Author's Note:

Hello all! It's been a VERY long time since I have written a start-to-finish fan-fiction (nearly 10 years since I wrote my Sonic fanfic series The Metallic Touch) and to have a movie so inspire me as to write again, well, that's pretty big. I saw and fell in love with this movie immediately, watching it twice at the theatres and almost daily by other means. I've purchased the "Art of" book as well as the comic book prequel to the movie, so I'd like to think that I've a fairly good grasp on the characters and the universe that they live in. The story was so fascinating, and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the Roxanne and Megamind pairing. I really wanted to add my two cents to the fandom as well.

I currently have 3 Megamind stories on the go, but I wrote this one as a mix between a prequel to what I am writing and as a filler story in the movie timeline. I thought it would be a good place to start, a warm-up, if you will.

After Shock takes place between Metro Man's death and Megamind's dancing in the street to City Hall. That little snippet, albeit a mundane one, is one that I felt should have been filled. So I took it upon myself to fill in that gap. I came up with the title After Shock after probably my 15th read-through of this story, and I think it's pretty fitting. It takes on a couple meanings, and actually works for this story's title.

So yes, this is my very first one-shot that I have ever actually written and published, so be gentle. Ten years is a long time to come out of hibernation. I am charting new grounds out of the Sonic realm, and I would like to think that this story surpasses my previous endeavors.

I hope to write more fan-fictions again soon, and who knows, maybe actually finish the rewrites of my old ones.

And now, the obligatory copyright info:

I do not own Megamind in any way, shape, or form (though I wish I did!). The characters portrayed in this story (with the exception of the 3 mentioned in the epilogue) are copyright© to DreamWorks. Any similarities to any other stories out there is entirely coincidental. I have yet to have read any story written that takes place during the same timeframe as this one, so I am hoping this is semi-original.

And yes, I like to write a ridiculously long author's note (it was actually longer... I cut out half a page ^^), because I feel it helps my readers get to know a bit about me and the origins of the story they are about to read. This will be the last time they are this long. So if you have read right until the end, then I thank you.

I hope you enjoy my first attempts at both a oneshot and a Megamind fic. Cheers,

S. Ratté, AKA rat-lightshadow

After Shock

A Megamind Fan Fiction by rat-lightshadow

"Metrosity is mine!" Megamind cried out incredulously, letting each word wrap itself around his tongue like a blanket.

He still could not believe what had just transpired. Metro Man, Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes, had actually succumbed to one of Megamind's contraptions. By all calculations, this should not have happened. He anticipated Metro Man, that smarmy man, to escape from his Death-By-Sun Ray and haul the large-headed blue alien back to jail. But this – Metro Man's death – was just too good to be true! Copper, of all things! Who knew that the world's most invincible man was allergic to copper? Megamind was sure that his small, wiry frame could not contain all his excitement and that it was his form-fitting leather outfit keeping him together.

"What... now...?"

The question was so quiet and drawn out that it caused he and Minion to stop their celebration and glance over to the owner of the words to ensure that they were even spoken. And suddenly the smile that had been on Megamind's face had washed away, being replaced by furrowed brows and a concerned frown.

Damn it. In all the excitement, he had forgotten about her. And the skeleton staring her in the face.

Roxanne Ritchi sat tied to a chair in the middle of the fake-observatory and appearing rather disheveled, having taken the full brunt of the aftershock of the blast. Her eyes were fixed in terror at the hollow eye sockets staring back at her. Her face expressed disbelief. Her pretty red dress, now covered in a heavy, soot-like dust, stood out against the blackness of the lair. She was breathing heavily and was clearly shocked at the sight before her.

Minion looked at the young woman with concern, then to his boss, then shrugged his robotic shoulders. This indicated to Megamind that they had also never anticipated not having Metro Man save Roxanne, and were therefore forced to improvise. Megamind clenched his teeth and breathed in heavily, then waved his fingers at Minion in an outward motion towards the skeleton.

