Mile in My Shoes - Ch 7
Well, LJ spontaniously changed the font and color of a bit of this story in the middle... I have *just* found the problem and it should be fixed. Hopefully...
Title: A Mile in My Shoes
Author: LadyStina2
Characters: Roxanne, Megamind, Minion
Chapter Summary: Roxanne and Megamind stumble upon a cure, but the effects aren't quiet as permanent as they'd like.
AN: A special thanks to my friend Annette who allowed me to borrow her business’s name (and her own) for a part of this chapter and the next. If you’re in Michigan, you should look her up!
Ch 7 - Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Roxanne looked down at the TV remote that she was suddenly holding then watched as Megamind ran out of the room. He sure was acting nervous all of a sudden. She wondered what he had in his ‘workshop’ that he didn’t want her to see. She tossed the remote control into his chair and started to wander around. It wasn’t her fault that they left her here unattended. She still wasn’t feeling all that well, but she wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity for old-fashioned snooping.
She walked away from the monitors and towards a long table set against a wall. There were ink stains and burn marks all along it and a couple wads of paper that hadn’t been cleaned up. This area must have been ‘reporter-proofed’ already. She picked up a wad of paper and uncrumpled it. Instead of sinister plans or a complex chemical formula, or even just doodling, she found a grocery list.
She sighed in disappointment and crumpled the paper up again. As she threw it back towards the table a brainbot swooped in from above and caught it in its bear-trap jaws. The suddenness of it made her jump a bit. The brainbot turned towards her and dropped the wadded up ball of paper in front of her. When she didn’t move, it tilted its eyestalk a little towards the side while still watching her.
“You… you want to play?” she asked it cautiously and feeling a little silly at the same time.
“Bowg, bowg!” the thing replied and bobbed up and down a little. She slowly reached for the paper ball, afraid to make any sudden movements. The brainbot just watched her. She threw the piece of paper and it swooped to catch it again. This time a second brainbot dropped down and distracted the first from its game. They both flew back up to the ceiling.
Roxanne watched them as they rose, then she felt her eyes widen as she saw what was above her. She saw hundreds of softly glowing brainbots just idly floating around the ceiling. She had never imagined that Megamind had so many of the things. She probably shouldn’t be surprised since he was seen with them more and more often recently.
She started poking around again, knowing that she only had about nine minutes until Megamind said he would be back for her. She hurried to a tarp that was obviously covering something and peeked underneath. And it was merely an internal combustion engine from some car or other. Nothing exciting or diabolical to see here. She dropped the tarp and headed for the next covered bundle. This one had an interesting cylindrical shape to it. She was interrupted just as her hand grabbed the bottom edge.
“Looking for something, Miss Ritchi?” Megamind asked. She straightened up quickly which had the side effect of making her dizzy. Maybe she needed more oxygen?
“Umm… no?” she lied.
“Well, clearly I can’t leave you unsupervised. Come on, the workshop has been reporter-proofed.”
“You’re too kind,” she muttered sarcastically as she headed towards him. “Wait a sec,” she told him as she caught up. He turned and looked at her questioningly. She reached out to smooth down the hair on his borrowed head and noticed that he flinched and drew back when her hand got close.
“Stop that,” she snapped and reached for his hair again. This time he stayed still but was eyeing her warily. She smoothed the hair out until it looked half-way presentable. “There. That’s been bothering me all day,” she explained.
He stepped back from her and replied sounding a bit put out, “If you’re quite done attempting to groom me, Minion’s waiting on us.” He turned and started walking to the workshop area he just left.
Interesting. He doesn’t mind invading her personal space, but he gets edgy when someone invades his. She filed that away in case she was presented an opportunity to use it someday.
She suddenly grinned mischievously. Why wait for ‘someday?’ She hurried and caught up with him then proceeded to walk along with him while being just inside his comfort zone. She could tell that she was getting to him because he would attempt to step away or increase his pace. She just matched his movements and attempted to hold an innocent look on her face when he would shoot her a look.
