"It's an army," Roxanne breathed in a hushed whisper, fear again welling up within her. She wasn't used to being afraid, having been kidnapped by Megamind for years. The past half hour felt like her whole world was turning upside-down, which, she realized bitterly, it was.

"They're nothing to fear," Metroman stated boldly, lifting his chin as he set his fists upon his hips again, striking one of his countless heroic poses. "The forces of good will triumph today over the armies of evil..."

"Oh stiff it!" Megamind interrupted with an irritated voice, causing Roxanne and Metroman to stare at him in confused shock.

Clearing his throat Minion interjected. "Uhm, It's stuff it, sir," he corrected, using air quotes around the words 'stuff it'.

Glancing over at Minion, a bit more annoyed than before, he huffed and looked back at Metro Man. "Yes," he said, as Roxanne couldn't help but softly giggle in spite of everything. "STUFF IT!" Now Metro Man was glaring at the villain. "Are you going to just fly over there and take care of them all for us?"

The hero blanched at the blue alien's blunt reminder of his lost power, his confidence suddenly deflating. Roxanne glared at Megamind, but bit back the rebuke she was about to hurl when she realized he had a point.

Mustering his confidence back up with a determined set to his jaw, Metroman looked back up and countered, "He's finished. I lit that demon on fire and sent him and his beast soaring out of here. I doubt they could have survived that..."

"Uhmmm..." Minion interrupted, sounding nervous. "I think they just might have..."

The other three cried out in shock and disbelief as the fish yet again brought their attention to the video display. The brainbot's video feed now showed the first alien slowly riding its mount out of the crater, where they had apparently crashed after being expelled from Evil Lair. The brown robe had completely burned off of the creature, leaving it fully exposed.

The creature was covered in a reddish-black exoskeleton of some sort. It was very clearly a suit of armor, but had an organic look about it, like an insect's carapace. There was no seam or evidence of how the wearer would remove the suit, giving it the impression it was a part of its being. The arms, legs, and body plates were mostly black, with red fringes that blended into red on the elbows, knees, and other joints. What was most disturbing was the humanoid's face. There was none. Instead, the creature had a smooth, black, reflective plate.

"Kahldis Mecznar," Megamind suddenly blurted out upon seeing the revealed humanoid, his words spoken with a strange accent and filled with a fearful reverence.

Minion gasped while Metroman and Roxanne simultaneously asked, "What?!"

Swallowing, Megamind turned to look at the three, though Roxanne could tell by the look on Minion's face he already knew what the blue alien was about to say. The fear she saw in Megamind's eyes send a cold chill down her spine. "Kahldis Mecznar," he repeated more slowly this time. "That's what my people called this thing and its army." He hesitated, then continued, "there's no literal translation, but 'planet killer' and 'soul stealer' pretty much cover it." In his bowl, Minion nodded nervously. Roxanne looked terrified, while Metroman narrowed his eyes in a suspicious gaze as he listened to Megamind continue.

"These creatures roam the galaxies, praying on planets. Wherever they land, they suck the resources out of the world, take the life out of its people, and leave behind nothing but empty husks." He shivers at the thought of it. "Tales were told of them in my home world as bedtime stories to frighten children..."

"We were a babies when we escaped our planets," Metroman protested, not believing his fellow alien. "How could you possibly know all that?" Roxanne looked at him with wide eyes, not having known that their history went back that far. The hero missed her look. She made a mental note to ask them both about it, later.

on the black the plates and at

Glaring at the glaupunk, Megamind pointed at his oversized skull with a sour frown. "Hello?! Super genius? I remember everything, hero... " Metroman rolled his eyes, but Megamind turned away from him, not caring to take up the debate. Instead, he watched as the troops neared the ends of the three ramps, their apparent leader having paused at the rim of the crater to watch over their progress.

"We have to get out of here," Megamind said with finality as his eyes darted from monitor to monitor, his massive brain taking in data, analyzing it, and making decisions at lightning speed. "We're too close, we'll never be able to hold against them from here."

"Coward!" Metroman barked at him, causing Megamind to spin back and glare at him again, the hero's words even drawing a scowl from Roxanne. "If we attack them now, before they can establish a foothold, then we can drive them out!"

"They HAVE their foothold, what are you going to do against THAT?!" Megamind asked as he pointed back at the monitors showing the black tower rising one-hundred feet into the empty skyline, its foreboding presence overwhelming everything else.

"I'll rip it out of the ground with my bare hands..." Metroman began to boast.

"Until that thing hits you with its staff again and takes your super strength!" Megamind barked back, exasperated with the hero. The muscle-bound man stopped short, struggling for something to come back with. "Face it, Metro Mahn, for once you're vulnerable."

There was a deafening silence as the hero stared at Megamind, at a loss for words.

