Disclaimer: Megamind belongs to DreamWorks SKG and I will not make any money from this fanfiction.
Nightfall came quickly to Metro City. The streets were empty and silent. People locked their doors and pulled the shades over their windows. The only activity was down at City Hall where helicopters circled overhead. All the city police officers stood in a barricade formation with their guns at the ready. A swarm of reporters and the city officials stood behind them, though no one looked particularly engaged; in fact all those assembled looked rather lost and confused.
Megamind had not made his intentions known, but no one doubted that he was setting his sights on Metro City City Hall, the most prominent symbol of government authority. The original one story building was constructed way back in 1831, but once the city transformed into a national epicenter the original building was reconstructed and sported many additions. The result was a white stone building of theatrical size with a dome to rival the U.S. Capitol building. It fit in perfectly with the Metro Man Museum located on the other side of the plaza.
The building was lit up brilliantly as usual, but outside darkness surrounded it. City lights still shone along Metro Man Boulevard, but the street still seemed fairly dark with no one out and all the businesses closed. Then a blue haze appeared in the distance, down the road.
Megamind strolled down the street, Minion beside him, a swarm of his Brainbots behind him. Megamind was still glowing with happiness even hours after Metro Man's demise.
"I did it!"
"You did it sir! You did it sir!'
"Yes I did.
"Us-",
"I-"
"We both did!"
"Not us, I!"
"You a little more than me, but still come on..."
"I, a lot more than you."
"When they're giving out the awards I'm going to be right there next to you, right sir?"
Megamind chuckled. "What awards? What awards for what?" City Hall was now in sight and Megamind was ready for his terrifyingly awesome entrance. He cocked one shoulder and pointed at Minion. "Hit it!"
Minion hoisted a large boom box on his gorilla-sized robot shoulder and started the tape player. Despite being incredibly out of date, this audio device blaring out AC/DC's Highway to Hell was visually intimidating and also cool-especially with the slight modifications that allowed it to broadcast at a decibel level that was frankly terrifying. Megamind launched into his hastily-choreographed dance moves for the remainder of his victory march. At a pre-arranged signal, the water in the reflecting pool exploded, showering City Hall in a heavy mist. All the officers held their guns at the ready, but only a few of them were not shaking with terror.
The mist turned an even eerier blue and then vivid red and blue lasers flashed everywhere. Brainbots swarmed all around. Megamind skipped fearlessly up to the barricade. "Hahahahaha! Drop em," he commanded in his most menacing voice.
Every man and woman officer set their weapons on the pavement and watched Megamind dance through the crowd, up the stairs, to the entrance of City Hall. He took his time, laughing at their faces and giving the mayor's cheeks a squeeze. At the top of the stairs he stood with his back to the audience and turned around dramatically. Then he signaled Minion to cut the music.
"Loving youuuuuuu..."
Megamind froze in horror and slowly turned to the fish. Minion was now inadvertently playing Megamind's happy song. He tried to give subtle, but desperate signals to cut the music. Minion frantically fumbled with the buttons and switched between AC/DC and Minnie Riperton before settling with smashing the front of the boom box with his robot fist to silence it.
Megamind grabbed the microphone from a Brainbot and tested it a few times to compose himself and get back on topic.
"First off...what a turn out!" Indeed there was quite a crowd gathered for Megamind's ascension to power and almost everyone held up a camera, cellphone, or microphone to record this day of infamy. In stark contrast to the Metro Man dedication ceremony earlier that day, everyone was deathly silent. Still, if negative attention was all he could generate, Megamind would revel in it. "How wild is this, huh? Hahahaha! All I did was eliminate the most powerful man in the universe. Are there any questions? Go on." Megamind saw one of the reporters raise a hand. "Yes! You in the back."
Megamind was startled when Roxanne Ritchi stepped forward. She looked exactly the same the as the last time he had seen her, when he had rather awkwardly dropped her off at her apartment. Her hair was still messy and she wore the same red dress. The expression on her face was one of pure loathing.
"I'm sure we'd all like to know what you plan to do with us and this city!" she exclaimed.
Megamind had not been ready for her question either, although it was a good one. What was he going to do now?