He may be a villain, but both Megamind and Minion knew that the super-genius had a soft spot for Roxanne. He had a bit of decency, and he wasn't going to make her stare at that horror. In fact, it was starting to give Megamind the creeps. Minion jumped to the pile of bones and gently picked them up.

"Wait, where are you taking those?" Roxanne screamed, her anger now replacing fear. "You are monsters!" Minion's robotic body turned while his fishy head stayed to face her with a look of sadness and distress. His fins appeared to sink, like a tail-between-the-legs, as he then turned his fish-self around, and carried the bones out of sight. "Both of you!" she called out in Minion's direction with more force and anger.

Roxanne had always never minded Minion. He was always kind to her... except now. Could he not at least let her wallow in grief? She turned her glare to Megamind, who was standing dumbstruck, his large eyes focused entirely on her. "Especially you," she said coldly to him. In response, she thought she saw him step back suddenly, as if associating him with a monster was the worst insult in the world to him. "Especially you," she repeated more quietly, now bringing her head down to her chest, and feeling the tears beginning to sting her eyes. 'I'm not letting them see me cry!' she thought to herself, but it only caused her tears to come faster.

Megamind's eye twitched. The way she had just spoken to him – he had never heard her have such hatred towards him. 'Well, you did just kill her boyfriend, what did you expect?' he reasoned to himself, exhaling through his nose slowly. His face twisted slightly as he watched her shake, trying to contain her sobs. And for just but a moment, he could have sworn he felt something he had rarely felt nowadays: guilt. But why?

Oh, right. While he had succeeded in destroying the city's saviour (which he still could not fathom), he had failed in keeping his silent promise to himself – never hurt Roxanne. Frighten her, kidnap her, banter with her, but never hurt her. He had admitted to himself long ago that he had grown rather fond her presence, and it was the reason so many of his plans had included her being kidnapped. She wasn't like anyone else he attempted to kidnap; she gave him intellectual stimuli, unlike the other brainless bimbos. They would scream Bloody Mary incessantly, whine and complain. Just to be rid of them, Megamind would allow Metro Man to win sooner than planned. And, if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, Roxanne was very attractive, and her appearance was a delicious change from the dark, depressing walls of his lair or prison and Minion. Being around her gave him a strange feeling that he could only associate as the same one he got when a new package arrived from the outlet store in Romania: excitement. Yes, he knew what that feeling was. He liked that feeling.

Minion returned to Megamind's side after placing the skeleton into an adjoining room. The fish gazed at his boss, who appeared to be having some sort of internal struggle. "Sir?" Minion asked him quietly, poking the alien's shoulder. This seemed to snap Megamind back to the here and now.

Megamind, composing himself, placed his arms behind his back and straightened up. He glanced over at Minion, who in turn gently nudged the air towards Roxanne. The blue alien then walked forward to Roxanne at a slow, practised pace. Upon reaching the bound woman, he stopped about two steps away, puffed out his chest and put on his most intimidating face. "Miss Ritchi," he said in the most menacing voice he could muster, which really wasn't all that terrifying. It came out rather strained, actually.

In response, he received silence, then a sniffle.

And when she raised her head slowly and looked up at him, he winced. Her reddened ice-blue eyes stared directly at him with a look of what Megamind could only decipher as fear present on her face. It caused his heart to wretch just a little bit. The fear... he had not seen it since the first time he had kidnapped her several years ago. A stubborn tear slid down her rounded cheek, falling haphazardly onto her lap next to several other darkened spots.

Roxanne's eyes widened as her brows came close together at the centre of her forehead. "I suppose you're going to kill me, then," she said under her breath, sounding more like a question rather than a statement. Megamind only blinked at her in response, as if the idea were preposterous. Though now, he supposed, she had every reason to believe he would do just that. Isn't that what the comic books always did when the hero didn't save the day? When the villain actually defeated the hero? The idea that, after the countless kidnappings with no harm to her physical being, she actually thought that he would hurt her – of all people, her – stung him a bit. Megamind was troubled that she now feared him, and he disliked this.

