Seismic Shift - Chapter 1 of 3
I finally bring fic! Worked up the courage to post this here... at 2am... O_o
I wrote this one for positivelysilly in the Secret Santa exchange. I never was able to get it to her, but I've officially given up; I was late due to certain circumstances, but not THIS late.
Anyway. Her request of "Megamind and Roxanne on their first undisguised date" squeezed a chapter fic outta me, plus a little extra...
READ THIS NOTE FIRST:
Because, citizens, you have options with this here ficcy.
In the shool of thought by our illustrious blue hero, Presentation means everything! And so I present to you fanfic in a new style! That is, fanfic with style! (Seriously, this is a lot of fun to do, so I hope other fanfic writers will consider doing similar things with their fics. :D)
Make your choice; this is the same fic in two different versions, but please leave any comments if you're so inclined here at LJ:
To Seismic Shift Chapter 1 PDF - WITH Pictures
I would suggest reading in the Full Screen Setting here.
OR
Seismic Shift
Chapter 1
It was a clear night in downtown Metrosity. The sky was still fading from a brilliant sunset just barely visible behind the skyscrapers; a deep maroon fading to purple and finally to black colored the western edges of the cityscape. Above, very few visible stars peeked out, twinkling defiantly against the city lights, and the moon was a thin crescent of a smile.
Few citizens seemed to notice this, however. The vast majority milled about caught up in their own pursuits, more concerned with what transpired on the sidewalks rather than in the heavens. It seemed fitting, for what the villain had studied of the city. For the most part, the citizenry selfishly kept to their own business, never meddling or lending a hand, and relied on heroes to save them. He was counting on this attitude of theirs to aid his plot this evening.
The grating sound of wheels over pavement filled his ears and those of the pedestrians around him. With his right foot, he pushed off the sidewalk a few times to continue his momentum, subtly angling his body to set his forward direction. Many glared at the offensive object beneath his feet before raising their eyes to him. Coincidentally, their annoyance seemed to dissipate immediately afterwards. Perhaps it was the technical gadgets on his arms or the gridlines of light displayed on his face from his dark red sunglasses that caused them to shrink back and hurry away. In any case, the path cleared out before him as easily as the Red Sea had parted for Moses.
Oh, Metrosity’s citizens were so easily intimidated! An evil grin worked its way onto the villain’s features as he considered this. It was no wonder his evil role model had haunted this city for so long; such power and easily assumed authority was almost intoxicating… Surely it would take little effort to achieve his goals.
A few hundred feet from his destination, he skidded to a halt. The crowd still gave him a wide berth, allowing the villain an easy view. Right on time, there appeared two figures, hands held between them. The HUD of his dark red sunglasses zoomed in on the figures. Yes… Yes, there they were. Roxanne Ritchi and her date, his target. Seemingly as oblivious as the people around them. A thrill of excitement ran through the mysterious visitor as he beheld his distracted for-all-intents-and-purposes mentor. Soon, he would know his protégé’s name!
The villain chuckled darkly, pushing himself to a nearby narrow alley and plastering a small device to the wall. A radius of 3000 feet should do perfectly. - Suddenly, a noise to his left caught his attention.
Bowg! BowgBowgBowgBowg!
Kicking up his board to carry in his hands, a few steps further into the alley allowed him to see past the corner. Pure glee lit his features as he breathed a quiet, appreciative, “Brainbot! Sweet!”
The little mechanical figure was zooming about in confused circles, but when it noticed that it was being watched, it played a series of beeps. Multiple times, it repeated the pattern, but nothing happened. The villain grinned and took another step towards the bot. The little robot whirred and whimpered, timidly backing away from the stranger, calling again and again with its audio pattern.
The villain advanced, grinning maniacally. He raised his wrist and pressed single button; the brainbot dropped, its lights and beeps shutting down instantly, as though dead.
