Being the biggest shareholder, and owner, of one of the countries largest companies was never something to be taken lightly in ones life. One had to dedicate themselves to the cause, and the company, one hundred and fifty percent, and that's exactly what Wayne Scott had done. He had been raised respecting his parents' judgements and actions, to do as they told him to do, and it was expected of him to take up his father's place at the top of the company and run it above and beyond his best ability.
That's why, when the alert by the unknown Megamind was broadcasted throughout the city, Wayne Scott was at the front of a podium, giving a speech to his fellow share holders about where they stood and what kind of revenue they were going to be getting in return. Every single mobile had ringed at once, and that same striking voice came roaring into the office room like a tidal wave against a bed of rocks.
Wayne stood there, his hands gripping the podium, unaware of the indents he was causing in the mahogany wood. Megamind? He knew that name; he had heard the Doom Syndicate head players mention it now and then whenever he came down on them. Psycho Delic had laughed hysterically at him, when as M, had been dragging him through the city sewers. He had laughed about this Megamind, the brains behind everything, and how M was going to go down in the hardest way possible. At first Wayne had brushed it all off as the ramblings of a drug addled mind, but now... had it all been real? All those empty-sounding threats, promises of his death and the destruction of the city?
Why hadn't he taken it more seriously when he had the chance?
"Excuse me gentlemen, in light of the present situation I think you'll forgive me for postponing this little venture. I'll have my secretary contact your secretaries and we'll work something out I'm sure." he said as he held up his hands in an apologetic manner, and left the room, ignoring the shouts of confusion and anger at his back.
Closing the door he took a moment to take a deep breath to calm his nerves, and then walked to the nearest window, which happened to be the size of the wall, and stared out at the city spread out before him like a carpet. He could see the black smoke that continued to wrap itself around the Metro City Tower well enough from here. When he turned his head slightly he glanced at one of the flat screen televisions that had camera crews on the scene already, men and women interviewing people who were witnesses to the attack. Already there was shaky footage of the blue skinned man as he had descended upon the city, but they were blurry at best so there weren't any definite views of him. Paramedics and ambulances were also there, treating those whom had shards of glass embedded in their skin and those who were outright unconscious and injured.
Just how far was this mad man willing to go?
The time to think things over was past. The time for action was now, and when the other shareholders began to file out from the meeting room they found Wayne Scott was long gone.
Wayne Scott ran down the stairs of the tall building, but nary a bead of sweat dared to stain itself upon his forehead or neck. Doing these kinds of fetes, what some people called amazing, was every day occurrences for the millionaire. For a long time, at least when he was a child, he thought he had just been one of those boys who were just gifted. He could run fast, jump far... it always impressed those around him but one day, when he had been climbing one of the trees in the back of his family's large expansive grounds the small child had fallen out of the tree he had been climbing. Just before landing on the ground he had halted, and found himself hovering just above the ground. At first this had scared the boy that he could suddenly hover but he quickly learned that he could not only hover, but also he could fly.
He had spent hours soaring around the property, and had rightfully scared his mother when she had come home from her monthly book club meeting. But instead of being amazed by her child's abilities she had pulled him aside, and sat him down.
She had warned him about this, about his gifts. His mother had explained that she had found him, abandoned on their property and without a home. Long had she wished for a child and he was her answer, as if a gift from Heaven above especially for them. But there would be people, bad people, who would want to take him away from them forever if they discovered what he could do. As a child, even one with powers and strength like he did, Wayne had been terrified at the prospect of being taken from his parents. Despite Wayne's father being away at the office for days on end most of the time, the idea of loosing both his parents because of what he could do was rightfully frightening.
So the little boy had promised his mother that day that he would never fly again, or do anything to draw attention to himself. And, being a good little boy, he had kept that promise for as long as his mother and father lived. Now, though, they were gone. Gone beyond his reach, despite his powers, they were gone.