When they made it the short distance to the workshop, Megamind hurried over to the bench that Minion was working at. Roxanne was starting to feel worse and dizzy again, so she sat down in a chair near the door. She was already sitting with her head resting in her hands before she realized that it was ‘her’ kidnapping chair. Figures. She lifted her head to tell the guys that they might want to check her oxygen levels again, but before she opened her mouth darkness closed in around her.
-/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\-
Roxanne started to wake up, but decided it was too early without even opening her eyes. She rolled over to get a little more comfortable. When she did, she felt her bangs fall onto her eyes so she reached up to move them out of the way before she settled down to try to sleep some more.
Something about that didn’t seem right, and yet it did at the same time.
She frowned as she thought about it and realized that she was getting further from the possibility of falling back asleep as her mind woke up. She sighed as she gave up trying to drift off and opened her eyes to a darkened room. As she was getting her bearings, she recalled what had happened in the last couple days and sighed again as she sat up. Apparently Megamind decided that he wanted the bed and deposited her on an air mattress in the same room. Of all the petty, inconsiderate… And wasn’t she the one who was sick!
She stood up and marched to the bed to give him a piece of her mind. When she got close enough to see, all the anger drained out of her.
“Megamind?” she asked disbelievingly towards the huge-headed blue alien lying in the bed hooked up to an IV and that heart monitor. She looked at her hands and saw that they really were her hands. She reached out and shook his shoulder. “Megamind,” she said more firmly.
His eyes fluttered open and he looked at her blearily, “Miss Ritchi, what are you-“ then his eyes widened and became alert in an instant as he sat up quickly, “Miss Ritchi?!” He stuck his hands out in front of himself to check that it was really him.
“What happened? How did we switch back?” Roxanne asked anxiously.
He answered, “It appears my hypothesis was correct. We needed to be in close proximity and in a relaxed state. Odd… I really considered that a long shot…”
He gasped as a thought obviously crossed his mind and he quickly pulled out the IV and bolted out of bed. As he did so, the electrodes that were connected to his chest ripped off and the machine started alarming. Megamind didn’t seem to pay it any attention as he threw open the door and raced down the hall. Roxanne quickly followed wondering what was so important that he would have to run off. She followed him to the workshop where she found him pouring over a blue print with a relieved smile.
“Brainbots!” he suddenly commanded, and was just as quickly surrounded by a swarm of the floating machines. “Bring me my blue prints!” The brainbots quickly flew off.
“What do you need blue prints for?” she asked
“For inventions, Miss Ritchi! Inventions!” he said joyously with a laugh, while still not explaining anything.
“But-“ she started, but was interrupted as Minion hurried into the room.
“Sir! Miss Ritchi! What are you doing in here? Miss Ritchi, you should be in bed,” the worried looking fish scolded. She was guessing that he was monitoring that heart machine and freaked out when it flat-lined after Megamind removed the sensors.
Before she could say anything in her defense Megamind crowed, “I’m me again, Min-yon!” About then the brainbots started showering him with blue print paper. He snatched one up and let his eyes roam over it. He grinned then grabbed another one. She was definitely missing something here.
"That’s great news, Sir! Now you should be in bed. You’re still not fully recovered from that yogurt Miss Ritchi ate.” Minion turned towards her then, “Miss Ritchi, I can take you home after I convince Sir to get settled into bed.”
“Thanks, Minion,” she replied while still watching Megamind. He was acting like a kid in a candy store.
“Come along, Sir. The bots will bring these to you in bed. And they’ll bring in the drafting supplies for any new ideas,” Minion coaxed.
Megamind finally seemed to notice what was happening around him and calmed slightly, “Yes, you’re… not wrong. Let’s get me monitored and Miss Ritchi back to her daily grind.” He grabbed up several of the prints that he hadn’t reviewed yet and headed towards Roxanne. When he got close he stopped and said, “Miss Ritchi, I trust you will be discreet about this incident and anything you discovered during our recovery.”
