Fanfic: Behind the Facade: Chapter #3
Other notes: Most of Minion and Roxanne's dialogue in this chapter was written by Yami Neko Tsuki.
Previous Chapters:
Chapter #1: The Reset-A-Ray
Chapter #2: Shackles Leave Bruises
****
Roxie's phone rang as she was leaving the lair. She glanced down at the number, and heaved a sigh before answering, "Hello, Karen. What's up?"
"Hey Roxie. Yeah, so, apparently I ordered 50 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I don't remember doing this, but the most physically intimidating woman I've ever seen just dropped them off and made me pay for them, so... want any?"
Only Megamind could make that seem like a normal problem in comparison, Roxanne thought. "Um, sure."
" Yeah... they're mostly Samoas, but I got some of the... wait a sec, let me check the box... 'Do-Si-Dos' too. Any preference?"
"Either works," Roxanne replied, grateful for the distraction, "I'll come by to pick them up."
"Awesome. I'm gonna see what happens when you put Do-Si-Dos in the blender with some ice cream and a banana."
Roxanne couldn't help but smile at that, "Sounds like an interesting experiment."
"Cool, see you soon. Oh, and watch the alley. I'm pretty sure I saw a bear in there this morning."
"Wait, what-?" Roxanne started, only to hear a click on the other end. Bears. That was a new one.
*****
The odd one trotted over to see if Minion had finished his new clothes yet. This "constantly falling down" thing was getting embarrassing, and his nose still hurt from hitting the stupid car.
When he reached what he supposed was Minion's little sewing area, the odd one was pleased to see him putting the finishing touches on a piece of clothing. It was one piece with the zipper in the back, which was a bit of relief. The clothes he was used to back home were all one-piece too. …Then again, they were all bright orange, and this was black leather, with a cool blue lightning-bolt pattern on it.
Minion just gave him a big fishy grin, and held it up. "What do you think, sir?"
The odd one gave his friend a big grin, then squirmed out of the too-loose pants he was wearing to try it on. The fit was much snugger than the orange clothes he wore back home, but the leather felt nice against his skin. He tried to reach for the zipper to close the back of it, but he couldn't quite reach. Minion was kind enough to zip it up for him.
"It'll be much easier for you to get around in this, Sir."
The odd one nodded, and turned to go explore the… "lair"… some more. It wasn't home, but he couldn't seem to get Minion to understand that, so this strange place would have to do for now. Still, the fish followed behind him willingly enough, and had brought him food that was quite tasty a little while ago, so at least all of his basic needs would be met here.
On the floor, near an odd ray device, he spotted something that looked quite a bit like that Cube-Zapper he'd made. The odd one knew he'd have to come up with a better name for it eventually, but it's not as if he could tell anyone else the name yet anyway. He picked up the thing that was the Cube-Zapper, and yet not the Cube-Zapper, and turned it over in his hands, studying it. The handle of it actually felt like a gun, and it was heavy in his hand. It had a spinny chamber on it, too, with words written on it.
"That was one of your first inventions, Sir!" Minion piped up proudly.
The odd one nodded, squinting at the marks on the chamber. He hadn't learned to read yet (though he quite looked forward to it), so he wasn't sure what the words indicated. A little frown on his face, he pointed to the words, and looked up at Minion. The last time he had checked, Minion didn't know how to read either, but this bigger version of him seemed to know quite a bit.
Minion carefully took the Cube-Zapper from him, and spun it to a particular setting, "It, uh, might be best to just stick to this one right now, sir."
The odd one took it back, then spotted a screwdriver on a nearby table. He gestured towards it, and continued to study the new Zapper while Minion obediently fetched it for him. Tool in hand, he went to pry the muzzle off to get a good look at the inside.
"Uh, Sir? What are you doing?"
