Disclaimer: Megamind belongs to Dreamworks—not me! But this particular story and idea are mine.
Chapter 20: It's A Mega-Crisis
A/N: In my head, the Scott Manor sinkhole looks like that monstrous pit of death in Guatamala City that happened a few years back. Without a doubt, that is the freakiest sinkhole I've ever seen, I guess because it's a straight drop of about 300 feet. That's like some of the skyscrapers in my hometown! If you haven't seen, Google it. Makes me shudder every time!
Sweat trickled down Roxanne's face. The intensity of the lasers was unbearable. Any minute she could be roasted—or crushed by falling debris from the house. There was still no sign of Wayne—not that she could see anything in the first place. There was too much dust in the air blocking her vision. Decades-old insulation filled up her lungs and she coughed as the microscopic glass shavings irritated her throat.
Yet that wasn't as bad as having Mayhem's maniacal laughter echoing from everywhere. The horrible noise chilled her bones.
"Having fun down there, Roxie?" he roared. "I know I am!"
Roxanne helplessly hung in Seven's grasp, watching as Scott Manor was swallowed by the earth. They were going to be buried alive. The basement was so far underground that it wasn't just the house caving in. An avalanche of earth poured into the sinkhole faster than Seven could fight it. Chunks of ceiling or rocks that fell too close to Roxanne were blasted into bits by his laser cannon. He feverishly swatted at everything else, but it was more than he could handle alone. His body bore extreme abuse, clanging horribly each time something struck the metal. She cringed when his glass dome cracked. Despite the melee, his grip never loosened.
"Seven, get us out of here!" she yelled, keeping her head covered.
He bow-bowed in response and put on a burst of speed, ducking and dodging the way up. She dared to peak and saw a sliver of stars in the night sky. Just a little farther. Her stomach dropped when a flash of something big rocketed towards them. Mayhem.
"Seven, look out!"
Mayhem's hand stretched outward, fingers curling as if to grab her by the neck. The tips just brushed her collar bone. But Seven pivoted in the air just as a massive chunk of wall came hurtling towards them. It crashed into Mayhem's back before he could react. She watched with a small amount of relief as he was lost under the collapsing earth. That would buy them some time, but probably not much.
Seven zoomed skyward, carrying Roxanne a good distance away to gently set her on the grass. Every inch of her body ached from being whipped around like a ragdoll, but she was alive. She slumped forward, thankful for the little guy, who immediately resumed sentry duty and hovered in front of her like a shield. The brain bot had seen better days. One razor leg was badly bent, but still sharp enough to cut down anything that got too close. She wondered idly if he could register pain, but Seven didn't act like anything hurt.
She patted his cracked dome. "Good boy," she whispered, smiling when he pushed against her hand, like a dog eager for a scratch behind the ears.
"Mommy: injured," he said, scanning her with his optic.
Roxanne inspected the injuries. The majority of them appeared to cover her arms and hands, though it was difficult to tell in the dark. Blood oozed from dozens of the small scrapes on her arms, probably because she'd used them to protect her head. When her hand brushed a spot just below her knee, she hissed softly against the pain. Something sharp protruded from the torn skin. It felt like wood, but was no bigger than a toothpick. As far as she could tell, that was the worst of the injuries.
There wasn't time to give herself first aid, especially since she didn't have anything close by to treat her wounds. Finding Wayne, Minion, and hopefully, Megamind was more important. Biting back a gasp, she yanked out the shard and dropped it onto the ground. Her clothes were pretty much a loss. Ripped jeans might have been stylish to some people, but not Roxanne, especially since she'd bled all over hers. Everything she wore would have to go straight to the trashcan. That wasn't surprising considering the entire house and the ground below it had caved in on top of her head. A thin layer of dust coated her from top to bottom. With every move, she left a small cloud of it behind. Hurriedly, she peeled off her shredded jacket and tore a piece off to wrap around her leg, the best she could do at the moment to stop the bleeding.
The brain bot eyeballed her every move. "I'm fine, Seven." To assure him, she got up, suppressing a groan. "We have to find the others." She didn't voice the rest of her thoughts.
...if they're still alive.
Smoke hung in the air like thick fog. She grabbed her ruined jacket and covered her nose and mouth, but that didn't help much. Fire was ravaging what was left of the trees, sending a massive black cloud skyward. Even if someone down in the hub of the city had seen the smoke, there was no point to send the fire department. The entire landscape looked like charcoal. They probably wouldn't come anyway considering that Mayhem had declared war on the Scott family.
