Author's note:
Here is part 2! I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to R&R if you like it or have any requests for what you want to see in the story (though I have to say, the next part is going to get pretty fun to write. Mwahahaha! :3 )
-GK
Roxanne Ritchi had never missed a story in her life. In fact, it was one of the prouder points of her reputation, and her career. So, when her boss called her at 11:45 a.m. on her day off and asked her to catch the breaking news downtown, she felt like she couldn't say no. Well, she tried to say no at first, but then he pleaded with her in that thick Brooklyn accent of his:
"Please, Roxie, you're the closest one to the scene; no one else will get there on time."
"Hank..." she bit her lip. "I already made plans! Can't you just get Bill on this?"
"Sweetheart, you know Bill takes his family out to the cabin in the mountains every Christmas. You're my only hope."
"Well, I mean...Karen! Karen doesn't live far from here either!"
"Karen's commute is 40 minutes longer than yours, Roxie baby." She gritted her teeth at the nickname. Only Bill could get away with calling her that. "No, doll," he continued, "you're the only one who can get there in time?"
"Well," she sighed, "do we really need someone there right when it happens? I mean-"
He cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "Are you kidding me?! Do we-do we need someone there?" He sputtered. "Roxie! Roxie, Roxie, Roxie... It's almost Christmas, and a lady is about to give birth to eight babies. Eight babies, all at the same time! She's already gone into labor; the doctors say she's ready to pop at any moment. Do we need someone there? Are you kidding me? This is gold! We get the first take on this story, and we'll be tugging on the heartstrings of every citizen in Metro City! There ain't no way I'm letting that rat Eddie over at MCKB get the scoop on this first. You know how I feel about something like that, Roxie."
She raised her fingertips up to her furrowed brow. "Yes, yes, I know." She paused a moment, before adding, "Alright, I'll head right over. Send Dave with the van to meet me there."
"Way ahead of you. Oh Roxie, you're a real gem, you know that?" he beamed. "You're worth your wait in gold. Now get down there and get me that story."
"Yes sir, thank you. I'm on my way."
"Oh, and Roxie?" he added, before she could hang up.
"Yes sir?"
"Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you too, sir." She flipped the phone closed, and tapped it several times against her forehead in frustration. "Really? Really? Today of all days?" She paused for a moment, then flipped it open again, dialed a number, and held the phone to her ear as she rushed out the door.
This was officially the worst day ever for the young reporter. She got her story alright, and her reputation as a reporter was still intact, but it was 1:30 already and she was an hour and a half late for her date. Who would have thought it would take so long for a woman to give birth to eight babies? she thought to herself sarcastically. To make matters worse, Megamind hadn't picked up the phone before or after the story. She thought about heading straight over to his not-so-secret lair, but she was worried he and Minion would still be waiting for her over at the park. Thankfully the recent snowstorm meant that not many people were out and about today; it didn't take long for the cab she called to arrive, and she was quickly on her way to the park.
The sight she caught when she arrived was unprecedented.
"Oh god..."
At first, she was terrified at the view. Little bodies of children in Boy Scout uniforms were strewn about in the snow. "Hello? Are you okay?" Her heart sank as she frantically trudged towards one of the boys who lay motionless, face-down in the field of white. Suddenly, he let out a groan and slowly got up, shaking out the snow from his clothes and hair. The little boy couldn't have been older than five or six. "What happened here?" the reporter asked him, placing a comforting yet concerned hand on his shoulder.
"We... we started a war we couldn't finish," the boy whimpered.
"A... war?" Roxanne raised a curious eyebrow at him.
"Yes," he responded. "A snowball fight. We... we couldn't win..." the boy groaned. "We were powerless to stop him."
Her face froze on his words. She blinked once. Then again. Slowly, her head sank low to the ground, though she didn't remove her hand from the boy's shoulder. She raised her other gloved hand to massage the growing exasperation out of her temples. "I'm going to regret asking this, because I'm pretty sure I already know the answer," she told no one in particular. Then she looked back up at the boy, and mustered up the best (though still highly unconvincing) smile she could manage. "Him...?" she queried.
The boy nodded, but didn't answer. He only pointed towards a figure looming out in the distance on the other side of the park.