Once he found the right spot, the muzzle came off it easily enough, but on the inside, the… the Binky was gone. How could it be gone? He needed that! It was important! It was all he had left of his… his…
The odd one pushed the painful thought away, and looked back up at Minion, holding the opened gun up to show him. It's gone, Minion. Where is it?
"You figured out how to use other power sources, Sir," Minion said, giving him a smile. Blasted, dimwitted fish! He didn't understand! This was important and he didn't understand!
The odd one flung the disassembled Zapper to the ground, walked over to the desk himself, and started to dig through the drawers. It had to be here. It couldn't be gone. It was too important to be gone. He felt Minion's hand on his shoulder, and turned to look up at him.
"It's okay, Sir. Come on, I know where it is." Minion carefully scooped him up, and carried him over to a rickety elevator. His stomach lurched a bit as it sprung to life and he held on tighter; being dropped was a definite concern. He wasn't quite sure how structurally stable the robotic arms were.
Minion carried him into a nice, cool, dark room. There, on the shelf, glowed the precious binky. Hearts pounding with relief, the odd one squirmed free of his friend's grasp, and ran over to pick it up. The pacifier glowed soothingly in his hand; just looking at it made him feel better for reasons he didn't entirely understand.
"Sir," Minion said delicately, "It's been a big day for you. Perhaps you should get some sleep."
All at once, the weight of everything that had happened just seemed to come crushing down on him. The strange, scary place he found himself in, the big spooky machines, the monster that had attacked him and hurt his arm, how different Minion looked and sounded, the way his Cube-Zapper had been changed. And most baffling of all, that lady and the weird way she talked to him. Only Minion talked to the odd one like that, like he was a person.
With a sigh, he trudged over to the mattress on the floor, and curled up on it. …It was far softer than the bunk he had back at home. The odd one fidgeted a little, trying to get comfortable, as Minion tucked him in. Despite his exhaustion, though, he doubted sleep would come. Not in a scary place like this.
He wanted to go home.
*****
When Roxanne entered the run-down apartment about half an hour later, something smelled like burning. Karen's place was painfully small, and admittedly not in the best part of town, but at least it seemed pretty well-kept. Well, unless you counted the scorched scent.
"Um, is something burning?"
"Oh, yeah, my blender caught fire somehow. Apparently Girl Scout cookies were forged in hell, and blenderizing them lets the demons out. Who knew?"
Once, just once, it would be nice to know someone who was relatively normal. Roxanne didn't think that was asking for too much. Just one person.
Karen just frowned a little at her, "....You okay? You're giving me a weird look."
"Just, uh, not what I was expecting to hear."
"It was a joke. ...I did burn out the motor, though." She grabbed an old paper grocery bag, and started to throw some cookie boxes in it. "So, seriously, is something up? You look kind of shaken."
"Just one of Megamind's inventions being…weird."
"Oh god. He didn't actually do the laser bear thing, did he?"
"The what?"
"I saw it at the museum, there was this exhibit about plans he hadn't done, and there was this one with bears, and it-"
"No, Karen, no bears," Roxanne said, heaving a sigh. "He turned himself into a kid. I have no idea why. God, I hope it wears off or he fixes it or something."
Karen nodded, "Yeah, it's no good if Metro City's defender is just a little kid."
"…That too."
Karen tilted her head, "So, where is he now?"
"Still back at his lair," Roxanne explained, picking up the bag of cookies, "Minion's watching over him."
"Ha, too bad we don't have a substitute hero to fill in for him."
A lightbulb went on at that. They had another hero; she just had to talk him out of sitting on his butt and doing nothing. It'd only be for a little bit 'til Megamind got this fixed. "That's…an interesting thought. I gotta go, I'll see you later."
Karen raised an eyebrow, "I swear to god, if the next story I cover is you in ridiculous tights having stopped a mugging...."
She laughed at that, "Fighting isn't exactly in my skill set."
"Alright, awesome, just so we're cle-"
"BOWG!" they both jumped a bit at the sound; at first Roxanne figured it must be #411, but he was still on the charger back at the lair.