An evil laugh escaped him, and he turned, dropping his board and pushing his way out of the alley. The preparations were nearly complete! Tonight was simply going to be epic!
-/\/\-
These classy restaurants were somewhat of a novelty to Megamind. It wasn’t that he’d never been inside them; he’d stolen from plenty in his time as a super villain. - Not that he ever got to keep the proceeds. - This marked only the third time in his life he’d been a paying customer in one, though.
This particular establishment had a gold and black theme to it. Dimmed lights lent to a quiet, well mannered atmosphere, and the carpet was expensive, as were the ornamental centerpieces adorning each table. Waiters and waitresses spoke in hushed, personable tones as they served expensive wines and fancy dishes. Per the usual expectations, not a single person was dressed in anything less than nice slacks and a dress shirt - and that was casual.
Expertly, the hostess led Roxanne and himself to their table - a somewhat secluded booth at the back edge of the interior - without a single word to either of them. As they made their way through the maze of tables, it was with a creeping, uncomfortable start that Megamind realized they were being watched. Several of the diners had paused mid-fork or dropped their utensils entirely to stare after them.
Rather glare. Yes, they were definitely glaring. He couldn’t really call it something so passive as staring… They seemed almost hostile. Particularly at Roxanne, though he was receiving his fair share of incredulous frowns.
Still silent, the hostess motioned for the two to be seated, and then mechanically handed over their menus before stalking away.
Confused, Megamind leaned across the table and asked Roxanne quietly, “Why are they still watching us?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she began with a sarcastic lilt to her tone, smoothing out one last wrinkle from her skirt. And then she glared at him, Megamind recoiling slightly. “Maybe because it looks like I’m out with another man besides you?”
It was true. Utilizing his watch once again, Megamind had disguised his identity for his date with Roxanne. Tonight, he was a slightly taller man with spiky auburn hair, a five-o-clock shadow, and his trademark goatee and large green eyes. This was their sixth such outing, and his sixth such disguise. Roxanne, oddly, had become rather touchy about the subject.
For his part, Megamind couldn’t comprehend why she wanted to be seen with him, but she seemingly couldn’t understand why he refused to be seen with her. They were at an impasse: the nerve wracking First Fight he’d read so much about. - First real fight as a real couple, at least. - He consoled his worries with the thoughts of their previous disagreements. Kidnappings. Whatever. They’d made it through all 798 of them. But who was keeping track?
He leaned back and scoffed, crossing his arms. “I highly doubt that.”
“Hmm. Do you, now?” Roxanne returned indulgently. “And you have what experience or evidence to support those doubts?”
He rolled his eyes and tutted. “It’s barely been a month, Miss Ritchi. The people of this city don’t know what to make of me or my intentions. They don’t trust me, and I don’t blame them. My blue visage attracts all sorts of attention, and it’s not the good kind, I assure you.”
“Then how do you explain this?” she subtly motioned with her head the other patrons.
He looked around again at the people in the restaurant. They were still glancing and frowning, still mostly in Roxanne’s direction, but a few of the diners had quickly turned their gazes from him when they realized he was watching them.
Megamind turned back to her, shrugging. “Publicity? You are Metrosi- Metro City’s star reporter.”
She sighed. “If only. This is exactly what it was like when I was ‘dating’ Metro Man…”
A pang of jealousy sprang through him. “I thought you said you never-”
“I didn’t.”
And just as quickly, comprehension dawned. “Oh.”
“But it was over ten years, Megamind, you kidnapping me. The very few times I was able to convince anyone… Well, let’s just say people didn’t take kindly to the idea. I never got past the first date.”
There was something he had never considered: what had her life been like, constantly caught between his glorious battles of good versus evil with Metro Man? A question for another time, perhaps… “You’re saying people actually cared about your,” he held up quotation marks, “‘Relationship’ with Metro Man?”
“You cared.”
“Well, I was- It was all part of my master plan! Of course I cared! If you and Metro Man-”
“You were jealous.”
