Chapter Twenty-Five: Devil In Disguise
"So did anybody actually see when Vitruvius decided to disappear on us?"
Lucy glanced back at the pop and hiss of a flare being fired, tilting her head as she puzzled out its existence. "Oh," she said upon realization. The others had paused to stare as well.
"Ye think that be the signal?"
Lucy nodded. "We better hurry, that'll have gotten their attention as well."
"Aye. Climb on, and hold tight!" Once he was certain his three human friends had a good grip on his frame, Metalbeard sprinted through the city, Unikitty galloping along at his side. It wasn't long before they heard angry voices- it sounded like Airheart had guessed what they were up to. Lucy carefully climbed across Metalbeard's shoulders, pulling out Bad Cop's gun and taking aim.
Airheart shrieked a furious curse as she fell, stunned, but Flea was quick to catch her and haul her onto his back, barely breaking pace in their race to reach the ship. "Whoa, look at that!" Emmet gasped, pointing ahead. Lucy turned to see a strange cross between a spaceship and a sea ship hovering above the water, easily three times the size of Benny's battleship. It was a beautiful thing of wood and brass, with sturdy wood and canvas wings sprouting from its sides, and a glass and metal cockpit set slightly further back from the middle of the ship. The ramp was lowered to allow them entry, and Benny was sitting in the cockpit with the canopy open, wearing Bad Cop's sunglasses and a huge grin.
"Get in losers, we're going home!"
Bad Cop looked over at him from the copilot's seat. "Alright you said it, can I have them back now?"
"Where the heck did Benny learn memes from?" Business gaped. "I didn't know he'd even figured out the internet yet!"
"Uh, that's kinda my fault," Emmet admitted.
A shot pinged off the side of the ship, causing them to flinch. Lucy turned back to return fire, stunning a few of the sky pirates before Metalbeard ran up the ramp to safety. Unikitty pushed the button to close it.
"Buckle up guys, this is gonna be a bumpy ride!" Benny called back. As the others obligingly strapped in, Metalbeard made his way up to the cockpit.
"What makes ye so sure we'll be able to get away this time?"
Benny and Bad Cop looked at each other, then back at the pirate captain, Benny with a grin. "Pirate's Cove," they said in unison.
Airheart was fuming as Flea sprinted up the gangplank. "Don't you dare let them get back first!" she barked. "I should have known they'd be up to something-"
"On it, Cap'," Flea said, setting her down by the helm. He flipped the switch to start the engine…
…only for nothing to happen.
"What."
"Captain!" Roberts yelled as he raced back up from below deck, clutching a piece of paper in hand. "The engines are gone!" Flea let out a groan and facepalmed as Airheart seethed at the news. "We found this," he panted as he reached them, handing over the paper. She snatched it from him, feeling starting to return to her limbs, and glared down at it.
Decided to go for that career change after all. Thanks for the suggestion. -BC
"I'm going to murder that good-for-nothing cop!" Airheart screamed in rage, crumpling the paper and chucking it at Roberts. He blinked as it bounced off his head. "Flea! Shoot them right out of the sky, I want to see that thing in pieces!"
"You got it, Captain," Flea said. "You heard her! To the guns!" The crew hurried to the deck, grabbing the massive mounted machine guns and taking aim. "Fire at will!" Sounds of confusion went up almost in unison as each and every gun locked up, and Flea nearly splintered the railing as he gripped it tight. They pulled the guns back in to inspect them, finding each had a flag that read 'bang!' sticking out of the barrel. They had no sooner discovered this prank than a chain reaction seemed to set off, yelps and shouts coming from the crewmen still below deck, accompanied by a lot of popping sounds.
The robot hurried below deck to see what was happening, only to find the remainder of the crew flailing about covered in paint of various, garishly bright colors, popcorn, and metal shavings that had a remarkably glittery effect. Topping it off was the firecrackers and sparklers that had started the panic in the first place. Flea took one look at the scene, and couldn't help himself.
He started laughing.
"Sir?!" Stevenson yelped, trying to flick away fluffy white stuck everywhere he was covered in paint (and there was, unfortunately, quite a bit of it in his hair). Flea only continued to giggle helplessly. The clever prankster must have mixed in glue with the paint to make it all stick so well. "What are our orders, sir? Do we pursue?"
"No," he finally answered once his giggles were under control again. "No, they're long gone by now. Cap's just gonna have to live with the fact that she lost." The crew glanced around at each other, looking incredibly disappointed at the news. "Hey, there's still plenty of artifacts to collect here. Even if we don't get the recognition for discovering Atlantis, we can at least provide the largest source of relics for the museums." He smirked. "They'll have to put our names on all the displays." The idea seemed to lift their spirits, and inwardly he sighed in relief. All he had left to do now was pitch it to Airheart and hope it soothed her temper.
