A/N: No warnings for this chapter. I hope you guys like it! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Megamind.


Just Another School Year

Chapter 12


The drive had been slightly unsettling for Roxanne. Blindfolded and unable to see where they were going or when they were turning, every time the car rounded a bend or made a turn, she found herself jumping and bracing herself against it. She could tell from the roar of the engine that Megamind was speeding, swerving through traffic when necessary, and she wondered if half the turns he made were simply to throw her off-track if she was trying to memorize the route. Halfway through the trip she gave up trying to figure out where they were and just trusted him to take her to their destination safely. After all, she certainly had no idea where they were heading…

When at last the car pulled to a stop, Roxanne began to reach towards her blindfold just to feel Megamind's hand on hers to stop her. "No… Not yet," he insisted, then once he was sure she would leave the blindfold in place, he opened his door and stepped out, the door closing behind him. Expecting to be guided out of the car immediately, she fumbled for the release on her seatbelt, pressing the button that removed the restraint. She waited for a moment, expecting to hear her door open, but the sound that greeted her ears was unlike anything she'd ever heard before… It was almost like a mechanical bark, a sort of "Bowg Bowg" kind of noise, but it wasn't alone… The sound was coming from multiple sources, and in the middle of it all she could hear Megamind laughing, "Did you miss your Daddy? Who's a menacing little cyborg? Yes, you are! Now go! Go on! I'll call you soon. Shoo! You heard me!"

Roxanne had no idea what to make of the sounds, but she assumed she would find out soon enough as the passenger door finally opened and she felt Megamind's suddenly gloved hand resting over hers. "All right, Roxanne. You can get out now. Here, let me help," he insisted as he gently helped her to step out of the car, closing the door behind her. He guided her a few steps away, then asked her in a voice that was trying to sound confident despite the note of anxiety hidden within, "OK, Roxanne, are you ready to see my greatest secret?"

Roxanne swallowed hard as she prepared herself for anything. "Somehow at this point I don't think I have any choice, but yes, Megamind. Show me all your secrets."

With one swift, fluid motion, Megamind untied and removed the blindfold from before her eyes, tossing it aside as he danced out in front of her, his arms spread wide in a dramatic gesture to encompass their surroundings, a devilishly proud grin on his face as he announced, "Welcome to the Evil Lair, my base of operations!"

Roxanne was stunned speechless. She was standing inside a huge warehouse filled with countless machines, inactive robots, blinking lights, and control panels. Everywhere her eyes turned, she was met with technology unlike anything she'd ever seen, gadgets the purpose of which she couldn't even guess, crates upon crates of spare parts, and inventions in various states of completion. But the one thing she couldn't help but notice about almost everything she saw was a similar trend towards being dangerous… Saw blades and spikes decorated many of the contraptions, flames were emblazoned on the hulls of others, whether to signify a flammable component or for decoration she did not know. Everything had a sharp, evil, almost sinister look to it, a fact which sent a shiver down her spine. Even when she looked back to Megamind himself, noting he was dressed once again in the very same supervillain's outfit he'd worn to the Homecoming dance, it was difficult not to recognize the same pattern in the spikes on his cape and gloves, or even, as she noted in slight dismay, in the unnerving appearance of a weapon that looked strangely like some sort of gun now strapped to his right thigh in a black leather holster, ready for use at any moment should he need it. The air around them was cool, damp, and dimly lit, and Roxanne couldn't help but take a step backwards as she felt her heart begin to race. This couldn't be what she feared it was… It just couldn't be! "What is all of this?" she found herself asking, her eyes finally fixing on his.

Megamind began to laugh, a terribly wicked cackle, then span around as he gestured to his creations in pride. "These are the brilliant culminations of my evil genius!" He ran over to one of his inventions, picking up a remote control. "Behold, the Flame Thrower of Doom!" He pressed a button on the remote and a device dropped down from the ceiling, a huge stream of flame shooting from its nozzle as Roxanne jumped in surprise. Just as quickly as it had begun, it stopped and lifted back up to the ceiling as Megamind dashed over to his next invention with all the enthusiasm of a kid in a candy store. "But that's not all! How about this?" he grinned, pressing a button on a control panel that called forth two very large and deadly-looking spinning saw blades. Megamind was laughing, obviously enjoying himself despite his girlfriend's apparent discomfort, and as he turned the saw blades off, he beamed in pride as he drew the gun at his hip and gave it a delighted spin. "And if you thought that was impressive, just wait until you see this!" He cast Roxanne a coy glance as he held up the weapon for her to see, showing it off. "This is my dehydration gun! It can dehydrate anything at all into a tiny cube, even animate objects! Watch!" Without any warning at all, he aimed and fired at something right beside her, and she yelped, jumping as the now visible car suddenly shrunk into a small, shimmering blue cube on the floor. The grin on Megamind's lips was smug as he sauntered over to her with a glass of water in his hand. "Watch this!" he insisted, then tossed the contents of the glass onto the glowing cube. It shuttered for a moment, then popped back into the vehicle, every detail exactly as it had been as though nothing had ever happened. Megamind turned to face Roxanne, his eyes terribly excited as he eagerly explained, "It does the very same thing to living beings! I can dehydrate whatever I want, stick it in my pocket, and rehydrate it later at my own convenience! Oh, but this baby does more than just dehydrate… I have multiple settings I can use, one of which is destroy, a setting which will blow up anything I shoot with the power of dynamite!" He chuckled wickedly, then admitted, "I mostly use the dehydration setting though. Oh! But don't think I can only build devices! I have made all kinds of robots, and you must meet my brainbots! Brainbots! Come to Daddy!"

