Many thanks to everyone for reading and leaving such kind reviews during this long hiatus! I rewrote this chapter so many times, you have no idea...


"And is it so terrible to be terrible, if he puts all the awfulness of himself into the service of the city?" -N.K. Jemisin, The City We Became


Irwin lay in a crumpled heap on the ground in front of the main building.

After detemining there weren't any gunmen in the windows, Megamind sent over a couple of medics who discovered Irwin was still alive, though with several broken bones sustained from having been thrown from the roof.

"I'll bet it's a trap," Minion muttered.

"Of course," Megamind said. "But what kind of trap?"

"Maybe Hot Flash turned on you," Minion said. "Decided to join forces with Destruction Worker."

Megamind frowned as he watched the medics ease a splint onto Irwin's leg. "I don't think so. It's highly unlikely that she'd risk her own minion to get at me."

A few brainbots swooped down to him, bowg-ing in excitement.

Finally.

The brainbots projected a screen mid-air, showing the area beyond the water treatment plant next to the wind turbine, where Destruction Worker paced restlessly.

Hot Flash was chained to the base of the wind turbine, flames burning almost white-hot as she strove to burn them, to little effect, and they held fast. A gray box with a blinking red light completed the scenario. A bomb, obviously.

Hot Flash's eyes were wild, flames blazing along her arms with the full force of her powers as she strove to burn through the chains. The metal glowed yellow-hot, but remained solid.

"I don't think she's a good enough actress to be play-acting," he said. "What's more, voluntarily showing herself in such a helpless situation would be a blow to her pride. I think we can safely assume she's a hostage in this scenario."

Megamind turned to Roxanne. "Perhaps it's best if you stay back."

She nodded. "As long as my camerabots get shots of the action."

Hank stepped forward.

"Overlord, I think it's best if Miss Ritchi takes up a station back there," he said, pointing back down a side street. "That mechanic's yard. We'll have walls on two sides, it'll be safer in case of zombies."

Megamind glanced at the area in question. It appeared to be a good location, plenty of room for the hovercraft to land, and should be easily defendable against zombies. Three blocks away, too, a safer distance in case the bomb went off.

He nodded at the cop. "Very well. Stay safe," he said, as a general order to the five henchmen who would also be guarding Roxanne.

Despite the urgency of the situation -Destruction Worker was waiting for him, the bastard-he gave Roxanne's entourage another once-over.

Five henchmen, her friend Pilar, Gabby as the hovercraft driver, and Hank, the lone cop in Roxanne's security detail. Jessica was there, too. Megamind had ridden over on his hoverbike and, preoccupied as he was, hadn't noticed her before.

Was that why Hank volunteered for this excursion? Hoping to get back into his ex-girlfriend's good graces?

Why was she here anyway? He no longer required the average denizen to perform these sorts of duties, now that he had so many henchmen, police, and other first-responder types willing to do this tricky work.

Jessica was armed with a handgun on her hip. She was a good shot, Roxanne said once. At the moment she was fiddling with a backpack, and when he caught her gaze, she glanced away.

Which didn't really mean anything. A lot of people were nervous around him and this tense situation certainly aggravated matters, but...

The back of his neck prickled. A feeling of wrongness, something not quite right, but then the medics were coming back, wheeling the gurney with the groaning Irwin.

"Don't take me back to the Lair," Irwin whimpered. "Ms. Hot Flash needs me..." As he was wheeled past to the refurbished ambulance, with two brainbots attending it to protect it, he clutched at Megamind's arm.

"Relax, Irwin, you did your best, sounding the alarm. Leave the rest to me." Megamind extracted his arm as carefully as he could and turned back to give Roxanne a brief smile, then leaned in quickly to give her a peck on the lips, before turning to the task at hand. She would be safe with her entourage.

One of her camerabots went with him to record the confrontation with the other supervillain, the other stayed behind as an added measure of protection.

The police officers sent to inspect the water treatment plant discovered the citizens living there locked in the basement, and were escorting them quickly out and down a side street to get them out of harm's way.

