I offer massive, massive apologies! Real life got in the way again (as it has a habit of doing), and writing sort of got put on the back-burner. On the plus-side, I offer an extra-long chapter. Enjoy!

And I'll try to be better about posting. No promises though…

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Megamind and am not affiliated with Dreamworks in any way.

Chapter 15

Roxanne slowly woke up feeling safe, warm, and loved in all the right ways. She smiled sleepily as she realized that Megamind was still in bed with her and that their bare bodies were still entwined. She hummed happily and opened her eyes to see her lover smiling at her.

"Morning, again," she whispered and followed up with a quick kiss.

"Morning, my love," he whispered in reply and brought his forehead to hers. She had quickly figured out that this was a comforting gesture for him and it always gave her a warm glow, so she didn't mind. This time, she gasped as a flood of emotions flowed over her. She was vaguely aware that Megamind gasped at the same time and placed a hand on the back of her head, holding her in place.

A moment later and the intensity died down to a constant warm glow and she couldn't help but smile. She closed her eyes as the feeling washed over her. "What was that?" she thought to herself.

Surprisingly, before she could form the words to speak them aloud she received an answer. "I hate to admit it, but I'm not entirely sure," Megamind's voice replied quietly in her mind.

"You…you didn't say that out loud, did you?" she thought back at him as her eyes popped opened in amazement. "Did you know this would happen? And why did it? How are we doing this?" More questions were swirling around her head, but the ghostly sound of Megamind's laughter in her mind brought her up short.

"Always the nosy reporter, I see," she heard his amused reply. "You have correctly ascertained our current method of communication. It's not unlike something Minion and I share occasionally. I wasn't aware this could happen between us, and can only speculate as to the reason why. Perhaps it's because we were intimate with each other earlier? I'm afraid we'll have to find out together.

A flash of worry and nervousness hit her and he asked, "Is this ok? It's not too…" the nervousness increased and he continued quietly, "you know… alien?..."

"Megamind…" she paused as she realized that she couldn't hide her feelings in her own mind and continued truthfully, "I love everything about you. Even the unexpected. I love you, Megamind," she finished softly.

She felt a flash of relief, joy, amazement, and love wash away the nervousness and worry she had felt. Megamind's voice replied back, "And I love you, my Roxanne." She felt that warm sensation increase with his declaration and felt her smile grow wider.

"I can totally feel your emotions, you know," she informed him playfully and started running one hand along his back creeping closer to his neck. That was fun. It was like he had an 'on' switch. No wonder he wore those high collars.

"I had assumed that it wasn't a one-way sensation, Temptress," he replied as the hand that wasn't supporting the back of her head also started wondering along her side from her hipbone up to the side of her breast. She could tell that his lust for her was rising right along with hers. Among other things.

She smirked and replied in what she hoped was a sexy thought-voice, "My, I do enjoy hearing you call me that," she echoed his words from earlier. "So is this working, oh Evil Overlord?" she asked as she rolled to her back pulling him on top of her while still keeping their foreheads touching. She didn't know exactly how they had formed this mental connection, but she wasn't willing to break it just yet just in case they couldn't get it back. She was enjoying the uniqueness of the situation and the sensation of feeling his emotions along with her own. Out of curiosity and her own increasing need, she gently trailed a finger along the back of his neck. She wasn't quite prepared for the intense sense of pleasure and need that rolled over her in response to that one little caress of his neck.

When she became aware again, they were both gasping for breath and she could hear him chuckle in her mind. "I believe it's working quite well, Temptress," he teased her. She could hear the smirk in his voice and she couldn't help but smirk back as she traced a finger up his neck again.

She moaned as she felt his pleasure at her ministrations and asked mentally, "Think we can do this and keep the connection without knocking one another unconscious? I don't know if it'll still work if we move our heads."

"I'm flattered that you wish to try, my love. Hold my head to yours and I'll do the same. Then we can try to keep it slow," he said. She let out a happy moan and brought her hands to the back of his head.

