Swiftshadow gasped for breath as she landed on cold wet concrete. She ached and tingled all the way down to the bone. She felt like she had been shoved inside of a shoebox. A wave of nausea almost knocked her down to the floor. The world spun dizzyingly around her. She resisted the urge to heave on the concrete below her.
"You alright?" Wilsons voice cut through her fugue.
"I think so," She steadied herself, "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure. Whatever we were hit with took us both out. My chronometer is out by several hours,"
Blue tinted glass walls surrounded her on all sides with a ceiling. The only thing that existed in this cell was a tipped over bucket. Beyond that sturdy brick walls stretched onwards. She guessed she was in some sort of warehouse. Various types of machinery and mechanisms were scattered about. Most of them painted black with decorative spikes. Blue lightning bolts were branded on many of them. Was that giant mech suit in the back?
"So we meet at last," Someone said with an ominous tone. A skinny blue skinned alien-man sat menacingly on a chair. A small robot that looked like a plasma globe with a singular eye and bear trap jaws. The man stroked the bot in long even strokes. A robot gorilla stood next to him. On closer inspection, however, revealed a fish in a dome shaped tank where the gorillas head should be. A fish in a gorilla mech suit. Now that was something that one did not see every day.
"Uhm, excuse me? But who are you?" Swiftshadow snorted.
"Who am I? Who am I?!" Offence painted over his features. He stood boldly, the little bot flew off his lap, "I am Megamind! incredibly handsome heroic genius and master of all bravery,"
That's right, Swiftshadow remembered. Hitting the invisible car, The old man turning into a blue skinned alien, getting hit by some sort of ray gun, then nothing. Whatever he hit her with knocked her out cold.
Didn't Wayne tell her about Megamind?
"And you kidnapped me because…" She tapped her talons and twitched her tail.
"Kidnapped you? I didn't kidnap you. I arrested you,"
"Arrested me? For what? Hitting your stupid invisible car,"
"Hey! That car is a work of art! And no. I'm arresting you on the grounds that you are the one abducting people off the streets,"
"WHAT!" Both she and Wilson shouted.
"Now listen here," Wilson clambered up to perch between her horns, "Under whose authority do you have to do such thing?"
"As this cities hero,I have the authority to arrest anyone with due cause or suspicion,"
"And what, exactly, makes you think that i'm the one abducting people off the street?" Swiftshadow felt a growl crawling somewhere deep inside her throat.
"What were you doing out so late at night?"
Swiftshadow didn't get a chance to answer. A ringtone chimed in, interrupting the interrogation.
"Sir, it's the police chief," The fish-gorilla said handing Megamind a cellphone.
"Ollo," Megamind answered, "Uhm, Yes… Sorry, can this wait till later?…No?… just give me a minute. Come Minion, lets find somewhere private to have this conversation,"
The pair left, leaving Swiftshadow and Wilson alone.
Swiftshadow slowly paced around the cell, making easy circles. She drank in every detail she found hoping it would reveal a way to escape. The glass was a couple inches thick and bolted down on both sides. The only holes were at the top and were only an inch in diameter. The door was made of heavy duty reinforced steel with no means of opening it on her side. Thick metal panels covered the jam so she couldn't even stick a claw in between the door and frame and try to pick at the hinges or latch.
"Any ideas on how to escape?" She asked.
"Let's see," Wilson scanned the area, "The doors control panel is only accessible from the outside, It would take far too long to laser through the doors, and the glass is a strange composition of materials. Take me over to the wall, I want to try something,"
Swiftshadow did as she was bidden. Wilson's claw opened way for a ruby coloured laser. After a few seconds cutting the only progress made was a small dark divot. Swiftshadow wished she could fire a lightning bolt, but there was nothing for her to draw energy from.
"My, don't you look to be stuck in a pickle jar," Someone chuckled, "Or however that saying goes,"
Swiftshadow jumped, toppling Wilson off her head. He cursed as he hit the concrete.
Sitting like a mirage in the glass was Crawford. He looked like a violet clad shadow on Megamind's chair. Except he didn't look like he was real, more like a two dimensional image transposed onto the glass. It was as if his image was imprinted on the glass via projector. The man grinned like a cheshire cat.
"You!"
"You, me, we, us. Quite the artful vocabulary, though I'm certain that you can be a bit more creative than that,"
Swiftshadow's jaw hung open. The words seemed to refuse to leave her mouth, As she stared mutely at the phantasm of a man.
"Oh, Come on, Surely you're not that star struck at my appearance," He smiled wryly.
"Uhm, Swiftshadow, Is this the guy you told me about, from you're visions?"
