gears turning in Silver's head as he drummed up an answer. "If I did, you would've just said no. You don't like long trips."

"So remind me, why am I going on this - quote unquote - "long trip"?" Silver didn't answer. "Against my own will, might I add?"

There was silence for a long while. Nickel just put it down to Silver wanting company on a sizable journey that he'd been sent on, and he folded his arms in his mind and let himself be taken to wherever they were going.

The theory he came up with was dashed when he saw Silver heading for two other people, who in turn seemed to be waiting on him. Silver waved at them; one waved back with incredible vigour, the other reminded Nickel of himself with regards their hesitance.

Presently he was dropped rather unceremoniously by the grey hedgehog. Thankfully, he was upright and could land without problems.

"This is Nickel," Silver was saying to the duo.

The more excitable of them proceeded with the introductions. "Hi! I'm Tangle! And this is my friend Whisper!"

Whisper made another motion that could have been mistaken for a wave, softly saying "H'lo."

"Hi," Nickel replied. "I feel like I've seen you before," he added, looking at the wolf.

"She's the guardian angel of the battlefield!" Silver cut in, looking much too excited about saying that.

"Oh, is that so?" Silver nodded yes. "Wow." Nickel's word choice conveyed his surprise and pleasure to meet this person more than his vocal tone did.

"Their name. Not mine," Whisper clarified quietly.

"I figured." The cat had concluded that most people, if they were self-proclaimed "guardian angels", might have paraded the fact a little bit more than Whisper was currently. "So why'd you bring me here, Silver? Where are we going?"

Tangle cut in. "We're going to Empire City!"

"That is far," Nickel mused, already not liking the idea of a multi-day travel. "How are we getting there?"

"We're gonna have to go on foot," Silver informed him. "The Restoration doesn't have anything for long-range ground travel."

"Because that's smart," Nickel muttered.

"Don't like walking?" Whisper questioned.

"It's not that I don't like walking, it's just tedious." Nickel just thought of something. "Plus I have to make sure Lily knows I'm gonna be away for a while," he added under his breath.

"Come on, we're wasting daylight here. Let's go already!" Tangle virtually bounced off, leaving the remaining three to follow without much choice.

"I gotta go get the stuff for the trip. You two go on ahead with Tangle, I'll catch up," Silver instructed Nickel and Whisper. They both nodded and did as he'd said.

.

"So Nickel," Tangle began when he and Whisper had rejoined her, "what do you do out here?"

"For the Resistance, or...?" he asked in return.

"Nah, in general."

"I look after this six-year-old girl and make sure she doesn't get into any trouble. I do a bunch of other stuff, but mainly that."

"Who's the little girl?" Tangle continued to ask.

"Her name's Lily. I doubt you know her." Nickel fixed his sleeves. "She's a little yellow kitten with blue eyes."

"Your little sister?" Whisper interrupted quietly.

"No, she's not my sister." Nickel paused. "Well, what about you guys? What's goin' on with you?"

Tangle took the reins of the conversation, regaling some past adventures of hers and Whisper's; presently, a psychokinetic hum reached their ears and soon its source joined them too. "Did I miss anything?"

"Tangle was just telling a story about how her friend got kidnapped because she looked like a precious stone," Nickel informed him casually, like he was talking about how he'd gone to the corner for a loaf of bread. Silver had apparently already heard this tale, as he didn't say anything about it. "Oh, yeah; by the way, Silver, you neglected to tell me what we're doing in Empire City," the cat continued.

"We're gonna be looking for any abandoned Eggman bases and trying to get any info we can from them," Silver replied.

"Ah, yes, of course. How shallow of me," Nickel said to himself, turning his attention to the road ahead. It had been a few minutes, but it had already felt like hours.

A ping sounded and Nickel looked at his screen to see a message from Lily wanting to know where he was. He replied that he was going on a trip for a few days and that she was to try not to get into trouble. "Maybe I'll send Zero to look after her for me," he mused under his breath. "He'll probably do that anyway: he'll go over to where we live, ask where I am, and stay after hearing I'll be away for a while."

The russet feline shifted his gait to walk on the outside of the group, next to Silver, to let everybody else talk to each other without him being in the way. He wasn't planning on being part of the conversation anyway.

.

.

.

Evening fell, and the company of four halted their progress for the day. Silver set up camp by himself with his psychokinesis, a tool which at least Nickel was very grateful for. There was just one problem.

"So, who's sleeping where?" Nickel asked upon seeing that they'd brought with them only two tents.

Immediately Tangle and Whisper shifted closer together, their hands interlinking, and subsequently Silver stepped away from him.

Nickel smiled dryly. "Guess I'll sleep outside, then." Tangle looked ready to protest, but Nickel was already speaking. "Nah, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"You can't sleep outside, Nickel," the lemur argued still. "You're bound to get sick or something."

"I know, I was joking. It was sarcasm, 'cause - " Nickel stopped trying to explain how the joke came to fruition in his head. "Never mind. Silver," he continued, "I'm your company for tonight. I know you'd rather it be Blaze, but whatever."

That earned him a punch to the shoulder, one that was made worthwhile by its mere existence. The two girls were probably wondering about the inner detailings of that joke, but it was late and Silver would definitely not have any discussions right then about his relationship with the pyrokinetic feline.

Into the, admittedly spacious, tent went Nickel behind Silver, seeing two sleeping bags of different colours: one red and the other white. Nickel chose the red one because it was thematic, though he thought that blue and cyan would have been more fitting. Then again, who was to say that the other tent didn't have sleeping bags with those particular colours? Who was to say that they even had those colours at HQ?

"Hey, Nickel," Silver said, pulling Nickel from his thoughts. "Do you really think Blaze and I would be a couple?"

Nickel knew why he would ask this, it was born from Nickel's offhanded comment, and he decided to answer in the most neutral way he could. "Whether I do or do not is neither here nor there, really, is it? That's your decision, and I cannot influence that." He paused, before continuing lowly. "But you can't deny that the nature of your relationship with her is nebulous."

"What did you say?" the hedgehog questioned.

"Nothing," the cat replied simply. That was where the conversation stopped, as Nickel - not at all expecting an answer - turned away from him to get into the sleeping bag he'd chosen. He closed it almost entirely over himself, leaving a tiny hole to breathe, and he went to sleep.

.

The next morning, Nickel arose to excessive shaking courtesy of a certain long-tailed primate. "What? Whaddya want?" he managed to say in between the shakes.

"It's breakfast time!" she announced. Nickel really couldn't care less; he knew he wouldn't want much of what was on offer anyway. "Come on, get up!"

He relented. "Fine." Tangle stopped her onslaught, and he got out of his sleeping apparatus, before doing a stretch to wake himself up a little more and stepping out of the tent behind his assailant.

"Good morning!" Silver called to him, to which he mumbled a tired "G'mornin'". He noticed that there were two cyan globules containing what looked and smelled like cooked fish and an assortment of various other ingredients that were vaguely "not meat" stuff.

"What's that?" he enquired, motioning to the foodstuffs. In hindsight, he shouldn't have, because his tired mind took in exactly zero of Silver's words and he only resulted in wasting the hedgehog's time. Not that time seemed to be of any particular essence, as currently nothing was happening with regards the preparation of food. Presumably, then, Silver was sharing the dishes he'd made.

Whisper made an appearance as those thoughts ran through Nickel's mind. She too looked not at all awake, most likely because she hadn't been awake for very long. She gave no verbal greeting, instead simply sitting down opposite Silver. Nickel himself sat down some distance away, having customarily forgotten that he was standing when he could have been sitting.

"Here you go. I gotta go do stuff," Silver told them, putting down one of those two floating globules in front of each of them and taking off.

Nickel grimaced. He didn't like fish.