She couldn't help but giggle as a thought crossed her mind. She bit her lip and mentally said, "We're going to have all sorts of bruises aren't we?"

"Very probably," he answered with a smirk in his mental voice.

"Well, that's one place I've never had a love bruise before," she admitted. She couldn't really call them a 'hickey' since those come about in a totally different manner. "Ok, Evil Overlord, I'm ready for you to have your wicked way with me," she told him teasingly as she wrapped her legs around his thighs.

"Temptress," he replied playfully back. She smirked and brought one of her hands down to his neck then was lost to the sensations.

-/\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ -

Days, hours, or even only minutes later, Roxanne was able to think again. That was intense. Everything he felt, she felt and it seemed to feed into each other until only pleasure remained. Amazingly they had managed to keep their heads mostly together the entire time and never lost the link. Megamind was panting while still on top of her, but she was breathing just as hard.

"Congratulations," she spoke to him mentally in a playful voice, "I think you just ruined me for any other man. I'd have to turn them down flat and say, 'Nope, you're not my Megamind. Only the Evil Overlord does it for me.'"

He started chuckling out loud which caused a strange echo effect since she still heard him in her mind. She also felt a wave of love from him. When he stopped laughing, he said "Mulzakai. My parents named me Mulzakai Varatzar." There was a quick flash of sadness and loneliness and he continued, "I've never told anyone that before."

"Oh, Mulzakai," she mentally said with sympathy trying to make sure she pronounced his name correctly. Hopefully her tongue wouldn't trip on it when she spoke it out loud. "I want to kiss you, Mulzakai, but I'll have to break forehead contact to do so."

"We may as well, Roxanne. It's not like we can stay in this position forever."

Instead of answering, she pulled back and kissed him gently. She pulled back and said softly, "I love you, Megamind. Mulzakai." Thankfully her years of public speaking came to her rescue and allowed his name to come out fairly close to the way he pronounced it in their minds.

He gave her that sweet smile that she was seeing more and more often lately and replied, "I love you too, my Roxanne." She got that weird echo effect again. She opened her mouth to mention something about it, but he beat her to the punch with a smirk. "Looks like we still have the connection. We were probably ok to separate after that initial emotional surge. Too bad we bruised our heads before finding out."

She laughed at their growing pains and rubbed at her sore forehead, "Most people just knock boots, but we had to knock noggins instead. At least we know better now." She reached up and kissed him again. "Ok, off. I need to get up," she told him. Nature was calling and didn't want to be ignored any longer.

"Of course, my dear," he said as he rolled off of her. She smiled and sat up, looking to see where her clothes got to. She wasn't quite comfortable enough with her body to just walk around naked in front of her lover. Fortunately her night clothes were by her side of the bed and she quickly slid into them.

She felt a wave of disappointment after she stood up and slipped on her top and she smiled broadly. It was nice to be appreciated again. She turned to face the bed and thought at him with a hand on her hip, "Easy there, tiger. You'll see the girls again." She noticed that he had also covered his lower body with the sheet on the bed.

Just as she was starting to question the silence that greeted her, Megamind said, "It seems that the telepathy is gone, but the empathy is still there. I wonder if that will increase or decrease depending on proximity." He looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "Indulge my curiosity please, my dear, and touch my hand." He extended a hand towards her. Since her own curiosity was buzzing about what exactly was happening, she reached out and held his hand. There was another moment of silence before he said, "Odd, I thought for sure that would work. Perhaps if we-"

She quickly interrupted his musings, "Sweetie, I am willing to experiment with you all day but I need to…" she hooked a thumb over her shoulder towards the bathroom, "you know…" She gently extracted her hand from his and hurried to the adjoining room to take care of her business.

Once she took care of her urgent need and was washing her hands, she took some time to actually look around the sparse bathroom she was in. There was a toilet, a shower, a sink on a small cabinet, and another door that probably held towels and such. She used some of Megamind's mouthwash to take the edge off her morning breath and used the time to inspect her newly forming bruises on her forehead. Too bad she didn't think to grab her own toothbrush before bunking with the supervillain last night. There were just some things that she wasn't going to share.