Years ago his father was branching out the Scott Corporation, entering biological science. Naturally this caused a lot of unrest with some groups, who felt that stem cell research, and the study of DNA was spitting in the face of God. Wayne recalled how his father used to laugh off their weak attempts at arguments, and had spoken of having something 'really big' in the works, something that would blow the medical world out of the water. So great, that nobody would question the science again. But on the night of the opening event, being held at City Hall, something came to pass that would help sculpt Wayne into who he would become. Those people had set something up, within City Halls, which sent devastation throughout the city like a pebble being dropped in a pool of water.
They had planted a bomb.
The night still remained a blur to the young boy, a teenager at the time, since one moment his father had been speaking into the microphone, his wife and son to his left while other men of important stature to his right. The next, everything was crumbling and there was fire. Wayne didn't see his parents die, but he had felt it in his core, in his heart. The naysayers who had voiced out against the study of genetic science and biology had 'won' that night. But they would never win the war. Because now the young, orphaned, Wayne Scott made a vow. A vow for his parents who would never grow old, and die of old age, instead of seeing their son grow up to be the professional business man he was set to become they were dead. It had almost drove Wayne insane, but he promised himself that evil would no longer spread any further then it already had. That he would find those who found joy in pain and suffering and brought it down on them, instead of the innocents.
Thus, M was born.
But now, through his actions, something far greater had risen to challenge him head on. He had been so careful too, never showing his face, never trying to show he had connections or concerns to certain individuals. Yet this Megamind had grabbed the one person who he felt anything for. How had he known?
Well, he was going to find out.
Seconds later the business suit was gone, replaced with an outfit he wore when he was M. It was skintight of course, since you didn't want baggy clothing in case somebody tried to grab at you. The color was a deep red and blue color, with an M just showing on his left temple in a right yellow color. To hide his identity he wore a cowl made of matching deep reds and blues, and it covered all of his face save for his mouth and eyes. Tassels hung down from the gloves he wore, as well as his boots, and they gently rippled against the air as M flew through the air. As he approached the scene of the crime he found he wasn't alone.
It seemed as though Megamind had left little adversaries to come up against him since no sooner had he approached the black plumes of smoke that still lingered around the city centre and at least twenty robots unlike any he had seen before in his life came flying out of the darkness. He couldn't hover there in awe for long though since they all had mouths that reminded him of bear traps and once they latched onto his arms and legs he knew about it. Grunting, he swung his arms and legs in an attempt to shake them off but their teeth were firmly embedded in his flesh and tore at his material.
As he flew around, throwing the robots against the floor or buildings, he was unaware of one of them hovering just out of his reach and sight that was filming the image.
"Oh wow, look at him, just LOOK at him!" Megamind declared, hands gripping at a brand new unshattered glass, eyes peeled to the projected image that another Brain Bot was showing to him on the big screen he had in his base. He took a small sip. "Seriously, are you seeing this?" he asked, turning back to Roxanne who was still strapped to the operation table. "Look at him Roxanne, your hero finally has the balls to show himself! And all it took was for me to kidnap you to do it. Man," he set a hand to his cheek. "I should have done this years ago."
Roxanne stared at the screen, eyes wide. Like everyone in the city, she had no idea that M was or what he looked like. To suddenly be exposed to his image, in broad daylight at that, was breath taking. The way he flew effortlessly, without worry or care even if he had a never ended stream of flying robots attacking him. Roxanne hadn't ever thought that the first time she would see him was the day he could, possibly, meet his end. And seeing him tousle with the Brain Bots who were latching onto any part of him that they could, it certainly made her worry for the man.
"You won't get away with this, you know that." Roxanne finally hissed and narrowed her eyes at the blue alien who was taking obvious joy in seeing the man up on the screen falling under the sheer weight and strength of the robots who just didn't seem to end.
"Well that's nice and negative." Megamind replied coldly. "How do you know that will happen? Can you tell the future?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
"No..." she replied quietly somehow suspecting his question had been a genuine one. Roxanne guessed she had expected correctly since he almost looked disappointed at her answer.
"Then you can't go around making proclamations like that. It's just silly." Megamind replied in a know-it-all kind of way before taking a sip of his drink again and looked back at the screen. He then raised a wrist to his mouth and spoke into it. "Code, release the big shock robot."
