Notes: Here is the second chapter, where I rehash the movie endlessly... Ugh... After writing so much more of the story, it's a real struggle for me to post these as they are. I've made some adjustments to the layout (splitting up paragraphs), but all in all, it's the same content, and I've progressed so much in my story telling since I wrote these that I look back at these beginning chapters and cringe. It's too canon for my liking, but I suppose it shows the progression of my writing well enough to post them so you can all read the story in its entirety. Just trust me - the story, and my writing, gets better!
Disclaimer: 'Megamind' and all its characters are owned by Dreamworks. I own nothing.


Falling Before Her Eyes

Chapter 2


Today was different.

It had seemed like any other day from the outside. Wake up, escape from jail, make a death ray, kidnap the girl, battle the good guy, head back to jail. That's how it always went. That was how the game was played. That was how his life progressed. Always striving for his ultimate goal and purpose in life; to rule Metrocity. It always slipped through his fingers like sand, but not today. Today was different. He just hadn't known it.

He'd gone traipsing around, blissfully unaware of his impending destiny, hardly giving the day anymore ceremony than he would have any other. Oh, how he would have changed things had he known, or even had an inkling. Maybe he would have savoured the little moments more, tried to remember all the details as clearly as he could to treasure for the rest of his life. But how could he have known what destiny had in store for him? One never knows until destiny shows its hand. And if Megamind knew much about Poker, he would have likened destiny to dropping a Royal Flush on the table today. But he didn't know Poker, and he just assumed someone was instructing him to prod a female with a stick when it had once been brought to his attention.

He had acted like today was nothing special, as Minion delivered the Disguise Generator Watch to the prison. Megamind had just taken it as another job well done, and another well-thought out escape plan. He'd danced out the door, cleverly disguised at as the moustachioed Warden, filled with his regular level of energy. As he exited the high-security prison with a cocky salute to a guard, he expectantly looked down the road to the sound of a throaty car engine roaring up before him. But only the sound came, as he stared forward across an empty field, no vehicle in sight.

Suddenly, a window seemed to slide down out of nowhere, revealing Minion's smiling face, leaning back languidly in a black interior unseen from the outside world.

Megamind gave a joyful laugh and leapt into the invisible car with his sidekick, and cackled his entire way back to the evil lair. Being fresh from an escape always gave him such motivation for another big plan, and today was an important day! It was the dedication and grand opening of the Metro Man Museum. Was there ever a better time to hatch an evil scheme than that? He would have such an audience! And Minion had everything so well set up, exactly as planned. Roxanne Ritchi slumbered peacefully in the back seat of the vintage but highly customized 1951 Hudson Hornet sedan that drove invisibly through the streets. She was bound as always, knocked out cold thanks to his spray can invention of knock out gas.

And so, off they drove to the lair, up the elevator they went to the top level of the warehouse, down went Roxanne into her seat, off came the bag hiding her face, and out came her snippy replies and retorts. Ahh, he did enjoy some witty banter! He wasn't sure which he enjoyed more, the verbal sparring matches he had with Roxanne, or with Metro Man. Alright, that was a lie. He did know which one he preferred.

Fighting with Metro Man was great and all, but he never felt that zing of delight that he experienced with Roxanne, enjoying her flushed face and tussled hair whenever that kidnapping bag was torn from her face. He didn't like to admit it, but goodness, he looked forward to kidnapping her every time. He just never could resist kidnapping the beautiful damsel. Besides, he had an image to uphold now, so ingrained in his character this sort of behaviour was. And he just plain enjoyed it. He held some hope that she enjoyed it a little too, if her willingness to challenge him mentally and verbally was any indication.

But today was different.

They shared their back and forth barbs, but she was nowhere near as accommodating as normal. He had to struggle just to get anything more than a dead-pan reaction from her, trying to bring back that old fear she was once had of him, or to get her to play along like always. But there was no fear, just a haughty smile, and unamused eyes. She wasn't humouring him today at all.

He was even able to swing his rolling chair around her, mere inches from her face with slow calculated words. Still no fear, even when his breath ruffled the fringe of hair around her delicate ear.

Oh her hair, always a point of contention...