When she was done at the sink she looked around for a washcloth or towel to dry her hands on. Not seeing one, she opened the door to what she thought was the linen closet and gasped in surprise. Beyond the door wasn't shelves full of terry cloth, but a huge room with what appeared to be an inlaid hot tub in the floor. She would have to insist on that Evil Lair tour today. Especially since she was moving in.

She, Roxanne Ritchi, was moving into the Evil Lair. This was one of those curve ball moments in life. Just a little over a week ago, this wouldn't have even been a glimmer of a possibility. But for the first time in a terribly long time, she was truly happy instead of merely satisfied or pleased. She smiled at the realization and turned to go back to her supervillain after wiping her damp hand on her pants.

She opened the door to the bedroom and saw that he was still laying in the bed. His hands were propped behind his head and his eyes were closed looking very content. She sauntered to the bed, inordinately pleased that she had put that look on his face. It was too bad she was in her comfy bed clothes instead of some other choices she had available. Her sauntering does wonders in those outfits. She'd have to see if she could wear one that night.

Megamind opened his eyes as she got arrived next to the bed and smiled at her. She gave him a mischievous smile and crawled onto the bed up next to him. She was going to crawl over him, but was afraid that would make him feel suddenly cornered. She leaned over and gave him a hungry kiss. "I believe we have some experimenting to do, oh Evil Overlord," she replied as she broke the kiss. She didn't let him reply as she kissed him again and ran a hand across his still bare chest. Her fingers found a sensitive area on his chest and she started lightly playing with it to see if he was responsive. He moaned at the same time she felt a gentle wave of pleasure from him. This empathy thing they had going was proving to be amazing while they were in bed.

He reciprocated by snaking one of his hands under her shirt and began kneading one of her breasts. This time she let out a moan. A moment later, she broke their kiss with a gasp. "Temptress," he said breathlessly and rolled her onto her back with him once again over her. He gently touched his forehead to hers and she felt something click in her head.

"Mulzakai? Was that it?" she asked in the vaults of her mind.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "I believe so, my love," she heard his reply in her head. "Care to attempt to find the limitations?"

"Of course," she replied instantly. She wanted to know what was going on and how to control it. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Can you give me a running commentary so I can determine when our 'reception,' for lack of a better word, cuts out?" he asked with a look of concentration.

"For you, my love," she responded with a fond smile. Then she started a fake news broadcast in her head, "Thank you, Gwin. This is Roxanne Ritchi reporting from deep in the bowels of the Evil Lair of Metrocity's own home-grown supervillain, Megamind. Megamind, the incredibly handsome criminal genius and the master of all villainy has graciously allowed me and only me access to his home and his heart." As she continued rambling, he maneuvered them both to where they were only touching each other's hands. Then he let go and frowned. He touched her hand again and continued to frown thoughtfully.

"Ok, I think I have it," he said out loud. Roxanne stopped her mental commentary and looked at him questioningly. "We'll need to run a few more tests of course, but it appears that when we touch our heads together, we initiate the telepathic link. And that link stays active as long as we are in physical contact with each other."

She propped herself up on her elbow and asked him, "Is that only skin to skin, or does it work through clothes?"

"I'm not sure. Want to test it out?"

"Absolutely," she agreed. He smiled at her and placed one of his hands over one of hers and his other hand over her shirt covering her stomach. She smirked and said, "Contact," as he started lowering his head to hers.

He smirked back at her and echoed, "Contact," just as he touched their heads together. There was that mental click again and she heard him continue mentally, "How's that?"

"Loud and clear," she answered.

"Excellent. Can you give me some commentary again, my love?" he requested as he pulled his head away from her. She continued with her interrupted mental news report and felt his amusement. He moved his hand off of hers and said, "You cut out again. The connection appears to only be sustained with skin to skin contact."

