The city loomed before Swiftshadow. Evening drew near. Empty streets sprawled out before her. lonely cars empty on the curbs. Window blinds were being shut in the windows concealing their warm light. It was hauntingly silent, the only sound being of her shoes hitting the pavement.
"You sure about this?" Wilson uttered from inside her backpack. he had poked his head out to view the barren roads.
"According to the news papers, the people being abducted are usually alone at night," Swiftshadow wearily studied the shadowy corners, "If a gem is involved I should be able to sense it,"
"And your plan is lure out the culprit? To what end exactly? Our last encounter with Malic Korvoth didn't go exactly to plan," Swiftshadow felt a shudder crawl down her spine. Wilson hadn't needed to remind her. Trapped in a nightmare full of her own personal fears. The memories still burned fresh in her mind.
"I don't plan on directly engaging with it, just merely confirm its presence,"
"I hope you have a hell of an escape plan," He sighed.
A clattering bang echoed from a dark alley. Swiftshadow immediately went on full alert. She pressed herself against the wall at the alley's mouth. She prepared herself for transformation. carefully she peaked around the corner.
She found a dog digging in a tipped over trash can. His brown tail curled upwards in a circle and wagged slightly. He must of found something good, Swiftshadow mused.
"Just a dog," Wilson spoke, startling the mutt. The dogs dark brown eyes locked onto Swiftshadow blue.
"Oh, sorry about that, didn't mean to spook ya," She said in near perfect canine. In human form it was hard to get the ruffs right.
"Did you just speak dog?" The dog stared at her slack jawed with a piece of moldy bread crust stuck on a tooth.
"Call it a gift," She said, "Do you mind if I ask a few questions?"
"Hey! Bones, find anything good. Massive is getting impatient," A large she dog emerged from the shadows. She was nearly twice bones' height, with bright golden eyes and sharp pointed ears. She looked to be a great dane cross. If Swiftshadow hadn't been acquainted with wolves she would of found her almost intimidating.
"Sorry Storm. I was just talking with this human," Bones said.
"Have you been drinking that fire water? Humans can't understand us,"
"Oh but I can," Said Swiftshadow.
"How?!" Storm sputtered.
"That's what I asked," noted Bones.
"A human that speaks dog? Now that's not something you see every day," A fluffy white dog strutted in. He looked like some kind of terrier. A tiny one at that. Swiftshadow could easily pick him up with one hand. He carried himself with a proud and mighty poise that reminded her of Strong-paw. She couldn't help but imagine Strong-paw being transformed into an angry rat sized mutt. She stifled a chuckle.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt whatever you guys were doing, But I was wondering if you guys knew of any strange things happening around here?"
"Strange things she asked, ha," Laughed the little white dog, "Strange things happen here all the time. Flying humans, A blue skinned human running around with fish in a metal body, living shadows,"
Living shadows? That definitely sounded like what she was looking for, "Could you you tell me about these 'living shadows'?"
"You want to know about that?! You must be crazier than I thought," Bones cried out.
"It chased us out of our old den site a few weeks ago," Said Massive.
"Den site? could you tell me where that is?" That's when she felt it. A sickening creeping sensation along her back. It oozed along the periphery of her spirit sense. It prowled rapidly closer, like a predator trying to locate prey in a vast forest. The chilled air pressed down as the the street lights seemed to get dimmer. A shadow flashed by.
"It's here!" Yelped Bones, his hackles standing tall. Storm growled defensively at the unseen threat.
"Run!" Commanded Massive as he bolted out of the alley and into the street. The other two dogs followed suit, charging away from the area.
"Did they say anything helpful?" Asked Wilson.
"Yeah," Swiftshadow held out a hand, Allowing Wilson to pull himself out of the backpacking perch himself on her arm. Setting him down she transformed, "Get on, we're going hunting,"
Megamind sat quietly on a lonely bench. He checked to make sure the holowatch was still operating and his disguise was still intact. To any onlooker he would appeared to be a simple old man checking the time. The days newspaper in hand. He had to make the scene as authentic as possible.
But still he couldn't help but be a tad bored. With nothing else to do he sat and read the newspaper. The only times he could recall reading the news was when he was in prison and the warden had confiscated all other forms of entertainment. While a villain he was alway plotting and scheming, never any time for the news. Not unless he was front page of course. The news columns he read since his reformation were the ons that either directly featured him or the ones that pertained to the disappearances.
Now he was stuck sitting here reading the thing front to back. He found most of it kinda drab. Mostly just politics, stocks, minor local events, sports. One column in particular grabbed his attention. The Metro City Telegraph had done a little poll on people's opinions on Megamind.
There were a few positive reviews, Which made Megamind blossom, and no doubt fed his already massive ego. There a few that were wishy washy on their opinion of Megamind's position as hero.
Then were the critics. And there were many.
