Disclaimer: Despicable Me and Megamind belong to their respective creators. I'm not getting any money for making this.
Chapter Nine: Lesson
And indeed, Buffalo odor hadn't changed a bit through the years. Gru decided he didn't want anything with the brute facing him right now. That's why he dismissed him and continued walking. He was looking for a free bench for reading that diary the warden had politely given to him. Once he realized there was no free space, he leaned to a wall and unfolded the newspaper. However it seemed the giant did want to talk; he followed Gru all around the yard and leaned next to him, for the villain's displeasure.
The front page had a big picture of Megamind at the museum entrance with Gru himself handcuffed, Minion and Metro City police force were following them; the flamboyant title of 'International thief captured by Megamind' was displayed over it.
Gru frowned.
"Ahaha the lil' alien caught you? Why didn't you give him a whoopass like you did with me years ago?"
Buffalo was reading over his shoulder.
Gru moved away some meters, but the inmate approached again. The operation repeated twice, and then the villain discovered there was no more wall to lean on, they had reached the yard's corner.
After an awkward moment of silence, the big dude started to talk about how fantastic was it now that Megamind was the local hero. It was mostly because the prison facilities had improved, and the meals were better.
"Listen. I don't see why you're happee about Syx being a hero now, but I don't care"
"You should, since he had modified all the vigilance system and now is totally impossible to break out"
Gru sighed; this had finally caught his attention.
"Has someone managed to escape?"
"Not a soul. But Megamind has been making connections here and there; this way all inmates' sentences are being reduced. In my case, I'm out of here in one month."
"He seems to care about dis place"
"He does, after all this is his home. He even comes to sleep in his own cell from time to time."
Buffalo laughed noisily, Gru lifted an eyebrow.
Megamind was a 'good guy' after all, that was what that kind of people used to do; to care others, even if it was about caring about your worst enemy. But thinking it deeply, this wasn't the characteristic he had developed while being a hero. Moreover, Gru had found he has cared about the other even when he was a child. Considering this, since the beginning, his correct path wasn't the evil one.
It was that night after beating Buffalo fifteen years ago, Gru was in the confinement cell when Megamind appeared out of the blue in the small space. For the kid it was always an easy task to avoid prison's security.
"Wow, you look like a mashed black-very" The boy stated as Gru had been hit by the guards, courtesy of the eye-for-an-eye law.
In that moment Gru was feeling uber miserable for not having yet found an escape route, but he was too proud for asking to his blue neighbor for help.
"Why haven't you gone out of prison yet?" Gru murmured felling nausea for the smell in that small windowless cell he was in.
Some months before Syx had escaped to face his archenemy, which leaded to an utter defeat when the superhero dropped him two hours later on the prison yard. Since then he had been trying to formulate a plan that could bring the hero down, but his brilliant mind seemed off and no ideas were coming out for the time being. Syx had thought in giving himself a break, even so he felt he was showing his coward side to his admired figure. He turned his green eyes down for thinking how to answer, not that Gru could notice since everything was pitch-black.
"Leave eet kid. You are not good at being bad."
"What!"?
"Villains don't avoid fight, they teese deir enemies to get dem mad."
"I have never avoided a fight!"
"You were scared of dhat Buffalo guy."
"I was worried by your security..."
"Villains don't 'care' for anyone security other than demselves."
Even when Gru was right, his comments hurt Syx's feelings, he had been caring a lot for him since the first day he had arrived to prison. Young Megamind decided he wasn't anymore for listening to hash opinions about his acting, he wasn't a lame villain. The boy went out the cell swearing, leaving Gru beaten and alone.
"He gave me a lesson of life..." Megamind finished narrating with three little girls staring at him with expectancy. It was the first time in their lives they had heard of their father as a mean guy, not the type that makes pancakes and read bed time stories.
"B-but, did he taught you something else?"
This made Margo hesitate. There was no way they could defeat a person whose mentor was their own dad.
"Well..." Megamind was doubtful about expanding on the remembrance. Indeed he had learnt some evil bits of the villain career with Gru, but that was not conversation topic for a morning coffee, and even more, it should be forbidden to even mention it to the girls "Like how much your father has told you about his job?"
"He steals stuff!" Agnes stood up on her chair, arms waving with joy.
"He builds weapons" Edith mimicked holding a rifle.
"He wreaks havoc" Margo added nonchalantly.
Megamind and Minion stared at the girls and at each other, not knowing how to react. Then the hero released a fake laugh, not the evil one but the one he used when he hasn't gotten the joke.
"That Gru is always overconfident about his villainous deeds, isn't he? If it's this way I can tell you a little more about our life in prison."
"Are you sure sir?" Minion intervene worried, and leaned to his boss to add in a whisper "These girls don't know you are no longer a villain. If you allow me sir, bragging is not a good idea."