The smoke permeated her sinuses. They burned despite the jacket covering her face and she sneezed several times. Tears leaked from her stinging eyes. Each breath was labor intensive as her starved lungs searched for fresh air that wasn't there. She couldn't stay here much longer, but she had to find her friends first. The brightness of Seven's optic, the only remaining light source since the house was gone, cast an eerie red glow over the smoke swirling around them. The light was unable to penetrate more than a few feet.
Seven latched onto her wrist, stopping her as she limped back toward where she thought the sinkhole to be. "Directive: protect Mommy."
"You did protect Mommy. But now we have to find Daddy." She looked all around them. "Seven, do you see Mayhem Man anywhere?"
The brain bot's dome turned one full revolution. "Negative."
"Hmm...not sure if that's a good or bad thing," she whispered. "All right. Come on."
Though he followed obediently along, he made strange metallic grinding sounds as though muttering in protest. She patted his dome again, mostly for reassurance. Though her chest ached with worry, she kept a firm check on her emotions. Taking off at a run would have been really stupid since it was too dark to see where the edge of the sinkhole began.
For the fifth time, she cast an anxious glance over her shoulder. Mayhem Man hadn't reappeared, but it was just a matter of time. It was anyone's guess just how long it would be before he dug himself out. Moving quickly was critical.
The smoke cleared long enough that, with a shock, she saw the news van still parked in the same spot. She'd just assumed that it too had met its untimely end at the bottom of the sinkhole, but it was far enough down the driveway that it had been spared from that and the fire. There was a First-Aid kit in there somewhere. Not to mention the dehydration gun in the passenger seat. What would happen if she tried to dehydrate Mayhem? Would it turn him into a little blue cube? Could it be that easy?
If life had taught her anything, it was that nothing is easy.
"Seven, look for Wayne and Minion. I'm going to get the dehydration gun from the van."
Automatically, he thrust out that razor leg in front of her face. She gently pushed it down, careful of the sharp edge.
"Mommy will be fine. It's not that far away."
Before she could move, a sudden noise stopped her cold. The sinkhole—it had come from there. As though anticipating her next move, Seven barred her from going any farther. As he faced the direction where the noise had come from, his optic illuminated the area enough that she could just make out the edge of the gaping black hole stretched out like a giant mouth waiting to swallow unsuspecting victims.
"...is—is anyone up there?" said a muffled voice.
"Wayne!" she yelled. "Wayne?" She skirted the edge of the sinkhole as much as she dared.
It was quiet for an agonizing minute...until there was another muffled reply from below.
"R-roxanne? "
"Yes, I'm coming! Seven, shine your light down there."
Roxanne almost collapsed with relief when she saw Wayne, looking purple in the red light, clinging to a broken pipe sticking out of the side of the ground. He had to be at least twenty feet below, too far to reach by hand. There was no rope in her news van and all the long branches of the trees were now wasted piles of ashes.
"Hold on, Wayne!" she reassured, marveling that he'd survived while simultaneously wondering how she'd get him out. Next to her, Seven moved and it hit her. "Seven, go get Wayne," she instructed, giving the bot a nudge.
Roxanne watched the brain bot disappear over the edge of the sinkhole. Once the red light from his optic was gone, only the glow from the flames remained. One hand kept the jacket pressed to her face. The other impatiently waved at the lingering smoke. Megamind had said that Seven was capable of lifting vast amounts of weight so he'd probably be back in no time, dangling Wayne from a metal arm.
Except that he didn't come back.
Seconds slipped into minutes as she paced, coughing into the jacket. Worry churned in her stomach the longer she waited and doubt plagued her as she stared at the crater where Scott Manor used to be. Generations of Scotts had lived here. It had withstood harsh winters, raging storms, and the passage of time. In the blink of an eye, all of that had been wiped away. What could she say to the Scott family? Mayhem may have committed the terrible deed, but she still felt responsible. Now the entire city was in jeopardy because she'd had the big idea that standing up to that psychopath would save them all.
Wayne had a death sentence on his head. Bernard had been taken prisoner. Megamind had been dehydrated. She couldn't bear to think of the cube that she'd dropped. What if that had been him? The other two were still bulging in her jeans pocket. Surely, this wasn't the end. It couldn't be. Evil usually struck the hardest blows, but it never won in the end.