She still touched its whispering edges on camera every time he watched her broadcasts. She still tilted her head and gazed at him with a sultry smirk, those bangs shadowing her eyes and making him itch to move them out of the way. And he still waited with bated breath for her to make that cute little expression she had when she blew the hair out of her face while bound in the chair. Some things never changed.

He whispered his little nickname for her into her ear, and although she gave a half gasping laugh at his breathy "Temptress", she plowed forward without a bit of fear, without even acknowledging the flirtatious comment. Normally she'd pull a face at him, seem disgusted, or snap back at him with fire in those cool eyes. She was always quick to put him in his place. But nothing today. No reaction. He'd outright flirted with her! Invaded her personal space! Inhaled her scent! But nothing! No fear.

She and Metro Man were perhaps the only citizens who didn't quake in fear from his awful power, and felt comfortable to talk to him in such a way. He took it as a challenge, but still, she was being a little more blatant today, refusing to play along like normal. Disappointed, and a bit offended by her not holding up her end of the act, he resorted to flashing every weapon he had at his disposal to her, wildly flailing his arms. Nothing. No reaction!

Garish. Predictable. Juvenile. Cliché, she spat back, and he'd felt so deflated, he wanted to just sink into the floor. Today was supposed to be a good day, but here he was, scrambling just to find something, anything to impress her.

Exhaustion took over, fuelled by a growing sense of inadequacy, and he flopped lamely across the control panel. But she wouldn't quit. Now she was just mad. Kicking him while he was down, so to speak. Outright pointing out his flaws and faults and the hopelessness of his success. He leapt up with renewed energy born from degradation, and he lifted his chin in the worst display of child-like stubbornness.

"Let-let's just stop wasting time and call your boyfriend in tights!" he'd snapped in frustration, cringing inwardly at the pathetic hitch he heard in his own voice. He turned quickly at this point to avoid her seeing his face, and had continued on with his plan, with just a mild interruption from a pesky Brain-Bot. Still a lot of kinks to work out with those...

Oh, how he wished she's react like in the old days. Like when he'd first invented the Brain-Bots! That shock, the struggle, the blush of fear on her cheeks! Oh how it exhilarated him, and gave him even more energy than he already had. Well, Fine! If she didn't want to carry things out like a professional, then he'd just move on to someone who could fulfill their role in this whole super hero-villain routine.

His plan soon came to fruition, and he was able to banter with Metro Man in a very epic way, which brightened his mood substantially! Smoke, lights, giant projections of himself, the whole bit! Fantastic display, really. And Roxanne, well, she played her role quite well for all of her earlier resistance.

The decoy observatory worked perfectly, and Metro Man flew to the real one a short distance away, blissfully unaware that Megamind had specifically built the fake dome-like room just to trick Roxanne into telling the hero the wrong location!

How do you like that, little Miss Won't Play Along? Don't like it when someone turns your own investigating skills against you, huh?

Metro Man was captured, and seconds away from being blown to smithereens by the powerful Death Ray orbiting Earth that was aimed at the observatory, when... Minion happened. Who knew Death Rays needed to be warmed up?

What followed was a lengthy argument between himself and Minion, with Roxanne inserting snarky remarks the whole way, all of which was broadcast for the entire city to see, of course. Embarrassment flooded his mental capacities. So disgruntled by yet another setback, he decided to give up for the day; a rare occurrence, but he knew when to cut his losses especially since Metro Man would just break out any second now. Lost the battle, win the war and all that.

Except... It wasn't over.

What occurred next continued to play in Megamind's... mind... over and over again for the rest of the day. It all happened so fast, he could barely begin to grasp what was going on. Metro Man's weakness was Copper? He recalled the soft voice of a countdown in the background while he struggled to understand why Metro Man was unable to escape the confines of the observatory walls. He remembered Minion's insistent voice, rising in panic behind him, trying to get his attention. To warn him about something. But Megamind was so entranced by the image of Metro Man laying on the ground of the abandoned space-viewing building that he could barely look away. And then, an explosion.

Moments later, Metro Man's charred remains flew from the brilliant cacophony of fire, laser, and debris to lay atop of him in a heap. Metro Man. He had killed him.

