A Hole in the Head

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I.

Piercings made a person look tough. He had seen several examples of this during his…outings from home. In fact, some of his fellow inmates had piercings. Of course, tattoos could be considered tough as well but he wasn't too sure he wanted one of those and a well placed ring or stud seemed enough. The general public viewed people with many of these decorations with distrust; the general consensus being that many holes on one's body indicated the wearer was up to no good. That was exactly what the self proclaimed Megamind wanted.

He asked several uncles but they refused to give him one. It wasn't sanitary with the tools they had on hand and what did he want with one in the first place? His non-uncles, the inmates that were not allowed to have any influence in his upbringing or even unsupervised time with him, would surely have no problem piercing him but he had suspicions of their proficiency. In any case he had learned long ago not to ask anything of his non-uncles.

Time did not lessen his desire to gain a symbol of badhood. In fact, it only increased. He hid away what little money he earned in workshop until he had what seemed enough for a single piercing. One was a good start. He then planned his next outing.

He wasn't allowed out, technically, but he was very careful not to get noticed and he always made sure he made it back before morning inspection. Minion didn't like it when he left. The only way to soothe the fish was to take him along. Fortunately he had built his friend a much better body than the one he had in chool. There was some room for improvement but at least Minion could move about on his own which made leaving much easier.

When he heard the guard make his rounds he got into place. Settling himself on his cot he pulled his blanket up to his chin. The guard paused by his cell and shined a light on him. He blinked at the guard in a oh-so-weary way. He could see a slight smile on the guard's face before the light moved away. "Good night, Blue."

He added a yawn for effect. "Night, Officer Mike." He usually called the guards by their last name but Officer Mike's last name involved a lot of sounds that he could not reproduce together correctly. Mike thought it was cute but allowed him to use his first name. Blue liked Mike and didn't really want to deceive him but it was imperative he kept his eyes on his prize.

He waited until he was sure the guard was far enough away before he slid from underneath the blanket and tiptoed to the other side of the cell. He considered the sleeping Minion. HIs first instinct was to wake him and have him follow but he thought better of it. Minion was already attached to his suit but it needed to be warmed up. Plus he wasn't sure how the fish felt about his idea. It would be better to surprise him.

His money was tucked under a loosened stone next to the toilet. He gathered it up and dusted to bills off before putting it in his pocket. Next came the tricky part, moving the stone that covered his escape. He had dug the tunnel a little over a year ago. So far it had gone unnoticed but it was cramped and moving the cover was difficult. It was twice as difficult trying not to wake Minion who would not be happy to see his charge sneaking out without him.

He made as little noise as possible. When enough of the cover had been removed he slipped through. He did his best to concentrate on breathing through his mouth instead of his nose to avoid the smell. His next order of business would have to be to come up with a better way out.

It was a long tunnel, long enough so that the exit came out far from the gate and searchlights. It took longer than he would have liked to get through but it was worth it.

The abandoned building at the exit was a bit of good fortune for him that he did not foresee when he initially broke through. It allowed him to store anything he needed outside of home and it was still easily accessible. He had nicked some jeans and a zip up hoodie last time and they were still there. Wearing normal clothes would make things easier.

He had already done his research. There were three shops within reasonable walking distance that could provide him with his objective. One was closed. The other shooed him out the door before he could fully cross the threshold which he found very rude. The last one was a bit further but he wasn't going home without trying his very best.

The door was already open. He took that as a good sign. There was no one in the shop save the owner. The man's own tattoos and piercings looked well done which seemed like fine advertisement. He walked in.

The man glanced over and squinted through his cigarette smoke at the boy. "What are you doing here, kid?"

"Please. I have money." He didn't like having to beg but he didn't want to be pushed out like the last place. Perhaps the color green would trump the color blue. He showed the man his lump of cash. "I just want a piercing."

The man rubbed his chin and eyed the money. "Well, I guess that ain't entirely permanent. But no tattoo, just the piercing."

"Just the piercing." Blue confirmed.

"Alright. Hop on up." He patted the chair in front of him. The boy grinned and climbed on the seat while the man extinguished his smoke and washed his hands. The thrill of success faded when a tray of tools was wheeled next to him. He didn't think the needles would be so big. But he was finally here and he was going to see it through. "So, what do you want? Something in your ear?"

Blue shook his head. His ears were far too sensitive. "I want something that looks tough."

The man laughed. "Oh yeah? How about in the tongue then? That's pretty badass."

"A bad ass?"

"Sure."

He didn't know what a donkey had to do to be considered bad but he was pretty sure he didn't want to be compared to one either way. He shook his head again.

"Yeah, I don't really like them either. How about here?" The man tapped a small spike he had just beneath his lower lip. "I get a lot of comments on mine."

That sounded promising. "Okay."

"You want a spike or a ball?"

"I like the spike."

"Alright! A kid after my own heart. Let's get you started. Stick out your lip." The man put on gloves and tugged on the boy's lower lip further out and flatter instead of a pout. He applied something that smelled like what was used in the hospital wing. It went on the outside near his chin and the inside near his gums. It tasted terrible. A clamp went on. "Chill, kid, it's just to make sure the needle goes in straight. You don't want it to be crooked, do you?"

"Nuh."

"Okay. You ready?" He picked up the needle. It was one of the bigger ones.

"Ugh." This was taken as a yes but he wasn't sure that was what he meant.

He had just closed his eyes when a familiar voice called out. "WHAT do you THINK you're DOING?" They both looked toward the door. If the man thought a blue kid was odd he didn't know what to think of what was in his doorway. It looked like a small robot with a fish in a bowl for head. It was talking. A blue faced kid could be explained as some weird fad but this had no explanation.

The robot fish thing came toward them in a series of steps and hops. The man's hands dropped in surprise making the clamp crash to the floor. "I was going to surprise you, Minion." The boy's ears flushed.

"Surprise, ha! I know you better than that. We're going home." A metal hand tugged on the boy's sleeve. He groaned but jumped off the stool.

"Sorry." he muttered. He wasn't sure who he was apologizing to, Minion or the man. "Can I get one later?"

"No!" The fish took the boy's hand.

"How will people know I'm a…a bad ass?"

"I'm sure you'll manage, sir. March."

"How did you find me?"

"I'll always find you, sir."

They were just out the door when the fish turned around in its bowl and glared at the man. "Shame on you; he is underage." With that remark they left.

The man felt it was good night to close early.

II.

Years later the grown boy (who still went by Megamind but no longer felt the need to prove his badness) sat with his girlfriend. She ran her hands over his face, across his eyebrows, over his nose and mouth. She inspected his ears. He found it odd but not unpleasant. "I would have thought you'd get some sort of facial piercing when you were younger."

"Oh I almost did." he admitted. He raised his voice to heard in the next room. "But some old mama fish, who shall remain nameless, wouldn't let me."

The next room answered. "Just doing my job, sir."

AN: The bit at the end of "old mama fish" was secretly borrowed from Sevandor1's fic Expect the Unexpected which is a must read that you can find here /s/6693879/1/Expect_the_Unexpected. Read Naughty or Nice? first as they kinda go together. Hope you don't mind, Sevandor1!