Megamind hated admitting it to himself, but he did not like seeing Roxanne like this. It didn't suit her. While having her as his most-frequent kidnappee enabled him to bestow a sense of power and control over a situation due to her status as the city's most beloved reporter, he failed to enjoy that entitlement when there was no situation to take control of; no hero to come save her. His face softened as he tilted his head downwards to allow the light streaming in from the open dome to soften his harsh facial features. "Roxanne," he said in a softer voice, coughing into his hand.

And as if the cough were some cue, Minion approached the chair she was seated in and gently untied her wrists, in turn causing the fear on her face to be replaced with a look of befuddlement. "I do apologize if you have been uncomfortable, Ms. Ritchi," Minion said to her after unbinding the rope. The fish was swimming low in his bowl-head, a look of guilt apparent on his face. "Truth is, we never have had this –"

"Minion!" Megamind exclaimed, flailing and practically jumping out of his boots. He pointed an accusing finger at the robotic-gorilla-suited fish. "I am sure that she doesn't need to hear such triv-ail-tees!" His eyebrows rose and fell on each of the mispronounced three syllables, trying to prove a point of some sort. He wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't need Roxanne to know that he was actually unprepared.

"– happen before..." Minion trailed off, playing with the rope in his metallic hands. Megamind slid his hand down his face, an exasperated groan escaping from him. Minion looked innocently at his master, his eyes wide and pleading for forgiveness.

"Look, Rox... err, Miss Ritchi," Megamind started with a sigh, "I have never harmed you in the past, and I don't intend on starting now." To her surprise, the villain offered his hand to help her out of her seat. "It's not how the game is played. I find it rather unsporting. I mean, what good – err, bad, will it do, if no one comes to save you?"

Roxanne eyed Megamind's hand hesitantly, then looked up at him. He stood directly in front of her, looking right at her face. His right arm was extended with the palm up, his other arm behind his back, and an expression of indifference strewn across his face. One of his eyebrows was raised, indicating to her that even he wasn't sure why he had made the gesture. It was a civil – gentlemanly! – move that, after a few seconds, she stubbornly huffed at, batting his hand to the side and abruptly standing herself up out of the chair. To her dismay, her legs were still bound, causing the momentum to topple her forward. She let out a small gasp when a firm leather grip grabbed her arm, stopping her decent to the floor. A gentle tug straightened her up, and the grip loosened, but did not vanish.

Roxanne turned her head in time to see Megamind nod his head in a downward motion, his eyes rolling to emphasize what he wanted. Minion took the cue and bent down, quickly untying the remaining rope. The fish tossed it aside, apologizing to Ms. Ritchi for his forgetfulness and lack of manners. Megamind let go of Roxanne's arm, returning his own behind his back. She looked directly at his face, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled a large breath, causing his chest to puff out slightly. He still wore a look of indifference, but it seemed to be mixed with a bit of doubt.

A rare moment of awkward silence passed between the two individuals. "So," Roxanne started cautiously, quickly wiping away the dampness from her cheeks. She absent-mindedly rubbed her arm where Megamind had grabbed it, and continued, "just what are you going to do to the city now?" She was confused as to why he had just let her go. She had, for only a brief second, wondered whether he actually cared about her well-being or if he had something up his sleeve.

Megamind searched his brain for an answer, momentarily replying, "Well, why don't you come to watch my magnificence at City Hall!" He pointed at her for effect. "There, I shall announce my brilliant plan for the citizens of Metrosity!" He stabbed the air with his index finger, triumphant that he had thought of that on a whim. "Yes! That's what I will do!" He was winging it all from here, all the while putting on a show for Roxanne. He would later regret suggesting this to her, since he had no idea, really, what the bad guy did when he won.

'Of course,' thought Roxanne. 'He needs someone to bring the media!' Roxanne scolded herself for thinking her release was for anything else other than for his arrogance. It was a rather convincing ploy for letting her go, although something didn't seem right. He seemed... agitated, more-so than she usually saw him, anyway. Just moments ago he was gloating and prancing around like a cheerleader, and now she saw him behaving like he did when his plans were failing. That seemed odd to her.

