DON'T Call Me Roxanne, Chapter Six
Author: Moonstar00125
Story Summary: This is a Total Reversal AU, in which our beloved Roxanne Ritchi is sent off to the planet Cerul when planet Earth is devoured by a black hole.
Chapter Summary: Mace and Minion do some thinking, Loral comes home, and Roxanne and Reptung have a short-lived battle of wits. Enjoy! :3
Chapter one: http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1395219.html
Chapter two: http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1398003.html
Chapter three: http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1399568.html
Chapter four: http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1401591.html
Chapter five: http://megamind-movie.livejournal.com/1407761.html
"Ugh!" Mace grunted, tossing himself down on his sterile white bed with the crook of his elbow thrown over his eyes, the colored covers yet to be put back on. He had just finished tearing his room apart for the third or fourth time, and he still had yet to find his watch. No one else had seen it, either. "Where could it possibly be!?"
"Well, Sir," Minion said, "why don't we try retracing your steps? Where did you last see it?"
"On my wrist."
"Sir..."
"I know, I know, I'm thinking!" he exclaimed before taking a deep breath and going on. "I remember putting it on this morning before sh-School," he corrected, grimacing at the slip-up before going on. "Then I remember seeing it just before History…I must have lost it while I was helping Aida!" he exclaimed, sitting straight up, his emotive face battling between showing extreme relief or outward concern.
"The human girl, Sir?" Minion asked, knowing full well who it was.
"Yes, that's it," Mace said with a nod, stroking his line of chin hair. His facial hair had begun growing in a year ago, and he had more recently decided to grow a small, straight goatee down his chin. It was growing in nicely, and it was convenient, seeing as he often found himself needing a place for his hands to go when he wasn't in a place where he could make wild hand gestures like he usually did. "It must have fallen off when I picked up her books. I hope she still has it, but I also hope she doesn't know what it can be used for. The consequences could be disastrous. I have a great many people scanned into that watch, from Father to myself to school officials-Classmates, too."
"I'm sure Miss Cerebellum would be happy to return it, Sir. She doesn't live too far from here; we could go over in the morning to ask for it back."
"Wonderful, Minion!" Mace exclaimed, beaming. "And while we're at it, why waste sending a brainbot over when we could just take Father's message along with us? Dad!" he called, launching himself out of his bed and rushing from the room. He barely managed to keep from going head-first over the banister, and took the steps downstairs three at a time. "Dad! Don't send Pinky just yet! I can-Mom, where's Dad?"
Minion rolled his eyes and turned back to the room, which was, once again, a mess. He sighed, but, as any good minion, he secretly enjoyed the work, even if it was a bit tedious. "Sixth times the charm," he said, manipulating his robotic arms as if to roll up nonexistent sleeves before setting himself to the task of cleaning his Master's room.
"Loral!" Isst cried, and the man dropped his suitcase as he was practically attacked by his wife with only one foot in the door. He then laughed and wrapped his arms (or at least, his forearms) around his wife.
"What's this all about?" he asked, orange eyes twinkling. Much like his wife looked the part of a Mother, Loral looked the part of a Father. He was tall, his build was long, thin, and compact, with hidden muscles beneath; it was the ideal shape of a man on Cerul. His eyes were bright orange with dark amber flecks, his long nose that had once been straight slightly crooked from an occasion or two in which it had been broken, his face was angular, his head just a little larger than average.
Like most men, Loral wore facial hair-a small, brownish-black Dali mustache--and around his neck hung a pair of dark-framed, ultra-thin reading glasses.
He wore a white coat that covered his work clothes; a mostly white jumpsuit with the family crest across the front and back. Every family had a crest, and when it came to government positions or special conferences, it was a requirement that the crest be worn to identify not only you, but the line from which you hailed. The Cerebellum crest was a flowing blue river, with a single drop of red at the center, signifying the heartbeat of Cerul.
"Roxanne had a wonderful day at school today!" Isst exclaimed, pulling back to smile up at her mate. Civ watched from a distance with a displeased and almost disgusted look on her face. Rit, who stood just outside the door behind Loral, glared back at her, practically daring her to say something to interupt the two.
"That's great news!" he said, slightly clueless as to how this would make his wife so happy as to nearly bowl him over at the door. He loved his wife and his children, but even men of the highest rank held a certain degree of ignorance as far as their families went. Isst was not unaware of this, and she quickly explained to her husband what Roxanne had told her, and after a quick reminder that throwing books at her was the norm, Loral was quite nearly as happy as his wife about his daughter finally having someone stand up for her.