"I know. Don't worry, I'll pull ourselves out of this, I promise"
Megamind started to describe how the months later as a child in prison were, when he finally swallowed his pride and asked Gru some advices for becoming a better villain. Of course he skipped some information that could lead the girls to think he was stupid, but most of the narrative was true and showed how much he had learnt from the girl's father.
The conversation turned from his life in prison to his career as an acclaimed villain. But the experience was less amusing for the hero. The Edith and Agnes started this game of "Guess how Megamind was defeated this time", and busted in laughs inventing even sillier ways for the blue guy to lose the match. Every time Megamind was about to end an episode of his eternal battle against Metro Man they stop him to guess, which was very offensive.
After some minutes playing even Minion join the fun correcting the wrong Megamind was giving on purpose.
Everything seemed funny for the little sisters, but Margo realized they infantile attempts to find the hero weakness were but mere playground games for him. Megamind might not be the best villain, but he had a hell of experience in losing and was very intelligent. The sisters were on thin ice trying to pass as villains in front of a hero. With just a snap he could send them to the orphanage.
"Edith, Agnes, could you come with me to the bathroom" Margo asked in monotone, eyes fixed in Megamind's.
"But I don't feel like going..."
"Just come."
And the three girls headed towards the door in the back of the coffee shop, there was a woman shape painted on it. Whenever they were out of sight, the hero rubbed his forehead with annoyance. He had mixed feelings, he found the girls really cute, he had gilt for not helping Gru whenever he had the opportunity, and Roxanne expected him to do the right. But at that moment he didn't know what the right was.
"I swear Minion, there's something weird with those sisters."
"Sir, if you let me guess. Maybe they already know you're a hero"
"Yeah, it seems. So what?"
"Weeell, their father is a villain. Most children look up at their parents, sir. You should know this better than anyone else."
"Are you implying they want to defeat me?"
Megamind's eyes shined at the idea; since he had become a hero he had never had an antagonist. The lame local thieves, the teen gangs, and the maniac murderers couldn't ever be compared with a super villain of the size he used to be. And these three little children were former candidates for supervillains at the level of Gru himself. The blue man mind wandered with the possibilities as a crooked smile appeared over his goatee. Not noticing the girls had come back from the bathroom with the saddest look in the world, like they had just flushed their fish pet or similar.
"We surrender" The sisters said at unison, and Megamind smile broke. Minion turned to his boss and then to the girls, as the hero couldn't articulate a word, he took the initiative.
"Excuse me girls but...you're surrendering for what?"
"Sorry for turning you into a cube..."
Edit mumbled, arms crossed, avoiding Minion's eyes contact.
"Uncle Mind? I'm sorry for calling you Megamad."
This time Megamind's face was disjointed.
"And I'm sorry for lying you all the time. I think we can't match against a villain of your size" Finished Margo while cleaning her glasses with a tiny fabric. They already knew everything that had happened since the beginning. Then the oldest of the sisters started narrating their host how they were trying to find his weakness "...and since it was the last day of the exposition, I got the blueprints of the museum and-"
"You mean it was you who had the idea of stealing the paintings."
As Margo was confessing she was the mastermind behind the robbery, Megamind interrupted her. He felt so much disappointment, he couldn't possible hear something else. These kids had such potential. Maybe they could be the antagonist he had cried out for. Every hero needs one, and even when they were just kids, he found himself imaging them with special suits and with names like Mayhem M, Hurricane E and Mischief A.
Minion could see that expectant expression on his boss and shook his body vigorously inside the tank, then he pulled the hero by the shoulder for speaking the closest to the ear as he could.
"Sir, I can see what you are thinking. And let me tell you it a BAD idea."
"What? Why not? It's not I want to make a hero like with Titan. And in the remote case things don't come as expected, they'd simply turn into heroes. Just follow the pattern, Minion."
The girls couldn't quite listen clearly, but seeing the heroes arguing once again they just decided to ignore them. Margo gave Agnes her ice cream while Edith pulled out a marker for doodling on the paper mat. The oldest of the girls couldn't but feel insecure, their plan was going in the same direction, but this time the idea was to make them think the sisters were trustworthy. There always this possibility of being uncovered.
"Ahem."
Margo cleared her throat, but their host continued with the vague arguments about who knows what. The girl made that sound once again, this time louder, and both turned their heads to her.
"Anyway, Doctor Nefario is going to pick us in the afternoon, and we're still on vacations. Perhaps you could give us a tour for the city."
Both Edith and Agnes became very excited by their sister idea. Megamind wasn't quite happy, he still felt he had a debt to Gru, but he didn't have any experience in city tours. Like he had never live in that city instead of being in prison! Agnes started jumping on the table and before he knew Edith was pulling him by the glove out the coffee shop. He asked Minion to call Roxanne. Megamind didn't want any other misunderstanding with his girlfriend.
Author's note: Uff, it's been a while again isn't it? How do you think the story is going? I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it.
Recently I read this cute-yet-sad fic called Fathers and Sons, and honestly I don't know how I'm going to write about the warren later while remembering that. Well, it's just a recommendation ;)
