Cold Fusion: Hallows' Eve, Ch. 4

[dal_niente]

Here we are, chapter 4!  Look who's finally updating her livejournal!  And, hoy, so much research went into this one. Dialects and slang and organized crime and group dynamics, I don't even know anymore. I still am not sure that this would hold up under the scrutiny of anyone who has experience in the area, but I've done the best I can (and if you have any recommendations or corrections or any input in general, please, for the love of metrocity, let me know).

You people, I tell you what. You people are amazing. I love you. Just throwing that out there. I am also throwing gluten-free cookies out there. Help yourselves! *flings cookies and runs*

…I admit I am kind of liking this "posting as I finish" thing. Gives me more time to proofread and add more detail. Might stick with that for a while. ...Is there too much detail? :|


Chapter 4
Megamind is not a patient person, but he is very used to waiting. Experiments take time, after all - some of them take a lot of time, some of them take days - and he can't just push a button and finish up whatever he's doing so he can move on to the next experiment or project. Everything he owns, he made himself - the Lair, all his machines, all his notes. Minion helped, of course, and things had picked up quite a bit when he'd finally gotten around to programming the brainbots to perform complicated tasks. But the big projects, like his battle suits and the invisible car and the Doom Spider - those he had made with only Minion, and almost no help from the brainbots. Megamind's battle suits usually take several months to complete, and could take weeks or months to repair; contrary to popular belief, he does not have a room at the Lair filled with spare suits. Those things are expensive and time-consuming and he'd much rather build something really showy and useful, like, say, a death laser, than spend all of his time welding and tinkering with wires for the sake of something that he could very easily die in.

But he is meticulous, and obsessive to a fault when it comes to detail, and he is a firm believer in the idea that if something is worth doing then it's worth doing right - so he is accustomed to having to wait. He has tried to cut corners and rush things before, and that has never worked out well. He has the scars to prove it.

He stirs for the first time in an hour and pushes up the sleeve of his coat, glances at his watch. Nothing. Sighing a little, he tugs his coat and sweater back down over his gloves and adjusts his scarf to cover his nose and mouth before burrowing his hands into his pockets and settling in again to wait, wishing it were warmer. It's late October in Michigan, and the night has skipped merrily past chilly and settled comfortably into bitter cold. A quick glance up at the moon tells him that snow is on the horizon. He can smell it. He leans a little against the porch railing where he has been standing sentry.

Cecile is still in her chair, staring straight ahead, her daughter already asleep upstairs. Jones is pacing the porch. Mercedes is sitting by Cecile, saying nothing, offering silent support. Bradley has been messing with his phone for the past hour, but when Megamind finally shifts position, he puts the phone away, comes over, and sits down on the top step of the porch. He looks up at the blue alien.

"Never thought you could stand that still for this long," he comments. Megamind glances down. "You're always moving. Every time I've seen you, you've been doing something."

Megamind shrugs. "Sometimes there isn't anything to do."

"Yeah, but when you said 'wait'…I dunno." Bradley sighs and folds his arms over his chest, clamping his hands in his armpits and shivering a little. "Frick, it's cold."

"Snow soon," Megamind says quietly, looking back up at the moon. "Later tonight, probably. Maybe tomorrow."

Bradley snorts, and Megamind looks down at him to find the officer grinning up at him. "The ring around the moon? You actually believe that old rhyme?"

Megamind frowns and finally sits down on the step as well, peering curiously at the officer. "What old rhyme?"

"When there's a ring around the moon, rain or snow is coming soon," Bradley singsongs, then shrugs. "I always figured it was just an old wives' tale."

"It isn't always accurate, but it has basis in fact," Megamind tells him. He pulls his knees to his chest, curling his hands together against his ribs for warmth and tucking his sharp chin down over them. He should be wearing a hat, but he had foregone one this afternoon because he hadn't expected to be out this late and he does not wear hats well. "The rings are caused by the refraction of light through ice crystals six thousand meters up." He sniffs and pulls his head back to rub his nose on his hand before curling back up again. "Light from the sun reflects off the moon, then refracts twenty-two degrees through thin cirrus clouds in the upper atmosphere."

Bradley looks at him for a moment. Megamind sounds almost as if he's talking to himself, as if he isn't really paying attention to what he's saying or who he's talking to. His eyes are half-closed and his breathing is slow, and in the shadows cast by the moonlight and the surrounding light pollution of the city, Bradley can see that he's actually rather gaunt. "You tired?"

Megamind chuckles and rouses himself a little. "A bit," he says. "I don't sleep much." He pauses, then heaves a sigh and leans forward to look up and down the street, frowning. "It shouldn't be taking this long."

Bradley frowns and opens his mouth to reply, but that's when Megamind's phone buzzes loud in his pocket against the porch steps and they both jump. Megamind moves lizard-quick despite the cold and his apparent lethargy, and has his phone out almost before Bradley notices him moving. "Your bot find something?"

Megamind jerks his head to the side and slides his phone open, thumbs blurring as he texts. "One of Lancaster's boys just called him…one of the others got jumped trying to do a pickup. I'm sending RS2K12 to check it out," he says, and closes the phone. He looks at Bradley. "Metrocity is too big," he explains. "There's a lot of ground to cover, even for brainbots, and they're not technically allowed to trespass on private property."

"Isn't most of the city private property?"  He pauses, then asks carefully, "Also, since when do you care?"

Megamind flashes a smile. "There are certain places I just don't go, certain places I've agreed not to go. That's the only private property I recognize."

Then his phone buzzes again, and this time it's ringing, and Megamind has it out and up to his ear in under a second. "Hey." There's a pause, and then he sits bolt upright, glaring in angry confusion. "That don't make sense. Shit, it where he always go. He OK?" Then his features go hard. "Green light. Madre." He pauses again. "Yeah, I'm in."

