Chapter 2: I'll Be There For You (The Rembrandts)

Hal: Due to the events of the movie, it is implied that Rex and the rest essentially created an alternate timeline; seeing as Emmett's friends saved him and basically created a new set of events. Now Rex's time and Emmett's time are parallel timelines. If that makes sense?

I will be considering Rex's version of events as the "Original Timeline" and Emmett's as the "Altered". These beginning chapters will be switching back and forth until eventually settling within the Original Timeline for the majority of the plot; so bare with me, haha.

I'm really glad you're enjoying everything so far, it brings a smile to my face :).

Guest: Your wish came true! :D *When You Wish Upon A Star plays in the distance*

Special Thanks to UndeadTech-TS, Alexs-14, Dibonzz, Raikim4never, RiteWrites, yorukakusaku, dragonboi1212, elizaveta2000kuz for Following and Favoriting my story!


ORIGINAL TIMELINE; BENNY'S SPACESHUTTLE

The clicks of switches being switched and the taps of buttons being pressed rang through the air as an astronaut, a cyborg pirate, and a vibrating uni-cat got ready for landing at the barren planet the transmission was sent from.

Normally the 1980's-something-space-guy preferred ships more suited for speed and pizazz, but something told him that a ship with more room was necessary for this type of mission; especially since at some point they would be rendezvousing with the rest of their crew after picking up Emmett from certain doom.

"Oh my goodness, we're here! WE'RE HERE!" Stars glittered within Unikitty's eyes as she squealed and tested her chair's safety straps to their limits. "Oh, I can't wait to hug Emmett! And then we'll bring him home and shower him in even MORE HUGS and kisses and we'll have a HUGE party and—!"

Now lass, it might be best if ye settled down. It has been a while since we be last seein' young Emmett." The old pirate sighed. "And we've already got an inklin' that he may very well be hurt…"

"Oh… yeah…" The princess ears drooped and a rarely shown frown marred her features.

MetalBeard shared a look with Benny.

"Well, at least we're here now and helping him!" The astronaut floated over the others and landed near the cockpit's sliding doors. "And we should hurry, too. Who knows what condition he's in!"

The three were quick to head out, down the hall, into the docking bay of the ship, and down the now open ramp, only to be blasted back by the fiercest of winds they had ever encountered.

"Golly! What was that?!" The cat shook down her misplaced fur as she stood back up, ears pointed back and away from the loud whistling coming from outside.

"That be some terrible storm. Aye, there be someone unhappy up there." The pirate groaned and slowly stood back up.

"Well, unhappy or not, no one and nothing is going to stop me from saving Emmett!" The astronaut was already half way back toward the outside. His boots briefly lit up on the bottom and a mild thunk sounded out as Benny added more gravitational weight to them.

"Wait, lad, what do ye think yer doin'? Yonder winds will tear you in half!"

It took the blue spaceman a moment to adjust but his determination won out.

Out he went into the nearly inhospitable land of Undar in search of his long, lost friend. He hunched over defensively at the first volatile gust and his arms raised up in a futile effort to keep the flying sand out of his eyes; if only his helmet came with a visor!

"EMMETT!" He yelled out, though he was certain his voice was merely swallowed up by the bad weather. "EMMETT, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

He scanned around the barren area as best he could and took note of some type of rock structure in the distance. Maybe that was a good place to start?

He fought against the wind for every movement as he made his way over. It wasn't until his hand managed to make contact that Benny allowed himself a small rest.

He forced himself to move once again, when the winds began to get harder to resist. He couldn't allow his strength to give out, not until he knew Emmett was safe!

"EMMETT!" He called out again, making his way around the rock. "EMMETT, WE'RE HERE! WE'LL SAVE YOU, JUST— JUST GIVE US A SIGN OF WHERE—"

The astronaut squeezed his eyes shut and tried to cough out the sand that had snuck into his mouth, silently wishing he had traded his broken helmet for one with a visor.

He leaned his weight against the rocks and made his way around to the other side as quickly as he could. However, the lack of attention for his immediate area caused him to trip on something and he bit the dirt.