"Karen, what was that?"
"Whatwaswhat? I didn't hear anything!"
"I heard a bowg."
"BOWG BOWG BOWG!" This time it was long enough for Roxanne to zero in on the sound.
"There's a Brainbot in your closet, isn't there?"
"You have no proof of that."
Roxanne shut her eyes, hiding her face in her palm, "Karen…"
"Okay, you got me. I named him Smedley."
"Smedley."
"Uh-huh," Karen said, opening the closet door to show her the shoddily-repaired Brainbot. It looked too damaged to fly, and was cuddled up in a cat bed, "If I had an actual animal for a pet, my landlord would totally freak out. You have no idea."
"Why do you have a Brainbot? What happened to it?"
"It's a long story, but I found him, and he was all wrecked, and I've been working on patching him back up," Karen scooped up the wrecked Brainbot, holding it in her arms as if it were a puppy, "He's really nice sometimes."
"Brainbots don't make good pets."
"Oh, come on, Roxie," she replied, "You've got one!"
"Not by choice."
"But I like him! And he's really cute!"
The Brainbot, meanwhile, grumbled a bit, but made no attempt to escape her grasp.
"He looks a little damaged. Maybe he should go back to the lair."
Karen just hugged it defensively, earning herself another growl, "But Megamind can't fix him right now. He's still a kid, remember? Besides, I've gotten a lot of the damage fixed on my own."
"Okay, after this wears off, …'Smedley' should go back to the lair. If you were in his position, wouldn't you wanna get repaired?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
"Maybe he'll want to come back when he's fixed."
Karen seemed to brighten a bit at that, "Yeah, maybe."
"I'll see you later, Karen," Roxanne said, as she hefted the bag of cookies and turned to go. She had a phone call to make.
Chapter #4: Paternal Instincts
If you read, please leave a comment letting me know what you liked and what you didn't. :) Constructive criticism is how I improve. Short, fluff comments are also appreciated; :) I'm always happy to know I've got another reader.
Previous Chapters:
Chapter #1: The Reset-A-Ray
Chapter #2: Shackles Leave Bruises
****
Roxie's phone rang as she was leaving the lair. She glanced down at the number, and heaved a sigh before answering, "Hello, Karen. What's up?"
"Hey Roxie. Yeah, so, apparently I ordered 50 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I don't remember doing this, but the most physically intimidating woman I've ever seen just dropped them off and made me pay for them, so... want any?"
Only Megamind could make that seem like a normal problem in comparison, Roxanne thought. "Um, sure."
" Yeah... they're mostly Samoas, but I got some of the... wait a sec, let me check the box... 'Do-Si-Dos' too. Any preference?"
"Either works," Roxanne replied, grateful for the distraction, "I'll come by to pick them up."
"Awesome. I'm gonna see what happens when you put Do-Si-Dos in the blender with some ice cream and a banana."
Roxanne couldn't help but smile at that, "Sounds like an interesting experiment."
"Cool, see you soon. Oh, and watch the alley. I'm pretty sure I saw a bear in there this morning."
"Wait, what-?" Roxanne started, only to hear a click on the other end. Bears. That was a new one.
*****
The odd one trotted over to see if Minion had finished his new clothes yet. This "constantly falling down" thing was getting embarrassing, and his nose still hurt from hitting the stupid car.
When he reached what he supposed was Minion's little sewing area, the odd one was pleased to see him putting the finishing touches on a piece of clothing. It was one piece with the zipper in the back, which was a bit of relief. The clothes he was used to back home were all one-piece too. …Then again, they were all bright orange, and this was black leather, with a cool blue lightning-bolt pattern on it.
Minion just gave him a big fishy grin, and held it up. "What do you think, sir?"