As Roxanne watched in breathless shock, a swarm of chattering, glowing mechanical creatures suddenly descended upon them from above, all of them barking in that strange "Bowg Bowg" sound she had heard from within the car. Their clear domes glowed and sparked in the same way a plasma ball would, all but one glowing blue while the other glowed pink. All of them had long, spiked tendrils hanging beneath their domes like tentacles or arms, their domes decorated with sharp almost shark-like fins, while dangerous-looking and sharp metal jaws opened and closed in an almost excited frenzy as the strange creations circled around their creator in an almost affectionate way, some of the brainbots rubbing up against him to be petted. Megamind was laughing, his features softening at their attentions, his long, thin fingers gladly stroking the domes of the creatures before finally letting one settle in his arms to be held. It practically purred as he petted it, his eyes lit up as he focused back on Roxanne and commented, "They're the perfect subjects to do my evil bidding. They're smart enough to carry out my orders without question, and loyal enough to do whatever I say. They're my sentries, my muscle, my companions, and my eyes. They have many uses." The brainbot in his arms bowged at him and he chuckled, amending, "Yes, yes, and they're fun to play with. Not to mention deadly in their own right." He laughed as he let the brainbot go, it and the others flying off to hover at a distance at a signal from their master.

Roxanne suddenly found herself at a loss for what to say. Megamind was obviously now waiting for her reaction, but she found herself totally overwhelmed by everything she had just seen. When she could finally find her voice, she asked in disbelief, "How did you build all of this? When? You live in a prison!"

Megamind shrugged and chuckled, smirking cryptically, "Do you really think any prison could hold me? I've been breaking out of that place since I was five years old, practicing my skills and building my arsenal. Escaping is easy."

Roxanne stared at him in shock, suddenly feeling as though she had received a blow to the gut as her heart began to fill with dread. No wonder the guards didn't trust him… They couldn't hold him… But the question she had to ask was the one she least wanted an answer to. "Your arsenal? What is it all for?"

Megamind broke out into a very villainous laugh before answering as though it were obvious, "Why, to take over Metrocity and destroy Metro Man, of course!"

Roxanne suddenly felt faint. Staggering on her feet just a little bit, she braced herself against the invisible car as she found herself gasping, "Oh, my gosh! You don't just fancy yourself a supervillain, you actually are one!"

Megamind nodded his oversized head as he seemed to suddenly sober, his eyes growing nervous as he studied her every action closely while she took in the news. "Yes, Roxanne… I am. I tried to warn you. I'm bad to the bone… This is my destiny." He paused for a moment, shifting on his feet as his eyes fell to the floor, and Roxanne saw him swallow hard before he licked his lips in obvious anxiety, raising his eyes back to hers to ask in a very soft voice, "Do you… Do you still want to stand beside me?"

Roxanne simply could not believe what she was seeing and hearing. Megamind was standing right in front of her, admitting to having a genuine ambition to ruling the world and killing her best friend, and yet the look in his eyes still seemed more like a puppy who'd been beaten so many times he was just waiting for the boot to fall again. None of this fit with the Megamind she knew, none of this fit with the man she had danced with, the man who had kissed her so tenderly it had made her knees turn to jelly and her heart melt. "No!" she cried, shaking her head in vehement refusal to believe any of it. "No, this isn't you!" Megamind blinked, his gaze falling as his shoulders drooped, and she knew he thought she was dumping him. Steeling her resolve, Roxanne determinedly walked straight up to him, and as he blinked at her in surprise, she reached out and grabbed his dehydration gun, throwing it aside. He shouted in protest, but her mind was made up. Advancing on him steadily as he began to back away from her, she insisted as she reached out and took hold of the clasp on the collar of his cape, "You are not evil!" Managing to unfasten the clasp, she shoved the collar roughly back off him as his eyes widened, his cheeks flushing a deep shade of purple as she tackled the cape next. "The Megamind I know is brilliant and sweet!" The cape fell at his feet and he nearly tripped over it, completely stunned to find himself being backed into a wall by his feisty girlfriend.

