The news vans breaks squealed to a halt. A chain link gate stood before its bumper. Beyond that was an empty plot of land. Weeds and dandelions surrounded and large concrete slab. Roxanne studied the chainlink fence trying to formulate a path of entry.
A raven watched from a nearby street light.
"I'm telling you there's nothing here," Said Calvin, stepping out of the driver's seat, "Just a bunch of weeds,"
Roxanne ignored him as she climbed over the fence and dropping to the other side. She felt like she had to investigate this. Her gut instinct told her that was something here. Something amiss. Something here worth investigating. Though if she was being honest she wasn't quite sure what she was looking for. She continued forward.
"Roxanne," Calvin grunted as her vaulted over the fence, "We could seriously get in trouble if were caught trespassing,"
"you didn't care about that when we were investigating that smuggling operation, a couple months ago,"
"That was different," He muttered.
Wham! Roxanne felt herself walk face first into something hard. Rubbing her nose she looked at the concrete slab before her. She hit right at about where there should have been a wall. Reaching out she she felt a rough coarse texture with long straight grooves. A brick wall she realized. An invisible brick wall. It was more than a wall she realized, but an entire building.
"What do you know," Mumbled Calvin, "You were right,"
Using an outstretched arm for guidance she traced around the perimeter of the building. She hoped she could find some kind of door. It wasn't long before she felt a large smooth metal panel. About the right width for a door. After some probing she found a spherical door knob. After some jiggling she discovered it to be unlocked.
A dark rectangle opened before her, like great maw.
She knew she should've called Megamind at the minute of her discovery, but she was too overcome with curiosity. She also needed to see if her hunch was correct. Were the victims here?
She carefully crept forward into the darkness. She stalked over the dust covered concrete as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. A large empty warehouse loomed before her. The air was thick with an eerie silence. The faint shuffling of hooves caught her attention. In the darkness she could make out the dim outlines of a deer herd.
She may not of been an expert in zoology, but she could tell each individual was a different species of deer. A Moose calf, and elderly roe deer, and a mule deer all stared at her with gloomy eyes.
And in the centre of it all was a magnificent pure white elk. A great span of antlers branched off his head ending in a dozen points. His head hung despairingly as his eyes stared in to nothing. They brightened at the sight of her. His drooping ears focused on her. He gave a hopeful bugle as he strode up to her.
"Wayne?" Roxanne almost couldn't believe her eyes. The elk dropped his head as if to say sorry, his eyes pleading into hers. A mismatched herd of deer in side of an invisible building. There was some truth in Swiftshadow's words.
A sudden fury claimed the elk as he suddenly charged. His rack pointed forward like a dozen daggers.
"HALT!" a voice shouted in Roxanne's ear. Calvin stood next to her palm outstretched mere inches away from a raging elk. The elk was still while snorted angrily.
"Kneel," Commanded Calvin. Slowly the elk dropped to its knees. It fought its own straining muscles with every movement as if he could not control his own body. A deep crimson built in the elk shining blue eyes, "Now, now, None of that,"
"C-calvin?" She stepped away from the man.
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Roxy," Calvin reached into his shirt collar pulling a stag shaped diamond. Shining. Gleaming. Blue.
And that was the last thing she saw.
"Now how does that fit," Megamind said as he adjusted a strap on Swiftshadow's chest. A saddle now sat snuggly in between her wings. An actual saddle. Not a jury rigged system of knotted ropes. There was nice port for Wilson could hook into and not fall out. Sleek black panels blended nearly perfectly with her scales. Megamind wanted to to stud it with spikes but she shut that down.
"Like it was made for me or something," Swiftshadow rolled her shoulders, acquainting herself to the unfamiliar weight.
"Excellent," Megamind posted proudly, "Unfortunately due to limitations this device can hold enough power for only two lightning bolts before needing a recharge. Three if you're careful about your consumption,"
"How's the other piece coming along, Wilson?"
"Almost done," Wilson chirped from a nearby work bench as he screwed a panel in place, "I think it's ready for a fit test,"
Megamind took the device and placed it over her eyes. The visor slipped over her nose and hooked over her horns. Her vision to on a bluish tint. It matched the saddle perfectly in both style and functionality. Swiftshadow still wasn't sure as to why Megamind was doing this, but she wasn't going to turn down something that could possibly give her even a slight advantage against Malic Korvoth. Or free stuff.