And now, he stood before a crowd outside of City Hall. HIS City Hall. They were officially relinquishing control of the city into his capable hands, with Metro Man's death still hanging heavy like a cloud of mist over the city. But Megamind was rejoicing and revelling in it; so much so that he put his boundless energy into dancing up the steps of the large government building, cackling with hardly concealed glee.

"First off, what a turn out! How wild is this, huh? All I did was eliminate the most powerful man in the universe!" he laughed emphatically into a microphone, his grin so large it hardly felt contained on his cheeks. White faces of fear and confusion stared back at him, many holding devices for recording up in the air, all trained on him.

Not being one to be shy around a camera, Megamind hardly gave them a second thought, except maybe to marvel in the fact that it was now HIM getting the attention, instead of Metro Man. Normally the cameras and microphones were in the hero's face, not Megamind's. Although Megamind was normally there, he was often being held up by his cape in defeat, so his 5'5" blue frame dangled and thrashed in the air just off screen before being hauled off to prison. Because of this, he never was interviewed by the local news stations, never got to see his face on the evening news unless it was a mug-shot, and was never asked the thrilling questions of the day like what new plan he was going to develop next.

He'd always wanted that; a studio interview preferably. Sitting in a comfortable chair, in his most extravagant of capes while Roxanne Ritchi leaned in eagerly, seated in the chair opposite; legs crossed so her skirt hitched up an inch on her curved thighs, a look of total interest and rapt curiosity was stealing across her features. She'd ask him probing questions about his amazing intellect, his well-thought out and magnificent plans, about his life, about him. And he'd laugh charismatically, answer them all with witty humour and smoldering good looks, and she'd end the interview, breathlessly exclaiming into the camera how honoured she'd been to have an audience with such a fantastically amazing and devilishly good looking man.

And it would be a three part – no, a FOUR part interview, so he'd keep coming back, and she'd keep having questions, and they'd talk for hours, and he'd share all his deepest thoughts and dreams, and maybe off camera, they'd go out to lunch to discuss further interviews, and over coffee she'd share her secrets and desires too. You know, in that rushed way as if she felt like she couldn't keep them secret anymore, or in that sort of off-the-cuff social banter way, and she'd seem chagrined about it, brushing her gorgeous hair back from her eyes to stare down in embarrassment. And he'd reach across the table, assuring her it was alright to speak, and he wanted to know more.

Wait, no, that didn't sound very villainous.

He was supposed to be getting the interview, not her! This whole scenario was so that he could get the limelight for once! Although, given the circumstances, he doubted the interview would be a pleasant one. Evil Overlord's of Metrocity rarely had provocative and intellectual exposés done about them. He just...

Well, he did wonder what it would be like to be on the other side of her microphone for once, instead of a backdrop in handcuffs behind Metro Man.

"Are there any questions? Go on! Yes, you in the back!" he invited boldly into the microphone, motioning to the single hand raised in the air behind a crowd of people. The individual wormed their way forward and broke through the swarm of reporters.

He smiled despite himself as Roxanne Ritchi appeared from his thoughts before him, pushing through the crowd. He had to blink though, at her appearance, his smile fading to a drawn look of half concern, half confusion.

Although for him it seemed already light-years away in time, it suddenly hit him that today had still just been today. And just today, he had defeated Metro Man in a blazing explosion of glory. An explosion so powerful, that it had torn across the shoreline of the bordering lake and blasted waves of heat, debris and ash clear into the fake observatory they had been viewing the explosion from.

It seems Minion had not fully calculated the blast-radius of the solar-powered Death Ray, and so they'd all been blown back by multiple after-bursts that left his face smudged with streaks of black and promptly sent him flying with the wind ripped from his lungs. And Roxanne had been right beside him, tied to a chair. That had all occurred just this morning, but now the sky was dark with the twinkling stars of twilight peering down on them. At least a full six hours had passed. And it seems that since that time, the young buxom reporter had not changed, or cleaned herself. This was very telling.