"Ow! What…?" Benny rubbed his now bruised chin and turned his focus onto what tipped him over.

He gasped, then grinned.

Mission Success!

"Wait, lad, what do ye think yer doin'? The winds'll tear you in half!" MetalBeard snarled to himself as Benny ignored his words and went on his way. The pirate turned to his small, pink friend. "The boy don't know what he be gettin' himself into. Do ye know of anything in this ship that may help against them terrible winds?"

"H-how should I know?!" Unikitty mewled, tail between her legs as she forced her gaze away from the exit.

"Well, ye be livin' with Benny since Emmett's no-longer-unfortunate-demise, now have ye? I could only assume ye be the slightest bit knowledgeable in what preparations the young space lad has brought."

"N-nothing." She giggled nervously under the heated glare of her friend. "We… we were in kind of a hurry, so we just— picked a ship, alerted the others of what was going on, picked you up, and took off!"

"There's nothing. I told ye two to pack necessities for possible contingencies… and you took nothing."

"We're Masterbuilders, we work with what's around us!" She defended. "Why didn't you bring anything, huh?"

Metalbeard sputtered.

"W-well, I'm a Captain! Captains don't need to worry 'bout such things, that's what lackeys are fer." He flinched back when Unikitty jumped up and gasped into his face, the fringes of her fur turning the slightest bit red.

"Did you just call me a lackey—!"

"Krsht...Benny to Space Cruiser Nexus, repeat, Benny to Space Cruiser Nexus. Pick up Nexus, over...krsht"

The two Masterbuilders were quick to pounce onto the communications terminal.

"We read you, Benny. Are you safe?!"

"Krsht… doing just fine, over...krsht"

"Lad, why do ye keep makin' them "krsht" noises? Stop that."

"Aw, but they sound cool, over."

"And ye should also stop saying "over". Is that even necessary?"

"I guess not… but that's not the point! I found Emmett!"

They cheered.

"How is Emmett? Is he okay?" The princess jumped up and down, the excitement running through her coming out in a more physical sense.

"Yes he seems okay but I'm not too sure about his friend."

""His friend?"" The other two echoed.

"What're ye talkin' 'bout?"

"He's unconscious alongside this other really rad-tastic and totally-without-question tough-looking dude, with a gnarly hairdo. Where does he go and get his haircut…?"

"Keep on topic! Ye said his head was injured, is he bleeding?"

"No, thankfully. But he might have a concussion."

"I see. I be guessin' ye won't be able to drag both bodies on deck… so, we'll no doubt have to pick ye up."

"Afraid so. The good thing is that I'm not too far away from touch down. I'm sending the coordinates now."

A chime sounded and a blinking light came to life not too far from the comms. One of the many screens within the vehicle automatically bringing up a map and zeroing in on the spaceman's location.

"A'right…" Metalbeard waved his appendages uncertainly over the many… many… controls.

"You do know how to pilot this...right?" One of her ears flicked and tail wagged jaggedly.

"Er… how hard can it be?"

Breathing heavily and lying face down next to Emmett, Benny could suddenly feel the real weight of the planet's atmosphere. It was suffocating and almost panic-inducing.

He hoped that the construction worker wasn't here for too long… who knows what kind of trauma this could cause on someone? It was a good thing he had this friend with him too. Having to deal with this alone would have no doubt been worse.

The spaceman began to hum in an attempt to keep his mind on the ever crushing invisible force.

Where was the shuttle? Surely it wouldn't take this long for them to find the—

Oh, no, there they were.

Benny turned his head to the very familiar sound of a space-capable ship and watched as the shuttle shakily made its way to their location.

Huh. He slowly blinked.

He honestly hadn't taken into account that they might not have been able to properly fly his ship. The astronaut watched their progress as they successfully, if not haphazardly, managed to land and open the docking bay doors.

"Benny, Emmett!" Unikitty squealed from the entrance of the ship as MetalBeard made his way over. He struggled against the winds but the focus of their downed friends provided a sufficient anchor to reach them.

