Disclaimer: "Megamind" is owned by Dreamworks. I am not profiting from this fanfiction.

Syphon

Part V

What fun. Syphon was smiling as her little slaves followed her around, Ember especially. She'd had to charm him more than the others. His fire was strong enough to burn even her if she let her guard down.

She laughed to herself at the terrible puns. Better to get them out now though, she supposed. Megamind would be here soon, of course, and she wanted to be able to chat with better skill when he did. That's where Ember would come in. The boy could use his fire - once it'd surrounded him fully - to fly. And Syphon, having sapped just a tad from him, could hold onto him while he did so and not be burned.

And then she could get her hands on Megamind again.

She'd thought this through, picking Ember because - well, she liked his spark for one, and for two, because of the three villains currently hiding out at that address, he was the only one who could fly. She considered charming the other two just to build up her army, but humans would be so much more useful.

- As shields anyway.

Now when would the blue one show up? She was starting to get irritated.

She received her answer when a booming voice called out, "Syphon! Once again you dare walk in my city?"

A few glances around told her that he hadn't shown himself yet, and all the humans standing around had matching expressions of wonder and confusion, looking left and right for the speaker.

She could have laughed. But, instead, she gave a grin and said, "Oh, I dare. I might as well, considering this city will soon be mine."

As her words suggested, the humans around began turning their gazes to her, a few already glassy-eyed and heading her way.

"And they will love being mine," she added, offering a smile down at a young boy who'd joined the flock. He looked more enraptured than the others, his mouth open, eyes wide, staring at her. She knelt before him, making a quick decision that he shouldn't be around for this. In the particular vocal note that would end his enthrallment, she murmured for his ears alone, "Run along home, before I carve out your inner organs."

The threat was uttered just to give him enough fear to obey, and with a jerk, he did. Spinning on his heel, he ran headlong down the sidewalk and disappeared around a corner.

"What did you say to him?" the voice demanded.

She rolled her eyes. "I told him to fetch me an ice cream cone."

"Liar!"

She flashed a grin. "Guilty as charged. Now, how about we talk face to face?" she asked, eying the skies.

"Ha!" he returned. "You just want me within range of your skin."

Guilty as charged, she agreed, mentally repeating herself. Instead of answering, she challenged, "How about you come down here and we'll find out?"

"Not a chance. Now, tell me what it is you want. Go on," he urged when she didn't immediately answer. "Tell me the whole plan. Every last detail. I won't judge."

She started to laugh, and the people all around her began to swoon at the sound. "Fool!" she finally forced out. "I won't be revealing anything, least of all to you. I know better - unlike some supervillains." This last was aimed at him, and the silence that greeted her told her he'd picked up on it.

"I see," he said at last. "You demand an audience with the defender of Metrocity, I, Megamind, before you ever answer any of my questions."

"Bingo," she agreed.

"Very well. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Of what? she wondered.

A series of blasts seemed to come at her from all directions, but though she tensed to dodge, none of them connected with her. Instead, her thralls surrounding her all began to shimmer and shrink, until she was the only one standing - amidst a veritable sea of softly glowing cubes.

She bared her teeth in frustration. Her shields were gone. And the power she'd sapped from Ember was so weak she'd barely be able to hold a flame, should she need to.

"Now that was unnecessary," she bit out.

Above her, she heard a humming sound, like an engine. She looked that way and saw that Megamind was above her on his - whatever that was. Some kind of rocket. Blue flames were erupting from the pipes jutting from both sides, it was sleek, and black with painted blue lightning bolts on it. She instantly wanted one.

In fact, she recalled that Roxanne had one already. Again, jealousy seared her, and again, she wanted to tear out the birdie's heart.

In time, she promised herself.

"Afraid I'll touch you?" she taunted him.

He narrowed his eyes. "Tell me your plans for the city. Now."

Domineering. How delightful. She cast him a grin. "Now why would I do that? You'll come to find out soon enough."

He pulled out his gun and aimed it at her. "Now tell me."

She quirked a brow. "I know what that thing does. Mmm, not a very good threat, I'd say. Especially considering it can't hit me."

"Roxanne was aiming left-handed last time," he reminded her. "Me, right-handed? I'm a much better shot. And as for the threat, I could easily lock you up someplace dry and leave you there for a few decades."

"Oooh, so it's like cryogenic freezing and I'd come back in the future? Sweet!" She pretended a look of enthusiasm.