"Good, I'm glad you asked that question." Megamind did some quick improv. "Imagine the most horrible, terrifying, evil thing you can possibly think of...and multiply it...by six!"
Several people in the crowd exchanged confused glances. Megamind continued.
"In the meantime, I want you to carry on with the dreary, normal things you normal people do. Let's just have fun with this, come on. Annnnnnnd I will get back to you!" Megamind shrouded himself with his cloak and scampered backwards, inside City Hall. Minon lumbered after him on his robot gorilla legs.
"Now, slam the door really hard," Megamind whispered between muffled laughter. Minion slammed City Hall's front door, but the effect was not as stunning as Megamind had hoped. Minion's outline was still visible behind the transparent door.
"They, they can still see you." A pause. Now your elbow's still in..." Megamind giggled.
Everyone in the crowd looked anxiously at one another. They were frightened; they were confused. No one could predict what tomorrow would bring, but with someone as horrible...as evil as Megamind in charge, one thing was certain; it would be nothing good.
Inside City Hall the door to the mayor's office blasted open and Minion strode inside carrying Megamind.
"There he is, mister evil overlord!" Minion sang.
Megamind lowered himself out of Minion's robot arms and sighed. "Ahhh, Minion did you ever think this day would come?"
"No way. Not at all sir. Never, never in a million…" Megamind glared at him and Minion immediately backtracked. "I mean, yes I did!"
Megamind turned and walked towards the center of the office, gathering in the sights of the spacious, light filled room. He craned his neck to look up at the illuminated dome overhead. He had never seen so much light since his last day in school.
"Look at the intricate molding," he marveled.
"I'm looking! I'm looking!"
"And what's this?" Megamind laid eyes on the enormous glass window behind the mayor's desk. He was immediately captivated and jumped on the desk to get a full view of it. "It's like one of the monitors in the lair, except it only carries one station."
"Oh, that sir is called a window. All the kids are looking out of them."
"Window." Megamind moved closer, pressing his hands on the glass. The window's surface was so pristine he felt like he could step right through it.
"Ahhhhhh.I've never had a view before." He marveled at the glow of the city against the night sky and the many brilliant lights that the vast window allowed him to see. Metro City's tallest buildings reflected in the pool between City Hall and the Metro Man Museum. It was a very breath taking sight from the point of view of a man who usually looked at nothing but dark walls or bars.
"Metrocity Minion," Megamind said, breathless. "It's all mine. If my parents could see me now..." He gazed wistfully up at the sky through the window.
"Sir, I'm sure they're smiling down from evil heaven."
Yes, Megamind thought. They must be very proud now that I have fulfilled my destiny.
He grinned, settling into the desk chair and relishing in the thoughts of his future exploits, the seemingly endless possibilities for him. His excitement overflowed and he spun around in the chair. "And now that Mr. Goody Shoes is out of the way, I can have everything I want and there's no one to stop me! Ahahahahaha!"
The sun was just appearing over the horizon when some late twentieth century rock music blared against what would have been a quiet, Saturday morning. Roxanne Ritchi, half awake, first checked her alarm clock, but that was not the culprit for the disturbance. Then, with a horrible realization, she shot out of bed and ran into the living room of her loft, just in time to see one of Megamind's Brainbots drift past her window, holding a speaker in its' mechanical arms.
It wasn't just a nightmare she thought as she looked at the city skyline. At that moment the reality of the situation sunk in again. Metro Man was gone and they were all at Megamind's mercy. What did he have in store for them? Certainly nothing good, but his speech and actions at City Hall had not given them any clues.
Roxanne walked back to her couch and sat down, almost on top of the dress she had worn the day previously, left draped over the cushion. She felt just as confused as everyone. For years she had grown numb to Megamind's antics to the point where she hardly took him very seriously at all. Sure he caused damage and inconvenienced everyone pretty regularly-it was impossible for her to guarantee any sort of appointment-but when Metro Man was around everything turned out alright and the damage was repaired. In fact, most of the city reveled in the entertainment and tourism had skyrocketed since the duo began their feud twenty years ago. However, after yesterday Roxanne had new fears and concerns. Without Metro Man, suddenly Megamind posed an actual threat that Metro City had never truly realized. It was almost surreal.
