Megamind had planned to kidnap Roxanne, as usual. Nothing new really, it was all part of the routine really. He would get Minion to kidnap her, try to scare her with his multitude of inventions-all of which would fail to actually scare her, she would say something witty, and they would banter. Then Metro Man would come to "save" her, when in reality, Megamind never actually intended to do any harm. It was all just a big game, a charade, for the people of Metrocity. Megamind was shocked that many people in Metrocity still feared him, seeing as Roxanne was the only one he kidnapped, and every time she was released unscathed. Although, he did have the power to turn them into little dehydrated cubes, and he occasionally destroyed a few buildings during battles. So, yeah, he kind of understood why they were scared of him.
Minion had left to capture Roxanne, and Megamind was preparing. Making sure his suit and cape looked "disgustingly horrifying", although he often was going for impressive. However, today he didn't seem to concerned with his looks. He was exhausted, and he couldn't figure out why. He had gotten more than enough rest, around 8 hours, while his species only needed 4. There really was no reason for him to be this tired.
He looked at himself in the mirror, dark circles under his eyes, slight scruff starting to grow on his jawline. When was the last time he shaved?
"Maybe I look more scary this way?" he questioned out loud to his replica. Making a few evil faces and posing in the mirror. Eventually sighing and giving a dramatic eye-roll. Ugh forget it. He didn't feel like shaving, at least a change in appearance might shock Roxanne a little bit.
He decided to look past it, he would be feeling more energetic once Minion arrived with Roxanne. Well, he was ready, now all he had to do was wait. Minion had left about 10 minutes ago, it shouldn't be long now. Megamind slumped into his chair and could feel his eyelids getting heavy.
Minion returned to the evil lair with Roxanne over his shoulder. Roxanne let out a bored sigh, she was much too used to this. She couldn't say she hated being part of Megamind's little schemes. She actually enjoyed bantering with the alien, he would test her wits and intelligence. However, it was inconvenient and a bit nagging after a while.
"I'm back Sir!" Minion exclaimed happily. Setting Roxanne in the chair and tying her hands and feet to it.
"Sir?" Minion questioned, a shade of concern colored in his voice.
The bag was still over Roxanne's head, but her nosy reporter brain wanted it off and to see what was happening. Might as well be direct.
"Could you take this bag of my head already? I know we're in the lair." she questioned, but it was voiced like a demand.
"Oh sure, my apologies Miss Ritchie" Minion replied, taking the bag off her head. You know, for an evil henchman, Minion was very polite.
Roxanne shook out her short hair, coughing a few times from the smell of the old burlap sack. The back of Megamind's big swivel chair facing her. She sat there for a moment, waiting for Megamind to slowly turn around with an evil laugh. When the chair didn't move, something sunk in the pit of her stomach.
"Sir are you alright?" Minion questioned, walking over slowly.
Roxanne saw Minion let out a somewhat relieved sigh, and he shook Megamind's shoulder slightly.
"Sir, wake up, Miss Ritchie's here, we're ready to get started" Minion said while continuing to shake Megamind gently.
Something in the pit of Roxanne's stomach felt wrong. Has Megamind ever been tired? She thought to herself. Every time she saw him he was overly energetic, this felt strange. It was definitely new to her. She felt herself beginning to worry slightly. Why am I worrying about him? He's a villain! She swallowed down her concern, trying her best to put on her usual witty attitude.
Megamind groaned slightly as he was awakened. He looked around dazed before realizing his surroundings. Recalling the situation, he jumped up, startled and wide-eyed. It took a bit before he remembered the kidnapping. Wow this was going great.
"Is Miss Ritchie here?" Megamind whispered, trying to be discreet about it.
Roxanne stifled a laugh, she knew his plans failed all the time. But never have they started out this bad. She saw Megamind wave his hand at Minion to step aside and cleared his throat. Now his chair started to spin around. Finally things were back to normal.
"Miss Ritchie...back so soon?" Megamind said in a low voice, trying to sound menacing.