He glances over at Bradley, who mouths, What happened? Megamind waves at him to shut up. He looks very grim.

"What, you think I stupid? Got some busters, though. Change your mind any?" He listens for a moment. "Three."

Then he snorts, but he isn't smiling. "Aight, be real, though. Come with power. Yeah, later."

He hangs up and stands, checks his phone, and a tight smile finds its way onto his face. "Okay. Yes. We got him. RS2K12 just confirmed." He brings his watch up in front of him, using his right hand to press a combination of buttons to call up a blue-glowing projection of a computer keyboard in the air in front of him. A partial street map of the city floats upright just beyond it. Megamind is aware that this looks strange - his left arm is crooked in front of his stomach as if he were lifting his wrist to check the time, but he's typing passcodes and instructions and coordinates in midair with his free hand, calling out two squadrons of A-12 brainbots.

The location he wants on the map is farther south than the displayed area, so he flicks at the projection and it scrolls rapidly upwards until he flicks again to stop it. With his index finger, he outlines a small area of the map - the line that follows his finger is slightly brighter than the rest of the city streets - and then hits "Enter" on the keyboard to activate the A-12s. That done, he simply covers the face of his watch for a few seconds to terminate the projection.

He turns around. Jones and Mercedes are already ready, and Bradley gets to his feet, still blinking at Megamind. "Where'd you learn to talk like that?"

Megamind glances at him. His watch beeps - Minion is trying to call him, but Megamind ignores it for the time being. "I did grow up in a prison." Mentally, he berates himself - he usually tries not to slip back into his first dialect, but he had been surprised and he hadn't thought about it. Speaking properly is more than just second nature to him at this point - it's part of who he is - but when he talks to Lancaster or York or their boys or any of the inmates at the prison, it's a little more difficult. Luckily, Bradley doesn't press the issue.

"What's the plan?" Jones asks, and Megamind motions towards the cars parked out on the street.

"I'll fill you in once we're moving," he says. He almost adds that they should take the sedan rather than the cruiser, but manages not to say anything. Bradley might be new, but Megamind has known Jones for nearly all of his life; he knows that the older officer is experienced and intelligent and doesn't need to be told what to do. And, sure enough, Jones nods once and leads the way to the sedan. Megamind doesn't really trust anyone other than Roxanne and Minion, but when it comes to getting the job done, he knows who he can rely on.

He just isn't sure if they'll let him rely on them.  Mercedes, especially, he isn't sure about.  He considers apologizing to her, but really, he has no idea how he'd do that and tonight probably isn't the best time to broach that particular subject with her.

Jones pulls open the driver's side door without asking if anyone else wants to drive, and Mercedes takes shotgun - the automatic way they move tells Megamind that they've done this before many times.  Bradley opens the door to the back seat with some reluctance, and it takes Megamind - who is already in his usual spot on the passenger side - a moment or two to realize that he's probably uncomfortable sitting behind the bars separating the front of the car and the back. He summons a grin when Bradley slides stiffly in next to him, and nods at the grate. "You get used to it."
Bradley blinks at him. "What?"

Megamind raps his knuckles against the metal cross-hatches, still grinning. "The great thing about these undercover patrol cars is that most of the older ones were just normal cars that were repurposed, instead of being regulation vehicles made to look like normal cars. Lots of them just have the stupid grating screwed on." He slides his slender fingers through the grate and grips it, tugging back and forth at it, leaning his weight on it, testing his strength against it. He can see Mercedes watching him in the passenger-side mirror, and he winks at her before turning back to Bradley with a friendly shrug. He wants to keep the conversation as light as possible for as long as possible. "All you need is a Phillips head screwdriver and you're good to go."

Jones turns his laugh into a cough as the car pulls away from the curb, but Megamind hears it anyway. Bradley narrows his eyes, unsure of whether Megamind is joking or not. "And you know this because you just happened to have a screwdriver with you for a handy escape?"

Megamind opens his mouth, but it's Jones who answers. "There's a hidden compartment in the sole of his right boot. He never 'just happens' to have anything."

Mercedes snorts, and Megamind laughs. "Hey, now. Let me ruin my own mist-eek. Also, just look at the screws holding it in place." He points, cocks an eyebrow. "Not exactly rocket science."

"Are you serious?" Bradley says, staring at the back of Jones' head. "Is he serious?" he asks Megamind.

Megamind grins and leans down, twists the ring on the side of his boot like a combination lock, and then simply removes the sole of the shoe entirely and holds it out for Bradley's inspection. There are about twenty tiny interchangeable heads stuck into the rubber of the heel, each in its own special pocket, and a slender black-and-silver handle in another pocket in the middle. "Multitool!" he exclaims happily. "Never go anywhere without one. Here, see - Phillip's head, Robertson, Mortorq, Posidriv, hexalobular, hex socket, flat-head, torque set."

Bradley shakes his head. "I'll be damned."

"You should see what kind of screwdriver I have in my left boot," Megamind tells him, then leans forward and addresses Jones before Bradley has a chance to respond. "We're going to be headed south, towards the five-twenty Danger Zone."

Jones mutters a curse under his breath, but turns right. "They've got a kid in there?"

"Who are these guys?" Mercedes demands. She twists around in her seat to look at Megamind, but he's busy locking the sole of his shoe back in place.

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure," he says, then straightens back up and tugs at his coat to straighten it. He's grown used to civilian clothing, but he simply cannot abide the way that it bunches when he does anything other than sit or stand. "Neither of the dukes has claimed any affiliation. Besides, neither of them would dare pull this kind of stunt inside city limits."

Jones glances at him in the rearview mirror and raises his eyebrows. "I didn't think kidnapping was against the rules."

"Kidnapping minors is," Megamind says, just as Bradley asks, "The rules?"