Roxanne didn't have to ask what he meant by big shock robot since the answer appeared on the screen before her very eyes merely a second later. The ground began to tremble with a great force, as if there was an earthquake. Buildings themselves began to quake in that small way buildings tended to during such occurrences. She watched as the brain bots that could fly (who hadn't been smashed by M) suddenly removed themselves from the scene, whose costume was ripped and torn in some places, revealing his exposed skin. Was he panting? Impossible. But then the ground beneath him seemed to swell, as if something was pushing up from beneath the ground itself. M flew higher, as if he could predict was about to happen, but he was too slow.
A large robotic arm erupted from the heart of the earth, all metal and spikes, and it clamped its large hand shut tightly around the man's legs and hauled him back down into the ground. All around, dust flew and pieces of cement and bitcumen, which had been dislodged and sent Heaven ward, was now falling back to ground, crunching loudly as they landed. Those people who had dared to try and watch the battle ran for cover, trying to take cover in the surrounding buildings only to have blocks of concrete and cement go crashing through the windows.
M hadn't anticipated having tonnes of pressure and steel crushing down on top of him, but that was exactly what he got. Not only that, but bold, sharp arcs of electricity suddenly shot through his body. The man yelled in pain and frustration before the robot that held him pulled back, and then slammed him down onto the ground as it began to slowly climb out of the earth. It was bigger then he thought it was, its arms long and sounded of gears and metal under great stress. Its torso was round, and spiked, as were the legs. But it held no head. Just how it was seeing what it was doing was hard to tell, was it all pre-programmed by Megamind to do things by default, not by sight?
His train of thought was derailed as another arc of electricity ripped through his body and M heard himself screaming. This was beyond anything he had experienced before. The Doom Syndicate, the criminals who broke into apartments and banks, they weren't twenty storey tall robots who were dominating him and destroying the city as if it were made of matchsticks?
On the screen in Megamind's lair, green and blue eyes were peeled to the screen. The robot staggered back as it got to its feet, and one building began to crumble just to its back. Above the smoke and rubble they could hear the screams of people who had been caught between a rock and a hard place, sometimes literally. Roxanne's eyes were now streaming, despite her inner strength, at the devastation that was happening up above ground level. Megamind was revelling at the deaths of all these people, as if it was all included and he had been anticipating it. He was enjoying the screams cutting short, the destruction of buildings and the screams of a man who everyone had seen as a hero.
"Am I winning?" Megamind asked as he watched his large robot slammed the small hero against another building, grinding him against it as if he were a spider stuck to the sole of its boot. "I think I'm winning!"
"It's horrible! YOU'RE horrible!" Roxanne spat, once more trying to free herself from her restraints. If she could dislodge at least her foot or a hand she could hit him, as if a strike from her would make him feel suddenly sorry for what he was unleashing upon the city she called home.
"Horrible?" Megamind turned his gaze to her, and he stared at her, those green expressive eyes turning from joy and happiness to concern and hurt. "I'm horrible?" he asked quietly, "Why would you say that?"
"Why?" she screamed, "Look at what you're doing! Imagine the people who are already DEAD just because you think you have a score to settle! You have no score, Megamind, you don't! You yourself said all those who hurt you are dead!"
"All but ONE!" the alien pointed out, holding up a finger to signify the one. "One has escaped me but I will find him!"
"But then what? Who will you go after when they're all dead and gone? Why does a whole city have to pay for the actions of those doctors? I know they stole so much from you and denied you a proper life but that doesn't give you the right or reason to kill innocent people! IT JUST DOESN'T!" she screamed, hands shaking against her restraints.
The blue alien stared at her, his eyes still that lost and confused expression one would expect to find on a puppy that had been told to do something it didn't understand. Roxanne's words cut into him deeply. Nobody had ever spoken to him like this before, and it not only excited him but also angered him at the same time. This woman, this beautiful, intelligent, gifted woman would speak to him like he was trash? He wasn't trash. He wasn't! He was unique! He was the last of a dead society, and the world had to answer to his suffering and pain. For the death of his only friend. For everything.