He knew he was a cat, and that cats were relatively famous for their love for fish, but he was not the same. Similarly with poultry; he didn't like that stuff either, when the trend dictated that he should. It earned him several confused looks when he was younger, and certainly here would be no different. It was also the punchline of many a joke from his family, but that wasn't relevant.

He gingerly picked up the fish, wondering what on Mobius to do with it. He couldn't very well throw it away, that would just be a waste. Offering it to someone else was the next idea, but to whom could he pass it on and incur minimal backlash?

The answer sat to his left. Whisper would almost definitely not make mention of the exchange without direct prompting, so it was perfect.

It wasn't as constant as Whisper's, but Nickel's shyness was still very much present and it reared its head once more. Even with a solid plan in place, he struggled to make any movement to execute it.

Maybe it was a good thing he didn't, because during his deliberation Tangle bounced up to her friend rather exuberantly and began to converse at a rate that would make heads spin. He didn't pay much attention to the girls' conversation, just waiting until it ended or until he happened to be mentioned, whichever came first.

In the meantime, he put aside the fish from the rest of the dish - the food he actually would eat - and began to consume. There was mainly rice, with an assortment of vegetables alongside: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, to name a few.

He didn't particularly understand the decision to cook rice for breakfast, and he definitely didn't like having to eat said rice with a fork that was obviously there to aid the eating of the fish, but he supposed he didn't necessarily care, so long as he could and would eat it. And eat it he would; the rice was very well done.

"Silver's pretty good at making food," he said to himself, trying to make sure no one else heard him. "Which is pretty impressive, considerin' he's from a destroyed time." He looked at the fish again. "Shame that I don't eat fish, 'cause I bet that's of a decent quality as well."

He took a glance at the two girls to his left again; they'd gone quieter, and the reason for that was evidently the fact that they were discussing something they obviously didn't want him to hear. Whether it involved him or not, he couldn't tell. He doubted it did.

A fly visited the half-eaten food he was neglecting slightly. He waved it away, but it seemed dead set on landing near the foodstuff, even after the cat had swatted at it two more times. "Lazy fly," he muttered. "Get away from me."

He shooed the insect one final time, following it with his hand as though hunting it - that seemed to do the trick, with the fly supposedly deciding that this particular food source was not worth trying to get to. Out of paranoia, Nickel looked back at Tangle and Whisper, who were looking straight back at him. "What?" he asked them.

"You're not gonna eat the fish?" Tangle questioned in return.

Nickel had a feeling this would be unavoidable. "I don't like fish."

That got him an expected surprised look from the lemur. "You don't? But it's so good!"

"So I've been told," he replied dryly. "I just don't like it. I know I'm a cat and all, but hey." He looked down at himself. "Maybe that's why I'm so thin," he said quietly to no one.

Silence reigned for a moment, before Nickel took the chance presented. "Do either of y'all want it?" he offered, holding the fish out to them.

Tangle swiftly nodded yes and took it off Nickel's hands rather eagerly. Nickel tried not to let their fingers touch, which nearly resulted in the fish falling to the ground, but thankfully it didn't and Tangle took it back to her and Whisper's spot, presumably to divide the spoils. Nickel, meanwhile, finished the rest of his own meal, wondering then what to do with the plate. Was there a place nearby to wash the thing?

.

.

.

With Silver having rejoined them, the quartet continued on the next leg of their journey to Empire City.

On the way, Nickel spotted a strange sign that proclaimed quite loudly that the area behind it housed an Eggman base. He chuckled as he remembered the last time he'd come across something like this. Perhaps it was morbid to laugh at the time one almost got electrocuted, but its uncanny similarity to this day warranted it, in his opinion.

Plus, that electrocution gave him his powers, so even that wasn't all bad.

Clearly he'd been seen looking at the sign, for Tangle pointed it out to the rest of the group. "We gotta look in there!"

"It's a trap," Nickel and Whisper said together. The vermilion feline laughed a little at their like-mindedness.

"I agree," Silver inputted. "As much as Eggman likes to brand his stuff, that's a little bit too obvious, even for him."

"But what if there's still something there? It's still worth looking, isn't it?" Tangle continued to argue.

Nickel could feel the similarities between now and that fateful day, and a glance at Silver showed that the alabaster hedgehog was looking back at him, undoubtedly thinking the same thing.

"Split up?" Whisper suggested.

"Good idea," Silver remarked. "Tangle and I'll go in and scout it out. You two stay out here just in case something happens when we're inside."

Nickel nodded, and the plan was set in motion. Whisper made for a tree, bounding up into its branches seemingly effortlessly. Nickel followed her, choosing instead to stay near the base of the plant.

Hardly had he found a decent spot to be when a hand gripped his arm and began to pull him into the tree. Nickel looked up to see the now masked wolf, levitating back into the cover of the foliage with the help of her weapon. It looked similar to a wispon, he noted. He hadn't seen one of the things in a while, but the design was similar enough to what he remembered.

"Oh, is that so?" he said as he landed among the branches, fixing his sleeves when she let go. "And what need have you of me up here?"

"Should stay hidden," she replied as she turned to aim through the leaves. "Don't know who's coming."

That was a fair point, Nickel admitted to himself. He didn't say anything further.

Of a sudden, there was a loud bang that came from Whisper's wispon - presumably a shot of some kind had been fired at something. Nickel reached forward to part some leaves to see what had transpired.

"That is a vehicle on fire," he noted aloud. "What's even in that thing?" That was a stupid question, he knew what was in it; he just didn't expect that precision or that degree of destruction. He saw large pieces of robots falling out of the fire, cementing that that was indeed not a "friendly" visitor, per se.

As he was assessing the situation in front of him, a little ball of energy flew around him, prompting him to look for where it was. A tiny creature, not much - if at all - bigger than his hand, was looking at him funny, wondering who he was. An orange-coloured wisp with sideways eyes, and it was very cute indeed.

"Hello," he said to it softly, a smile creeping onto his face, "and who might you be?"

It chattered something unintelligible, which at least prompted a look from Whisper. "Orange," she informed Nickel quietly. "One of my friends. Helps to power my wispon."

"Well, aren't you a strong one?" Nickel remarked teasingly to the wisp. It almost seemed to giggle, before chirruping at him again.

"Wants to know who you are," Whisper translated again. Nickel wasn't sure how she knew what her little friend was saying, but he trusted her.

Before he could answer the question, though, another bang rang out. Again, the cat peeked out through the leaves and again, he was greeted by a vehicle up in flames. This one was a significant bit bigger, but no less obliterated.

Nickel would have given his answer after that, but he didn't want to leave Whisper to do all the work, so he sparked his right arm and waited for a target; one didn't appear for a while, but eventually it came along in the form of a squadron of badniks.

He released a large bolt of lightning toward that squadron, catching the forerunners and stopping them in their tracks. The others, now alarmed, attempted to scatter to make the beating of them more difficult, all the while trying to find the source of that latest attack.

The feline and the canid worked in tandem to shoot down the runaways, making rather swift work of them thanks to the uncanny accuracy they both seemed to possess. Nickel felt he just got lucky, but Whisper was unbelievable with her own shots - no one should have been that good with a gun. Even during this scramble, Nickel was sure she took down more than he did, and it wasn't for lack of trying.

That being said, he seemed to get the last robot. "Got 'em," he muttered as he brought it down with another fired lightning bolt. "Is that it?"

Whisper nodded yes. "Don't think they'll come back," she guessed. At her words, four more wisps joined their orange friend in questioning Nickel. All together, they made a nice half-rainbow.

"Well," he picked back up, gesturing lightly to Orange, "you wanted to know who I am, didja? I'm Nickel, Nickel the Cat. I'm an acquaintance of Whisper and Tangle, and I'm friends with Silver. You know Silver, right?"

The spectrum of wisps seemed to give an affirmative, their eyes not conveying any confusion as to who Silver was.

What took Nickel by surprise was the blue cubic wisp edging closer to him. It chattered in an almost challenging way.