The fire wasn't close, but the heat made her sweaty shirt cling to her back. Her hair was plastered to her face like glue. Under the cover of the jacket, her face was sweltering. She moved it away from her mouth for just a second. Beads of sweat pooled around her lips and she rubbed her face against the dust-covered sleeve of her t-shirt. The longer she paced the more her injured leg throbbed.
What was taking so long? Wayne's slight physique couldn't have been too heavy for Seven to carry. She stopped pacing altogether and stared down into the inky black hole, unable to see anything or anyone. Something was wrong. Did Seven have a power failure? Did...did Wayne fall?
"Looking for this?"
Roxanne started so badly that she stumbled, nearly tripping over the edge. She twisted and came face to face with Mayhem Man. The jacket fell from her hands into a heap at her feet. He had Wayne by the neck and Seven in the other hand. Mayhem must have been buried, covered as he was in dirt and debris. Just a few silver sequins were left on the torn M emblazoned on his massive chest. The oil slick that was usually his hair was unkempt, adding to the wild look. Unlike Roxanne and Wayne though, there wasn't a scratch on him.
Wayne futilely struggled to get free, his chest heaving from the effort. The brain bot hissed furiously and slashed at Mayhem until his metal appendages were dented or broken. Mayhem barely gave the brain bot a passing glance of irritation before crushing him. He carelessly tossed Seven to the side like litter, who twitched once before his optic faded to black.
"NO! SEVEN!" Roxanne shrieked, trying to run to her little bot, but was stopped by Mayhem's hand closing around her neck.
She choked as her air supply was nearly cut off and clawed at his hands, but only managed to break her fingernails as they raked over his indestructible skin. Wayne continued to fight a useless battle. He kicked, punched, and bloodied his knuckles. Mayhem watched with nasty amusement as Wayne struggled. She opened her mouth to beg him to stop—that it was pointless and he would only hurt himself—but her voice withered. Mayhem squeezed tighter, cutting off more air.
The horrible crunch of bones was a sickening sound and the bile rose in her throat. Wayne cried out, ceasing his struggles. Roxanne turned her head as much as she could in Mayhem's grip to look at Wayne. Beads of sweat sparkled all over his blue cranium, illuminated by the flames, as his face drew up in pain. Roxanne's stomached turned when she saw the twisted fingers and awkward angle of his right hand. Wayne's knees bent and he probably would have collapsed but for Mayhem's grip keeping him upright.
Mayhem's blue eyes glittered in the dark. "That sounded like it hurt. Keep punching and kicking me if you want. There's nothing I like better than the sound of breaking bones."
Wayne's chest heaved in and out with each shuddering breath, but he was in too much pain to say anything.
"Stop it," she hissed.
"Or what?" he snarled in her face. "You told me yourself to come and get it, or don't you remember, Roxie? I'm just doing exactly what you told me to."
He dragged them to the sinkhole and held them over the edge. Roxanne planted her heels into the grass, but they slipped, unable to find traction.
"You don't look so tough now, Scott," he spat at Wayne. "That was some crazy getup you were wearing. The spikes were a nice touch though. Maybe I should add that to my wardrobe."
For a fearful second, Roxanne was afraid of what Wayne would say. He hadn't exactly shown himself trustworthy. He'd dehydrated Megamind—why, she didn't know—but how could she ever trust Wayne after that? Any minute now he would confess everything just so Mayhem wouldn't murder him on live TV. He was going to take the coward's way out and admit that he and Megamind had plotted to kill the supervillain. He would hand over the cubes and Mayhem would crush them to dust.
They would all die...because of Wayne.
She looked anxiously at her blue companion. Wayne's body grew stiff, his mouth tightened into razor-thin lines, and the green of his eyes were oddly darker than she remembered. Was it a trick of the light? Because something was different suddenly. Then it hit her. The expression on his face—she'd seen it before. It was an exact match...to Megamind's. Determination. Confidence. Superiority. They were all they there in every corner of Wayne's face. For a wild second, she wondered if somehow they'd switched places as some kind of crazy backup plan.
She might have believed if it hadn't been for one glaring difference. The goatee. This alien didn't have one.
He blinked twice, hard and fast. "That wouldn't be a good look for you."
"Why not?"
"Spikes indicate the intelligently gifted, i.e., not you."
Roxanne's jaw dropped. Where had that come from?
"I'd exchange that gift for a pair of giant muscles any day."
"You can't exchange intelligence for muscles."
"Maybe I still have the receipt."
"And yet you'll only get store credit."
"My store has a one hundred percent money-back guarantee."
"Only if you shop at Stupid 'R Us."