The odd one gave his friend a big grin, then squirmed out of the too-loose pants he was wearing to try it on. The fit was much snugger than the orange clothes he wore back home, but the leather felt nice against his skin. He tried to reach for the zipper to close the back of it, but he couldn't quite reach. Minion was kind enough to zip it up for him.
"It'll be much easier for you to get around in this, Sir."
The odd one nodded, and turned to go explore the… "lair"… some more. It wasn't home, but he couldn't seem to get Minion to understand that, so this strange place would have to do for now. Still, the fish followed behind him willingly enough, and had brought him food that was quite tasty a little while ago, so at least all of his basic needs would be met here.
On the floor, near an odd ray device, he spotted something that looked quite a bit like that Cube-Zapper he'd made. The odd one knew he'd have to come up with a better name for it eventually, but it's not as if he could tell anyone else the name yet anyway. He picked up the thing that was the Cube-Zapper, and yet not the Cube-Zapper, and turned it over in his hands, studying it. The handle of it actually felt like a gun, and it was heavy in his hand. It had a spinny chamber on it, too, with words written on it.
"That was one of your first inventions, Sir!" Minion piped up proudly.
The odd one nodded, squinting at the marks on the chamber. He hadn't learned to read yet (though he quite looked forward to it), so he wasn't sure what the words indicated. A little frown on his face, he pointed to the words, and looked up at Minion. The last time he had checked, Minion didn't know how to read either, but this bigger version of him seemed to know quite a bit.
Minion carefully took the Cube-Zapper from him, and spun it to a particular setting, "It, uh, might be best to just stick to this one right now, sir."
The odd one took it back, then spotted a screwdriver on a nearby table. He gestured towards it, and continued to study the new Zapper while Minion obediently fetched it for him. Tool in hand, he went to pry the muzzle off to get a good look at the inside.
"Uh, Sir? What are you doing?"
Once he found the right spot, the muzzle came off it easily enough, but on the inside, the… the Binky was gone. How could it be gone? He needed that! It was important! It was all he had left of his… his…
The odd one pushed the painful thought away, and looked back up at Minion, holding the opened gun up to show him. It's gone, Minion. Where is it?
"You figured out how to use other power sources, Sir," Minion said, giving him a smile. Blasted, dimwitted fish! He didn't understand! This was important and he didn't understand!
The odd one flung the disassembled Zapper to the ground, walked over to the desk himself, and started to dig through the drawers. It had to be here. It couldn't be gone. It was too important to be gone. He felt Minion's hand on his shoulder, and turned to look up at him.
"It's okay, Sir. Come on, I know where it is." Minion carefully scooped him up, and carried him over to a rickety elevator. His stomach lurched a bit as it sprung to life and he held on tighter; being dropped was a definite concern. He wasn't quite sure how structurally stable the robotic arms were.
Minion carried him into a nice, cool, dark room. There, on the shelf, glowed the precious binky. Hearts pounding with relief, the odd one squirmed free of his friend's grasp, and ran over to pick it up. The pacifier glowed soothingly in his hand; just looking at it made him feel better for reasons he didn't entirely understand.
"Sir," Minion said delicately, "It's been a big day for you. Perhaps you should get some sleep."
All at once, the weight of everything that had happened just seemed to come crushing down on him. The strange, scary place he found himself in, the big spooky machines, the monster that had attacked him and hurt his arm, how different Minion looked and sounded, the way his Cube-Zapper had been changed. And most baffling of all, that lady and the weird way she talked to him. Only Minion talked to the odd one like that, like he was a person.
With a sigh, he trudged over to the mattress on the floor, and curled up on it. …It was far softer than the bunk he had back at home. The odd one fidgeted a little, trying to get comfortable, as Minion tucked him in. Despite his exhaustion, though, he doubted sleep would come. Not in a scary place like this.
He wanted to go home.
*****
When Roxanne entered the run-down apartment about half an hour later, something smelled like burning. Karen's place was painfully small, and admittedly not in the best part of town, but at least it seemed pretty well-kept. Well, unless you counted the scorched scent.
