"Sir you really should go to bed you're running on fumes tonight... then you can sleep in till noon, and when we go out tomorrow night you'll be back to your normal, chipper self." Minion said as he brought Megamind a glass of juice from the kitchen.
Megamind didn't accept it, instead he continued to stare at Fathers portrait.
"Please, Sir. You're not a machine, you need to rest." Minion urged.
The alien lowered his gaze slightly, before reaching into his pocket and felt the cool metal of his mobile phone still snugly sitting against his tissues. She hadn't called him back. Why hadn't she called him back? Didn't she realize the gravitation of the whole situation they were in? What if something had happened? What if she was in danger, right now, and he didn't know? Heart racing within his chest he turned away from Minion entirely and headed to the kitchen.
"Sir? Sir, what are - Sir!" Minion placed the drink on a shelf (with a coaster) before following Megamind. "Where are you going? You can't drive!" pointed out the fish as he saw Megamind grab the keys.
"First time for everything." Megamind mumbled as he left via the back door.
"Sir! This is serious, you can't drive at all!" Minion hurried after his friend who approached the invisible car, but not before almost bumping into it first.
"Minion! She isn't answering the phone! I need you here in case anybody from the Family contact us and Wayne is who knows where-a party, a party at a time like this! I need to see that she's all right for myself, Minion. I've seen you and Wayne drive enough times to know how it works, I'm a genius, remember?" Megamind asked, slapping a hand against the side of his bulbous head.
Minion flinched. "Oh... yes... yes, of course Sir. I'll call you, when I get word?" asked the fish.
"Yes. You will." Megamind climbed into the passenger seat and fumbled with the chair lever, to bring the backed out chair closer to the wheel since he was such a skinny little guy.
The car started before being driven off into the distance, through the gate, and was soon out of sight. Minion waited to hear the trees crunching under the weight of the car but he didn't. He knew his friend knew the way through the trees, and of course after years of watching others drive he'd have a firm idea on how to do it but he couldn't help but worry.
Here is your Minion. He will take care of you.
Those were words he had to live up to, and if anything happened to Megamind he would feel as if he had failed the good Lady's final words to her son. Sighing, he turned and headed back into the manor hoping he'd get word soon from the Family.
~*~
He parked half on the curb and half off, but when your car was invisible it didn't really matter all that much to anyone. Megamind leapt out of the car with a disguise in place and slammed the door behind him. He then yelped and fell backwards, since the coat tail of his jacket had gotten snagged in the door.
"Oh for cryin..." he tugged at it, before opening the door again, tugged his jacket free, and shut the door again. "Bad car." Megamind then turned and hurried into the building where Roxanne lived. As he walked he grabbed the same small device he had used in the school, and dropped it on the floor since he knew there were security cameras and he was sure seeing an armed man in leather on a security camera would draw attention to him. All cameras started acting up at once.
"Hey who're you?" Carlos, the door man, demanded when this strange bald man wearing leather walked in off the street. He looked like trouble, especially with that spiked dog collar around his neck.
"No time for this." Megamind pulled out a can of spray and it went off in Carlos' face. "You didn't see me." he told the man as he slowly breathed in the fumes.
"Didn't see... you..." mumbled Carlos before sitting back down in his seat.
Megamind rushed to the mail boxes near the elevator and checked for Roxanne's name. He found it. She was on the 15th floor, number 19. The elevator opened and he hurried in, pressing the number fifteen and waited as the elevator began its surprisingly quick climb to the floor. Inside the elevator music softly played, and he twitched as he waited.
"Remember," Father's voice suddenly sprang up from the back of his mind, "if the day comes and you find a woman you truly respect and care for, be sure she understand who you are and what you do. She needs to be strong."
"Not like Mother." Megamind had said at the time, back when he was nine.
"Your Mother was a fine woman and do not insult her." his Father's tone turned stern. "She left for her reasons. She loved you." the tone eased, and he could all but feel the man's weary hand placing itself atop his head like he had done so many times. "Do you know how I told your Mother that I loved her, without using that word?" he asked.
"No?" asked Megamind, curious.
"Whenever she asked something of me, to do any little thing for her, I simply said as you wish. It took her a while to realize what I truly meant. If you can, one day, try to emulate your old man."
"I'll try, Father."
The elevator's ding as it arrived on the correct floor pulled him out of the past and he hurried down the hallway. He had his sword strapped to his back, and a stake and hammer hidden on his person. Finding her door Megamind knocked on it loudly.
"Roxanne?" he called, and waited a few seconds before banging on the door again. "Roxanne, are you in?" Megamind called through the door. He checked his watch. It was only nine thirty. Plucking his phone out of his pocket he dialed her number again. Inside her apartment he heard the jingle of the phone. "Roxanne?"