Roxanne swallowed dryly as behind Megamind on the screen the robot was suddenly collapsing, its legs sliced through by a high-energy beam coming out from M's eyes. But Megamind didn't seem to care, despite the wristwatch on his right wrist beeping noisily at the death of the robot. He abandoned his drink, the glass falling to the ground and smashing onto it, staining the carpet, as he approached her and loomed over her. She could almost see the vision in the aliens' eyes turn from confused pain to anger and the next thing she knew his gloved hand was to her throat.
"You dare speak to me like that?" he asked quietly, voice lost and quiet despite the obvious rage and hurt on his face. "You ask what gives me the right, well what gives you the right to say those words to me? What right, Roxanne, do any of us have?" Megamind asked, his voice rising from a quiet whisper to a loud scream that hurt her ears as the tightness in her throat began to grow.
"Because..." she fought against the pain, eyes shutting tightly. "Some... somebody has to..."
Megamind took a long, deep, shuddering breath as the hand around her neck tightened more. He could end this. He could end her. Stop her pleas and her insults, leaving him in the silence that he was so comfortable in. What happened next was a shock to both of them. Roxanne couldn't explain it, probably because of the lack of oxygen she had been experiencing or sheer confusion, but one moment he had been standing over her with his hand to her neck and the next he was being thrown backwards by an invisible force she couldn't comprehend, especially with her dizzy mind, and she just faintly registered the grunt he made as he slammed against the wall and collapsed to the ground.
Both alien and human coughed violently, Roxanne could never have felt more grateful for the ability for being capable of breathing before in her life. Megamind grasped the back of his head, his shoulders shaking as he slowly got to his feet but almost fell over again since he had trodden upon his cape. He felt dizzy, and light headed. What had done that? Who had thrown him? Grasping at one of the monitors for support, he stood there, his knees shaking and his head swam.
"Sir, Sir!" the voice of Minion sounded worried and distant, as if coming to him from the end of a long tunnel. He lifted his head, but he couldn't see Minion anywhere in the room. Where was he? Why did he sound so scared and alone? "M is on his way Sir. He's coming for you. I can't help you anymore, Sir. I'm sorry. I did my best for you Sir, I really did."
"What?" Megamind asked shakily, as he turned on the spot trying to see Minion. Yet still he was alone in the room with the woman strapped to the table. "Minion, what are you saying-"
"I tried, Sir. I hated seeing you become this, this something I can't control anymore or help." the familiar voice was slipping away now, being drowned out by a sound Megamind could not hear.
"NO!" Megamind screamed, and rushed from the room as quickly as he could, tripping over himself twice until he found the robot body he had made for Minion. It stood there lifeless, empty, just a cold metallic body without a soul and heart. "MINION!" he slammed his fists onto the chest of the gorilla body, ignoring the pain in his hands. "COME BACK! I DEMAND YOU TO COME BACK! You can't leave your master! You can't leave me! COME BACK!"
"I can't, Sir." the voice was barely beneath a whisper now, and it was full of sorrow and pain. "I'm sorry."
And Minion was gone. Megamind didn't know how he knew or understood it, but he was gone. Then he felt another rush of air, as if something was trying to push him again, yet it didn't even shift him a little. He felt a presence pass through him, through his soul, and he felt Minion for the last time. The robot body before him, which had once brought a comfort of friendship and love, was now empty. Minion was gone. His hearts began to beat out of pace with each other, and his chest rose and fall. Why did he leave? Why did Minion leave him? What had he done? He needed him, he needed him here and now! Had M done this? Had M found a way to kill his friend a second time? That had to be it! M had killed his friend, he had killed him the first time around and now had done it a second time and...
"M is coming." Megamind whispered shakily, eyes wide and lost, remembering the last words of the fish. "M is coming. M IS COMING!" he screamed at the darkness of his fake base and ran from the dead robotic body and slammed into the metal operating table Roxanne was strapped to. She was still shaky from the choking, so when he unstrapped her restraints the woman put up no fight. Grabbing her he hauled her off of the table and held her to his body, and upholstered the gun that had always hung by his hip. "Let him come." he said as he pointed the weapon to the woman's temple. "I'm ready. I'll show you, Minion... I'll show you..."
