Virtually Unpredictable

Chapter Two: Confusion and Compromise

Megamind gave a small groan as his eyes fluttered open. Everything felt… weird. Not bad, necessarily, but different. He found to his surprise that his clothes had been changed to a black top and leggings made of a tough but flexible fabric. There was a black cloak draped over his shoulders in place of his cape. He felt a slight stiffness about his torso. He pulled one of his sleeves up a bit to reveal a flash of steel. Yes, he was wearing a thin suit of chain mail under his clothes. Good. That might keep him alive here.

Looking around, he found himself at the edge of a forest clearing. He was stunned by how realistic everything looked and felt. He could even smell the grass and hear the wind in the leaves.

He studied his hand for a moment. It seemed totally normal on the outside, but felt somehow lighter. His whole body felt lighter.

The scientist in him would have been content to sit there and ponder the strange realness of this world forever, but the practical side of his mind knew he had to get out of here as soon as possible.

Remarkably, he still had his watch. He doubted the disguise function would work here, but hopefully he could still use the radio.

"Minion? Can you hear me?" he shook his wrist, willing the signal to reach the 'real' world.

"Sir?" came Minion's alarmed voice. "Where are you? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Minion, but you wouldn't believe how lifelike it is in here!" Megamind couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. "I don't know how, but the graphics, Minion! They're gorgeous! You should see it, it's just unbelievable!"

"Sir!" Minion scolded. "Do you have any idea how much danger you're in?! You need to focus!"

"I know, you're right," he took a deep breath. "I'll find Miss Ritchi, you try and get us out."

"Don't forget Metro Man."

"But Minion…" he whined.

"No buts, Sir. You can defeat him some other day. Right now he's at a severe disadvantage. It'd be unsporting to try and destroy him."

Minion was right, of course. Megamind knew the difference between being evil and being a coward. Easy as it might be to eliminate Metro Man now, it would be cheating.

And Megamind was no cheater.

"Oh all right," he said. "But I'm not about to be civil to him!"

Megamind glanced around for his standard issue weapon. He should have had one the moment he appeared in this world. His de-gun wouldn't have made the jump.

Sure enough, there was a sword and scabbard lying in the grass a few feet away.

He picked up the blade and looked it over. Then he cleared his throat and said in a clear voice, "Computer. Weapon stats."

A series of transparent numbers appeared in the air in front of him. Good, at least the voice recognition still worked. He studied the numbers for a moment. This sword was rather pitiful, but it would do until he found something better. The numbers vanished automatically after thirty seconds.

Megamind buckled the scabbard onto his belt and walked carefully into the clearing, green eyes scanning the scene for any threats.

There are downsides to having a brain like Megamind's. Even as he tried to suppress the thoughts, he couldn't help remembering the statistics of all the monsters in this area.

Gray Wolves, attack 10, armor 4, hunt in packs… Dark Elves, attack 14, armor 8, set up ambushes in clearings… Just like this one…

He jumped at a tiny sound in the undergrowth. Lizard Men, attack 20- Stop it!

There, on the other side of the clearing. Was that… Yes, it looked like Roxanne. She was lying on her stomach and not moving. That got him worried. He rushed to her side without another thought.

She was breathing, much to his relief, she was just unconscious from the transfer. Megamind stared at her helplessly for a few seconds. What was he supposed to do? Wake her up? She'd probably object. But he couldn't just leave her here.

Roxanne woke with a gasp. As she sat up, the only thing that came to mind were some disconnected thoughts about where on earth she was and the fact that her clothes were different. She was wearing a short tunic and a pair of leggings, with something slung over her back. A quiver full of arrows, she realized.

Looking around only made her more confused. She was in a forest with no idea how she got there. And there was Megamind a few feet away.

He turned around. "Ah, Miss Ritchi, you're awake!"

"Megamind, what did you do?" she shot him an accusatory glare.

He tried not to cringe at her tone. He should have expected this. "Um… Look, let's go find Metro Man and I'll explain to both of you. Here, I think this is yours." He tossed her a bow.

