Discovery

Megamind leaned against the cart as he gasped for air like a fish out of water. His lungs felt like two old, scratchy dish towels for what seemed like a terribly long time. After a few minutes of rest his breathing began to slow and he finally took the opportunity to look around at his surroundings. The men he had traveled with were still recuperating from their mad dash to the safety of the old stone warehouse. Megamind's eyes widened at the sight of the mountains of boxes that were piled in every corner of the expansive storage facility. The crates that they had brought were already being placed alongside the others. He quickly estimated there to be at least a hundred and fifty crates. Of what, he wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure he'd get some answers from that important looking door at the back of the room.

Every now and then some guards would appear from behind a heavy iron door to take some boxes with them and came back empty handed only to carry down more. Every time the door swung open he glimpsed stairs heading downward into a tight passageway. Megamind figured whatever was underground must be important, so he started to ponder how he would get in without making a scene. He didn't have to ponder long before an important looking figure stomped over.

"Alrigh' ya lazy lumps, you've h'd yur rest," he shook a stubby padded finger at them, "Na get a move on 'fore I feed ya ta th' razorbacks!"

They all lazily stood and sauntered over to the pile of crates, Megamind did his best to mimic their displeasure in having to move though he was eager to find out what was going on behind that door. They each took one box up and proceeded past the threshold and into the narrow staircase cautiously. The stairs ended at another door that was accompanied by a caged red light and a sign that read:

When red light is on, proceed with caution in lab. If flashing, do not enter!

The door slid open and they advanced further into the room that smelled of something wet and sour with a hint of burning metal. Megamind put down his crate and was given another smaller one to take to the "back room". He motioned for Minion to stand guard and keep a lookout for anything unusual. As he walked slowly his keen eyes took in the flurry of mechanical activity throughout the antechamber. Familiar looking vials were taken from the wooden crates and were placed on a conveyer belt to be whisked away and picked up by another contraption, disappearing into its inner workings. The contents were then dumped into a large vat where it was churned and heated and large amounts of vapor rose from the solution, which was funneled off into some other area. The vat slowly trickled into another smaller tub were it was once again simmered while the last bit of vapor trailed away and left a thick gel in its place. The gel oozed into a series of windowless chambers that hissed and fizzled as they worked. At the end of all this was a carousel where the machine dispensed tiny black spheres now and again, which were hardly larger than a marble. The spheres were then carefully place by hand onto a small trolley tray.

Though He could find neither rhyme nor reason for it, he concluded that they were condensing the stock pile of narcotics into these capsules. From what he had heard, the drugs as they were, were already very potent if not deadly. Condensing it as much as this machine did could kill a blue whale easily. The only thing these innocent looking orbs could possibly bring was immediate death. Megamind's stomach churned at the thought, and his face grew paled.

He pushed his way through a set of double doors which spilled out into a large area separated by a plane of blast poof glass. On one side was a long, narrow metal table cluttered with spidery looking holders; on the other was a great many black cases with questionable contents. He set his load down and lingered there to observe the activities of this room.

The crates were unpacked by the workers to reveal glass globes that had a crosshatch of lines etched into its surface and delicate spiraling tubes that reached down almost to its hollow center. They were placed in the holders which gently opened them like fragile glass flowers all along the table. The trolley that held the deadly capsules pushed its way past the double doors and was brought up alongside, where they were then placed into the center of the open globes. Each closed like a ravenous Venus flytrap and sealed with a sound "snick" before they were piled onto the trolley and taken into the separate area. The man pushing the trolley left to get another while a different group placed the now black centered globes into the single empty socket in each nearly full case.

Though he wasn't one hundred percent sure of what the other globes contained, he did realize that they had a strikingly similar appearance to the dark matter fuel cells he had been searching for. Enough fuel to construct a fleet of ships - or to inconspicuously hide the lethal decoys.

The communicator on his wrist crackled and Minion's voice hissed urgently, "Sir! We've got a problem!" The watch went silent and before he could respond a big meaty hand with tattooed knuckles fell upon his shoulder and he jumped. He recognized that hand, and unfortunately enough for him the hand's owner recognized him. Grego stood there large as life, griping his shoulder with near bone crushing force. He smirked cockily as he leaned down to come face to face with Megamind, "caught you red handed, punk."

Megamind's eye twitched slightly as disgust rose in his throat. How dare he touch the master of all villainy! In one swift move he took his sharp elbow and rammed it into Grego's stomach, winding him and freeing his person, and brought the heel of his boot up to his nose in a well planted round house kick. The result of which ended in a revolting crack that was all the proof Megamind needed to tell him that Grego's nose was thoroughly broken. Megamind dashed through the double doors into the condensing room and up the stairs to the warehouse. He came to a full stop at the sight of his captured friend. A sledge hammer poised in one alien's grasp above his dome while two others held him to the floor. He knew full well what they were planning to do. Grego stumbled up the stairs, clutching his nose turned faucet, and glared at him with red eyed fury.

"Break my d'ose will ya," he shouted, his voice and pronunciation sounded off because of the crushed nasal passages, "I'll break your face!" His clumsy punches were narrowly dodged by Megamind, but a shovel to the back of the head from a hidden opponent was the last thing he expected. He sank to his knees in a daze and tried to regain his footing but he wasn't quick enough to avoid a square punch to the jaw that sent him flying across the room and into a complete daze. Grego strode up to the nearly unconscious Megamind and frowned.

"You should consider yourself lucky my boss wants you alive," he spat, menace in his eyes, "I've killed for less d'han d'his". He turned and waved some men over, "Sack 'em."

A bag much like the one he used on Miss Ritchie blackened his vision and he thought to himself as they dragged his now bound form away, "If I live, I had better remind Minion to wash the bag."