"Wayne, don't—" she choked. This newfound confidence of Wayne's was going to get him killed sooner than later.
"No, no, Roxie! Let the wannabe hero talk. That's how he signed his death certificate in the first place—by opening his big mouth."
Mayhem squeezed Wayne's neck so tight that his eyes watered, but he kept talking, words coming out broken and spluttering. "You—re going to kill me any—way." He gasped, searching for air, eyes rolling back enough that they almost disappeared. "S-s-so why not go out with a...a bang?"
He pulled Wayne closer until they were nose to nose. "Oh, the bang will be so big that there won't be enough of you left to sweep up with a broom."
Wayne gasped, "The b-bad guy...kills-s-s the good guy...how bor—ringly unoriginal."
Mayhem was too busy monologuing about dismemberment and various other gory ways to kill him that he didn't notice when Wayne slipped something into the back pocket of her jeans. She wasn't about to pull it out and check, but had a strong suspicion that he'd given her the last dehydrated cube. There were only three left. Wayne's unexpected metamorphosis ignited a little flame of hope in her heart. If he could just buy her some time, then she could rehydrate Megamind and he could carry out his plan of luring Mayhem into a black hole.
"So in other words," Mayhem's nostrils curled. "I'm bigger, stronger, and don't have to be original, Scott—something you ignored. Now you're dead."
"Too late. I already keeled over from boredom five minutes ago."
"Shame...the witty banter wasn't half-bad."
Adding to Roxanne's shock, Wayne patted Mayhem on the arm with the hand that wasn't broken. "I don't think you know what witty means, big guy. Poor Mayhem left his dictionary in the same place he left his brain...under a rock."
"A rock I'll bash your brain with."
"What were we just talking about? Brains over brawn! And considering the enormous size of my brain..." Wayne shrugged.
"You can't hide behind your intelligence, especially after I stomp it flat."
"You got me there. If my IQ drops anymore points just by talking to you, then I guess I'm screwed." Wayne smirked, even throwing in a chuckle for good measure.
It was fascinating to watch them trade insults like some kind of psychotic tennis match, as though they had been doing it for years. Perhaps it had something to do with the other timeline. It may have been a different Metro City, but under the surface the people were essentially the same.
She expected the comeback to be more of the same banter, but Mayhem—like every supervillain—didn't play fair. "You got a girlfriend, Scott?"
Roxanne's blood turned to ice. She hoped...prayed...that he didn't.
Wayne looked equally stunned by the question. "Uh...n-no."
"Right...and that little stutter's supposed to convince me you don't?"
"I don't. You know us nerd types—," he said, bolstering his confidence, but his voice warbled around so much it was obvious that he lied. "—basement dwellers with only a computer for company."
"What's her name?" Mayhem asked patiently.
"I don't know who you're talking about," Wayne insisted.
Rather than say another word, Mayhem thrust Roxanne over the ledge. She didn't scream, but sucked in a huge gush of air. It was hard not to look down into the abyss beneath her dangling feet. Her stomach somersaulted. If he let go, there was nothing to latch onto.
"I won't ask again," he threatened, eyes as empty as the black pit he'd created.
"Don't you dare tell him anything, Wayne!" she shouted, willing to face death. "Keep her safe!"
Wayne's body drooped as though the fight had gone out of him, but he stayed silent.
"Have it your way," Mayhem said with a careless shrug.
"Ja-JENNIFER!" he yelled just as Roxanne felt Mayhem's grip slacken. "Now bring her back!"
Mayhem didn't do anything. Roxanne closed her eyes, expecting to fall any second.
"Roxie and Jennifer...two girls for the price of one alien's head."
"Don't touch her!" Wayne snapped, beating against the hand encircling his neck.
Mayhem laughed, amused by Wayne's reaction. "My, my! Hit a nerve didn't I?"
Roxanne was helpless to do anything except watch. Every vein in his head bulged with each useless punch. He would break his other hand if she didn't stop him.
"Wayne! Stop!" Roxanne begged. "You'll only injure yourself trying to get away!"
"Who says—," he huffed, veins purple under his blue skin, "—that I'm trying to get away!?"
Mayhem's cruel laughter rang through the air like a discordant bell. "You talk big. You think big. But in the end, you're nothing."
To Roxanne's relief, Wayne stopped punching Mayhem, chest heaving from the wasted effort, but he managed to snarl with a surprising amount of acid, "And besides downright incompetence, the only thing you know is how to bully."