Megamind turned around in his chair to face Roxanne. The concern that Roxanne had pushed away before returned to slap her in the face. What was going on with Megamind? The dark circles blatantly obvious under his electric green eyes. And was that? Scruff? It couldn't be, Megamind was always clean shaven, except for his goatee of course. Roxanne didn't think it looked bad on him, but it was still a surprise. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she said nothing, only furrowing her eyebrows with a confused expression. He's just tired, it happens to everyone. But why did this feel more serious? More unnatural?
"Didn't get your morning cup of coffee today?" she broke the silence. Trying her best to voice her worries in an un-bothered and natural tone.
Megamind stared at her for a few moments with a gaze slightly unfocused.
"Hmm?" Megamind hummed, not seeming to register the question immediately. He blinked a few times, shaking his head.
"Oh! Um, no, my body reacts differently to caffeine than humans, so I try to stay away from it" he mumbled, as if it was common knowledge.
Roxanne wondered what he was talking about. She never really thought about Megamind being a different species. Sometimes she forgot he was even from a different planet. It was oddly easy to forget he was an alien despite the obvious difference in skin color and head size. Also, she hadn't expected such an honest answer from him.
"What do you mean?" Roxanne questioned. Gosh, sometimes she felt a little too direct about things. It almost felt insensitive, too personal. She regretted the statement as soon as it left her lips.
Megamind-to her relief-didn't seem to mind the question.
"Well, simply put, our tolerance to caffeine is extremely lower. One cup of coffee for me would have the same effect as if you were to drink 25 cups" he explained, rolling his chair closer to Roxanne.
A soft "woah" of surprise is all Roxanne could reply with. Megamind smiled, he seemed to enjoy educating her on his species. After all, he was the only one of his species here, it must get frustrating when there is literally nobody else that understands you.
"Needless to say, drinking caffeine is very uncomfortable. It's impossible to focus on anything because you're so jittery and it's like your hearts are going to explode. Everything seems to move in fast motion. It's scary" Megamind rambled. Sighing and looking down, remembering a time where he forgot to specify 'decaf' to the barista. He shuddered at the thought of it happening again.
"Yeah, that definitely seems scary" Roxanne confessed, she almost felt bad for Megamind. She never thought of him as scared. In reality, she hadn't seen many true emotions from Megamind, most of it was just an exaggeration, acting. What was going on today? Where were these feelings and thoughts coming from?
"Wait heartssss with an s? Like plural? Do you have more than one heart? " She blurted out, recalling what he just said. She's positive he said hearts. She was genuinely curious now, almost forgetting she was kidnapped in the first place.
"Yes I have 2 hearts, one is smaller than the other" He explained whilst pointing at spots on his chest. Why did that sound so cute? Roxanne heard Megamind give a small sniffle. Is he crying or something?
Roxanne looked up at Megamind. She wished he had been crying. But instead dark crimson was running down from both nostrils, beginning to flow more rapidly. She let out a sound of surprise.
Megamind was glad that Roxanne had been asking him more about his species. He never told anyone about that, Minion being the only one who really knew about his physiology. It almost helped him forget about the massive headache that was throbbing through his skull. What is happening to me? He felt his nose running. What now am I sick or something? Ugh, this kidnapping could not have gone worse.
He looked up to see Roxanne wide eyed staring at him. Maybe she wasn't ready to know he had two hearts? Was that freaky to humans?
"What?" Megamind asked, starting to feel hurt at her reaction. I mean, is it really that scary? Humans only have one heart!
"Y-Your nose is bleeding" Roxanne stuttered out, clearly shocked. She has to be joking, he has never gotten a nosebleed without being punched in the face first. He brought his gloved hand to his nose and observed for himself. Sure enough, the deep dark-almost black-crimson blood now stained on his gloves.
Roxanne was hoping Megamind would reply with a 'oh yeah this happens all the time to me, it's very natural', but nope. Megamind's eyes grew wide and his eyebrows stitched together in a look of confusion, fear, and worry. Well, Megamind has officially succeeded in scaring her, she just wished it wasn't like this.