I search the ground, my gaze sweeping for something, anything. I can sense his gaze on me, I can feel him approaching, coming closer. I look frantically for something. I know he's starting his lasers, I just know it, and I need something to protect me, to slow him down or fend off his super vision.
And then I see it—there, a shoolhouse, with children in the yard, recess! Metro Boy can't harm an innocent child, this is perfect! I fly lower and fix my sights on a group of little boys, then think better of it. They look about my age, and I don't want to risk being beaten up by one, so I turn my head.
And then I see her. She's about my age, maybe a little younger. She has short brown hair, and her eyes are blue. She's wearing a red dress and playing skotch-hop by herself, or whatever it is they call it. And she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I know right then that she's the one I want to kidnap, and though I don't know why and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be thinking like this, I know I want her to be my only kidnappee. I fly lower, and in one swoop I have her over my shoulder, and we're flying back into the sky.
My name is Megamind. I gave myself that name. My parents are dead, and I was eight days old when they died. I'm nine years old. My only friend is my fish, Minion. Metro Boy will always try and put me in jail or kill me. I grew up in jail. I will always try to kill Metro Boy and take over the world. It is my destiny.
These are the things I will always remember.
I'm blue, with a big head, and bald. I'm what they call an alien. I will always be the bad guy, always always always always.
These are the things I can never forget.
The girl on my shoulder cries out in fright and screams in my ear, starting to pound on my back, but I ignore her, and before the shoolhouse is out of her sight, she quiets down. As soon as I have her in the air, I look around and see Metro Boy falter, then turn and fly in the opposite direction—going for the police, no doubt.
"YES!" I cry, pumping my free fist in the air as Minion pulls up beside me.
"Sir!" he calls over, and I look in his direction. "I thought we promised not to resort to hostage situations!" He looks worried, and I feel a little guilty for going so low without consulting him. Then I push it off. I am a villain, after all. We do that sort of thing.
"We were desperate!" I confess. "And it worked, didn't it?" Minion gives me a look that makes me feel bad, but I pretend not to see it, and cast my attentions to my kidnap victim. Her eyes are squeezed shut, but I'm surprised to find that she isn't crying, or reacting in any way. I wonder why, and feel confused. Isn't she supposed to be screaming in terror and fear and begging for her life?
"Hey! Girl!" I try and get her attention. I feel like I should tell her she's OK, that she's just a pawn in the game me and Metro Boy play, and I'm not really going to hurt her. "I'm not going to hurt you, I pro-miss, I just need to keep Metro Boy away!" She doesn't seem to hear me, so I raise my voice a little.
"Girl! Shoolgoer! I promise I won't hurt you! I'm simply the prince of all evilness and the kinged of all villainy! One day you shall scream in fear of the very mentiooon of my name, MEGAMIND! But for now, you don't have to be more than semi-terrified." Still, the girl doesn't respond, and I look to Minion in confusion.
"Shouldn't she be screaming?" I ask. Minion shrugs in reply.
"I think so!"
"There must be something wrong with her!" I decide, and we fly in silence for awhile. Every once in a while, the silence gets to me, and I try and talk to the little girl. I feel like she should be saying something, screaming or crying or yelling at the very least, but all she does is whimper when I shift her so my arm doesn't fall asleep. It makes me feel weird, desperate, and it's very unpheasant.
"Girl, please do something!" I yell, but she doesn't listen, and I wonder if maybe she's deaf? But when I let out a high-pitched yelp after catching my shoulder on a building, she flinches, and that theory is crushed. So why won't she talk to me? Why won't she react! It's so frustrating, and it hurts my feelings. That she won't scream makes me feel like a failure as a villain, and that she won't so much as look at me makes me feel like I'm nothing.
But at the same time it makes me determinined. It makes me feel like I need to impress her in some way. But I simply don't know how, and the feeling passes for a few moments. Every once in a while I try to talk to her, but she ignores my very existence. I even try pinching her once, just to get a reaction. When I do she makes a noise of dissent, and it makes me feel good, if only for a few seconds, but Minion gives me a reprimanding glance, and I realize it was just plain mean. But I don't apologize, even though I know I should. I'm a villain, and villains don't say they're sorry.