Mayhem's eyes narrowed a fraction. He was losing his patience. "I'd watch that mouth if I were you...don't want to end up like Roxie's hubby."
A thousand cold needles stabbed her heart. "What did you do to him?"
His stubbly cheeks spread into a vicious grin. "He's currently taking a nap under a building...my condolences to the widow."
Bernard...he couldn't be gone. He just couldn't. Mayhem might be lying. He enjoyed tormenting the innocent whether he told the truth or not. Yet as she looked into his eyes, alight with barely contained madness, she knew he was telling the truth. Roxanne hated—hated—to show weakness in front of him, but couldn't stop the tears that leaked out of the corner of her eyes.
"Look, can't we just get this over with?" Wayne griped. "Stop jawing and kill me already!"
"Of course," Mayhem said, "But first we have to set the stage." He threw Wayne to the side. The air came out of his mouth in a whoosh as he struck the ground. He rolled over, cradling his broken hand against his chest, deep lines of pain etched into his face. But he pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing the purple hand-shaped bruise around his neck. "Roxie, bring your news van to City Hall for the very public execution."
One of Mayhem's arms encircled her waist. He released her throat, sliding his hand down her side until it too was around her waist. It felt like a boa constrictor was wrapped around her middle. He hovered over the sinkhole and slowly descended into its depths. Wayne's anxious face appeared above them at the edge, which shrunk in size the further down they went.
"Where are you taking her?" Wayne demanded, but he was ignored.
As they descended, she automatically clung to his arms and then immediately let go, repulsed by their closeness. He grinned, as though reading her thoughts and enjoying every second of her discomfort. She folded her arms, trying to create a barrier between their bodies.
Since the day they'd met, the vacant stare behind his blue orbs never ceased to terrify her, and she was unable suppress the shiver that crawled down her spine. Those eyes were dead—lacking in feelings of any kind. The emptiness in them left her cold. How had Megamind escaped such lunacy? He'd grown up in prison too—isolated and unwanted. But staring into his eyes was completely different. It made her long to see his world with a strong wave of envy.
"You know," he said, voice uncharacteristically gentle—like a spider trying to lure the innocent fly into its web, "you could make this easier on yourself, but you just keep fighting me."
Wet tears still clung to her eyelashes and her nose ran, making her sniff. She stared over Mayhem's shoulder, seeing Bernard's face appear in the glow of the fire that still raged in the forest.
Putting as much venom as possible into every word, she spat, "I'll never stop fighting the monster who murdered my husband!"
"Monster, huh?"
He leaned closer. She tried to move away, but his hand against her back was as solid as steel, trapping her in place. She turned her face, still able to see the outline of his hard jaw in her periphery. It was hard to maintain any form of composure when her hands wouldn't stop shaking so she balled them into fists and pressed them into her ribs.
He smiled softly, and then caressed her cheek with the same unsettling gentleness. "Babe, you have no idea just how much of a monster I am."
She pretended to ignore his threat. "Where are we going? I thought I was supposed to take the news van to City Hall?"
"Oh, you are, but I don't trust you not to drive away. I would find you of course, but I really don't have the time." They stopped next to the pipe Wayne had just been dangling from. "So you get to hang out while I take Wayne to City Hall."
Roxanne stared at the pipe and then at him. "What?!"
"You're getting kind of heavy, Roxie. I'd grab a hold of something if I were you."
Her hands curled around the pipe not a second too soon. Mayhem let go, but didn't fly away. He floated closer, pressing against her front. She cringed, but couldn't move. There was nowhere to go except the long drop to the bottom. Whatever made her skin crawl, he took perverse pleasure in doing.
"If you can't hang on, I'll go find Wayne's girlfriend to keep me company." She shuddered when his lips brushed her ear. "I'll be back for you," he said, lightly pressing his mouth to her cheek.
Roxanne peered at the sky as Mayhem flew off, carrying Wayne with him. Their eyes briefly met. His mouth opened, but there was nothing to be said—no words of encouragement. She knew as well as Wayne that the next time they saw each other again it would probably be the last.
But that was the least of her worries for the present. Her hands were sweaty and slid all over the pipe when she tried to tighten her grip. It didn't help that every small slip sent her heart racing through her chest. She didn't think she was all that heavy, but the longer she struggled to hold on, the more it felt like her body weighed thousands of pounds. There was little time left before she lost her grip.
And all she could think about was Bernard...Megamind...Wayne...the coming destruction of the city she loved...
