Chapter 4

Castling

Nitros stood in front of a gleaming Metro Tower: a representation of the city's strength. But to him, it stood as a monument to the human filth that inhabited this planet. But not for long, he promised himself.

Ever since his arrival, the city had become blanketed in white snow. Astonished citizens moved in hurried groups, aware of the abnormal temperature change but not so on the cause. With a knowing smirk, Nitros stood single and dark between them, watching them move blindly through the budding of his cold world.

With a sigh, he wished he could clearly see the terror etched on these peoples faces. To them this was a one time thing, odd but not anything to be concerned with. He wanted to have them quaking in fear due to his great works again, but alas, when he returned to his old lair, the old meat district warehouse, he was welcomed with the sight of a brand new housing development. His life's work - gone. Bulldozed, to the ground possibly and built over to house vermin worse than rats. How... how could this have happened?! He had thought in disbelief.

He fumed just thinking about it and could not repress the childish tantrum that threatened to arise. MY ONE CHANCE WAS STOLEN FROM ME!

It was fifteen years ago when he had finally set forth his plan for dominion; after years and years of training, Freisa had become of age and stood at the peak of her strength and intellect.

The only thing that had been left was timing. All any good strategist needed was good timing.

And all had seemed to go according to plan, until...

Curse that Megamind! Curse him and his backstabbing ways! he growled to himself. A chill ran through the air surrounding him and several passersby shivered and felt their joints stiffen without any clue as to why.

Gone. Years of scheming and plotting wasted because of one lone blue alien! When the boy first joined the Syndicate Nitros himself had considered the lad a good recruit and an asset for his villainous coup. The traitor!

Looking up into the cloudy sky he frowned, "Freisa, how can you be truly dead? Haven't I taught you anything? How to survive and live in cunning secret?"

He had to admit to himself that his recent actions were a bit… rash. But how can one blame him for waking up years later when he could vividly remember speaking with her the day before.

"I'm through with being lenient with that blasted fool!" He shouted as he slammed a fist on the picture of the blue seventeen year old. With an icy glare, he pointed an accusing finger at his young cohort, "It's because of your intervention that we are forced into this last Cold War!"

Freisa stood at attention and looked on impassively.

"What?" He barked, "No comment, Little Miss Princess?"

The girl closed her eyes and shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm sorry, I just thought you'd want to defeat him in some grand epic battle - not burning him and kicking him while he was down. My mistake..."

Nitros straightened to his full height and stared down his nose at her. "You dare talk back to me? After all I've done for you?"

She averted her eyes then and mumbled, suddenly sheepish, "No sir." He was angry, rarely had she seen him like this and it worried her that he would push himself too far and hurt himself before fulfilling his life's work. And for now, she needed him more than he needed her. She inhaled a calming breath and exhaled her impatience. "Please calm down. You're not as young as you used to be..."

He threw her a sharp look. "Sometimes I feel as if I should have left you in that frozen wasteland you call home."

Freisa winced, "I wish you wouldn't say things that you don't mean..."

"That boy has made you soft, Freisa! Soft! I trained you - I trained you to be as solid and as cold as ice, yet you melt at the slightest flame."

The girl kept her head down in shame. The old man folded his arms and glared down at her, "Explain yourself Friesa."

The seventeen year old pulled her long blond braid over her shoulder and anxiously petted it. "I'm just... fascinated that he's an alien, that's all. He sticks out like a sore thumb, but he behaves like he belongs. You taught me that I should study all I can about everything and everyone while I'm here. I simply want to observe him before we kill him is all."

With a dismissive snort, he returned to pouring over the map of Metro. "I understand the hormonal turmoil a girl of your age is going through my dear and with this in mind, I will forgive you. But do not let loose your tongue on me again, child, lest you want something in return..." He just barely caught her inaudible sigh and tapped his long pale fingers on the table menacingly. When he sensed her strict attention he continued, "...Now let us begin our final assault."

Walking around the map of the city, Nitros wanted to make her remember that she was not apart of this wretched paradyne; for she was of the elite. "Where would you suggest we begin, hm?" She studied the map before her. He coolly observed her eyes, search and calculate odds and advantages. With no hesitancy she announced, "We will begin here." She pointed to one portion of the city, sure and ready to defend her choice.

Pleased with her assessment turned and began walking to the wall of monitors "Excellent choice, my dear. Yes, that seems like as good a spot as any. I will clear the way for you so that you may contact our allies."

She mumbled a response as he began flipping through screens. Annoyed the villain sighed, "You know I can't hear you when you do that…"

"What about Metro Dude?" She asked then, annunciating each word.

Turning over his shoulder the older villain arched an eyebrow and laughed, "He is no match for the two of us, let alone me. I will handle him myself."

The girl nodded curtly before glancing up at the old man, "And Megamind?"

Nitros was silent for another moment and eyed her suspiciously, fully facing her now her he quipped, "After our last fight, I am now certain of his... effect on you, Freisa." then he stood straighter and turned toward the door, "I will deal with him personally."

The desperate "No!" from his second in command made him turn and look at her sternly.

The girl nervously cleared her throat and adjusted her white gloves, "I will get him out of the way. Trust me Nigel, once I am through with him he will wish he landed on another planet."

Her leader smiled coldly, "Smart girl."

He opened his pale eyes at the sound of Metro's people all around him. It seemed the rumors about the South shopping district have spread, claiming it to be the work of some lowly bad guy instead of his far superior skills.

Having never been to sport some garish display of gaudy suits and capes, he opted for the far more sophistication of a three piece Armani suit and revelled in the fact that he was overlooked in a crowd.