"R-Roxanne… Please…" Megamind pleaded as he found himself with nowhere left to back up to and a very angry-looking Roxanne staring him in the face.

Roxanne had no intentions of backing off though. She'd seen his "evil villain" act before, and she'd also seen him at his most gentle. He had brought her here to learn his secrets, and that was exactly what she meant to do. Reaching out to take hold of one his hands, she grabbed the glove and began to pull it off. "The Megamind I know is better than this!" she cried, yanking the glove off and throwing it aside. Grabbing hold of the other glove, she pulled it off too as she nearly choked while shouting at him, "And the Megamind I kissed was far too gentle and tender to be any kind of a villain!" Megamind looked suddenly as though he were about to cry, his body trembling in obvious submission to her advances as she suddenly wondered, staring at him in only his spandex suit and boots, all his protection gone, if he had feared she intended to strip him naked. Her anger slowly subsiding, she softened her gaze as she brought a hand to his cheek, gazing deep into his eyes as he blushed furiously. She shook her head once and asked, her voice barely more than a whisper, "How can you stand there and tell me that the man I know, the man I've fallen so hard for is something so different from everything I've seen of him that I don't know him at all?"

Megamind's eyes raised breathlessly to hers as he blinked and practically breathed the words, "You… You've fallen… for me?"

Roxanne could feel her own cheeks burning slightly as she nodded, her eyes soft, but serious. "Yes, Megamind. I have." Her hand slowly dropped from his cheek as she added softly, "But now I'm wondering if I know you at all."

Megamind squeezed his eyes shut, obviously trying to restrain the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. His body stopped trembling, and when he opened his eyes again, he reached out to place his hands on her shoulders, holding her gently but firmly as he insisted, "You know me now, Roxanne… That's why I brought you here, so you can learn my secrets! Please don't turn your back on me… Like all the others…" His gaze dropped as his hands fell away from her to his sides. "I couldn't bear it…"

Though Megamind couldn't seem to say anything further, what he really wanted to say was written clearly in his eyes for Roxanne to see as his brilliant green orbs shyly lifted to meet hers again. He loved her. He loved her just as surely as she loved him, and the fact made her heart soar. Despite everything he had told her and everything she had seen, she knew deep down she still loved him, and the fear in his eyes that his affection would mean nothing to her now made her heart ache. "Hey…" she spoke to him in a soothing voice, lifting her hand to run tenderly back across his cheek as she smiled at him gently. "You haven't lost me yet, but I do want some answers. Can you give them to me?"

Megamind licked his lips anxiously and nodded, agreeing softly, "That's why I brought you here, Roxanne. I'll tell you anything you want to know. I… I want you to know me."

"Good, then let's start by making a nice cup of hot chocolate," Roxanne insisted, taking his hand in hers to guide him away from the wall. "I think we both could use a pick-me-up before we begin."

"Sounds good to me," Megamind sighed in relief, then led the way to the Evil Lair's kitchen.


Though Megamind seemed to be at a total loss as to where things were in the kitchen, it wasn't very hard for Roxanne to find her own way around. Minion obviously did all or most of the cooking and was a very organized fish, keeping the kitchen in a neat, clean, and orderly manner. Roxanne had the hot chocolate ready in no time.

Setting one cup down on the small table in front of Megamind, she took a seat across from him and watched as he took a sip and practically melted at the taste. "Mmmmm… Oh, that's divine…" he purred, looking like a happy puddle of goo, his bare hands wrapped around the cup and relishing the warmth it radiated out to them. "Roxanne, you make a superb cup of cocoa!"

"Some supervillain," Roxanne teased the obviously delighted blue alien, trying not to laugh as he shot her an unamused glare as she took a sip of her own hot chocolate. Setting her cup down in front of her, she cupped her own hands around it in much the same fashion as her dashingly dangerous boyfriend and focused her attention on him as she asked, "All right, Megamind. I want to know everything, why you seem to think you're somehow 'destined' to be a supervillain, why you decided to become one in the first place, what your history is with Metro Man, why all the animosity… All of it. I need to understand you. Outside of this place, you don't seem very dangerous to me… Even here you seem far too gentle to be a villain at all. Villains don't turn into happy puddles of mush when their girlfriends give them hot cocoa."

Megamind just shot her a smug grin and countered, "Villains can melt at whatever they want."

"Villains don't get backed into walls and disarmed by soon-to-be reporters, either," Roxanne shot back, and giggled as he frowned at her, practically pouting. "Now, come on. Tell me everything."

"Where should I start?" Megamind asked, poking idly at his cup.

