"Minion? Minion? Minion!"

Megamind pushed the doors of the lair open and rushed in, looking around desperately to find the fish-man. "Minion?" he called again, as he raced past the Brain Bots who were startled awake by their daddy's noisy arrival home. A few of them made a grab for their wrenches and chased after him, eager for a game, since Minion hadn't been around to throw the wrenches for them this afternoon and they always loved their play time.

Megamind looked in the bedroom, the sewing room, upstairs as well as the back rooms. He ran from room to room, calling Minion's name. He had to tell him, he had to be honest and open to his friend, since the last time he had tried to hide anything from the fish it had resulted in events that almost led to all of their deaths. He didn't want that happening again, not now that he had figured everything out. It all made perfect sense all of a sudden; the reason why his hearts ached at the idea of him being with somebody else, how he felt lonely when he wasn't around, and why his laugh was just so damn contagious and everything else about the fish-man.

Yet Minion was nowhere to be seen.

"M... Minion?" he asked quietly, looking around the large, empty lair.

This seems familiar, he thought to himself before looking at his wristwatch. It was eight forty in the evening, and Minion had left for his date at three that afternoon. Surely over five hours was long enough for a standard human date? When he had been 'dating' Roxanne theirs lasted a few hours, sure, but... this was his first, wasn't it? Chewing his bottom lip, Megamind pressed a button on the watch.

He had built a communications device into the watch, so if he wanted to talk to Minion all he had to do was press and speak. "Minion?" he asked, trying to sound stern, but only came off as sounding worried. "Minion, pick up." There was a pause. "Minion, answer me!"

Finally, he heard the click of the watch on the other end of the line answering.

"Oh, about time! What were you doing, marathoning up Metro Tower?" Megamind demanded.

"Hmm... who's this?"

That wasn't Minion's voice. That wasn't Minion's voice at all. The blue alien froze where he stood, surrounded by Brain Bots. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Why do you have Minion's communications watch?" he asked angrily.

"Oh. Oh, this is Mary," Mary introduced herself, before giving a small laugh. "Wow, you're grumpier than Minion said you were today."

"Where is he?" Megamind growled.

"He's resting."

"Resting?"

"Hmmhmm. He's had a big day," she said in a tone Megamind did not like one iota.

"Big... big day," Megamind echoed, unable to hear the waver in his voice. He had seen enough of Minion's stupid romantic comedies to get a vibe as to what was going on here, or at least what had happened. Did she sound breathy? Satisfied?

"Hmmhmmm. He works so hard, I think he deserves some time to just relax once in a while, don't you think?" Mary asked over the watch. "You run him pretty ragged, from what I hear."

"H-he's my minion. He's meant to be run ragged!" Megamind shot back defensively.

"That isn't how you treat a friend, though. He's a friend first and minion second, isn't he?" she asked, sounding a little miffed.

Megamind felt the color drain from his face. "O-Of course he is! How dare you! How dare you speak to me about how I treat him, I've known him all his life!"

"So why do you run him so hard? Don't you think he'd benefit from a day off, or a moment to not worry about you all the time? It took so much to have him relax at all today!" Mary scolded. "But he deserves his rest, since he obviously can't get any with you around."

"I don't like you," Megamind sneered into the watch.

"Aren't you meant to be the hero, now?" she asked back quietly.

Megamind turned his watch off and clawed his hands wildly in the air, not knowing what to do with them. He felt so angry now, angrier than he had felt in ages. So Minion complained about him? He said he worked him too hard? And what did she mean by 'resting'? What would he have done that was so tiring today? All he'd done was go on a stupid date with this stupid woman!

But no sooner had those angry thoughts flitted through his mind, his imagination gave him a very vivid idea as to what they might have been doing. It involved not having any clothes on, being on a bed, and... and...

"NO!" Megamind screamed. He ripped his watch off of his wrist and threw it to the ground, causing the Brain Bots to yelp and move away from him, one dropping its wrench. He pressed his hands over his eyes, shaking his head as his hearts continued to beat painfully. "No, no, no, no. Minion is, is too upstanding to do that on the first date...! She's lying!" He pointed at the watch where he had thrown it. "YOU'RE LYING!"