"A truly evil person will lurk about unknowingly..." he told his protege once, many years ago. "Never draw attention to yourself, be the wolf hidden among the lambs."

But now she was gone and the people seemed to have forgotten all about him...

Such forgetful creatures, humans. It was an accident of birth that he happened to be one.

He guessed it was timed to remind them who they really should fear.

He looked reverently back up at the tower that loomed over him, "I dreamt of a palace of Ice and Glass…"

Then he smiled nastily and in an instant, the bustling square became nothing more than his very own garden of ice sculptures.

"Come to me my friends!" he crowed in challenge, "The White King awaits!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Megamind asked as they arrived in front of the old museum. He glanced around at the other occupants in the car; because of his massive bulk, Metro Man sat in the front seat with Minion and Roxanne crowded in the back.

"Yes, now hurry up and park!" The reporter hissed with a careful glance at the fish next to her, "Minion doesn't look so good…"

"I get carsick in the back." He moped; the green of his scales seemed just a tad greener than normal. "Why couldn't I be up front?"

Putting it in park, Megamind huffed, "Because he called shotgun quicker than you did."

"Sorry Minion."

"Oh my god, you three are like a bunch of teenage… boys!" the woman snapped, taking the offered hand of the villain as she climbed out of the car. Although the backseat was huge, with poor Minion's gorilla suit, there was barely any space at all and she did her best to not let him feel awkward even if he tried to cram himself on one side to give her space. Once he was out she made sure to give him a friendly smile.

But that smile quickly faded when she looked toward the museum. "This guy is the only one I know who might give us some insight for what we're up against with Nitros.

Clearing his throat, Minion raised a finger, "If I may make a suggestion -"

But Megamind folded his arms and snapped, "We're not calling Warden and that's final!"

Roxanne broke her gaze away from the building and stared at the bad boy in amazement, "Whoa, where did that come from?"

With a snort Megamind moodily stomped off towards the marble stairs of the building determination, "Oh you wouldn't understand!"

When the reporter looked at the fish a questioning eyebrow he shrugged, "It's a long story." and followed with Wayne shrugging at her as well.

Inside the museum the three followed the reporter who led the way to the Hall of Champions.

Tch. The villain scoffed. Figures we'd be here in the church of heroism. "I hope you brought some offerings Minion. Time to pray to the gods for help."

"Well if it worked for the Greeks…" he remarked.

"Barry?" Roxanne called out between the exhibits. "Hellloooooo, are you here?"

Before Megamind could ask who this Barry was, a demoted sigh echoed through the vast room. The three aliens looked at each other before following the dry voice, "Coming."

The sound of squeaky wheels rang off the high ceilings and the reporter waited in front of them anxiously. Within a few moments, a be speckled hunched over man with wild brown hair, wearing a blue turtleneck sweater with a worn brown jacket rounded the statue of Captian Obvious with a cart load of books. "Welcome to Hall of Champions." He chanted without enthusiasm. "In which we may learn all there is to be a super hero."

With renewed confidence in her ability to find answers, Roxanne excitedly proceeded to introduce her troupe, "Barry –"

"Bernard." The dry nasally voice responded automatically.

"Oh, sorry… Uh, Bernard, I… We… require some assistance - if that's not too much trouble that is!" The reporter added quickly, already feeling the ebb of her confidence dwindle as Bernard's face unblinkingly stared back at her. "You know, my... uh... friends… right? Guys, Bernard Nayer."

Megamind blinked at that label. Friends. She had referred to him in front of this stranger as her... friend. Although puzzled, he resolved to tuck this revelation into the back of his enormous mind to ponder later.

With a grand flourish behind her, the three posed dramatically but Bernard continued to stare unimpressed. "What, is there a convention in town?"

"Convention?" Minion broke character fast, "What convention?"

Leaning on his cart, he pushed his glasses further up his nose with a solitary finger, "Because those are some pretty tasteless costumes."

"Costumes?!" Megamind gasped in disbelief. Even Metro Man looked down at himself.

"Megamind's head is not that grossly exaggerated." The curator continued. Then with a lazy glance he eyed Minion's gorilla suit, "And don't even get me started on your excuse."

"Hey…" Minion looked hurt. His jaw quivered as he looked down, "Sir and I worked really hard on this..." Next to him Wayne patted him brotherly on the shoulder.

Getting between them, Roxanne held up her hands, "Ok, ok, ok – boys, calm down. Bernard," She turned back towards him with need in her gray eyes, "Listen, Nitros is back in town and you're the only in Metro city who can help us find answers. Can you help us?"

The curator was silent before he lazily eyed Megamind. "You."

The blue alien recoiled in fear of this emotionally challenged human. "What?"

The man pointed to his left arm. "If you're really Megamind, you were frost bitten on your left forearm from your next to last battle with Nitros on October 23rd 1996. Show me."

Megamind's eyes widened in surprise, "Excuse me?"

The librarian continued, "February 29th 1992 you had an emergency appendectomy. You would have a slightly curved white scar above your right hip."

Minion glanced between the two, mouth ajar. "—How do you-?"

Another long, suffering sigh, "It's my job to know things."

Blinking uncertainly, Megamind peeled the sleeve of his suit up at the wrist to reveal a handprint sized scar, white and puckered slightly that stretched in the middle between his wrist and elbow.

Roxanne cleared her throat as she watched the curator pointedly, "See, they're the real deal. Can you please help us?"

Bernard released yet another pent up sigh, "Fine… Follow me." Then he turned his cart around and meandering back the way he had come.