Roxanne straightened her form-fitting dress and raised her eyebrow at him. He in return lowered his eyebrows and smirked at her, his face coming but a few inches from her own. He couldn't help but notice that she smelled of coconut body cream, and it made his nose twitch in delight, much to his chagrin.

And like this the two stood for several seconds. Roxanne got the hint that he was seriously tying to egg her on, to try to start a banter. Really? Right now? She was in no mood to exchange commentaries with the alien. For crying out loud, had he forgotten what had just happened? It then occurred to her that Megamind was in just as much a state of shock as she was, and his large, unearthly green eyes were revealing the worry stirring in his being. She had learned long ago how to read Megamind, and this was one of those "holy shit" moments he was still trying to comprehend. She had to admit, he was doing a fantastic job of hiding his lack of planning.

"So just like that?" she questioned, cocking her round hips to the right and placing a hand on it. She caught Megamind's eyes giving her a once-over, like he was 'checking her out'. Yeah, she learned a LONG time ago how to read him.

"Why, yes!" he answered, inhaling her smell once more, then straightening up. "I need some patsy to gather the media! And who better than their star reporter!" He gestured a hand to her to illustrate his point, then pulled it back behind himself. "So yes, just like that." His expression softened slightly when she crossed her slender arms under her chest, her lovely, full, round breasts dancing as she shifted her weight to her other hip. And he just stared at them for a few seconds until Roxanne cleared her throat knowingly.

Megamind's face dropped as he abruptly turned on his heel and headed towards the lift. "Minion, see that Miss Ritchi is directed out," Megamind exclaimed hastily, shaking off the brief wave of emotion clouding his thoughts, "without the kidnapping bag." He felt his face and ears flush purple as he quickened his pace. 'Dear Lord,' he thought, 'control yourself!' He mentally slapped himself for having thoughts like that come to his mind (as they so often did) about his most frequent kidnapping victim. It wasn't right for super-villains to have any sort of emotions like that. "But don't use the Forget-Me-Stick," he added under his breath, as if it was a passing thought rather than a statement to his fishy friend. "Not the Stick," he mumbled again. Of course Minion wouldn't use the Forget-Me-Stick. He never used the Stick on her. Megamind made sure the fish never harmed her intentionally. The leather-clad villain pondered to himself if this was normal behaviour to display to a victim in his custody.

"...Sir?" the fish started, but was stopped by Megamind's arm shooting up towards the ceiling, all but his index fingers curled into a fist.

"I'm going to go assemble the Brain Bots and find my most fantastic victory song ever," Megamind said as he reached the lift, his back still to the two dumbfounded acquaintances. "A dance in the streets on the way is in order." With a dramatic flair of his cape, he turned and pulled the lift's switch hard, stealing one last glance at Roxanne's confused, beautiful face before descending to the floor below.

Minion blinked curiously as he bobbed in his fishbowl. "Okay," was all he could say. He then turned to Roxanne, whose face expressed annoyance and confusion.

"Well, that was... definitely unpredictable," she said to no one in particular, still in a state of shock. She wasn't sure though if what she was feeling was from Metro Man's death, or from what had just occurred. She summed it up to a bit of both.

A familiar rattling of the Forget-Me-Spray can sounded to her left, and a large robotic hand placed itself around her arm with a gentle grip. The last thing she remembered hearing was Minion saying, "Sorry, Ms. Ritchi. Really, I am," before everything went black.

Once the lift reached below the uppermost level, Megamind exhaled loudly, an unsure feeling creeping into his being. He needed to get back into his victory mood. This whole ordeal left a rather unpleasant feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The lift reached the lower level, and he began to walk towards his immense CD collection. 'Yes, I just need some good victory music,' he thought with uncertainty. 'Something that will put me back into a celebratory mood.' He hopped onto the CD library's rolling ladder and started at the A's.

In the couple hours that had passed, he had occupied himself with deciding what the best song to play down to City Hall would be, gradually becoming excited once again about what he had accomplished. CDs were strewn all over the floor, several of them sorted into a various piles. Roxanne's face would occasionally rear itself to his foremost thoughts, but he was used to pushing these and other more troublesome emotions down to focus on the task at hand. And this he did until Minion's return, upon which Megamind excitedly jumped up and ran to his fishy companion, ecstatically flailing an AC/DC CD case. Megamind demanded that Minion gather the Brain Bots and get the boombox so they could prepare for the extraordinary laser show he wanted to project in sync with the music he had chosen.