"Blue thinks your voice is fake," Whisper told him, and he laughed.

"How would that even work?" Nickel asked, not directing it at anyone. "No, it's real." He entertained himself by lowering his voice even more than usual. "It's very real."

More chatting erupted from the audience of wisps that had gathered. "What are they saying now?" Nickel queried, directed to Whisper.

"Your voice is cool," she responded simply. That made him chuckle again.

Presently, Nickel looked out of the tree and saw Tangle and Silver returning from inside the suspicious area. He jumped down from the tree to meet them, assuming Whisper would do the same. She did.

"So, what happened?" he asked the lemur and hedgehog duo.

"It was full of traps!" Tangle spoke. "And there was nothing in there, after all." Nickel surmised as much upon seeing them empty-handed. "But man, was it fun to go through!"

Silver seemed neither to agree nor disagree. "How did it go with you two?"

"Alright," Nickel said. He jerked a thumb at Whisper. "She did most of the work though, as you can probably tell." He then gestured behind Silver to the still flaming vehicles. "That wispon of hers is really powerful. Oh - speakin' o' which, I got to meet the wisps."

"Well, you two seem to be getting along well," Silver concluded. His wording led Nickel to believe that there was mischievous intent behind it, but his expression was largely unchanged. By that, he didn't think Silver had meant anything else. "Especially considering how shy you both can be."

Tangle laughed. "If Nickel is what you call shy, what would you say Whisper is?"

"You'd be surprised," Nickel interjected. "I am actually a little bit shy."

"No way," the long-tailed girl debated. "You're always making jokes and saying funny stuff!"

"When I'm talking," the taller boy expounded. "You remember when I make jokes and stuff because most of the time I'm not saying anything at all. That just makes what I say easier to remember."

There was silence, one too uncomfortable for Nickel, and he shifted his gaze somewhere else to try and mitigate the disquiet he felt. There should have been something said after his little "philosophical quandary", he couldn't just continue their trip without any response; at the same time, what was anyone supposed to say after that? Nickel certainly couldn't think of anything.

Blue came to their rescue, however. Flying out into the open, the cube wisp made a dart to Nickel's face and latched onto the right side. Nickel had to laugh at that. "Aww, Blue... Thanks."

Blue chirruped happily and "hugged" him a little harder.

"It looks like Blue has a little crush on you, Nickel," Silver said, his smile audible.

"Aww! That's so cute!" Tangle gushed.

The wisp in question let go of Nickel and turned away, almost indignant that they would suggest such a thing, before floating away. Nickel could only smile. That had certainly elevated the mood.

.

Later that same day, Nickel was rather cordially invited into the girls' allotted tent.

"You wanted to see me?" he said as he parted the entryway.

"Yeah! Come on, sit down," Tangle answered invitingly. She pointed to an obvious vacant spot, and the cat did as she'd commanded. He pulled up his knees to meet his chest, his arms around them and his left hand holding the right in place by the wrist.

"What d'you need?" he asked.

"We just wanted to get to know you a little better," she replied. "Since we're gonna be on this trip for a while longer, we might as well get better acquainted, you know?"

Nickel had a feeling this was brought on by what he'd said earlier regarding his shyness. "There's not much to know," he remarked. "I'm pretty boring."

They looked like they didn't believe him, especially Whisper. "What?" he said. "Why're y'all lookin' at me like that?"

Still they stared at him wordlessly. "What d'you want me to say? I'm pretty smart. I come from an island to the south. I'm double-jointed. I play piano. I can do a couple different accents. That's about it, really."

"You call that boring? I wish I could play piano," Tangle said. "Also - you said you were smart?"

"Yeah."

"What's the biggest word you know?"

"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis," Nickel spouted without batting an eyelash. "It's a lung disease you can get from volcanic ash and dust."

"You just have that on hand?" The cat nodded. "And you call yourself boring."

Nickel smiled. "Fair enough."

Just then, Silver poked his head in. "Having fun without me?" he asked, looking at Nickel.

"Absolutely," Nickel answered drolly. Tangle laughed aloud; Nickel thought he heard Whisper snicker, but he was probably mistaken.

"I'm not surprised. You're in here by yourself with two girls making them laugh. Life is good," the psychokinetic joked.

"I will tase you." It was Silver's turn to laugh, and he retreated back to the outside. Nickel sighed through his nose. "Every single time, I swear," he muttered.

"Do you get that a lot?" Tangle questioned. "The 'girls' thing, I mean."

"Yep. Especially from Lily." Nickel had to smile at the thought of his little friend. "She always likes to play matchmaker whenever she and I come across a girl. I say 'matchmaker' - she doesn't try to set me up or anything, she just says she thinks the girl would like me."

"And you think they wouldn't?" Whisper inputted, her long silence broken.

"It's not that. I don't think about if they will or not, I'm just shy to go over and say something." Nickel chuckled to himself. Maybe that was the very reason most of the girls that openly liked him had gone to him to say hi. They probably liked his shyness. "Besides, what do I even say in that situation?"

"You could just say hi. You don't have to mention the fact that she said the girl would like you," Tangle spoke.

"That's true." Nickel looked around the tent. It wasn't glamorous by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't drab and entirely uninteresting. There was a big red Resistance logo on the side that stuck out against the white background. Well, he supposed it was too used to be white, but that at least gave the colour half an extra dimension.

Presently, Silver's head popped into the tent again. "Dinner's almost done."

That got Tangle excited, and she followed him out through the "curtains". Nickel was much less excited; the cat lay down where he was and just let out a breath. He wasn't that hungry anyway.

"Not going?" Whisper asked.

"Nah," was the reply. "I'll be fine." He shut his eyes and let the world dissolve around him.

He didn't quite get to sleep, and he re-opened his eyes after what was likely only twenty minutes. Tangle and Whisper were back, and they seemed to be finishing whatever it was they were eating. Blue and Orange and the rest of the wisps seemed to want a piece of the action, and Nickel had to wonder what wisps ate, if they ate at all.

Blue seemed to notice he was up first, chattering away at everyone else as a sort of signal. It wasn't long until the thematically named blue wisp was giving his face another "hug".

"Didja sleep well?" Tangle asked, almost with a teasing tone.

"I guess," Nickel replied. The smile on his face from Blue's antics was pushing against the hug. "I wasn't really asleep, but whatever."

"Oh - did you hear anything?" Tangle queried suspiciously.

"No, why? Did someone say something about me?"

"No, nothing at all." She laughed, and Nickel knew it was forced, but he didn't try to ask for more information. He wouldn't get it.

"Here you go," Whisper said, passing a small tray to him. It bore a few sandwiches. Nickel was rather impressed by the presentation of these sandwiches, although again the choice to make this for dinner was a bit odd. Blue unlatched from his face, seeming to let him eat unhindered.

"Man's made sandwiches. Alright, then, what's all that about?" he voiced in an exaggerated British accent. He took a look at the fillings; none looked particularly appealing, prompting him to ask.

"I think it's chicken and beef?" Tangle answered. Nickel thought it was just his luck. He sighed rather dramatically into his hands, before putting a double-barreled finger gun to the side of his head (the one where Blue wasn't floating) and flexing his thumb, lightly saying "Bang". Tangle and Whisper were understandably confused by his gesture. They soon found out why he'd done it.

"You don't eat those either?" Tangle almost shouted. "What do you eat?"

Nickel felt a bit sheepish to answer that question, and he wore a smile that reflected his feelings. He wished he didn't have to be put on the spot regarding his diet choices; he wasn't vegetarian or vegan or anything like that, he quite simply didn't like most meats. Sausages were the main exception, and he told them that he liked that, but the lemur still seemed floored by the revelation that he didn't like chicken or beef. Or perhaps, more accurately, she was floored by the fact that he didn't like chicken or beef or fish, but liked sausages.

