The three of them moved carefully through the rubble. Wyldstyle had made a weapon out of a long length of rebar and a rusty saw blade she'd found, and she held it at the ready as she followed Bad Cop.

After Bad Cop had tripped over a loose piece of concrete for the fourth time, Wyldstyle out a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Maybe you'd better let Benny take over," she murmured.

Bad Cop glared. "I'm fine."

Wyldstyle rolled her eyes. "You're falling over every five seconds. If Unikitty hadn't picked you up back there, you'd be dog food right now."

Bad Cop turned his face away, and Wyldstyle stepped around to make him look at her. "I hope you don't think you're protecting Benny," she said.

He coughed uncomfortably. "Of course not," he muttered, shoving his aviators up his nose. They were a bit big on Benny's face, and kept sliding down.

"You're gonna get the both of you killed," Wyldstyle said.

"Alright, alright," Bad Cop snapped. "Give me a second." He stepped a little ways away and sat down. Benny? he asked tentatively.

There was a moment, and then Benny replied sleepily, B?

We're in a bit of trouble, Bad Cop said. I hate to do this to you, but I'm having some problems adjusting to your body.

Hasn't stopped you yet, Benny yawned.

This is a bit more life or death, Bad Cop replied.

Benny was instantly wide-awake, and Bad Cop explained the situation.

Aw, I hate Hounds, Benny groaned. Alright, let's do this.

Bad Cop switched out, and Benny took the aviators off his face, pocketing them. "And I don't want you worrying in the back of my head, okay?" he said. "It's your turn to sleep."

Fine, Bad Cop grumbled, and he faded back with practiced ease.

Benny stood up and returned to Wyldstyle, eyeing her saw-spear. "That's certainly menacing," he said.

Wyldstyle smiled, adjusting her grip on it. "Good," she replied. "Welcome back."

Benny cricked his neck. "Good to be back." He paused, looking around at the half-decimated city. "I think."

"Bad Cop fill you in?" Wyldstyle asked.

"Yeah," Benny said. "We're headed for the happy face." He scanned the wall until his eyes settled on the yellow dot in the distance, then checked his watch. Bad Cop had set a timer, and it read eighteen hours. "Are we really walking the whole way?"

"We're trying to not attract the attention of any Hounds," Wyldstyle answered, leaning on her weapon. "We figured once we get closer, we'll make a break for it."

Benny chewed on his lip. "I can keep an eye out from above, serve as an early-warning system."

Wyldstyle nodded. "That might work."

She'd barely finished the sentence before Benny took off, rocketing into the air. He stopped when he could see the surrounding streets for a few blocks. Hovering, he searched out any suspicious movement, following along above Unikitty and Wyldstyle as they made their way along. When he was satisfied there weren't any Hounds in the immediate vicinity, he floated ahead, coming down to land on the rooftop of a three-story building. If he stayed in the air too long, the Hounds were as likely to spot him as he was to spot them.

He pulled out the binoculars and looked over at the happy face again. It almost certainly wasn't what marked Good Cop's location – in all probability, it was just the next hint. He itched to just fly ahead and investigate, but that would leave Wyldstyle and Unikitty open to surprise attacks. They needed him on lookout.

But it was going to be at least an hour's walk, maybe even two. And who knew how many clues that Kinzel was going to be leaving them. For all they could tell, he might just be leading them on a merry chase around the Projects, getting them to waste their time on following a long trail of breadcrumbs.

Benny checked back on the progress the other two were making, and movement caught the corner of his eye. Two blocks away, a pink lizard-thing about the length of a bus was slinking towards them.

He pushed off the roof of the building and dove to the ground, grit on the asphalt crunching under his feet as he skidded to a stop in front of Wyldstyle and Unikitty. "Hound behind you," he said breathlessly, drawing his gun. "It's coming fast. I recommend running."

Wyldstyle turned to look, tightening her grip on her weapon. "It'll call its friends if we let it."

"We don't have time to fight," Benny replied. "Tick-tock, remember?"

Wyldstyle gritted her teeth. The Hound was picking up speed, its stubby legs blurring as it scrambled down the street. "Fine," she spat. "Unikitty?"

Unikitty had already transformed, and they lifted Wyldstyle onto their back, Benny leaping up after her, and off they went.

Benny squinted against the air rushing past, and he called over the wind, "Can you roof-hop?"

In lieu of a reply, Unikitty tensed their hind legs and jumped, soaring through the air to land on top of the nearest two-story building. They put on an extra spurt and leapt to the next one, following the best path of short buildings toward the happy face. Benny looked behind. There was no sign of the Hound. Then he looked down, and there it was, skittering after them along the ground, following them through the alleys and streets between the buildings. If Unikitty lost their footing, it would be on them in seconds.

"Hey, Unikitty!" Benny shouted. "Remember Atlantis?"

"Oh, no," Unikitty replied. "No, we are not doing an Atlantis!"

"What's an Atlantis?" Wyldstyle asked.

Benny checked behind again. There was a second Hound, leaping along the rooftops after them. "I don't think we have a whole lot of choices here!" Now there was a third, crawling along the sides of the buildings.

"What's an Atlantis?"

"Oh, fine," Unikitty snarled, and pushed off the building as hard as they could, gliding into the air so high they could almost see the entirety of the Projects. Benny hooked his arm through Wyldstyle's and then, just at the peak of the arc, Unikitty swapped back into their human form and grabbed Benny's hand.

Wyldstyle looked down. The Hounds below appeared so small from up here.

The trio started to fall. Wyldstyle opened her mouth to scream, but then-