Megamind felt his stomach drop at her surety in that statement. “I was…!” he trailed off, defenseless. This was something he was still coming to terms with himself, but how… How was it that she so easily saw straight through him and his barriers to knock him off guard? Feeling more exposed than he liked, his cheeks and ears warming, he neither confirmed nor denied her shrewd observation. Instead, he cleared his throat and redirected to their original topic: “But why would the rest of the city care?”
That knowing smile still lurked at the corner of her pretty lips, but she took his bait and shrugged nonchalantly. “Why wouldn’t they? He was the city’s hero, and I was, thanks to you, his supposed romantic interest.”
Now any normal person would have been mortified at such an egregious, prolonged error in judgment, such a juvenile assumption. (Roxanne had called it projection at one point…) But Megamind prided himself on being far from normal. He tilted his head and smiled, saying with arched suggestive eyebrows and a low, suave flare, “It was the best mistake I ever made.”
She laughed at that, a small giggle that lit up her eyes. Her smile stirred something deep in his chest, causing him to grin widely in return. He loved it when she laughed, and he especially loved it when he made her laugh.
When her mirth subsided, she leaned forward as though fascinated, resting her chin on her balled fist. “Megamind. This city has always been loyal to and appreciative of its heroes. You may doubt their sincerity, but they’re grateful to you.”
He tapped the table, thinking. Reluctantly, he admitted, “But I’ve hardly done anything to inspire such loyalty.” She was too kind, really, to give him such credit…
She shook her head, suddenly becoming animated and passionate. “You seem to forget your tenure as our ‘Evil Overlord.’ When you finally accomplished your ‘evil’ goal, you turned this city around singlehandedly, and far better than Metro Man ever did in the span of just a few weeks! You rebuilt Metro Tower, and you repaired all the damage downtown. Hal is in prison, and you’re keeping the city safe. Your brainbots have even become a symbol of safety and security!” She thrust her hands in exasperation. “They’re even dedicating an entire museum to you tomorrow!”
Okay. So put that way, she had a point. He shouldn’t have been so surprised; she was, after all, the smartest person he knew. But still… “That doesn’t mean they’re ready to see Metro Man’s old flame with the man they believe killed him.”
“No one believes he’s dead, and you know that.”
He did know that. In a move that had made Megamind question how well he really knew the former Golden Boy of Metro City, Music Man had personally started rumors of his survival. Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes had even gone so far as to allow himself to be briefly seen by several witnesses, a couple of whom had been able to snap blurry, indecipherable pictures that lent to the imagination. This had led to speculation: fans raised questions such as Tighten’s apparent non-weakness to copper, and there were petitions circulating to exhume the remains of Metro Man so they could verify his death. The theories ranged widely, as well: some deduced the truth of what really happened, others believed his powers had been drained, and still others thought he’d been sent to another dimension by his foe’s evil blast. The last was Megamind’s personal favorite: interdimentional travel. He’d explored it before, but had yet to crack that particular code of science. It would have been quite the accomplishment, though. As an evil super villain, he would have jumped at the chance to defeat his nemesis by simply sending him away…
Belatedly, he realized Roxanne was continuing her logical analysis: “Especially after what happened last week, do you really think people don’t know about us?”
Last week… Last week, some nosey photographer, whose ethical standards were far below Roxanne’s, had snapped a private photo of him and Roxanne together. It wasn’t anything so overt - they’d been standing with their heads pressed together, eyes closed serenely and hands joined between them. But he had thought they were alone at the time.
It had been on the front page the next day, and he’d suffered through many uncomfortable questions as a direct result ever since.
“Sisterly affection,” he parried, somewhat obtusely.
She gave an incredulous chuckle. “Hardly!” She leant forward, eyes narrowed and predatory, her cunning reporter skills jumping into the fray. “Alright, spill it: what’s with the excuses lately?”