Suddenly I hear sirens in the distance, and through the passing buildings I see Metro Boy. "MINION!" I cry, filled with fear. "QUICK, WHERE'S THE LAIR?"
"Right over there, Sir," my fish friend yells back to me, pointing, and I sigh in relief. We hit the ground a little hard, and the little girl rocks a little in my grip (I've never been the strongest. I don't have superpowers, after all. Not like Metro Boy), and we throw ourselves into the abandoned warehouse we're using as our hideout. It's only temporary, house hunting is such a pain, and it's so hard to find someplace with decent space and insulation. This was just the first halfway decent abandoned place we found after our most recent break from jail, though we do have our eye on this nice abandoned factory across town...
Minion leaves the room and I toss the girl in a chair at the center of the room. I grab a spare length of rope and tie her hands together behind the chair. I realize now that I've been talking in my high-pitched panic-voice, and stop, my cheeks briefly turning purple. I don't like my voice when I get scared, and now I have a captive to impress!
Without pause I sit down in the chair opposite my new hostage, and I stare at her. She gives a dry sob, the first admission of fear since I first kidnapped her. She looks on the verge of tears, or like she's really angry, I'm not exactly sure, but she makes no move. When she finally blinks her eyes open, I'm confused, for she sighs in relief. I feel a little indignant at this. How dare she be relieved to be in the pre-sense of the maser of all villainy! But I can't be angry. I just stare at her in fascination, and she at me.
Neither of us moves as we size each other up. I can't help but wonder what she's thinking. Is she scared of me? Or is she secretly laughing deep inside? Laughing because I'm a freak? Or the emotions on her face, confusion, apprehension, and uncertainty, could they be her true emotions, what she's really feeling?
I stare into her sparkling blue eyes, and hear heat rising in my ears. I've never kept eye contact with anyone but Minion for this long, and maybe Metro Boy when we're battling. And this girl is so beautiful, I can't really know what to do. I like her, I know that, she looks like a nice person. And she hasn't laughed yet. Suddenly she changes a little, and stares me down defiantly. I just watch her. And a part of me feels excited that she's reacting in any way, even if it isn't in fear. Especially that it isn't in fear, really.
After a few minutes I stand and go to the window, parting the shades with two fingers and peering out. I let out a squeak as I see Metro Boy right outside, and hurry back to my seat as Minion returns. He's holding a plate of sugar cookies with pink frosting—my favorite. I take one and scarf it down as he offers one to our captive, but she turns her head away from the cookie platter as if they smelled funny.
Minion gives me a questioning look, and I shrug. His cookies are delicious. Why wouldn't she want one? It confuses me. Maybe she's allergic? After a half-hour by my watch (I made it myself, and it's supposed to act as a disguise generator, but I don't have that quite down yet), I stand and take a quick peek outside before walking to the girl tied to the chair. She cringes when I come near, but I ignore it and untie her hands.
Most people flinch when I touch them, whether it's in fear or disgust at my blue skin.
It doesn't faze me.
She gives me a questioning glance, almost like she can't quite believe I'm letting her go, and I point to the door. "You can go now. I think he stopped following me. You can go home." I say it softly, and she slowly walks to the door. Just as she sets her hand on the doorknob, and I'm preparing my mental list of precautions to take against being found, she turns to me, and our eyes lock.
"My name is Roxanne Ritchi," she tells me. "I'm going to be a news reporter." I nod, and she leaves the room. It's then that I know. I know that she's to be the only person I ever kidnap, and I'll find a way to impress her, through fear, through strength, through intelligence...somehow.
Minion sets his hand on my shoulder now, as I think through the things I will always remember.
My name is Megamind. I'm twenty-six years old. I have no family. I've spent my entire life being evil. Now I'm the good guy. I've been in love with Roxanne Ritchi for years. I've been trying to impress her since the day I met her. At last I've succeeded. And she is everything to me.
Author Comments:
The other half! Huzzah! :D