Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Megamind and am not affiliated with Dreamworks in any way.

Warnings: Some harsh language and some violence. Can we say "payback?" Oh, and a smidge of angst.

Chapter 5

What was she doing? A week ago, none of this would've even crossed Roxanne's mind as a possibility. And now she had tracked down the supervillain duo (kinda), stayed the night, kissed Megamind¸ and was currently getting dressed to participate in an evil scheme that didn't involve kidnapping her! She pulled on the tight black pants Minion had scrounged up from somewhere. It made absolutely no sense that they would have clothes just laying around that would fit her. Megamind had never been her size.

He was just being so sweet! She had never seen him this way. Oh sure, there had been hints over the years, but he was always focused on Metro Man and his current scheme. He pulled out her chair for her at breakfast! No one had ever done that for her before! After her crying fit (and she still couldn't believe she did that in front of Megamind!), she searched his face and saw nothing but concern, compassion, and fondness. He cared about her, and he had dropped his walls enough just then that she saw it. That was why she kissed him. She would have kissed anybody that looked at her like that while she was being held. But it was Megamind! Metrocity's alien supervillain! And the sweetest guy she's thought of going out with in years. Can this work? Does she want it to work? Or is this nothing but her emotions getting the better of her? Goodness knows she hadn't exactly been emotionally stable the last few days. And did she just think 'Metrocity?!' She tried to take her mind off her strange behavior and concentrate on changing into her 'costume.'

She put on the boots she was provided and recognized them as a pair of Megamind's. Apparently, they had the same shoe size. She couldn't get the zipper all the way up her calves, but they stayed without pinching too bad. She put on the sleeveless, leather zip-up vest she had chosen. She slipped on the leather gloves that she also recognized as a pair of Megamind's to finish off her wardrobe. Talk about getting out of your comfort zone. She had never experimented with the biker chic look before. Just as she finished with the gloves, there was a knock on the door.

"Miss Ritchi, may I come in?" she heard Minion ask. She walked over and opened the door for him. He entered the room and looked her over. "Does everything fit ok?" Minion asked

"A little more snug than I'm used to, but it'll work," she replied.

"You look lovely, as always, Miss Ritchi," Minion complimented her. Then he gave her a look and asked quietly, "Are you feeling ok today?"

"I…" she paused and sat down as she took a minute to think about it. "I think I'm doing a lot of not thinking about my job loss. I'm doing better with you and Megamind than I would be on my own, I know that. I just…" she sighed. Then she gestured to herself and continued, "My life has been turned upside down in just the last few days, and I think I'm still trying to figure out what to do. I mean, honestly, Minion. Would you have expected to see me like this a week ago? I know I didn't. And… and now I think I just complicated things…" she finished with a murmur.

Minion was silent for a moment then replied, "Well, Miss Ritchi, if there's one thing that Sir and I know it's that life's not very fair. And just because it's upside down right now doesn't have to mean that it will be that way forever, or that you won't like the new orientation better! Give it some time, and it'll get better; everything is just a little raw right now." He placed one of his metallic hands gently on her shoulder and continued, "Sir and I will do whatever we can for you, Miss Ritchi. Remember that, ok?"

She gave him a tentative smile as thanks. She stood up abruptly and clapped her hands. "Let's get going. We have a score to settle after all." Minion beamed at her and they left the room. When they got close to a pair of double doors she hadn't seen before, she could just make out Megamind's voice from the other side. She hung back slightly as Minion opened the door.

"Who's Daddy's menacing little cyborgs! You're going to be big and mean tonight, aren't you? Yes, you are! Drop it. Ok, get the wrench!" she heard through the door followed by a metallic clatter. Megamind was cooing and playing fetch with the brainbots? "Oh! Minion!" he interrupted himself when he spotted Minion at the door. "Is Miss Ritchi ready? We need to set the incendiary device while it's still daylight."