Finding them unharmed was a relief; Megamind had worried he'd need the ambulances. Or body bags. One of the buses would have to be sent for, to take them back to the safe zone.

The shadows of the late afternoon sun lay sharp and unyielding across the heated cement as he led his brainbots, and a group of assorted henchmen and police officers around back of the main building, to the open ground leading up to the wind turbine, where Destruction Worker waited. He waved at the henchmen and officers to stay back, except for Minion, and ordered the brainbots to keep their distance.

He and Minion were protected by the invisi-shield, which would prove effective against most explosives. Probably.

Hot Flash made an angry noise. It was impossible to understand her because of the gag, but Megamind got the gist that she wanted to get free so she could burn Destruction Worker to a cinder.

Megamind sympathized with the sentiment.

A grey box with a flashing red light was strapped above her head. A single wire trailed from the box, ran across the ground, and led up to Destruction Worker, standing behind a blast shield.

"About time you showed up," he shouted, holding up the detonator in his prosthetic hand. His other arm ended in a jackhammer attachment, with which he pointed at Hot Flash. "This traitor is gonna get what's coming to her," he thundered. "Unless you pay up."

Megamind glanced over the ground as he approached. It wasn't possible for Destruction Worker to detonate the bomb remotely, and sure enough, the ground was littered with power cords and wires.

A lot of them, far more than necessary. Decoys, apparently.

"You think you're hot shit taking over the city, not like it was hard, with Metro Man gone and nobody to stand up to you. So, congratulations. You get to rule over this shithole. Overlord? Hee hee, more like Underlord!"

"Your wit is sharp as ever," Megamind said. He slowed and stopped. No need to get too close to ground zero. "If only you spent half as much time on your shoddy inventions, you'd..."

"I'll bet this turbine is worth more to you than Hot Flash," Destruction Worker interrupted. "How long're you gonna make it without water? I want twenty million, and I want it now. You shouldn't have any problem scraping that up. And you guarantee me safe passage past the blockade."

Henchmen were noticeably absent. Irwin claimed Destruction Worker's men invaded, so where were they?

Several things were wrong with this picture. Destruction Worker was much too close to the potential blast zone, and even he wasn't that stupid. Megamind wouldn't step any closer himself if he could help it. Which might mean the bomb was fake, or...

Then it happened, and he cursed himself afterwards for not realizing sooner. With the profusion of wires plugging into the bomb and littering the ground he should have noted the one wire that led away and around a distant corner of the building.

There was a brief flicker of light, like a scratch on a disc, across Destruction Worker's shoulder.

"Minion, get back," he snapped, backtracking. "Get the brainbots to-"

The bomb exploded.


The force of it took Roxanne's breath away. The ground lurched and she caught herself from hitting her head against the pavement, landing hard on her hands. A wave of heat blew past and grit stung her eyes. Windows on the water plant shattered.

She'd been around some big explosions before, but she would never get used to the noise of it, the sheer immensity of sound that filled the world, the pressure that threatened to knock her over.

The noise receded, the shockwaves continuing onward and outward, leaving behind her and the rest of her dazed entourage. Tony held out a hand to help Gabby up from where she'd fallen.

Which is when the attack came.

A horde of men charging out from the garage, running at them, overwhelming them.

Blades flashed. An attacker grabbed one of her henchman from behind, stabbed him low in the back, and he collapsed, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out.

Luke, the newest henchman, ran toward her, wild-eyed. He was saying something, but she could barely hear him, her ears hadn't recovered yet. His mouth moved and she thought she could make out, "Miss Ritchi, run!"

Another attacker came up behind Luke and cut his throat.

Blood blossomed and Luke's eyes bulged as he grabbed helplessly at her arm, at his own throat. He sank to the ground, red pouring through his fingers.

Megamind's henchmen lay on the ground, dead or dying.

Except for Hank.

Hank. Who was strong-arming Gabby into the hovercraft. Another man, one of the attackers, dragged Pilar aboard.