That did it. He pulled his pick lock tools from another pocket and jimmied open her door. Shoving the door open he hurried into her apartment where the lights were all off. This didn't feel good. What if she was being dragged out by a vampire right now, into the night? What if she had been eaten already? His heart suddenly burned and his stomach turned to lead at the idea of a vampire tearing into her.
He rounded a corner, and leapt back and screamed as he did.
Roxanne did the same thing.
"Megamind?" she asked, eyes wide.
"ROXANNE!" he all but cried before rushing forwards and threw his arms around her, pulling the woman in close. "Oh thank God why didn't you answer any of my calls I've been so worried!"
"Whoa, whoa, wait.. hang on..." Roxanne was all kinds of taken back. Her phone had run out of credit just that morning and she had meant to go buy more but work had suddenly become over powering. She had came home exhausted after a day of running around reporting live from multiple locations, and had gotten straight into bed. Only now had she finally come to, with the sounds of someone banging on the door. Now she had Megamind holding her so tightly she could feel his heart beating through his clothes. "Megamind I'm fine-"
"Are you really?" he asked, voice shaking as he pulled back, hands gripping her shoulders as he looked at her. "Your eyes aren't glassy, you're not under hypnosis. You haven't got any marks on your neck or wrist, no bite marks... you... you... you're in your night wear."
"Yes. Yes I am." she said stiffly.
"Partly see through night wear." he mumbled.
"Hmmhm." she nodded, trying to calm down the blush radiating over her cheeks.
"...I'm... going to leave now and throw myself in front of traffic." he turned to do just that, but she grabbed at his arm.
"No, no wait. It's okay! I get it. Just wait here." she said. "No running into traffic. All right?"
"As you wish." he mumbled, eyes now pointed at the floor without even really realizing the phrase he'd just used, or what context it meant to him. So shaken was he from seeing Roxanne in something so flimsy and partly see though he didn't know what to think. Other then that the image would probably crop up in his dreams at some later point.
Roxanne hurried to her walk in closet and grabbed her pale blue dressing gown and pulled it over her spaghetti string, somewhat see through night gown. What had made her wear this thing tonight? Oh yeah, it was a warm night. She wondered how Megamind managed to run around, fight vampires, and wear all that leather without sweating like a pig. Maybe he didn't sweat? No that can't be right. He looked human enough...
Realizing her mind was wandering she turned and approached him, standing exactly where she had left him. "Okay. Want to tell me why you're breaking into my apartment?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"M... my Father might... might be alive and... and I was told that... that a war is coming and that... our friends might be in danger and you just... d-didn't answer your phone so I thought..." he trailed off, still staring at the floor. If he looked at her all he would see was that silly white gown and the feeling of her body against his from the previous embrace. His face was, by now, a shade of lavender.
She stood there for a moment, before her watchful expression softened. That was a lot to reply to, his father might be alive? A war? She might be in danger? She didn't like the sounds of any of it. "Who told you about your Father...?" she asked softly, reaching out to touch his back and realized just how heavily armed he was. She could feel a hammer through the material, and there was a sword on his back, of all things. How in the world did he get up here?
"I fought a vampire this evening." he then went on to explain to her the situation, about the vampire in the school, how it had been there the night of the ambush upon himself and his Father and that the man had been taken away after being over powered. By the time he finished they were in the lounge, and she had turned just one lamp on to bring some light to the room while the city skyline continued to glimmer outside her window.
Roxanne listened intently; she was good at that, being a reporter, and watched his expression as he talked. It was obvious the idea that his Father was actually alive was both a blessing and a curse, since who knew what would have happened to him in all these years. Was he imprisoned? Tortured? Bitten? What if it had been a lie, just to anger the slayer? She brushed some hair out of her face and frowned slightly.
"...and just... you didn't answer, so I was afraid they had gotten to you." Megamind said.
"Hm. That's sweet of you to care so much." she said, "And I'm sorry about my phone. I always run out of credit when I need it the most and today was just so, so busy... we found Hal's van."
"You did? Where?" he lifted his gaze to look at her.
"East of the city. They figure it was high jacked during the party and driven out there since it had crashed into a gate." Roxanne explained. "But there wasn't any blood anywhere..."
Megamind frowned. That sounded suspicious. "Well... we'll see if he shows up. If not, we'll lodge a case with the Family and everyone will keep an eye out for him." he paused when he saw the sullen expression on her face. "What is it, what's wrong?"
"I just... I feel bad." she admitted, shrugging her shoulders.
"Bad, why?" he asked.