Roxanne gave her brain a fierce reprimand. Mayhem just wanted to scare her into submission. If he thought that would work, then he really was a nut job. She wasn't about to let him beat her over the head with fear. Mayhem's threats were always promises, but she refused to go down that path, not until she had proof. The only way she could help Bernard and everyone else was to get out of this hole.
It was a difficult not to look down. The ledge was a long way up, but there had to be some way to climb to the top. There was enough of a glow from the fire to provide some illumination. Some wiring and two other pipes rested a few feet above her head in the wall of dirt. Reaching them was the tricky part. If the dirt wasn't too loose, maybe she could create hand and foot holds and climb up. If it was, then she'd fall to her death. Roxanne peered straight down into the sinkhole, seeing nothing but darkness.
Trying to climb was a big risk...and so was procrastinating. She'd rather take her chances. It was time to put all those Pilates classes to good use. After assuring her grip on the pipe was firm, she swung back and forth, gathering momentum. She stretched her legs painfully far, muscles burning, and hooked her ankles around the pipe. For a few minutes she waited to catch her breath and made sure the pipe continued to support her weight. It seemed sturdy and she continued at a snail's pace, unwilling to rush no matter how fast her heart was pounding. She scooted along the pipe and just as her hand connected with the cool earth, a voice cracked the air like a bullet.
"Ms. Ritchie? Ms. Ritchie?" The voice called frantically.
Roxanne was so startled that her feet slipped off the pipe. Luckily, she managed to hang on.
"Ms. Ritchie? Are you...still down there?"
"Minion!" she yelled, recognizing the voice. "Yes, down here! Hurry!"
Relief flooded her chest when the metal ape suit came into view, water sloshing around violently in his tank. "Oh, my goodness! I'll have you out of there in a jiffy!"
"Minion, you'll have to find a rope or a long branch or something and—"
"That won't be necessary!" he called down to her with a big smile.
Confused, she was going to ask what he meant, but her question stalled when his arm began growing. It grew and grew, extending out from his body. Fascinated, she watched it lengthening until the hand stopped right next to her. He wiggled his fingers and she eagerly grasped the metal appendage, sparing a parting glance at the abyss below. Hastily, she turned her eyes back to Minion.
"Hang on tight!" he said, as she locked her arms together.
He pressed a button on the front of the suit, retracting the arm. The wall of the sinkhole zipped by, making her feel like she was on an elevator. Just as she reached the edge, Minion grabbed hold of her with his other hand and pulled her over. Roxanne was never so glad to feel the soft crunch of grass under her feet, and walked several steps back from the ledge, leaning over with hands on her knees. There'd been too much dangling from this and that in one day to last her a lifetime.
"All you all right, Ms. Ritchie?" Minion asked, pressing a gentle hand to her back.
She nodded, straightening. "As good...as can be expected. Thanks to you."
He blushed, green scales shimmering with a cute shade of pink. "You're welcome, Ms. Ritchie. I'm just glad I got here in time."
"Where did you come from?"
He pointed to where the trees used to be. In the hazy leftover of the smoldering woodland, she saw the outline of a silver car. "Mr. Scott's car. He made me drive away without him."
"Why? He might have been able to escape!" she spluttered.
"Sir wanted to come back for you." Minion looked up, simultaneously appearing sad and proud.
Roxanne bit her lip. Wayne was reminding her more and more of Megamind every minute. The crestfallen face of her companion was more than she could stand. If something happened to Wayne, not only would Minion be devastated, but completely alone.
"We'll get him back, Minion," she said fiercely, taking his hand.
He didn't look away from the sky, as though hoping to find his friend somewhere in the stars. "Where did he take him?"
"City Hall."
A few feet away lay the still form of Seven. She slowly approached the brain bot and knelt beside him. Mayhem's hand had all but crushed the metal body. Every one of his legs was misshapen, one barely attached by a single cable. Glass shards were all that was left of the dome. She picked out the pieces from in between the delicate metal wires, careful of the sharp edges. With care, she took Seven into her arms as though he was delicate baby and not a robot covered in razors. She'd become fond of the little guy so quickly. It wasn't fair. He'd just been trying to protect her.
"Why City Hall?"
She cleared her throat and blinked away another bout of tears. "My guess is because he'll have a large audience."
"What are we going to do?" he asked.
"Only one person can answer that," she whispered, swallowing thickly. She thrust a hand into her jeans pocket and yanked out the last three cubes. "Minion, come with me," she said, handing them over to him.