Excuses? Well, what other choice did have? He certainly wasn’t about to tell her how nervous it made him to think about being ridiculed as the good guy. His whole life, he’d been able to brush off the taunts, jeers, and insults because he’d been bad: he wasn’t supposed to care about what people thought of him, and he could turn around and toss it right back at them. As the good guy, he had nowhere to turn, nowhere to hide. If he was rejected now, he wasn’t sure he could return to his former life of wonton villainy. Now yes, circumstances being what they were... Yes, he had fallen in love with his hostage. Yes, maybe one could even possibly attribute his feelings to one sign-drome or another, though he preferred to think of it as a beautiful irony and the epic, inescapable resurgence of his destiny…
“Megamind, why are you so-”
“I still enjoy being normal with you.”
He hadn’t meant to say it, startling himself and Roxanne with the confession. Their eyes met briefly over the table; it was the concern etched in her piercing blue gaze that prompted him to look away first. Ten years he’d known her, and he was still making a fool of himself in her presence.
After a moment, she sighed and took his hand, gently drawing his attention back to her face instead of the table. She offered him a small smile, rubbing her thumb comfortingly across the back of his hand. “Okay. I understand,” she said softly, holding his gaze. And she did. She didn’t press him for more or even try to convince him otherwise. Perhaps she meant to later, but… His heart thudded heavily at her easy acceptance, for him, and just like that, he fell in love with Roxanne Ritchi all over again. But she must have seen it on his face, because she squeezed his hand once quickly before letting go and aiming for levity. “But would it kill you to at least use the same disguise twice?”
Megamind raised an eyebrow. Had he miscalculated-
“People probably think that I run through men like you ran through bad ideas to destroy Metro Man.”
“They were brilliant!” he doggedly insisted. “He’s just indestructible! I mean really-”
“-And I’m not kissing you like that,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken.
That surprised him. “What!” He’d painstakingly created this handsome disguise and the previous ones to fit the human female opinion of what constituted an appealing man! “But surely I’m perfectly attractive-”
“But you’re not you, Megamind. I want to date you, not some new, random stranger.” Unconsciously, Megamind’s eyes bulged at her admission, and Roxanne sighed again. “I’ll accept this,” she motioned to his façade in general, “Until you’re ready, but will you at least take my feelings into consideration?”
He chewed his lip nervously for a moment. “Your feelings,” he hazarded cautiously, “That you want to be seen with me?”
“It’s not that I want to be seen with you; I don’t care what they think,” Roxanne nodded casually to the other diners, her gaze fixed on him. “I just want to see you. I want you to feel normal. I know this city has engaged in its fair share of hurt towards you; I know this will take a little while, so…” she shrugged, another small smile curving her mouth. “I’m willing to wait.”
He had nothing to he could say to that. It had never occurred to him that anyone, especially Roxanne Ritchi, would want him. His heart was pounding again, and he thought of what a blind fool he’d been, to believe he’d ever actually been kidnapping her because of Metro Man.
Now she bit her lip, unsure. She really was so cute… “Okay?”
Megamind felt himself nodding dumbly. “Okay,” he repeated.
“Okay. So let’s just enjo- Uh…” She trailed off, staring at him.
He looked around quickly, but saw nothing out of place. “What?”
“Uh… Is it supposed to be doing that?” Roxanne pointed to Megamind in a vague fashion that told him absolutely nothing.
“Doing what?” he asked.
“Look at your hands,” she urged him.
He did, down at the human hands that disguised his own. They looked perfectly normal, the cuffs of his dark suit contrasting well with the pale faux complexion. And then there was a quick flash of black leather. It was gone almost as soon as he noticed it, but the flash happened again and again and again. His disguise was fading.
Briefly, he visually consulted Roxanne: No, it was not supposed to be doing that! Ignoring the panic growing in him, a rainy night lurking at the corner of his mind, he immediately began to examine his watch closely for signs of the malfunction.