Megamind looks back and forth between Mercedes and Jones. "Nobody's told him?"

"I've heard people mention the rules," Bradley says. "A few times, actually. I just haven't gotten around to asking."

Jones glances at Mercedes. "Oh all right," she mutters, then turns back to Bradley. "There are certain things that just don't happen in Metro City. The dukes do not endanger the general public. Gang violence is restricted to gangs only - collateral damages are out of bounds."

"No, no, I got that," Bradley tells her hurriedly. "I noticed that pretty early on. I just haven't been able to figure out exactly how they're regulated. Or why anybody bothers with them."

Jones snorts. "Nobody has, exactly. But we've got a pretty good idea." He looks at Megamind in the rearview again. Megamind twiddles his thumbs and smiles at Bradley.

"Blue here is buddies with both of the dukes," says Mercedes. "As far as we know, they do as he says."

Megamind moves his head from side to side and makes a 'so-so' gesture with one hand. "That's not quite how it works," he admits. "I wouldn't say we're buddies. We're just business associates, and we have an arrangement to keep from stepping on each other's toes. Lancaster would say we're down with each other. That's all."

Bradley blinks. "And they stick to that arrangement?"

"The rules, yes."

"But why?" he demands, sounding completely baffled. "I mean, sure, they're better organized than most of the gangs I've seen in the past, but it's nothing special."

Megamind grins again and leans back in his seat. This, like his financial position, is something he's actually very proud of. "I have a zero tolerance policy. If one of them knowingly and willingly breaks the rules, I remove him from power. I've only had to do it twice," he adds smugly, when Bradley's mouth falls open. "Both times for York. Lancaster's been smarter about the whole thing."

Bradley looks at Mercedes. "And everybody knows about it? The police?"

"The police do, yeah," she says shortly. "I dunno about 'everybody,' but it's sort of common knowledge, you know?" She jerks a thumb over her shoulder at Megamind. "We've been dealing with him since he was an infant. We know how he operates."

"Nobody told me," Bradley protests, and Megamind and Mercedes let out embarrassingly similar snorts of laughter.

"Not many people from other cities join the MCPD," Megamind reminds him.

"You know the DZs south of the city?" Mercedes asks. "Cheapest real estate in town but nobody lives there."

Bradley nods.

Jones turns left and locks the doors. "Blue and Lancaster and the original York all had a meeting eight or so years back. From what I heard, Blue brought a map and outlined a bunch of the least-populated barrios of the city and told the dukes to keep all direct confrontations inside the boundaries."
"And they listened to him?" Bradley stares at him, then at Megamind. "They listened to you?"

Megamind fights back a smile. "Actually, I told them that they would keep their conflicts within the borders. I find people will obey more readily if you eliminate the option of disobedience. The borders of each Danger Zone are permanent and clearly labeled as such." He shrugs again. "The whole arrangement works out well for everyone, really," he says. "In the past, civilians stayed out of the way, Metro Man kept crimes in general to a minimum, I kept everyone's attention firmly on me, and the Dukes made sure their boys followed The Rules."

"But you can't hold them accountable for every criminal's behavior," Bradley insists. "What if somebody breaks the rules? You can't replace a duke every time that happens."

"It does happen," Megamind admits, "and they said something similar when I, hah, 'proposed' the idea." His grin turns evil and he slips back into his old 'villain' persona for a moment. It doesn't take much - tighten the muscles around the eyes, tilt the head down, lift the shoulders, smirk like his life depends on it, and splay both hands in front of him so that only the tips of his fingers are touching. Even without the full panoply of villainy, Megamind knows how to carry himself. "I told them that if they couldn't control their boys, they weren't fit to call themselves Dukes. So they take care of the boys who don't play by the rules, and I don't interfere with their affairs unless I think I need to or they ask for my help."

Bradley blinks at him and frowns. "But why would you even bother?" he asks after a long moment. "I mean. You were a supervillain."

"The supervillain," Megamind corrects him. "And before you ask, no, it wasn't in my interest to let them run wild over the city. Evil though that would have been, it actually would have crippled me in the long run. You cannot have three major criminals operating in the same area and not have to deal with constant conflict. It simply can't be done. One of those criminals is going to establish dominance over the other two, and those other two are going to continue to fight him for dominance. Unless…" he prompts, motioning for Bradley to complete the thought.

"Unless…" Bradley stares blankly at him for a minute, struggling. Megamind waits, his smirk widening. "Unless…the dominant criminal…" He shakes his head. "I dunno."

"I made sure they knew that I was smart enough and strong enough to severely hinder their activities if they got in my way," Megamind says simply, and drops the villainous posturing. It's like turning off a light. He goes from diabolical supervillain to blue-skinned citizen in under half a second. "I also made sure they knew I wasn't really a threat to their activities, and that getting in my way really wasn't in their best interests. And because my goals were sufficiently different from theirs, I was able to establish myself as an incredibly powerful mediating third party, which I did at the earliest possible opportunity to preclude any unfortunate prec-eedents." He smiles and spreads his hands. "As a result, the two major crime rings in Metro City have come to more closely resemble mafias or syndicates than street gangs. In times of real trouble, they can actually move more quickly than Metrocity's government." Metro City, he tells himself, being careful not to let his chagrin show on his face. It's pronounced Metro City. He's getting better about that, but he still messes up sometimes.

"And they didn't get any say in this?" Bradley frowns.

Megamind's smug expression turns confused. "Why on earth would I let them have a say?" He shakes his head. "This is a very precise game I'm playing, you know. If I allow any room for negotiation, pretty soon they'll be trying to walk all over me. As it is, I grant them almost total autonomy until they overstep their authority or try to color outside the lines, and then I step in and…reestablish, shall we say…the proper order of things."

Bradley is staring at Megamind with something akin to horrified awe. "So you're king of the underground."