She sighed and headed to the kitchen for some breakfast. It would do no good to image what was going to happen; she could only prepare herself against what she knew. She decided to forgo her usual 15 minutes on the exercise bike and checked her cellphone. No one from the office had called her, but she knew there was no way the network would postpone or cancel the news. She would go to work. Last night she drove a news van to her apartment, so she needed to pick up Hal on the way in.
Roxanne's drive to Hal's apartment led her past the Metro City Museum for Art and Learning, a building that exhibited several modern and historic works of art and culture for the whole community. The museum was free and open to the public and Roxanne had many fond memories of the place, starting from when she was a little girl. So when she drove past and saw Megamind and Minion coming out the front doors with shopping carts filled with paintings a look a horror appeared on her face and she slammed on the brakes. She jumped out of the van and stormed up towards them.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"Stealing the museum artwork," Minion stated, a matter-of-factly.
Megamind gave a smug smile when he saw Roxanne. He was pleasantly surprised to see her. "I think they'll make some fine decorations for the new lair. You normal people really have no sense of style, locking up all these decorations in one place for everyone to see." Megamind handed Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory to a Brainbot who flew off.
"Those paintings are pieces of heritage, the works of wonderful people! They belong to everyone!"
"And now they belong to me!" Megamind said ecstatically.
Roxanne tried reasoning with him. "Megamind, you don't have to do this. You don't have to take over the city! Think of all the people you're hurting."
Megamind looked stunned that she was trying to talk sense into him. "Honestly, Miss Ritchi, you're a teensy bit smarter than the normal mindless drone. What part of Evil Overlord, Genius Villain, Ruler of Metrocity don't you understand? I defeated your hero and that makes me your leader! Now shake, quiver in fear in my presence! Bow before me!"
Roxanne stood her ground and glared back. Megamind gestured for her to respond, but she did not say a word. The silence eventually became awkward and, flustered, Megamind turned back to his exploits.
Roxanne's eyes widened when Megamind turned and pulled out van Gogh's The Starry Night. She reached forward and tried to grab it from him starting off a tug of war.
"Let go you insufferable woman!"
"This painting belongs in the museum!"
"Your Evil Overlord commands you to let go!"
Roxanne stepped down hard on Megamind's foot. He yelped and let go of the painting.
"Minion!" Megamind yelled indignantly at the fish who, up to this point, had been standing off to the side.
"Oh...right sir!" Minion extended one of his arms and casually yanked the painting from her arms. A Brainbot flew by and took it from him, flying off in the direction of the former City Hall.
Roxanne's face darkened. She could not believe that she had tried reasoning with Megamind, a self-confessed irredeemable villain. She turned on her heel and walked back to the van, pulling out her cellphone.
"Oh no, are you calling the police?" Megamind sarcastically called after her. "I hope they don't come and arrest me!" He let loose his evil, mocking chuckle.
She stopped suddenly, and turned to march back to him. He stepped protectively in front of ill-gotten gains and drew himself up to his full height, ready to unleash the full power of his evil wit upon her.
He was not expecting her to haul off and slap him.
"You're a monster," she told him in a soft, deadly whisper. She spent one heavy moment staring into his shocked green eyes, then returned to her van.
He turned to Minion, who had watched the entire scene with a shocked look on his fishy face. "She hit me Minion. She's never hit me like that before." He stared after her as the news van traveled down the street until it turned a corner. His face fell a bit after she vanished and he heard no sirens approaching, only silence. For a split second, as he pressed his hand to his cheek, he wished she had tried a little harder to resist him.
All Roxanne received on her cellphone when she called the police department was a busy signal. The more she thought about this the more she realized, sadly, that it made no difference whether or not she could reach the police. Just the fact that Megamind could walk up to the museum in broad daylight, completely unopposed, meant that the police were not even going to try to stop him.
She drove the rest of the way in silence.
Hal lived in a dingy, brick apartment building east of downtown that had the misfortune of three freeway lanes intersecting overhead. That, and with a gas station out front, Roxanne hoped that Hal's apartment had good insulation.