Rolling her eyes, she gestured to the boys to follow her, "You could be a little more enthusiastic about it."

"I find enthusiasm… exhausting, Miss Ritchi." The curator dryly remarked.

Shyly his sleeve back into place, Megamind followed the group last. Well... That was weird...

Having explained the situation in brief detail, Roxanne finished and waited for Bernard to say something.

"And… That's it." Roxanne finished lamely. "Nitros thinks Megamind killed this Freisa person and he says he didn't. She was last seen the day of his capture."

"December 5th 1996." The man murmured. "The end of the Cold Wars."

"Yeah." She shrugged, "I only moved to the city, like, five years ago, and so I have no idea what's going on or where I would even think to look for this girl…"

There was a long pause. In his plain, drab office, there sat a brown couch, against a brown wall on the brown floor. The whole place emitted an air of boring and plainness.

Both Wayne and Minion sat on the couch and exchanged glances at the minimalism while Megamind impatiently paced the small space between the furthest wall and the door.

When Bernard finally spoke again, all waited on edge at his long boring drawl. "Well there are certain sources I could ask… But it'll cost you."

Roxanne pulled back slightly and glanced at the boys and back again, "Wh-what do you want?"

Bernard slowly cast his gaze onto Megamind again and lifted up a digital camera. "I need a picture."

"For what?" the reporter queried.

"Of what?!" the villain panicked, pulling his cape around him protectively.

"My blog," He replied dryly. "The Metro Mystery."

Just then, Minion suddenly gasped, "So you're Nayer_naysayer! I've been following you for months!"

Five minutes and a memory card full of awkward photos of the aliens posing with the odd… fan… Bernard busily typed away at his computer. "There are websites devoted to this... conspiracy."

Leaning around him, Roxanne read over his shoulder, "Conspiracy?"

"That's the word of the day, kids." the emotionless man snarked. "There are those of us who believe that Freisa Burne never died. That she went into hiding after Nitros was captured." He rolled his eyes at the screen, "She never was a good villainess."

"Who_killed_Freisa_Burne .com?" Megamind read one and then the other, "'Where_in_the_world_is_Freisa Burne .org?' And there's more..." Websites upon websites based on the mystery of the missing girl; pictures taken of blond women all over the world as suspected Burnes; facts, myths and legends, old newspaper articles with blurry colored photos of the girl and Nitros together... There was even an aged progression sketch of what the woman would look like if she were alive today - a round faced woman with watery blue eyes behind a pair of glasses and wavy blond hair.

Roxanne let out a breath of awe, "This is... this is amazing! All of this is for her?"

"We are a group solely dedicated to the mysteries behind the scenes of the hero world. Her disappearance with the occasional alien abduction story… We have devoted our whole lives to solving… these… cold cases…" Bernard explained casually.

"Did he..." Wayne whispered from the corner of his mouth, "make an unintentional pun?"

"I think he did..." Minion whispered back in the same fashion. "Should we tell him?"

"Should we laugh?"

"Wayne!" if looks could kill, her glare would turn him into stone and he flinched in fear.

Leaning to the side of his computer the man glared at the hero, "Remind me; who here knows how to find answers?"

"I think it's kind of sweet." Roxanne intervened with a light smile.

The other three looked at her in surprise and she shrugged, "Well the girl was, what? Sixteen, seventeen, when she went missing? And there's still a devoted fraction of the community determined to find out what happened to her? It's pretty cool actually. That people care enough to go looking for her. Be great for my story." She added as an afterthought.

Bernard rubbed his temples wearily, "I think I'm going to have to ask some friends of mine."

"Friends?" Wayne whispered to the fish, "This guy has friends?"

"Maybe they're like… W.O.W. associates…" the fish whispered back. "They associate and we go wow."

Ignoring everything around him, Bernard quickly tapped away at the keys until he reached a chat room on one of the conspiracy sites. More silence, followed by annoyed sighs until, "Ok, Nitrosninja280 says 'Fruit flies don't bother me for I am a tomato.'"

The four stared at him in confused silence. "What."

The man rubbed his chin and eyed the screen thoughtfully. "It means… we're overlooking something. Fruit flies are attracted to sweet fruits but tomatoes are strongly considered to be a vegetable. Which means one possible thing."

He couldn't help it. Megamind blurted out, "That you guys are idiots?"

"Megamind!" This time it was his turn to be hissed at from the reporter.

He looked at her with a helpless gesture to the dry man. "Oh, come on, how does that even make any sense?!"

Bernard groaned at having to explain something as simple as this to one with claims of such superior intellect, "Nitros was frozen, rendering him a vegetable for fifteen years. Freisa is the fruit fly; she couldn't find him as a vegetable. But now that he's free, the fruit fly can finally locate him." Bernard gave each of them a meaningful look, "And thus, Freisa Burne will go to him."

They were all silent for a long moment. "Miss Ritchi," Megamind asked the reporter who looked a might sheepish, "this man is insane. I mean, that is the most ludicrous, idiotic— "

Before Roxanne could intervene, Bernard took off his glasses and began to polish them with a piece of cloth, "You of all people should know that insanity does not equal stupidity."

The villain had the decency to look taken aback at this remark and simply stood there and eyed him as if he were some kind of alien.

When he couldn't formulate a reply suitable enough, Bernard pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and leaned down to the lowest drawer of his desk. When he came back up, he carefully carried two small things in each hand; a small, tattered green diary that was burned at the corners and sported a complicated looking lock and an airtight bottle with a lock of blond hair inside in the other. "These will help."

