I was inspired to write this story by Dal Niente's "Crises of Identity", and I asked her if it was okay to use her idea about how Megamind remembers everything from the time he was a baby but Metro Man doesn't, and she said that would be just fine, and so, here it is. (I have since learned from joanhello that, strictly speaking, one can't copyright an idea, but it seemed like a good idea to ask permission at the time as I didn't want to step on anybody's toes.)

Speaking of joanhello, she was the one who coined the phrase 'the Paired Peoples' and I have always liked it, since it implies a long, shared history between Megamind and Minion's people, so I asked her if I could use it, and she said that I could. :) (My names for their individual species are my own, though. Except for Metro Man's. Calling his people the Glau or Glaupunk seems to be fairly standard in the fandom.)

Many thanks to Dal Niente and joanhello, and to my lovely beta readers, Nora Salisbury, ViridianVenus, and Hunger4Righteousness! (Whew. A lot of people helped to make this fanfic possible. :) )

Megamind felt the pressure on his back ease as the beam was lifted off. More dust rained down on him and cautiously he lifted his head, blinking in the dim gray light.

Metro Man smirked in triumph. "Well, can you walk or do I have to carry you out?"

He scowled and got to his feet, coughing and brushing off the dust from his black leather jacket, then clambered over the broken timbers and metal rods that formed the depression that had saved him from getting crushed.

"Oh, Sir, thank goodness you're all right!" Minion cried as he stumbled onto solid ground, and the light disappeared as Minion wrapped him in a bear hug.

"Oof!" Shaken, he couldn't help but allow Minion to hold him, but not for long, not with his enemy watching. After a few deep breaths, he pushed against the metal chest and Minion released him. Taking a step back he gave the faithful henchfish a stern look.

"I ordered you to vacate the premises, Minion," he said.

Minion tapped his fingers together and shuffled his feet. "I wanted to make sure you were okay," he mumbled. "The whole building came down."

Megamind turned a cool look on the white-clad hero. "Yes, how about that, Metro Doofus? Rather excessive, don't you think? Bringing the whole building down on top of me?"

Metro Man waved a hand, dismissing his concerns. Secretly he'd been rather alarmed the abandoned apartment complex had collapsed so easily, and was relieved when he located the sound of Megamind's panicked heartbeats and harsh breathing underneath the rubble. "Aw, I knew you'd find a safe place. Besides, you shouldn't have robbed that bank. The gun, please."

Silently, Megamind drew the de-gun and handed it to him. I wish I could increase its power enough to penetrate that super-powered hide.

Metro Man held the de-gun in his right hand, not bothering to stick it in his belt since he knew it would be too tight. "So where'd you stash the loot?" He ran his X-ray vision around in the depression and the surrounding area.

Megamind shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest, and smiled. The stolen cash was safely hidden four blocks away in a junk yard, cleverly disguised as a pile of rusted car parts, thanks to his portable hologram projector. Battle armor was not cheap, nor was the polymerized titanium cloth he was developing for his new suit. His grand debut was only a few short weeks away. He had the name and the desire. Now he only needed the equipment, and the look to go with it, to complete his transformation from street rat to super-villain.

Metro Man sighed. "Fine. Have it your way." There was a rumble of thunder overhead, and they all looked up at the open sky through what was left of the broken walls. Lightning flashed deep within the dark clouds.

"Man, this is some weird weather for December, huh?" Metro Man said. "Snow and lightning. I don't think I can fly you guys through this. You might get electrocuted. So start walking."

Megamind rolled his eyes, and he and Minion began picking their way across the debris field. "You could use your super-speed to run, you know." Brushing at his jeans, which had become gray from plaster dust, he raised a small cloud and coughed again.

"In a hurry to get turned over to the cops?" Metro Man said with a grin. Megamind scowled and shook his head. "So what's the occasion?" the hero asked, floating over the broken timbers. "Whenever you break out, you've always got something in mind."

"It was my birthday eight days ago," said Megamind. "Or as near to my actual birthday as I have been able to figure, since traveling at light-speed through the depths of space makes such calculations tricky."

Metro Man gave him a bright smile. "Wow, I didn't know that! We're almost the same age. Except you're only seventeen."

Megamind gave him a dirty look. "Brilliant deduction."

"So a little outing to celebrate, huh?" said Metro Man, unfazed by his nemesis' sour attitude. "You got a birthday, Minion?"

Minion said, "Well, I hatched in the summer. So I just kind of set it on June 1st. I'm twenty."

"Think of the bash we'll have on his next birthday," Megamind said with an ee-vil smile. "He'll be old enough to drink. We may just have to blow up something really big." He nudged Minion with his elbow and a pleased blush turned Minion's cheeks a darker green.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Metro Man.