With purposeful strides and Seven still in her arms, she headed straight for her news van. Miraculously, it had survived Mayhem's onslaught, just waiting for her to come back. After carefully placing Seven's lifeless husk in the passenger seat, she reached for the dehydration gun. Thank goodness she'd left it in the van, otherwise it'd probably also be at the bottom of the sinkhole too.
"Is Sir one of these?" asked Minion, holding one up to his tank to get a better look.
"I hope so," she said. "Put them on the grass. There's enough water left in the gun's reservoir for rehydration."
As soon as the glowing squares were on the ground, she spilled all of the water across them. With three little popping sounds, they were returned to their former selves. One person she didn't recognize at all. He was dark-headed and a lot on the beefy side—possibly one of Mayhem's idiot cronies. The second was that red-haired spy she'd whacked on the head with her tripod stand. The third was...
"MEGAMIND!" she shrieked, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Oof!" he wheezed when she gave his ribs an extra hard squeeze.
Her heart had been through so many ups and downs today. Holding onto Megamind, who was alive and real, made up for some of that. For some wild reason when she stared into his green eyes, hope flared in her heart and suddenly she believed—knew—he'd make everything right.
He pushed her back, staring around at the small crowd gathered by the van. "Where is that nerd? He had the audacity to dehydrate me!"
"I know, but he's gone and made it worse," she explained. "Mayhem—"
Megamind got a better look at her then, eyes widening in alarm. "You're hurt, Roxanne! And bleeding!" he said, just noticing the cut on her leg. "You need medical attention. Minion—"
She shook her head. "Never mind that now. I'm fine. Mayhem came faster than we expected and—"
"What's going on?" asked the beefy guy of no one in particular. He looked around, as though trying to get his bearings. "First, I'm fighting that old man...you!" He said, pointing a fat finger at Megamind. "It was you! You were an old man and then you weren't. Then you shot me with that ray gun!"
"Two times the charm," Megamind said, snatching the dehydration gun from Roxanne.
Mayhem's beefy henchman turned to run, but froze midair as the beam sucked him dry. As the cube bounced along the grass, Megamind, wearing a slightly crazy grin as he holstered the weapon, said, "I'll never get tired of that, evil or not."
Roxanne huffed impatiently. "Mayhem took Wayne!"
"Ha!" Megamind barked, eyes gleaming with manic satisfaction. "Good enough for him considering he was about to abandon us all."
She closed her eyes, willing her temper to calm down. "Look, I know dehydrating you was the worst possible thing he could do, but none of that matters now. We've got to save him!"
"I think 'got' is a strong word," he said, smoothing out the wrinkles in his leather jumpsuit. "Oh...stop Hal from escaping, will you, Minion?"
Bewildered, Roxanne turned to see the red-headed buffoon trying to limp away, dragging the heavy walking boot with every huff and puff. She'd completely forgotten he was there.
"Right away, Sir!"
Minion's metal arm shot straight into Hal's back, knocking him to the ground. Hal managed to get to his feet, but caught his toe on the heel of the walking boot and tripped, face-planting onto the grass. Rather than try to stand again, Hal scrabbled across the ground like a lopsided crab. Minion was faster and latched onto his ankle. Hal grabbed handfuls of grass as he was dragged backwards, leaving finger-shaped gouges behind in the soil.
"Think I'm getting the hang of this suit, Sir!" Minion exclaimed with glee.
Megamind approached Hal with a cocky swagger, who swung side to side in Minion's grasp. The black shirt he wore was a little too tight, riding up to reveal a freckly, rotund belly. "Hal Shtoowart! My old nemesis...we meet again."
"H-how do you know my name?" he stammered, covering his face with grass-stained fingers.
He pointed two fingers at his impressive head. "Genius! Duh!"
"Megamind, will you shut up and listen to me!" Roxanne cried. All eyes snapped to her face.
"There is no time left. Mayhem Man is coming back here any second to get me and the news van. He's still planning to kill Wayne during a live broadcast. We have to go now."
But Megamind didn't budge when she pulled his arm. "I tried to help Wayne and he stabbed me in the back!"
She rolled her eyes. "Okay! Yes, he did! But you can't just let Mayhem Man kill him!"
"Why not? He'll save me the trouble," he said with a petulant wave of a hand.
"I'll tell you exactly why not."
