Roxanne was a little worried.
(Very worried, but she refused to admit it.)
It had been nearly two weeks since Megamind had pulled a take-over-the-city stunt. Two weeks since she had been kidnapped. Two weeks since witty banter had been exchanged.
And she was going nuts.
Megamind never EVER went this long without doing SOMETHING. He had even let a public appearance by Metro Man go by with nothing. No smoke, no Guns And Roses, no brainbots hidden in the crowd, no evil laughter, and no. Kidnapping. Roxanne.
(In retrospect, Roxanne realized public events like that one were extremely, mind-numbingly boring without any of the above-listed things happening.)
(NO BAD ROXANNE STOP IT MEGAMIND IS NOT ENTERTAINING!)
ANYWAY, because she was getting vaguely concerned, she went to Wayne and asked him if he knew what was going on.
He had no idea. And he was going just as nuts as she was about the whereabouts of his nemesis.
So they teamed up to scour the city for the Evil Lair.
The Evil Lair did not need much scouring to find. It was in an old brick warehouse in the abandoned part of Metro City, right by the water. There was a mat on the sidewalk that said SECRET ENTRANCE. Graffiti on the wall had arrows pointing right at it.
Megamind and Minion really had not gone to any great lengths to hide the Lair, had they?
When Roxanne walked inside, Wayne behind her, she half raised her arm, expecting an attack from a Brainbot. When none came, she lowered her arm, mystified, before realizing something.
Wayne voiced it. "Where is everything?"
Roxanne could remember seeing the hulking shapes of inventions and machines every time she ended up in the Lair. But the warehouse was completely empty, except for the red curtain that seemed to be obscuring something hung in a corner to Roxanne's left.
She and Wayne shared a look. Her conscience whispered in the back of her head, but Roxanne decided eh, screw it, you only live once and marched up to the curtain, pulling it aside.
Behind it was a workbench and an idea cloud. The workbench was covered in blueprints, while different pieces of paper containing sketches, equations, and notes hung above it. Roxanne crept closer and leaned forward, studying the blueprints.
They looked like the blueprints for some sort of coffin, with a clear glass lid. Megamind, in his practically unreadable chicken-scratch handwriting, had made notes in the margins with arrows pointing to different parts of the coffin-thingy. On a piece of paper lying on the blueprint there was a sketch of what looked like some sort of tanning-bed light.
Roxanne shot a puzzled glance over her shoulder at Wayne, who looked just as confused as she was. He gave an elaborate shrug.
Then they both froze when soft, rapid footsteps came towards them.
Roxanne barely had time to register that she should hide when Wayne's arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her up in the air so they were hovering above the workbench just as Megamind walked behind the curtain, muttering distractedly to himself and twirling a mechanical pencil between his fingers. He paused in that to scribble something on a blueprint, before resuming the action as he studied them. His other hand drifted to his mouth and he chewed at his thumbnail before his eyes lit up. He scribbled something else on the blueprint he'd chosen before grabbing it by one edge and heading off, still muttering distractedly and twirling the pencil, the blueprint rustling behind him like the cape he was wearing.
Roxanne and Wayne shared a look before Wayne followed Megamind, still in the air and carrying Roxanne.
As they followed him, Roxanne's ears registered a low, constant hum that seemed to come from the very heart of the Lair. She picked up other sounds as well: a welding torch, metal creaking.
She twisted around in Wayne's arms until she could whisper in his ear.
"Can you hear anything?"
Wayne tilted his head to the side for a second, his brow furrowed, before he turned his head to whisper in her ear.
"That humming sound. A welding torch and metal creaking. Water from Minion's dome. The brainbots. Fluorescent lights buzzing. And…" he hesitated.
"What?" Roxanne pressed.
"I can barely hear breathing, like about half a dozen people are asleep."
Roxanne blinked. That was odd.
Then they emerged into a part of the Lair Roxanne recognized, and she had to stifle a gasp.
There must have been some sort of sound-muffling device, because now that she's crossed the invisible barrier, a cacophony of noise assaults her ears. The Brainbots, who haven't noticed them yet, are flying around carrying wrench's and other tools, making their little "bowg" sounds and occasionally lifting pieces of machinery and carrying them over to Minion, who appeared to be putting something together over by Megaminds console.