He seemed to see right through her, smirking back. "Fake," he chided. "You're so. . .fake. Why, I'd even suggest you're faking the whole villain thing!"

She narrowed her eyes. "Willing to bet your life on that, blueberry?"

He pulled his lips back in a visible snarl. "You will never call me that again."

"Oho, struck a soft spot, did I?" she mocked. "A blueberry and a birdie are my targets. This is gonna be easy." She clinked her claws under the coat's sleeves, aching to use them.

That seemed to enrage him further. He bit out, "I've never killed a person before, but if you continue to threaten Roxanne, you will be the first."

"Aw, you're a virgin," she mocked. "Cute."

He narrowed his gaze further.

That's when she had the sudden inclination that he was playing or acting something. He wanted to shoot her, and bad. So why wasn't he? Why would he hold back? He'd shot her before. She recalled the odd draining and sucking feeling before she lost consciousness, and the rush of uncomfortable wetness when she'd reformed. So why would he choose not to shoot her now, when she was so clearly mocking him?

He had a plan, she realized. To catch her, to stall her; something. He needed her alive and kicking for it, too. Which meant he wouldn't shoot her.

Slowly, she began to grin. A plan of her own formed in her head, and she darted her gaze around, noting the distances between street lights and buildings and overhangs.

For years, her main outlet for her frustrations and unhappiness had been gymnastics, things she would practice alone and in silence because she couldn't allow anyone to train her. Over time she'd begun comparing herself to ninja, silent stalkers of the night. They were agile, they were quiet, they lived their lives in total solitude. She was like them, minus the code, and plus her ability to take any fall and walk away.

Now she made a show of unbuttoning her coat, allowing it to slip to the ground. He watched her warily, and she saw his eyes darting, following her motions closely. She guessed he was trying to figure out her next move.

She wondered how fast his reactions were.

Not quicker than hers, surely. She made a sharp turn, sprinting the few steps it took to reach the building beside her. Her shoes didn't allow for much grip, but it got her up a few feet. She kicked off, grabbed the overhang and yanked herself up, now on the second floor - technically. In another jerk she spun around and leapt to the street light, snagging the horizontal pole and swinging up onto it. A step had her at the edge of it, and she kicked off, rebounding off the building, gaining more height -

She spun around and snagged at Megamind, moving her legs so she'd be able to land on the rocket-thing right behind him. But her claws scraped against metal instead of his back, and she fell right through the rocket, unable to get her grip. The fall threw her into the street light and she hit it hard, denting it with a harsh exhalation. She landed on the sidewalk on her side, feeling the breath knocked out of her.

Pain stung up her side and where her lower back had collided with the pole, but she pushed herself up anyway, dusting her hands. She was only about as tough as lead and she'd learned long ago that she could continue to function just fine, no matter the fall, as long as she ignored the pain. Besides, what pain there was would fade. It was the equivalent of a human falling onto his back, hurt just about as much, and was as easily recovered from.

Now she glared up at what she knew was a hologram. "Clever," she hissed, her voice betraying the compliment.

His fake-self smirked. "I thought so."

"You understand you'll be getting no answers from me now."

"You were never going to give any to start with," he reminded her.

Guilty as charged, she thought again. "So where does that leave us?" she asked. Part of the reason why she asked was because she didn't know - she was, after all, still very new to the villain thing.

"I believe your next move was to leave my city."

She quirked a brow. "Soon to be my city."

He scoffed. "And what would you call it? Syphonville?"

His tone made her wonder if someone had tried something similar once. Still, she replied, "I was gonna go with Monstrosity."

He looked surprised. She could tell he was replaying the word in his head, along with his own mispronunciation of Metro City. At length he shook his head. "You won't be renaming it at all. Now get out of my city."

She thought over her options, deciding that she couldn't do anything with the cube-people now. Poor Ember. She'd have to remember to break him out of prison once she had Music Man's powers. And with a flourish, she made a mockery of a bow, then swept up her coat and buttoned it around her.

"Farewell," she called over her shoulder. "No, really. I want you in good health for when I come back to kill you and your little birdie."

He made a sound like an annoyed or frustrated sigh, then yelled as she was disappearing, "You'll be regretting those words!"

Maybe. As she walked, she inclined her head in thought. Who knows? She couldn't see the future, so of course, she couldn't say she wouldn't. Only time could tell and so on and so forth.