She couldn't process what was happening. Hank was a cop, her mind supplied unhelpfully. Hank was a denizen. Hank had first showed her how to handle a gun, during those first awful quarantine days when they'd been trapped in an apartment building.

Her camerabot, Muybridge, lay silent on the ground, dome smashed.

She reached for Luke, knowing it was hopeless. At last she opened her mouth to scream for help, though her lungs still felt squeezed.

Someone seized her arm in a savage grip, and she gasped at the pain.

It was a robotic hand. And not Minion's. The painful grip was coarse with rough edges that bit into her flesh.

She looked up. And up.

Destruction Worker, his broad face glaring, a little orange cone hat perched on his bald head that should have looked ridiculous, and ordinarily she'd always thought so, when she'd seen him in photos or on a television screen, which she watched from the safety of her office chair.

A lot less stupid-looking in person.

A gun prosthetic was attached to the stump of his other arm, and with the tip of it he plucked the handgun out of her holster and tossed it aside.

She hadn't thought about reaching for her gun, not once. Her first instinct had been to try to help Luke.

Destruction Worker frogmarched her toward the hovercraft.

She craned her neck, and caught one last glimpse of Luke sprawled on the ground, twitching, blood pooling around him.

Her knees banged into the lowest rung of the ladder and she staggered aboard, Destruction Worker giving her a push from behind.

The hovercraft was full of sweaty men and the hostages. Herself, Gabby, and Pilar.

And Hank. And Jessica, who was pressed against a back wall, gaping in horror.

Roxanne still couldn't quite make her brain categorize what Hank and Jessica were in this scenario, but she was getting there. Whatever was happening, and her mind was fast catching up, Jessica and Hank were definitely not hostages.

"Drive," Destruction Worker said. His words came a little more clearly. Her hearing was coming back.

Gabby was pushed at the controls, and Hank leaned down to speak into her ear. Gabby fumbled for a few moments, and then the engine coughed to life.

Three men were still struggling on the ground. Tony, blood running down his neck, grappling with two of Destruction Worker's men, at least until they realized the hovercraft was leaving without them.

Tony took advantage of their distraction, and punched one of them in the stomach. The second thug ran after the accelerating hovercraft, mouth open. His voice was barely audible over the roar of the engine but Destruction Worker growled a command. "Shut him up. All of them."

One of his henchmen lifted a gun. Roxanne was close enough to hear the little wht-wht sounds, the thud of a bodies hitting the ground.

Roxanne strained to see what happened to Tony, but the view of the scene disappeared as they sped around a corner.

What happened to Tony? Did he avoid the shot or did he get hit?

The hovercraft picked up speed, and she couldn't see the scene of carnage anymore.

Not that she had to. The images were burned into her brain. Bodies lying on the ground, the blood, the pleading in Luke's eyes.

Megamind's henchmen, denizens, people she knew. Slaughtered.

Hot Flash.

Destruction Worker just murdered Hot Flash.

She turned toward the front again, caught Hank's eye. He looked away.

Chunks of burning debris arced gracefully out of the sky and landed on nearby buildings. Flames flickered to life in the windows.

A warehouse surrounded by wooden pallets was half aflame, fanned by the wind off the lake.

A row of trees by the waterline were torches.

She couldn't tell if the plant itself was on fire, there were too many buildings in the way, but seeing as how there were other fires starting up, it seemed impossible that it wasn't.

Saving the water treatment facility would be a priority, not to mention putting out the other fires that were springing up. Megamind would be busy organizing the battling of the flames and evacuating people. And fighting off the damn zombies, of course, as they'd be drawn to all the noise and heat.

It might be hours before he realized she and her friends had been abducted.

Jessica hung onto the handrail near the back, white as a sheet, face slack with horror. She held out her hand to Roxanne helplessly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, I swear I..."

"Shut up," one of the henchmen snapped, and struck her upside the head.

"Hey!" Hank snapped, shoving his way past people to get to the back.

Destruction Worker grabbed Hank by the shoulder and squeezed. "Quit it, pig. Right now," he rumbled.

"You owe us," Hank gasped, knees buckling. "I got you the hovercraft. I..."