(Roxanne's not sure why she feels personally affronted that Minions sitting on her chair to do whatever he's doing.)
But the part that holds their attention is the glowing blue coffins spread across the floor.
It appears Megamind's used pieces from his previous machines to build them. Brainbots, some carrying clipboards, are hovering around them.
Then one group of brainbots shifts and Roxanne has to bite her hand to keep from gasping aloud, her other hand inadvertently pulling Wayne's T-shirt tightly around his neck in her surprise.
Illuminated by the bright blue lights, a bandaged body lay in the coffin, a rather peaceful expression on its face. Small, narrow hands lay palms-up, long, impossibly thin fingers spread.
The body was blue.
Roxanne's eyes shot to Megamind, who had crossed to Minion and was showing him something on the blueprint, which two Brainbots were holding. She examined the blue body again.
It looked like Megamind…
Oh boy. Was this his new plan? Had he cloned himself?
Roxanne yanked Wayne's shirt collar to get his attention and pointed down. When he did nothing but give her a strange look, she rolled her eyes and whispered
"Get closer!"
"Are you crazy, Roxy?!"
"Just do it!" She'd have to punch him for calling her Roxy later.
Wayne floated closer, still looking apprehensive. Roxanne leaned down, squinting slightly.
Upon further examination, the blue body in the coffin-shaped-thingy wasn't an exact copy of Megamind. There was no facial hair, the features less angular, the cheekbones higher, eyelashes longer. Maybe a failed clone?
Then Roxanne got closer and saw the rest. Her jaw dropped.
The body was undoubtedly female.
What was Megamind up to?
"Bowg."
Startled, Roxanne spun around and came face-to-face with a brainbot.
"Bowg! Bowg!"
Several more surged up to join it, and suddenly, Roxanne found herself being snatched from Wayne's grip and carried down to where Megamind and Minion were still talking, looking up at the sound of the brainbots urgent sounds.
They dumped Roxanne at Megaminds feet. There was absolute silence before Megamind finally spoke.
"Miss Ritchie? What are you doing…oh."
Wayne had just landed beside Roxanne. Megaminds face went from surprised to completely flat in a second.
"So it's come to this now, has it, Wayne? I thought we agreed. Home bases are off limits."
Megaminds voice was cold, blank. He was staring at a point just above Wayne's shoulder, his fists clenched at his sides.
"Brought your girlfriend to watch as you destroy the monster?" Megaminds voice shook slightly on 'destroy' and 'monster'.
"It's not like that, John." Wayne said gently.
"That's not my name."
"That's what it says on school records. 'John Doe.'"
"My name is Megamind, you incompetent…" Megamind took a deep breath and unclenched his fists, his eyes flickering to Roxanne. "What are you doing here? I'm in the middle of a rather important project, thank you very much, so if you could make this quick…" He made a rolling motion with his hand.
"We were worried about you." Roxanne said gently, coming forward and laying a hand on his arm, trying to calm him. Megamind stiffened slightly at her touch but let her hand stay.
"Worried about me? How very touching." He didn't sound convinced.
"No one's seen you in forever." Roxanne said. "We wanted to make sure you were okay."
Megamind processed this and gave a stiff nod.
"Well, as you can see, I'm fine. Now, I really am in the middle of something, so if you could go…"
"Bowg, bowg, bowg!"
A brainbot by one of the coffins sent up a ruckus, bobbing up and down in the air to get Megaminds attention. When he didn't move fast enough, it flew over, grabbed him by the suit, and attempted to drag him toward it.
"Yes. Yes, hold on, Daddy's coming…" Megamind said, running over to the coffin, eyes wide with excitement. Minion was not far behind, waving his fins frantically and grinning. Roxanne and Wayne glanced at each other, then followed.
Lying in the coffin, slowly blinking her eyes, was the female Megamind Roxanne had been studying when they had been caught. Her eyes were wide and the most beautiful shade of violet Roxanne had ever seen, set off by her blue skin and long dark eyelashes. She slowly seemed to register what was happening: her delicate brow furrowed. She lifted one small hand and pressed it against the glass. She blinked in surprise when she noticed the white bandage wound around her wrist.
Then she turned her head to the side and locked eyes with Megamind.