"Start at the beginning. Does Metro Man have anything to do with all of this?" Roxanne asked, somehow knowing her friend probably played a much larger role in shaping Megamind's choice of career than he would ever admit.

Megamind broke out laughing, fixing her with an impressed eye as he insisted, "Oh, Roxanne, you are a sharp one, I'll give you that! Yes, this has a lot to do with that muscle-brained oaf, and his adoring throng of mindless drones." He took a long sip of his cocoa, then grew serious. "All right, Roxanne. You want me to start from the beginning? Then that's where I will begin. It's where my story starts anyway. It all began that fateful day when I was only eight days old and still living with my parents…"

"Eight days old?" Roxanne couldn't help but interrupt him in shocked disbelief. "You have memories from when you were only eight days old?"

Megamind nodded his enormous head and smirked at her, "Oh, yes. I remember everything, from the day I was born until now. Never underestimate my amazing intellect, Roxanne. My superior memory is only one of my amazing talents!"

Roxanne shook her head, giggling softly, then gestured for him to continue. "Go on."

"Well, that was the day it all began," Megamind picked up where he left off, his eyes growing distant. "Our world was being torn apart by a black hole."

"Oh, no… That's awful…" Roxanne muttered under her breath, unable to stop the remark from slipping past her lips.

Megamind nodded slowly. "I still remember the chaos… Everyone was running, screaming… My parents placed me in my pod and gave me Minion and my binkey for the trip. I remember they were holding each other as I blasted off, leaving them and my doomed planet behind, the only member of my species to escape that awful fate… Of course, another kid from a nearby planet in the Glaupunk Quadrant apparently had the exact same idea…"

Roxanne blinked as she realized it could only be one person. "Metro Man?"

Megamind nodded. "Yes. Mr. Goody Two Shoes was fleeing the black hole as well, and his pod sped right into mine, knocked it off-course into an asteroid field. And do you know what he did? I saw him through the windows of our pods, and that little twerp stuck his tongue out at me!" He threw his hands up in the air dramatically in frustration. "He had it out for me from the very start, I swear!" He drew in a deep breath to calm himself, then went on. "In any case, though my journey to this planet was far less comfortable than his was as I bumped into and through too many asteroids to count, we arrived here on Earth at the same time. My pod was actually heading towards this beautiful mansion on the top of a hill, a life filled with luxury and comfort… But at the last minute, Mr. Goody Two Shoes bumped into me again, sending me to crash into the prison while he took the mansion for himself. I guess even Fate picks its favorites…"

Megamind lifted the cocoa to his lips, pulling in a deep sip before sighing in delight. "Mmmm… So good. Anyway, don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. The prisoners found me and raised me. By the time I was a year old I was already building objects of mayhem!" He laughed mischievously at the memory. "Oh, I'll never forget the look on the warden's face when I rode my license plate tricycle through the cell block, blasting open all the cell doors and breaking through the wall… Now that was a fun day! Though I didn't quite understand why he was so mad at the time… I was having fun!"

Roxanne shook her head, feeling her anger rise at the idea of raising a child in a prison again. "I still can't believe you don't understand how much of an outrage it is to raise a child in a prison, let alone one as bright as you obviously are! It's no wonder you broke out! You needed to get out and play just like any normal child, human or not!"

Megamind grinned to himself in satisfaction, relaxing back in his chair as he folded his arms across his chest, raised an eyebrow at her, and asked in a mix of both amusement and awe, "Are you sure you don't want to be my Evil Queen, Roxanne? The perks could be great…"

Roxanne snickered and insisted, "We'll see. Go on."

"My first few years were spent like that, but when I turned five, I was given time off for good behavior and was given a chance to better myself at a strange place called 'shool,'" Megamind continued. "And that's where I bumped into Mr. Goody Two Shoes again."

Roxanne blinked, stunned. "You went to school with Metro Man before? As children?"

Megamind nodded, sighing, his spirits quickly dropping. "Yes. He had already amassed a gigantic army of soft-headed groupies… He bought their affections with showmanship and extravagant gifts of deliciousness. I wanted so badly to fit in, so I decided that I, too, would make this 'pop-ed corn' and win their affections through demonstrations of my brilliance! But it, uh… Didn't quite work out the way I'd planned…"

"What happened?" Roxanne prompted him as she watched him shrink in his seat, his eyes growing more and more sad by the minute.

"It exploded," Megamind answered sadly, his eyes on the table. "I had built Minion his first body. It was a rudimentary thing, really… Completely remote controlled by me, but unlike Mr. Goody Two Shoes' demonstration with his laser vision, when my laser hit the corn it just blew up instead of popping. I tried to stop it myself, but Metro Boy stuck me in the corner and took all the praise for himself… It was always that way."