The watch lay there, discarded.

He wanted to destroy something huge. Megamind wanted to climb up into his giant battle suit and just destroy something, anything, to let out the raging anger swimming through his body, mind, and soul.

But he knew he couldn't. He wasn't the bad guy anymore. He was the hero now; heroes didn't go and destroy buildings because the fish-man they loved had quite possibly just gone and made the 'nasty' with a human woman. The thought alone brought on a hoarse sob from the bowels of his stomach, one he hadn't expected, and he smacked his hands over his mouth.

"What's wrong with me?" he asked himself aloud, shaking. "I-I'm never like this. I. Get mad. I have to... no, I can't get mad. I have to. To wait. Minion will... Minion will tell me what happened. How the date went. She's probably lying. Trying to upset me. Telling lies, LIES to a superhero! That callous..." Megamind trailed off, before another sob ripped from his body. He shuddered afterwards, before rushing from the room and into the bedroom. Like a dramatic teenager he threw himself onto the bed, their bed, and covered the back of his head with his hands as tears he didn't want to shed fell like waterfalls.

He hoped, he prayed, he wished that Mary had been lying about everything, just trying to upset him.

Well, if that was her mission all along, she had succeeded, since he was a puddle of shaking leather-bound goo, and felt as if he would never move again until he heard Minion walk into the lair. He'd run up to him, smack him across the face and chastise him about running around and not answering his watch, before tackling him and maybe...

"No," Megamind said bitterly. "N-no."

Minion would never see him like that. Why would he? What had he, Megamind, done to even warrant that kind of feeling to be returned to him? Mary had been right. He hated to admit it, but she had been right. Every day Minion did practically everything around the lair for him, not only as a fish-man but back when he was a fish getting around in a robot gorilla suit. He cooked, cleaned, made his costumes, fixed his tears and rips to his costume, laughed at his jokes, took care of the Brain Bots, helped him work out his plans and design his new creations, knew basic first aid for when he'd hurt himself either after a misfire in the lab or even after running into Metro Man and avoiding jail time, continually busted him out of jail back when he had been the bad guy, and was always there to lift his spirits when he was down, to put them together...

But... what had he done for Minion?

He couldn't think of anything.

And that made the tears run down his face even faster. He didn't deserve Minion, not at all, so why would he love him back? Why else would he have latched onto this Mary so keenly, gone out with her, and now... "G-god," he shuddered.

The last time he had been like this, or even a fraction like this, had been when Roxanne had gently let him know she wasn't ready for a relationship with him. She had wished him all the best in the world, because he deserved happiness, but she felt as though she wasn't the one to bring it to him. Megamind had kept a brave face around her, said he was grateful for having known her tenderness, her love, for even just a while. But as soon as he had gotten back to the lair, he had all but thrown himself into Minion's robot arms and broken down into hysterical sobs. Minion had held him, rocked him, telling him that it hurt now but good times would come again.

He had promised he'd always be there for him.

...But now he wasn't.

The Brain Bots, as well as the large spider bot, hovered (or stood) at his door, staring in at their emotional daddy, and didn't know how to help him, at least at first. One of them finally moved in through the door, hovered across the floor, and floated around so it was hanging by Megamind's domed blue head. It barked sadly and nuzzled the crown of his head with its razor-sharp jaws, and Megamind lifted his head slowly to stare into the glowing red eye of the Brain Bot. He put on a brave smile before reaching out, and placed his hand onto its lit-up head, the inner sparks rising to meet where his hand touched the glass.

"Daddy's a bit of wreck, isn't he?" he asked faintly. The Brain Bot barked, and nuzzled against him as affectionately as a sharp-mouthed, one-eyed, floating, artificially intelligent creation of science could. Megamind laughed weakly as a few more filtered into the room after the first, trying to bring comfort to their daddy.