"Um, is something burning?"
"Oh, yeah, my blender caught fire somehow. Apparently Girl Scout cookies were forged in hell, and blenderizing them lets the demons out. Who knew?"
Once, just once, it would be nice to know someone who was relatively normal. Roxanne didn't think that was asking for too much. Just one person.
Karen just frowned a little at her, "....You okay? You're giving me a weird look."
"Just, uh, not what I was expecting to hear."
"It was a joke. ...I did burn out the motor, though." She grabbed an old paper grocery bag, and started to throw some cookie boxes in it. "So, seriously, is something up? You look kind of shaken."
"Just one of Megamind's inventions being…weird."
"Oh god. He didn't actually do the laser bear thing, did he?"
"The what?"
"I saw it at the museum, there was this exhibit about plans he hadn't done, and there was this one with bears, and it-"
"No, Karen, no bears," Roxanne said, heaving a sigh. "He turned himself into a kid. I have no idea why. God, I hope it wears off or he fixes it or something."
Karen nodded, "Yeah, it's no good if Metro City's defender is just a little kid."
"…That too."
Karen tilted her head, "So, where is he now?"
"Still back at his lair," Roxanne explained, picking up the bag of cookies, "Minion's watching over him."
"Ha, too bad we don't have a substitute hero to fill in for him."
A lightbulb went on at that. They had another hero; she just had to talk him out of sitting on his butt and doing nothing. It'd only be for a little bit 'til Megamind got this fixed. "That's…an interesting thought. I gotta go, I'll see you later."
Karen raised an eyebrow, "I swear to god, if the next story I cover is you in ridiculous tights having stopped a mugging...."
She laughed at that, "Fighting isn't exactly in my skill set."
"Alright, awesome, just so we're cle-"
"BOWG!" they both jumped a bit at the sound; at first Roxanne figured it must be #411, but he was still on the charger back at the lair.
"Karen, what was that?"
"Whatwaswhat? I didn't hear anything!"
"I heard a bowg."
"BOWG BOWG BOWG!" This time it was long enough for Roxanne to zero in on the sound.
"There's a Brainbot in your closet, isn't there?"
"You have no proof of that."
Roxanne shut her eyes, hiding her face in her palm, "Karen…"
"Okay, you got me. I named him Smedley."
"Smedley."
"Uh-huh," Karen said, opening the closet door to show her the shoddily-repaired Brainbot. It looked too damaged to fly, and was cuddled up in a cat bed, "If I had an actual animal for a pet, my landlord would totally freak out. You have no idea."
"Why do you have a Brainbot? What happened to it?"
"It's a long story, but I found him, and he was all wrecked, and I've been working on patching him back up," Karen scooped up the wrecked Brainbot, holding it in her arms as if it were a puppy, "He's really nice sometimes."
"Brainbots don't make good pets."
"Oh, come on, Roxie," she replied, "You've got one!"
"Not by choice."
"But I like him! And he's really cute!"
The Brainbot, meanwhile, grumbled a bit, but made no attempt to escape her grasp.
"He looks a little damaged. Maybe he should go back to the lair."
Karen just hugged it defensively, earning herself another growl, "But Megamind can't fix him right now. He's still a kid, remember? Besides, I've gotten a lot of the damage fixed on my own."
"Okay, after this wears off, …'Smedley' should go back to the lair. If you were in his position, wouldn't you wanna get repaired?"
"Well, yeah, but…"
"Maybe he'll want to come back when he's fixed."
Karen seemed to brighten a bit at that, "Yeah, maybe."
"I'll see you later, Karen," Roxanne said, as she hefted the bag of cookies and turned to go. She had a phone call to make.
Chapter #4: Paternal Instincts
If you read, please leave a comment letting me know what you liked and what you didn't. :) Constructive criticism is how I improve. Short, fluff comments are also appreciated; :) I'm always happy to know I've got another reader.