TBC...
I wrote this one for positivelysilly in the Secret Santa exchange. I never was able to get it to her, but I've officially given up; I was late due to certain circumstances, but not THIS late.
Anyway. Her request of "Megamind and Roxanne on their first undisguised date" squeezed a chapter fic outta me, plus a little extra...
READ THIS NOTE FIRST:
Because, citizens, you have options with this here ficcy.
In the shool of thought by our illustrious blue hero, Presentation means everything! And so I present to you fanfic in a new style! That is, fanfic with style! (Seriously, this is a lot of fun to do, so I hope other fanfic writers will consider doing similar things with their fics. :D)
Make your choice; this is the same fic in two different versions, but please leave any comments if you're so inclined here at LJ:
To Seismic Shift Chapter 1 PDF - WITH Pictures
I would suggest reading in the Full Screen Setting here.
OR
Seismic Shift
Chapter 1
It was a clear night in downtown Metrosity. The sky was still fading from a brilliant sunset just barely visible behind the skyscrapers; a deep maroon fading to purple and finally to black colored the western edges of the cityscape. Above, very few visible stars peeked out, twinkling defiantly against the city lights, and the moon was a thin crescent of a smile.
Few citizens seemed to notice this, however. The vast majority milled about caught up in their own pursuits, more concerned with what transpired on the sidewalks rather than in the heavens. It seemed fitting, for what the villain had studied of the city. For the most part, the citizenry selfishly kept to their own business, never meddling or lending a hand, and relied on heroes to save them. He was counting on this attitude of theirs to aid his plot this evening.
The grating sound of wheels over pavement filled his ears and those of the pedestrians around him. With his right foot, he pushed off the sidewalk a few times to continue his momentum, subtly angling his body to set his forward direction. Many glared at the offensive object beneath his feet before raising their eyes to him. Coincidentally, their annoyance seemed to dissipate immediately afterwards. Perhaps it was the technical gadgets on his arms or the gridlines of light displayed on his face from his dark red sunglasses that caused them to shrink back and hurry away. In any case, the path cleared out before him as easily as the Red Sea had parted for Moses.
Oh, Metrosity’s citizens were so easily intimidated! An evil grin worked its way onto the villain’s features as he considered this. It was no wonder his evil role model had haunted this city for so long; such power and easily assumed authority was almost intoxicating… Surely it would take little effort to achieve his goals.
A few hundred feet from his destination, he skidded to a halt. The crowd still gave him a wide berth, allowing the villain an easy view. Right on time, there appeared two figures, hands held between them. The HUD of his dark red sunglasses zoomed in on the figures. Yes… Yes, there they were. Roxanne Ritchi and her date, his target. Seemingly as oblivious as the people around them. A thrill of excitement ran through the mysterious visitor as he beheld his distracted for-all-intents-and-purposes mentor. Soon, he would know his protégé’s name!
The villain chuckled darkly, pushing himself to a nearby narrow alley and plastering a small device to the wall. A radius of 3000 feet should do perfectly. - Suddenly, a noise to his left caught his attention.
Bowg! BowgBowgBowgBowg!
Kicking up his board to carry in his hands, a few steps further into the alley allowed him to see past the corner. Pure glee lit his features as he breathed a quiet, appreciative, “Brainbot! Sweet!”
The little mechanical figure was zooming about in confused circles, but when it noticed that it was being watched, it played a series of beeps. Multiple times, it repeated the pattern, but nothing happened. The villain grinned and took another step towards the bot. The little robot whirred and whimpered, timidly backing away from the stranger, calling again and again with its audio pattern.
The villain advanced, grinning maniacally. He raised his wrist and pressed single button; the brainbot dropped, its lights and beeps shutting down instantly, as though dead.
An evil laugh escaped him, and he turned, dropping his board and pushing his way out of the alley. The preparations were nearly complete! Tonight was simply going to be epic!