Roxanne pressed a hand against his cheek and pushed his face towards the massive crater that used to have a house on top of it. Megamind's gasp was so soft no one else could have heard it. Putting one shaky foot in front of the other, he walked up to the grassy ledge and stared into the sunken ground. He never said a word, but the stance of his body was suddenly as sharp-edged as the spikes covering his cape. The leather gloves he wore creaked as his fists clenched taut.
She walked over to stand beside him, laying a hand against his back. "Look...I know that Wayne betrayed you, but we can't leave him at the mercy of Mayhem Man."
Megamind remained stoically quiet. She wasn't going to give up though.
"This Metro City may not be the one you love, but we...we need you. You're the only person capable of stopping him—of saving Wayne—of giving us the chance to make this city beautiful again. Put aside your anger at Wayne. Please, Megamind."
He was so frighteningly still and unresponsive that she thought he wasn't listening. Then he blinked, shaking his head as though he'd been far away from his surroundings.
"Where...where is my time machine?" His voice was barely a whisper. "Or should I bother asking?"
Oh no...
She'd forgotten, but the memory came back with a vengeance, of a silver sphere falling into the depths of the hole. She wanted to offer comfort and hold him close, but the words died in her throat. What could she say when his only chance of getting back to his timeline...his home...was buried of under hundreds of tons of dirt?
"Megamind—" she ventured.
As he turned away, putting his back to the empty space, he met her gaze. The sudden change was almost palpable. Seconds ago, he'd been staring forlornly into the darkness, despair muting the bright green irises. If it had been her words or something else to change his mind, it didn't matter. What did matter was that a fire had re-ignited in his eyes, turning them into flaming pools of green. Determination poured from his entire body—the firm jaw—the eyebrows drawn into a tight black line—the ramrod posture. He looked ready for a fight, and in fact, looked as though he would welcome one.
The spikes encircling his neck and shoulders sparkled with ominous promises for anyone willing to mess with an ex-super villain as he stalked back over to Hal. Megamind tore him from Minion's grasp with a surprising show of strength for having such a slight physique. He dragged him over to the driver's side of the news van, threw open the door, and tossed him inside.
Hal's eyes crossed when Megamind pressed a finger to his nose. "You will drive us to City Hall. Don't think about trying to escape. Don't call Mayhem Man to come rescue you. Don't do anything unless you hear it from me first. If you so much as sneeze wrong, I will kill you. Do you understand me?"
Hal nodded furiously, making his red waves bounce all around his forehead. "You got it, dude. Next stop, City Hall." With shaking hands, he buckled the seatbelt and started the engine.
Megamind's eyes narrowed coolly as he slammed the door shut in Hal's face, which had been too close to the window. It smashed his nose—not as satisfying as actually throwing the punching himself, but he'd take it.
"You wouldn't really kill him, would you, Sir?" asked Minion with a nervous laugh, as though hoping Megamind had just been joking.
"He's an idiot, but he's more dangerous than he looks. It's best I keep a close eye on him."
Roxanne noticed how he completely skirted answering the question. But that was understandable—it was a loaded question. Not for the first time, she wondered just what exactly Megamind's version of Metro City was like. There wasn't time, however, to chat about one city versus the other.
"What's the plan?" asked Roxanne urgently, ready to get going.
"Getting Wayne away from Mayhem."
"Is that all?" she said sarcastically. "I thought this was going to be hard."
He smirked. "Nothing I can't handle. Do you have a laptop in your news van?"
"Under the front seat," she responded with a sharp nod.
"I need to borrow it."
She marched over to the passenger side, throwing open the door. Hal was eyeballing Seven's metal husk and reached out to touch him, but Roxanne slapped his hand. He snatched it back, rubbing the offended skin.
"You wanna keep those fingers, you'll leave him alone."
Though it was brief, there was a spark of anger that passed like a shadow over his face. Hal didn't look dangerous at first glance, being freckly-faced and tubby, but there must have been a very good reason why Megamind didn't trust him. She swallowed her unease, pulled the laptop out, and handed it over to Megamind.
"Thank you," he said, tucking it under his arm. "Now let's get going."
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
He grinned at her over his shoulder. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve."
A/N: I know Wayne did an about face and went all Megamind suddenly, but consider, he is Megamind, essentially. They are still the same person, just different because of how they grew up. That confidence and drive was always there, Wayne just didn't discover it until it mattered. That's pretty much how I always intended the story to evolve.
Anyway, one more chapter down. I'm really not sure how many more there will be. I keep thinking I'm close and then I go add something else...so your guess is as good as mine. Again, I apologize for any typos. Thank you for still reading and being so patient with the long gaps between updates!