This story came about because of December 12 prompt from the tumblr blog, advent-of-evil: Metroman saves Megamind's life when he gets cornered and attacked by an angry mob.

I meant to make it a one-shot, but due to time constraints and the busy-ness of Real Life, I couldn't quite get it finished in a satisfactory manner, so it became a two-parter.

When Megamind crashed, he really crashed. All Metro Man had to do was follow the debris field, which stretched for over a mile across the buildings and streets. He flew steadily on, certain that he'd find the super-villain still trying to crawl out of the wreckage of the blimp.

He didn't start to worry until he began spotting the cubes, and people pouring water on them, freeing the men and women from suspended animation. All of them were quite angry, and as they saw him flying overhead they began running along behind him, shouting.

"Get him, Metro Man!"

"Kick his ass!"

"Take his head off!"

Wow, that's pretty harsh, he thought with a frown.

The reamins of the blimp lay smoking a few blocks away. He quickly ran his x-ray vision over it to see if the super-villain had holed himself up in it somewhere, but there was no sign of him. Dehydrated cubes and disgruntled citizens formed a rough trail, and he followed it.

Soon he came across a group of teenagers playing with the de-gun.

The boy who held it, and he looked about fourteen, zapped a car. He and his friends laughed hysterically as it dehydrated in chunks, the car alarm blaring. First the trunk went, leaving the back seat slumping on the ground, then that got zapped, and then the rest of it went, along with the alarm.

Metro Man landed in front of them, his feet hitting with a thud, and scowled at them. The kids shuffled and the ones in the back began edging away. "You shoot all those people?" he said, waving a hand down the street. There were still some cubes lying around.

The boy shook his head. "I didn't. The freak did. He was shooting everybody," he said indignantly.

Metro Man asked, "How did you get that?"

"I found it," the boy said, holding it in both hands possessively. "Lying on the ground over there." He jerked his chin down the sidewalk. "There's junk all over. They chased him that way."

"Who did?"

"Everybody." The boy shrugged.

Metro Man held out his hand and the boy sighed and gave him the de-gun.

"Go on home," he said sternly. "A battlefield is no place for kids."

As he flew off he heard the boy mutter, "Since when? Everybody watches," but he didn't turn back.

He had no time to lecture kids on staying out of harm's way, and in any case, the boy was right. The citizens of Metro City were used to being spectators at the epic battles between Metro Man and his nemesis. They generally stayed just far enough away so they didn't become collateral damage.

He was glad he got the de-gun before they began messing around with the settings. Metro Man didn't even know what the "de-ath" setting did. Was it worse than "de-stroy"?

It wasn't like Megamind to leave his signature weapon behind.

As he zipped between buildings he spotted pieces of black cloth lying in shreds on the ground, and heard voices shouting and cursing. He put on another burst of speed.

Metro Man found the crowd, jammed into an alley. He frowned at the two police officers hovering at the back. He knew he shouldn't judge them too harshly; only two officers couldn't do much against a mob, but he wondered if they'd called for back-up.

By the way they ducked their heads as he flew overhead, he had a feeling they hadn't.

Metro Man flew up high to asses the damage.

Megamind stood cornered against the adjoining walls of a brick building and a chain link fence. Feet planted wide, he gripped a rubber garbage can lid in one hand and a broken length of wood in the other. His cape was gone, the collar shredded so it looked like a mangled bat, and his outfit hung from him in rags, exposing his chest and one shoulder, toga-like.

Metro Man exhaled. At least he's still upright.

Megamind's chest heaved as if he'd just run a marathon, but his eyes blazed as they darted around at the people hemming him in. He glanced up as he noticed the hero floating overhead, and Metro Man saw an unfamiliar expression pass over his face. It looked remarkably like relief.

Then the skin tightened around Megamind's eyes and a muscle jumped in his jaw. He shifted his weight and lifted the makeshift club a little higher.

Does he really think I'd just leave him here? Metro Man thought. Wow. That kind of hurt.

Several other people were nursing injuries. Some of them leaned or sat against the brick wall, holding their limbs and heads.