Yes they were guard dogs, yes they were servants of the servant, but they also had feelings for their daddy. Seeing him unhappy made them unhappy and so they sought to comfort him as best they could.

The world was foggy, and it felt as though a wad of cotton was stuffed down his throat, but Minion still forced his eyes open and stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling. Beneath him was a comfortable, soft mattress that felt nothing like the one he normally slept on. Had... had Sir bought a new one and just hadn't told him? Speaking of Sir, where was he? Normally Minion awoke first, always to find Megamind clinging to him desperately in his sleep. But he wasn't there.

He lifted one of his hands to wipe at his eyes and yawned before sitting up in the bed. Opening his eyes, he finally realized that he wasn't even in the lair.

The bedroom was surprisingly bare, no pictures, no wallpaper, not even a radio or television. The cupboards were open, but empty. The only thing in the room was the bed, and Minion lying on top of it.

"What?" he asked, trying to remember the last thing his mind could recollect.

Mary had been giving him the coffee she made in the kitchen. She told him it was his favorite, and he'd drunk it. After that... nothing. There was as big fat black block sitting in his memory, taking up from seven o'clock last night, to... what time was it now?

He lifted his wrist to look at his watch, and was alarmed to see it was missing. What? Where was it? Why was it missing?

Where was he?

He got up out of the bed, rushed to the door and reached for the handle, but ended up crashing right into the door before falling backwards onto the floor. Minion lay there, momentarily stunned, before sitting up. "Huh?" he asked, getting to his feet and trying the door knob again. No luck, it was actually locked. "HEY!" he shouted and slammed his fist on the door. "Open up! Open up!"

In the back of his mind, Minion was freaking out. Was he kidnapped? Had somebody drugged his coffee? If so, who? Mary? Or had there been somebody waiting in the apartment? What if Mary- "MARY?" he screamed, slamming on the door again. "MARY, ARE YOU OUT THERE?" he asked, before frantically turning around and spying the window. He rushed to it, and touched the panel to open it.

It was locked tight, just like the door. Growling in frustration, Minion lifted a fist and actually smashed the glass. It shattered, and he cut his fist in the process, but he didn't care. Before him was Metro City, and he could already tell by the location of Metro Tower in the distance that he was in the north section of the city.

Which only confused him even further. Mary had taken him northwards, so... this was her apartment? No, it couldn't be. That made no sense whatsoever to the fish-man. Peering over the window ledge, he saw just how high he was, and gulped loudly. Jumping would be suicidal, and Minion was not suicidal. Then again he probably wouldn't have fit through the window anyway, it was fairly narrow.

"Am I kidnapped?" he suddenly asked aloud.

The realization that he, master of kidnapping Roxanne Ritchi, could be captured by somebody almost earned a snort of bemusement from his nose and lips, but he realized that might very well be what was happening here. He was in room, thirty floors from the ground, locked in, no way of escaping... but then why hadn't they bound his legs and arms? Had they thought whatever it was they had drugged him with would keep him sedated for longer? Obviously they hadn't taken into consideration his alien biology and how it dealt with poisons and toxins from Earth. While they did affect him, they didn't leave permanent damage... heavy sedatives might knock him out for a few hours, but not nearly as long as one might hope.

"What do I do?" he asked quietly.

"-breaking news bulletin," a voice suddenly came, incredibly muffled, from the room next to Minion's. His ears twitched, even though he was trying to think up a way out of the room. He could lift the bed and maybe use it to try and force the door open? That would work! He grabbed the mattress and lifted it off, setting it against the wall as the news continued. "-destructive force unleashed upon the downtown area-" Minion groaned as he stared down at the bed, since it appeared to be bolted to the floor. Who did that with beds, honestly? He reached down and grabbed at one of the supporting slats, but it, too, was stuck fast. "-residents reporting lightning creating a blackout downtown-"

Minion heaved against the bed, groaning in frustration as he tried to pry loose a bed slat. If he could get a nail, maybe he could pick the door's lock? He was very good at lock-picking, a talent he had picked up after years of helping to break his boss out of jail. "-resident superhero Megamind is missing-"

Even though that muffled voice could be barely made out, Minion heard it as if it was being screamed right in his ear. He turned his head so suddenly he could have snapped a bone in his neck. "What?" he whispered.