Megamind sighed softly and pushed his cup away, suddenly uninterested in its contents. "I learned that day a very hard lesson… Good receives all the praise and adulation, while Evil is sent to quiet time in the corner. Fitting in was never an option. Not for me. No one was impressed by my genius, or my technological prowess… While they all learned to sing the itsy-bitsy spider, I sat in the back and learned how to dehydrate animate objects and rehydrate them at will. Some days it felt as though it were just me and Minion against the world…"

Megamind's eyes finally met hers again, but the look within them was so deeply lonely and sad it broke her heart as he went on, "No matter how hard I tried, I was always the odd man out, the last one picked for everything, the screw up, the black sheep, the bad boy. I tried so many times to win their affection, but it made no difference. They took pleasure from lobbing dodge balls at my head and laughing at me… Anything I tried to do to protect myself only got me in trouble. One day I invented a helmet that deflected their dodge balls back at them, and though it worked like a charm, the balls broke a window and I was blamed for it… Metro Boy delighted in dumping me in the corner yet again… As the teacher pinned yet another gold star to his perfectly ironed shirt, I watched from the corner and began to wonder if this was my destiny… And that's when it hit me: It was. And if I was the bad boy, I was going to be the baddest boy of them all!" He chuckled wickedly as Roxanne blinked, then informed her, "I was set on the path to becoming a supervillain that day. Metro Boy had pushed me around enough. I mixed up a paint bomb that turned everyone blue and was expelled immediately. Mr. Goody Two Shoes picked up the shoolhouse and flew off with it, and I watched all hope of ever being accepted on this planet fly away with him. My destiny was determined that day as he stuck his tongue out at me yet again. He is good; I am evil. It's my destiny to become a supervillain!"

Roxanne shook her head, feeling her anger rise as she realized how badly her friend had bullied the blue alien. "So you're saying you're evil because of Metro Man? No, Megamind, you can't honestly believe that you're incurably bad!"

Megamind looked at her with an expression of utter patience. "But, Roxanne, I am… Everything I've ever done has been bad… Even as an infant I was always in trouble, destroying things, causing breakouts… I'm a villain! It's my destiny!" He sighed softly as he muttered, "Metro Man got the hero role, Roxanne. There's nothing else left for me. This is the only path Fate has given me. I will be the greatest supervillain this world has ever seen, and I will crush Metro Man under my boot as the citizens of Metrocity bow before my evil genius and give me the respect I deserve!"

"But, Megamind, you're brilliant!" Roxanne protested, desperately trying to get him to see some alternative path he hadn't considered. "You're so much better than this! You could be a scientist… Or an inventor! You could give the people technology that would make their lives so much better!"

At this Megamind frowned, his eyes flashing angrily as he snarled, "Why should I give these mindless drones anything but the iron-clad grip of my ruthless rule? Why should I do anything but terrorize them? What have they ever done for me? No, Roxanne. I will not make their lives easier when they've gone out of their way to make mine miserable! I will take what I want from them and let them quake in fear at my awesome power and magnificence! It is my destiny to rule them, and rule them I shall when I crush Metro Man and take this city for my own!"

Roxanne buried her forehead in her hand as she tried desperately to think through a haze of anger and frustration. All she found herself wanting to do was talk to Metro Man, see if she couldn't somehow get one or both of them to see reason… Megamind was obviously convinced he had no other choice but to be the villain, but she could tell even through his determined speeches that beneath all the villainous bravado he'd obviously been practicing over the years lied a man whose only wish was to be accepted and maybe even loved by the people who'd always rejected him. Metro Man, on the other hand, was an entirely different story… Always handed everything on a silver platter, the super-powered teenager seemed completely convinced of his invulnerability to everything including blame. She had no doubt he had probably bullied Megamind exactly as he claimed he had, and probably felt no shame in it. Even so, she had to hear it from his perfectly chiseled lips. Standing to her feet, she looked Megamind in the eye and pleaded as she realized he suddenly looked anxious again, "Megamind, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have to go…" He opened his mouth to protest, obviously fearing the worst, but she moved quickly to place a finger upon his lips to silence him. "It's not what you think," she assured him, her eyes meeting his. She smiled at him softly, allowing her hand to drift from his lips back across his huge head, watching the soft blush of his cheeks reappear as they colored a light shade of purple. "You've given me so much to think about now, and I have to get Metro Man to start talking."

"But, Metro Man is…!" Megamind began, but he found her finger on his lips again, cutting him off.

"My friend," Roxanne finished his sentence for him. His eyes grew anxious, and she knew what he was afraid of. "Don't worry, I won't tell him what you're planning here, or anything that might help him find this place," she promised, smiling softly as she saw his eyes flood with relief. "I think it's safe to assume at this point your attendance at school is a cover, am I right?"

Megamind nodded. "That's right. It was only one step in my plan, but the pieces are all in place now… Except for you. I want you by my side when I attack him… Not standing in my way."