"I'm right here," she said as she walked around Minion with a little extra sway in her steps. "And I still can't believe that I'm about to actually help you with this." She couldn't help the pleased little smirk as she saw Megamind's eyes widen slightly and could almost hear him gulp. She always enjoyed making him flustered.

"My dear Roxanne, you look ravishing in leather," he complimented her when he could speak again.

"Don't get used to it," she warned as she shook a finger at him.

"I have no issues if you want to save it for special occas-shions," he replied haughtily as though he knew she would wear them again sometime. He grabbed something on the table and handed it to her. "To complete your outfit and mask your identity," he explained.

She took the offered items and saw that they were a black motorcycle helmet and a pair of oversized safety goggles with a reflective yellow lens. She put the items on as they all trooped to the car.

She stopped suddenly and gasped. "Is this the invisible car?" she asked curiously. One, or both, of the aliens had put an amazing amount of time into customizing the classic-looking Hudson in front of her. There were spiked fins just about anywhere one would fit and not ruin the aesthetics. The grill looked like it had chrome teeth and Megamind's logo was there on the top front. She walked around the car to take in all the details.

"Miss Ritchi, you can admire my incredible genius at another time. We are on a shedule," Megamind told her.

"I don't know about your genius, but I'm admiring your car right now. I've never actually seen it, what with the invisibility and all. Minion did all the customization work, right? It looks amazing, Minion!" she knew she could tease him by complimenting Minion on one of Megamind's 'toys.' She was right, because they both replied at the same time.

"Thanks, Miss Ritchi!"

"He most certainly did not!"

She laughed and to mollify them said, "Well whoever worked on it, the car looks great. What are you two standing around for? I thought we needed to go!" She jumped into the backseat and was the first one in the car. She leaned on the back of the front seats and peered over to take in all the extras that she was too preoccupied to notice the day before. There was a small computer monitor and several buttons, switches, and dials that she was fairly certain didn't come standard. As she was trying to figure out what switch did what, the front doors opened, and her vision went solid yellow.

"Wha-?" she asked surprised and went to remove her goggles.

"Ahh, ahh, my dear Roxanne. Leave those on. I can't have you learning the location of my Evil Lair," Megamind told her as he settled into the passenger seat. She felt the car sink down as Minion got in the driver side and started the engine.

"At least it's better than the bag…" she muttered as she sat back a little sullenly while crossing her arms. "So, you just happened to have a button that would keep me seeing out of these goggles?"

"Of course not, Roxanne. I created the button and the goggles that would prevent you seeing anything," He answered smugly.

She felt the car move and heard Megamind say quietly, "Scenic route, Minion."

Roxanne closed her eyes because the field of yellow nothingness in her vision was giving her a headache. She sat back as silence overtook the car. She could faintly hear Megamind typing occasionally on a laptop. To keep her mind occupied, she started reviewing the Spider-bot's controls in her head. Frankly she was still amazed that he was allowing her to operate it.

After far too many turns to realistically make it anyway in the shortest amount of time and a silence broken only by technical jargon from the front seat, she heard Megamind say, "Pull around behind that building there, Minion and I'll jump out. Let the drones get a glimpse or two of me as I 'sneak' towards the Equestrinator's warehouse. I'll meet you two there. Stay invisible."

"Of course, Sir," Minion replied cheerfully. Curiously, Roxanne opened her eyes and was pleasantly surprised to find that she could see again.

A moment later, the car stopped and Megamind got out. Just as he was shutting the door, he gave a manic grin and said loudly, "I'll race ya!" The door was shut and the only evidence the supervillain had been there at all was a flutter of his black cape going over a wall before Minion could even put the car in gear.

"Hold on tight, Miss Ritchi!" Minion warned as he stepped on the gas. She couldn't help noticing that his toothy grin was almost as manic as Megamind's. The sudden acceleration forced her back further into the seat.

Once again… what had she gotten herself into?