Roxanne stepped forward, placing a hand on Metroman's arm. "Wayne, please...Megamind's right. We'll lose if we try and fight them here, now, like this..."

Megamind had frowned as Roxanne approached and touched the hero, but then his expression lightened somewhat as she agreed with him.

Metroman's expression was one of conflict as he struggled with the concept of running. "You go," he said. "I'll stay and fight them..."

"NO," Megamind said sternly. His tone brooked no argument. Metroman turned to glare at him as Roxanne glanced over with a confused expression. The hero opened his mouth to argue, but the blue alien cut him off. "If he's stolen one of your powers, he can steal more. How many hits from his staff until we're facing a super being with all of your powers and abilities, while you're completely helpless?"

Roxanne gulped at the scenario Megamind painted, looking up to Wayne with hopeful eyes. He clenched his jaw in frustration. He'd never run from a fight in his life, having never had reason to fear anybody. But hhe couldn't argue with the logic, and knew that if Roxanne agreed with Megamind, there was no chance to change anybody's mind.

As much as he wanted to simply take the fight to the enemy on his own, he knew he couldn't, not without his power of flight and not when the enemy could possibly take more or all of his powers.

Reluctantly, the hero nodded, dropping his head in shame.

Nodding, Megamind turned to his henchfish. "Minion, code: Escape Plan Omega."

The fish bobbed in his dome in acknowledgement, answering with a solemn voice, "You got it, boss." With that Megamind drew his de-gun and tossed it to his lackey, who caught it handily and immediately started to rapidly fire the dehydration beam at everything around them. The high frequency fire was executed with such accuracy and precision that Roxanne guessed his robotic body was running on automatic now, probably by a program that Megamind had set in advance.

Blue cubes dropped all around them as machines, furniture, and even fixtures were dehydrated. The blue villain unclasped his cloak and removed it, tossing it into his chair just before Minion dehydrated that, too. The collapsing inventory of Evil Lair clattered to the ground like a small hailstorm as Megamind walked over to Roxanne. Brainbots flew this way and that, picking up the cubes as they fell or landed, loading them into compartments in their undercarriages.

Holding out a key to the brunette, Megamind asked,"My dear, if I could trouble you to please go get the invisible car started?" He gestured behind her to another section of the lair. "I'd do it myself, but my time is probably better spent providing our last line of defense. It takes sixteen point three five minutes to fully extract everything from here, and I don't think they're going to give us that kind of time..." he said with an amazingly even tone, glancing back over to the monitors to emphasize his point.

Roxanne looked over and saw the three columns of alien troops now marching out from the crater, two of the lines curling around the blast site's circumference to join the first, which was already headed forward in a straight line.

A line she realized was coming directly to them.

Glancing back at Megamind, Roxanne scowled as she felt her stomach knot again, as it had behind the machine. She stepped closer to him, grabbing his wrist instead of the keys he held in that hand. Leaning in she looked him right in the eyes, whispering fiercely, "I told you before, I won't let you sacrifice yourself..."

Megamind smiled happily at her words, daring to reach up and place two of his fingers upon her lips to silence her. She stared at him with wide eyes, stunned to silence by the boldness of his action.

He whispered back to her, lowering his hand from her lips. "Though I'm as ready now as I was then to put myself in harms way to protect you, that won't be necessary this time. I have more options, now," he said with a devilish smile. With that he turned his head, causing her to turn hers to follow his gaze. They watched as eight monstrous, headless robots, twenty feet tall each, came lumbering out of the dark depths of Evil Lair.

"What are those?" she asked in stunned silence as the massive robots trundled by, making their way towards the hole in the wall. Their bodies were covered with spikes, she noted.

"Brawnbots," Megamind answered plainly, looking back at her as he added, "They were today's scheme. They'll buy us some time so we can make our escape." Roxanne watched as the robots reached the wall and climbed out of the lower hole, one by one, noticing that their backs bristled with weapon arrays, including gattling guns, missles, and...laser cannons?

She turned back to Megamind, smirking and lifting an eyebrow. "So...robots with spikes and lasers, huh?"

outHe blinked at her words, blushing as he remembered their banter from just an hour or so ago. He cleared his throat, smiling with a shrug. "What can I say? You know me well...temptress..."

She smirked at him, rolling her eyes at his words. "You're just predictable," she countered, her warm voice laced with amusement. Roxanne found comfort in the familiarity of their banter as she took the keys from his hands and looked into those green eyes, pleased to see the same happiness there.

"Maybe I'll show you later just how unpreditable I can be." He smiled widely, waggling his eyebrows as her eyes flew wide at his vague, yet suggestive claim. "Please start the car and wait for us. We'll be there shortly..." With that he winked at her and smiled, then sprinted over to where the eighth robot was standing by the hole, waiting for its master.