"Nickel, you're weird," she told him.

"Thanks," he replied. Beside him, Blue made some noises that sounded upset.

"She didn't mean it in a bad way, Blue," Whisper chided softly. Nickel was reminded of the time Lily had been similarly indignant at a comment aimed at him. He laughed inside himself.

"Well, it's more for you," Nickel said. Then he thought of something he'd wanted to ask. "By the way, do wisps eat?"

"Don't need to," was the wolf's simple response.

"Ah, okay."

The cat shut his mouth and let everybody else converse without him intruding. And by and by, Blue floated onto his head and messed around with his hair. He had to grin at that.

Eventually it was time to get some sleep and Nickel returned to his tent to regroup with the hedgehog that had been left out of the whole thing. Silver asked why Nickel didn't tell him that he didn't eat most meat, considering he'd apparently worked so hard to prepare it.

"I'm sorry, man. But at least it didn't get wasted, y'know?" Nickel replied.

"I suppose so," Silver reasoned. "But next time you won't eat something, just tell me."

"Alright. Speaking of which, I didn't know you could cook so well."

"It was something I picked up a little while back, to help Blaze out. Don't tell her I told you, but she can't cook that well."

"Oh, is that so?" Nickel said. He wasn't one to spill secrets. "Well, I guess that explains that, then, doesn't it?" Silver made a sound of affirmation.

With that, Nickel cocooned himself into his sleeping bag once again. They probably had a long way yet to go tomorrow.

.

.

.

Nickel shut off his screen's alarm, set for five in the morning as it had been for a while now. Usually on days with no strict schedule, he'd wake up to it, shut it off, and go straight back to sleep until he was inevitably awoken around an hour or two later. That very sequence of events had happened yesterday, but on this day Nickel decided to stay awake.

The outside of the tent was rather chilly when he stepped out. Even his hoodie, over his head and flattening his ears, was struggling to counteract the early morning breezes even though it was usually excellent at keeping him warm. "I don't like the cold," Nickel complained to himself, punctuating the sentence with a yawn.

He thought about bringing out his sleeping bag, but that would be rather pointless. If he wanted to be in the sleeping bag, he would just stay in the tent. There was no real reason to get up and out of it to go outside, only to continue to use it out there. On the flipside, should he go back into the sleeping bag inside the tent, he would almost certainly fall asleep again, to be woken up shortly thereafter and feel like he'd not slept at all.

He yawned again, bigger than last time. A jitter ran down his chest, a product of the yawn more than the cold, but it still made him feel even colder. He looked around for a place to sit; a tree stood nearby, and there wasn't much deliberation needed.

He quickly stepped over to the tree and seated himself by the roots, before retracting his arms into his sleeves and pulling up his legs to try to fit them into the hoodie's confines for warmth. They fit, thankfully, and Nickel couldn't tell if that was because the thing was big or if he was just that small frame-wise. Maybe it was both. At least he didn't feel like he was freezing as fast anymore.

As another yawn slipped from him, he saw a figure emerge from the girls' tent. The tail was unmistakable; that was Tangle. What she could be doing so early, Nickel had no clue.

Another jitter ran through him and he wished the wind would stop. It reminded him of his birth home, set on a breezy hill that always seemed extra breezy when he went outside. However nostalgic, right now it was entirely unwanted.

As he took a shivering breath, he decided that the plan he'd hatched was not worth it. He would have been fine with feeling like he hadn't slept if it meant he'd avoided this nonsense. Still, was he going to commit to it?

The answer to that question was swiftly found: no, he wasn't. There really was no point in stubbornly freezing to death for the sake of stopping an inconvenience.

Strange how his mentality had taken such a quick one-eighty. But that was just his luck.

He put back his arms through his sleeves and stood up again, exposed to the wind once more, and he began his return to the tent. He didn't even want to know what Tangle was doing anymore, he just wanted out of the cold.

Unfortunately, Tangle wanted to know what he was doing, stopping him before he could go inside. "Whoa, what are you doing up so early?"

Nickel could have asked the same of her. "I'm trying to go inside the tent because I am freezing right now," he said succinctly.

"Well, what were you doing outside in the first place?" she asked next.

Explaining his entire thought process would take far too long. "I woke up and I didn't wanna go back to sleep, so I took a little walk outside to keep myself awake. Didn't know it was gonna be this cold. Or windy, I should say."

"I'm sure we could help keep you warm, if you want," she offered.

"I feel like I've spent far too much time in the ladies' tent and must be restrained from entering therein again." Tangle let out a laughing huff, and Nickel couldn't resist the grin at his own words either, despite his shivering. "Besides, wouldn't Blue get jealous?"

"Not if we don't tell." Nickel chuckled, before gesturing with grandiosity for Tangle to take the lead for their short walk over to her and Whisper's tent.

"Y'know, speaking of Blue, d'you wanna know something funny?" Nickel continued without giving Tangle a window to answer. "Blue thought my voice was fake."

"Really?" Tangle replied, going into her tent. Nickel followed, chortling and lowly saying "Yeah".

"To be honest, I might have thought the same thing. I mean, you don't exactly look like the kind of guy to have a really deep voice."

"That's fair." Nickel noticed that Whisper was still sleeping soundly very far in the corner, and he became very conscious of how loud he was talking as he sat nearer to the entrance. "Still, I think it's funny that the first thing that came to Blue's mind - do wisps have minds? That's the least of my issues right now - the first thing that came to Blue's mind was that it was fake."

He got a little laugh out of her with his mid-sentence joke, but she didn't say anything right away as she set up an electric warmer. Nickel chose to be silent as well, allowing the conversation to shift somewhere else.

"Hey, Nickel." He turned to face her. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen," he told her. "Why?"

"With a voice like that? Now I'm starting to suspect that your voice is actually fake." Nickel couldn't help the laughing snort that escaped him. "Otherwise, there's no way you're fourteen. Absolutely no way."

"It's true. I'm fourteen," Nickel spoke through laughs. "Ask Silver. Ask anyone in the Resistance."

Tangle still looked as though she didn't believe him, but she couldn't say anything before Silver appeared by the entryway, as though on cue. "Oh, there you are," he said, obviously referring to Nickel. "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Nope! Not at all," Tangle answered for both herself and Nickel. Silver slipped in and sat down next to the lemur, asking what they were talking about before.

"Is Nickel actually fourteen?" she asked.

Silver grinned. "Yeah. He's actually younger than me, by a little bit."

Nickel looked at Tangle with the sort of expression that teases the recipient because of their unbelief in a particular true statement. "What'd I tell ya?"

The lemur didn't answer him; instead she continued talking to Silver: "Hey, tell me more about Nickel. He won't tell me anything of note."

Nickel held his tongue, choosing not to miaow in protest. Silver replied, "Well, you probably already know this, but he's actually very well-liked among a lot of the girls that were in the Resistance. Among some of the guys, too."

The last comment took the feline rather by surprise; he furrowed his eyebrows, but he said nothing.

"How 'well-liked' are we talking?" The lemur sounded so sly and curious it wasn't even funny.

"They think he's pretty cool," was the hedgehog's response. Nickel let loose a short, almost cackle-like laugh despite himself at the words and at Tangle's rapid shift from curious to unamused. Silver chuckled a little, too. "I'm kidding. I haven't known any guys to 'like' him, per se, but definitely some of the girls do. Some of them like him a lot."

"Has he ever dated any of them?"

"Yeah, sure," Nickel now interjected. "I'll just go out on a date in the middle of a war, shall I?"

It was Tangle's turn to laugh. "I meant before or after. 'Course I don't expect you to go during it!"

"The answer is still no. I've never been on a date with anyone before." She was a little surprised, but people tended to be when he said that.

"So you're a ladykiller," she said.

"No," Nickel almost shouted, indignant that that was where she'd gone with his statement. "If I was a ladykiller I would actively try to - like - make them want to go out with me and then just say no."