She'd promised to give Music Man more of a break, but it was too late now. She needed his powers, so she'd make an early comeback. And just maybe he'll be willing to actually fight with her. She hoped so; she longed to feel one of his superhuman punches, to see if it could actually bruise her. What a thrill that would be!

Once more she charmed a driver, this time a man in a nice corvette, sleek and black and just beautiful. She pet the hood lovingly, careful of her claws, before climbing in and ordering him where to take her. The well-dressed man looked dazzled, and a part of her wanted to kiss him on the cheek in repayment for the adorable looks he was giving her, but the pain would snap him right back into focus.

So instead she sat back and let him drive. Once the schoolhouse was within view, she had him stop. For a reason she couldn't discern, she didn't want this building becoming widely-known; a part of her had a great amount of respect for hidden lairs and fortresses. She preferred for supers to keep their hideouts secret.

She leaned into the car before shutting the door, saying, "Now speed on back home, you miserable worm. One more second near you and I'll have to decapitate you." She'd spoken in that tone.

Now he snapped out of it, and his eyes widened to a monstrous degree before he put the car in reverse and sped off, giving her only a split second of time to slam the door shut - again, careful of her claws. She didn't want to hurt the beautiful vehicle. No, in fact, she wanted one for herself.

One step at a time, she reminded herself. In all likelihood she'd be flying by dusk, which means she'd have no use for cars.

As if she owned the place, she walked down the now-familiar halls and stairs and up to the door. It was locked this time, and she laughed to herself when she realized the joke. With a claw laced in the weak fire powers she still had, she half-broke, half-melted the lock and swung the door open.

It was empty. Again.

But she knew the layout now. As she entered, she pulled off coat, then her claws and gloves, tossing them carelessly to the table. The clatter it made would definitely alert him to her presence, if the sound of the door breaking hadn't done it. She waited.

"You know," a smooth voice began behind her, "breaking and entering isn't just a crime. It's rude."

She smirked before turning around and catching his gaze. Music Man, the handsome, slightly-scraggly devil. She rose a brow at him, taking in his ensemble. Black jeans, white-and-yellow sneakers, dark gray t-shirt with a big yellow 'M' on it.

He narrowed his gaze after a moment, crossing his arms as if this were enough to get to her leave. When she only crossed her own arms to match, he bit out, "This is the part where you go right back out the door."

She rolled her eyes. Then, figuring he must have forgotten her promise not to speak, she made a zipper motion across her lips.

Recognition sparked in his eyes. He began, slowly, "Then you're here for my powers. It's only been a day," he reminded her.

She shrugged, then gestured him in a you look fine to me way. Which was true, oddly. Normally it took people much longer to recover when they were so enthralled by her voice. She wondered how strong his powers of recovery were.

She noticed now that he was still on the other side of the room, unwilling to get any closer to her. He must have been communicating with the birdie and the blueberry, she realized. They would have been corresponding anyway, naturally. The old superhero helping the new one. A classic tale. Music Man was the veteran; Megamind was the novice.

She opened her mouth to test a theory, finding that he flinched, though her excuse was to wet her lips. Whether he saw through her trick or not, she didn't know, but his face hardened either way.

Oh yes, she agreed with herself. He feared the sound of her voice now. And though she considered speaking in that tone, she decided against it. It was difficult to continue using just that tone anyway, a strain on her vocal cords. And besides which, she didn't want him knowing - and passing along - that she could counter her own vocal effects. No, that was a secret reserved just for her.

Now she unfolded her arms and gestured him closer with her fingers.

Though he narrowed his eyes, he didn't respond beyond a flicker of his eyes towards the door. Considering escape.

Don't bother, she thought. She knew he could get away if he wanted to, but she also knew he didn't want to leave his home open to her. For all he knew, she would destroy the place.

Little did he know she disliked wanton destruction. She'd much rather leave everything here in its respective places. It looked so pristine, so organized. A part of her respected his ability to keep such a nice home.

With a sweeping gesture from him to the door, she mimed that she was alright with taking this outside, offering to do just that.

Arching a brow, he said, "You want to do this outside?"

She gave a pointed nod at him, then at the door.

". . .If I want to do this outside?"

She flashed him a grin, lifting her hand in a thumbs-up.

"Why?" he demanded.