"Yeah, you did. Thanks for that," Destruction Worker said. "Not like I got much use for you now, is it? Or your girl."

Hank's face was a picture, going wide-eyed with astonishment. "But..."

Destruction Worker must have tightened his grip because Hank yelped and sank to the floor. "Make yourself useful, and keep that gal driving. Tell her to speed up, for fuck's sake."

Destruction Worker gave him a shove back towards Gabby at the controls, and Hank staggered back to his position, as pale as the dead.

Roxanne looked back again.

A heavy column of gray smoke rose skyward.

Then the hovercraft made a shaky turn and the sight was hidden by skyscrapers.

Destruction Worker sneered at her. "So the little blue bastard's a good guy, right? Trying to be a big hero. How's that working out?"

"You'll find out soon enough," she said, in a cold voice she barely recognized as her own.

He stared at her then grabbed her hair, gripping it so hard she gritted her teeth to stifle a cry of pain. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Scowl deepening, he gave her a vicious little shake. "He can't stop me now. 'Specially with you as insurance. All I have to do is hide out until nightfall, then head off across the lake."

"God, you seriously need a Tic-Tac," she gritted out.

He stared at her, then scoffed, letting go of her hair. She wanted to knee him in the groin but restrained the impulse.

"I've got enough money from the bank job, I'll be able to set up in another city. If he had real brains, he should've cleared out when he had the chance." His face scrunched up into a smug grin, pleased with his own cleverness.

Honestly, what was it with villains and monologuing? Her scalp ached. "You can't hide if you burn everything down."

"Not everything's on fire. Just the southside. Plenty of places to hide, still. Only need to wait 'til it gets dark, then off over the lake." He patted the railing of the hovercraft with a proprietal air. "See anything?" he asked his lackeys.

One of his thugs shook his head. "Nope. Don't see no fucking brainbots or anything, boss."

Destruction Worker stumbled as the craft tilted. "Keep it steady, damn it!"

Gabby managed to level it out.

Roxanne took stock. The attackers had seemed like a horde at the time, but now she saw there were only six of them. Including Hank. Destruction Worker had left behind two of his own men, ordering them killed. Why? So they couldn't say where Destruction Worker had gone?

So Megamind wouldn't be alerted.

Just in case the massive explosion and fire raining down on the city wasn't enough to capture his full attention.

If Megamind was all right.

Dear God, please let him be all right.

He was a survivor, she reminded herself as her stomach clenched. He always survived.

The ambush had taken place in near-silence, or so it had seemed at the time. The suddeness of it, while they were all still reeling from the shock of the explosion, no one had the breath to scream.

Blood spattered her shoes, her jeans, the bottom of her shirt. Luke's blood.

Trash-strewn streets passed by below, zombies shuffling between abandoned cars with purpose, heading toward the noise and heat at the water treatment plant.

The hovercraft careened, tilted.

Destruction Worker cursed. "I said to keep it level."

"It's not me," Gabby cried. "Something's..."

The hovercraft lurched hard, enough to make them all stagger. Something enormous seized the bottom of the hovercraft, metal pincers gripping the hull with metal-screeching force.

It had to be a brutebot. One of them had caught up with them, and grabbed hold. The engines screamed as the brutebot hauled back, fighting the forward momentum.

Destruction Worker grabbed Roxanne's arm. "Tell it to let go!" he shouted.

She set her jaw and didn't answer.

Swearing, Destruction Worker let go of her, whirling around to seize Pilar by the throat. "Do it, goddammit!"

"It might not listen to me," Roxanne said, a cold stone forming in her stomach. Would it listen to her? She honestly didn't know. Her camerabots (her poor camerabots) were willing to follow her orders, but she'd never tried it with a brutebot, and this was a life and death situation.

Pilar whimpered as Destruction Worker tightened his grip.

"I'll try, don't hurt her," Roxanne shouted, and she leaned over the rail as far as she dared. "Hey! Hey, you brutebot," she yelled. "Let go of the hovercraft, right now."