Roxanne sighed and shook her head. "I can't make you any promises, but I can ask you for one." He blinked at her and she looked him seriously in the eye. "Please… Whatever you're planning, hold off on it. Don't attack, don't do anything foolish. Just keep attending school with me for a while. Let me try to work this out, see if I can't get the others to accept you… Let me try to prove to you that you don't need to be a villain at all, that your destiny is greater than that."

Megamind groaned in obvious impatience. "But, Roxanne, my diabolical plan is all ready to go! I can't stand to play nice with that overgrown oaf any longer! I want to fight him! I want to crush him! I want to FIGHT! I want to…" He was cut off suddenly when he found Roxanne's lips pressing firmly against his…

Roxanne could almost literally feel Megamind's frustration drain out of him as she kissed him, the blue teenager melting beneath her where he still sat, his hands finding her waist to rest gently there. He had been getting more and more agitated, and though it seemed a dirty trick, she had known a kiss would calm him down. It had worked like a charm, and she had finally found an excuse to kiss him again after all this time. He moaned softly into her mouth and her heart leapt in her chest. No, this was no supervillain. This was simply a brilliant but gentle man who was merely tired of being beaten down and playing the only role he felt he was being given. When she finally pulled her lips from his, she knew the separation had been reluctant on both their parts, but she also knew it had to be done. "I know you're frustrated," she whispered to him softly, gladly indulging herself in another brief taste of his soft, wet blue lips. "But promise me? Please?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Miss Ritchi…" Megamind purred against her lips, breathing deeply as he savored her scent. "I can't bear to see you the subject of ridicule at shool… By delaying my attack, I must leave you open to their cruelty, which doesn't please me at all."

So that was it. It was as though a light bulb had just turned on in Roxanne's head as she allowed her lips to hover near his, breathing just as deeply of his own musky scent as he was of hers. He had obviously been planning this for some time, years perhaps, but after they had kissed the first time, he had said he didn't want to lose his privileges. He was smart enough, she knew, to know that if he were to try to attack the city he would be locked up for a lifetime with no hope of release, but the way the others had been treating her had inspired him to fight for her and deal with the consequences. Rather than villainous, now that she had determined the true motive behind his desire to attack, she couldn't help but feel the gesture chivalrous… Even if the method was anything but. Grazing his lips with hers one more time, she breathed against him, "Mmmm… My hero." She giggled softly as she saw his lips twitch upwards slightly, his cheeks flushing at the term, and she knew he had liked it despite his insistence on being the villain. His eyes were shining again, and unable to resist the temptation, she kissed his lips just one more time, savoring the purr of delight it pulled from deep in his throat. "Even so, we can stand against them together without any villainy or fighting," she insisted when she finally pulled back, looking him deep in the eye as she was relieved to find he was listening. "You told me the other night that you don't want to lose your privileges. I don't want to see you lose them. I'm just getting to know the real you, and I have to tell you, Megamind…" She leaned in to whisper the words into his slightly pointed ear, "I like what I see." He was struck totally breathless by the time she pulled back to look into his eyes again, and she ran a hand affectionately back across his jaw. "It's true. I do. And I want to see more of you, not less. Please don't do anything that will take you away from me before I can even have a chance to prove to you that you don't have to be the villain. Promise me that, Megamind. I don't want to lose you. Not now."

Megamind didn't respond at first, though his hand moved to rest over where hers still remained on his cheek. His fingers slowly closed around hers, bringing them from his cheek to his lips where he kissed them so tenderly Roxanne feared her legs would give way beneath her as they practically liquefied where she stood. His eyes were closed as he pressed his lips to her hand, and when they finally opened again and met hers, they were shining as he smiled at her so warmly her heart melted. "Minion was wrong," he stated simply. "I knew it wouldn't be a mistake to bring you here. You're the only human to have ever given me a chance, let alone to have… Well, to enjoy my company, and to let me…" His entire face flushed a deep purple as his eyes drifted to her lips, and he cleared his throat as he tried to regain his composure. "I don't want to lose you either, Roxanne. I will do what you ask… I will delay the attack. But one of these days I will have to go through with it… You know that."

Roxanne giggled softly, flicking him playfully on the nose. "That's what you think. I intend to prove otherwise, but to do that I need to talk to Metro Man."

Megamind groaned, moving to stand up. "Fine! I'll take you back to shool so you can get your car… But what about that ice cream sundie I promised you? I was going to get one myself…"

Roxanne giggled softly as she followed him back through the Lair to the invisible car. "I'll tell you what. I'll talk to the warden and get you out tomorrow night. We'll go on a real date then, and you can keep your promise."

Megamind smiled at her warmly, "Sounds good. Now get in and let me blindfold you. I'll get you out of here."