- /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ -

Eddie wadded up the fast-food wrapper and chunked it in the general direction of the garbage can. Him and his boys had pulled off a successful burglary the day before and they had taken the night off to enjoy the spoils.

Good thing that Jimmy was able to grab some of the residents' files when he was covering for the janitor at that building. Out of the files he grabbed, just a couple had only one name on the lease and they had chosen the one with the biggest apartment. They was able to just waltz in while the bitch was at work and clean the place out. Easiest money they'd ever made. They had formed plans to hit a couple other places using the same technique. The security at those high-rises is a joke.

Everything was working out, so why did he have this uneasy feeling curling in his gut ever since they read the name of their mark? And today he just couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched. But nothing was ever there. He even had that feeling after closing his curtains and staying inside. He was getting older… maybe his nerves just ain't what they once were.

He checked the clock and saw it was getting late. If he was gonna hitch a lift with Tony to Detroit in the morning to hawk some of the take, he had better get to bed soon. He got up and turned off his newly acquired TV. When everything was said and done, he couldn't find the damn remote. Just his luck…

He turned sharply and looked around his apartment. He thought he had heard something, but nothing was there. Just his mind playing tricks on him. Again.

"Bowg."

There it was again! And louder this time. He made his way to the grime-covered window and opened it to see if the noise came from outside.

He looked to the left and his mouth fell open in shock. There were thousands of glowing blue floating blobs with a menacing red light on each of them and they were just casually coming up the street making an unmistakable noise. There was a hulking spidery thing in the middle of them that would occasionally shoot out a blue beam of light. In the very front of the swarm was a brutish-looking figure standing beside a very slight figure.

With a large head. Wearing a cape. And light glinting off what could only be spikes.

Things clicked into place as he finally realized why their mark's name seemed to ring a bell. He hurriedly shut the window and backed away. He had tried to stay out of that psychopath's way ever since he rose to power knowing that they didn't have the best history. Eddie was afraid that what went around would come back to bite him in the ass.

"Bowg. Bowg," he heard again… from behind him. He froze and slowly turned around. There was nothing there.

"Need to hide," he muttered to himself as he looked for a suitable place to lay low. He jumped as another 'Bowg' sounded right next to his ear. There was still nothing there!

He suddenly felt cold metal clamp down hard on his upper arms. As soon as he felt that, the air on either side of him seemed to glitch. Only then could he see two black floating things with hanging metal arms had him firmly in their grasp. One of the things opened its bear-trap jaws and let out that "Bowg," sound he'd been hearing.

Before he could get over his shock, they lifted him off the floor and flew him right through the closed window. There was a loud crash and a flash of pain as he went barreling through the glass while still in their grasp. The air outside his shabby apartment was filled with that 'bowg' noise and maniacal laughter. He was being hauled right towards the blue alien standing proudly and unafraid front and center. Jimmy and Tony were already deposited on the ground in front of the leather-clad being. Jimmy was curled up in a ball crying, and Tony looked nervous, but wasn't making any moves either.

Eddie hung suspended in the air and suddenly had three of the floating machines pat him down. One found the knife he was carrying and added it to a small pile of weapons out of reach of his cohorts. Once he was cleared, he was dumped unceremoniously in front of Metro City's resident supervillain. And the supervillain laughed.

"Why, do my eyes deceive me? Minion! Is that our old prison-mate 'Fast' Eddie Rawls?" he said with obviously faked disbelief.

"Why, I do believe you're right, Sir!" said the hulking figure next to the supervillain. Eddie looked over at it and was shocked to see that fish where the head should be. Since when could that fish talk?!

"It's been, what, about twenty-three years and five months since we last saw each other? It's funny, but I don't seem to recall seeing you off when you were released…" he mused.

"You were in the infirmary, Sir," the fish replied cheerfully.

He snapped his fingers then twirled his left hand, "That's right! With the broken hand. Let's see, I think the exact words were, 'I'll give you something more important to worry about than that damn fish of yours.'" His voice suddenly got much colder and more frightening, "Funny. That's not how things worked out at all."