"What he's saying is that he's so good at it he doesn't even need to try," Silver joked.

Nickel looked at him threateningly, hand raised and ready to spark. "I will tase you." That only made Silver laugh more.

"Oh, right - I've been meaning to ask: do you have powers, Nickel?" Tangle cut in.

"Yeah, electric powers. What about 'em?"

"I was just wondering. You keep mentioning tasing Silver, and you don't carry any tasers, so..."

"Fair enough." Nickel noticed Whisper making a telling movement; she was finally getting up. "Hey, look who's decided to come to the party."

Silver and Tangle both turned to look at Whisper as well. The lemur was quick to say good morning to her wolf friend, and Nickel didn't even know if Whisper had replied at all.

"Time to get ready to go," Silver declared. "C'mon, Nickel, I need your help."

Nickel did as he was told and followed Silver out of the girls' tent.

.

After helping Silver pack up the things that were in their tent, Nickel set about scouting a little bit further ahead to see what lay in store for them on this day.

What he didn't expect to see was a sand-coloured cat charging toward their location, looking in a panic. For someone whom Nickel didn't know, they seemed to know very well who he was.

"Nickel!" The voice was androgynous, but the cat had noticeably masculine features that Nickel noticed more clearly as, presumably he, approached. "Need... help...!"

"Whoa, what's gone on?" Nickel asked, stopping the cat so that he could catch his breath.

"Empire City... it's been overrun by - by robots! They... they were ransacking everything in sight! I just escaped... thank goodness I could find someone from the Restoration out here!"

Nickel thought fast. "Okay, stay here. I'm gonna be right back; I have some friends who can help. If the robots come toward you, follow me where I went. You'll be fine that way."

And with that, the vermilion feline dashed off, leaving the light ivory one in his wake. He had to hurry - who knew how fast the badniks were advancing and if they were following escapees.

He made it back to the campsite just as everyone else was finishing up their preparations to go. "Guys," he panted. "Empire City's been overrun. Someone escaped and found me, and told me what happened. Presumably, then, it's not too far from here."

"Overrun by what?" Silver asked urgently, already starting to head precipitously to the city.

"By robots," Nickel informed him, trying to follow at a pace that wouldn't make him want to throw up. He hadn't eaten today yet.

"Well, we gotta hurry! Tangle shouted, taking the impromptu lead of the group. Silver followed close behind, with Whisper and Nickel bringing up the rear.

They soon found the sandy feline again. Nickel said that that was him, and the energetic lemur wasted no time trying to pry as many details out of him as possible. Whisper, for her part, looked ahead with her mask's telescopic lenses and assessed the situation in as great a detail as was possible from this distance.

"Not looking good," she whispered. "Many robots climbing big walls. Sentries. Will notify if we're seen."

"Then they'd certainly notify the others if we shot them down," Nickel mused, a contemplative frown gracing his face. "Unless you can teleport us in there, we're not getting inside without a fight."

"Did you see where the bots might be coming from?" he heard Tangle ask their messenger, but the answer was a 'no'.

"And now we've got company," Silver said, sounding irritated. A horde of badniks, simple ones, was charging toward them at pace.

Nickel had an idea, one that he'd dreamed up some time ago. "Funnel them, Silver."

"Huh?"

"Use your psychokinesis to make a couple of barriers to push them all to a single point. You're probably gonna need to make them pretty big."

Silver did as he was asked, and two cyan walls started collecting robots, funneling them toward a single, narrow exit. Some overflowed to the sides, but those were dealt with by Whisper and Tangle, both with the presence of mind and quickness of thinking to take one side each and control the spillage.

Nickel sat near the exit point of the psychic funnel, and Silver asked what he was going to do. Nickel answered: "They're made of metal. Metal conducts electricity."

As the first of the horde finally reached the end of its jostling ride toward him, Nickel stamped a foot into it, trying to avoid any sharp parts, and sparked up that appendage until smoke was starting to appear from the fried circuitry inside the robot. Nickel would have said 'poor robot', but given what it and its comrades were up to, it probably didn't deserve that title.

Eventually, the bots behind the first one clattered into it, the electricity that Nickel was pouring out flowing through each of them in turn. Since they were all in such close quarters, they all came into contact, and all of them suffered a shock-filled demise.

Silver used his psychic barriers to crush the significantly weakened badniks without issue, while Nickel laid back on the ground and recovered his power supply. That'd taken lots out of him.

The girls were done clearing the rest that hadn't been decimated by the grey hedgehog, and Tangle was already advancing toward the place the robots had been coming from - most likely Empire City. "C'mon! We gotta follow her!" Silver shouted and picked up Nickel handsfree and began to carry him forward.

"Guy! Put me down!" Nickel yelled at him, not liking having to yell but clearly needing to at the pace Silver was going. Not that it mattered, because Silver ignored him.

The light ivory cat had continued to follow them toward the city, and came into view below Nickel making conversation with Silver. Assumedly it was about the inside of the city walls. Did Empire City even have walls normally?

Nickel's head was spinning, being floated in the air like a balloon at running speed wasn't ideal for someone who hadn't eaten and had just been running themselves and had just emptied at least ninety percent of their power's reservoir. He supposed it was faster, though, and certainly Silver would let him go when it was time.

'Time' apparently came when his companions had made it inside the walls. Nickel was dropped a bit abruptly, but he managed to land on his feet with his hands deployed to soften the fall. He dusted off his gloves and fingers and he followed the other three, power fully recuperated.

The little journey through the city was quick and quiet. No one said a word; only sounds of exertion occasionally broke free as they battled through a sizable crowd of foes. Nickel was unofficially tasked with rear-end ambushes which, thankfully for him, weren't all that plentiful, and when they did come in the robots were whipped sharpish.

They were, however, swiftly growing in number in front of them. On the one hand, that was confirmation that they were getting close to their source. On the other hand, it signified the rather noticeable increase in difficulty to get to where they were going. Their progress was slowing.

It was arduous, but eventually they cut through the throng of badniks and reached the source: unsurprisingly an Eggman base, and a very active one at that.

As soon as they entered the premises, intriguingly, all the robots that surrounded them deactivated, and in their place there turned on a giant screen. The doctor appeared front and centre with his trademark grin. Nickel regarded his image with boredom epitomised.

"Ah, welcome, members of the Restoration!" Eggman's voice sounded out. "I must commend you for making it through my onslaught of robots unscathed! You must have dealt with them mercilessly - not that I would expect substandard performances from my nemeses." Somebody made a sound of scorn, or perhaps disdain, and Nickel didn't know who it was.

"What's all this about, Eggman?" That was Silver.

Eggman's image continued: "This is pre-recorded, so I presume you've asked by now what this has all been about. I'm pleased to announce my latest evil scheme is coming soon! Obviously, I won't disclose the inner detailings, but I will say this: You may not want to be so merciless then."

He let loose a typical maniacal laugh, before the screen switched off and the robots all reactivated. Before any of the four could strike at them, they retreated and flooded out of Empire City, leaving the place unkempt to say the least.

"Cryptic," Nickel said, not particularly keen on the implications of the doctor's words. Silver went to shut down the systems controlling the base.

"What do you think he meant?" Tangle asked, not necessarily directly aimed at anyone.

"Not sure," Whisper admitted quietly.

"It might be something similar to the Metal Virus," Silver reasoned, and the three besides him shuddered, wishing not to remember that time. "I mean, think about it. When we were in the middle of the outbreak, we could have been as merciless as we wanted with the zombots, at the cost of becoming one ourselves. So we couldn't afford to be merciless. Maybe it could be something like that."

"Not to mention the things wouldn't die when you shredded them," Nickel muttered. More loudly, he continued, "I could see him trying something similar, 'cause it has almost worked before."