“Megamind, no one would believe me if I told them the truth. Even I find it hard to believe and I was part of it!”
“Excellent,” he replied crisply and she could see a wall come up that she hadn’t even realized had been lowered a little. She mentally cursed at her inattentiveness and the lost opportunity. “Ciao, Miss Ritchi! Until we meet again!” he started walking back to his room and threw her a little wave over his shoulder.
“Any clue as to when that might be?” she called after him.
“And ruin the surprise? I think not. Minion?”
“Yes, Sir. Miss Ritchi, if you’d please?” Minion gestured out the door and in the direction of the car. Roxanne started walking towards the car as she was being escorted out.
“He sure is trying to get rid of me awful fast. It’s still dark out!” she complained as they walked to the car.
“Well, Sir hates people to see him when he’s not at his best, you know,” Minion explained conversationally.
“I’ve been him when he’s not his best,” she groused.
“Yes, and thank you for cooperating! You’re a much better patient than Sir has ever been,” Minion said. “It makes my job much easier.” They got into the car and Minion handed her a blindfold. She sighed and put it on. Then she felt Minion adjust it to make sure she couldn’t see.
“So, what exactly is your job, Minion?” she asked curiously. She had always thought of him as, well, as a minion. But she thought she had seen something else during her experience at the Evil Lair.
“Oh, you know…” Minion said slightly embarrassed, “I look after Sir and help where I can.”
“I bet that can be a full time job,” she led him, hoping to get the chatty fish to start talking. She was feeling much better now and her reporter instincts were begging her to come up with something, even if it was just for her own info.
“Oh, it is!” Minion enthused, happy to have someone to talk to, “You would not believe how many times I have to remind Sir to eat much less anything else. And do you know we started out by sharing the cooking chore? After the fifth time he served an unopened can of fruit cocktail and declared it dinner, I decided to take over that task completely. But to hear him tell it, we still split the cooking 80-20.” Minion chuckled a little.
“Does he take credit for your work often?”
“Oh no, Miss Ritchi. We’re a team! So credit and blame are shared. We just specialize in different areas is all,” he explained.
“Oh? And what do you specialize in, Minion?” It was too bad she didn’t have a camera rolling; this was turning out to be a good interview. Maybe she should try to get Minion to talk more often during kidnappings.
“Well, cooking, like I mentioned. I also take care of any medical issues. I design and make Sir’s clothes. I assist in the building and maintenance of Sir’s inventions and transportation. I’m pretty good on the computer and I organize most of the escapes from prison. And then whatever else Sir needs help with,” he said proudly.
“Goodness, Minion. I think you specialize in more things than I know how to do,” she told him, slightly in awe that he did so much.
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Miss Ritchi,” he encouraged. She smiled in his direction and then felt the car slowing down. “And we’re at your apartment building.” She removed the blindfold and looked around. Sure enough, they were outside her building. She wasn’t aware that they knew where she lived since they’ve never abducted her there before.
“Thanks for the lift, Minion. It was nice talking to you. See you next time?” she said. She was under no illusions that there wouldn’t be a kidnapping plot soon. She opened the door to get out.
“You bet, Miss Ritchi!” he agreed with a grin. She exited the car and waved after him as she heard him pull away. She smiled as she thought about the little bit of info she had gathered and the seeds she had planted for getting additional information later. She turned to enter her building and was looking forward to taking a nice long bath. After the last few days, she deserved to take the day off and relax. At least she was still ‘sick’ for another day or so.
-/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\- -/\/\-
It had been a couple days since Roxanne had left the Evil Lair and life was getting back to normal. She was back at work and she hadn’t even been in the office for an hour before Dan had sent her and her cameraman, Hal out to cover a fluff piece. She always suspected that Dan did this in the hopes that she would be kidnapped in the middle and boost the station’s ratings. But then Metro Man might be there and she was the go-to-girl for Metro Man stories.