"Not just the underground," Mercedes mutters. "Can you remember the last time the city government went openly against him? There's a reason we stayed out of his way, you know. He's impossible to catch and he's impossible to stop. Metro Man was the only one who could really do anything against him."

Megamind pretends to study his nails and tries not to preen. "Not impossible," he says. "Just very, very difficult. And you will notice," he adds suddenly, looking up at Mercedes, "that even though Metro Man is gone, crime rates have gone back to what they were when he was still around."

This time, Mercedes doesn't look at him. She's probably trying to appear casual, but since she's been turning in her seat for most of the conversation and isn't anymore, it sets off a little alarm in Megamind's head. She's been waiting to ask a question, and Megamind knows it. He's pretty sure he knows what it is, too, and he'd prefer to get it out of the way sooner rather than later. "I did notice that," she says. "What's up with the brainbot patrols?"

Wrong question. Megamind is tempted to just let the conversation wander as it will, but he's going to need Mercedes on his side tonight; he can't afford to go into a dangerous situation with someone who is so set against him. So he throws her a line. "I look after what's mine."

"Yes, but why?" Her voice is frustrated. "Why didn't you just go back to destroying the city after you defeated Titan? And don't give me that 'change of heart' bull you keep feeding to the press. I don't buy that."

There it is. Megamind sighs and rubs a hand over his eyes. He doesn't like explaining himself to people other than Roxanne or Minion, since they're the only ones who know the reasons behind the way he thinks, but he's going to have to at least try to explain to Mercedes. "Because if I went back to doing what I had been, it was never going to stop. I succeeded against Titan, which gave me an opportunity to try something different. And I thought…why not? I didn't have anything to lose, not really. Certainly nothing I hadn't already given up on trying for." Then he smiles. "It's been working out okay, so far! I'm almost done fixing the damage I caused."

"So why do this?" Mercedes demands. "Why try to find Maxence?"

Startled, Megamind answers honestly, without thinking. "Because kidnapping children is cheap, petty, and scary for the child involved." Then he blinks and flushes a little. He hadn't meant to explain himself that much. "I mean. It's." He stammers a bit, then squares his shoulders. His eyes narrow. "I have standards. And I was in the right place at the right time."

"So what happens when you're done?" Jones asks. His tone is still neutral and guarded, and his eyes in the rearview mirror are wary. "With the Rebuild Project, I mean. You can't possibly think you can try for full hero status."

Megamind snorts. "I doubt it. I'm no hero. Besides, have you ever looked at me? I'm not hero material. I look evil."

Mercedes shrugs and mutters something that sounds like, "Yeah, okay," and Jones nods and doesn't argue, but Bradley looks at him. Looks him up and down. And he wants very badly to say something like, You don't think that might just be the leather and the spikes? Because what he sees is a skinny guy with a thin, tired face, a neat goatee, and the funkiest pumpkin scarf he's ever laid eyes on. Not a villain. Not even close. Not unless he wants to look like one, because it's fairly obvious to him at this point that Megamind isn't a villain until he wants to be. Or thinks he has to be.

"So what's the plan?" Mercedes finally asks into the silent car.

"We park three blocks out of the danger zone," Megamind tells her. "We go in on foot, stick to the rooftops and similar high ground as much as possible. I've got two squadrons of A-12 brainbots falling in around the target area. We'll meet up with Lancaster and his boys half a block down from the corner of Orange Street and Lime." He twists his watch, and Bradley ducks to avoid the spreading flare of Megamind's collar.

"What's special about the A-12 run?" Jones wants to know.

Megamind grins at him. There's a reason he hasn't used the A-12s in any official schemes yet. They're his ace in the hole, his hidden stick of dynamite. "They're dark and they're silent," he says, and doesn't mention that they're also built for complex aerial maneuvers. He checks his phone and nods to himself - the A-12s are almost in position, and he has a text from Roxanne. "They also rely more heavily on programming than A.I." He opens the text.

Mn wnts 2no whats hapNg. Ur nt answerin yr watch. Shd i b worried?

Found Max, going to get him, Megamind replies, mentally smacking himself for forgetting to contact Minion, and tells himself to try again to convince Roxanne to get a cellphone with a full qwerty keyboard. Deciphering text lingo isn't difficult, but it is annoying.

"Then the brainbots are intelligent," Bradley exclaims, and Megamind looks at him curiously, as if to say, Well, of course.

Somthng bout danjrus bots? A12?

I'll be fine, really.

Mn dosnt thnk so

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Megamind mutters, and activates his watch. He's had enough of texting. "Minion? Are you there?"

There's a pause. Then, "Sir, do you think this is going to turn into a combat situation?"

Bradley recoils and Mercedes turns around again with raised eyebrows, and Megamind winces. Jones just shakes his head and sighs. "Minion, Code: There are three other people in the car with me. Could you try to be a little more delicate?"

"Code: Sorry, Sir."

Megamind rubs his forehead, shuts his eyes. "You know I'll do everything I can to keep this from escalating," he tells his friend. But he doesn't blame Minion for being worried. They have only needed to use the A-12 bots once before, and that had been an act of desperation.

"Should I come and help?"

Megamind has to take a couple of seconds to think about that one, because it's a fairly loaded question and as such is the closest to a real code that he and Minion have. He can say 'No,' but since the A-12s are on the move, Minion will take that to mean, "I don't want to risk you getting caught in any crossfire." But if he says 'Yes,' then Minion will drive down and risk getting caught in the crossfire. And Megamind really doesn't want that to happen, but he also doesn't want Minion to know that there might be crossfire to get caught in, and…

Then again, his hesitation has probably already spoken volumes. He sighs. "No. No, Minion. You shouldn't. You should stay home and take care of…things." Try to keep Roxanne from worrying. "Stand by in case I call for you."

