The Atlantis Expedition

Chapter Six: Captain Ulysses

It was actually a couple days before Benny saw Bad Cop again. He and Emmet had gone to offer their friend a ride back to his apartment, only to find he'd already left with his parents. "Well it makes sense," Emmet told a pouting Benny. "He probably left some important things there and just had to go back to get them, I don't think he meant anything personal by it."

As it was, the astronaut quickly found his attention occupied by other things. Emmet's plans for the new school had been both Master Builder and architect approved, and they were breaking ground to begin construction. A lot of Master Builders had gathered to celebrate, and Benny knew his absence from this momentous occasion would be questioned, by his friends if not by his peers. He walked to the future construction site, as it wasn't too great a distance from his apartment, and such a nice day out. He'd even remembered to wear civvies rather than his normal spacesuit, though Lucy rolled her eyes to see his rather loud Hawaiian shirt over his Space Corps tee shirt.

It was surprising how much press was actually there to cover the event, and they had plenty of questions for the Master Builders- particularly those who had fought side by side with the Special. Benny smirked to himself as Unikitty smoothly stepped in and took over for a very flustered Emmet.

The spaceman left shortly after that. He truly was excited to get to be a teacher to young Master Builders, but was starting to doubt his abilities. The only things he'd ever really Built were spaceships- and that submarine he'd put together with the others, but that disaster didn't really bear thinking about. What if the kids didn't want to build spaceships? What if he couldn't show them how to build other things?

...He would have to talk to Lucy at some point, maybe ask for some tips. She was Vitruvius' star student, she could Build anything.

Benny was so lost in thought, he didn't realize he'd come to the apartment building's parking lot already. He paused, standing in the middle of the lot; it was about the middle of the afternoon, not quite time the other tenants would get off work and come back home yet, and he didn't recognize the sleek black muscle car occupying a formerly unclaimed spot. He perked up. Was there a new tenant?? He hurried inside to try to meet them, and nearly missed the tall figure standing by the mail boxes in his haste. His sneakers actually squeaked against the tiled floor from stopping so suddenly. "...Bad Cop?"

Bad Cop blinked at him. "Ben. I almost didn't recognize you, out of your suit."

"Jerk, we thought you were coming back yesterday, why didn't you say anything?? You missed the groundbreaking ceremony, too!" Benny pouted at him.

The cop grimaced at the reminder. "I honestly forgot about that, I'm sorry Ben. But I'm... not sure I'm up for being around crowds yet, anyway."

Benny frowned, suddenly worried. "You didn't have a relapse or something like that, did you?"

"No, nothing like that." He glanced back outside. "Just a little trouble with the new car, is all."

"Oh! That's yours?! Sweet ride, man. Looks custom."

"It is."

"How did you afford that??"

"I did the work myself."

Benny stared. "Pull the other one, it's got bells on it." Bad Cop simply quirked an eyebrow at him, pulled his mail from his box, and made his way toward the stairs. "Seriously?? You really did?!"

"Lying never was one of my strong suits."

"But that's... And you were... How? Come on, man, details!" Bad Cop smirked and continued up the stairs in silence. "You're breakin' my heart, B..." Benny whined. "You're not secretly a Master Builder, are you? Cause that would be just..." He froze, staring at the cop's back. "But that can't be right, you hunted us. You wouldn't have done that if you were one of us... would you?" Bad Cop still didn't answer, though the set of his shoulders was more tense now. Benny jolted back into motion, skipping steps to catch up to him. "Bad Cop!"