After a few moments of waiting Roxanne sighed and picked up her cellphone. Usually Hal was out within at least five minutes after she arrived and excited to see her, but not today.
By the sounds of things crashing and some dull thumps Hal had just woken up. "Oh, Roxanne! Uh hi! I, I wasn't expecting you so early, but, but you're always welcome to come over. Just give me a sec...I'll be right down I just have to… Hey, we can go out to breakfast together! There's this place..."
"Hal, we have work today," she stated.
"Oh, oh...are you sure? Because, well I was thinking, I mean...not that you forgot or anything...but since, well, Megamind took over the city and all, the, uh news room might be closed. And, I mean Metro Man just died! Oh, sorry I didn't mean to say it like that, I... Come on, I'll take you out to this nice place down the street, they have awesome chili dogs, we can talk, if you want I can give you a shoulder to cry on..."
"Thanks for the offer Hal," she said with kindness, "but I'm pretty sure the people of Metro City want to hear the news today, so come on down."
A few moments later Hal jumped into the van. He was wearing his usual tan cargo vest and one of his ridiculous geeky t-shirts. Today's was black and had white print that said 'One More Level'. For someone living in Metro City the day after the city hero died, he had a pretty big smile on his face.
Even Megamind looked more upset than this, she thought. Then she forced that thought away. Today she was not going to think about Megamind anymore than absolutely necessary.
The elevator door at the Channel 8 News building opened and Roxanne stepped out, followed by Hal. The news room was in the same flurry of activity exhibited during the showdowns between Metro Man and Megamind, when Roxanne was there to see it. However, today the atmosphere was very somber and tense. A few people spotted her as she made her way to her desk and looked taken aback. Several of them approached her.
"Roxanne! I'm so so so sorry."
"You don't have to be here right now. Frank will understand."
"Thanks, really, I appreciate this, but..."
At the mention of his name, Frank, the network producer, emerged from his office and walked straight to Roxanne.
"Roxanne, what are you doing here? Go home. I'll give you all the paid leave you need..."
"Hey, if Roxanne's getting time off ..." Frank waved Hal away.
Roxanne finally got a word in. "Frank...I really would prefer to work today."
"Are you sure? Because after what happened yesterday...I mean everyone saw it, but you were right there. And Metro Man...I mean you two were very close. I can't imagine what you must be feeling..."
"Frank, I was shocked, like everyone else, but really...I'm more than ready to come back to work. And Metro Man...well we weren't..." She trailed off.
"You don't need to say anything else Roxanne, I'll let you decide. However, just so you know, I can also call the office counselor at any time, I'm sure she could come in right away...and if you ever..."
"Thanks Frank, I'll let you know if I need anything." Roxanne walked over to her own desk and work station. On the largest television screen in the news room she saw one of her colleagues live, reporting from the studio.
"...the chief of police is strongly encouraging people to stay indoors, unless you have an emergency or a crucial errand and to not incite Megamind. At this time we are reporting that Megamind is currently painting the dome of City Hall, so we would recommend staying away from the plaza and surrounding area. We also have reports that Megamind was spotted at the Metro City Museum for Art and Learning earlier this morning and we have confirmation that the museum is closed at this time. However, we are happy to report, as confirmed by the curator for the Metro Man Museum, that all exhibitions in the Metro Man Museum remains open to the public..."
Roxanne turned from the monitor. All this bad news made her sick to her stomach and she and everyone else was going to have to report on it far into the foreseeable future. She would rather do stories on bake sales and science fairs than give Megamnd the attention he obviously craved, but the public needed to know.
The bank was naturally next on Megamind's list of rampancy. That afternoon he and Minion burst through the front doors of the massive downtown bank and made a beeline for the teller windows. No one was there to stop them, in fact not many people were there at all. Barely half of the staff showed up for work, the security officer was long gone, and the only other person was an elderly man making a withdrawal.
"Your evil overlord is here Metrocity, to make one incredible, colossal, like you have never seen before and will never see again...withdrawl!"
Megamind laughed ecstatically, but cut his laugh short when he noticed his rather small audience. He looked around for a second, looking dejected before composing himself.