"Where did you get those?" Roxanne asked eyeing the two suspisciously.

Bernard placed the two reverently on his desk, minutely adjusting the little green book until it was completely straight and center on the surface. "I bought them a few years ago. An Ebid seller claimed that it was a lock of Burne's hair from before her disappearance. The diary was recovered from the remains of their secret hideout - the old abandoned meat packing house. It had been burned to the ground on the night of Nitros's capture - many thought it went up in flames with her inside it but there was never any body... Funny how all of this happens within a spance of a day, huh?" Then he picked up the bottle again and all five leaned closely to examine the blond lock inside it. "Almost like it was staged..."

As they all looked at it, Metro Man made a groan. "Ugh…" When all eyes landed on him, they could see his face turned a slight green like it had earlier in his battle with the resurrected villain. "I feel sick again…"

The reporter made a small strangled noise. "Put it away - we can't afford him to pass out on us with Nitros running around!"

"Interesting." Bernard remarked. Without permission, Megamind took the bottle from him and walked over to the hero.

"Feeling a little dizzy, Wayne?" He asked as he waved the bottle in front of his face.

The hero winced and shied away from it, "Get it away from me!"

Roxanne stalked over and yanked the bottle away from the blue alien. "There's something about Burne that makes him ill…" She stared at the bottle carefully, a pensive expression on her face. "He was like this when Nitros was around too…"

"And back when he attacked the city!" Minion chimed in.

Megamind's eyes widened in astonishment, "They knew… I don't know how found out… But somehow the two discovered Metro Man's weakness! But what could it be…" Then his eyes landed on the diary that still laid innocently on the desk. I bet that has all the answers we'll ever need.

Wayne shrugged in silence, one hand around his stomach, the other clasping the back of his neck. "I dunno what it is but it makes me feel like I'm going to hurl…"

Roxanne gave the bottle back to Bernard and faced the villain. "You know how some people have allergies to gluten? Maybe Wayne's allergic to magic."

The blue space man raised an eyebrow, "Allergies? Magic, Miss Ritchi? Don't be absurd."

She placed a hand on her hip and reflected his expression, "Right because science certainly solves everything. It's not like Nitros is freezing water with any kind of- icie-fying gadgets or anything…"

"As much as I hate to take sides…" Bernard droned on next to his computer, "She has a point. The community online has theorized on it in the past."

"Well then lets ask our hero, here! Wayne, tell us, do you ever feel sick at Kris-moose – the most magical time of the year?" And then the villain laughed.

"I wanna die…" the hero complained. "Someone please just kill me."

"Well it's certainly better than no reason at all." the reporter snapped at the blue dunderhead. "I don't see you coming up with any theories."

The space man blushed but before he could continue the bland man sitting at the computer went on, "As much as I would love for you two to continue bickering in my office, I'm afraid I have work to do. I will take this sample to the science unit and have them run an analysis there. I've tried to open this journal of hers but the lock is impossible…"

The green eyes of the supergenius eyed the diary critically and stroked his goatee. "Hm, four dial locks... each lock has 26 letters of the alphabet... it's not impossible, you just need a keyword... No matter." He waved a hand carelessly, "Give it to me and I can have it open faster than you can say pis-ta-chio icecream! I bet it has all the information on Nitros that we could ever possibly need!"

On the couch Minion facepalmed with a sigh. "Pistachio."

Roxanne looked at him in offense, "You mean you're actually going to read it?"

He raised his eyebrows, "Of course, it's just a diary. Who knows what secrets lies between the hardbacks."

When he reached for it, the reporter snatched it up and tucked it protectively under her arm. "No, this is a young girl's personal thoughts; don't you have any compassion? I'm not going to let you snoop around it!"

"I agree sir," Minion nodded from across the office, "We really should respect a teenage girl's privacy."

Still slightly green, Wayne shrugged, "But if she's dead, it's not like she's going to come back from the grave and haunt us or anything."

"You don't know that." The fish replied primly.

Megamind gave him a look, "You're saying you won't read something like this even if it meant finding out more about Nitros?"

His best friend shrugged, "I'm just saying a girl's diary is her own and we should have no part of it."

"Oh this is ridi-cu-lous." The blue bad boy threw his hands up in the air. "I can't believe we're even arguing about this while a madman is loose in the city!"

"If Burne is living within the city, she will find some way to contact her master." Bernard added from his seat.

Roxanne ran a hand through her short brown hair, "You know what? Fine. If any one of us is going to read it, it's going to be me. Sisterhood and what not."

Megamind stared at her owlishly before sighing in defeat, "Alright, fine, you get to read it if you want…" But already he was devising a plan to sneak a glance at its innards sometime in the very near future.

Before he could continue the bland man sitting at the computer continued, "If Burne is living within the city, we'll find out where she is and stop her before she contacts her master."

"Uh… wow… but…" the reporter shrugged, "What if she's this middle aged woman with like, six kids or something?"

Another long, exasperated exhale and Bernard leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, "Miss Ritchi, there is a good chance that this… 'woman' could have fallen from grace and procreated with our kind or," and he gave her a meaningful look, "it's equally plausible that she's been alive and plotting her revenge the last fifteen years."

Minion quirked a boney eyebrow at that, "What do you mean by that Mister Nayer?"

Bernard apprised each of them separately. "Because those who were born bad, do bad."

Standing outside the museum, Metro Man made a fist, "Sounds like a good enough plan to me. I say we find Burne and we get her to tell us her scheme and how to defeat her master once and for all!" with that he punched his hands in confirmation of his thoughts.