"There," Said Megamind proudly, "When done, this should protect your eyes from the light bombs and facilitate remote communication between you and Wilson. Speaking of which, Minion, how are those bright bombs coming along?"
Minion had his eyes glued to a television, "Uhh, sir I think you should see this,"
The four of them all crowded around the small analog television. A news reported stood in the wreckage of the days earlier battle.
"As we can see here on thirty-sixth street and sixty-ninth avenue, Megamind reportedly assaulted an unnamed teen. According to witnesses Megamind supposedly accused an innocent teenager of harbouring the disappeared persons before launching a multitude of weaponry.
While the teen did escape unharmed, the Incident has left this reporter wondering if this is was a genuine mistake on megamind's part or if its sign of his return to villainy. Next is Mike on the weather,"
Megamind turn the television off.
"I don't believe it," He huffed, "Can't they see that I'm trying to help. That he was the villain? I'm the hero they should be applauding me and my valiant efforts to stop evil,"
"Aren't you kinda missing the point?" Asked Swiftshadow.
"Point?"
"I mean isn't the purpose of a hero to help people?" Said Swiftshadow, "I thought a hero was someone who does the right thing even if no one is watching,"
"If that's the case, then what does that make you?" Queried Wilson, "Cause I know you've helped save at least an entire cities worth of people and saved me from and an eternities worth of solitude. Not to mention all the stuff with Malic Korvoth,"
"Well… I, uh…," But her words failed her. Sure she may have helped save Dulsbury and Dakota City, saved an entire wolf pack, and played a minor role in stopping Megatron from destroying the entire planet, But that didn't make her a hero? Did it? She certainly did not feel like one.
"Just cause destiny demands I be a hero, does not mean I am one," She grumbled.
Megamind raised a brow, "I know a thing or two about destiny. It can be a strange and fickle thing, for I once believed I was destined to be a super villain,"
"You… a villain?" Swiftshadow's brows knitted together. She had a hard time imaging this overdramatic oaf as anything evil. He lacked the cold calculating nature of Shockwave, the ruthless cunning of Megatron, or the overwhelming power of Malic Korvoth.
"I know right? Waste these charismatic style and wit on evil endeavours? Criminal, I tell you," He smirked, "And I was the greatest super villain this city had ever seen. My rivalry with Metro man was as glorious as it was epic. He won some, I almost won others, and then everything changed,"
Swiftshadow tilted her head wondering where he was going with this whole speech.
"And well to make a long grandiose story short, Metro man faked his death, allowing me to run rampant on the streets. But I got bored after a while for what was a villain without a hero to fight?"
Swiftshadow could think of a few things, but kept quiet as Megamind continued.
"But unfortunately I created a hero that turned into a villain. A mistake that nearly destroyed the city and Roxanne. After that I came to the conclusion that sometimes that your destiny is not the one thats handed to you but one you make for yourself,"
"So what you saying is that I have a choice?"
"Of course you do," Megamind chuckled, "You can choose what kind of hero you want to be,"
"But what if I don't want to be a hero?"
"If not a hero then what do you want to be?"
She balked. What did she want be? Who did she want be? She hadn't really gave much thought beyond get home, reunite with her brother. After that, she didn't really know. Go back to Unit E? Find Sky and the wolf pack? Wander off into the sunset like a cowboy?
A cell phones ring disrupted her thoughts. Megamind was kidding through his pockets searching for the source. Flipping open the cell he answered, "Ollo?"
Swiftshadow inched closer so she could hear the person the other end. A strange low voice came through the speaker, "Hello. yes, is this Megamind?"
"Of course it is I!"
"Do you know where Roxanne is? She was supposed to drop by earlier for an interview but she never showed. I've tried calling her several times but she's not answering,"
"I'll see what I can do," Megamind was still, eyes widened as he grit his teeth. He immediately hung up and dialled another number. Swiftshadow heard the other line ring until it hit voicemail. Megamind cancelled and tried again and again. His face seemed to get paler with every attempt. After about the seventh attempt he looked Swiftshadow dead in the eye, "If there's any other way to locate this gem wielders lair now would be a good time to tell me,"
After a moment of thought Swiftshadow answered, "I think I know someone who can help, but that is if we can find them,"