Reboot

Chapter 11

Bad Cop leaned against a wall, arms folded across his chest as he watched Benny and Metalbeard poke curiously at Benny's new prosthetic, clearly impressed by its complexity. The two tossed ideas back and forth, brainstorming ways to improve it by adding a synthetic sense of touch. Bad Cop didn't miss the way Benny's gaze kept flicking up toward him. "What is it?" he finally huffed.

"Dude, I just can't get over how weird it is to see you without your uniform and helmet," the astronaut answered.

"Are you guys done poking at Benny's arm yet?" Unikitty piped up. "We should probably be discussing ways to stop the wedding before we get to the Temple."

"Aye, but them Systarians will likely be wakin' up soon-"

"Nah," Unikitty purred. "We've got time yet. I enchanted them to stay asleep while you two were nerding out." Benny laughed at her choice of words.

"Any ideas, Bad Cop?"

He shook his head. "We know there won't really be a chance for a fight. That place is going to be crawling with guards."

Metalbeard drummed his fingers on the table. "...It were music that got us into this mess," he mused. "Ought to be music what sorts it back out. Least it be what them Systarians seem to understand best."

"Don't look at me," Benny said, holding his hands up. "You all heard me sing."

"You're not that bad, Ben."

Benny grinned at Bad Cop. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, man. Still, I'm no good at coming up with lyrics, at the very least not within the amount of time we've got left to come up with a plan."

"Aye, same here," Metalbeard lamented, and Unikitty nodded in commiseration.

"Bad, you should play the violin!"

The gazes of their three friends whipped toward them at the sound of Good Cop's voice.

"Wh- no."

"Why not? You're really good at improv with it!"

"I said no," Bad Cop hissed in response, face turning an interesting shade of red.

"Didn't know ye could play an instrument."

Bad Cop frowned as hard as he could at the pirate.

"Do you think that would work?" Benny wondered aloud. "I kinda got the feeling words needed to be involved."

"I think so," Unikitty answered. "I mean, think about it! There's a bunch of different planets in this system, each of them with at least one unique language. If music is considered their 'universal language', then I'd say it's a safe bet that's it's not words that are important but the tone of the song."

"Then how do you explain the Queen's 'not evil' song?" Bad Cop huffed. "The 'tone' of that one seemed pretty insidious to us."

Benny snickered. "You know, she got some words completely mixed up too. Might have just been a miscommunication issue."

"It be the best bet we've got, Bad Cop," Metalbeard pressed. Bad Cop sighed and pushed his sunglasses up to rub the heels of his palms against his eyes.

"Fine, fine," he grumbled. "Gonna need a violin, then."

"Pretty sure I saw one on your frame somewhere," Benny told Metalbeard. "I mean they totally turned you into a one man band. There it is!" He retrieved the instrument from where it was attached to the captain's back and passed it over to the cop. Bad Cop quirked an eyebrow at the purple and gold coloring, but didn't comment on it, instead touching bow to strings to test it. They all winced at the flat sound it produced.

"Hang on," Bad Cop mumbled, taking several minutes to get it into tune.

"Oh, that's much better!" Unikitty cheered when he managed a short, jaunty tune. "Now we just need to get you a better Systarian outfit so you'll blend in better!"

"He be almost as tall as they are," Metalbeard observed. "Should be something at the Temple we can 'borrow'."

"We'll find something," Bad Cop said. "You three just keep your heads down, keep playing along."