'Megamind Is just a pale imitation of Metro man,'
'Metro man would've found those people by now'
'I wish Metro man was still around,'
Megamind huffed. Even after his supposed 'death' Metroman continued to be thorn in his side. Metro man's shadow still loomed large over the city. A part of mega mind wondered if he would ever escape from.
"Code: The Brainbot's are detecting movement a block south, Sir," Minions voice sounded from Megamind's earpiece. He couldn't help but glance across the street where minion was parked in the invisible car. One would have to look very carefully to see the vague translucent sheen outlining the vehicle. It was most visible in the day light, while the dark hid it from view.
"Code: Understood," Megamind felt for his de-gun on his hip And checked to make sure that it was in the proper setting. He quickly ran off a checklist in his mind to make sure that everything was ready.
"Code: Bogey approaching,"
"Code: Ready the Brainbot's, Minion,"
A blur flashed by. Followed by a great fearsome beast. It swooped down on great dark wings. a dark gold colour flashed on their undersides. White sabre teeth gleamed from the beasts jaws. Razor sharp talons reached out to snag something.
It dove down, skimming only a couple feet off the the ground. It did not seem to notice Megamind as it sped by, completely focussed on something else. Megamind could not see what it was, just as the beast could not see the invisible car.
The beast smacked face first into the cars windshield. Megamind winced as Minion shrieked into the earpiece. The beast growled in pain as it slid off the hood. Wings crumpled on the ground like a pair of wet capes. Megamind was grateful that the windshield was made from bullet proof glass.
"Wilson, what the fuck did I just hit?" The beast groaned as she picked herself off the pavement. She rubbed her read in pain. She probed the Invisible cars bumper with a set wing claws.
"According to my scans, It appears we just hit an invisible car," A little robot dinosaur struggled to regain its position back on the beasts shoulders.
"An invisible…Car? Who would own something like that? That feels like it breaks several road safety laws,"
"That would be I," Megamind announced proudly.
Her blue eyes met his, "Uhm, who are you?"
Megamind clicked off his holowatch, "It I! MEGAMIND! Defender of Metrocity and defeater of evil!"
"Yeah, I don't have time this," The dragon began to limp off.
"Halt, fiend!" Ordered Megamind. He wasn't about to let the suspect get away. Not until she told him where she had her hostages held. She ignored him as she raised her wings and readied herself for take off.
"I said halt!" He pulled out his de-gun. Once more she ignored him as she heaved her wings downward as she launched herself into the sky. She only got a couple wing beats in before Megamind fired.
Her body was completely engulfed in a blueish light and dissolved and shrank into a smaller form. A tiny blue cube took her place as it fell back to ground. It hit the pavement with a light thunk.
"Code: We got the bad guy?" Asked Minion.
"Code: Yes we did," Megamind picked up the cube and held it in the light. A sense of triumph washed over him.
Wayne Scott stepped out of the bar, guitar tucked neatly in its case. He just finished his first gig at the rundown old place. While the waitstaff grimaced at the sound of his music, the patrons were too drunk to care. A few had also joined in the off key singing. An all around successful night as far as Music Man was concerned. He couldn't wait to tell Roxanne and Megamind about his success.
Night had fallen over the city. The bar owner had offered to pay for a cab ride home, but Wayne had declined. He had super powers after all. He doubted that there was a being in existence, much less Metro City, strong enough to overpower him. And he could get home in an instant if he really wanted to.
Right now he was content to take a casual stroll through the city streets. They were quiet with only his foot steps to break the silence. which didn't mean much to his super hearing. He could hear a pin drop a mile away.
A flickering streetlight caught his attention. A dark figure was standing beneath it. Wayne blinked a couple times. With his super vision he should've be able to see the person in perfect clarity. Yet when he looked at it all he could see was darkness. It was like looking into a void. He couldn't discern any distinguishing features.
Except for the large horn like features on its head.
"Are you responsible for these disappearances?"
Silence.
A chill ran down his back. Wayne did not like the look of this thing. Whatever it was, it certainly was not human.
It pointed its palm towards him. Wayne tried to take a step toward the being only to find his feet locked in place. He looked down to see his feet encased a dark tarry substance which was climbing up his legs.
In a few of his battles with Megamind, numerous thick goopy substances were used to trap him. It never really alarmed him as he was alway able to break free with minimal effort. Super strength and all that.
But this was different. It felt alive somehow.
he raised a leg to try and shake it off but it resisted every movement. Coiling and constricting it wrenched his foot back down. He felt himself sinking into the pavement.
That was new, Wayne thought horrifyingly. Nothing on this earth has ever been able to overpower him. He was able to carry an entire skyscraper without much effort. He tried to jump into the sky to escape his doom. The goo simply doubled its efforts in taking him. It crawled rapidly over his waist, chest and then shoulders.
He looked into the figures bright glowing eyes. He couldn't remember if they were there before, as a cloud of fog rolled into his mind. The world grew distant as everything faded into black.
And all that remained was an empty street and a lone guitar.