"Hmm, ok. That sort of limits its usefulness, doesn't it?" She could think of a lot of different scenarios where being able to think to each other across a room, or the city, would be useful. But only a few where they were in touching distance. Not to mention his affinity for leather gloves would limit hand-holding possibilities. But it was still something that only one other person in the city could do so she had to admit, "It's still pretty cool though."

"I think between the three of us, we could find a few practical uses for our new-found abilities," he told her with a smug grin.

"You've just decided that we somehow gave each other superpowers, didn't you?" She deliberately rolled her eyes at him and said, "I don't know how much good knowing what emotion I'm feeling would do for you in your fight against Metro Man. But I do know that I'm feeling like a bath would do wonders." She trailed a finger slowly down his exposed chest, and continued huskily, "I'm just a little sore for some reason, and I happened to notice that you have a hot tub hidden in your linen closet. Want to show me what all the dials and buttons are for, Evil Overlord?"

He gave her that smile that she had recently translated to meaning that he was surprised he wasn't currently dreaming and got out of the bed. She noticed that while she was in the restroom he also slipped back into his pajama bottoms. He extended a hand for her and said, "Right this way, Temptress."

She got out of the bed again and took his offered hand. As they headed for the bathroom she realized that they had just given each other those ridiculous pet names, and knowing the two of them, they would stick. On top of the whole touch telepathy thing, she could tell that absolutely nothing in this relationship was going to be normal.

And she was ok with that.

- /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\

Minion was keeping himself busy sketching possible outfits for Sir and Miss Ritchi while waiting until he got word from a brainbot that either had left Sir's room. Something was different today and it was putting him on edge since he couldn't figure out what it was.

As soon as he woke up he sensed it. Whatever 'it' was. He checked both the quality and salinity of the water in his suit, and everything came back normal for this time of his cycle. His filtering system was fine. There wasn't a breach in security while everyone was powered down. He even checked the weather and found that there were no storm systems in sight of the Great Lakes area. But something was off.

If Sir didn't emerge from his rooms soon, he would probably send a brainbot after him. He put his pencil down and started pacing. It wasn't as good as swimming back and forth in one of his tanks, but it would have to do for now. He would really have to look into making up a transitioning tank for these particular situations.

Was it possible Sir was hurt and unable to call for help? And here he was fretting when Sir could possibly need him! He turned and started racing down the corridor that was the quickest route to Sir's rooms. He took a corner too fast and rammed into the opposite wall causing a picture frame to fall and break its glass in addition to the loud noise his mechanical body made upon impact.

He was just getting his bearings again when he heard two voices call out, "Minion?!" and the sound of footsteps racing towards him. Sir and Miss Ritchi came running around yet another corner and headed towards him. Sir had his de-gun out and gave him a quick once over to make certain he was alright before looking beyond him for any hint of danger.

"What is it, Minion? Are you alright? How did they get this far inside Evil Lair without being detected?" Sir asked as he ducked and peeked around the next corner for intruders.

Minion fluttered his fins, slightly embarrassed that he caused such a commotion when everything was obviously alright. "There's nobody, Sir. I got worried about you and took the corner a little too fast."

Sir straightened and holstered his de-gun after giving it a little twirl. "Worried? What on Earth for, Minion?" he asked with raised eyebrows. Miss Ritchi came and stood beside him.

"Sir. Ma'am. I'm glad you're alright! I don't…" he abruptly stopped talking as a thought hit him.

'Ma'am?' What was that? Since when did he call Miss Ritchi, 'Ma'am?' He looked over at her and their eyes caught. Minion found that he couldn't look away and that he didn't really want to.

They both blinked after what seemed like just an instant, but he heard Sir's impatient voice calling the both of them, "Minion! Roxanne! Snap out of it!"

Minion shuddered in his water and heard Ma'am attempt to calm Sir, "It's ok. I'm alright."

"Minion?" Sir's voice had a slightly worried and high pitched edge to it.