She stared at it, and suddenly noticed the scabbard at Megamind's side. "No, I want answers, Megamind. Are we in danger?"

"If I say yes, will you stop talking so loud?" he sounded oddly serious. He had an air of vigilance about him that answered her question for her.

Suddenly, she heard the sound that Megamind had been listening to. Something large was lumbering towards them.

Megamind instinctively tensed and moved protectively in front of Roxanne. She would normally have protested, but truth be told, she was too confused and scared to notice.

The noise came closer, getting louder and rougher. A branch was pushed back, and the pair beheld…

An amour-clad and rather dazed-looking Metro Man.

Roxanne gave a relieved sigh. "Oh, it's you Wayne. Thank goodness."

Megamind let his shoulders drop slightly, but he didn't fully relax.

"Megamind, what have you done?" the hero asked with a frown.

"Why does everybody automatically assume that it's my fault?" Megamind cried, looking offended.

Roxanne narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, isn't it?"

He sighed. "Okay, fine, so it's my fault. This world," he gestured to the forest, "is actually a video game that Minion and I created."

"What?!" his reluctant companions shouted in unison.

"I didn't plan on Miss Ritchi and myself entering the program. It was only meant to capture and destroy Metro Man." He couldn't help giving Roxanne a rather guilty look.

"How do you expect to get out of here, then?" Metro Man glared at him. "I'm not going to be of much help, since I apparently don't have my powers in here!"

Megamind's eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise. "It worked?"

His adversary rolled his eyes, a rare show of exasperation. "Megamind, just get us out of here, all right?"

Megamind gave a sheepish laugh. "Um, yeah, that's just the thing… The only way out is to win the game."

"So let me get this straight," Roxanne fumed. "You mean to tell me we're trapped in here? For how long? I've got a very important meeting at three! This is why we decided there would be no evil plans on Mondays!"

"Well excuse me, Miss Ritchi," he scowled. "I'm sorry to be interrupting your oh-so-important life with my nonsense, but last I checked, I'm the villain here. If anybody is running this show, it's me!"

"Oh, you run the show, all right." Roxanne said sarcastically. "You'll run it right into the ground if we let you."

"I…" Megamind started to say something witty, then suddenly went stiff.

"Megamind?" Roxanne stepped towards him, but he held up a hand motioning her to stay put.

A few seconds later, there was a low growl in the underbrush. Megamind drew his sword and approached it slowly.

Something huge and furry leaped out at him with a roar. Only his lightning reflexes kept him from receiving a serious blow to the chest. The thing turned on him and snarled. It might have been humanoid, but it was too shaggy to really tell.

It lunged at Megamind, who danced out of the way and swung his sword quickly down. It went through the creature as if it were made of butter. There was no blood to be seen, though, and the beast somehow stayed completely intact. Instead it flashed and gave a pained roar before lunging at the villain with its claws. Megamind jumped just out of reach and sliced through it again. The thing gave a high-pitched shriek and fell over, fading away a few seconds later.

Megamind turned, breathing hard, and saw the stunned looks on his companions' faces. In any other situation, he would have given them a smug grin and started boasting about his awesomeness, but right now the gears were turning in his considerable brain.

He looked at them both very seriously. "Ok, here's the deal. Much as it pains me to say it, we're going to need to work together if we're to have any hope of making it out of this alive. That werewolf isn't the end. Frankly, I'm a little concerned that we encountered it this early. We must be playing on Expert mode. Fantastic."

Metro Man cleared his throat. "So, let me get this straight. You want me to trust my life to the man who's been trying to kill me since we were seven."

Megamind's voice was cold and practical as he said calmly, "If I wanted you dead, I would have left you to the werewolf." He started walking away.

"We're not actually going to go with him, right?" Metro Man asked Roxanne incredulously.

"Unless you have a better plan." She slid her bow onto her shoulder and started after Megamind. Metro Man reluctantly followed her. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Megamind's plans always blew up in his face, but Wayne had a very bad feeling about this.