Bullying was not something teachers let slip by at the school-Usually the School Overlord dealt with incidents promptly and severely enough to make sure there would not be a repeat offense, and since Roxanne often came home with bruises and dried streaks of tears from her encounters, it was many a time that the Cerebellums had shown up to defend their daughter's right to be free from harassment. But after several years of the same message being driven into their heads, Loral and Isst could only send Roxanne off to school each day, on edge, hoping that she might return home unscathed. The message driven into them was simple, but it was hard to take; the school couldn't punish every single student who harassed Roxanne because too many did so. They would never be able to discipline all the students at once, or even within a week's time.
The most the school could do was assure them that the staff would cause Roxanne no physical, mental, or emotional harm, and since home schooling had been done away with completely several hundred years ago, it was not an option. Public education was mandatory, and necessary for any youth to function properly in Cerulean society.
It wasn't too much longer before Reptung and Roxanne came rushing down the stairs to greet their father with hugs and kisses and "welcome home!"s.
Reptung was two years older than Roxanne, but only in the class above hers, and he actually looked younger. He was far from done growing (at least, he hoped that he was far from done growing) and stood at only five foot four and one half inches. His eyes were slate grey, and his face was…Well…Average was the kindest way to describe it. Plain would have been accurate as well, but that was a harsher way to put it. He looked like any old Miln, Pasht, or Gondy. He didn't stand out, just blended in with the crowd, and he was happy that way, as long as no one connected him with his younger sister.
As far as body type went, he was thin, he was long-limbed, but he was a bit of a weakling. He got away with that by playing eight-post, which didn't necessarily require much brawn, but looked like it did.
"And how are my favorite Ceruleans today?" Loral asked, leaning down to get closer to their level. Being unusually tall had its disadvantages, especially with average-sized children.
"Great!" Reptung said, shrugging noncommittally. He was dressed in normal gear; white sparkly jumpsuit with glowing cyan strips on both sides, collar popped. He liked to blend in, even when he was allowed to wear bright colors and stand out.
"Fine," Roxanne said, smiling up at her impossibly tall Father. She, however, was not allowed to take advantage of normal clothing like her brother was; the dress she wore was red, hugging her form in a modest manner, with the same glowing strips to either side, these strips a darker shade than the cyan. She had a plethora of suits, dresses, and other garments in her room, most of them in shades of red, blue, and purple. Her Mother thought maybe if she could flaunt the fact that her family was powerful, wealthy, and influential, she might not be picked on as much.
Her Mother didn't really know anything about bullies.
"I heard you made a friend today," he said, phrasing it carefully so as not to risk offending her. He was very careful about the things he said and how he said them around his children. He understood, first of all, that the two should be spoken to as near-equals and not as kids, but he also knew that the two of them had very different personalities, and sometimes Reptung could be very immature, and Roxanne could, when she wanted, be very sharp and even a little prideful. He often had to go at a subject delicately, and that statement was his way of testing the waters before diving in. As it turned out, the water was cold, but not quite so cold as to be frigid.
"Not a friend," Roxanne said, averting her gaze. "I was simply assisted by the only person in the school who sees me as anything near Cerulean."
"Well, maybe they will be your friend at some point in the near future," he said. "Don't discount anyone as a potential ally."
"I'll try not to," Roxanne said, meeting Loral's eyes briefly and giving a smile that just touched her eyes.
"Good," Loral said. "I like that Mind boy, anyway. He's a good kid." Reptung gave Roxanne a look of disbelief mixed with mild surprise.
"Mace Mind? Make friends with you? Right!"
"Reptung!" Isst snapped, giving her son a hard glare. "You apologize to your sister right now!"
"No," Roxanne said, looking to her brother. "That's fine. He's right. I've got just as little chance of becoming friends with Mace Mind as he does with Deldja Cortex." She smirked and watched as Reptung worked out what she had just said. His brow darkened a second later.
"Why you-"
"Pathetic excuse for Cerulean nobility!" Roxanne finished for him, turning and dashing up the stairs as he gave chase. "Ah, but you forget that even twice your weight and width, I run fastest, and my tongue is far sharper than yours!"
"I know plenty of names that'll have your tongue filled so much with envy that it will spend day upon day at the grindstone!" he shouted.
"A sharp tongue and a dirty mouth are separated by a thin line, but they are nowhere near one and the same!" Roxanne shouted back, darting into her room at the top of the stairs and peeking out of it as Reptung scrambled up after her.
"Freak!" he shouted, gaining the last step.
"Pedophile!" she accused (though not really meaning it), and slammed and locked the door just as he came upon it.
At the bottom of the stairs, Loral clutched his forehead and leaned against the wall. "I think I need a few tablets of acetaminophen," he groaned. Isst gave him a smile and patted his hand as Rit inched past, grabbing Loral's suitcase and heading through the house toward the other staircase.
"It could have been worse."
"Yes," he agreed. "It could have gone on longer."
As a quick reminder: Deldja is one of Roxanne's bullies, and to explain that exchange, Reptung has the most wicked crush on her. XDXD