By the time Roxanne arrived at the Scott mansion, dinner time had already come and gone. Knowing exactly where to find the future hero, after politely greeting his adoptive parents, she headed directly for the super-powered teenager's greatest secret: his music room.

Wayne Scott had always had a passion for music, though he kept that interest private and secret from most of the people around him. The public identity he fastidiously cultivated was that of the untouchable, invincible, charming, and suave hero… But in the privacy of his own secluded suite he had an addiction to Elvis and a penchant for playing the guitar. Roxanne had often wondered why he kept such an interest so strictly private, but when she had asked him about it, he had simply replied that it was personal to him and his own way of relaxing, something he wanted to keep separate from the heroic persona he would have to maintain on a daily basis everywhere else. Very often he would chill out in his music room for a few hours after a football game, or an especially rowdy wrestling match. It seemed to ease his tension and alleviate his worries. After the oddly tired look she'd seen in his eyes that morning, Roxanne was hardly surprised to hear music playing behind the elaborate door that opened into Wayne's private sanctuary. Unfortunately for him, she was about to interrupt his relaxation time.

Elvis's "A Little Less Conversation" was playing as Roxanne opened the door to the music room, a song she somehow found very suitable to the hero-to-be at the moment as the lyrics "Satisfy me" met her ears. As soon as the door began to swing open, Wayne looked up and a bright smile split his face as he jumped to his feet to face her. "Roxy!" he greeted her warmly, but she didn't smile back. Blinking at her in surprise and sudden concern, he quickly turned the music off. "Roxy? Roxy, are you all right? What's wrong? Did Megamind hurt you?"

Roxanne frowned at him. "No, Wayne, he did not, but you have some explaining to do." Wayne blinked at her in stunned confusion and she gestured for him to sit down. "Sit down. I want to hear this from your own lips."

"Hear what?" Wayne questioned in surprise, slowly sitting down as she drew up a chair to sit across from him.

Roxanne's eyes were hard, cold as she responded simply, "How you first met Megamind and what you did to him."

Wayne blinked and stared at her in silence for a moment before repeating in a stunned voice, "What I did to him? What on Earth are you talking about?"

Roxanne groaned, rolling her eyes at the burly teenager before almost snapping at him, "Don't play dumb with me, Wayne! I know you went to school with Megamind when you were kids. He told me everything about it, but I want to hear it from your lips. What did you do to him there?"

Wayne's eyes narrowed slightly as the corners of his lips turned down in a wary frown. "What did he tell you?"

"That you bullied him," Roxanne answered flatly, unmoved by Wayne's apparent unease.

Wayne's eyes widened as though shocked. "Bullied? He told you I bullied him?" he practically gasped in disbelief. Spreading his hands in a gesture to emphasize that point, he protested, "I did nothing of the kind! Roxy, you can't trust a word that little blue punk says. I've tried to tell you that already. He's a troublemaker, and no good. He was always causing trouble, and nothing has changed. Don't let him brainwash you, Roxy!"

"What did you do to him?" Roxanne repeated sternly, her eyes firm. He was dodging the subject, much as he had been since school had begun, but this time she wasn't going to let him off the hook. She wasn't about to leave until she got some answers.

"Nothing more than he deserved," Wayne finally answered, his voice firm and steady. Roxanne raised an eyebrow at him; he obviously believed he'd done nothing wrong concerning her blue boyfriend. "I simply put him in his place when he stepped out of line, and I'd gladly do it again!"

"Oh, like the time you dragged him to the principal and got him suspended for an accident that wasn't his fault?" Roxanne found herself shouting at him as she rose to her feet, her anger boiling over. Wayne didn't budge from his seat, but he looked terribly uncomfortable, shocked by her outburst. "Or do you mean the time he tried to defend himself from you and the others when you lobbed dodge balls at his head and you stuck him in the corner? Did it ever occur to you, Metro Man, that maybe Megamind's not truly evil at all, but misunderstood? You bullied him! You abused and neglected him until he finally accepted the role you forced him into! You created the 'bad boy' persona he seems determined to maintain, and you have the nerve to sit here and deny to my face that you had any part in it? I can't believe you! You're supposed to be the hero! How could you? I believed in you!"

Wayne flinched as though he'd been stung, suddenly looking terribly distraught. "Roxy, I swear to you, I've never done anything to him he didn't deserve! Megamind was always a troublemaker, from the very moment I first met him! I knew when he walked through that schoolhouse door he was no good… You could see it in his scheming eyes! Every day he did something to cause a ruckus… Did he tell you how he set fire to the bookshelves trying to build a welding torch in class? Or how about the time he nearly blew up the schoolhouse trying to make popcorn with some crazy laser he'd invented? If it wasn't for me, someone might have been hurt! I did what I needed to do and put him in his place. He hasn't changed a bit in all these years… Megamind is still no better than he was back then, nothing more than a scheming punk, a no good criminal with more than one dirty trick up his sleeve. Roxy, if you keep hanging around him, you're going to get hurt! I don't want to see that happen!"