Hal had already left the van to set up his equipment and she pulled down the visor to give herself a quick once-over. She was still thankful every time she looked in a mirror and she saw her own face. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and touched up her lipstick while making sure there wasn’t anything caught in her teeth. Appearances were everything on TV after all.
She exited the news van and smoothed down her pencil skirt and blouse. She picked up the microphone and went to get into position. Before the camera started rolling, she liked to talk to the person she would be interviewing to help them relax. Today they were filming at a bakery named The Flour Uprising. The bakery had only barely escaped from a fire that had claimed one of its neighbors by the quick thinking of one of the owners and a timely intervention from Metro City’s home-grown hero.
Roxanne approached the woman standing in front of the bakery wearing an apron. “Annette?” she asked. The woman smiled and nodded. “Hi,” Roxanne reached out to shake her hand. “I’m Roxanne Ritchi and I’ll be interviewing you in a few minutes. Just relax and we’ll simply have a little chat. Don’t worry about messing up, this isn’t live. Do you have any questions for me?”
They continued to chat until Hal signaled that he was ready to start recording. Roxanne moved them to a good position where Annette’s store front was visible behind them. Just about the time Hal said the shot looked good, there was a loud thud behind her. She turned and saw Metro Man had just landed. He would have to be here to edge into the story, wouldn’t he?
She gave him a friendly smile to stay professional, and asked him to wait behind the camera for a little while. After everyone was situated, Hal gave her the signal.
“Hello, Metro City. This is Roxanne Ritchi reporting in front of The Flour Uprising, a specialty bakery here on Main Street. They have more gluten-free and vegan offerings than any other bakery in the city. But this bakery nearly went up in flames when its neighbor started burning. The quick thinking of Annette Pratt, one of the co-owners helped save her store. Annette, can you tell us what happened that night?” Roxanne moved the microphone closer to her subject.
“Well Roxanne, we had already closed and I was finishing up some paperwork before I left for-“
‘-ing off the rails on a crazy train!’
Roxanne was suddenly looking down at a dismantled brainbot with one blue hand holding a small screwdriver and the other hovering above a circuit board with Ozzy Osborn blaring in the background. This wasn’t right; she was in the middle of an interview. What the hell happened?!
With wide eyes she slowly straightened up and gently put down the screwdriver. She swallowed, then looked down at herself. Just as she expected, she saw she suddenly had a thin frame and was covered with black leather.
“MINION!” she turned and yelled in his voice, trying to make herself heard above the music and hoping that he was nearby.
Thankfully, the music was turned down and she was answered, “Yes, Sir?” She spotted Minion as he turned the corner.
“What am I doing here?!” she asked in a near panic. Didn’t they fix this? What happened?!
“Well Sir, you’re upgrading the opticals on the old-model brainbots,” Minion replied with some confusion.
“No! Not ‘Sir!’ Roxanne! What happened?! I thought we were fixed!” Roxanne couldn’t help the way her voice rose as she panicked.
“Miss Ritchi?!” Minion yelped. “Where’s Sir?” he asked quickly.
“I was doing an interview on Main Street,” she told him. Minion turned to go to the car. “Wait! Metro Man was there. You can’t nab him now!”
“Then we’ll be there when it’s safe to grab him. Let’s go, Miss Ritchi,” Minion commanded in a no-nonsense tone. She let herself be herded into the invisible car. When they hopped in the car, Minion started it up and told her, “Eyes closed, Miss Ritchi.” She sighed but closed her eyes as they left. Apparently she was about to kidnap herself. That was new…
To be continued...
Ch 1 - http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1920985.html
Ch 2 - http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1921733.html
Ch 3 - http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1921890.html
Ch 4 - http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1922168.html
Ch 5 - http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1922366.html
Ch 6 - http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1922716.html