Nodding Megamind agreed reluctantly. "It may be the only way to prevent another Cold War."

"Or, we could just take a picture her as proof that she is alive and not ruin her whole family!" Roxanne snapped. She looked a bit nervous and eyed the building; Megamind noticed that she kept the diary tucked safely in her jeans.

"I'm with Miss Ritchi on this." Minion sided shyly as he shifted the bag of books that Bernard had loaned them from hand to hand, "If she has kids, and we take her from them for things she did fifteen years ago, or worse things she hasn't even conspired to do… we'd be making them orphans like we were."

Megamind folded his arms, "Well then what do you think we should do then?"

"Ask Warden for -"

The villain looked away at that. "I'm not asking him for anything!"

Wayne and Roxanne exchanged curious glances at his refusal to listen to Minion's request.

"Where are you my Freisa?" Nitros asked himself as he made his casual, graceful way within Metro's Water Works. He felt cold, empty; without her, how could his ultimate plan come to fruition? Years of planning… training… lost. How does a master go on without his star pupil when his time in this earthly realm is already so short – he was already in his 60s.

He had made his decision at Metro Tower... If he dies in the process of conquering the globe then he might as well take as many people with him!

"I believe it's time to show these humans and aliens of just what they robbed me of." He told himself.

His path ended next to a vat of water that fed into the hydroelectric conductor which in turn fed into the city's water and power supply.

"Feel my pain." He murmured as he weakly knelt onto his knee and leaned down. Holding onto the railing, he reached down with his and with his index finger he touched the surface of the moving water.

Instantly, crackling, it froze over, and the whirring sound of the machines stopped with a creaking groan.

Standing back up, he surveyed his work, as all water within the plant froze solid.

In his former life, he was a professor, a pioneer in his time in forward advanced thinking that could even rival that of the great Megamind... He smiled to himself at the thought of their inevitable meeting.

"I'm just saying we should think about this before we take any drastic actions!" Roxanne argued wearily.

Metro Man had his palms out as he tried to explain, "But Roxie, every minute we're wasting time is another for Nitros to destroy the—do you hear that?"

The three quieted down as they watched the hero look around curiously. "That weird… howling, groaning noise?" He looked down at the asphalt at his feet.

Then they heard it. The sound of water pipes straining.

And then, all at once all throughout the city, the water mains exploded! Fire hydrants popped off as ice crystals shot hundreds of feet towards the sky, manhole covers flew up in the air as the city's sewer followed suit.

Screams of surprise from the city dwellers as they ran from their office buildings; giant ice flowers blossoming out of glass windows.

The four stared around speechless as snow began to fall once more.

Roxanne turned and looked at her companions with a scared look, "Guys, we need to fix this – now."

That night found the four locked away in Roxanne's apartment, surrounded by books, old newspapers, and several computers - all in an effort to locate the woman known only as Freisa Burne.

Minion scoured the internet all the websites devoted to the mystery of the missing woman, Metro Man read the books he borrowed from the museum based on the two as Roxanne laid on the floor with the diary opened in front of her (courtesy of Megamind's lock picking abilities. But before he could even steal a glance within its' bindings, it was snatched away by the woman who happily plopped herself at her coffee table leaving him bewildered and speechless). After a while, Megamind had noticed how deeply engrossed she became in the little journal and had taking to chewing on her thumb nail in thought.

The dining room table had been completely shanghaied by the evil genius. Brain bots hovered around him, providing him adequate lighting and tools when needed and the occasional dab at his blue brow; the whole table was strewn with sketches, diagrams, notes, random lyrics and other doodles.

In a neat row in front of him sat three identical looking watches, the one on the far right was gold while the first two were black – the one he was currently working on was red.

The evening had been majorly spent in silence with each member taking their positions at various places within the apartment. Minion read blog after blog and randomly scribbled down notes here and there, and at some point Wayne had sprawled on the couch, fast asleep.

Sighing and feeling stiff, Roxanne sat up and rubbed her stiff, Roxanne sat up and rubbed her shoulders. Hearing the snore behind her, she turned and smirked at the sprawled Wayne who had a Fantastic Villians And Where To Find Them lying open on his face. Deciding now was a good time for a break; the woman stood up with the little green diary and walked over to the fish, "How's it coming?"

"It's going." He mumbled as he scrolled through pages and pages of the heinous duo's history.

Nodding she patting the fish on a furry shoulder pad and padded towards the dining room and stood silently behind the super genius.

Looking over his shoulder as she watched him painstakingly tinkered with the red watch. "Hey."

He jumped and pressed a button by mistake which shot a small torrent of flame out of the watch.

Roxanne gasped and leapt backwards in shock, "The hell?!" The Brainbots eyed the spurt curiously, one readying a canister of extinguisher.

"Sorry!" he squeaked sheepishly as he placed the watch on the table and covered it with his hands. "Didn't mean for it to do that…"

She took a calming breath and rubbed the back of her neck, "No, it's- it's my fault, I shouldn't have snuck up on you…"

Registering the look of awkwardness on her face he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Is there something you need?"

She looked as if she were trying to decide on something but after a moment, sighed and pulled out a chair to sit next to him; she laid the diary closed in front of her and laced her fingers over it. "I wanted to apologize."

He blinked. Well, this is new… "For what?"

"For, uh, being a little bitchy today." her expression looked a little sad and she turned her eyes towards the table guiltly. "I'm sorry for snapping at you guys and… yeah."

"Oh… ok?" He honestly had no idea how to take that.