"Just… I need a moment, Sir," Minion admitted as he tried to hurriedly adjust to the new sensations coursing through him. He had only felt this once before, shortly after he and Sir landed in the prison. He suspected he could piece together what was going on, but he couldn't actually get the words out until the sensations died down. Of course his silence wasn't helping Sir who was currently running around his mechanical suit and checking every reading he could and muttering about the readouts.

Finally the sensations died down and Minion felt mostly normal again. There was still that something different there, but now he knew what it was. He fluttered his fins to get a good water flow over his gills and said, "Ok. I'm fine now, Sir."

"Are you alright? All the water specs look accurate. What happened?" Sir asked with eyes still wide and worried.

"I'm fine, Sir. I was… recalibrating… for lack of a better word. I'm guessing you and Ma'am mated?" he asked the two of them.

"Yes," Sir said with surprise in his voice and Ma'am's cheeks colored a slight pink color as she glanced down and back up again. "I was actually on my way to inform you. How did you know?" Sir continued.

"Well, it wasn't as strong, but it was similar to what happened shortly after we arrived at the prison, Sir. I'm just assuming it was because you and Ma'am mated. What's the gestation period for a human again, Ma'am? We'll need to get a nursery ready." He continued politely.

He thought he was handling the situation pretty well, considering, so he was unprepared for Ma'am's look of shock as she looked at him sharply. Or for Sir's resigned sigh and his glance Evil Heavenward. Minion looked back and forth between them but no one was saying anything.

"Ok, what?" he asked defensively. "The purpose of mating is procreation. You mated. So there should be a little one on the way," he told them while counting out his points on his metallic fingers.

Sir looked over at him and explained, "We can mate without the express purpose of procreating. And even if we are trying, there is no guarantee of impregnation."

Minion narrowed his eyes as he attempted to adjust his thinking, "You as in mammals, or you as in humans and yourself?" he asked to clarify. He could have sworn that mammals had 'heat cycles' that told their bodies when to mate to have babies.

"'We' as in humans and myself. At least, I've never found myself overwhelmed by a female's pheromones or with an uncontrollable urge to mate… So I suppose I fit in that category…" Sir trailed off in thought.

Ma'am cleared her throat and said, "I wasn't really expecting 'the talk' for several, several years yet, if ever. I think I'm going to go back to bed, wake up, and start today over again. Excuse me." She started trying to creep away but Sir grabbed her hand.

"Let's adjourn to the sitting room instead, my love. There's still a lot that I want to talk over with Minion and I would like you there," Sir said while wrapping an arm around Ma'am's shoulders to keep her from retreating.

Ma'am just sighed and moaned, "I need coffee…" as they all started heading for the sitting room.

Minion noticed a brainbot taking off to fill the request so he didn't worry about it, but felt he needed to say something, "Ma'am, I'm sorry my confusion embarrassed you."

"No, it's ok, Minion," she said with a weak smile, "I'm sure if the situation was reversed I wouldn't have all the details straight either." They had all made it to the sitting room and she sat on the couch next to Sir and continued, "So what was that recalibrating thing? You sure you're ok?" She looked at him with a concerned look on her face. Then a brainbot brought her a coffee mug full of the steaming liquid. "Oh! Thanks," she told it with surprise.

"I'm fine, Ma'am, really. I just…uh…well…," he stammered and exchanged a look with Sir. He nodded for him to continue with a slight smile on his face. "I guess I sort of synched up with you. It looks like I'm your minion now too, Ma'am," he said with a shrug. He shot a glance over to Sir, "I wasn't expecting this, Sir. It's going to take some getting used to."

Ma'am took a sip of her coffee and asked, "Ok… So what does that mean?"

"Well… my sole purpose in life was to look after Sir. Now it's to look after both you and Sir," he admitted.

She smiled and said, "So, just like that," she snapped her fingers to illustrate her point, "and I get a brother? I've always wanted a sibling," she admitted.