Roxanne blinked as he suddenly left, watching him for a moment with that same stunned look on her face. Then a smile slowly bloomed on her lips as she shook her head.

The brunette glanced at Metroman and saw him staring at her with a furrowed brow. Her friend had watched the exchange she shared with the blue alien and it disturbed him, a fact he made quite clear by the glare he now fixed her with.

Roxanne read his thoughts on his face and the smile vanished from hers. She crossed her arms, shifting her weight to one hip as she confronted him. "Got something to say, Wayne?" came her indignant query, the look in her eyes further daring him to make a comment.

Looking pointedly at her, the hero said simply, "What are you doing? He's a villain, Roxanne. He's been nothing but trouble from the start. It's all he ever will be."

Sighing, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. The wound on her head was starting to get the better of her, now that things had slowed down a little, though it didn't hurt as much as before. "We'll talk about this later," she told him sternly, her tone allowing for no argument. "Let's just worry about getting out of here in one piece, okay?" Opening her eyes to glance back at the hero, she stared at him. The muscular man shrugged, looking down and away from the sharpness of her gaze.

Sighing in frustration, she looked around for a moment to see that Minion had long since finished with this section of the lair while she and Megamind had been talking. The two of them were now standing alone in an empty space. The henchfish had moved on, she could hear the de-gun's constant zapping from elsewhere, and see could see the repeated blue flashes off in the darkness of the cavernous building. Brainbots whizzed out of the darkness with their loads of cubes, safely stored in their undercarriages.

Metroman crossed his arms. "So your plan is for us to leave with the supervillain and his henchman?"

"Are you going to fly us out of here?" she countered sarcastically, not in the mood for the argument.

"I can still move at super speed," he reminded her, "I can run away with you to somewhere safe and we can let these two fend for themselves."

Roxanne gasped at his words, "Wayne! How can you say that?"

Metroman crossed his arms. "They're clearly fine on their own. I don't think they need our help to survive this."

The brunette considered his words as she looked over to the hole in the far wall. The eighth brawnbot had lifted its master up in its palm so he could see out the hole. He was speaking into his watch, probably giving instructions to the other seven outside, she reasoned. Just then she heard the whoosh of missles firing and saw clouds of smoke from their exhaust blooming outside the holes in the wall as Megamind's forces unleashed its first volley against the coming horde.

"You're right, they don't need our help," Roxanne answered in a half-distracted tone, her thoughts far away. Turning her attention back to the hero, she said further, "but maybe we need theirs." When she saw Metroman's reaction, she quickly added, "Wayne, you're vulnerable against that weird armored guy, and let's face it - these 'planet killers' are going to walk all over the military."

Metroman frowned, glancing over to the wall as they heard more volleys of rockets, followed by the crackle and flash of lasers firing and the rumble of heavy machine gun fire. He knew she was right, as much as he hated to admit it. Even if she wasn't right, he knew he could never convince her otherwise. She had made up her mind, and if there was one thing he knew about Roxanne, it was that she had a stubborn streak a mile wide.

For whatever reason, his good friend had decided to put her faith in Megamind, Incredibly Handsome Criminal Genius and Master of All Villainy.

Sure, the hero could easily just whisk her away from here, and there wouldn't be a thing she could do to stop him. But he knew their friendship would be over if he did that, and that was a price he wouldn't pay for anything.

As usual, he was trapped in what life gave him, with no real choice. He nodded at her, looking down. She smiled brilliantly at him, her gratitude shining in her eyes. "Thank you, Wayne," she told him warmly. "Now come on, we've got to get the car ready...!" With that, she dashed off into the lair, Metroman sighing and then sullenly following behind her at a walk.

As she dashed through the dim lighting of Evil Lair, Roxanne was soon greeted with the sight of a classic car, covered in spikes and...was that some kind of flying motorcycle, or something?

Shrugging it off, she decided to ask Megamind about it later. Opening the driver's seat door, she hopped in, plugged the key in the ignition and started the car. The large V8 engine rumbled to life, the countless instruments and buttons on the dash lighting up, making her think of a Christmas tree. She waited for about a minute, quickly growing restless. Glancing at her watch, Roxanne frowned as she wondered when Minion and Megamind would show up.

Off in the distance, the sounds of the battle between Megamind's Brawnbots and the approaching army rumbled, like thunder. The brunette stepped out of the car and stood, looking over the car's roof in the direction she had run from. Metroman had just reached the car when she did.

"Have you seen them?" she asked anxiously, starting to get worried.

He shook his head and simply answered, "No." Opening the passenger side, he climbed in and closed the door behind him. Roxanne scowled at him through the roof of the car, muttering unlady like commentary to herself. Shaking her head to shrug it off, she looked off into the darkness of Evil Lair, getting more worried with each passing second.