Roxanne continued avoiding his gaze and absently began scratching at the worn and slightly charred threaded binding of the diary. "It wasn't fair and yeah. I was just stressing out. I have a habit of letting things get to me and I know that's no excuse and I'm sorry."

Then without looking, she awkwardly jabbed her right hand towards him and he flinched as if expecting her to slap him for some reason. "Can we be friends? At least until all of this is over?"

"Uh… sure…" He awkwardly took her hand in his and gave it a soft shake. "Friends?" The word rolled off his tongue easily. He often called Minion his best friend, his only true friend. Heck, even Wayne could be considered a 'type' of friend but somehow, the fact that Roxanne wanted to be friends seemed... somehow... alien... He wondered if she were putting him up to something and decided to file this event in the back of his mind for later viewing.

She looked up with a smile. "Yeah. I know that we are normally the standard kidnapper/kidnappee and all… but since you and Wayne called a truce… I don't see why we can't you know… call a truce as well, you know?"

His eyebrows went so far up his forehead, she expected them to pop off and scurry to a corner any second but said nothing. "Oh… Well… no, I mean, yes! Yes we could be um, friends. I would – like that very much actually." Meanwhile, his mind was racing. Ok! She seems like she really does want to be friendly, um, ok. What do friends that aren't extraterrestrials do exactly? What do they talk about?

The normally confidant and sarcastic women peered up at him shyly. "Yeah?"

Megamind felt his chest constrict slightly at her doe-eyed appearance and couldn't fight the rising blush to his cheeks, "Yeah."

The relief washed over her like a wave, and he smiled when Roxanne looked at the watches in his workspace, "New communicators?"

With a proud nod he affirmed, "Yes. Minion and my own have everything; disguise generators/communicators, you name it, and like ours both yours and Metro Man's get what I like to call 'The Snowball Sonar'!" He smirked to himself. "This red one is yours by the way."

Roxanne gently picked it up and held it aloft, "Flame thrower?"

He frowned, "In case Nitros ever tries to attack you! I mean –" he looked away nervous. "I-I can't have any other bad boy kidnap you right?"

Roxanne chuckled at that. "Possessive much?"

"Well," With a smile he shrugged nonchalantly, "I can't have anyone take my victim now can I?"

He grinned when Roxanne threw her head back in a surprised laugh. "Wow, why not drag me into a cave?"

Her smile almost faded when his expression turned flabbergasted, "Not at all Miss Ritchi…" Then he leaned in with a Chesire grin, "The Lair is far more comfortable."

The woman snorted and had to cover her lips to keep from disturbing the other two occupants; Minion muttered to himself about doing all the work while everyone else gets to goof off and Metro Man continued to snore, the book flying slightly with every puff of breath.

"I guess we have to keep it down…" she whispered, leaning in close, a giggle escaping every so often.

"I guess so…" he agreed. And then his brows drew together in surprise. Wait a second… Am I…? Was I just doing that… that thing… Geez, what does Minion call it… Flirting! I was just flirting with her! But we're friends now and friends don't flirt, right? Then his eyes widened and flicked over to her quickly, she was trying to fight a grin that she kept hiding behind her fingers. Then he casually stole a glance at her "Boyfriend" on the couch. Ok, I'm in potentially dangerous territory here... but it can't hurt to have a little fun now can it?

"You'll have to try to keep my passionate screams to a minimum, ok?"

"I'd uh… have to get you to scream first." he stuttered a little giddily. Holy cats! And she's flirting right back! Ok… ok… the next thing I have to say is something so diabolically clever that she'll have to see the error of her ways and fall into the waiting arms of my evil!

Then he gave her a look that spoke nothing but confidence, "You have very nice teeth."

And wished he could melt into the floor in embarrassment from the lameness of that.

She snorted again before smiling, "Thank you."

Ok. That could have gone better. He sighed.

With her close proximity he caught faint traces of her perfume – musky but with a hint of jasmine and his head began to swim with it. He inhaled it deeply and let out a tiny, almost inaudible purr but stiffened and wondered if she heard it.

Instead she asked about The Snowball Sonar and he instantly jumped on the explanation train, "It detects sudden temperature drops – particularly Nitros's cold signature." He pressed the button indicated and instantly the watch's face screen showed a 3D map of the city from the sky. "The image is all thanks to my death ray –"

"Death Ray?"

"With this we can keep an eye on the old man's whereabouts and hopefully detect anyone with a similar cold read."

"Freisa Burne's."

He nodded, beyond pleased that her human mind could grasp his every word with firm attention. But then again Roxanne was smarter than the average bear (so to speak).

She watched the radar for a moment longer before turning her attention back towards the genius. This time her smile faded into a frown. "I'm sorry about your scar."

"My what now?" Her eyes fell to his left arm he laid a hand over it with a chuckle. "Oh, uh, don't be! You didn't do it."

"Can I… see it?" she asked. He looked up and saw that she meant no harm, she even seemed concerned about it and he shrugged.

"It's nothing special." Wordlessly, he pulled off his left elbow left glove and rolled his skintight sleeve all the way up to his elbow. "I daresay it makes me more roguishly handsome than I currently am. At least six times badder."

Not listening to his self-compliment, Roxanne let out a sympathetic breath when her eyes landed on it. Megamind felt a strange twinge come over him at the sight of her eyes as she stared at the mark. In the center of his left forearm was a very clear image of a palm print. The blue had faded from it slightly and the skin puckered at the edges. "Frostbite." He surmised for her, all joking aside. Very tenderly, she touched the blue skin of his wrist and his heart jumped at the feeling of warmth emanating from her touch.