Minion blinked. He thought that was a basic concept. Did he misconstrue something else like he did with human mating? He started to clarify, "We're not actually siblings, Ma'am-"

She interrupted before he could finish, "Oh, I know, Minion. That's just how I always thought about you and Mulzakai. You're the big brother that supports and encourages him."

"Oh," Minion replied. There wasn't much else he could say, he did try to support and encourage Sir in any way he could. Then he realized exactly what she said and let out a surprised, "Oh! Sir told you his name?" He didn't think that Sir was ever going to tell that to anyone.

Sir clapped his hands and said, "Now that that's out of the way, Minion, last night after I left you…" he related everything that happened the previous night and that morning, leaving out the specific details of their mating much to Minion's relief.

"I wasn't expecting that either, Sir. It sounds like some sort of mating bond since that seemed to be the trigger. Forgive me, Ma'am, but is that usual for humans?" he asked her. He didn't think so, but he had already been wrong once about this whole mating thing.

"No, this is all news to me," Ma'am replied as she reached over to squeeze Sir's hand. "But I don't mind," she reassured Sir. She frowned as a thought hit her and she looked back over to Minion and asked, "But what about my dream? That was before we slept together."

"Perhaps it was starting to form beforehand? I know the other day Sir knew when you were waking up. Maybe that's related?" he guessed. "You and Sir have been spending a lot of time together lately. Looks like it's yet another thing we were left in the dark about, Sir," he finished sadly. He was still a little gloomy from the conversation with Sir last night. He just hated that they knew next to nothing about their own peoples.

"At least this is just surprising as opposed to potentially dangerous like last time. Nothing we can't handle. Right, my main man?" Sir said.

"No, you're right, of course. Like always," Minion agreed and added a little ego stroking for good measure. And Sir was right. This would just take an adjustment on their part, and it shouldn't prove to be dangerous. "What say I run and grab some breakfast and the newpapers? I bet we made the headlines, Ma'am!" he suggested. Experience told him that getting out and running an errand would help clear his mind.

"That sounds like a great idea, Minion," Ma'am said with a slight smile. "I wonder what they'll say?" she mused.

Minion started walking for the door, "Let's find out, shall we?"

- /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\ - /\/\

"Distressed Damsel Dumped? That title is going to follow me around for years, isn't it?" Roxanne replied grumpily after seeing the headlines. She grabbed one of the donuts Minion brought back and grumbled, "You would think this was a tabloid instead of one of the local papers."

Megamind had taken a couple donuts and a coffee and retreated to his workshop to 'get some ideas lined out,' leaving her alone with Minion in the sitting room. She was reading the Metro City Daily News that Minion had bought and was getting upset.

"You get used to it, Ma'am. And I thought it was our intention to get the breakup in the papers?" Minion replied.

"It was," she agreed. "I'm just not used to being on this end of the sensationalism. I mean, listen to this: 'Last night Metro Man called it quits with former television reporter, Roxanne Ritchi. One speculates what Ritchi has done to warrant being fired and then dumped in the same week. Perhaps she has secretly been in collusion with Metro Man's long-time nemesis and her nefarious activities have only recently come to light.' Nefarious?! Really?" she looked up at Minion incredulously. She had never done a 'nefarious' thing in her life! …Except maybe that night she operated the spider-bot… or helped with that courthouse heist… But that car thing was definitely more juvenile than nefarious!

"Wow! Nefarious? Congratulations, Ma'am! It took Sir ages to get that descriptor," Minion congratulated and peered at the paper over her shoulder.

"Minion, they're vilifying me! And for no real reason! That one paragraph will morph into me having been involved in my own kidnappings since the beginning by the end of the week. Especially if someone interviews my old boss," she finished with a mutter, still bitter over the whole thing.

"Ma'am," Minion started nervously, "you mentioned that you wanted to go public with you and Sir's relationship when we got back from our trip. This would have happened then," he explained gently and rested a hand on her shoulder. "In fact, it's probably better that it happened now. It'll let the idea seep into the city's consciousness as speculation and it won't be as huge of a scandal for you later. There will be more people trading smug 'I-knew-it' looks and maybe a little less shock and anger."