For a moment, there's a hiss of static. Then Minion says, "Please be careful." He leaves off the 'Sir,' which is a good indicator that he's genuinely upset. Megamind feels like a heel.

"If it helps, Lancaster will be there," he offers.

"That's better than nothing," Minion admits, but he still sounds reluctant.

"And I have three cops with me," Megamind adds, and allows a trace of sly amusement to find its way into his tone.

"…You what?" Minion sounds totally astonished at that, and Megamind laughs into the watch. "Who? Which ones?"

"Jones and Mace," Megamind tells him. "You don't know Bradley, I'm afraid. He's new." Grinning now, Megamind holds his arm away from his face, angling the watch toward the middle of the car.

"Oh!" Minion exclaims. "Hi, Officer Jones! Hi, Officer Velasquez!"

Jones actually smiles. "Hello, Minion," he calls over his shoulder.

Mercedes shakes her head, but can't quite keep from grinning. "Hey, Esbirro. How's life?"

"And welcome, Officer Bradley," Minion says cheerily. "Life is good, Officer Velasquez, thank you!"

"Uh," says Bradley, staring at Megamind's arm, "Thanks?"

Megamind pulls his wrist back to his mouth. "You see, Minion? I'm perfectly safe."

"You," says Minion, "are never safe." His tone is mostly joking, but Megamind knows he's at least half serious. Then another voice crackles through the connection, too far away from Minion's communicator to be intelligible but still instantly recognizable to Megamind, who stiffens. He ignores it, hoping, praying that none of the others will say anything about it. "I don't like it, Sir, I don't like it at all. If you're just going after this kid, why run out the combat bots?"

Megamind sighs. "One of Lancaster's boys went to do a pick-up in the DZ where we're headed. He was shot three times in the chest before he could get close to the place."

"But there aren't any pick-ups scheduled for today, Sir," Minion says, confused. Megamind is silent, and it only takes Minion a couple of seconds to make the connection. "…He was set up?"

Megamind still doesn't answer - he doesn't want to reply honestly in front of the police, but lying to Minion really isn't in his nature. As it turns out, though, he doesn't need to say anything. Minion understands his silence for exactly what it is, and his voice turns panicky. "Sir, this is bad. This is very, very bad. Come home. Turn around and come home."
Megamind glances out the window and swallows. He has to hang up. If he doesn't stop talking to Minion soon, he'll lose his nerve - he hates doing this to his friend, he really does. "We're getting close, I have to go."

"Sir? Sir!"

"I'll be careful, Minion," Megamind announces, and terminates the connection. His watch beeps again almost right away, but he sits on his hand to muffle it. He feels terrible.

"…We aren't that close," Mercedes says. Her tone is pointed and her eyes are narrow, and Megamind looks away. "You didn't have to lie to him, you know. Lying to the only person who cares whether you live or die is kind of-"

"Thank you," Megamind interrupts her. He isn't smiling, and Bradley has to wonder what he's thinking, because he's definitely thinking something - his blue lips are set in a thin line and his jaw is clenched, but his green eyes are calculating.

"For…"

"For referring to Minion as a person."

Mercedes huffs a little. "Oh, he's definitely a person," she says. "You're the one I'm not sure about."

If Bradley hadn't been watching, hadn't been looking for it, he might not have seen Megamind's tiny, satisfied smile. But when the alien speaks, his voice is bitter. "Yeah, well," he mutters as he turns to look out the window, "I'm used to that."

Conversation in the car comes to an awkward halt, after that, and Bradley can't help but think that was probably Megamind's intention.

And it's weird, because he can see where Mercedes is coming from - Minion obviously cares about his master, and Megamind's actions could be construed as indicative of a blatant disregard for his friend's concern. But he can also tell that Megamind didn't like excusing himself so quickly, and that he's not happy.

There's a lot more going on here than meets the eye, he thinks, studying the way Megamind is sitting - hunched, with his knees together and his elbows tucked against his sides.

Truth be told, part of the reason he had come to Metro City was that he was confused about the dynamic between the citizens, the villain, and the hero, and nobody seemed able to give him a satisfactory answer about how it all worked. Why didn't the citizens just move away if their lives were constantly in danger? Why didn't Metro Man just kill Megamind and end the stupid rivalry once and for all? Why didn't Megamind just kill Metro Man? He's obviously smart enough to figure out how, so why didn't he? Why was that reporter lady always so blasé about the whole thing? None of it made any sense.

And it had made even less sense when he had finally lined up an apartment and moved in and started asking around - why not just leave, why stay and risk Megamind taking over the city? The usual response was something like, "Metro Man will protect us," or, "It'll never happen." People seemed to mostly regard Megamind as a kind of nuisance until he actually made a move, and then they screamed and ran in terror until he was behind bars again. When he broke out of jail and disappeared - sometimes for weeks at a time - the citizens treated it like business as usual. And everyone who lived there claimed that Metro City, despite its size, was a safe place to live.

The most astute answer Bradley received had come from a little girl in pigtails at a bus stop, waiting to go to school. "You have to admit he doesn't try very hard," she had said.

Bradley still isn't sure which 'he' she had been talking about, and he thinks it's kind of telling that it doesn't matter. She was right, and that was what had been bothering him. Neither Metro Man nor Megamind had ever really tried to get rid of the other, but they acted as if they were breaking their backs trying to kill one another. It was ridiculous. It was insane.

And now, here he is, sitting next to the one living person who might be able to answer his questions, and he has no idea how or even what to ask. He'd never thought he would ever have the opportunity, although he had certainly thought about what Megamind or Metro Man might say if he ever did get the chance to ask them. He had kind of expected Megamind to be more…gleeful. More diabolical. More evil. He hadn't thought the evil persona was an act, when he had seen Megamind on the news before. But he really doesn't think that this persona is an act, either, and that's downright confusing. And the more he thinks about it, the more certain he becomes that this is the real Megamind. Ruler of the underground, de facto King of Metro City.