Soot stained her square like face, all but clouding the galaxy of freckles lining her cheeks. Her dress, an off the shoulder red and black number that emphasized that tight cinching of her waist, looked like it hadn't seen a dry-cleaner in years. The once brilliant red looked a rusty brown now, the elasticity of the fabric seeming lumpy and clinging in all the wrong ways to her wide hips. The dress was torn, burns marred its surface, and one shoulder didn't quite seem like it wanted to stay up anymore.

Her normally immaculate makeup looked smudged, lipstick just about chewed off, clear silver-blue eyes now dull and foggy, red rimmed and the tiniest bit swollen. She hardly looked the well-put together image of a fashionable reporter! And her hair!

Megamind had to gape openly at the interesting transformation that had occurred to those irrepressible bangs, as they were blown straight back from her face, standing on end in an electrifying way. The strands were frayed, singed and darkened from heat, little flyways curling in on themselves from damage. It gave her an extra few inches of height, and Megamind assumed she was now officially taller than him with this new addition as she'd always bordered on just barely having an edge on him in stature.

Megamind had never seen her like this. Dishevelled, sure. Put a bag over anyone's head for long enough, and they'd come out looking a little frazzled. But this was a totally new side of her. Even with the kidnapping, the bags, the knock out gas (and that one unfortunate incident with the Forget-Me-Stick, which Megamind insisted was Minion's fault), she would shake her head, gain her composure and hold herself up tall so that no matter how her outfit was wrinkled, her hair was messy, or her lipstick had smudged, she still remained... prett- he meant presentable! Presentable.

But now?

Although the effect of her blown back hair was exciting, it changed her face. The lines that once were softened by the presence of bangs now seemed hard. Her high forehead, which he'd never seen before and somehow made his face feel hot, was lined with not only dirt, but crinkles in her flesh. Worry lines, he'd heard them called on an infomercial for some cream that when slathered on turned a woman's face the consistency of skin stretched taunt over a drum.

Her eyes, normally full of life and rebellion looked so dull, wide, almost pained. Her pouty lips now looked tight and drawn, strained to the point of a frown. All because of her hair!

Great Scott, no wonder she wore it the way she normally did. Otherwise, she'd look downright miserable all the time! Those lines grew deeper on her brow, and she took another step forward as she spoke, her voice catching in her throat.

"I'm sure we'd all like to know what you plan to do with us and this city," she demanded, her normal fire replaced with an angry sort of desperation. Here she was, asking him a question, like a real interview, and suddenly he couldn't make his tongue work. He just kept staring at her hair, her face, and the startling transformation she had taken.

"Good!" he managed at last, shouting out the word as if to snap himself back into reality. "I'm glad you asked that!" he stated, a bit softer now while he fumbled with the microphone that suddenly felt foreign and heavy in his hands.

This wasn't how the interview was supposed to be. He didn't understand.

She needed to fix her hair, then everything would be back to normal. She always was so worried about her hair. Trying to blow it into place, always touching it. Maybe because of its scorched appearance, she wasn't acting like herself. But why hadn't she cleaned up? There'd been time. He'd certainly found the time. Even had the time to choreograph an amazing entrance with a light show, music, and fog! But she couldn't fix her hair, wipe her face, or change?

Minion had knocked her out like normal and deposited her back at her apartment after Metro Man's death. And some hours later, they were here. What had she been doing that whole time in between? You'd think she'd have the decency to make herself presentable for his grand preview as Evil Overlord of Metrocity. She of all people knew how important this was. She'd been there when it had all happened!

Well, yet again, he was the one who would have to pick up the pieces and carry on like a true professional. Grasping his cloak, he began a dramatic dialogue.

"Imagine the most horrible... terrifying... EEEEVIL thing you can possible think of, and multiply it... by SIX!" he shouted, so a hiss of feedback echoed from the speakers.

The stunned silent faces of the media, police officers and ex-mayor stared back at him.

"In the meantime, I want you to carry on with the dreary normal things that normal people do. Let's just have fun with this! Come on! And I will get back to you!" he ended rather lamely, as all of a sudden, for all his grandiose ideas and schemes, he was at a loss for what to do with the city now that it was his. It was like a child who had begged and pleaded for that special bike with turbo thrusters and wings (or whatever normal humans' bikes were like) for Christmas, and when it finally came under the tree, he was so overcome with elation, that he could hardly think about riding it. Just to sit and soak up its glory was overwhelming in and of itself. How was he supposed to already have plans for Metrocity when he was still revelling in the fresh paint job and shiny handlebars of his victory?