For a terrible few moments she was sure it would ignore her and Pilar was going to die, then abruptly the hovercraft shot forward as the brutebot released it.

"Go back," she shouted at the brutebot, who was falling fast behind. "Tell him where we are!"

Destruction Worker shoved her hard against the rail, knocking the breath out of her. "Shut up," he snarled, but there was an edge of fear in his voice. "Move it," he snapped over his shoulder at Gabby.

Two of the henchmen fired a couple of shots at the brutebot until Destruction Worker shouted at them. "Don't waste ammo on it, you dumbfucks! Save it for the zombies."

The brutebot was quickly lost to sight as the hovercraft barreled on.

And then the Spider-bot dropped on them.

It plucked screaming men out one by one and flung them over the side.

A brainbot attached itself to the control panel and plugged into it, seizing control. Gabby ducked down to the floor, covering her head.

Roaring, Destruction Worker fired straight up into Spider-Bot's belly.

At that, she finally found her voice and screamed, because Megamind might be up there in the driver's seat, those bullets were probably going straight through...

As Spider-Bot spasmed and fell, Destruction Worker turned his gun on the brainbot taking control of the hovercraft and shot it, shattering its dome.

The hovercraft careened, struck a girder, spun twice, and crashed.

Pretty stupid of him to shoot it, actually, Roxanne thought muzzily, and enjoyed a few blessed moments of absolute stillness before she made herself move. Cautiously she lifted her head.

They'd landed in the construction yard of an unfinished skyscraper. Empty girders and scaffolding rose above the black pit of the foundation. She didn't see Spider-Bot anywhere.

She used the seats to get to her feet. All of Destruction Worker's goons were gone, thanks to Spider-Bot pitching them over the side, and a distant brief scream hinted that at least one of them had fallen prey to zombies.

Destruction Worker himself lay knocked out by the dashboard, where Gabby huddled.

Hank's revolver lay under one of the seats. A magnum. Roxanne knew how to use a magnum.

Hank was groaning and holding his head. Jessica knelt by him, pulling at his arm. "You have to get up," she said, her voice hoarse with fear. "We need to get out of here."

Hank blearily looked up, his gaze sharpening on Roxanne.

Oh, hell no.

She wished Hank had been tossed out along with the others, but he was probably still classified as one of 'Daddy's guests.' The Spider-Bot must not have recognized him as a threat.

It was the work of a moment for Roxanne to seize the gun and aim it between Hank's eyes.

Hank froze in the act of getting to his feet and there was a short pause. "You've never shot a living person."

"Try me," she said, and wished her hands weren't shaking. "You all right?" she asked Pilar.

Pilar crawled to an upright position, cradling her arm. "I can walk. I'll be all..."

Destruction Worker shifted. Everyone froze.

Roxanne swallowed through a dry throat. "Gabby, come on," she said hoarsely.

Gabby's terrified eyes swivelled toward Destruction Worker, who shifted and groaned.

"Just move towards us," Roxanne said, willing her voice steady though her heart, which had just begun to get back to normal, was abruptly pounding again.

"Yeah, come on," Pilar whispered hoarsely. "Roxanne's got a gun, we can get out of here."

"Magazine's half empty, you're not gonna get far," Hank said. "They'll eat you alive."

"Shut up," Roxanne said. "Come on, Gabby," she said, putting all the reassurance in her voice that she could muster. "You can do it."

Gabby unfolded herself from under the dashboard, teeth clenched against a whimper, clutching at her side and she swayed. For a horrible moment Roxanne feared she would need assistance, and how the hell was Roxanne going to get her past Hank and Jessica, but then she steadied. Moving with care, Gabby gingerly stepped over one of Destruction Worker's outflung legs.

Roxanne tried to stop the gun from trembling but the blood was thundering through her veins with a force that shook her whole body.

Gabby held onto one of the seats for purchase, and took another step, her face white with fear and pain. She was almost clear of the supervillain.

Roxanne edged backwards, careful to lift her feet so she wouldn't trip, trying to keep one eye on Hank and Jessica, the other on Destruction Worker, navigating to the ladder.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pilar wave her hand at Gabby encouragingly. "Almost there," she whispered. "You're with us."