"Should tell the others," Whisper said. "Should be prepared for anything."

"Yeah! Let's head home," Tangle voiced exuberantly.

.

As they exited Empire City, their job done, they were hailed by the same sandy feline that had first alerted them to the happenings in the city.

"Wait!" he called. Nickel stopped and turned to face him. "Let me repay you for what you've done for us."

"No, no," Silver replied, having heard him as well. "You don't have to pay us for helping you out. That's what we do."

"No, I..." the cat laughed. "I didn't mean 'pay you' literally. I just meant - well, I noticed you didn't come here with any kind of transportation."

"That's right, we didn't," the hedgehog confirmed.

"So, uh, would you mind if I gave you a ride back to the City?"

Nickel's eyes lit up, as did his partners' eyes, he was sure. "Are you sure, though? We don't want to be an inconvenience to you like that," Silver said.

"Oh, it's no problem. Really," the generous fellow remarked. "I was going to go there today anyway. I'm supposed to visit a friend tomorrow, and I want to get a head start."

It was no surprise then that Tangle cut in and vociferously agreed to be given a ride back. Nickel couldn't blame her; as fun as the trip was, walking was tedious. He agreed too.

Whisper nodded in acquiescence as well, leaving Silver outvoted even if he said no. "Yeah, okay. Sure. If you're absolutely sure it won't be a problem."

"None at all. Follow me." The cat began to lead them, presumably to his vehicle of choice. "Oh - my name is Jax."

Nickel chuckled at his name. "What's so funny?" Tangle asked him.

"Nothing," he said instinctively, before contradicting the statement and explaining his reasoning for laughing. "Back where I come from, there's a store with his name. I was just rememberin' it." That satisfied the lemur.

It didn't take long to reach the place they were being led to, and Nickel spotted a simple but nice-looking car. It wasn't particularly big, and he had to wonder if they all would fit in there.

Jax answered his unasked question. "It'll hold all of you, but you really need to squeeze together in the back. Who's going in front?"

Silver and Tangle both made a dash for it, and the hedgehog just came out on top in that race. "Yes!" he shouted in victory.

"Aw, man!" Tangle said, disappointed to lose. "Alright, fine. You win."

Silver joyfully hopped into the passenger seat, and Tangle made her way to the left-hand back door. Nickel went to the right-hand side and opened the door wide for Whisper to go in first. "Thanks," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he replied just as quietly, waiting until she'd slid over to the middle before he got in himself.

There really was minimal space for them all. Nickel thought it a blessing that he wasn't any bigger than he was; he could make himself even tinier against the door, offering up half a centimetre for the girls to use.

Even with that extra half-centimetre, they were all still pretty much jammed against each other. Nickel was very, very aware that Whisper's thigh was touching his, but he couldn't move any further to rectify that issue. He just had to grin and bear it. She, to be fair, was probably doing the same.

As the car started up and began to move, he noticed that the music player was on, and faint but perceptible music was coming through it. It seemed like instrumental, so he laid his head backward onto the seat's headpiece and closed his eyes, trying to let the music's waves wash over his mind's shore and lull him into a false sense of security before inevitably he hit his head against the window.

Before any of that could happen, though, the music changed, and a voice said: "It was a sleight on my honour, so he deserved it."

Nickel quoted the next line in time with the player. "But we're talking about the most brilliant mind this world has ever seen!"

That caught everyone by surprise, most notably Jax. "You know this song?"

"Yeah," Nickel said simply, not opening his eyes or moving his head. "It's a... nice song to listen to."

There wasn't a reply, and Nickel continued singing along softly, hoping Jax would let the music play and he could relax to it. He also hoped no one was staring at him for singing poorly.

Besides the song and his accompanying singing, there was nothing being said, which certainly didn't make Nickel feel that great. He could almost feel everyone looking at him; he tried hard to ignore that feeling.

Much earlier than it felt for the rust-coloured cat, the song ended and Tangle was giving him soft applause. "That was actually really good. You didn't tell me you could sing."

"It's not something I parade, 'cause I always think I sound bad," he answered honestly.

"Well, you don't sound bad at all," she replied. Jax backed her up, to Nickel's slight embarrassment. His stomach turned, he still hadn't -

He let out a sighing groan. Thinking of his stomach had revealed something they'd all forgotten. "Silver, we don't have our stuff."

The hedgehog's eyes opened wide. "Jax, hang on. I gotta run back for something really quick. I promise, I'll be back in five minutes!" The vehicle stopped, and Silver quite literally flew out of the front seat and back the way they'd come. Tangle looked tempted to climb into the front seat in his place, but decided against it before either Whisper or Nickel could yank her tail back to where it should have been - figuratively, of course.

True to his word, Silver returned very fast, materials floating near him in his psychic grasp. He opened the door Tangle was nearest to and offloaded one of three backpacks, saying "Hold this" and dashing around to Nickel's side before she could protest.

Nickel received the large backpack that held both tents that they'd brought. It wasn't that heavy at all; when he compared it to what he would carry to school some days, it was fairly light. It wasn't a feather's weight, but it wasn't like he was holding a massive sack of potatoes. Silver returned to the front seat with the last bag, bidding the cat driver to proceed once more.

Now holding the large rucksack, Nickel's previous plan to relax was dashed. He looked out the tinted window, wondering what he should do. He shifted the bag to his right, trying to ensure that it wasn't sitting on Whisper's leg as well as his. She still had yet to say anything since getting into the car, clutching her beloved wispon to herself as accommodatingly as possible, trying to be very small just like Nickel was.

Nickel laid his head back again, eyes open this time; as though on cue the car jostled, and Nickel's head was thrown into the car wall, right onto the pulley at the top of the seatbelt complex. It hurt a great deal. He audibly grimaced and held the paining part of his head.

"Nickel, are you okay?" Tangle asked. Silver and Whisper faced him as well, Whisper's hand hovering over his shoulder, and the air between her hand and his shoulder grew astronomically heavy to Nickel.

"Yeah, 'm fine," he answered. "I've had this happen to me way more times than I care to admit. Hurts, but I'll be fine."

Tangle still looked at him with a small degree of worry. Whisper moved her hand, and the heavy air lightened significantly; Nickel felt much better on that front. There was still that unforgiving friction between their thighs that he couldn't escape.

Nickel tried again, leaning his head back for the third time. He wrapped his arms around the big backpack he was still holding and shut his eyes, effectively turning the bag into a giant awkward teddy bear. He tilted his head away from the door so that it likely would not hit against the door again.

"Wake me up when we get there, please," he muttered, moreso to Silver than to anyone else.

"Does it feel like you're lost in a dream?" Silver asked jokingly.

Nickel set his face deadpan. "I will tase you."

As per usual, Silver got a good laugh out of the exchange. Nickel allowed the world, finally, to slip away as he went to sleep, images of Silver's comeuppance floating around his mind.

.

Nickel wasn't sure how much later he'd awoken, but the car was still moving, so they hadn't quite arrived at their destination of the City. Everyone else, barring Whisper of course, was talking away with each other. About what, Nickel didn't quite have the wakefulness of mind to try to discern.

As his eyes reopened, he felt a little weight on his left hand, which wasn't around the backpack as it should have been. He tried to move his hand, and found a seemingly content Orange just sitting there in his palm.

As he wondered why the orange wisp was there, there came a chattering sound from right by his chest, in a tiny space between him and the rucksack. Three more wisps flew out from there, sounding discontented, and Orange left his hand to join them. None of those three was Blue.

"Oh, hey, you're up!" Silver greeted Nickel. Nickel gave an acknowledging sound. "We just got pizza! You want some?"

"In the vehicle? Are you sure?" Nickel asked tiredly but incredulously, not even thinking about how the pizza got there in the first place.

"Jax said it was fine," Silver replied. The name-dropped cat nodded yes at the statement as confirmation.