Roxanne groaned quietly, her eyes beginning to flutter open as the world began to return to her. Where was she? She was reminded when she felt the thin, yet surprisingly strong, arm around her front and the pointy spikes pinching into her cheek and shoulder. "AH!" she screamed and pulled her elbow up then slammed it sharply into the aliens' stomach, who doubled over. He hadn't anticipated it, so he hadn't braced for it, hadn't protected himself. The second Megamind began to bend over Roxanne acted again, slamming a fist into his blue face and he went falling over. Now she was finally free, she took off running in the one direction she could find. But just as she ran through the doorway she ran into the large robot body she had seen before, the one that had said nothing at all.
It almost fell on her, just narrowly she avoided being crushed by it as it toppled over, and made a run for it again but found herself incapable of it. Megamind was back, and he was holding her with his mind, that much she was aware of. Despite her odds she struggled still, grunting and straining against his hold as the blue alien joined her.
"That wasn't very nice of you." he said quietly, sounding out of breath and in a little pain. "But you've got a lot of fight in you. I like that." Megamind admitted as he lifted the strange looking gun again and spun a golden ring that seemed to wrap around the neck of the gun.
"Then you're going to love me."
The third voice threw Megamind off, and he spun around and saw standing in the door way the figure of M. Where had he come from? Had he just burst in while Roxanne was making her escape? The man's costume was stained with grease, dust, and some blood. It was ripped and torn from where Megamind's brain bots and large robot had left their mark, yet despite all of this the man didn't look tired at all. He looked barely winded.
The two aliens stared at one another, sizing the other up quickly.
"Been a long time coming, hasn't it?" M asked, fists forming by his sides as he stood there, ready and waiting for the blue skinned alien to make his move.
"Too long." Megamind replied quietly, before he opened his mouth and let out a war scream, amplified by the loss of his fish, his sanity, his right for vengeance. Not only that, but also the power he held within his very soul, a strength that M could not guard himself from. Roxanne shut her eyes as tightly as she could as the sound ripped through her ear drums and she heard a crunching sound followed by a groan, and when she opened her eyes she was shocked to see M thrown back into the room that she and Megamind had previously been in, taking half of the doorway with him.
"LET IT BEGIN!" Megamind screamed. "LET IT BEGIN!"
Roxanne watched as the blue alien ran across the floor like a child on Christmas day, and stood over the fallen hero. "Did you like my robots, M?" he asked calmly, "I hope they played nice with you, I told them to."
"Most... well behaved robots I've ever had the pleasure of destroying..." M replied, wind knocked out of him by the powerful psychic force that he hadn't anticipated. But he was up seconds later and his fist made contact with Megamind's face, and he could feel the bone breaking under his fist as he did so. Megamind went soaring backwards, and groaned as he slammed against the wall and slid down to the ground.
"Well.. that hurt." Megamind mumbled. This should have been the understatement of the century since his nose was well and truly broken and his acidic blood was gushing from his nose. Naturally his own skin was immune to its powers but that didn't mean his clothing was. Wherever the liquid landed, the material hissed gently before it began to break away.
"I haven't even gotten started yet!" M proclaimed as he strode forward and grabbed Megamind by the collar and lifted him up high into the air. "You have a lot to answer for, all those lives you've ended, and all the evil you've spread through this beautiful city!"
"Beautiful?" the alien spat, allowing M to believe he had the upper hand by simply hanging there from his grip. "It was never beautiful to me, because of you!" as he spoke, his blood spat out and landed on M's face.
"Me?" the hero asked, "What did I do?" he squinted his eyes, ignoring the slight burning feeling he could feel on his face where the alien had spat at him.
"YOU KNOCKED ME OFF COURSE!" Megamind screamed and that powerful psychic push was back, and M was thrown backwards, crashing into the table Roxanne had been strapped to before tumbling three times and ended up half embedded in the concrete wall.
"Off, off course?" M asked shakily.