Okay, this was getting them nowhere. And if he refused her offer of leaving the room, fine. She lunged for him.

The quick, sudden attack caught him by surprise, but he twisted around, and her grab missed. Though the roof wasn't very high, he switched to flight, almost flattening himself against the ceiling in his attempts to keep a distance from her.

Thus began the cat-and-mouse chase. She jumped over things, ran into a pillar, knocked over a glass case, accidentally kicked over the table, and was thrown over the couch, knocking it on its back, all in the space of a few minutes. And other than a few huffs, annoyed growls, frustrated groans and pained moans, she never spoke.

All the while he kept out of her range, sometimes just barely. Her fingers caught his foot at one point, hence the part where she was thrown over the couch. She almost - almost - got a grip on his hand once, was close enough she felt his warmth and the hair on the back of his hand, but he'd evaded her that time as well.

Her stamina was about as weak as any human's, maybe a bit better, so by the time those few minutes had passed, she was braced with her hands on her knees, panting. The whole thing made her excited, really; she'd never had such a hard time catching someone before. She was quick, agile, resilient, gorgeous in a dark-skinned pink-haired sort of way, and her voice was undeniably charming.

Apparently, if you took out her voice and faced her against a man with super-speed and flight, she was reduced to chasing her own tail trying to catch him.

Now she was struggling not to laugh, telling herself this shouldn't be amusing. Her plan was to take his powers so she could kill two beings on this planet, which would also have the effect of making him feel unimaginable pain. She knew her touch was akin to having every nerve ending burned, had taken more than enough memories of the occurrence to know for certain.

Over time she'd stopped feeling sympathy for them. Most of the time, in her past, the person had touched her, not the other way around. Only recently had she begun reaching out for contact of her own choosing, and of course, recently was exactly the time frame in which she'd chosen her role as a villain.

"Finished yet?" Music Man demanded.

Don't laugh, don't laugh, she chanted to herself, flashing him a grin. Then she stood up straight, making a 't' with her hands, calling for a time-out.

He shook his head. "Uh-uh. You, out," he ordered, pointing at the door.

She arched a brow at him in disbelief. Yeah, right, her expression said. With a flourish, she righted the toppled couch and tossed herself on it, crossing her ankles on the now three-legged, upturned table. Just come over here to force me out, she challenged, I dare you.

He recognized the challenge, she could tell. In fact, he looked downright frustrated. He couldn't fight her physically because every second near her was a second she could get her uncovered hands on him. And he hated having to run from her, she knew. He'd spent his entire life chasing down criminals and villains, relying on his massive strength and flight to do most of the work.

After deciding she had to have his powers, she'd done her homework on him, spending all night pouring over newspaper articles, interviews, and TV appearances.

Though it was Megamind who'd originally caught her eye, she found herself liking the old Metro Man just a tad more. She suspected her scorned female pride might be playing a part in that decision-making process, but didn't dwell on it. She simply wanted him more than she wanted Megamind. Or more than she had wanted Megamind, and definitely for different reasons.

After all, he resisted her voice through sheer force of will, and she just had to respect someone with that much willpower. And now to find out he recovered from her voice in less than half the time it took a human to recover?

She might as well be in love, she wanted him so bad. As her toy, as her battery, as an enemy, anything. She'd take whatever she could get, as long as it involved interacting with him somehow.

Not to mention he was handsome with a voice she found very charming and lulling. Which was saying something, as she couldn't name off a single person she'd met - or even someone she'd heard speak - who had a voice that could rival her own.

Right now, that handsome face was scowling at her. He kept making tiny motions as if he wanted to come forward, scoop her up, and literally throw her out, but stopped himself each time. He was also refusing to turn his back to her.

A new game arose then, one she found herself grinning in the midst of. The cat-and-mouse game had ended with him the victor, but how would this one turn out? She had a shot at it, that's for sure. He wanted her out, clearly unwilling to simply find a new fortress to be his home. But he couldn't touch her and was smart enough not to turn his back to her. It was a waiting game, to see whose will would break first.

A thrill went through her as she thought it over. He had the greatest amount of willpower of anyone she knew, after all. She wondered how long it would take for him to submit and just let her steal his powers. Or - if she looked at things fairly - how long it would take for her to give up on getting his powers and leave on her own.

Hours? Days? She doubted it would last weeks, but who knew?

Good thing she had nothing else on her agenda.