Roxanne risked a look at the surrounding area, to see what they were up against.

A few zombies lurching around a pile of girders, coming out of the foundation. There were more further down the block but shuffling closer, converging on the downed hovercraft.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Okay, first things first. Get off the damn hovercraft, then deal with the zombies. They could outrun them, hopefully, dear God she hoped Gabby could run, and they'd get to a safer location. Get to the Spider-Bot first, Megamind's 'bots were tough, sometimes looking like they were down for the count and then powering back up again with unnerving speed. Or maybe they could use the comm on it to call for help.

But with only half a magazine she'd need to conserve bullets.

The knives. That's why Destruction Worker attacked with knives, so he and his henchmen could save their bullets for the zombies.

The hovercraft rocked slightly as Pilar clambered out, then Roxanne followed, awkwardly with one hand.

Gabby shuffled down the aisle. Roxanne shifted to the side to keep Hank and Jessica in sight, palms sweating.

"Take me with you," Jessica blurted, grabbing at Gabby's shoulder.

"Jessica," Hank snapped. "Don't be stupid."

"It wasn't my idea, I didn't know what he was planning," Jessica pleaded with Roxanne, hauling on Gabby so she yelped.

"That hurts, get off me!" Gabby cried.

"Let go of her," Roxanne snapped, nerves frayed with exasperation. "All right, you can come with us, if you..."

Destruction Worker came back to life with the suddeness of a breaching killer whale, shoving Jessica aside and seizing the screaming Gabby.

His smug face snarled triumphantly, blood on his teeth, gun arm aimed at Gabby's head. "I don't think so, little lady."

Roxanne ground her teeth. Could she shoot him in the shoulder or something? Sheer terror at possibly hitting Gabby made her arms shake.

More zombies were moving into the yard, shuffling closer.

Destruction Worker jumped off the hovercraft with unnerving grace, with Gabby held tight in one thick arm, landing on the hard-packed ground with a thud.

He stepped toward Roxanne, carrying Gabby as if she weighed no more than a doll. Roxanne fell back a pace.

Pilar flinched against her with a gasp. Roxanne risked a glance, saw a zombie getting too damn close, and she was forced to turn away from Destruction Worker to deal with it.

It was coming up fast, reaching out with broken fingernails, mouth agape. A boy, taller than Roxanne, maybe about sixteen or seventeen years old when he...

Roxanne cut off that train of thought before it could gain traction, and pulled the trigger.

It was a good hit, but the zombie kept up momentum and staggered the last distance to collapse, twitching, at her feet.

Roxanne gagged at the wave of decay and clapped a hand over her mouth and nose, staggering back, barely keeping from vomiting.

Destruction Worker watched her, smug grin widening.

"How many bullets you got left?" Destruction Worker raised his eyebrows. "About half a magazine, that right, pig?"

Behind him Hank hopped off the hovercraft, face stony. "Yeah," he muttered. The set of his mouth suggested he was regretting his actions.

Two more zombies were approaching from the other side, heading for Destruction Worker and he shot them both as casually as if at target practice.

"Here's what's going to happen," he said. "You give that gun back to Hank, and then all of us are going to get out of here. If I have to take it from you, then I'm gonna leave your little friends behind." He bared his teeth. "And I don't think you want to do that."

Then his face changed.

A swarm of brainbots streamed into the yard to form a perimeter, slicing up zombies as they went.

At the center of the swarm, Megamind flew in on his hoverbike.

It happened fast, Roxanne's realization that Megamind meant to barrel into Destruction Worker head-on, and she yanked Pilar down to the ground with her.

Destruction Worker realized it, too, a split second after her.

But Gabby was right in the way. She couldn't believe Megamind would...

Destruction Worker roared and opened fire on the hoverbike.

Roxanne covered her head but she couldn't resist looking, watching to see what was happening, she couldn't believe Megamind would put Gabby in danger.