"Hold onto yer butts, mateys. We be makin' a bumpy trip back over!" Metal prosthetics made a heady effort in picking up the three fallen men and worked hard in bringing them back to the ship.

Benny merely groaned, no longer full of the strength he had exonerated earlier in reaching Emmett. He allowed himself to close his eyes and pass out from the exhaustion from the planet's awful atmosphere, knowing he was safe in the company of his friends.

It was a relief when they finally made it into the vehicle and out of the terrible atmosphere of the planet. However, the pirate didn't yet allow himself time to relax. Instead, turning toward the fluffy princess.

"Is there someplace within this craft that I may be able to set our mighty crewmates?"

"Yes! Right over here is the medbay!" She bounced back into the hall and stopped at a specific door.

The pirate hesitated before following.

"Wouldn't it be more comfortable for them to be in some type o' living quarters?"

"But that's not where the med-bot is, silly!" She pranced through the opening door.

"Med-bot?! I thought ye and Benny didn't prepare!"

"We didn't. Med-bots come with every Cape Space standard space shuttle."

"...this isn't Master-built?"

"A ship created by a Masterbuilder wouldn't have much in terms of medical care or too much of anything else, other than its primary use, let's be honest. For most of your quick builds, on time-sensitive missions, would you really think about necessity in the long run or what it would take to merely get to the place and worry about everything else later?"

"...I suppose we Masterbuilder types do seem to mostly wing it, the majority of the time." That was what Emmett had been best for: preparation during times of need, the pirate admitted to himself as he recalled the infiltration of Lord Business' lair/main offices. MetalBeard took the time to set down one of his luggage each on the three gurneys that Unikitty seemed to have produced out of nowhere.

"Exactly! Which is why Benny and I decided to bring a more… sturdy build. So, I guess you can say that we did prepare for something." She was quite pleased with herself at that realization, moving over to a digital pad on the far wall and turning on the med-bot.

The pirate chuckled at her antics, shaking his head.

"Alright, alright. I'll give ye that much."

The med-bot, of which had been mercifully quiet for the first couple moments of checking vitals and drawing some blood, turned to the two awake Masterbuilders.

"Any non-patient personnel, please exit the Medbay. According to Cape Space procedure, all crew fit for duty must not invade the space while patients are present; as it goes against doctor-patient confidentiality and relieves any necessary tension or violence."

MetalBeard bristled.

"How dare ye talk down to a feared pirate Captain! You'll apologize if ye know what's good—"

"Okay!" Unikitty pushed against her big, intimidating friend before realizing that it was a futile effort. She grabbed his claw gently with her muzzle and began to try and lead him to the sliding door instead. "Mmf- We need to meet up wif the others."

"We can't properly sail this ship until Benny awakens from his slumber!"

"But we can get things ready for him!"

The pirate growled and muttered under his breath as he allowed himself to be "dragged" out.

There wasn't much that the two could actually do, as the ship was already running and ready to go. Leading the two to sit down within an awkward and tension-filled silence. They stayed there, silent and unwilling to break the tension in the air, until Benny walked in an hour or so later.

"Benny!" The Princess squealed, prancing over to greet her friend. "You're up!"

"And ye managed ta escape the clutches of tha' accursed mechanical scrap pile." The pirate moodily added, face pinched as if he had tasted something sour.

""Accursed scrap pile"?" The astronaut tilted his head, quirking one corner of his mouth up.

"He means that robot doctor you have in the Medbay!"

"Ah, the Medbot_2000. Yeah, it released me. Shall we get to the rendezvous point?"

"Yes, please!"

"Aye."

The spaceman took his place at the helm and double-checked all systems, taking note how nothing had been outrightly messed with. The other two had most likely been too afraid to harm something, if inaccurately used. Once ensuring that systems were ready, he piloted the ship through the launching sequence and was soon in space. Then he commanded the shuttle into hyperdrive, the environment outside the windshields turning into a variety of pretty colors and swirls.