"You and I escaped dying planets together. You don't remember, but I do. God I wish I didn't but I do!" Megamind said as he got to his feet slowly, blood already leaking from his nostrils and the corner of his mouth. "We were both heading for this city, and you... you and your stupid little gold ship... KNOCKED ME OFF COURSE. You know who found me? The fucking government! Guess what they do to aliens! Not nice things, NOT NICE THINGS." he pointed his gun at M suddenly and pulled the trigger. M just narrowly avoided a blast that obliterated a good tonne of concrete behind him into dust.
He's insane, M thought. Totally and utterly insane. When someone was this mad, this unhinged and dangerous there was only one thing that could be done but that was against the one rule he held close to his heart. He couldn't kill anyone. It wasn't right to end a life before it was supposed to. If he killed this crazed alien before him, how would that make him different from the scum he fought on a daily basis? There would be no difference, he would become whom he hated. Could he afford himself just that moment, just this once, to end a life?
When the blue alien shot at him again, this time at the ceiling above him so concrete blocks came crashing down upon him, he began to think maybe he could. The powerful lasers that lay hidden within his eyes suddenly sparked up, and he shot straight at Megamind, but they never made contact. The half destroyed table he had ran through suddenly leapt up, as if alive, and blocked the blast. It bounced off and sliced through the television screen, which exploded on impact, sparking wildly as it did and then fell into silence.
"It's all because of you. You they found me. You they cut me open. You they sawed off my legs. You killed Minion not only then but today IT'S ALL YOU!" Megamind screamed as another psychic blast sent M crashing against the wall, and he felt an old pipe make itself known in the small of his back. God, that time it did hurt.
"I didn't do nothing to you, Megamind..." M coughed, "You made who you are all yourself..."
Megamind screamed in frustration, he just kept missing with his De-Gun. What was the point in having it? He quickly put it back into its holster, and glared at the suave man who he hated so very, very much. All these years he had been foiling the Doom Syndicate, fun at first to watch but it had quickly become very annoying. But he had seen the way Roxanne had spoken of him on the news, the way her face would flush and her voice would titter ever so slightly when speaking about what kind of hope he brought to the people. Why couldn't she talk about him that way? Why did nobody speak to him like that?
The alien began to back track, holding his cape slightly as he did so he wouldn't fall over it. "No... I didn't..." Megamind said quietly, "Evil did. Fate threw me to evil like a discarded piece of meat to a dog and it ripped me in TWO. But you, oh you... you might have gotten me then, your might have hidden the man in charge of it all... you might have killed Minion twice, but I will have the last laugh!"
"In charge? Minion? What are you talking about?" M asked, hands out and ready, prepared to attack again once he had the opportunity. Despite knowing he had it every second the man spoke he somehow found himself rooted to the spot. Was it the alien's ability, or his own curious nature making him stand still as he watched his bizarre, scarred, twisted individual slowly back away from him.
"He's crazy!" Roxanne suddenly shouted, drawing both men's attention to her from where she stood literally rooted to the spot. "He was talking to himself the entire time! He, he raised his voice and referred to himself as Minion! I have no idea what-"
"MINION WAS REAL!" Megamind screamed, making the air around the three of them shake violently in reaction. "HE KILLED HIM! YOU WERE COMING AND HE DIED! MY FRIEND. MY ONLY FRIEND. YOU KILLED HIM!" the madness was back as suddenly as it had left him, the wild, crazed look in his eyes scared M and that was a feat all in itself because he was normally never scared of just a look from somebody. But this tore into his soul and it terrified him. "So... I think it fair that I kill you, in return." the smooth, calm voice took M by surprise.
He was to respond, to laugh at this blue man and tell him that he couldn't hurt him, nothing could. He had come up against fire, bullets, knives, saws, everything that anybody could throw at him yet he came out a-ok each and every time. But when he tried to answer he found he couldn't. He tried to take a breath of air, but found the ability lost on him. M's eyes widened as he felt his heart race quicken, and the dizziness began to set in.
Megamind was smiling at him, his small thin chest held out in a confident way as he watched the man ahead of him begin to slowly crumple in front of him.
"Even heroes need to breath, M. Your choice in doing so has just been revoked."