"Okay, 'f you say so." As Silver handed the box to Nickel, the red-furred feline noticed that the wisp missing from the little gaggle was actually still in the tiny cavity where the others sans Orange had come from. Blue was still happy to sit in there, snugly between him and the backpack, probably getting squeezed just as much as everyone in the back seats.

"Thanks," Nickel said as he took the pizza box. Inside were five slices, presumably out of eight; two were cheese pizza slices and the others looked like they had ham or something as their main topping. "How considerate," Nickel remarked to himself as he took a cheese-topped piece. He attempted to hand it back to the hedgehog, but Tangle intercepted it and took a slice for herself.

"Thanks!" she told him. Nickel snorted in laughter, because she knew he hadn't been giving it to her.

"Sure thing, pal," he responded, taking a bite.

"How do you like it?" Silver questioned.

The vermilion cat put a hand over his mouth to conceal the food in it as he spoke. He knew all too well what a mouthful of half-eaten food looked like, and it wasn't flattering. "It's pretty good."

Silver gave a grin, and Nickel turned his attention away from the alabaster hedgehog to the cerulean wisp still residing in that tiny space. He chose not to say anything else until he'd finished the slice in his hand. He tried hard not to spill anything in his eating.

"What're ya doin' in there still? 'S a bit tight, in'nit?" he said when he was done. His tone carried a noticeably British accent.

Blue made some of the laziest sounds he'd ever heard from a wisp. He turned to his translator to the left, who said in an almost imperceptible voice, "Says it's comfortable." Nickel would have accepted that answer, but she wasn't done there. "Likes your purring, too. Everybody does."

Nickel was a little embarrassed to hear that. Purring, for many felines, was a sensitive subject to talk about, perhaps mainly because it was uncontrollable, and it was so often linked to a sort of romantic happiness. Thus, many cats tried to stifle their purring, and were understandably self-conscious about hearing that they'd been caught in the act - let alone when someone said they liked it.

Nickel, for his part, really only purred when he was asleep (or close to it) or occasionally when his hair was being played with. He didn't even know himself to spontaneously purr around any particular people - maybe with the exception of Lily, and even then that was most likely due to the other reasons.

Before he could say anything regarding the information he'd been given, Tangle piped up. "I've never heard a cat purr before today, is it always that deep?"

"Yeah," Nickel answered.

"No," Silver said at the same time. Both boys looked at each other challengingly.

Jax broke the deadlock, obviously not talking much for the sake of not crashing into anything. "It's always a deep sound, for sure, but I don't think I've ever heard a purr quite so deep before. Might come with the voice, who knows."

"Maybe," Nickel mused.

"I mean, makes sense," Silver remarked. "That would be why Blaze's isn't so low."

"I still wanna know how you know that information," Nickel said jestingly.

"I told you, it was a long time ago." The hedgehog huffed. "How much longer 'til we get there?"

"Another couple of hours, I'd say, traffic permitting," Jax guessed.

Nickel reached across Whisper to nab the second cheese pizza slice, being so very careful not to drop any foodstuff anywhere, especially not on the wolf. "Sorry," he apologised to her - what he'd done was not all that polite.

"S'okay," she returned.

.

As it turned out, traffic wasn't all that permitting. The five in the car found themselves in a very big jam and they were going nowhere fast.

It was also raining at this point in time, which made Nickel rather glad they'd taken the offer of a ride to the City. The rain made him want to go to sleep again, but he fought it and stayed awake. He decided to play a word game on his screen, which roped in Tangle and eventually Whisper surprisingly quickly, and soon they were all showing off their vocabularies and beating dozens of in-game levels.

It'd unfolded as follows: at the behest of the lemur upon hearing the 'level clear' jingle, Nickel showed what he was playing. She'd wanted a go at it, so he'd passed his screen to her and awaited her returning it. It had taken a while, but she did eventually hand it back; a particular word was missing. Nickel took no time to find it, and Tangle wanted another run-out, so Nickel allowed her. This happened about four times before Whisper asked to join in, and Tangle agreed for both of them. Nickel gave the device to her and the three of them played the game together on Whisper's lap.

Currently, Nickel was just spectating. His left hand was holding Whisper's wispon for her, his right still clutching the massive tent-holding knapsack. He was content to watch the girls find the words by themselves, only occasionally giving spoken directions when they asked his opinion. He was used to this when playing games with other people, especially ones he was rather good at, so he felt no reason to change the status quo.

He did feel bad for Silver, who'd been left out of this, but it was a touch more awkward to include him on account of his being in the front. Either he would have had to turn around, which wasn't safe in the front, or they would have had to hand the screen to him and not be able to play along with him. Neither option seemed favourable.

"Hey, Nickel!" Nickel faced Tangle. "What's this word?"

The red cat leaned in to take a look. The big word was 'privacy', he got that virtually immediately. His very next thought was 'piracy' since they sounded similar, but that word was already there, and the missing one was one letter shorter.

It took him a little bit, but he found the answer. "Try 'privy'," he suggested. "P-R-I-V-Y."

"Thanks!" Tangle said appreciatively as Whisper filled in the word's space, and Nickel leaned back. He was still wary of personal space, and what was certainly not helping was the fact that his and Whisper's thighs were still touching. He supposed it couldn't be helped, but the thought was circling his mind without ever looking like stopping.

He turned his attention to the outside world to try to think about something else. It looked a lot less dreary than it had twenty minutes ago. Hopefully, it'd be sunny when they got home - that way, Lily could meet Tangle and Whisper. She definitely would be very happy to.

That brought up something interesting by proxy: how would the ladies react if Lily were to come see him with Zero? Obviously the jackal was reformed, but how far could that news have spread, all things taken into account? Would they recognise him as the old Infinite or the new, better-behaved Infinite? Would they recognise him at all, for that matter?

Nickel wanted very badly for that situation to be a bridge to be crossed upon coming to it, but with the kind of firepower Whisper toted around in that wispon of hers he wasn't sure that Zero wouldn't be utterly decimated on sight.

He hummed tunelessly as he watched the rain streak down the window, following the zigzag paths the droplets paved with tired - though not fatigued - yellow eyes.

A light, almost feathery touch teased at the side of his face and reflexively he moved his hand up to rub the spot of contact. He felt a tuft of fur and he presumed it was just Tangle's tail; either it had gotten a bit adventurous on its own, or she was trying to pull some kind of big reaction from him. It didn't happen again, so it was likely the former.

Yet, in the aftermath, Tangle didn't say anything regarding it. Was she in fact feigning ignorance? A look over showed that she was focused on trying a word for the game. She might have been, it was suspicious to do something like that and then not say anything about it if it was indeed accidental. Unless she hadn't felt the contact at all; it was very light. But then, she would have felt his hand as it reached up. Was that or was that not intentional?

Nickel decided he didn't have the capacity to dig any deeper, but it was intriguing.

The car veered to the right, and as it did Jax spoke. "We're gonna take a little detour. It's usually a little slower than using the main road, but we might actually be able to get through faster because there's no traffic there."

It wasn't really a statement that needed a reply, but Silver gave one anyway. "Okay, then!" He turned to face the backseat passengers. "How are you guys doing?"

"'m doin' alright," Nickel answered.

"We're good too!" Tangle assured Silver. Whisper gave a tiny nod yes to convey mutuality. "Wish we had more pizza, though..." Tangle continued. That got a chuckle out of Nickel.

The road they were now on passed through a small collection of trees, the foliage acting almost like the boundaries of the path. It was rather scenic, Nickel had to admit.

There were, however, a few dips in the road. The car unexpectedly hit one such dip on the rear end, and Nickel's head battered against the window he was looking out of. "Ow," he muttered through clenched teeth while massaging the spot in pain. He knew it would wear off, his brain cage had gone through far worse than that bump and the one some hours ago now, but it was still very annoying. He kept looking out the window, this time remaining mindful of the gap to the pane.