MetalBeard, himself, turned his focus to different screens and blinking lights, calling out necessary readings and allowing the astronaut to react accordingly. While he wasn't very experienced in piloting a ship of this caliber, he had played second fiddle for Benny long enough to be a good helping hand. They both proved to be a compatible —if odd— team in these matters.

Anxiety and the anticipation of the rendezvous caused Unikitty to squirm in her own seat. Her normally happy expression was threatening to droop and she couldn't keep her gaze from straying to the cockpit's sliding door, toward the direction of the medbay.

"Um…" Her hesitant voice cut into the air like a knife and gained the attention of the others. "How… How's Emmett? And his friend? Did the Med-bot say anything about them?"

Benny, ensuring that the flight course was locked onto the targeted coordinates, swivel led his chair around fully toward the others. He sighed.

"By the time I had been released, the Med-bot had only scanned us and taken their blood samples to add to the database files. While it had told me that I was fit for duty —with only minor scratches—, it had talked about needing to do a few more tests on them before having a full report on their injuries."

"And what, eh... does that mean?" MetalBeard's eyebrows furrowed.

"It means that they are hurt worse than initially thought." Benny crossed his arms and hunched down more into his seat, as if he took the welfare of the medbay patients as a personal slight on himself. "When I did try to get some more info on them, I gleaned that Emmett had some serious bruising on his torso with possible broken ribs—"

They gasped, effectively cutting him off.

"WHAT IN THE SEVEN SEAS—"

"—WHO COULD EVER DO SUCH A THING TO—"

"—I'll RIP TO SHREDS WHOEVER BE HURTIN' HIM! I'LL—"

"—THEY'VE MADE ME VERY UNHAPPY—"

The spaceman's eyebrows rose up and his eyes widened as he watched his friends rant and rave, seemingly in a blind rage at the thought of poor, sweet Emmett being injured. He ran a hand down his face and readjusted his broken helmet; today had been a long day and he felt like a million pounds of iron was weighing down his shoulders, his eyelids drooping. He blinked a couple times in a futile effort to keep them up.

"Guys… that wasn't all of it." His words were drowned in their chaos. He called out a few more times, his voice getting steadily louder in his determination to regain their attention. This continued until his face was practically red from the blood rushing up in frustration. "HEY, SHUT UP!"

His friends flinched and stepped back, as if physically stricken from his outburst. His chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. When he successfully calmed himself, he groaned at their wary expressions.

Benny knew it wasn't like him to be so aggressive but today had been reminding him too much of what it had been like to be a fugitive; intercepting a transmission about fellow friends being in trouble and then staging a rescue, giving themselves barely any time to prepare… it hit too close to home.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you." They smiled at his words and forgave him immediately. Today was rough on all of them. "But I wasn't finished. It had also discovered some serious bruising on all of their knuckles."

"All of them? They be fightin' somethin' 'fore we found them." MetalBeard rubbed his metal beard in contemplation. "What of his fellow? He be in any better fare?"

"Actually yes. It seemed like he didn't receive nearly as many wounds as Em did; but the Bot did recognize a couple signs of a possible concussion. However, I'd feel better if we had a fully fledged report on the matter; for all we know, he might have internal damage more than external."

"Oh…" Unikitty curled up into a ball on the floor and sniffled. "Today we were supposed to try to be happy and celebrate, rather than cry over the loss of Emmett. Then we found out he was alive! But it seems even worse now, somehow. We shouldn't be feeling bad anymore, since he's here. But I want to cry and be angry."

Benny frowned and tried his hardest to dredge up his typical spunk and optimism; it wouldn't do to allow his friend to stay suffering like this. He knew of her own troubles to stay as happy and carefree as she wished others to view her as. Of her anger issues and proneness for depression.

"Well… on a happier note. I think that friend of his might actually be his brother. Or maybe a cousin? They look a lot alike." He tilted his head in thought, allowing a small smile to finally grace his face.

"If Emmett has kin, I be certain he would have told us."