"Hal... well. I know he liked me. Everyone knew he liked me and he was a nice enough guy, a bit of a nerd and might have improved in personal grooming just a tad but he never hurt me. He never hurt anyone. But he just... came off as creepy sometimes. I kept him at arms length, you know? I didn't want him to begin to think he had a chance with me because, he isn't really my type. And I feel bad, if he is dead..." Roxanne trailed off as the guilt hung over her. Would he not be missing if she hadn't ditched him the way she had? But the table had been full of people, why didn't Hal talk to them instead? Why had he been such an oddball?
"Hey, hey..." Megamind shifted closer to her and reached out, and dared to put his hand to her back. "Don't think like that. It isn't your fault he's missing."
"No?" she asked quietly.
Megamind shook his head. "No."
She looked down at her hands, and looked unconvinced.
"Look, vampires... they don't pick and choose who they want to take." Megamind explained. "When they're hungry, and if they have the chance, they'll grab anyone they can. Hal might have just been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Heck, anyone could be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I myself have been jumped a few times by hungry vampires when in disguise."
"I'm sure that came as a surprise." Roxanne smiled faintly.
"The biggest surprise was when I lopped off the guys head with a sword faster than he could blink." Megamind grinned playfully.
"Wow you must be pretty good at that then. Swordplay, I mean." she gestured to the sword he had set on the coffee table.
"I have to be." he replied as he too stared at it. "Father taught me everything I know and from that I've worked out my own moves, too."
"You really should show me what you can do at some point." Roxanne smiled.
He had just been about to answer that when the door behind them leading onto her balcony shattered. Instinctively he grabbed Roxanne and pushed her down onto the couch and covered her with his own body. The force had been so strong that the coffee table toppled, and his sword fell to the floor, the same as a few photo frames on the walls and a vase of flowers positioned near by on a table.
Lifting his head Megamind's eyes widened when he saw a woman come crashing in after the glass. Her foot swung and hit him in the face, and that sent Megamind toppling away. He then realized he hadn't even taken off his disguise yet; he still looked human. She thought he was just a normal guy.
"There you are!" the woman cried with an all too cheerful peal of laughter at Roxanne, who was sitting up shakily on her couch.
"What- who are- look what you've...!" Roxanne didn't know what to say but next thing she knew the woman's hand was clamping down around her throat. She gasped, and grabbed at the woman's arm but found her to have so much strength it was impossible to try and pry herself free.
"I've been paid good money to bring you in, Miss. Ritchi." whispered the woman into her ear. "We have plans for-" her little speech was interrupted when the sword came slicing down between them. One instant the woman had a whole arm, the next it had been sliced in half entirely. She screamed in agony as Roxanne fell to the floor, the hand around her neck now loose and lifeless.
Megamind stood between the two women, sword drawn, and disguise removed. "You will not touch her again." he growled.
The woman, shaken by the loss of her arm, stood there in shock as she cradled the stump she now called an arm. Lifting her gaze she looked at Megamind, and then the sword. She knew that sword. Every vampire from Metro City knew to fear that sword almost as badly as the sword handler's fathers. Opening her mouth she hissed at him before getting down onto all fours and suddenly changed.
"A changeling!" Megamind screamed and turned to Roxanne quickly. "Get behind a door and lock it now!" he ordered.
Where a woman once stood, now stood a pure white wolf, still missing her left paw. But this didn't seem to deter her at all. Jaws snapping she leapt upon Megamind, growling viciously. Megamind, caught off guard, went crashing to the floor and into the coffee table that splintered beneath the weight of the wolf and the alien. Roxanne, having just gotten to her feet, screamed and ran from the room but quickly returned with a metal baseball bat. By now Megamind was almost out from under the wolf, whose attack had knocked his sword out of his hands again. Her breath was that of death, and her digging claw against his ribs and shoulders was drawing deep red blood.
Then the bat came smashing down on the wolf's head, neck, and back. Roxanne just continued to hit the animal, who did have a strong aversion to pain was already weakened by the loss of her limb, yelped and flinched under the blows.
"ROXANNE!" Megamind screamed as the wolf began to turn finally, probably to leap onto Roxanne. This was the moment he needed, as he grabbed his sword quickly and brought it back to him.
Roxanne froze, bat above her head, as the metal suddenly spiked through the wolf entirely. Blood clung to the gleaming metal as it came out from her back, and the blood stained the beautiful white fur. The animal let out a small, pitiful sound before falling off of Megamind, onto the ground. As Megamind withdrew the sword the wolf changed back, and the woman lay bleeding on the floor, clutching at the sword injury to her chest.
"Who sent you?" Megamind demanded, putting the sword tip to her throat.
"Why should... I tell you...?" she asked.
Megamind knelt, grabbed the woman's good arm and sliced it off with his sword without even flinching. The woman screamed and hissed at him.
"Because if you don't I'm going to keep you alive for as long as possible and it won't be pleasant." he growled. "Who sent you to get Roxanne Ritchi?"