"-lair seems to have been the target of the destruction. No demands have yet been issued, but we fear this is the rise of a brand new supervillain for Metro City, filling the boots that Megamind himself had left vacant. More news as it arrives."

"No!" Minion rushed at the wall, crashing against it. "That can't be it!" he shouted as he slammed his fists against the wall. "What do you mean, Megamind's missing? Megamind can't be missing! HE CAN'T BE MISSING!" he screamed at the wall before his fist began to hurt from the pounding he was giving it.

He pulled away from the door, heart both aching and racing. What could have happened? How could they have overpowered the lair's defenses? The Brain Bots themselves were strong enough to carry anyone away, and if they failed there was always Spider Bot with the de-gun settings mounted on its cannon. And Megamind himself wasn't exactly weak and helpless either; he knew how to fight, how to banter to stall for time, and how to use his lair wisely.

And she mentioned destruction, power being cut out, and... and Megamind missing. He imagined the lair destroyed, much like when the DNA extraction machine had exploded, only worse.

What if... what if by 'missing' they had meant missing in the rubble? What if something else had exploded, causing all the lightning and the destruction of the building? The image of his boss, his friend, the man he cared more deeply for than anyone else, lying in a twisted, bloodied heap utterly broke Minion's heart, and almost shattered his mind. If only he'd been there. If only he hadn't gone out with Mary and brought her into this convoluted mess that had erupted because his boss had been jealous.

Jealous. Was that what it had been all along? He didn't know, he just needed a word and he had grabbed onto it, yet it didn't feel right in his thoughts at all.

"Breaking news on the missing hero of Metro City!" the muffled voice, now unmistakable and belonging to Roxanne Ritchi, came through the walls again. Minion returned, pressing his ear desperately to the wall. "All television networks in Metro City have just received this message from an untraceable source..."

A voice replaced her own, and Minion could only guess they were playing a tape, or a recording. "Hello Metro City!" the voice greeted, sounding incredibly pleased, happy, and feminine. "It's so lovely to see you all, you're looking well! Really, I mean that. Have you done something recently? Like, oh I don't know, gotten yourself a new hero who used to be the bad guy? How interesting! How hilarious!" She laughed a high pitched squeal of amusement that caused Minion's heart to freeze over.

It was Mary's laugh.

"Seeing as there's no longer any bad guys wandering the streets to make life worth living anymore, I thought I would give this little gig a whirl. My name is Lady, Lady Doppler, and it's so lovely to meet you all. As you can see, I'm already well on my way to filling the boots of Megamind and his little fish-toy Minion, by not only kidnapping one of them, but both of them! Behold, Metro City, your hero."

Of course Minion couldn't see anything, but he was certain she was showing his boss to the public. Tied up, probably, bound and left somewhere. Was he hurt? Was he badly injured? Or was he simply knocked out? The ice in his heart began to suddenly thaw, melting into pure anger and rage that seemed to fill every inch of his body.

Lady Doppler was Mary. Mary was Lady Doppler. Lady Doppler had been pretending to be a simple everyday girl to get to him, to draw him away from Megamind and give her a moment to attack him without his faithful fish being there to defend him.

"Now, my demands are simple. I want every single diamond from the Metro City's Diamond Exhibit, one million dollars in untraceable bonds, and a limited edition Prada exclusive bag that came out three years ago. If I don't get these three things in the next hour, Megamind will never see the light of day again, and I know you people would simply hate to lose another hero within the same year, now would you?" She was baby-talking now, as if speaking to a bunch of toddlers. "It all depends on you, citizens of Metro City. Megamind, and Minion, keenly await your decision."