The question Bradley wants to ask is no longer, "Why are you so bent on destroying the city?" What he wants to ask is, "Where the hell do you get off actually being a decent person?" But he can't ask that, despite the fact that Megamind seems like one of those special people who would react positively to that particular question.

So what he asks instead is, "Why did Minion say there wasn't a pick-up scheduled for today?"

Megamind doesn't move, doesn't look at him. "Because we know the schedules in the various underground circles, and we know when they change. If I didn't know those kinds of things, I would have inadvertently stepped on too many toes and my various incar-siri-ations would have been miserable."

"What's with the weird pronunciation?" Mercedes demands.

Megamind slowly turns his head to look at her. "If I said I had a speech impediment, would you feel bad?" He sounds curious.

"Probably not."

Megamind nods. "Which means you're just trying to get under my skin, so I'm not going to bother with a response." He smirks and folds his arms over his chest. "Too bad, so sad. I don't make fun of your accent, Officer Velasquez - I'll thank you not to make fun of mine."

Bradley interrupts before Mercedes can say anything snarky in response. "Right," he says hurriedly, "so - okay, I get why a villain would need to know what his friends-"

"Associates."

"Associates, right, yes, sorry - are doing. But you said you aren't a villain anymore, so…" Bradley trails off with a questioning shrug. Megamind looks at him then, and lifts an eyebrow.

"I did?" he asks, and frowns and blinks a few times. "I don't think I said that. No, I'm sure I didn't say that."

Bradley hesitates. "But…you're not a villain anymore, right?"

Megamind shrugs. "That's immaterial. Doesn't matter. To Lancaster and York and others like them, I am what I have always been." He meets Bradley's gaze and holds it. "A superior, neutral force with absolutely no interest in what they're doing."

Bradley blinks. "Then…you don't even know what what's-his-name was picking up?"

Megamind shakes his head. "As soon as I start collecting that information, people are going to start coming to me and trying to buy it off me."

"Or worse," Jones adds unexpectedly, making them jump, "they'll blame you for not alerting them to their enemies' movements."

"…Exactly," Megamind says, and stares a little at him. "Yes. And that's just awkward, not to mention dangerous, because it would make me everybody's enemy instead of everybody's neutral and nonthreatening associate. Much safer to just keep out of everyone's way."

"And on that note," Jones announces, and pulls over to the curb and parks. "Here we are. Three blocks away, you said?"

"Three blocks," Megamind agrees, and is out of the car before Bradley is even finished unbuckling his seat belt.

Jones leans over and catches Mercedes' elbow before she can open the door, looks her in the eye. "You need to tone it down," he says in an undertone. "You really aren't helping."

She glares at him and jerks her arm out of his grasp. "I hate him."

Jones nods but doesn't back down. "You've made your point, but we're working together with him on this. Deal with it. That's an order." He pauses, then adds, "It's been seven years, Mace. I'm not telling you to forgive him, but it's time to put old ghosts to rest."

That's all Bradley hears before he, too, is able to scramble out of the car and wander over to Megamind, who has his phone out again and looks like he's texting. "You okay?"

Megamind glances at him. He looks honestly surprised. "Of course," he says. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's - I mean, Mercedes is kinda…abrasive, but she's actually not so bad once you get to know her."

"Oh," says Megamind, and his surprised expression slams closed. "That. She has her reasons." He shakes his head and turns back to his phone, and that's when Bradley notices the machine hanging in midair in front of him.

It's shaped kind of like a brainbot, but it's shadow-black all over and sleek, with none of the visible gears or plasma-globe dome or distinguishing features that the other brainbots have. It doesn't bob up and down like the others, either, and it doesn't thaum - it just hangs there, motionless and silent and fast-looking. The only indication that it's not totally inert is a bright blue line of light flickering in patterns across the front of its dome.

Megamind looks up as Jones exits the car. "This is Tax," he says. "He's been giving me a report. Apparently everything is quiet in the DZ so far - the A-12s haven't made contact with Lancaster yet, but they know where he is."

Jones levels a steady gaze at Megamind. "In the car," he says. "Minion said this was a set-up."

Megamind flinches. "Yes," he says carefully. "Yes, that's entirely possible, and that's why I've called out the A-12s."

Jones' eyes narrow. "So we could be walking straight into a trap." Megamind nods. "And you didn't see fit to mention this to us? This could be dangerous."

Megamind looks at him. "It is dangerous," he states, raising his eyebrows. "And, frankly, I don't care. I know who I'm working with, and I know I can rely on them. I know the area. I have more technology than our enemies, and more experience with these sorts of situations than I care to admit."

"I think we know what kind of experience you have," Mercedes tells him, and he rounds on her, green eyes flashing dangerously.

"You really don't." Something in his face or voice warns her not to argue. "You really, really don't. Look, if you want to get back in that car and drive away now, I won't stop you. I could really use your help, but Lancaster and I can pull this off without you if we have to."

"So we're expendable," Mercedes snaps.

Megamind stares at her, then turns haughtily away. "Enough. I'm not going to teach a pig to dance. Either follow me or leave, I don't care anymore."

He brushes past Bradley and moves down the sidewalk with surprising speed given his small stature, Tax gliding silently along by his left hip. Jones follows on Megamind's right. Casting a warning glance at Mercedes, Bradley trails after them, jogging to catch up.

"Do you know if the kid is alive, at least?" Jones asks under his breath. Megamind nods.

"The A-12s navigate by a combination of infrared and echolocation," he explains in an equally soft voice. "They've identified seven adults and one child in an abandoned row home on Pear Street. Maxence isn't moving, but he's definitely alive. I'd like to try to sneak in on my own - here, this way." He ducks down a narrow alley, footsteps echoing in the passage until he reaches a fire escape. Tax ascends, unfolds a pair of arms from a compartment on its ventral side, and pulls the ladder down far enough for Megamind to reach up and catch it. "Up here."