Wrapping his cape around himself in what he thought looked rather villainous and evil, he hurriedly scrambled back into the open door of the City Hall behind him. Minion, blinking and staring at his boss, struggled to keep up once Megamind hissed for him to join him. The door was then slammed firmly with a resounding crash, leaving the onlookers outside in a sort of stunned silence. Stunned with fear!

"Oh Minion! How spectacular is this!" he cried, twirling his arms around him in the grand hall of the city government building, trying to forget the aching feeling Roxanne had made in his chest. His cape fluttered and wrapped around him when he stopped, and he had to struggle to disentangle himself from the silky fabric.

"Oh, yes sir. Quite spectacular," the robot responded enthusiastically, turning around in his bowl to gaze up at the high ceilings, tasteful decorations, and bright lights. "It's so much nicer in here than in the Evil Lair, sir."

"I thought you liked the Evil Lair!" Megamind gasped, as if insulted, and then gave a shriek as his cape refused to let him out of its tight cocoon, wrapped around his spindly legs. He struggled even more violently, and blinked as he began to tip slowly forward, a wail escaping his lips that steadily increased in volume and force before he face-planted hard into the floor. Minion cringed at the resounding thud and Megamind's whimper against the cold tiled floor of the front foyer. "Owcht.." he mumbled, nose and lips squished into the ground so he was forced to move his mouth to the side just to speak.

"Oh sir!" Minion gasped, quickly lumbering over to deftly scoop the thin alien up, setting him back on his feet, brushing him off and fixing his cape. Megamind quickly slapped away his hands with a flailing movement, squinting up his face in stern resistance to the babying behaviour. Fixing his own shoulder pads defiantly with his chin stuck up in the air, he tried to ignore the hurt expression on the fish's face.

"Well, of course I like the Evil Lair, sir. It's home! But this is just... different!" Minion tried to explain, fiddling with his large metallic fingers before gesturing to the expanse of white walls, framed paintings in glittering gold frames, and plush red rug that led from the circular main entrance way down to the many adjacent halls.

Although Megamind was resentful that Minion might prefer this opulence to his own comforting Evil Lair, he couldn't really fault the fish. It was quite amazing. The life of a super villain, although glamorous, wasn't exactly one that brought in a salary that could afford creature comforts. Not by legal means at least. Any money he procured was from a less than reputable source. Normally a bank robbery, jewellery heist, intercepting government shipments of weaponry, parts and radioactive power sources; things like that. And with how often Metro Man foiled his plans, not a whole lot of loot ever made it to his pockets.

He resorted to scavenging for parts, power, and living arrangements. His base of operations were run-down, abandoned warehouses, factories, industrial sites. Anything large enough to house his experiments, out of the public eye, and well... free. So it was never very fancy. In fact, it was normally downright disgusting. Dark and dreary, but Megamind felt at home in that kind of environment, so financial backing or not, he'd probably still search out these dilapidated structures.

It was like the jail. Well, the old parts of jail that he had resided in as a child and the majority of his youth, before he was 'upgraded' to solitary confinement. His old cells had been cold, dank and barren, and he'd lain on their hard floor, drawing and scribbling ideas and designs as they flowed through his brain like water out of a tap. Rolling Minion back and forth in his clear bowl, giggling as the alien fish tried to brighten his spirits after a particularly traumatizing day, Megamind had found a spark of hope within a dark, terrifying world.

Those nights, alone by the light of Minion, and his glowing binky (the ultimate power source for most of his creations), Megamind was able to escape from the frightening noises in the cell block, the constant fear of injury and worse from less than accepting inmates, and the never-ending bullying from his childhood 'peers'. And so, he found himself with an affinity for the dark, cold, empty expanses of an industrial warehouse. All high ceilings, metal chains, oil spots and concrete flooring. Like a sanctuary where he could remember and grip onto those nights by Minion-light, where he'd felt for even an hour a day, that he had a friend, and he was going to be alright.