"Think of today's amazing bank robbery as a little present to you, as well," Megamind said, ignoring his declaration. "You ought to thank me for getting you out of that boring old birthday bash."

Metro Man gave the blue boy a disapproving look. "It's not just any party. I turned eighteen, it's a big deal. My folks invited over three hundred guests. It's Christmas too, you know."

Megamind clapped his hands to his cheeks. "Already?" he cried. "And we haven't even gotten a tree yet. Merciful heavens, Minion, what will Santa think?"

They got out of the ruined building and onto the sidewalk. "This way, guys," Metro Man said, pointing down the street. "Nearest police roadblock."

"Now that you're an adult, at least you can legally call yourself Metro Man now," said Megamind with a sneer. "Must be a huge load off your goody-two shoes conscience. You should have called yourself Metro Boy until you came of age. Or Metro Dork, or Metro Savior. Is that why they chose to celebrate your wonderful b-day on the 25th? To reinforce the connection in the minds of the populace?"

"It's the day I was born, it's not like I can help that."

Megamind shrugged. "It's just the day you landed on Earth. For all of us. Close enough, I suppose."

For a few moments there was only the sounds of their feet crunching on bits of old snow and ice.

"What do you mean?" asked Metro Man with a frown.

Megamind glanced at him with a frown of his own. He's being unusually dense today. "You see, it is a ver-y comp-li-cate-ed con-cept," he said, talking in a slow, measured voice and punctuating the air with his hands. "The phrase 'close enough' has man-y mean-ings. In this con-text..."

Metro Man put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. "No, not that! I mean, sort of that, but what do you mean? You mean you came to Earth on the day I was born?"

They stared at each other, both at a loss, but for different reasons. "No," Megamind said carefully, studying the hero's puzzled face, then shook his head and glanced at Minion. "This is the day we all landed on this planet. The three of us."

Metro Man's face split into a grin. "You're not making any sense here, little buddy. You get hit on the head?"

Megamind's mouth opened, but no words came out, so he shut it again. Eyes wide with amazement, he looked at Minion, who wore a similar stunned expression.

{"Sir, I don't think he knows,"} Minion said in the language of the Paired Peoples which only he and Megamind knew.

{"It looks that way,"} Megamind said. {"He doesn't have any idea."}

Metro Man looked back and forth between them. "What?" he said. "What are you saying?" He didn't know what was going on, but the meaningful looks passing between the alien boy and his henchfish were beginning to unnerve him.

Megamind could only shake his head, speechless at the magnitude of Wayne's ignorance.

He grimaced when Metro Man grabbed him by the arm. "What don't I know?" he snapped.

Megamind looked pointedly at the massive hand that was on the verge of crushing his upper arm and turned a cold glare on him. "Laying hands on a prisoner in anger, hero?"

Metro Man let go, taking a step back and raising his white-gloved hands in a placating gesture. "You're right, that was uncalled for. But can you tell me what you're talking about?"

"I'm just trying to process the overwhelming realization that you know nothing about your true origins." In spite of his aching arm, a warm glow grew in Megamind's belly and spread throughout his limbs, offsetting the chill wind snaking around his legs and ears, and around the popped collar of his jacket. His smile widened as he turned his face to the dark sky. Thunder rumbled. It really is Christmas after all.

Metro Man raised his arms to the side and let them fall again. "Well, what is it then?"

"Let's take this in stages, shall we?" Megamind steepled his fingers. "First of all, you already know you're adopted so I think...oh my," he said, with a low chuckle at Wayne's stunned look. "You didn't even know that? My goodness. There is an awful lot that Mommy and Daddy haven't told you, isn't there? Heh heh heh. Heeheeheehee!"

Before it could become a full-blown evil laugh, Metro Man took a step closer so he loomed over him, forcing Megamind to look up. He jabbed his finger at Megamind's chest, nearly leaving a dent.

"You..." Wayne growled. Then he huffed out a breath and shook his head. "That is a real whopper."

"Oh, come off it, Wayne!" snapped Megamind, rubbing the new bruise. He refused to step back, though it was difficult to see his nemesis' face beyond his oversized chest. "You think your awesome powers run in the magnificent Scott family? Did you inherit them from Great-Grandma?" He paused and tilted his head thoughtfully. "Hmm. Actually, I suppose you did. Though she was not who you think she was."

Metro Man worked his jaw. "I'm getting tired of this. Tell me what you supposedly know."

"Very well, I'll rip off the band-aid. I hate to break this to you, Wayne," he said, ee-vil grin growing wide. "But the simple truth is that you are not human. You are an alien, just like us."

Admittedly it is stretching reality to its limit for Wayne not to have questioned his parents about his origins, or why he has these fantastic powers, after all this time. I am just playing around with the concept here, for fanfiction's sake.