-/\/\-
These classy restaurants were somewhat of a novelty to Megamind. It wasn’t that he’d never been inside them; he’d stolen from plenty in his time as a super villain. - Not that he ever got to keep the proceeds. - This marked only the third time in his life he’d been a paying customer in one, though.
This particular establishment had a gold and black theme to it. Dimmed lights lent to a quiet, well mannered atmosphere, and the carpet was expensive, as were the ornamental centerpieces adorning each table. Waiters and waitresses spoke in hushed, personable tones as they served expensive wines and fancy dishes. Per the usual expectations, not a single person was dressed in anything less than nice slacks and a dress shirt - and that was casual.
Expertly, the hostess led Roxanne and himself to their table - a somewhat secluded booth at the back edge of the interior - without a single word to either of them. As they made their way through the maze of tables, it was with a creeping, uncomfortable start that Megamind realized they were being watched. Several of the diners had paused mid-fork or dropped their utensils entirely to stare after them.
Rather glare. Yes, they were definitely glaring. He couldn’t really call it something so passive as staring… They seemed almost hostile. Particularly at Roxanne, though he was receiving his fair share of incredulous frowns.
Still silent, the hostess motioned for the two to be seated, and then mechanically handed over their menus before stalking away.
Confused, Megamind leaned across the table and asked Roxanne quietly, “Why are they still watching us?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she began with a sarcastic lilt to her tone, smoothing out one last wrinkle from her skirt. And then she glared at him, Megamind recoiling slightly. “Maybe because it looks like I’m out with another man besides you?”
It was true. Utilizing his watch once again, Megamind had disguised his identity for his date with Roxanne. Tonight, he was a slightly taller man with spiky auburn hair, a five-o-clock shadow, and his trademark goatee and large green eyes. This was their sixth such outing, and his sixth such disguise. Roxanne, oddly, had become rather touchy about the subject.
For his part, Megamind couldn’t comprehend why she wanted to be seen with him, but she seemingly couldn’t understand why he refused to be seen with her. They were at an impasse: the nerve wracking First Fight he’d read so much about. - First real fight as a real couple, at least. - He consoled his worries with the thoughts of their previous disagreements. Kidnappings. Whatever. They’d made it through all 798 of them. But who was keeping track?
He leaned back and scoffed, crossing his arms. “I highly doubt that.”
“Hmm. Do you, now?” Roxanne returned indulgently. “And you have what experience or evidence to support those doubts?”
He rolled his eyes and tutted. “It’s barely been a month, Miss Ritchi. The people of this city don’t know what to make of me or my intentions. They don’t trust me, and I don’t blame them. My blue visage attracts all sorts of attention, and it’s not the good kind, I assure you.”
“Then how do you explain this?” she subtly motioned with her head the other patrons.
He looked around again at the people in the restaurant. They were still glancing and frowning, still mostly in Roxanne’s direction, but a few of the diners had quickly turned their gazes from him when they realized he was watching them.
Megamind turned back to her, shrugging. “Publicity? You are Metrosi- Metro City’s star reporter.”
She sighed. “If only. This is exactly what it was like when I was ‘dating’ Metro Man…”
A pang of jealousy sprang through him. “I thought you said you never-”
“I didn’t.”
And just as quickly, comprehension dawned. “Oh.”
“But it was over ten years, Megamind, you kidnapping me. The very few times I was able to convince anyone… Well, let’s just say people didn’t take kindly to the idea. I never got past the first date.”
There was something he had never considered: what had her life been like, constantly caught between his glorious battles of good versus evil with Metro Man? A question for another time, perhaps… “You’re saying people actually cared about your,” he held up quotation marks, “‘Relationship’ with Metro Man?”
“You cared.”
“Well, I was- It was all part of my master plan! Of course I cared! If you and Metro Man-”
“You were jealous.”