This City Hall had similar high ceilings, and it felt equally as empty as a gaping hangar bay might have, but Minion was right. It was different. Not a bad different, but not a good one either. He could never dream of having the sort of money to afford something of this calibre, but that suited him fine. Still, seeing Minion's wide golden-brown eyes and how he seemed to be turning around and around to soak it all in, Megamind tried to shake the feelings of discomfort and replace them with his normal level of over-the-top exuberance.

"You are correct Minion! It may be no Evil Lair, but it's OURS now!" he cried, thrusting one finger into the air triumphantly, and Minion's smile was broad and pleased. "We must explore the entire building! COME!" he cackled, throwing himself up with great energy to clamber atop the bulking robot's shoulders. Although Minion squawked with some shock at this move, one more flying leap had Megamind grabbing the dangling chandelier above their heads, and in seconds he was swinging upside down from its circular base, his legs hooked over the metal frame, swinging violently. The tiny crystals tinkled and chimed behind him as he flashed his companion a brilliant smile, waving his arms around.

"Look Minion! Isn't this AMAZING? How fun is THIS!" he laughed, before turning at the waist in the most uncomfortable seeming position to stare directly at the shimmering daggers of glass that reflected the light. He pinched one between his fingers, holding it up to his eye experimentally and looked back to Minion again, so his image was a kaleidoscope of fins, metal and blue water.

"I wonder what these do?" he asked excitedly, twisting even more in his awkward upside down position, cape swaying behind his head. "Do you think they're some sort of power source that runs the whole building?"

"I do believe that's a chandelier, sir," Minion added helpfully, walking to stand underneath his ward, tilting his fish body to stare up at him. "It's a light fixture."

"Hmm. A chan-dee-leer?" he mused in return, suddenly grabbing hold of the very bottom of the chandelier and angling it so he could stare directly into the light bulb within. Which promptly blinded him. He shrieked his discomfort, slapped his hands over his eyes and lost his precarious hold on the lighting fixture, his legs straightening in reaction to pain so he quickly plummeted down toward the ground.

"Oh sir!" Minion gasped, extending his arms to catch Megamind. Although this made the alien wince terribly at dropping into very unforgiving metal arms, he still laughed heartily and recovered from his pain within milliseconds, as he'd always done. Pain always seemed temporary for the thin-as-a-rail evil genius. Which came in pretty darn handy when you were getting beaten into submission every week by a super hero. He rebounded as if he'd never been hurt, his bones healing like mere cuts, and his cuts and bruises disappearing within mere hours.

"Good catch my fishy-friend!" he cried, before reaching into the holster attached to his right hip, pulling out his De-gun with a flourish.

Powered by the iridescent child's toy he had come to earth with, the gun glowed a brilliant blue-white, a rotating chamber at its center labelling all the gun's functions; Destroy, Demoralize, Debilitate, Decompress, Dehydrate and a few others. One of his earliest and more 'pretty' inventions, gold tinted swirls and etchings coated the gun's surface, a dramatic almost 1950s inspired art deco fin coming up where the hammer of a standard human gun would be. With a dramatic flick of his wrist, the gun made an array of almost bubbling pings and tones while the center barrel spun madly before another quick twitch on his part had the dial stopping on Destroy.

With a smirk, he aimed the gun upward at the crystal light fixture, pulling the trigger. Light zapped up at the chandelier before it exploded in a blast of smoke, dust, crystal and plaster, leaving nothing but a charred hole in the ceiling in its place.

"There," he said resolutely, remaining in Minion's arms before using the gun to point dramatically toward the large double doors at the far end of the hall that no doubt led to the Mayor's Office. "Now, ONWARD MINION!" he cried, flicking his hand once again and sending a shot of electric energy at the door until it vibrated with sparks and trembling, the doors exploded open on their hinges.

"There he is," Minion sing songed as he carried his master through the gaping doors, swimming back and forth in his bowl. "Mister Evil Overlord!" Megamind cackled out a laugh, jumping out of the robotic arms to stare around the elaborate room with eyes wide enough to devour every detail.