Minion complied, of course, putting his own feelings aside once again to appease the wishes of his life-long friend.

Epilogue:

"Roxy?"

The young reporter's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her nickname. Her vision cleared up in a few seconds as Hal called her name again.

"Hal? Where... wha?" Roxanne stuttered in confusion as she took in her surroundings. She was sitting on one of the plushy chairs in the lobby of the TV station with fellow reporters, the receptionist, Hal and her boss gathered around her, looks of concern or relief present on their faces. Hal's face was uncomfortably close to her own, his hands on her shoulders as he shook her gently one last time.

"Wow! I – well, WE, were all, like, really worried about you!" Hal said as he straightened himself up. "Like, we thought Megamind was for sure going to off you!"

"That's a nice picture, there, Hal," one of the reporters – Judy Jones, Roxanne thought her name was – stated to him, her eyebrows low over her eyes.

"How did I get here?" Roxanne asked, trying to ignore the bitter aftertaste of the Forget-Me-Spray still lingering in her mouth.

The receptionist answered for her this time. "A young gentleman brought you here, said his name was 'Min'. He happened to find you wandering down the country highway in a daze. He said he knew who you were and said he would take you to the hospital, but you insisted that you come here because you had a big story to tell us, and then just passed out on the way over."

'What?' Roxanne thought quizzically. That wasn't right...

"He mentioned that you told him Megamind was releasing you to allow you to report from City Hall tonight at 7... is that true?"

"Yeeess," Roxanne drew out, realizing of who this 'Min' was. It was a little-known fact that Megamind had several holo-matter projectors; a fact Roxanne had left out of her reports purposely because she knew it would bug Megamind – like she would give him the satisfaction of the people being afraid of each other because they may or may not be the super-villain in disguise. She supposed, then, that Minion, after knocking her out, used the disguise generator and brought her back to the station, came up with a story (and conveniently slipping in the City Hall appearance), and left. "Yes, that's right," Roxanne answered again, standing herself up.

"Well then," her boss started, coming to the forefront of the crowd, "we should probably get you and Hal out there then! It's quarter past 6! It takes half hour just to get there!"

"Really, Don?" Judy snapped, "She just survived a horrifying ordeal and lost her boyfriend! I don't think she's really in any sort of shape or mood to do any sort of reporting! Perhaps I –"

"No, really, it's okay," Roxanne cut in. "Besides, I want to ask Megamind for myself just what he thinks he's going to do with us!" Roxanne was starting to feel the anger boil up inside her again at the whole situation. As a plus, if she could avoid the inevitable pity and questions she would receive, then by all means, she was ready to report an entire 12 part series. "C'mon, Hal," she ordered, storming her way through the crowd of people, out the front door and dragging Hal by his wrist behind her. The cameraman just simply grinned idiotically and followed her.

"But...!" Judy exclaimed as she joined in with the confused and dumbfounded stares of her co-workers at the news van driving off. "You look like a mess..." she finished to herself under her breath. Why did she NEVER get the interesting stories?

Police Chief Malloy sighed heavily at the scene before him. Rubble was piled everywhere, small fires were still blazing in patches across the area, and the smell of burnt metal hung heavy in the air. His team of investigators were the first to be dispatched to the scene of the Observatory destruction upon the fire department deeming the area safe for them to enter. Was there really even a point now for him and his team to be there? It wouldn't be long before that cretin Megamind would begin his reign of terror. Everyone knew what had happened. He was certain it was the higher ups calling this one in. Damned paperwork. They always wanted the paperwork so that the city could be granted its insurance claims.

Why did the insurance companies even allow Metro City to file claims anymore, really?

"Sir? Excuse me, Sir?"