"I can take care of myself, Wayne," Roxanne spat, disappointed to find that even now, confronted by the past he had shared with Megamind, he refused to admit to having done any wrong. "You disappoint me. I expected more from you." Wayne flinched and she turned to leave, pausing at the door to look over her shoulder at the powerful man that suddenly looked deflated as she insisted, "Don't presume to have the right to protect me from Megamind. I'm not the one who needs protection. A shame you never had the guts to stand up for the one being on this planet who needed it the most." Without another word, she turned and determinedly left the room, leaving the stunned and seemingly hurt super-powered teenager behind her to think things over on his own.


Roxanne had a hard time trying to get to sleep that night. So much had happened in just that one night, so much new and disturbing information had been revealed to her that her mind simply would not settle down enough to let her rest no matter how hard she tried. Staring up at her ceiling, she ran through the night's events over and over again like a broken record, burning them into her memory as she tried to sort them out. Megamind had been planning something all along just as she had suspected, but it was worse than she had thought. Rather than a simple prank to get back at his rival, he was planning to stage an all-out attack on the city, and from the looks of all the weaponry and robotics that made up the arsenal he had stockpiled in his Evil Lair, he certainly had the firepower to do it. If he succeeded in defeating Metro Man, he would rule the city unchallenged… But she doubted whether even his incredible genius could create anything powerful enough to damage her friend's impenetrable hide, let alone nullify his super strength before he was beaten to a pulp. She feared that if he followed the path he seemed convinced he was destined to follow and became a supervillain, he would be setting out on a career of failure and jail breaks that would probably lock the two rivals in a battle that would carry on without end for the rest of their lives. Megamind seemed convinced he had no other choice, but she was determined to change that.

She had seen it in his eyes that night, even though he had tried to hide it from her. Megamind did not really want to be the villain, not underneath it all. All he really wanted was to be accepted for once instead of rejected. Thinking back over the time she had known him, Roxanne realized she'd never seen anyone even smile at him, let alone exchange a friendly greeting with him, or try to be his friend. She had been the only one to take that step, the only one to have made an effort to get to know him at all, and she could still remember the disbelief in his eyes when she had first spoken to him, the shock at actually finding someone who wanted to spend any time with him at all – even if it was, at the time, just to study. They had come so far since that first meeting, grown so close… And he still behaved as though every touch of her fingers was a miracle he barely deserved, every kiss a taste of Heaven. She smiled to herself as she thought about his soft blue lips, how gentle they were as he kissed her, how he tasted, so sweet… Yes, even she had to admit every kiss they shared was a taste of Heaven. Their relationship was growing, something she knew he had trouble believing, and she found she couldn't regret her decision to get to know the blue man everyone had labeled Metro High's biggest "bad boy." It seemed to be a label he simply couldn't shake, but she would help him change that. He did not have to be the villain, no matter how often he was pegged as the bad boy or how many times he'd been bullied and neglected… No, he was something far greater, and she intended to help him see that.

Her confrontation with Metro Man, on the other hand, had yielded far less desirable results. She had gone to him hoping to get him to see reason, just to find her fears confirmed instead. Metro Man, or Wayne Scott – a name she only called him in the privacy of his family's home estate, seemed firmly convinced he could do no wrong and never had. Used to receiving nothing but praise, she knew it had come as a blow to him to have his closest friend reprimand him instead, even going so far as to express her disappointment, but Roxanne couldn't feel bad for him. A part of her heart ached at the knowledge that for the first time in their long friendship, she was actually at odds with the soon-to-be hero she'd always admired and supported… But how could she not be, knowing as she did he was judging Megamind unfairly? She recalled his reaction to the blue teenager's arrival at school the first day of the school year, and it had been anything but friendly and welcoming. Rather than giving Megamind a second chance to prove himself, he'd immediately assumed the worst, setting himself at odds with the shorter alien. He, like everyone else, had taken one look at Megamind's blue skin, giant head, and black attire and pegged him as the villain. Roxanne couldn't help but feel he deserved to suffer a blow to his oversized ego for that.

Roxanne sighed softly and determinedly closed her eyes. She had spoken to the warden and had managed to get Megamind out of prison for a few hours the following night, so at least she had his company to look forward to. Her lips turned upwards as she thought of the handsome blue alien and imagined his arms around her, the heat from his body warming her as his wet blue lips softly pressed against hers, his taste intoxicating her as his scent enveloped her… She purred softly to herself at the thought, and finally drifted off to sleep hoping that whatever they did together the following night, it would end just like that…