"Wow," he breathed reverently, spinning with arms spread to look back at his friend. "Minion, did you think this day would ever come?" he half whispered, slowly feeling the reality of the moment settling in on him.

"No way, not at all, sir. Never, never in a million-" Minion was laughing, shaking his head and gesturing with his arms until he finally opened his eyes to regard Megamind, who was glaring at him with a stoney, deadly look on his face. Snapping his fish mouth closed, Minion pointed back at the evil genius. "I mean yes, I did!" he corrected staunchly.

Megamind conveniently ignored the infraction, and went back to staring up at the room.

"Look at the intricate mouldings!" he gasped, and Minion followed behind him obediently, exclaiming that he was with great enthusiasm to make up for his previous confession. Megamind ignored the large cyborg to clamber up on top of the heavy mahogany desk, stepping over papers and pens before stepping down seamlessly onto the expensive leather chair seat, his momentum propelling it to roll slowly along the carpet.

"And what's this?" he whispered, raising his hands to take in the entirety of the wall that overlooked the reflection pool, and Metro Man museum in the distance. "It's like one of the giant monitors in the lair. But it seems to only carry one station," he asked quizzically, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh that, sir, is called a window," Minion explained patiently, grasping his hands together as he watched Megamind place one leather gloved hand against the glass pane, marvelling at its floor to ceiling expanse, separated into three distinct windows.

"Window," he intoned, as if to memorize the word.

"All the kids are looking through them," Minion went on amicably.

"Ohhh I've never had a view before!" he giggled excitedly, pressing himself closer to the cool glass while staring at the towering statue of Metro Man, supporting the world in his giant hand and rotating slowly. "Metrocity, Minion. It's all mine! If my parents could see me now," he sighed wistfully.

"Sir I'm sure they're smiling down from Evil Heaven," Minion comforted and Megamind gave a smile and a nod, before turning in the seat to slide back over to the desk, extending a hand toward Minion in prompt. The robot quickly handed him a plaque, lined with silver spike detailing which Megamind quickly placed at the front of the desk. HIS new desk. One quick adjustment to make it perfectly lined up, and he smiled at the Megamind, Evil Overlord name plaque with joy.

"And now that Mister Goody Two Shoes is out of the way, I can have anything I want and there's no one to stop me!" he laughed joyfully and Minion joined in, watching with amusement as Megamind pushed back from the desk once more to spin in the office chair, arms and legs spread out in a star fashion, simply to feel the inertia caused by the spinning.

"So," he said suddenly as he stopped, grabbing the desk firmly in both hands. "How did you think my first press conference went? How did I look? Did I sound menacing?" he inquired of his friend, leaning forward expectantly to hear Minion's feedback. The fish looked contemplative, tapping one metal finger against the glass encasing his body, a hollow tink tink sound following.

"I thought it went quite well sir! Your entrance was disgustingly evil!"

"HAH! Just as I thought it would!" Megamind cried triumphantly, his smile wide and a bit crooked. Then, it faded for but a moment, replaced with a purposefully casual and nonchalant expression. He feigned disinterest, instead gazing at his hands, picking at the leather on their back experimentally.

"And... what did you think of Miss Ritchi?" he ventured, casting a sidelong look at his companion. Again, Minion looked thoughtful, then cautious.

"Weeeeeell, she didn't look herself, sir, to be honest."

"EXACTLY!" Megamind shouted, slamming both hands hard on the desk so Minion jumped. Megamind then winced and gave a squeak, quickly gripping his hands together to stave off the throbbing pain of slapping them so violently on a hard surface.

"I thought she was not herself at all tonight! It was her hair! She didn't even bother to fix her hair Minion! Clearly she does not fear me anymore. We'll have to do something truly devious to her."

"Her... hair... sir?" Minion repeated, his face screwed up in a look that clearly stated he was struggling to keep up. Megamind waved his now painless hand in the air, brushing away the comment.

"Yes yes, her hair! Didn't you see? It was all... THIS!" he tried to explain, gesturing wildly by raising his eyebrows as high as he could, flaring his hands up on either side of his massive cranium, making swishing movements with his fingertips.