The tellers were already one step ahead of him. Some of them were already heading towards the vault and the others opened the way to allow Megamind behind the counter. He followed their lead with barely controllable giddiness, followed by an equally excited Minion, empty money bags in their hands. Megamind threw a few at the scared faces in the bank.
"Let's all lighten up here already! This is your one chance to see more money than you have ever seen before in your dull, boring, everyday lives. This is your chance to see your incredibly handsome and genius new Evil Overlord in action, there to take it all! Isn't this spectacular?"
No one particularly looked like they shared Megamind feelings, even when they came to the vaults, but Megamind and Minion's faces widened in excitement at the sight of stack after stack of green bills and gold bars. They immediately dove into the treasure trove.
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeee! Hahahaha!" Minon slid down a small pile of money. Megamind was up to his shoulders in one hundred dollar bills and discovering that it was harder than it looked to swim through money. He and Minion had never been wanting for cash, they always managed to steal enough to live comfortably at the evil lair and make chillingly horrifying inventions for their next diabolically evil plot, but he vaguely dreamed of doing such things after taking over Metrocity-when he was not consumed with devising the next plan to destroy Metro Man, of course.
"Just look at it all Minion. I'm rich! I can buy anything I want. All the gadgets to build all the possible terror inducing inventions! Boxes and boxes of donuts! Metrocity Tower! That famous amoozement park in California!"
"Why buy it at all sir? You can take it," Minion chimed in.
Megamind faltered at Minion's obvious point. "You...you're right." Looking over the seemingly endless amounts of money he felt confused. Then something hard hit him on the side of the face.
"Hey!" He whirled around and saw Minion laughing and the robot fish threw another stack of bills at him.
Megamind laughed and started throwing money back. Their playful fight eventually led them to the stairs and street outside the bank. They had snowball and pillow fights with money, scattering dollar bills everywhere with no care in the world. After hours of wild fun with the city's money they lay down in a paper strewn street, exhausted.
Meanwhile the bank tellers and accountants went home early, many of them openly sobbing. Everyone at some point that day thought Why was Metro Man taken from us? We're doomed without him.
That afternoon Roxanne attended the memorial ceremony for Metro Man down by the city waterfront. The occasion was kept extremely low key in order to avoid attracting Megamind's attention, so the crowd was very small for such an important event. At her left the city mayor blew his nose into a handkerchief and at her right one of her coworkers brushed the hair out of her teary eyes. The elegies were brief, but moving. They spoke of a young, orphaned child sent to this world to find a new home and protect us all. They spoke of his destiny realized at a young age and the great responsibility he undertook to protect Metro City from all evil. His accomplishments had been godlike, but he was also human in many ways. Despite his sorrow when his adopted parents passed away, he has still acted like a father to the city.
A boat cast off with the mayor, police chief and city council onboard. Roxanne was offered a place on the boat and even asked if she would release Metro Man's ashes, but she refused. The whole affair was very moving, but she still felt uncomfortably like she was playing a part. She had known Metro Man on a level no one ever had and yet she still felt like she had barely known him as a person. Moreover, any involvement by her would have perpetuated a falsehood that Metro City no longer needed to believe, the idea that she and Metro Man were a couple deeply in love. She could not lie today, of all days.
Once the boat was a few hundred yards from shore the police chief stood on the prow and released Metro Man's ashes into the gentle wind blowing towards the city he had protected for so many years. After a few more moments of silence the boat returned to the dock. Quickly and silently the crowd dispersed to the shelter of their homes.
Roxanne rode the monorail back to her apartment and she saw the Metro Man Museum standing firm and aglow in the late afternoon sun. Megamind had left it untouched. She got off at the next stop and walked over to the Museum, every so often glancing toward City Hall on the other end of the plaza. A swarm of Brainbots hovered around the building and the dome was already half painted vivid blue. Even from a distance one could hear Megamind's laugh echo in the empty plaza. Roxanne turned away from the sight with a look off disgust and climbed the stairs to the Metro Man Museum.
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews everyone! I appreciate it when others give me criticism I need to hear and I feel fulfillment when others tell me I have done well. A special thanks to my beta reader Your_Worshipfulness, who helped me with this chapter.