Benny hummed happily to himself as he flew the ship away from the city. They couldn't see the chaos he'd left behind, sadly, but at least Metalbeard's story had given the others enough of an idea of what the sky pirates had in store.
"Kind of surprised they aren't firing on us," Bad Cop commented.
"Oh, I took care of that. Those guns won't be working again any time soon."
The cop chuckled at that. "You thought of everything, didn't you?"
"Well I can't take all the credit," Benny snickered. "I mean, it was your idea to take their engines."
Bad Cop shrugged. "Figured it would save us time to grab some already put together. Not to mention, prevent pursuit."
"Yeah." Benny finally, wordlessly, handed Bad Cop back his aviators. "Think we ditched them for good this time?"
"I sure hope so," he responded, putting his sunglasses back on. They fell into companionable silence, staring out at the horizon. Benny reached over, twining their fingers together. Bad Cop gave his hand a squeeze.
It was only when Octan Tower came into sight that Benny slowed down, gently setting the craft down in the water. "Let's go give Metalbeard the surprise of his life," he said, grinning. "Hey guys, get up here!"
"Why did we stop?" Emmet asked as they walked up to the cockpit, surprised by its considerable size.
"We're about to show you!" Benny said, bouncing excitedly. "Metalbeard, do us a favor and go pull that lever over there?" He gestured next to the wheel. The captain eyed him warily, but got up and strode across the room to do just that.
"No funny business?" he asked, hand resting on the lever.
"No funny business, I promise." Metalbeard yanked it down, blinking at the sudden groan of heavy machinery starting up. The craft began to vibrate, and they watched in awe through the glass canopy as parts began to move, the entire ship reshaping itself.
"Benny, what- what did ye do?!" Metalbeard gaped, watching what was formerly the wings rise up through the deck to become masts, unfurling their sails.
"Built you a new ship," the spaceman said softly. "You lost the most in this venture, so… she's yours, if you want her. She can transform back into spaceship mode, if you ever need to make a quick getaway, and we added a lot of voice command with the automation you had on the Sea Cow. I know, I know," Benny grinned at the look the sea captain gave him, "I didn't do so hot with the last talking computer I dealt with. But B helped me get it set up."
Metalbeard was silent as he stumped his way out of the bridge and onto the deck, taking his time looking the entire ship over. "You guys really went all out on this," Sirius remarked, watching as Emmet and Unikitty ran about the ship, gasping at all the details.
"This is so cool!" Unikitty squealed. "Best surprise ever!"
Metalbeard came to a pause in the cargo hold, staring at the few belongings Benny and Bad Cop had managed to salvage. "What be her name?" he asked quietly as Benny drifted up to perch on his shoulder.
"We've been calling her the Wayfarer. It was Good Cop's idea, actually, on account of how you're always traveling. He chose the voice for the computer, too."
"It actually be a talkin' computer?"
"Oh yeah. So you can have someone to talk to when you're out here all alone, if you want. She'll only be able to talk to you when you're on the bridge, but she'll hear you from anywhere on the ship. Would you like to meet her?"
"Aye, lad. I think I would."
Sirius remained on the deck, staring at his office tower. Through it, more like, Good Cop realized as he came to his former employer's side. He seemed deep in thought. "Did you want us to just drop you off here?" he offered.
"Huh? Oh." He shook himself out of his daydream. "Nah, I'd kinda like to see how she sails first." He grinned and patted the railing.
Good Cop offered a knowing smile in return. "If you say so, Sir."
"…Why do you two keep calling me 'sir'? I'm pretty sure your contract was terminated when I- uh… terminated you… And I thought Bad Cop quit? He stopped reporting to me, anyway."
"Well it's the first three letters of your first name, isn't it?" Good Cop asked with all the wide-eyed innocence he could muster. Sirius gaped at him.
"You- have you guys really been calling me by my first name this entire time?!" Good Cop started laughing, and he pouted. "So much for the respect I thought I'd finally drilled into you…" Good Cop only giggled harder in response. "There's one thing I still don't get though…"
"What's that?" the cop asked, once he'd calmed enough to do so.
"I was… really abusive toward the two of you, at the end there. And I forced Bad Cop to Kragle your parents, and I killed you. I was fully prepared to deal with the fallout that I know I deserve. So why are you being so nice to me?"
"Honestly? Because I think you need it." When Sirius gave him a dubious look, he decided to elaborate. "They didn't have to choose to show Cary kindness," he said, gesturing to the Master Builders, "and yet they did. And only good things have come from it. So. We choose the same. The world's had enough of fear and hatred, I think, and we're not going to add to it anymore. It doesn't do anyone any good." He looked down to the water. "Plus… We missed our friend. It's nice, seeing the old you again, after having to deal with the 'Lord Business' persona for so long."
Sirius was silent for a long moment, at that. "I missed you guys too," he admitted quietly.