.

.

.

As it happened, the detour was a great idea. They managed to enter the City with minimal extra traffic woes and save a load of time getting home. The best part was, even though they had arrived faster, the rain had still dried up quickly enough for everyone to step outside and be perfectly dry.

Jax pulled up at a stop, and the four clambered out of the automobile, each with the things they were at the time holding on to. Whisper exited on Tangle's side, an interesting choice given that she'd gone in on the opposite side.

"Thanks Jax!" Silver and Tangle called after him. The horn sounded in reply and the car vanished around a corner.

Nickel was happy to get outside again, the rain had fogged up the windows in the car and the AC unit had to be deployed to clear it; outside was slightly but noticeably warmer. "Which way is the HQ?" he asked himself.

Whisper must have heard him, because she answered "South from here."

Nickel found the setting Sun and formulated the correct way to go. It would be twilight soon; they had better hurry if they wanted to report back before nightfall.

Thankfully, Jax hadn't left them very far from the edge of the city, near where the headquarters were located. They made it quite quickly.

There, Nickel noticed Lily playing out front with Zero. That worry from before sprung back up, but he quashed it in favour of properly greeting the little girl.

The jackal noticed first, turning Lily around to see. It wasn't long at all before Lily was running at him and shouting his name. "Mister Nickel! Mister Nickel!"

Nickel shrugged off the knapsack on his shoulders and got down on one knee, prepared for the giant hug he was about to receive.

Lily threw herself at him and he caught her, lifting her up with a spin as they laughed and embraced. "Hi mister Nickel!" she said. "I missed you!"

"Aww, I missed you too, Lily," Nickel returned, setting her back down. It was then she noticed who was behind Nickel.

"Hi mister Silver!" The hedgehog gave a wave and a warm smile. "Who are they?" she questioned, gesturing to Tangle, who looked ready to explode, and Whisper, who looked more curious about the approaching Zero than Lily.

Silver answered Lily, given he'd been addressed just before the question came in. "They're our friends, Tangle -" he pointed to the lemur - "and Whisper!" He pointed to the wolf.

Tangle ran forward and hugged the little kitten, who let out a surprised squeak. "Oh my gosh, you're so cute!" she gushed.

Nickel chuckled as Lily struggled somewhat to react to the sudden affection. Meanwhile, Zero had finally made it to them. "Welcome back, Nickel."

A click sounded to Nickel's right, and he immediately knew what that was. He wheeled around to face Whisper and roughly pushed down the barrel of her primed wispon she was just getting ready to use.

Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds, before Whisper faced Nickel, moved her mask and quite fiercely glared at him; for the first time, the cat was able to see the wolf's celestial blue eyes.

His heart skipped as he felt the force behind her gaze, her next word dripping with the same contempt. "Move."

Even Tangle, who should have been in a similar boat to Whisper, wasn't moving a muscle in favour of just watching this stare-down. Lily with her seemed just as petrified, seemingly unable to do anything other than spectate.

Nickel took a breath, trying to think of words to say. "Y'see," he began, "This guy is reformed. He's not Infinite anymore."

Whisper said nothing, so Nickel went on. "I know that sounds ridiculous, but trust me. He's actually a pretty decent person nowadays. He's even sorta made some amends with the rest of the Resistance." He looked at a certain grey-coloured hedgehog, and suddenly the burden of proof was lifted ever so slightly. "Just ask Silver."

Whisper, again, said nothing. She didn't even look Silver's way - not that Silver was making himself of any use at the moment, no pun intended - her eyes were dead set on Nickel and Zero, almost unblinking.

"Fine." Nickel stood in front of Zero. "If you don't believe me, go ahead. Shoot him. Shoot him through me."

He lifted his hand from her weapon, and she in turn re-masked and raised the wispon to aim at the two males. Nickel folded his arms, half-lidding his eyes in an almost challenging way. His heart was pounding, he was basically at gunpoint, but he'd long learned to mask nervousness and his poker face stood strong.

After a painstaking, stagnant wait, Whisper metaphorically blinked first, lowering her wispon. "Want to talk to him."

"Sure. Don't kill him, though." Nickel stood aside, and Zero and Whisper started to talk, gradually walking away from the rest of the pack. The cat heard the beginnings of introductions: "Uh, my name is Zero..."

Lily finally broke out of her reverie and clutched Nickel's leg. "Mister Nickel, are you okay?"

"How do you feel after that?" Tangle asked, having similarly recovered.

"I just stared Death herself in the face and she blinked first. How d'you think I feel right now?" he half-joked. "I feel like I'm about to die anyway, my heart's racin' so fast..."

"You stay out here, then," Silver advised. "I'm gonna go and share what we found out with everybody else - I'll be right back." He psychokinetically propelled himself into the big building, leaving the three of Nickel, Lily and Tangle to talk amongst themselves.

Nickel kept half an eye on the conversation between Whisper and Zero some distance away now, making sure that nothing untoward was going on. It seemed all fine, for now.

"So, Whisper..." Tangle said suddenly, after a bout of aimless talk. "Don't you think she's pretty, Nickel?"

Lily giggled at the lemur's forwardness; Nickel wished he could avoid this conversation. "Yes, she's pretty," he said with a huff.

"I think she might like you, mister Nickel," Lily chimed in.

"Me too," Tangle added coquettishly.

"Are we really doin' this?" The girls laughed at his deadpan face and words of discontent. "And here I thought you weren't gonna do anything like that, Tangle, some friend you are."

"I'm just kidding!" Tangle said, amusement climbing higher. "But I can see why Lily does it. It's funny to see your reactions."

Nickel loudly sighed into his hands. "So, this is how I die. Being tormented by girls about girls. What a way to go."

"Mister Nickel, you're so dramatic," Lily giggled again. "It's not that bad."

He made a sound that was neither here nor there; Zero and Whisper rejoined them after their talk. "How'd it go, you two?" Tangle pried.

"Well, my head is still attached, so I think it went well," Zero remarked, and he got a few chuckles from the three, Nickel especially.

"Told me the story," Whisper said. "Seems good now; still watching him, though."

"The price to pay for being a former supervillain," the jackal lamented with a theatrical tone, similar to Nickel's earlier. "The whole Resistance is watching my every move, what's one more name on the list?"

"Is it time to go home?" Tangle asked Whisper.

"One more thing." Of a sudden, the rainbow of wisps sprung into view, chattering animatedly. The majority seemed taken with Lily, as she was with them; she looked at them in wonderment as they fluttered around her excitedly.

Blue was the only one left behind, latching on to Nickel's face as was so often the case and pleading for him not to go, something Nickel could figure out without a translation.

"Don't worry, Blue. We'll see each other again, I'm sure. It's not like I'm leaving the continent or anything." That got a semblance of a laughing chitter from the wisp. "Besides, if you really wanted to see me and Lily again, we live that way." He pointed south, away from HQ and toward the city's edge. "Just don't run away from Whisper, alright? She needs you." Blue chirruped again, now much happier than before. "Now, go talk to Lily - 'm sure she'd like to see ya."

Blue did what he'd suggested, and Lily found herself with an extra wisp flying around her to talk to. Whisper was translating for her; Nickel thought it was nice of the wolf to do so for the kitten.

Eventually, the group parted ways - Silver never did come back out - and the trio of Nickel, Lily and Zero went home.

"Where were you all that time?" Zero questioned.

"Empire City," Nickel responded. "We found out Robotnik's gonna do something soon. What it is, we don't know."

"That sounds scary," Lily admitted.

"Don't worry, Lily," Zero told her. "Nickel and I will do everything we can to stop him before he can succeed with any plot he may be concocting."

Lily smiled at him, and Zero fought his own. Nickel sprouted a smirk himself; whether he wanted to admit it or not, the jackal had a major soft spot for the kitten. It was good to see him express feelings.