"What are we doing?" Jones hisses, following him up the ladder.

"The only other humans on the rooftops at the moment are Lancaster's boys," Megamind calls over his shoulder in a stage whisper. "Not so on the ground. Seven adults in the house, and at least fourteen more patrolling the area. They're armed. I don't want to run into them, thanks."

When they reach the top of the fire escape, Bradley looks around. The buildings in this area are close together, but not so close that he can reach the roof of the next one over from the fire escape of this one. Megamind has skipped over to the edge and climbed over the rail, hooking his left knee over it and bracing himself with his right leg so that he can lean out and peer in a darkened window, cupping his hands around his eyes to help him see better. He nods to himself, then curls his long body around and pulls off the sole of his left shoe, takes out something long and slim and glowing blue at one end. He puts his shoe back together, then aims the silver mechanical wand at the window latch. It hums.

Bradley stares. "You've gotta be kidding," he mutters, and Megamind grins at him.

"It manipulates magnetic fields," he says, keeping his voice low, "it isn't really sonic. And it isn't quite as ubiquitous as the one you're thinking of, but you'll notice the screws are holding the lock together on the inside of this window, so I can't reach them through normal means." He glances back at the window and smiles brightly. "Done! Wait here." And before anyone can stop him, he has the window up and has disappeared through it. If he can get his head through a space, he can get the rest of his body through, too.

He tumbles onto the rug just under the window and freezes where he is, watching the bed for any sign of movement. Once he's satisfied that he hasn't woken whoever is sleeping, he gets carefully to his feet and edges toward the bedroom door. There are a terrible few seconds when he steps on a loose floorboard and it creaks loudly and the sleeping human mumbles something and rolls over, but then their breathing slows again and evens out and Megamind makes his escape. He creeps down the short hall to the bathroom, pokes his head in, looks up, and grins. Perfect. He climbs up and stands with one foot on top of the toilet tank and the other one on the bathroom sink, then opens the skylight.

Unfortunately, it doesn't open far enough, and he has to unscrew the hinge and remove the pane entirely before he's able to fit his head through, and even then it's a tight squeeze. But he makes it, and then he's up on the roof.

It's colder up here, and windier, but his collar is already turned up so there's not much else he can do. He makes his way to the edge of the roof over the fire escape.

"This insane," Bradley is muttering. "This is nuts. What if he gets caught?"

"Never mind that, how did he get in there?" Mercedes asks.

Bradley snorts and shakes his head. "It looked like a sonic screwdriver. He said it was magnetic."

Mercedes looks blank. "A what?"

"A sonic…oh, never mind."

"Ollo," Megamind says, and all three police officers jump and look wildly up at him. He grins and waves. "Here, one of you hop up on the rail and then grab my hand."

Jones moves first, stepping onto the railing by the wall and using the side of the building for balance, then gripping Megamind's slim wrist without hesitation and leaning on the alien's arm as he edges out over the alley. He glances up at Megamind. "Now what?"

"Give me your other hand." Megamind holds out his arm, and Jones grabs it. "All right," Megamind says, bracing his feet on the edge of the roof and adjusting his grip so that he and Jones are both holding each other by the wrists, "When I say 'go,' you're going to swing forward and push off the wall as hard as you can."

"You're out of your mind," Mercedes exclaims, but Jones just sets his jaw, adjusts his balance, and nods once.

"Go."

Jones lunges, swinging from Megamind's wiry arms, and kicks off the brick wall with as much force as he can muster. Megamind rises into a crouch and twists from the waist, heaving Jones to the right with all his might as he lets go with his left hand. The cop inhales sharply as he swings sideways through the air and up, but manages to catch the edge of the roof with his arm and leg and haul himself up onto it. He sits up almost immediately, regarding Megamind with grudging respect. "You're a lot stronger than you look."

Megamind is sitting half-curled with his legs tucked under him, leaning on shaking arms. He glances up at Jones and shakes his head. He's quick and tough, but heavy lifting has never been his forte. "I don't think I can do that again."

Jones nods. "Well, you don't have to. Come on." He kneels at the edge of the roof and reaches down for Mercedes, who stretches up and catches his hands with one of hers. Megamind grabs her other hand, and together he and Jones drag her up until she's able to grab the side of the roof and start to lift herself. At that point, Jones just reaches down and wraps a hand in the back of her jacket, hauling her bodily upwards while she claws at the tar paper until Bradley grips her ankles and pushes from below.

"Not sure why we didn't just do this with Jones," Mercedes grunts, finally kicking free of Bradley and dragging herself onto the roof.

Megamind doesn't take that personally. "It honestly didn't occur to me," he admits, panting. "I've been a one-man show for a while, and I don't really think about relying on anyone other than Minion. 'Scuse me, one more." He starts to lean forward to reach for Bradley, but Mercedes waves him out of the way.

"I got it," she says shortly, and Megamind nods and doesn't protest. Bradley makes it onto the roof without much more difficulty than Mercedes or Jones had had, and after the first two have had a chance to catch their breaths, Jones looks at Megamind.

"All right, we're on the roof." His tone is expectant.

Megamind nods and looks at Tax. The line of blue light appears again on the brainbot's front, flickering patterns of dots and dashes back and forth in a modified version of Morse code. After a few seconds, Megamind holds up a hand. "Enough," he says, and stands up, dusting himself off as he does so. Then he backs up a few steps and runs to the edge of the roof, leaps over the alley to the next building over and lands like a cat.

"Seriously?" Mercedes mutters. Jones shrugs, backs up, then runs and jumps. He stumbles a little as he lands, but the buildings are close enough together that he makes it over with plenty of distance to spare. Mercedes and Bradley are right behind him.