"Look, it's Metro Man!" A cheer went up.

Metro Man landed between Megamind and the mob, simultaneously facing them and shielding Megamind.

Someone yelled "Finish him off, Metro Man!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Metro Man said, raising his arms. "You stopped this criminal from escaping."

There were shouts of agreement.

"Now he will face justice..."

The roar of the crowd frightened birds off the rooftops. Metro Man gave them a firm nod. "Back in jail, where he belongs!" he said.

There was some hesitation and the cheers were a little more uncertain on this point, but Metro Man was in charge now. "Just let me have a few words with him before I bring him in." He turned his back on them and looked down at his nemesis.

Welts and bruises marked his blue head. A gash over one eye produced a curtain of blood over half his face. More blood speckled the other side of his head, but it seemed to have no obvious source. It probably wasn't his. That club looked like it had gotten a workout.

"There a problem here?"

Megamind sneered. "Oh no, no, we're all about to go out for pizza. Took you long enough. You stop to sign autographs on the way over?"

Metro Man chuckled. "I had to make sure Roxanne was safely out of those mechanical claws, you know."

Megamind sighed heavily. "At least you did one thing right." He eyed the de-gun in Metro Man's hand. "Two things right."

"You can put that stuff down now, little buddy."

"I don't think so. These are my new best friends. And I am not your little buddy."

"What is that anyway?" Metro Man pointed at the broken stick.

"Broom handle. A shopkeeper was sweeping the sidewalk."

"Resourceful."

"Gosh, I'm so glad I impressed you. That was my intention."

"Come on, just drop 'em. I'm not going to let them hurt you."

"Have you seen my face? You're a little late."

Metro Man crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him. After a moment's hesitation, Megamind tossed aside the broom handle. "I'm keeping the shield," he said, tapping the lid. There was a huge crack in it. "They keep throwing rocks. These maniacs are completely crazy. I couldn't shoot them fast enough. There were too many."

"At least you didn't kill anyone." Metro Man raised an eyebrow. "Right?"

Megamind peered around the hero's bulk. "That remains to be seen." He pulled back quickly. Several chunks of concrete and bricks hit the chain link fence and bounced off Metro Man's back.

Metro Man spun around, cape swirling.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Who threw that?"

Several people stuck their hands behind their backs.

Metro Man scowled at them, running his gaze over the mob. They all shuffled a bit, even the ones who weren't trying to hide any bits of rock.

He could tell what they were thinking. They were thinking that he was running his X-ray vision over them, and spotting the culprits. He wasn't really, since he wasn't planning on taking anyone else in. He'd be arresting people for the rest of the day.

Metro Man put his hands on his hips. "Is this how the good citizens of Metro City behave? Like lawless vigilantes? We don't let atrocities like this happen. You've acted above and beyond the call of duty, instigating a citizen's arrest."

Megamind snorted. Metro Man shot a warning glare at him over his shoulder. He needs to shut up, he thought. There wasn't any reason to antagonize these people any longer.

"You've helped bring this criminal to justice, and that's where I come in. You can rest easy tonight, citizens, knowing you've served the greater good."

The collective hackles of the crowd were slowly going down.

"You oughta break his neck, Metro Man!" Someone in the back shouted, which set off another rumble of anger.

"Send him back where he came from!"

"Squish his head!"

Why is it always the ones shouting from the back? Metro Man wondered. There was no shortage of bravery at the back of a crowd. He could see and hear exactly who the troublemakers were, and they looked the part, mean and self-righteous. Then again, everyone in a mob looked ugly.

He raised his hands again to quiet them down. "He's in custody now, good people. Upstanding, worthy citizens like yourselves would never stoop so low as to deliver mob justice. Megamind's on American soil, and he will receive American justice, to the fullest extent of the law!"

Megamind muttered through gritted teeth, "That has got to be the biggest load of-"

"Good work, citizens!" Metro Man said loudly, giving the crowd a big, bright smile. With that, he turned, grabbed Megamind under his arms and shot into the air. The mob cheered.

Megamind held the garbage can lid at the ready, but no one threw any more rocks.