again, sorry this took a while! more writer's block, haha. but thanks to my buddy katy and her excellent beta-ing, i'm back on track! extra long chapter as an apology for being gone so long c:

Just as they finished gearing up, a hum more felt than heard cut through the air, vibrating the walls. The four of them rushed to the window and looked out. From the opposite direction of the oncoming wave of Business' army, a large black disc came gliding above the buildings, casting its shadow over the smoking city. They recognized it as the ship that the Duplos had first showed up in, but it was eerily silent but for the drone of its passing. They watched as it came to a gentle stop at the center of Bricksburg, and waited tensely for its next move.

Kinzel did a little hop and a skip as he approached the machine. It was a fat cylinder about a foot taller than him, steely grey and full of sections with switches and buttons and blinking lights. Two thick pipes ran up either side of it and touched at the top, bending upwards to disappear into the ceiling alongside each other. The central panel in front of him had a keyhole.

Whistling a little tune, he reached for the lever beside the machine and pulled it forward. The machine rumbled into life.

There was a breathless moment, then electronic music blasted from the ship and multicolored beams of light shot out of it in every direction, spinning and flashing in time to the beat.

The four of them jerked in surprise.

"I guess that's the signal," Benny said, leaning on the windowsill. "Subtle."

"He definitely knows how to make an entrance," Wyldstyle said. "Gotta give him that, at least."

Good Cop nodded wordlessly.

Then Business asked the most important question: "But what exactly is he signaling? Your officer said something about the Forest, but-"

He was cut off as the ground began to shake.

With a satisfied smirk, Kinzel pushed the lever back into position and unlooped the key from around his neck. He placed it into the keyhole, turned it. There was a clunk, and he pulled it out and hung it around his neck again. Task completed, he looked at Rawley standing a little ways behind him. "To the observation deck?" he asked.

Rawley grinned. "Wouldn't miss this show for the world, sir."

The street below them began to crack down the middle – slowly at first, and then the fissures began widening rapidly. Green tendrils burst from the ground and raced upwards toward the sky, some wrapping around buildings almost possessively. Others went until they reached high above the buildings, at which point the tips of them flowered open and spread out like a canopy, more vines draping downwards again. The ones clinging to the buildings began to bloom – huge, bright blossoms that unfurled gracefully.

Neither Benny nor Wyldstyle had been to the Forest of Obsolete Products, and found the disastrous display to still be strangely beautiful. But both Good Cop and Business had gone completely pale. "Not these," Business croaked.

Benny opened his mouth to ask, when one of the giant flowers suddenly lashed out, a long tongue about as thick as an arm shooting from the center to lance through a cop car that was desperately trying to navigate its way through the mess. The car was yanked from the ground and, just as quickly, pulled up to the flower. Benny had the opportunity to see circular rows of razor-sharp teeth before the car vanished into the gaping maw. The petals snapped shut, and there was a horrible moment before the flower slowly opened again.

There was no sign of the car.

The tongue curled lazily, waiting for its next victim, and the other flowers along the thick vine began to grow alert. The petals had an almost ghostly glow to them in the deepening shade that the canopy cast as it grew denser and denser.

A small groan from the direction of the bed caught Benny's attention, and he looked over. Unikitty was on their side, stretching. They blinked slowly and raised their head, scanning the room groggily. "Where are we?" they asked.

"You're awake!" Benny was next to the bed in an instant, and the other three were close behind him. He ran a hand over Unikitty's soft fur. "We're in the cops' apartment," he said. "There's a lot you've missed."

Unikitty was becoming more alert now, and they sat up. "You found Good Cop!" they exclaimed. Then they saw Business, and their eyes narrowed.

"It's okay," Benny said hurriedly, noticing their glare. "He's helping us. We've got some bigger problems." He pointed to the window, and Unikitty's gaze followed his direction.

"The Forest?" they said, looking back up at Benny. "But how?"

"Kinzel's controlling the plants somehow," Good Cop said. He'd grown very tense, and his hands were shaking a little. "But Bad Cop-" He swallowed. "I need Bad Cop back. He's dying."

Unikitty abruptly popped into their human form and leapt to their feet. "He's being rejected?"

Benny and Good Cop nodded wordlessly.

"He'd been having trouble adjusting to Benny's body," Wyldstyle said. "I should have realized it sooner."