Megamind honestly hadn't expected them to follow him all this way, and he's a little uncertain about how best to proceed. Usually, just he and Minion would be along on this sort of venture - having three other people along is a new thing, especially because they're all looking to him to tell them what to do next. He's accustomed to having to hold his own at town meetings and the like by now, and some of the more hands-on and technical boards have started to ask for his input on projects, which is nice. But this? This 'running around on rooftops at night in the cold and the dark'? This is a totally different environment, this is Megamind's element, and he's not used to having anything resembling a team.

He knows he can't expect them to follow his lead without question, although they've been doing a pretty good job of that so far. He knows Jones, and he knows that Jones would probably be doing this whole thing much differently, and he's a little surprised that the man hasn't tried to offer any input. He doesn't know Mercedes quite as well, but she's obviously very competent, too, and Bradley is game if nothing else. Should I ask for their opinions? he wonders. Try to even the playing field a bit? He is, after all, trying to be 'one of the people,' and setting himself apart the way he's used to doing isn't going to help his new image at all.

Still, he decides against it. He needs to run this one - if there's any dissent, it will waste valuable time and only prolong Maxence's wait. But he can explain what he's doing a little bit more. He doesn't need to play this so close to the vest. He needs to at least try to get the officers to trust him, and if he shows that he trusts them, maybe that would help?

"All right," he says, and squares his shoulders. "Before we go any further, here's what's happening." He turns to the brainbot by his hip and points at the flat surface of the roof between him and the three officers. "Tax, I need a birds-eye view of the area." A wide beam of light from the brainbot's underside projects a bluish, almost ultrasound-looking array of streets and buildings onto the tar paper.  "Wider," he says, and rattles off a list of coordinates. The projection blinks out, then expands to his specifications. "Hold that."

He crouches at the edge of the projection, points at a rectangle near his feet. "This is us," he says, looking up at Jones, who moves closer and frowns. Megamind taps another rectangle closer to the middle of the displayed area. "This is where Maxence is. He's on the third floor, in the attic. They've posted seven guards in the house - three on the ground floor, three on the second floor, but only one with Maxence."

"They're expecting an attack from the ground," Mercedes murmurs, and Jones nods.

"Yes," says Megamind, "and that's why I'd like to try to go in from the roof. Now, Lancaster brought four of his boys, so -"

"Hold up." Bradley stops him, frowning thoughtfully down at the projection. "You said they had more guys patrolling the area?"

Megamind nods. "The A-12s are taking care of those as best they can, quietly."

"What do we have?" Jones asks, and Megamind glances at him. The man's eyes are narrowed, and he looks like he's thinking hard.

"The four of us along with Lancaster and his four make nine, and thirty-two A-12 brainbots - occupied at the moment, I'm afraid. And, as far as I know," Megamind adds, "the element of surprise." He pauses, then blinks and half-turns. "Hey-y-y, Lanc, you know I got eyes in the back of my head."

"Bullshit, man, you just got ears like a bat."

Megamind turns the rest of the way around and stands up, grinning broadly as one of the shadows on the roof detaches it from the rest and resolves into a stout man with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of a ragged duster. He's built like a fireplug - a little shorter than Megamind but half again as wide as Jones, and all of that width is muscle. He is also smirking a smirk that rivals Megamind's own, and the officers stay where they are, uncertain, as the villain swaggers over to meet the Duke of Lancaster halfway.

Lancaster reaches up and wraps a thick arm around Megamind's neck, drags him down and scrubs his knuckles roughly across the alien's scalp before releasing him, and Megamind flashes a white smile and stands away, knocks the side of his fist on top of Lancaster's head and lifts a sarcastic eyebrow. "See you still haven't grown any, Short Stuff."

Lancaster fakes a jab-punch at him, grinning and scowling and making Megamind skip back. "Mennnnte, man, you still ain't learned to shut that quick mouth of yours. How you walking? Still set on going straight?"

"For the forseeable future," Megamind admits. Lancaster sends him a sharp, swift look, and Megamind raises a hand. "I know, I know," he says. "It won't affect your business."

Lancaster looks at him for a long moment more before he shrugs. "A'ight, we'll see how it goes. But hey, we need to re-negotiate, we can re-negotiate." He grins and catches Megamind's eye. "I'm a flexible guy."

Megamind snorts at the hidden joke. He is one of probably five people who knows that the Duke of Lancaster was once a trained acrobat. "You're a freak."

"And you the king of freaks hisself."

Megamind beams. "Darn straight."

"Damn straight." Lancaster sniffs, proving that even the rough and ready get the sniffles when they have to go out and about in the cold, then claps Megamind on the back with a hand like a pie pan and looks over at the three cops, who have been watching this exchange with a blend of surprise, amusement, and outright shock. He glances at their badges but doesn't bat an eye. "You gonna introduce me to your buddies?"

Megamind looks at him. "You gonna play nice?"

Lancaster brings out a grin that he had probably intended to be charming, but it falls short of the mark. "Always do."

"I'm sure." But Megamind turns and skips back over to Jones and the others anyway. "Officers Jones, Velasquez, and Bradley," he says, pointing to each one in turn, "I'd like you to meet the Duke of Lancaster."

And, watching Lancaster approach the three police officers, he feels an odd flutter of something in the pit of his stomach. It takes him a moment to identify it as hope. Is he nervous about this? Absolutely. But it needs to happen, and if it blows up in his face, he will pick up the pieces and continue on alone as he always does. And luckily, everyone else looks like they feel much the same way. Nobody holds out their hands to shake, but everyone nods in mutual recognition of each other's competence in his or her chosen field and turns their attention to the projection on the roof, and Megamind thinks that, all things considered, this might actually turn out fairly well.

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