She gently rolled the arm over where they could clearly see the mark of fingers and the thumb. "How…?"

"I was seventeen – wore t-shirts and such." He explained casually. Then he tried to smile, "It was definitely a … learning experience. Gave me the inspiration to make temperature sensitive fabrics – which is why I wear my suits all the time now. If the surrounding air changes drastically, the suit is programed to stabilize my body temperature and protect me from, uh… this kind of thing."

But her face did not change at his reassurance but instead became more despondent. Clearing his throat he awkwardly patted her on the bicep, "Miss Ritchi? It's alright – I'm used to getting hurt – it's kind of my job, you know? Trust me this is the least of what I've dealt with in the past."

"How did you… he…?" she shook her head and pulled away, letting go of his arm as though it were she that had just been burned, "Sorry. It's private, I shouldn't have asked."

Unknowingly desperate to keep her close he touched her arm to keep her from shrinking away, "No, no. It's ok… I don't mind at all." When she remained sitting, he took a breath and explained. "It was... I was… distracted…"

She waited for him to elaborate, and with a shrug he subconsciously began to fidget. "Metro Man and I were fighting as usual until he… fell from the sky."

"Fell?"

Megamind nodded. And glanced at the sleeping hero, "Minion and I just looked at each other and then, with a gust of wind came Nitros walking out of nowhere. He was heading towards Wayne and looked as if he were about to end him right there!"

"What did you do?" her voice was quiet, pensive.

"I did the only thing I could think of… I defended him." His expression turned sour at the thought. "Blegh."

Her brows flew upward at that. And he continued quickly, "Well, I couldn't just let him kill my enemy! I mean, Metro Man is my hero and-and he had no right to attack my city and… well, I told him so…" Megamind became quiet then, his brow furrowed thoughtfully.

"Wow, you really are possessive. And then?"

"He said to me, 'What are these wretches to you boy?' I said that they were mine… Then he walked closer to me, and I stood my ground… He tried to bully me into rolling over and surrendering... He even tried reminding me how I would have a place with him in power, but that's not my thing. Why share in control?"

He smirked remembering the glory of his defiance. Misinterpreting his facial cues, she ventured in a hopeful tone, "Did you land a punch on him? Make him listen?"

He laughed lightly and shook his head, "Not even close!"

She tilted her head and fiddled with the strap on the watch, "How bad?" she asked softly. With a nonchalant shrug he downed played the grisly bits and picked up the gold watch he was making for Metro Man.

"Well," he sighed picking at the wires inside, testing the relays, "He obviously was not thrilled that one of the newest and lets face it, his intellectual equal of a recruit was telling the boss man to piss up a tree." Reaching over for the soldering gun, He continued, "So he instead turned his attention towards Minion, and you know I will not tolerate that."

Across the room, Minion listened as he too began to remember that particular event with vivid clarity. Megamind put his tool down and began to seal up the back of the watch, "I did what I could as a shield for Minion, he was just getting used to the Gorilla version of his mobile suit after all."

"So how did you manage?"

With a final snap of the case Megamind quirked an eyebrow and gave his most cunning grin, "Why Miss Ritchi, I did happen to grow up in the best group of convicted robbers and pick pockets in all of Metrocity-"

From behind them, across the apartment came a snort, "He ran in circles, squealing like a girl telling me to hurry up and drag Metro Dude to safety," Minion interjected. He threw his arms in the air and started wailing, "'AAAAGGGGHHHH MY GAHD MINION HURRY UUUUPPPPP!'"

Miffed that he had been outed he threw a rolled up ball of paper at his best friend's ginormous suit, "Minion! And I call you my best friend!"

"Ah!" the fish ducked before the missile collided with him. "But it was so funny!"

Settling back down he huffed, "I just wasn't fast enough and got hit by a renegade snowball. It was enough to knock me off balance and fall. Then he… he grabbed my arm and well… burned me. He wrenched it back up and… it felt like he was going to break it." He absently rubbed the scar, remembering the ice biting into skin, "That guy may be old but he is strong! The pain was excruciating… I uh… I kinda passed out." This last part was ended in an embarrassed mumble.

"And?" Roxanne urged gently noticing him rub the area tenderly. "What happened then? He can't have just left right after all of that."

Megamind gave a sigh, "In my semi-conscious haze, I remember hearing him and the girl, Freisa, arguing about me, about the city. And then they left."

"Well what did they say?" she pressed.

Getting a little defensive at her constant pushing he crossed his arms, "I was kind of passed out and severely injured, pardon me for not getting all the details. They left, just like that, okay?"

"Just like that?" She sounded irritated at the sudden ending to this tale of woe. "You-you remember nothing else?"

"Just. like. that." He echoed before looking at her sharply, "What's with the inquisition? I don't remember anything else ok?"

He instantly regretted his tone when she sat back and looked mildly offended, "Excuse me if I want to write the greatest story in history of Metro on you guys."

Megamind flinched not with the words but with the sound of hurt in her tone. "No, no I'm sorry... I didn't - I didn't mean it..."

Roxanne watched him for several beats, her eyes flicking minutely across his face, as if she were searching for something else. Then with a barely audible huff she said, "I'm glad you stood your ground to him. He sounds like a real bully."

He shrugged, "I've had my fair share of bullies over the years."

They settled in silence once again, lost in their own thoughts. Megamind, staying true to his evil roots, didn't share one small detail with her. It wasn't really relevant to the current situation, but it was something that popped into his mind now and again, especially now.