"I should have realized it," Unikitty replied. They stood on tiptoe to put their hand on Benny's forehead, and the spaceman stooped down a bit to make it easier for them to reach. Unikitty closed their eyes for a moment, and then the corners of their mouth tugged down. They stepped back and looked at Good Cop, then at Benny. "Can you still talk to him?"

"I think so," Benny said, trying to mentally reach out. "Bad?"

There was a worrying moment, then Bad Cop replied softly, Ben?

"How're you doing, man?"

Peachy, Bad Cop said in a way that implied the exact opposite. His voice felt faint.

Benny returned his attention to Unikitty. "His sarcasm muscle is still working."

That didn't seem to comfort Unikitty. In fact, their pink was beginning to fade to a drab grey. They looked to Good Cop miserably. "I…" They swallowed. "I can't move him."

Good Cop's hands clenched into fists. "What? Why not?"

"His position is too tenuous, and I'm still too weak," they replied. The color had completely faded from them, making them look like they'd just been pulled out of the saddest black-and-white movie. "If I tried to transfer him back into your head, we'd lose him for sure."

Benny looked stunned, like the meaning behind the words hadn't sunk in yet.

"That can't be right," Good Cop said, taking a step forward. "That- it can't be."

Unikitty sat on the edge of the bed, their gaze lowered, unable to look at either Benny or Good Cop. Guilt was written all across their face. "I can… I can find some way to anchor him a bit longer, but all that would do is buy him a little extra time."

Good Cop clenched his fists. "Time to do what?"

Unikitty shrugged helplessly. "I'm sorry," they murmured.

"No," Good Cop said, grabbing their shoulders. They winced, but he was too angry to notice. "You have to bring him back. We were depending on you. And you're just going to let him die?"

Unikitty looked like he might as well have punched them in the gut. "I- I…" Tears began to well up in their eyes.

Benny moved forward, grabbed Good Cop's wrist. "It's not their fault, G."

Good Cop didn't seem to hear him, and his mouth was twisted into a snarl.

"Liam," Benny said, tightening his grip.

Good Cop's stomach bottomed out at the name. He looked at Benny's pleading expression, then back at Unikitty's wretched face. Slowly, he pried his fingers open, stepped back. Benny didn't release his hold on the cop's wrist.

Good Cop turned to Benny despairingly. "I can't lose him," he managed to choke out. "Benny, I…"

By now, Bad Cop had noticed Benny's inner turmoil. Ben, he said. What's going on?

Benny wished so, so badly that he could figure out how to talk to Bad Cop internally. He put one hand over his eyes, the other still clinging to Good Cop. "You're dying, B," he managed.

I kind of noticed that, Bad Cop replied faintly. I meant what's going on with my brother?

Benny looked up at Good Cop, saw that deep darkness returning, but there was something new in it, and Benny found it too familiar. It was a bottomless fear, an endless void. "He's afraid, B," Benny whispered, unable to break his gaze away from Good Cop's. "He's terrified."

Good Cop looked like he might be sick.

Tell him for me, Bad Cop said. His voice was growing weaker. Benny could feel him going, and wondered if this was how he'd felt when he lost Good Cop. Tell him it's not his fault. It's never been his fault.

His tongue heavy, Benny repeated the words to Good Cop, watched as if from a great distance as Good Cop's face crumpled.

Then Benny realized that Bad Cop was fading, fading, almost gone, and panic lanced through him, snapping him back to the here and now. "Unikitty," he said, frantically turning to them. "Anchor him, you have to anchor him, he can't go, not yet-"

Unikitty reached up and pressed the tips of their fingers to his forehead, cutting him off. Benny felt a pressure squeezing down on his brain, and then Bad Cop stopped. He was far, but still there, and he wasn't fading any more.

"I don't know how long it will last," Unikitty said, sinking back down onto the bed.

"Maybe there's some other way," Good Cop said desperately. "Maybe we can figure something out-"

But Unikitty was shaking their head. "Mindspaces are complicated," they said, "and extremely delicate, especially in situations like this. I'm so, so sorry, but… there isn't anything else we can do."

There was a tremor in his voice as Benny murmured under his breath, telling Bad Cop what Unikitty had said.

He won't listen to them, Bad Cop replied. You have to stop him before he fixates. He paused. You don't want to believe it either.

"Of course not," Benny mumbled.

Unikitty is right, Ben, and you know it, Bad Cop said.

Reluctantly, Benny whispered, "I know."