Eddie noticed that while the supervillain was talking to him Tony was slowly reaching to the back waistband of his pants where he always kept his piece. They must have missed it during the pat-down. Just as the gun cleared Tony's pants, he was set upon by four of the floating blobs. One knocked his shoulder hard enough to throw him off balance and another bit down on the arm holding the gun. Tony dropped it with a cry of pain. Two of the blobs got a grip on his ankles then jerked him upside down. The other two grabbed his arms and held them stretched out from his sides. It looked like they were going to keep him that way.

There was another flash of blue light and the car on the right side of the street disappeared, revealing three crouching figures. A white glob shot at them while they were still in shock from their cover disappearing. The white stuff threw the three against the wall and they seemed to be stuck there. Eddie stared in shock then looked back up at the blue being.

"Nice job, Spee-ider-bot," he said with a wild grin before bringing his attention fully back onto Eddie. "Now see, I have this problem. Miss Roxanne Ritchi, my exclusive victim was recently victimized. And not by me! I really can't have that, you understand."

"Please! I didn't know! Please don't hurt me!" Eddie begged.

He stopped and placed a finger on his chin in thought, "My, I do recall those exact words from somewhere. Where was it…" He snapped his fingers and said excitedly, "Oh, now I remember. I believe I said that to you right before you threw me from the second floor down to the first and broke my leg twenty-five years ago. Oh, Eddie. You have racked up quite a debt. And I think it's high time I collect."

Eddie panicked and his eyes shifted around looking for an escape route between the floating machines and the occasional blue flash. There was an opening to an alley just fifteen feet away and he didn't see any floating blobs down there. If he was quick, he could make it. Before he lost his nerve, he bolted for the opening. He had only taken five steps when there was a swarm of those floating machines forming a solid wall in his way. He turned, and there were more. They had him surrounded.

And then they started to swirl around him. As they were swarming and swirling and making that horrid noise, they would occasionally get close enough to swipe him with their metallic arms or even nip him with those bear trap jaws. When he'd flinch away from one, he'd end up in the jaws of two more. And once again, he heard maniacal laughing.

Just as he was wondering how long he would have to endure this torture; he felt his right lower leg being clasped by something huge. His leg was suddenly pulled sharply causing him to fall to the ground and he was then drug out of the circling machines. The fish-robot had apparently extended his robotic arms and grabbed him. He looked at that fish as he was pulled closer and saw what he would classify as an evil grin on anyone else. There were a few too many very sharp teeth to be called anything other than feral. Then the robot's hands on his leg twisted in opposite directions while he was still being pulled.

Pain flashed through his body and he screamed. All he could see was white for a few seconds. They broke his leg! And the psychopath was still laughing.

Once Eddie caught his breath, the blue man crouched down near him and said coldly, "That should give you something else to worry about besides robbing people under my protection. I won't be so lenient if this happens again, Ed."

He stood up and turned his back on Eddie. Then he drew the gun holstered at his hip, did something to the barrel and shot a green beam of light at the upside-down Tony. Tony's face went from a brave mask to nearly hopeless in an instant. The supervillain motioned with the gun from Tony towards Jimmy and the floating machines brought Tony over. He could just barely hear the blue being tell them that he was letting them off easy because they weren't the ringleader. He also suggested that they skip town because he had framed them for several unsavory unsolved crimes.

He stood up and walked away with his cape flaring behind him. "Come, Minion," he called without looking back.

"Coming, Sir," Eddie heard the fish from behind him. As he shifted to look, the fish's robot body stepped on his hand as he clomped after the slight figure. Eddie cried out in pain again as he felt more bones break. The supervillain didn't turn around, but that fish did in his tank and gave him what looked to be a satisfied smirk.

The strange company marched down the street from where they came. A minute later, and it didn't look like they had been there at all.