Title: Challenging Fate
Author: Demothi
Summary: What if Megamind had been giving a reason to be the good guy before he had ever became a villain? Mm/RR A/U Rated T
"I have you right where I want you, Metro Boy!" The young Megamind announced, standing atop a monstrous and wonderfully terrible machine.
"Not even you, with all your powers, can withstand the destruction that my greatest invention yet is capable of!" He made a great show pressing buttons, flipping levers and rotating cranks. The great beast of a machine began to rumble, an eerie yellow-green light beginning to glow at the end of the cannon. Megamind looked down, waiting to see the fear and panic in Metro Boy's face.
A sudden shove from behind returned Megamind, master of all villainy, to Styx Valentine*, sophomore outcast. The blue skinned teen stumbled forward, his left knee connecting soundly with the bench of a picnic table before falling to the ground. His large head smacking painfully against the unforgiving pavement. The force of the push gave away, to Styx, the identity of the person who had shoved him.
A growl started low in his throat, audible only to himself and Mark Scott aka Metro Boy, as he turned over to face the bully. The sound died before it grew to a point that others could hear, as backing Metro Boy were numerous classmates. He knew what they wanted; they wanted him to jump up and punch the other boy, not that it would hurt him, and start a fight. Well today he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of that kind of response. He was going to take the advice one of his uncles had given him and make the bulling as boring as possible by not reacting.
"What's the matter, Slip? Did you fall down again?" Mark asked in a sickeningly fake tone. The super powered teen stuck a foot out to toe Styx in the side, pushing harder than needed so that an older bruise ache, causing the other to hiss in pain.
"Now now, is that any way to respond to someone who is worried for your well being?" Mark asked, his voice now admonishing. The crew of lackeys behind him began to snicker and laugh, making more noise as a soft purple blush colored Styx's face. Mark soon joined in with their laughter, all of it cruel, and Styx had to bite his bottom lip to keep from reacting with violence.
"You know what?" A firm, feminine voice said. A young woman materialized out of the shadows nearby proving to be it's source. She took up a wide stance cocking her ample hips and her slender shoulders as she brought one hand up to her hip.
"You aren't that funny." She said, her ice blue eyes glaring disgust at the robust teen bully.
"Who might you be, cutie?" Mark asked, switching automatically from bully mode to pick-up mode in one swift moment.
"My name is Roxanne Ritchi."
"What would it take to get a smile on that pretty face of yours, Roxie?"
"First off, call me by my name. Beyond that, why don't you grow up." She said, looking ready to spit at the feet of the lauded hero of Metro High. She then turned from the brunette and leaned down, genteelly taking Styx's arm and began to help him to his feet. The blue teen was so stunned by the sudden appearance of a supporter that he let himself be guided up without any struggle.
"Roxie, I would stay away from him if I were in your place. He is a bad person, tragedy follows in his wake." Mark said, reaching out imploringly.
"Good thing you aren't in my place, huh?" She said, looking back over her shoulder at him before turning Styx towards the nurses office. Roxanne wrapped an arm around his shoulders and set off towards that destination.
Styx tried, desperately, to keep from losing anymore face in front of Roxanne. Forcing his aching left knee to walk normally and placing his full weigh on the battered limb. He was, for a few minuets, successful in keeping up the appearance, but at the halfway point his knee decided enough was enough and gave out. He cried out at the painful spasm and started to fall towards the ground for a second time that day. Roxanne quickly wrapped her far arm around the front of his shoulders in an attempt to keep him from completing the fall.
"Uh… s-sorry." Styx said, his face now a furious shade of purple, as he found himself mostly collapsed on the ground with Roxanne all but straddling his lap.
"O-OH!" Came the girl's exclamation as she let go of him and stood swiftly. Styx's blush turned from one of shy embarrassment to one of a more painful, rejected, nature. He felt certain that this overly kind person was going to run from him, as Mark's words were seemingly proved true. Being so wrapped up in the misery of losing a possible friend he was shocked when a soft, cool hand was laid across his forehead.
"You look flushed, do you have a fever?" She asked, the concern evident in her voice.
"N-no, I just… my…" He started, but soon trailed of into a mumble. Styx shyly accepted her hand as Roxanne once more helped him to his feet. His left foot was barely on the ground when spikes of pain shot up his thigh from the abused knee.
"Owww…. My knee-" Was all that Styx could get out, the words coming in a high pitched whine. His injured leg rising up automatically. He wobbled on his one leg, threatening to unbalance and fall for yet another time that day.
"No you don't." Roxanne stated sternly wrapping an arm around him, her's under his this time. She pulled him close to her, supporting his left side and grabbed his left arm to wrap it around her shoulders.
"I don't think you need to be on the floor, again." She said giving him a small nudge with her shoulder. The two of them began to head towards the nurses office once more.
"Thanks."
"Well, I doubt that the floor is a good place for a hurting person. Especially when they keep getting there by falling."
"No… I mean, thanks for all of this."
"Oh. I couldn't just let Mr. Likes-to-believe-he's-perfect get away with bulling. That's why I didn't stop it earlier… I got pictures of him pushing you."
"You… you did?" Styx asked, sounding almost hopeful.
"Umhum."
"No, you shouldn't get in the middle, they will make things hard for you." He said, suddenly very stern. He even started trying to walk on his own and push her away.
"Like hell I am staying out of this." Roxanne's words were determined and she exerted a little more strength to keep him held to her side. "Those cowards wouldn't dare try and do anything to me. I have dirt on each and every one of them personally, and on most of their families. It would be very hard for them if any of it made it out to the news." She said, a fierce tone to her voice and a fire in her eye.
By this time they had made it to the nurses office and Roxanne reached out to push the door open. She used her side as a brace to keep it from swinging shut on Styx as they made their way in.
