"No! Let go of me! Let go, LET GO!" the distant shouts echoed through the small offices in monochrome tv station. It stirred the busy employees with an idle finger, office workers peeking out of their cubicles to get a glimpse at the commotion. Most were too far away to see clearly the cause of the scuffle going on at the front desk. But the eyes of those who could went wide, their fingers dialing 911 as soon as they saw originator of the disturbance.
Roxanne Richie had been hastily scribbling some last-minute notes for a report on some random person's desk when she heard the shouts. Boldly weaving her way through the mob gathering, she made it to the scene just as sirens became audible in the distance. The source of all this riot was a front desk worker, screaming at the top of her lungs, and a skinny kid struggling fruitlessly in the grip of a security guard.
"It attacked me, it nearly killed me!" shrieked the woman. "Kill it! Kill it!"
"Please, I didn't do anything wrong! I was just..!"
"Shut up, alien spawn!" the man's hand tightened cruelly on the girl's arm, until the flesh went blue-white from lack of circulation. "Your infernal invading kind should be shot on site!"
"Please..!"
"Kill it! Kill it!"
"Please, let me explain…!"
"I said shut up, you blue egghead!"
"What is going on here?!" Roxanne's reporter's voice cut through the tumult.
The sirens blared louder. The blue kid went wide eyed when she saw her, then struggled frantically to get away. The security officer's vise-like grip tightened further.
"Please, sir, can you tell me what's going on here?"
The police cars pulled up, and a gruff female officer said, "We'll take it from here."
But the security officer didn't want to relinquish his moment in the spotlight.
"I caught Megamind's little buddy here," he jerked the blue child again. "As it was sneaking into the building. Probably to kidnap YOU, Miss Ritchie." He leaned toward her with a swarmy smirk. "What about a kiss for your hero?"
Roxanne looked at the flashing red light of the police cars reflected in the frightened blue eyes of the girl, the paleness obvious even through baby blue shade of skin, and thought that this man was anything but a hero. The policewoman was reaching for her now, twisting the slender blue wrists into a pair of cold handcuffs. Roxanne turned to the woman.
"On what charge are you arresting this individual? What if you are dealing with a minor? What rights does the arrested individual have?"
The handcuffs on the girl clicked closed, and she was pushed into the vehicle.
"The blue skin is charge enough. Don't need any other charges. And as for rights?" the policewoman scowled coldly. "Invasive, criminal blue-skinned aliens don't HAVE rights."
And with that, the car door was slammed in Roxanne's face, and she watched it drive off toward the prison, the blue eyes of the girl trapped in the back seat locked on hers.