"Yeah," Her mouth seemed to reconnect with her brain, "Just surprised to see him, and curious as to why he's here,"
"Well I noticed that you seemed to be in a bit of a bind, and came to offer a bit of advice," Crawford's image began walking across the surface of her enclosure.
"Advice? And here I was hoping you'd just magically open the door,"
"HA! Don't be so daft! as if I would just simply just hand you the keys without presenting some form of challenge. Where'd the fun in that be? Besides only the fellow who put you in there can get you out,"
"So what you're saying is that I have somehow convince Megamind to let me go? I don't know if you noticed, he doesn't seem to want to listen to me,"
"Perhaps not, But there are other options available,"
"Like what? tricking him?"
"See now you're getting it,"
"How am I going to do that? I doubt that anything I say will convince him to open that door, So unless I somehow conjure some form of illusion,"
"Now there is an idea,"
"But I have no Idea how to do that,"
"That's because you were starting out with something far too complicated," So he had been somehow spying on her Swiftshadow thought as the man continued, "You need to start out with something far more simple, like, say a wall, or floor. Illusions are only effective if they are powered by belief,"
"Belief?" Swiftshadow was about to ask more when the sound of approaching footsteps distracted her.
"Honestly, How many times do have to tell that man I have everything under control. The suspect is contained and soon everyone will be back home, safe and sound," Megamind's voice echoed from behind a corner.
"I know sir," Minion replied.
Panic set in. Swiftshadow looked around to find Crawford was gone. She took in a deep breath. Now was not the time to press the panic button. Facing the door she pressed herself against the floor. She tucked Wilson in between her forelegs. She studied the concrete beneath her, noting every crack, divot and imperfection. Summoning the power inside her she imagined herself taking the rough grey surface and throwing it over herself like a blanket. Believe, she told herself, for right now she was nothing more than a simple slab of concrete.
'I hope this works' She thought as Megamind came into view.
Megamind had to blink a few times as he stared into an empty was tempted pinch himself just to make sure he wasn't imagining things. This cannot be happening right now, he told himself. Especially since he had told the chief of police that he had a suspect secured.
"Uhm, sir, I think she escaped," Minion pointed to the empty cage.
"I can see that!" He thought he'd designed the cell to be escape proof. He had engineered and built every inch of that prison to perfection. No one should've been able to escape. He paced around the cell examining every detail. With the exception of a small scorch mark there was nothing to indicate on how she escaped.
"Maybe she's Invisible," Suggested Minion.
"Don't be re-dick-cue-luss Minion. Only I have the technology to turn things invisible," Megamind stared at the door. Perhaps he could find more clues inside. He made his way to the control panel.
"Are you sure that's wise sire? Maybe We could have the brainbots scout the area for her. She couldn't have gotten far," Minion stood before the doorway.
"Nonsense, If we can figure out she escaped we can follow her straight to the hostages," Megamind pressed the button labeled OPEN.
The door swung open.
As it did several things happened so rapidly that Megamind bare had time to comprehend them all. The cells floor exploded in a flurry of silvery sparks and black scales. The beast pounced on top of Minion knocking him over before leaping away. She bolted over a tower of crates. Megamind pulled out his de-gun and fired. The ray went over the beasts tail, only to hit an unsuspecting Brainbot.
Megamind hissed in frustration. The hunt was on.
Julien studied the cities skyline from his hotels balcony. The Midmorning sun bathed the concrete jungle in brilliant golden light. The constant din of rumbling traffic echoed from below. Packs of strange little robots patrolled the streets from the air. Their ruby red eyes scanned the roads below as if searching for something.
Julien took in some amusement from observing their movements. They roamed in packs of five to seven, each taking on some role in their little search. The leader of the pack would guide its crew to a certain area where the others would scatter. One would check the cars, a couple would go peering through windows, another would disappear into the storm drain. After while they would reconvene and move on to the next spot.
Whatever they were searching for they were being thorough enough about it.
'My talisman is close' Malic Korvoth whispered in his ear. A strange form of hunger framed his voice.
"That's why we're here," Julien took a sip from his mock-tail. The green serpent gem hung heavily from his lapel. Two similar gems were tucked carefully away in a pocket inside his suit jacket. Just four more gems remained just outside his grasp. Just four more to save his mother.
He took out his iPhone to check the time. Eleven O'clock. His mother would be in the hospital awaiting another round of chemo.
He couldn't help but feel a twinge off sadness as looked at the lock screen image. Taken just last year on their trip in Hawaii. The two of them rented a boat and went out to sea to swim with the dolphins. It was their way of celebrating the finalization of the divorce. His mother was plump and healthy then, not the skeletal mockery of a woman she was now.
He was running out of time.
Somewhere inside this city was a piece of something that could save her. He just had to find it.
"So where do you recommend we start looking?" He asked.