She smiled a little mischievously, "It is scandalous, isn't it? I've never been involved in a scandal before." She sobered up and continued, "But, you're right. I just wasn't expecting it so soon." She gave him a little half-smile and said, "Hey, you're pretty good at this PR stuff."

He gave her a toothy grin and replied, "Thanks, Ma'am. I got a lot of experience when Sir and I first started. We had to get over that hump from 'minor nuisance' to 'legitimate threat.' Since then, we haven't had to influence things too much."

Roxanne thought back to when she first remembered Megamind and Metro Man getting press coverage. If she remembered her interning years correctly; they were rarely mentioned on the news and only slightly more often in the papers. And then Metro Man got more of the attention, of course, because he was a legitimate hero that could actually fly. The huge battles didn't start until shortly after she started her first assignment as a reporter for KMCP. Then she managed to push to the front of the crowds and grabbed Wayne's attention to get the first interview he ever consented to. And the rest was history.

"Sorry, I was still interning around then. How did you two manage to get Megamind first labeled as a supervillain?" she asked her fishy friend, genuinely curious.

Minion sat in his chair with a smile on his face. "Well, at first Sir was putting relatively subtle plans in motion with his only target being Metro Man, of course. The only thing that earned us was an occasional mention or two in one of the papers, and not even on the front page! One day, we were brainstorming and figured out that the battles between Sir and Metro Man obviously wasn't large enough to draw more than a random bystander's attention. We decided to go big and built our first giant battle bot," he chuckled then in remembrance. "It was really rather crude by today's standards, but we were young and impatient. And we knew Metro Man would destroy it quickly. That was part of the plan, you see. Sir got in the robot and marched right downtown proclaiming that he wanted to take over the city. That was the first time he had done that, too! Well, of course, Metro Man shows up and they fight for a while until he destroys Sir's battle bot. But that was what Sir was waiting on. See, he was wearing a helmet that allowed him to control magnetism in the area around him. He used the debris from the battle bot to restrain Metro Man and continued the fight while causing some damage to the surrounding area. The battle lasted longer than any of their previous confrontations, and consequently caused quite a stir! Eventually Metro Man executed Sir's contingency plan and sent Sir back to prison for the first time since we escaped. The next day, the newspapers were calling it the 'Battle of the Century' and Sir got his supervillain title."

"So you're saying it was Megamind's backup plan to get captured and sent back to prison?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course, Ma'am. We knew defeating Metro Man at that point in time was highly unlikely because we hadn't been able to test his abilities for weaknesses yet. So we planned for success and prepared for failure. Besides, we knew Sir would be able to escape again and then the fact that he would be an escaped convict would help bolster his reputation. Of course, he was an escaped convict before that, but I don't think it was common knowledge at the time," Minion explained.

She smiled as she realized something and said, "So… Megamind's plan actually worked. How many other times has he pulled out a personal success while appearing to be defeated?"

Minion gave her a smirk and replied, "More than I can count, Ma'am. Sir is an evil genius after all."

"How unexpectedly devious…" she mused with some admiration for her lover. Apparently, there were times when he had a hidden agenda and let the usual battle and antics cover up his real goal. Maybe she could get him to talk about that during their date that night.

Just as she started to let her mind wander, her phone rang. With a sigh, she pulled it from her pocket. A feeling of dread washed over her as she saw that it was her mom. She must have seen the paper, or one of her friends told her about it. Megamind's arms around her would be a great comfort right about now.

She flipped open the phone and answered, "Hello?" She looked up at Minion with a resigned look on her face.

"Roxanne Margaret Ritchi! What is this in the paper?"

"Gee, it's nice to hear from you too, Mom. I'm doing ok. Thanks for asking."

"Don't get smart with me, young lady! Is this true? Did you really turn down the Scott boy for that blue freak?"