Megamind felt his stomach drop at her surety in that statement. “I was…!” he trailed off, defenseless. This was something he was still coming to terms with himself, but how… How was it that she so easily saw straight through him and his barriers to knock him off guard? Feeling more exposed than he liked, his cheeks and ears warming, he neither confirmed nor denied her shrewd observation. Instead, he cleared his throat and redirected to their original topic: “But why would the rest of the city care?”
That knowing smile still lurked at the corner of her pretty lips, but she took his bait and shrugged nonchalantly. “Why wouldn’t they? He was the city’s hero, and I was, thanks to you, his supposed romantic interest.”
Now any normal person would have been mortified at such an egregious, prolonged error in judgment, such a juvenile assumption. (Roxanne had called it projection at one point…) But Megamind prided himself on being far from normal. He tilted his head and smiled, saying with arched suggestive eyebrows and a low, suave flare, “It was the best mistake I ever made.”
She laughed at that, a small giggle that lit up her eyes. Her smile stirred something deep in his chest, causing him to grin widely in return. He loved it when she laughed, and he especially loved it when he made her laugh.
When her mirth subsided, she leaned forward as though fascinated, resting her chin on her balled fist. “Megamind. This city has always been loyal to and appreciative of its heroes. You may doubt their sincerity, but they’re grateful to you.”
He tapped the table, thinking. Reluctantly, he admitted, “But I’ve hardly done anything to inspire such loyalty.” She was too kind, really, to give him such credit…
She shook her head, suddenly becoming animated and passionate. “You seem to forget your tenure as our ‘Evil Overlord.’ When you finally accomplished your ‘evil’ goal, you turned this city around singlehandedly, and far better than Metro Man ever did in the span of just a few weeks! You rebuilt Metro Tower, and you repaired all the damage downtown. Hal is in prison, and you’re keeping the city safe. Your brainbots have even become a symbol of safety and security!” She thrust her hands in exasperation. “They’re even dedicating an entire museum to you tomorrow!”
Okay. So put that way, she had a point. He shouldn’t have been so surprised; she was, after all, the smartest person he knew. But still… “That doesn’t mean they’re ready to see Metro Man’s old flame with the man they believe killed him.”
“No one believes he’s dead, and you know that.”
He did know that. In a move that had made Megamind question how well he really knew the former Golden Boy of Metro City, Music Man had personally started rumors of his survival. Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes had even gone so far as to allow himself to be briefly seen by several witnesses, a couple of whom had been able to snap blurry, indecipherable pictures that lent to the imagination. This had led to speculation: fans raised questions such as Tighten’s apparent non-weakness to copper, and there were petitions circulating to exhume the remains of Metro Man so they could verify his death. The theories ranged widely, as well: some deduced the truth of what really happened, others believed his powers had been drained, and still others thought he’d been sent to another dimension by his foe’s evil blast. The last was Megamind’s personal favorite: interdimentional travel. He’d explored it before, but had yet to crack that particular code of science. It would have been quite the accomplishment, though. As an evil super villain, he would have jumped at the chance to defeat his nemesis by simply sending him away…
Belatedly, he realized Roxanne was continuing her logical analysis: “Especially after what happened last week, do you really think people don’t know about us?”
Last week… Last week, some nosey photographer, whose ethical standards were far below Roxanne’s, had snapped a private photo of him and Roxanne together. It wasn’t anything so overt - they’d been standing with their heads pressed together, eyes closed serenely and hands joined between them. But he had thought they were alone at the time.
It had been on the front page the next day, and he’d suffered through many uncomfortable questions as a direct result ever since.
“Sisterly affection,” he parried, somewhat obtusely.
She gave an incredulous chuckle. “Hardly!” She leant forward, eyes narrowed and predatory, her cunning reporter skills jumping into the fray. “Alright, spill it: what’s with the excuses lately?”