She glared up at him, shuddering. "Orders... are orders..." she smiled shakily. "D-daddy wanted to... to meet your lady... friend..."
He glared at her, the grip on his sword tightening. Daddy? Did she mean Father? Why would he want to see Roxanne? Unless this was all a lie, a hoax to upset him, so he wouldn't see straight. Turning his head he looked at Roxanne, who stood there holding her bat still and glaring down at the woman on her floor. She wasn't scared at all, and that was impressive. Sudden movement surprised him, Roxanne swung her bat, and barely missed hitting him.
The woman ran from the room, leapt out of the window and fell towards the ground. Both Megamind and Roxanne rushed to the balcony and looked over but she was gone. Roxanne, still gripping the bat, stood there in the cold night air shivering. Her whole body was pumping with adrenalin. She may have been a victim the first time a vampire showed up in her life but she refused to be a weeping, hysterical woman the second time. Even though she was certain her blows to the beast had more or less annoyed her than hurt her, it had helped Megamind overpower her in the end, right?
"That was amazing." Megamind said, staring at her with wide eyes full of awe.
"H-huh?" Roxanne asked, turning to look at him.
"You! I... I didn't think you'd..." he looked at the bat, then back at her. "Wow."
They stared at each other, hearts racing from the adrenalin of the vampire encounter, and Roxanne couldn't help but feel like this was the chance for something wonderful. He had come to her defense a second time, and she had helped him out. She had helped... If he hadn't come to check on her, where would she be right now? And now here they stood, vampire defeated (in a way) and the way he was looking at her with those eyes of his, how he looked so awed by her presence and her strength. No man had ever looked at her like that before.
She smiled, shakily, before looking down at her feet. "I couldn't just let you handle it yourself. Stupid, I know... you've done this your entire life... you're full of confidence when it comes to this sort of thing..."
"Well. That's true." Megamind replied as he set a hand against the balcony. "But... thing is, I'm not that confident."
She lifted her gaze to look at him, perplexed.
"When... well. Hgn." he turned away from her and sighed, frowning now.
"What is it, what's wrong?" Roxanne asked. "You're amazing at what you do, you have to know that..."
"I do, believe me I do." he replied quietly. "I can take on a room of vampires and get out with only a dislocated arm and a few bruises but when it comes down to... to..." Megamind trailed into silence and sighed heavily. "No. I can't even do this."
"Do what, what is it that you can't do?" she asked. When he said nothing she groaned. "You men! You can swing in and fight guns blazing but when it comes to your feelings you bottle them up!"
"Hey I'm not that bad..." Megamind countered.
"Oh yes you are. Look, just say what's on your mind and tell me what you're thinking." Roxanne said, putting a hand to her hip while the bat rested on her shoulder. "Don't think about it. Just spit it out."
"I think you're amazing." he blurted, as instructed, not thinking. "Instead of running and hiding you come out swinging with a bat. You didn't scream. You didn't cry. You did it all in your night things and you look so confident and I'm amazed by it all. I just think you're amazing and I want to get to know you more but now that this has happened I don't know how I can protect you but it doesn't look like you really need it; oh man. I don't know what I'm saying anymore. I want to keep you safe but outside of moving you to our manor completely I see no other way of doing it but I can't ask that of you, you're far too independent to need me watching over you I just can't stand the idea of loosing you as soon as I finally met you what if I hadn't come check on you, you would be gone and I'd be so... lost."
Roxanne stood there, shocked to silence. She hadn't expected all of that, but now that he had said it he looked a mixture of relieved, and anxious. He had no idea how she'd react to any of that. And to be honest, she didn't either.
But she finally smiled and reached out to him, and rubbed his arm gently. "You're the sweetest, most amazing guy I've ever met." Roxanne told him. "And I'm not just saying that. And about protecting me... well..." she turned to observe her partly destroyed apartment. The moment was lost to her now, and it was probably best to jump to another subject. "...for tonight I'd appreciate a place to crash."
"I can manage that." Megamind said honestly, heart still racing. He turned his head away and stared at her poor apartment as well, and felt guilty. "I'm... I'm sorry." he said.
"For what?" she asked as she walked back into the apartment, leaving the balcony and the moment behind.
"Look at what happened here, if I hadn't..." he started, but stopped.
"Yes you stop there." Roxanne said firmly, turning to look at him. "This isn't your fault, just like Hal going missing isn't mine. These things happen, and if you hadn't come to check on me I don't want to even think about what could have happened. So come on, you're going to help me pack a bag for the night since I refuse to sleep in just my underwear at your place again."
"As you... wish..." Megamind's mind went a little blank as well as fuzzy at the mention of underwear, but just numbly nodded as he followed her into her room where she would indeed, pack a bag for the night.
To be continued