The conversions had been fairly simple, at least for a man of his genius. It had only taken a mere 15 or so minutes for Megamind to make one of his smaller robotic battle mechs into an instrument of mass meteorological destruction. The mech's cockpit sat approximately 20 feet from the ground, giving him the perfect overview of the battlefield. The suit itself contained an intake valve for drawing in moisture from the air around, a flash-freezing device for converting it into snow or ice, a compression chamber that pressed it down into perfectly round projectiles, and finally, his proudest invention: a rapid-fire snowball cannon capable of firing up to 50 snowballs a second, at distances of over 2 football fields away. It was a masterpiece. He decided to call it... the Blizzkrieg.
Minion and the brainbots had been equipped with smaller snow guns of their own, which weren't as powerful as his machine, but still quite effective. Together, they had managed to overpower the Boy Scouts in mere moments. Minion seemed apprehensive about the whole ordeal, but he was determined to follow his master's orders regardless of their questionable actions.
Now, Megamind stood poised over his prized station-the very igloo the Scouts had abandoned. The poor Scout Leader was still in it; he had fled inside when the snow started flying en masse, and now he was afraid to leave, lest he too be gunned down mercilessly. Megamind rested a giant robotic foot gently on the roof of the conquered igloo and posed with pride, and the Leader whimpered as the roof of the structure buckled slightly under its weight.
"Oh ho ho ho!" the alien chuckled with glee. "Victory is mine! You should know better than to engage in battle royale with Metrosity's greatest hero-"
"Megamind!" A female voice below finished his sentence for him.
"Roxanne!" he gasped.
"Oh, hello, Miss Ritchi!" Minion greeted her cheerfully, the head of his suit popping out from behind a nearby snowman.
"What are you guys doing?" she asked them. Behind her, a little boy in a scout's uniform clung to the edges of her coat and peeked out, frightened. "Why are you picking on these kids?"
"Picking on them?" Megamind sputtered in response. "Why, Miss Ritchi," his voice darkened, "we were merely defending ourselves. After you stood us up, these brutes picked on us!"
"I didn't stand you up, idiot." She chose her insult well; she knew a stab at his intelligence was the quickest way to ruffle up his feathers. "I got a call on an urgent story, and had to go to work real quick. I tried calling you! Why didn't you answer your phone?"
He looked absolutely dumbfounded. "My... phone?" He patted at his pockets. "My phone... my phone..." His search turned up empty. "I must have left it back at the lair." He still wasn't used to the idea needing to carry around a cell phone, let alone having someone who would call him on it. Before Roxanne, only Minion would try to get a hold of him, and he had his wrist communicator for that.
Roxanne sighed, and gave him a faint smile. "It doesn't matter, now. Why don't you climb down out of there, apologize to these poor people, and we'll try to salvage the rest of the day together?" He looked into her eyes, his own glimmering with hope at the sight of her smile. Then he looked to the little boy beside her, and memories of his recent embarrassment flashed back to him.
"Well, I'd love to be able to move on to our day's plans, Miss Ritchi, but I absolutely refuse to apologize to these cretins." He folded his arms across his chest, his lips forming a defiant pout. "I was simply bringing them to justice after their display of rampant villainy."
"Rampant villainy?" She looked down into the face of the boy, who looked on the verge of crying. "This boy can't be any more than five years old."
"Five and a half," the boy whispered, tugging lightly on her jacket.
"Oh, for the love of-" she trailed off in her frustration. "These aren't villains, Blue, they're grade schoolers!"
The alien chuckled. "Using pet names won't persuade me, my sweet. There's a war on, you see, and I'm winning." He mustered up the smoothest grin he could in an effort to impress her. His efforts had the opposite effect, however; they only heightened her annoyance.
"Oh, wipe that smug look off your face!" She picked up a clump of snow, fashioned it into a snowball, and chucked it at his head. Her weapon found its mark perfectly. "You get down here right now, and apologize!" she yelled.
"I won't!"
"Oh dear," Minion observed, watching the two quarrel. "This is going to end badly."
"Fine..." Roxanne gritted her teeth. "You won't come down willingly? Then I'll make you."
"You and what army, Miss Ritchi?" Megamind leaned in with his banter. Her determination was unstirred by his query. "You want a war, Megamind?" she replied. "I'll bring you one."
She trudged off in a huff, the little boy trailing behind her. "Come on, Timmy," she barked.
"It's Billy, ma'am."
"Whatever."
The Scout Leader took this as his chance for escape. "W-wait for me! He hollered, scampering out of his crumbling shelter to catch up to the fearless woman.
Megamind watched her storm away with the other two following close behind. He watched her gather up the rest of the Boy Scouts with a bemused smirk on his face. "This is about to get very interesting, Minion."