Then silence, only to be replaced with Roxanne's voice, but Minion was no longer listening. His world felt as though it was falling to pieces around him. Lady Doppler, a new female super villain, had been pretending to like him for over a month. Megamind was going to die in an hour. She'd manage to kidnap not only one of them but both of them. Somehow she'd infiltrated their lair and taken his boss. Megamind was going to die in an hour. Now the city had to decide as to whether or not pay her ransom. Megamind was going to die in an hour. She was the cause behind the destruction of their beautiful lair, their home. Megamind was going to die in an hour. Hadn't she had ties to the Doom Syndicate before Metro Man had brought them all to their knees? Megamind was going to die in an hour. Mary was nothing but a fabrication of a twisted woman who was out for diamonds, money and a bag. Megamind was going to die in an hour.

Megamind was going to die in an hour.

"NO!" Minion suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs. And, deep within him, a piece suddenly and violently snapped into place.

It felt as though the very room around him suddenly shook in reaction to his blind anger and rage. The walls and floor suddenly vibrated, and the wooden slats of the bed fell away without even needing to be touched. The fish-man barely seemed to notice any of this as he turned and reached out, grabbing the doorknob... and it seemed to crumple like aluminum foil under his hand as he ripped the door off of its hinges entirely before tossing it behind him, uncaring that the thrown object knocked out the window, and part of the wall, before falling to the ground far below.

How was he, or Megamind, ever to have known that he had indeed inherited the powers of Metro Man? How was either alien to know that these powers had been hidden deep down within the fish, like a hibernating animal during the winter?

Of course they had remained dormant during his first month of life as an alien-fish hybrid. He had no reason to use them. He wasn't out there fighting true evil and handing out justice, but that wasn't how these powers worked.

They were moved by his emotions. The kind of emotion that shook a person to their very core, the kind of anger and rage that Minion was feeling right now had triggered them, awoken them, and unleashed all the powers that Minion had held deep within him all this time. Had he inherited all of them? He didn't know; he didn't have time to think clearly. He didn't even seem to notice he had suddenly super strength at all. His mind was too preoccupied with the fact that Megamind might very well be dead in an hour.

His sole purpose in life, the man who he had stuck by ever since he had been a small helpless fish in a glass ball, was missing and quite possibly hurt. He was without him. Minion had to get to him, he had to find him and protect him and hurt any and everyone who dared get between them.

Minion left the room, dust falling around him from the destroyed walls, and found that the apartment in which he had been held had only two guards. Had they been working for Lady Doppler? He didn't stop to ask. He wasn't Metro Man, who bantered and exchanged witty quips, for when they saw him and readied weapons that looked like metallic gloves that arced electricity, Minion had focused his eyes on the gloves.

Seconds later, beams of light erupted from his eyes, hit the gloves, and they exploded. The men fell away in agony at their injured hands, and Minion walked over them, not giving them a second glance as he kicked open the door leading to the hallway. The kicked door slammed against the opposite wall before falling to the side, sending more dust flying into the air.

Minion had a job to do. He had to save Megamind because it was his duty, but even more because he loved him. He loved him more than life itself, and imagining his world, his life, without the green-eyed, blue-skinned alien in it, felt meaningless and pointless.

The fish-man soon exited the building, though he had no memory of walking down all the flights of stairs, nor did his body ache because of it. He looked up and down the street, at how seemingly deserted it was. Where was everyone? Gathering at City Hall? He had no time to wonder about this.

The fish looked up at the sky and bent his knees a fraction, before pushing off and shooting up into the skies of Metro City like a black-and-green rocket. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes so he could keep them open to see where he was going, and flew as if he had been doing it all his life. It just felt right, felt as though this was where he belonged, flying in-between buildings as he headed towards the KMCP News Building.

Miss Ritchi would be able to help. She had to be able to help. Time was running out, so he sped up more, speeding towards the building like a bullet. Their station had received the information, and while she had said it was untraceable, they weren't the minion of the greatest mind the city, no, the world, had ever seen. They hadn't set up the schematics behind every single device Megamind had ever built, every security measure, every artificial intelligence he had made... they weren't even on the same level as he was.

He'd find out where it came from, and when he did... Lady Doppler, Mary, was going to pay for this.

To be continued