Throbbing pain.

Bernard sat up with a groan, trying to blink away the darkness. Motion turned the dull ache in his head to a sharp pain, but once he quit moving it ebbed away again. What had happened? He brought a hand to his forehead, feeling the painful bulge of a developing bruise. What had hit him?

He felt around on the floor tentatively for his glasses, and found them resting nearby. Putting them on revealed that one of the lenses had been cracked somehow, but that hardly mattered. He could see well enough for the time being.

Bernard picked himself up off the floor and looked around, frowning. He was in a cage of some sort in a darkened… warehouse? It was hard to tell. What had happened? The last he could recall, he was back at the museum dealing with some idiot in a cheap costume.

A Brainbot flew past the cage, causing him to double-take. Brainbots? Then that must mean he was- Oh, no. He had to get out of here. No telling what despicable things Megamind might do. As the city's leading authority on the villain, Bernard knew better than anyone what sort of ghastly devices the alien might have at his disposal.

"H-hey!" he said, causing the device to turn and look at him with its glowing red eye. From what he understood, they were obedient but not particularly intelligent. He pointed over to a nearby worktable, "Hey, can you hand me that wrench?"

IDENTIFICATION: BRAINBOT #34.

CURRENT STATUS: PATROL MODE. WEST SIDE OF LAIR.

STIMULUS DETECTED: SOUND AND MOTION.

IDENTIFYING SOURCE: DADDY-SECONDARY APPEARANCE CODENAME "BERNARD".

IF SOURCE IS ATTACKED: DADDY WILL BE ANGRY, RESULTING IN "TIME OUT" IN STORAGE. TIME OUT HAS BEEN VERIFIED AS NOT FUN. DO NOT ATTACK.

OBTAINING DIRECTIVE: RETRIEVE THE WRENCH. ANALYZED MEANING-DADDY WANTS TO PLAY FETCH. FETCH IS AT OPTIMAL ENJOYMENT LEVEL WHEN COMPETITION IS PRESENT.

NEW STATUS: RETRIEVING WRENCH AND SIGNALING NEARBY BRAINBOTS FOR GAME.

Bernard sighed in relief as the robot flew over and gave him the wrench. The cell he was in was of fairly simple design, all bolted together. Time had caused some of the bolts to rust, but with a bit of effort he was able to detach the door. He stepped out of the cell, dusting himself off, and turned around, only to discover about a half dozen Brainbots staring at him expectantly.

Bernard, being the intelligent, informed individual he was, did what any self-respecting citizen of Metro City would do under such circumstances. He screamed like a little girl and ran.

IDENTIFICATION: BRAINBOT #76

CURRENT STATUS: PLAYING GAME WITH DADDY.

STIMULUS DETECTED: SOUND AND MOTION.

IDENTIFYING SOURCE: DADDY-SECONDARY APPEARANCE CODENAME "BERNARD".

FURTHER ANALYSIS: DADDY IS RUNNING AWAY.

OBTAINING DIRECTIVE: GIVEN "GAME" CONTEXT, 79% CHANCE THAT FLEEING IS A SIGNAL TO CHASE.

NEW STATUS: CHASING DADDY IN GAME. ENJOYMENT FACTOR 97%

Bernard ran as hard and fast as he could, hearing the "BOWG BOWG" of the clearly enraged Brainbots hot on his trail. He could only imagine what they would do to him if caught. However, his lifestyle was not a particularly active one, and already the young curator could feel himself starting to wear down. He was winded and it felt as if his heart were in his throat.

He was sure they were going to catch him when all of the sudden he saw his salvation ahead in the form of a glowing "EXIT" sign. In that moment, it was the most beautiful thing he had seen in his entire life.

Bernard threw open the door and stepped through, only to have his foot come down on empty air. With a frightened yelp he fell, landing hard on tile floor. A searing pain shot up his leg, and the jarring sensation made his head ache all over.

He gave a small whine and picked himself up, only to find himself nose to nose with the biggest alligator he'd ever seen.

IDENTIFICATION: BRAINBOT #64

CURRENT STATUS: ASSIST #34, #69, #76, AND #104 IN SAVING DADDY FROM ALLIGATORS

STIMULUS DETECTED: DADDY IS HEAVY. DROP AS SOON AS CONVENIENT.

FURTHER ANALYSIS: NO LONGER OVER ALLIGATORS.

NEW STATUS: DROPPING DADDY. AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.

Bernard felt all the wind knocked out of him as he hit the ground, hard. Reeling, he started to pick himself up, only to be hit in the head by a dropped wrench. He swore under his breath, glaring up at his red-eyed assailants, who were all "BOWG"-ing at him and bobbing up and down like a bunch of excited puppies.

With a trembling hand, Bernard reached over and grabbed the wrench, watching as all their eyes followed his hand. He waved it back and forth in front of the Brainbots, watching as their eyes never left it. Perfect. He got shakily to his feet, wincing as a white-hot lance of pain shot through his left leg. Great, just great.

Still, he had to concentrate at the task at hand. Maybe he could get them to fly into the wall hard enough to break. With all his strength, Bernard threw the wrench at the far wall, then watched in disbelief as it disappeared through it. The Brainbots flew after it frantically, disappearing through the wall, then making a quick re-appearance, jostling each other as they each tried to be the one to carry the wrench. But in that moment they re-appeared, just for a split second, Bernard could see what lay on the other side of that wall. Freedom. The outside.

Taking slow, determined steps, and doing the best to ignore the pain in his leg, Bernard started to make his way to the exit. Time and again, the Brainbots flew at him, and time and again he distracted them with the wrench. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out into the sunshine.