The hoverbike shot over Destruction Worker's head. The villain followed its trajectory, firing upwards.

Which is when the real Megamind materialized out of thin air on the opposite side of the other villain, de-gun in one hand and something electronic in the other.

A taser? He stabbed it into Destruction Worker's gunarm, sending up dazzling sparks and a sharp burning smell.

Destruction Worker swung the useless gun prosthetic at Megamind, to club him.

Megamind ducked. And rose up the next moment, shoved the de-gun under Destruction Worker's chin, and fired.

A bubble of silence surrounding them was preternaturally loud. Around them, the brainbots busily zapped zombies.

The burnt remains of the orange cone hat hit the ground. Megamind pulled Gabby out of Destruction Worker's slack grip as the other villain collapsed with a thump, raising a cloud of dust.

Carefully, Megamind led Gabby away, supporting her under her elbows.

As he walked toward her, leaving behind a corpse, she knew she ought to disapprove. He had acted swiftly and brutally, without mercy. But with Luke's blood getting tacky on her clothes, not to mention the sight of the finger-shaped bruises forming on Pilar's neck, she couldn't summon a single ounce of moral outrage.

Felt nothing but profound relief.

Megamind helped Gabby sit on the ground and turned to Roxanne. "My love, are you hurt?" he asked, lifting a hand but not touching, wary of unseen injuries.

"It's not mine, I'm all right," she said, her eyes pricking with tears at the thought of Luke bleeding out. She took his hand in both of hers. He placed his other hand over her clasped ones and leaned his forehead against her head with a shuddering sigh.

"You came for me. You saved us," she whispered.

"I will always come for you, my love," he said, squeezing her hands. Then he lifted his head, stepped back. "Roxanne..."

Reluctantly she let go. "I know. The fire. Or fires, now, I suppose." Suddenly she remembered. "Megamind, watch out for Hank. He set us up, he must have met with Destruction Worker, made a deal with him."

But Hank and Jessica were gone, Jessica apparently having made up her mind at last, and fled with her traitorous boyfriend.

Megamind reset the de-gun and dehydrated the late supervillain, stowing the cube away in a hidden pocket.

The stealthbots, who had shielded Megamind with an invisibility field, shimmered into visibility next to him, butting against him, and he patted them absent-mindedly as he scanned the area with a deepening scowl, but Hank and Jessica were long gone.

Roxanne recalled how Jessica begged to come with them, maybe she simply couldn't make up her mind, or maybe she feared the Overlord's wrath. "Megamind, I don't think she knew that Hank was plotting with Destruction Worker."

"I'll deal with them later, if they survive the night." He shook his head as if to clear it. "I have to get back. Roxanne, are you comfortable going back to the safe zone with the brainbots escorting you?"

She almost protested that she was fine, that she wanted to go back with him to report on the fire, but found that her teeth were chattering. Clearly, she had limits.

There remained the problem of transportation. The hovercraft was a lost cause, but the Spider-Bot came scuttling up the street, over the chain link fence with some difficulty owing to one of its legs being damaged, but otherwise appeared functional.

Gabby cried out when Megamind tried to lift her into the Spider-Bot, and he asked permission to dehydrate her for the ride back to the clinic. Pilar agreed to hold Gabby's cube, since her clothes weren't soaked through.

"Go straight to the clinic," Megamind told the Spider-Bot. "No playing games or chasing zombies."

"Let me know where you are," Roxanne said, trying to still her shaking. "Let me know what's happening."

He huffed out a breath, exasperated but fond. "I'll keep you in the loop. I have to get back," he said. "These brainbots will escort you. The fires are spreading and I must return to the water plant."

Roxanne swallowed. "I know. Hot Flash was..."

"She's alive. We think."

Roxanne wasn't sure she could take any more surprises. "What?"

He nodded, grim. "Apparently the explosion released a hitherto unknown power within her. I've certainly never known her to produce such an enormous amount of fire before, or to withstand the sheer percussive force of an explosion, for that matter.

"She appears to be at the center of a pillar of flame," he continued. "It's possible she's not human anymore."