You have to make him listen. He'll get everyone killed trying to achieve the unachievable.

Sure enough, Good Cop was winding up to argue, tensing under Benny's hold, his expression setting into a stubbornness that Benny knew would be impossible to shake once it got its teeth in.

Benny cleared his throat, steeled himself. "G," he said. "Don't."

Good Cop seemed to freeze, and he slowly turned his head to look at Benny. "Don't?"

"Unikitty's right," Benny said, his shoulders slumped in resignation. "Trust me. I know enough about mindspaces. You should know how badly things can screw up by now, too. Why do you think we're in this position in the first place?"

"No," Good Cop said. "I can't give up."

"You have to," Benny said. The air around him felt so stifling. "There's nothing else we can do. He knows it, too, and he wants us to move on."

Good Cop shook his head furiously. "I can't make it on my own. I can't do it without him."

Sudden anger flashed through Benny, and he pulled on Good Cop's wrist, yanking him down so they were eye to eye. "Of course you can!" he snapped. "What have you been doing this whole time?"

"I was able to because I thought I was going to get him back," Good Cop croaked.

"There's nothing more we can do for B, and he's come to terms with that," Benny said. "We need to come to terms with that as well, for everyone's sakes."

Good Cop opened his mouth to object, but Benny stopped him by snarling, "You think this is easy for me to say? I can feel him dying!" He took an unsteady breath. "But there are people out there who we can save," he continued, pointing to the window and the chaos beyond, "and we have an obligation to them because right now, we're the only ones who are capable of doing it."

"I can't," Good Cop said, his voice cracking.

"We have to," Benny said softly, looking down at his hand around Good Cop's wrist. "And maybe, if we're lucky, he'll be able to hang on long enough to see us save our city."

Good Cop's face went slack, and he looked years younger, vulnerable and shattered, and Benny's heart broke again. He pulled Good Cop into a tight hug, and for a moment the cop stiffened, and then he wrapped his arms around Benny and began to shake with silent sobs.

Wind whipped past Jenkins' face, tugging strands of her dark hair free from her ponytail. She lifted her hand to shield her eyes against the sun, trying to see Bricksburg in the distance. Emmet was next to her, behind the wheel of the converted farming vehicle. The rest of the squad was clinging to the back of the tractor as it sped across the dry expanse, kicking up a cloud of dust in its wake. The wall was growing closer and closer by the second, and she could see the ship hanging over Bricksburg, flashing its lights, and the plants rising above the cityscape. Her phone beeped, and she took it out and checked it.

Reception.

Quickly, she selected a contact and hit the call button.

Benny nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone went off, and he and Good Cop sprang apart. Struggling to reorient himself, Benny fumbled the phone out of his pocket. It was Jenkins. With shaking hands, he put the call on speaker. "J.J.?"

"I couldn't finish earlier," she shouted over what sounded like rushing wind, "because I lost reception. The most important bit is how he's controlling the plants! There's a machine that you gotta get to, but in order to work it, you need to get a key. He's probably got it on him somewhere!"

Through the haze in Good Cop's mind, a memory of his encounter with Kinzel rose to the surface. "He has it around his neck," he said. "It's a skeleton key, right?"

"Right!"

"But how is it controlling the plants?" Wyldstyle asked, stepping closer to the phone.

"I'm not really sure," Jenkins replied. "Seems like some kind of matter manipulator. I've got part of the blueprints, but the stuff about how it works wasn't there. Listen, I'm almost to Bricksburg! Where are you guys?"

"My apartment," Good Cop said. He felt like he was on autopilot now. "But I don't think we can stay here much longer. We need to get above the canopy before it gets too dense or we'll be trapped."

"Then I'll find you up top!"

Then someone else spoke, the words unclear but the voice instantly recognizable.

"Emmet?" Wyldstyle said, grabbing the phone out of Benny's hand. "Is that you? Are you alright?"

There was a muffled shout of, "Yeah, I'm fine!"

But before either of them could say any more, Jenkins was talking again. "We gotta hang up, this ride's about to get really bumpy. But we'll see you soon!"

The line went dead. Wyldstyle looked like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "He's okay," she said with a breath of relief.

Through all of this, Business had been staring out the window, and now he said, "It looks like the canopy might be too thick already." He turned to the others. "Getting out is going to be difficult."

Benny ran a hand through his hair, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. Then his eye caught on something behind Business. "I might have an idea," he said.