Seconds ticked into minutes, which rolled by one after the other. Time seemed to stand still as she waited and waited, the thunder of the combat off in the distance rolling on, punctuated more and more with explosions that were getting louder and louder each time.

By contrast, all around her was nothng but the dark stillness, which became oppressive as she started to fear the worst with each increasingly loud sound she heard off in the distance.

Suddenly a blue bolt of energy shot out of the darkness and struck the motorcycle next to the car, making the brunette nearly jump out of her skin. The compressed blue cube clattered to the ground. Another brainbot whisked in to collect the item, zooming off as quickly as it arrived. Out of the darkness lumbered Minion, his wide smile greeting Roxanne.

"Hi, Miss Ritchi!" he greeted her just as pleasantly as if it were only the beginning of yet another kidnapping, not the start of a war.

"Hi there, Minion," she answered warmly, smiling kindly at the gentle fish, his kind nature always managing to warm her heart. "Where's Megamind?" she asked with more worry in her voice than she expected as the l as a glowing blue cubeargest explosion yet rocked the far reaches of the building.

"Oh, he'll be right along," the fish answered without concern, strolling up to the driver's side door. "Better let me do the driving though, Miss Ritchi, if you don't mind," he told her. "Maneuvering an invisible car through traffic can be pretty tricky, especially when we're running from something..." his toothy grin again belied the seriousness of their situation, helping to ease Roxanne's anxiety and fear.

"Sure," she answered with a relieved smile, stepping away from the driver's seat to allow Minion to enter the vehicle. She hadn't really wanted to do the driving, anyway.

The henchfish nodded at her and smiled widely, seating himself in the car. "Just have a seat in the back, we'll leave as soon as the boss joins us," he told her before closing the door as he buckled himself in. She nodded and moved towards the rear door as Minion closed his. "Oh, hi there, Metroman!" she heard his muffled greeting to the hero next to him. The henchfish continued to babble on to the hero, but Roxanne wasn't paying attention.

She opened the backseat door behind the driver's seat, but couldn't bring herself to get in the car just yet. Instead, she rested her forearms on the roof and leaned on the vehicle, looking out into the empty, dark stillness of Evil Lair, frowning more as the rumbles and explosions on the far side of the building got louder and louder.

The seconds dragged by for what seemed like lifetimes as the noise got so loud that she thought the enemy forces would suddenly swarm out of the darkness and surround the car.

Becoming sickeningly worried, Roxanne was about to say something to Minion when the building was suddenly wracked by a massive explosion out in the darkness that shook the foundations and caused her heart to jump up into her throat.

"Megamind?!" she called out in panic, staring back into the darkness. She was about ready to run into the empty Evil Lair to look for him, when suddenly she saw his skinny figure with its big head come running towards them.

"Go, go, go!" he shouted as he dashed to the backseat door on the passenger side, his face stricken with panic. Roxanne's eyes flew wide open as she heard and saw his urgency. Minion revved the engine in answer, readying the car. The brunette ducked inside and slammed the door behind her, just as Megamind opened his door and dove in. As soon as they were both in, Minion dropped it into gear and the rear wheels squealed when he hit the gas, filling the space with the smell of hot rubber.

The sedan lurched forward, quickly picking up speed. Minion turned sharply towards the wall, the centripetal force slamming Megamind's door shut.

Roxanne looked down at Megamind with a relieved sigh, smiling at him warmly. The blue alien pulled himself up off of the bench seat, his head having landed close to her lap when he dove in. He glanced back and met her gaze, smirking wryly. "Told you I'd be ohkaay," he said plainly as he sat up, dusting himself off in a very leisurely way, attempting to regain his air of nonchalance.

Roxanne lifted her eyebrows at his comment and was about to say something witty in reply when she chanced to glance out the front windshield, only to see Minion driving like a bat out of hell for the outer wall of Evil Lair. She screamed as the car came to where it should have hit the brick barrier, diving down into the seat with closed eyes and her hands over her head, fully expecting to die when the car crumpled into an accordion upon impact.

When nothing happened, she swallowed nervously, her pulse racing in her ears. Opening her eyes, she realized that daylight now filled the speeding car's cabin. The next thing she realized was that her dive had taken her head first into Megamind's lap.

She flushed a bright pink, closing her eyes in frustration. Roxanne huffed before she forced herself to glance up at him. He was looking down at her with a smile that was somewhere between amused, pleased, and wicked. The word smolder came to her mind. The redness on her cheeks only deepened as she looked into those emerald eyes, the look on his face stirring up feelings within her that she quickly tried to push back down, but with marginal success. She sat up and crossed her arms, glaring pointedly at him, silently daring him to say anything.

He held up both hands in mock surrender, still smirking at her.

Clearing her throat, she looked away from him out the window, her cheeks still burning brightly.

"Well," he said after a few moments of silence. "At least I finally made you scream..."