Malloy snapped out of his thoughts and turned around at the sound of the voice behind him. "Yes, Son, what is it?" he replied to the young officer whom he did not recognize. The officer's nameplate on his front chest-pocket said 'M. ION'.

"I think I have found the body, Sir," Officer Ion stated to the older gentleman, pointing towards a large pile of stones and left over foundation near the edge of the road. "It looks like it was recently just dumped here... Which I guess makes sense, since body shot out to Megamind's lair. Guess someone came by and left it here." The officer shifted his weight nervously.

Malloy's eyes widened as he started in the direction that Ion pointed. "Really? Show me, Officer," he stated as Ion led the way.

They reached a pile of rubble resembling pieces of the dome a short distance away, being careful not to trip on the debris around them. "Right here, Sir," Ion replied, gesturing to a dirtied skeletal remain, located just a little bit off the main road to the observatory.

Malloy cringed a bit. "Just like Megamind to simply dump the body!" The bones were blackened and laid in an odd fashion. "Alright, then, I think we need to get forensics in here," Malloy said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I – I'll call it in," Officer Ion stuttered nervously as he stepped backwards, almost tripping on a small pile of debris. "You just hang tight!" The officer turned and ran off to a police cruiser several hundred feet away.

"Hmm," Malloy thought aloud, looking back down at the scene in front of him. He squinted slightly as he noticed that the placement of the skeleton looked too perfect. He crouched down and examined the skeleton more closely. The body, if it were thrown from a passing car, should have just been all haphazardly laying on the ground; this body looked like it was set down with great care in its place. Even the dirt looked like it was smeared onto the bones. Malloy thought it all rather suspicious, but he was tired. Maybe it was all just in his head.

"Hey, you called for us?" a young woman in white gear called out, followed by two gentlemen carrying large cases.

"Yes," Malloy answered, standing himself up and discarding his thoughts. "Yes, right here."

Malloy watched momentarily as forensics began to do their thing, then he turned and walked towards where he saw Officer Ion run to. It was then he noticed that the young officer was nowhere to be found.

Click. Fzzt.

Officer Ion's being fizzed into the body of a robot ape with the head of a fish in a glass dome. Minion sighed to himself heavily as he removed his large hand from the Projection Watch's face, sitting behind the wheel of the Invisible Car and watching the scene before him. He was parked on the outskirts of the Observatory disaster scene. After he had talked to one of the officers at the scene to call for forensics, he made a mad dash for the Invisible Car, seeing his chance for an escape.

Megamind had never actually told the sidekick what he had wanted to do with the remains of the former hero, and as Minion so often did after a caper, he made up his own course of actions to clean up whatever mess his boss had left behind. This usually didn't bother him, however this incident was probably the most unnerving that he had ever dealt with. Miss Ritchi was never a problem; he simply picked a disguise from the watch's memory and brought her back to the station, ensuring that they were aware of Megamind's appearance later on that evening. The bones, however, were a different matter. He knew his master would not want them lingering around the lair. Megamind had always had a weak stomach for death; Minion knew that. He took it upon himself to dispose of the remains, but Minion figured that a little dignity should be in order at least. The tricky part was sneaking onto the scene of the accident where he knew people would be and placing the bones somewhere that looked like someone could just drive by and toss something out a car window without being noticed. After setting the remains in its place, he smudged a bit of dirt on them, and set his watch to a stored image of a police officer and began his charade.

Minion sighed and placed his hand on the gear shift, glancing up to the rear-view mirror. It was then he noticed something white in the rear driver's side seat. He turned his fish-self around and noticed Metro Man's cape still taunting him in the back seat. Silently cursing himself, he turned back around and put the car into drive. How could he forget the cape? 'Oh well' , he thought to himself. He was certain Megamind would want a souvenir of their victory, anyhow.

But somewhere in his bones, Minion knew that this whole ordeal would change everything. He wasn't sure how yet, but his scales always felt a little tingly when things were going wrong, and they hadn't stopped tingling since Metro Man's hollow face stared back up at Roxanne Ritchi.

Minion drove the long route back to the Evil Lair, lost to his thoughts and his tingling scales.

Fin.