"Roxanne? What is going on?" Dr. Blake asked adjusting his bifocals up his nose. He stared down them, a suspicious look on his face.
"Styx ended up getting hurt, his knee slammed into a bench outside." Roxanne explained, leaving out how the incident occurred. She knew the doctor wouldn't listen to her the moment she blamed Mark. "He also hit his head so I wanted to make sure he was able to get here."
The doctor gave Styx a cold look before turning towards the counter top where a mini fridge stood. "You know where the ice pack stuff is, boy." He pointed in the direction before turning back to his paperwork.
Roxanne rolled her eyes at the back of the doctor's head before leading Styx to a chair right next to the counter. She set about making two ice packs, handing each to him as she finished.
"Does it still hurt bad?" She asked, leaning down so that she was face to face with him.
"No." was the blatant lie she received, Styx looking off to the side. She was tempted to call him on it, until she looked at his face; how his eyes had an unhappy cast to them. She decided to let him get away with it and instead stood up strait.
"Well, come on, we should get headed to our next class." This got Styx to look at her, though his face was a comic look of confusion. "You didn't realize we share Biology?"
"I… um I guess I never looked around… during Biology."
"Well since we both have the same class, and I think you may need just a little more support for that knee, we should head that way now."
Styx just nodded and blushed, accepting her aid to get back onto his feet. Letting Roxanne support him as they headed out to Biology.
Styx limped along to his cell, the guards having let him free of the chains once he was fully inside the compound. 'It was good to be home,' Styx thought to himself; giving small, vague answers to the uncles who asked him about his limp. Worry was in all their voices as he walked by. He finally stumbled into his cell and flopped face first into his cot. He pulled his pillow to him, the soft cushion spanning from his chest up to his face.
"Sir!" He heard Minion's worried voice and looked over to see the fish in the tank of a rather basic robotic body. "Sir what happened? Are you injured?"
"Only a little, it is already mostly healed." Styx mumbled from behind the pillow. "Besides, the pain is nothing compared to what happened today." He added, rolling onto his back; expertly avoiding falling of the cot side. He stared up at the slate gray ceiling with a goofy grin on his face, thinking back to his classes following the aborted attack from his personal bully.
Minion saw the look on his boss' face and felt suddenly very curious and much less worried. He adored Styx but the boy could be a big baby when he came home hurting. Minion knew it was because he did his best not to show the pain in front of others and so let it out in front of his trusted companion. Being as Styx was far from complaining about some injury or sore Minion knew that he was being honest in saying that it was mostly healed.
"What did happen today sir?" Minion asked, the panic gone from his voice and replaced by curiosity.
"I met this girl…" Styx said with a voice that sounded as if he were far off, in a dream.
"Okaaaay… and what was special about it?" Minion questioned, a bit of doubt bleeding into his words. There were many girls at the high school, that Styx would make a fuss over one of them seemed very odd.
"She was… strong, brave, determined; in other words absolutely wonderful." He turned towards Minion, staring off at something that did not exist inside the prison.
"Um… I think you lost me with that one sir." the fish said, floating at an off kilter angle to display his confused state. He hoped that by making Styx feel more intelligent that it would encourage the other to continue explaining; and honestly Minion felt a truely lost on the subject.
"She told off that annoying Metro Boy." Styx said, focusing back on the here and now. "Her name is Roxanne, and I honestly don't think that she is afraid of me."
"Um sir, what about your decision to be a bad boy… wouldn't her not being afraid of you ruin that?"
"Oh, well, for her I will make an exception. After all, she didn't seem to like Metro Boy in the least. If there is even just one person who doesn't like him and likes me instead, that's one in his face!"
"Do you mean that is one in his eye, sir?"
"NO! In his face, after all if something in his eye were to be troublesome than something in his face must be far worse!"
"Yes, of course sir, I see what you mean. Bravo on the wonderful expansion of that turn of phrase."
"Of course." Styx said, sitting up quickly and preening himself under Minion's praise. He leaned down to the personal effects chest that held his belongings and pulled from it a notebook. It was the one that he kept all of his schematics in. "For the time being I will continue planning the 'Death Machine' that I will use to destroy Metro Boy."
"Lights out!" The guard called out, his voice echoing down the steal and cement hallway, the lights shutting out in his wake. Minion tucked a blanket around his charge, the boy having fallen asleep nearly an hour before hand, and took the schematics note book from his limp hand. Minion looked down at the page and saw that Styx had added only a small handful of pieces, but the whole border of the page was covered in hearts and the name Roxanne Ritchi written all around them, before flipping it shut.
Authors Note: Please review, let me know what you think, tell me if there is anything you really liked, along with things you would hope to see worked on for the next chapter. I have much more of this planned out and just need to get it fully shaped and typed out, but at this time it is looking like I have enough raw material for over 13 chapters before I got tired of planning. Be prepared for decent length fic. Thanks for reading
*Name choice: I realize that many people use Syx for Megamind's real name and many authors have really good and in depth reasons for using it. I like it, but I also don't want to just say 'Ok I'm naming him Syx because everyone else is. The reason I chose Styx is actually not due to the similarity but because of the nature of the river Styx, in a society where it is common to believe in a religion where there are two places to go in the afterlife, a place of the good and riotous people and one for the evil, malicious people, the concept of the land of the dead has been warped to fit more with the idea of hell.
By being the river which the dead must cross to enter the land of the dead Styx similarly has been warped by common misconception. In reality these two mythological places are but the land of the dead, where all dead souls go, and the river Styx where all dead souls must pass, paying their fee to the ferry man, to enter the land of the dead. I felt this misrepresentation of Styx was an app comparison for Megamind as a youngster, as he starts out as simply being misunderstood for what he is trying to do. I chose Valentine for Styx's last name due to the meaning: brave.