Excuses? Well, what other choice did have? He certainly wasn’t about to tell her how nervous it made him to think about being ridiculed as the good guy. His whole life, he’d been able to brush off the taunts, jeers, and insults because he’d been bad: he wasn’t supposed to care about what people thought of him, and he could turn around and toss it right back at them. As the good guy, he had nowhere to turn, nowhere to hide. If he was rejected now, he wasn’t sure he could return to his former life of wonton villainy. Now yes, circumstances being what they were... Yes, he had fallen in love with his hostage. Yes, maybe one could even possibly attribute his feelings to one sign-drome or another, though he preferred to think of it as a beautiful irony and the epic, inescapable resurgence of his destiny…
“Megamind, why are you so-”
“I still enjoy being normal with you.”
He hadn’t meant to say it, startling himself and Roxanne with the confession. Their eyes met briefly over the table; it was the concern etched in her piercing blue gaze that prompted him to look away first. Ten years he’d known her, and he was still making a fool of himself in her presence.
After a moment, she sighed and took his hand, gently drawing his attention back to her face instead of the table. She offered him a small smile, rubbing her thumb comfortingly across the back of his hand. “Okay. I understand,” she said softly, holding his gaze. And she did. She didn’t press him for more or even try to convince him otherwise. Perhaps she meant to later, but… His heart thudded heavily at her easy acceptance, for him, and just like that, he fell in love with Roxanne Ritchi all over again. But she must have seen it on his face, because she squeezed his hand once quickly before letting go and aiming for levity. “But would it kill you to at least use the same disguise twice?”
Megamind raised an eyebrow. Had he miscalculated-
“People probably think that I run through men like you ran through bad ideas to destroy Metro Man.”
“They were brilliant!” he doggedly insisted. “He’s just indestructible! I mean really-”
“-And I’m not kissing you like that,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken.
That surprised him. “What!” He’d painstakingly created this handsome disguise and the previous ones to fit the human female opinion of what constituted an appealing man! “But surely I’m perfectly attractive-”
“But you’re not you, Megamind. I want to date you, not some new, random stranger.” Unconsciously, Megamind’s eyes bulged at her admission, and Roxanne sighed again. “I’ll accept this,” she motioned to his façade in general, “Until you’re ready, but will you at least take my feelings into consideration?”
He chewed his lip nervously for a moment. “Your feelings,” he hazarded cautiously, “That you want to be seen with me?”
“It’s not that I want to be seen with you; I don’t care what they think,” Roxanne nodded casually to the other diners, her gaze fixed on him. “I just want to see you. I want you to feel normal. I know this city has engaged in its fair share of hurt towards you; I know this will take a little while, so…” she shrugged, another small smile curving her mouth. “I’m willing to wait.”
He had nothing to he could say to that. It had never occurred to him that anyone, especially Roxanne Ritchi, would want him. His heart was pounding again, and he thought of what a blind fool he’d been, to believe he’d ever actually been kidnapping her because of Metro Man.
Now she bit her lip, unsure. She really was so cute… “Okay?”
Megamind felt himself nodding dumbly. “Okay,” he repeated.
“Okay. So let’s just enjo- Uh…” She trailed off, staring at him.
He looked around quickly, but saw nothing out of place. “What?”
“Uh… Is it supposed to be doing that?” Roxanne pointed to Megamind in a vague fashion that told him absolutely nothing.
“Doing what?” he asked.
“Look at your hands,” she urged him.
He did, down at the human hands that disguised his own. They looked perfectly normal, the cuffs of his dark suit contrasting well with the pale faux complexion. And then there was a quick flash of black leather. It was gone almost as soon as he noticed it, but the flash happened again and again and again. His disguise was fading.
Briefly, he visually consulted Roxanne: No, it was not supposed to be doing that! Ignoring the panic growing in him, a rainy night lurking at the corner of his mind, he immediately began to examine his watch closely for signs of the malfunction.
TBC...