Megamind could feel his rib cage expanding with every painful breath as his lungs gulped at air. His hearts were racing so fast it felt like they were set to explode. Adrenalin pulsed through his system but it was filtered out by the fear that still had a strangle hold on his mind. How had he survived that? How in the Hell had he survived?
He spun around so he was now on his back and saw just how close he had come to being crushed by the copper ball that he had constructed. His failsafe was destroyed, and mere inches from him. It was only being suspended by the concrete and stairs of the subway stairwell, and he realized just how lucky he was it had stopped where it was.
Grasping at his chest he heaved another shuddering breath before rolling over and dragged himself down the steps until he was clear of the large ball. Shaking still, he got to his feet, and stood there in the dusty, underground terminal where the subway would come through. Luckily, it had been deserted at this time otherwise somebody would have gotten hurt by the falling debris.
Looking around he swallowed shakily. The failsafe had failed. Looking over his shoulder to confirm this he saw the copper ball suspended amongst the concrete, and yes, it was.
"Why didn't the copper work?" he asked aloud, his voice sounding tiny, scared, and so not himself as it echoed in the emptiness. He turned away, and looked around suddenly as he heard cries of dismay coming from somewhere. Realizing that it was coming from above, Megamind hurried back up the stairs which he had scurried away from, despite being unable to go through to the surface to see anything. All he could do was listen in, and he pressed his ear against a concrete slab to listen.
He could hear Titan's voice, bellowing and angry, and the cries of people who were no doubt running in fear of the God-like man who was lashing out. Why was this happening, what had he done? What had he done? He had been so desperate for a fight between good and evil he had asked too much, far too fast. Why did he taunt him the way he did? Why hadn't Minion been there to pull him into gear, to remind him to watch his tone? He felt like such a fool, and he hated feeling the fool.
What could he do? Megamind scurried back down the stairs and hurried down along the platform, striding with purpose towards a large out of order snack machine. He stared at the key pad which was far bigger than normal, numbers that went up to fifteen. He spoke aloud to himself as he pressed the buttons. "Thirteen, five, seven, one, thirteen, nine, fourteen, four." and stepped back.
The protective glass of the snack machine suddenly whirred down like a car windshield, and the rows of empty snack rows cranked upwards like a roller door. This was one of Megamind's many secret hidden passageways through the town, a means for him to escape when nobody else was around or running in fear of him. How many times had Metro Man, or the police, chased him and Minion down into subways just like this to loose them? Taking one last look over his shoulder as he heard a definite explosion outside above on the surface, he ducked into the snack machine and it slowly shut behind him and returned to its every day appearance of an out of order machine.
Behind the snack machine was a large rube with four buttons to press. They were labeled 'Uptown, Downtown, East end, Beach'. He couldn't go downtown to his base, it was too dangerous. Where could he go?
A face suddenly flashed into his mind, and a name on his tongue. "Roxanne." he whispered, but pressed a hand to his forehead. NO, no he couldn't go and see her. She hated him, she wanted nothing to do with him! Why would she help him out, after all what he'd done to her? The look on her face the night before, the hurt in her voice... it stung his memory still, and made his hearts ache in the worst way. He had been meaning to tell her, he really had, but why had it have to happen like that?
She was the smartest person he knew. Did she know this? The woman had worked out everything for herself, though it wouldn't have been too difficult with Titan flying her around the city and revealing his secret identity to her. Why had he done that? Didn't he listen to his Space Dad about revealing who you were to people? Stupid kids, never listening to their elders when they should! Megamind groaned and smacked himself in the face to focus again, before whimpering out an "Ow."
All right, mind focused, head clear. He needed help. As much as he hated asking for help he needed some, and the closest and only person he could rely on was Roxanne. Minion was... Minion wasn't an option anymore. That realization again made his hearts ache and an angry burn of betrayal ignited but he turned it off before he become upset again. It was obvious he was no good to anyone when he was allowing his emotions to run him, just look at what he had done today, up above in the city.
Deciding on his location, Megamind pressed the button marked Up Town, and climbed into the tube. Always hating this part, he shut his eyes tightly and covered his ears as the pressure beneath him grew, and he was shot through the tube like a bullet. He screamed as he carried along the long hollow tube, travelling through the city so fast his scream could only be heard after he had already passed through.
The subway station closest to Roxanne's apartment was busy, as usual. People were standing around, talking, unaware of the torrent of angry red head that was about to come crashing down upon them all in a short time. A teenager was hitting an out of order snack machine with his fist and foot. "Stupid machine!" he said, since this one unlike others had no sign on it. "It ate my money, I hate this thing!" he said, and was about to hit it again when the glass suddenly opened and the racks of out of reach snacks vanished from sight. "What the-"
Next thing he knew a blue, leather clad alien evil overlord came rocketing out of the snack machine. The two barely missed colliding, and Megamind rolled, and landed unceremoniously in a heap against the stairs. People gathered around him jumped back in alarm, some women screaming in panic and of course there was a baby who burst into tears at the sight of him. Megamind quickly got to his feet, fought past the urge to throw up, and looked around at them all.
"...you have to run!" he suddenly said, stepping forward with his hands out. "You must run! There's something coming, something bad! Just run!" Megamind said before turning and not even waiting for a response, ran up the stairs of the subway station and vanished from sight.
The people left behind were left to wonder as to whether or not that had just been an optical illusion, or if there was something in the air down here that made them see Megaminds in ripped leather running around like mad men. Shrugging it off, they continued their normal routines that the normal people did.
It was just another day, after all.
It was that as well for Carlos, a middle aged man who worked as the security doorman for the apartment block that Roxanne Ritchi lived in. He was just about to light a cigarette when he saw someone he never thought he'd see rushing into the reception area. Megamind. "Hey hey hey!" he said as he got to his feet and pulled out a taser, aiming it at the villain. "Hold up there Megamind. You can't come in here." sure, the man had the run of the city but that didn't mean he had run of Carlos' reception area. This was his job, after all.
"I don't have time for this right now, Metrocity is at stake!" Megamind pleaded as he began to head for the elevator to hit the button but jumped back since the older man had advanced from behind his desk.
"It's Metro City," Carlos spat, "Now don't make me hafta tell you again to back off again or so help me you're gonna get bolts to your... uh. Chest!" he couldn't threaten the mans lower region since it looked like he really had nothing worth shooting electrified bolts at.
Megamind narrowed his eyes. "Sorry." he said, and pulled his DE-Gun out of its holster so quick he shot it straight at Carlos, and seconds later a blue cube went clattering to the floor. He stared at it, before quickly picking it up and pressed the button for the elevator. It arrived, and the woman inside screamed on instinct at seeing the alien stood out there. Megamind sighed and stepped back, giving her room to run screaming, before entering the lift and pressed the button for Roxanne's floor.
He just hoped it worked out. Not just for his sake, or the sake of maybe salvaging whatever it was that had been growing between him and the woman, but the sake of the whole city.