He remembered everything, he had seen Freisa kneel at his side and placed her gloved hand on his injured arm. "I'm so sorry." She had said quietly and he could see the sad look behind her glasses. "Nigel's giving you a reprieve until you're in better shape to fight..." And then in a flurry of snowflakes she vanished. She just looked so sad… "Watch your back, Megamind."

Sometimes he would lie awake at night thinking of that one single moment... and of the last time her saw her on the rooftop, where she had agreed to at least one date with him... If he could have said something... done something, anything to make her stay... He wondered if things might have been different if he had tried harder to begin with.

The alien sighed lightly; If only there was a way to really find out what she felt or at least thought of him. He was pulled out of his musings by the sound of her fingers drumming on the journal that his interest sparked, Yes, how could I forget about that? "So, Burnes' diary, huh?"

Her fingers stopped and she casted a glance towards it. "Yes."

"Can I... read it?"

"Mmm..." With a smile, the woman pulled it protectively to her chest, "No."

"Why not?"

"Because it belonged to a young girl, that's why."

"But it might have some... really important information in it! About... Nitros, yeah." And me! Mostly me. Forget about Nitros.

Then she slid it farther away from him, "You know, my reporter senses are telling me that there is more to it than you're letting on..."

With a blush, Megamind quickly refocused his attention to the watch, "Well your report-o-meter must be on the fritz because my only goal is to kick the villian out of my city!"

Roxanne's eyebrows shot upwards and she hummed excitedly, "Well, well, well, it almost sounds like you're a little… heroic."

Megamind stiffened and cleared his throat obstinately, "No I just don't want some other bad guy plotting around on my turf!"

She pulled back a little bit with his tone of voice, "So once all this is over—"

"It's back to the grindstone."

Roxanne sat there and watched him again. In an effort to maintain the point she tried to push harder, "If you defeat Nitros then you'd be a hero…"

"No, I wouldn't Roxanne." Megamind dropped his eyes and looked back at the watch in his hands, "It's like Ber-nard said today, 'those who are born bad, do bad.' I've been bad my whole life, why stop now when I have a good thing going, you know?"

"I don't believe that. No one is born bad – everyone deserves second chances, you most of all."

He looked up at her in confusion, "And what makes you say that?"

"You'll do whatever it takes to put a stop to his evil, his reign of tyranny…" She stated firmly. "Even putting a permanent stop to Nitros."

There was a promise in her eyes that made Megamind wary. "I… can't just… end him… that's just… that's not for me…"

She placed a hand on his injured arm and looked in his eyes pleadingly, "You'll have to do what you can't do… You're the only one who can stop him, Megamind."

The villain glanced behind them at the sleeping Metro Man once again, "But... no, no that's what Metro Man's for - heroing and saving the day and..." Megamind began to fidget nervously, "And I'm just helping out..."

Another long moment passed between their eyes and before he could say anything more Roxanne finally stood up with a yawn, "That's it. Bed time. Good night boys, sleep well, if you kill do kill each other before I wake up, don't leave a mess. Minion, French toast in the morning?"

"Yes ma'am!" the fish replied cheerily from the computer desk. While her back was turned Megamind raised a helpless hand to try stopping her but said nothing and dropped it when she made a point of not looking at him.

She yawned once again and threw a careless wave to the linen closet, "Pillows, blankets whateve'. G'night."

He watched in silence as Roxanne walked up the stairs and closed the door to her bedroom. With a sigh, he decided that he had done enough for one night and went to the closet to grab the blankets and pillows.

Minion settled into a corner and plugged his travel charger into the wall. He watched as Sir carelessly tossed a jumbled blanket on the slumbering hero and threw the rest into a plush lounge chair. Then tilted his head curiously when he watched his master walk into the kitchen and come back with a glass of water.

"Thirsty Sir?" Minion inquired.

"No, not really." Megamind shrugged.

"The glass is for….?"

Megamind tip-toed up to the sleeping hero and slipped his hand into the cup. Once his task was done, he curled up into his chair and set up his pillows and blankets. Feeling Minion fret in his castle Megamind lightly chided him, "For science Minon… for science."

"Real mature." He friend admonished with a small shake of his head, "If he knocks you off the building don't come crying to me about it."

Green eyes rolling till they rose up the stairs to rest longingly on the red door just out of sight but for one corner, "Minion?"

"Yes?" The fish's little purple castle rose up on his tank, but he casted a sleeply glance at his boss.

Megamind flopped pulling the blanket up to his chin, "Do you think… doing this is right?"

From his castle, the fish blew a bubble in thought, "What?...trying to prank Wayne?"

"No, I mean, about… well… do you think we were born bad?"

The fish blinked and yawned again, "I don't know… Do you?"

"I sometimes wonder…"

Megamind stared at him with eyes that held a quiet fear and Minion's suit made a shrug. "Don't worry about it sir. Get some sleep."

Finally, Minion powered down for the night so now it was only Megamind awake and staring at the second floor balcony that led to the woman's room. Sometimes I really wish I could be good.

Closing his eyes, his dreams were filled with snow ball fights, flowers of jasmine and a the sad eyes of a girl.

Whew...

Hey sorry it took so long to update - thing's've been crazy on my end and I got stuck on trying to edit this. like I said, everything had been written for Ele's contest but I'm just in the works of editing and stuff.

*rubs eyes in exhaustion* So, I hope you like this, ehe.

And for anyone read Better Half, I AM still working on it, just... stuck on the next chapter that needs to be post. I know, I know, it's been, what? a year now since the last update? Well, I havn't given up on it so... hopefully that's enough to keep ya'll calm. heh.

So, um, yeah, Don't be afraid to review, guys! Heh...