"Oh! Unless he didn't know!" Unikitty's eyes found their sparkle again, as she readily accepted the distraction. "What if he never knew he had a brother until meeting him? Maybe the reason we haven't seen any trace of Emmett is because he's been busy having grand adventures with his long lost family!"

The spaceman perked up even more now, his enthusiasm regaining its regular tempo, much to the pirate's chagrin.

"YEAH! And— and maybe they're being chased by some unspeakable evil and that's why Emmett hasn't contacted us. He doesn't want us to get hurt!" Benny continued, getting caught up in the imaginative atmosphere.

The two chortled and made up as many fantastical stories as they could think of. MetalBeard shook his head and looked up at the ceiling in exasperation.

"Ye two, are too much."

"Why thank you!" They retorted playfully, not stopping in their shenanigans.

"Yer lucky I like y—" An alert sounded off, interrupting the pirate and making it known that they had reached their destination.

"We're here!" Benny exclaimed, causing Unikitty to cheer. The astronaut zoomed out and made preparations to land. Already through the windshields could he see two other, unique ships that could have only been created by the imagination of Masterbuilders and multiple smaller shapes that could only be the rest of their friends.

The three man crew went back to their posts and expertly set down the shuttle, at a speed only few could manage. Which meant that it wasn't long before they were swarmed with hugs and the comfort of being in the presence of those they considered family.

"Where's Emmett?" Lucy —ever the one to get to the bottom of things— almost couldn't believe her words when she said them. Nor did she believe she'd ever feel anything again, besides pain and sorrow, at the mention of that name.

After hearing the news that her construction worker was alive, it was almost torture to stand by and wait alongside Batman and Mayhem.

"He's in the medbay but he isn't awake yet." Benny smiled

"So he was hurt, then" An alien general that they had come to consider one of their own furrowed her eyebrows in worry. "But not too badly I hope?"

The three rescuers hesitated, causing Batman to snort.

"If I had been on the rescue team, we wouldn't have had to worry about him being hurt."

MetalBeard snarled and opened his mouth to make a snarky reply back, but before he could, Benny's arm monitor began to beep.

The group held their breath as the astronaut glanced at the alert and brought his arm up to his mouth, holding down a button.

"This is Astronaut Blue speaking."

"Astronaut Blue, report to medbay immediately. I have compiled a list of injuries and suggestions for recovery." The monotone voice of the Medbot sounded out, easily heard by the whole group.

Benny took a moment to meet the others' gazes.

"There are no injuries that are fatal, right?"

"Correct, Astronaut Blue."

The air of relief that swept through them was palpable.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Lucy began her stride into the Space Cape ship. "I want to see the injuries list."

"Hold yer horses, lassy." MetalBeard carefully grabbed her arm. "I must be warnin' ye tha' our Special wasn't alone when we found him."

"The culprit?" Lucy's head snapped up to level a hard stare at the pirate's own.

"We don't know yet, they've been unconscious since before we picked them up." The spaceman added. "They were both lying beside each other, on the barren desert planet they somehow found themselves on."

""Barren desert planet"?" Mayhem tilted her head. "Did you get a name for it?"

"Oh, yeah! One of the super space-y screens said it was Undar of the Dryar System." Unikitty giggled. "There was even a warning that stated it was practically uninhabitable and to not attempt to colonize. It's a good thing we managed to catch onto Emmett's message, cause who knew how long they would be there?"

"Or what it'd do for their mental health." Batman grunted, crossing his arms. "Not that I'd know what mental instability is like. I'm, like, impervious to its effects."

"Suuuuuuuure, ye are." MetalBeard gibed, planning to get his revenge from the superhero's earlier slight in the form of obnoxious teasing.

"I am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Then why do ye wear a mask of the very animal ye have a fear of? Is that not an effect of mental instability?"

This time Batman's response was cut off by Benny's comm-alert. However, this time the Med-bot did not wait for the astronaut to pick up.

"Astronaut Blue, Patient Emmett Brickowski has woken up."

"We're on our way." Benny motioned for the others to follow him