"It's winter in Metro City, and everything is freezing cold. As long-time residents will know, seasons along the coast aren't usually this harsh. Local meteorologists suggest that we may be feeling the unpleasant effects of global climate change. Six snow-ploughs have broken down in the last week alone. Luckily, our local government is well-prepared for such incidents for obvious reasons and has dealt with the damages as quickly as ever.

"Next on KMCP News: How to stay safe in snowy conditions. Roxanne Ritchi, signing off."

Roxanne made a quick slicing motion with her free hand and Hal lowered the camera, grinning from inside the hood of his parka.

"Wow, Roxanne, that was awesome. You look, like, really pretty standing there in the snow all hardcore, like the snow isn't even-"

She pushed past him in a dash for the back of the van, jumping in and slamming the door behind her. Her muffled voice could be still be heard: "Thank you, Hal, but I'm putting my real coat back on now."

Hal trudged back over to the van, opening the driver side door and practically tossing his camera into the back where Roxanne was wrapping a black scarf around her neck and tucking it under a thick red coat. "Aw, Roxie," he complained. "You looked so good in that little gray jacket."

Gritting her teeth and forcing herself to smile, Roxanne patiently explained "That was the point, Hal. I was dressing up for my report. Now it's over, I'd really like to bundle up and go home."

"Right, right." Hal nodded quickly. "Totally. Totally fair. You know, we could stop at my place and I could make you some hot chocolate. I'm not doing anything else today, so you could hang out for, like, pretty much as long as you want."

"Sorry, I've already got plans." Roxanne hopped over the gear shift into the passenger seat. "Just drop me off at the news station so I can pick up my stuff, please."

Hanging his head, Hal muttered, "Yeah, of course." They drove back in silence, and Hal sped off the second Roxanne stepped out of the van.

She looked over her shoulder for a brief moment as the van disappeared around a corner, then exhaled, shivered, and walked into the station.

Megamind's desk chair was a spinning blur of black and blue, from which emanated a familiar joyous cackle.

A hulking silhouette appeared behind the curtain, drawing it back in one swift, mechanical motion. "Sir! Did you figure out how we're going to defeat Metro Man this time?"

The desk chair slowly came into focus as Megamind stopped spinning. Leaping to his feet and immediately swaying like a seasick sailor, he lunged forward to grasp Minion's furry forearms. "That's the best part, you impressive icthyoid! We don't have to go through Wayne this time!"

Minion gaped, fins fluttering and many-toothed jaw hanging open. "We don't? But we always fight Metro Man. How are we going to take over without beating him?"

Back in the KMCP News offices, Roxanne was staring out the window with a bag slung over her shoulder. Her hands, still a bit numb, burrowed into her pockets as she contemplated the cold walk back to her apartment. But as her fingers brushed against her phone, her lips curved into a grin.

Pulling her phone out of her coat pocket, Roxanne called up the first number on her speed dial. It rang five times, and then –

"Hey, buddy!" The familiar voice of Metro City's Defender and Roxanne's many-time rescuer boomed into her ear.

"Wayne!" she exclaimed in relief. "I was wondering if you wanted to go grab some hot coffee, it's-"

"This is Wayne Scott's phone. I'm on vacation right now, uh," there's whispering in the background, "Right. Leave a message and I'll get back to you in a week, okay? Okay." The message ended with a beep and Roxanne hastily pressed 'end call'.

Her mouth flattened into a line and she quietly swore. "Well, sh-"

"It's perfect, Minion!" Megamind exalted, regaining his balance and dancing over to the monitors. He hit a button and the monitors blinked to an aerial view of the Scott family home.

Minion tapped his fingers together as he followed. "Er, what is, Sir?"

Shaking excitedly, Megamind extended a blue hand to point at the screens behind him. "When the Scotts are at home, their butler always parks his car directly behind the garage. It is not there. Therefore, the Scotts are not there."

Wide brown eyes grew slightly wider. "Sir, you're not saying…?"

Black obscured the screens as Megamind darted past them, cape swirling behind him. "I have confirmed by checking their so-see-all media accounts. The entire Scott family is on vacation."

Minion put his robotic hands up to his tank and gasped loudly.

With his characteristic smirk spreading across his face, the Master of All Villainy stepped up to a massive control panel and threw a lever. The floor began rising, and he turned back to Minion. "I have pinpointed their current location, and determined that they will be unable to receive calls for the next three days. If we move fast, we can conquer the city and fortify it against him before anyone warns him of our plot."

"Are we going to laugh now, Sir?" Minion asked, doing a joyful flip in his tank.

Megamind's vivid green eyes crinkled up as he nodded, still smirking. "Oh yes."

If anyone had been in the alley outside at the time, they might have been startled by the raucous bouts of enthusiastic laughter coming from the graffiti-covered walls.