"Ok, yes, I did see that sir," Minion muttered, still terribly out of the loop, and Megamind heaved a martyred sigh, slumping back in his chair while frowning expressively. He leaned forward again as if to try and reason with the slow witted fish.

"Her hair was WRONG Minion. It made her different. She should have fixed her hair." How could he be so dense sometimes?

"I... I don't know, sir. I'm not sure it was her hair that was bothering her," the fish said at last, after a terribly long silence where Megamind felt the creature was judging him quite harshly, thinking nasty thoughts in his little tiny brain. He bristled visibly and frowned.

"Well then what else could it have been, Mister Smarty Fish?" he drawled back sarcastically, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Sir. She just saw Metro Man die. She was sad," Minion supplied in a soft, almost pitying voice and Megamind blinked.

"What?"

"Sir," Minion started again, wringing his hands together with a scraping of metal on metal. He stopped and heaved a sigh so that his body floated down in his tank, tilting to one side. "You may not like to hear this, but... Well, all the news seems to say that Metro Man and her were... together."

"Yes yes, they were together a lot. That happens when you're getting saved from a kidnapping. We were ALL together, Minion. What's your point?"

"No, sir, I mean romantically."

"Yes, I know," he managed reluctantly in a soft voice as he quickly caught up to the conversation Minion was trying to have.

"She's sad, because Metro Man is dead, and she liked him. She was grieving sir. Because you killed Metro Man."

Oh. Oh. Yes. It made some sense. She'd been there when it happened. The sound of her traumatized gasp rang in his ears and echoed in his memories, from when Metro Man's skeletal remains had torpedoed into their view. Her changes were not based on some new hairstyle change; it was sadness. Grief. Pain.

The lines on her brow, the tightness around her mouth, the puffy redness of her eyes. The reason she had not cleaned up since the kidnapping was because she was sad due to Metro Man's death.

He felt like there was a punch in his gut, and his throat felt tight and constricted. He didn't regret finally winning against Metro Man; of course not. He just... well, he had somehow thought that he could do that without messing with the dynamic himself and Roxanne had together. Somehow, he'd overlooked that key aspect of their interactions; that they always centered around Metro Man.

"Yes, yes I suppose that would be true," he managed finally, his tongue feeling thick and cumbersome in his mouth.

"But, I'm sure she'll get over it quickly, sir!" Minion added hastily, plastering on a convincing smile, which Megamind for some reason knew wasn't genuine, but he didn't react to it and simply nodded with a dry grin.

"Yes, she was always good at bouncing back."

"Exactly, sir! That's the spirit! Remember the time with the giant robotic monkeys?"

"AH! What a great day that was! They were much messier than previously anticipated though..."

"Unfortunately. Miss Ritchi did suffer a bit that day. I suppose we based them too closely off of real primates. They do tend to throw their own po-"

"EW! Enough Minion... OH! Remember that time we attempted to blow up the marina?"

"Ah yes sir, a fine plan! Miss Ritchi wasn't too happy about the whole squid thing though."

"Hmm yes, she was most distracted that day."

"Oh, how about the time we took her to the top of Metro Tower, sir? Remember that?"

"Oh my yes, how could I forget Minion? A valuable lesson was learned that day. Always check the weather forecast. She was most agitated by the whole lightning thing. But her hair had looked FANTASTIC afterward!"

"Yes, I guess so, if you say so sir..." Minion offered unsurely, not longer seeming as interested in their reminiscing. "The point, sir, is that despite everything that's happened, she's always bounced back. Even from the really bad stuff. Remember when you hit her with the Forget-Me-Stick, that one time? She was right as rain after just a couple days, and she had been REALLY mad when she woke up!" Minion replied brightly, and Megamind choked and gasped.

"That was YOUR fault! If you'd just remembered the spray, I wouldn't have had to do that!" he complained sourly, but his spirits were significantly lifted and he beamed at his life-long friend. "You're right Minion. Roxanne will be good as new in no time! She'll fix her hair, clean up, and be ready for a good old fashioned kidnapping in no time! And everything will be wonderful again!"

Minion smiled broadly, but his eyes darted to the side for a quick second, his smile somewhat tense.

"Yes sir. Whatever you say."