Roxanne winced at her mother's words. She had never even attempted to see Megamind as a person and that had caused many, many arguments between the two of them. Even when Roxanne wasn't Megamind's biggest fan, she always saw him and Minion as people. An annoying person with unusual skin and his friendly helper that would kidnap her at least once a month, but still!

"That's not even what that article says. First of all, the freakin' headline said that Wayne dumped me. And you know it wasn't serious or we would have been married years ago. Second of all, stop being rude. I've told you before, his name is Megamind."

"I don't care if his name is Little Bunny Foo-Foo. Have you been consorting with that…that…thing?"

Roxanne decided to answer truthfully, knowing she wouldn't be believed, "Oh yes, Mother. I've been consorting with Megamind all night long. In fact, I'm in his secret lair right now chatting with Minion. The fish in the robot suit? If you called earlier, you might have interrupted our discussion about the nursery. What do you think about black, silver, and blue?" She continued sharply, "You could at least ask me about what is going on instead of jumping to conclusions."

"Well, I never," her mom said briskly and in a slightly offended tone of voice.

"I would hope not," Roxanne replied in a faked sweet voice, "That kind of thing is what gets people put on talk shows. And not the good ones. Mother and daughter consorting with the same space alien supervillain. What would people say? And who would throw the first chair?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then her mother said, "Sometimes I wish your father was still here. Ralph would know what to say to you."

"Funny," she said dryly, "I wish that all the time. Bye, Mom. Call me back when you can have a civil conversation." Roxanne closed the phone and tossed it to the other side of the couch. "Minion, you talk to her if she calls back today. I can't deal with it," she suggested. It was probably a bad idea, but at this point she didn't care.

"Sure thing, Boss," Minion said as he picked up her phone. "I don't mean to pry, Ma'am, but I'm guessing your relationship with Sir won't go over well, huh?"

Roxanne laughed bitterly and said, "Are you kidding? That right there might be the last conversation we have. Who knows?" she shrugged, "Maybe our relationship will be better with our only contact being sending each other Christmas cards. Less opportunity to press each other's buttons that way," she admitted.

The distance between her mom and herself had only grown in the years since her dad passed away. He was the glue that bound the family together and the buffer that kept them from each other's throats. Going public with Megamind would be the final straw for their strained relationship. And honestly, her mom had worn her down enough where the thought didn't bother her like it should.

She shook her head to clear it and changed the topic, "Hey Minion? I wanted to run an idea by you."

"Sure thing, Ma'am," Minion replied.

"Megamind told me why you two don't celebrate Christmas, and I totally understand the reason," she said the last part quickly. "I was just thinking, what if we moved it to a different point in the year, since the timing is the big issue? I mean, Christmas is about spending time with family and friends. There's nothing stopping us from celebrating it in July as long as we agree on it. We could call it Evil Christmas and do our own thing. Black tree, some Halloween stuff that we can repurpose with our own little touches… What do you think?"

"I think it would be conceivable. You're right that we don't have anything against the holiday itself, per say. Just the time of the year. But, can I ask why?" Minion asked.

"Honestly, it's a selfish reason. It's my favorite time of year and I would like to share it, but I respect why you two choose not to celebrate. I was just testing the waters to see if we could come to a compromise," she shrugged.

"I don't see a problem with moving the holiday for our own celebration. We can talk it over with Sir to see what he thinks," Minion said.

"Ok, good. Thanks, Minion," she smiled at him. "Hey? How about a tour while Megamind is tied up? Since I'm going to be living here, it'd be nice to know where stuff is and not get lost. And maybe show me a thing or two about the brainbots? He gave me ten of the little guys, but I have no idea which ones. Well except him there," she pointed at the brainbot that had been following her around the Evil Lair the last day or two. "Megamind appointed him the leader of my 'squad.'"

"Sure thing," he replied as he stood up. She got up to follow him, excited that she was getting the tour.

"Oh, and is there a way to change their color?" she asked as they left the sitting room.