I'm back! After a busy year and a long hiatus from writing, I thought it was about time I rolled up my sleeves and got back into the game. With the holiday season coming right up, I decided since I received so many requests for a sequel to An Unpredictable Thanksgiving, a continuation of Megamind and Roxanne's Turkey Day misadventure would be a great place to start. (If you haven't read An Unpredictable Thanksgiving, go to my profile page and give that one a read before you start this one.)

Thanks everyone, I hope you enjoy!

Roxanne sat on her couch with a frown as she waited for her ride to show up, and gazed out the patio door at the drizzly, slate gray sky. All morning she'd been mulling over how dishearteningly indifferent she felt this time around about her favorite day of the year… Christmas usually carried with it an aura of excitement for her that started well before Thanksgiving and stretched on through the beginning of the New Year. An excitement that made each day leading up to the big event more delightful than the last and brought a joyful, exhilarating glow with the dawn of the Yuletide itself.

But not this year; this had been the most disappointingly humdrum holiday season she'd ever experienced, and it had all started with a food fight.

The disgruntled journalist blamed every bit of her lack of enthusiasm on Megamind. Since he'd shown up on Thanksgiving and stole away the one day she'd always been able to count on as a break from the annoyance of enduring his goofy schemes, she'd found her thoughts reverting back to that afternoon again and again. As much as she hated to admit it, what had started out to be about as much fun as a visit to the dentist had ended up as a surprisingly enjoyable day spent with the devilish pair of villains, tucked away in the mysterious, secretive vastness of Evil Lair.

In fact, deep down in the quiet of her heart where no one would be privy to her innermost thoughts, the brunette could easily admit to herself that the unexpected social call had been a blast… fun enough to pretty much ruin the idea of spending her holidays anywhere else for a long, long time. And that, right there, was her problem. She knew that what was ending up to be her fondest Christmas wish that year, spending another holiday with the city's most infamous partners in crime, wasn't going to come true.

Ugh, why did those two have to turn out to be so exciting, and such a kick to be with? And funny, and absurdly endearing - in a slick, villainous way of course. And why the heck did she have to notice that thoughtful, and even, dare she say it… sweet side… that Megamind had always kept so carefully hidden away until that nutty afternoon? She'd had quite a few pleasantly surprising revelations about her leather-shrouded rival and his scaly buddy that day, and she often caught herself snickering fondly as her mind strayed in that direction of its own accord ever since Minion had deposited her safely back in her apartment.

It appeared Megamind was going through much the same thing too; her run-ins with the scoundrel since that afternoon had been pleasantly interesting. Roxanne couldn't help but notice that despite his usual promises of danger and terror beyond her darkest dreams, he'd been going quite a lot easier on her, and her safety and comfort was even more meticulously looked after - albeit secretly - than it had ever been. And her teasing about his predictability, something that at one time nearly sent him through the roof with irritation, was now met with the knowing smile of a friend laughing on the sly at an inside joke.

With a downhearted snort, Roxanne shook her head at the memory of it all and sighed deeply as she tried once again to push it out of her mind, and forced her gaze to settle on the Christmas tree that sparkled in the corner by her patio door. The weeks following her unexpected social call to the villainous duo's hideout had proven to be so dishearteningly low in the holiday cheer department… if she could just try to concentrate on the lights and decorations for a moment and shut off the wistful thoughts of sitting back in those velvety chairs and laughing with the goofy pair of villains, she might just be able to reclaim some of her usual jolly holiday mindset. Yeah! That would work, it had to!

But she'd better hurry; Wayne's chauffeur would be along to pick her up within the next couple of hours to sweep her off to the Scott's place so she could join in their celebration. Ughhhhh, no…

She immediately chided herself. No, now don't do that! Spending the day with Wayne won't be so bad. It'll be fun, come on Roxanne! Perk up!

With renewed effort, she let her eyes slip over the softly twinkling tree and take in the details of every ornament. Each one meant something special to her and reminded her of holidays gone by and the loved ones she'd spent them with. As she let the memories take over, she could feel her spirits begin to rise a little, and allowed a lighthearted smile to begin tugging at the corner of her mouth… until her gaze suddenly halted on the satiny smoothness of one of the glass balls, its color the clear blue of a robin's egg.

Her happy ascent from the holiday humdrums came to a screeching halt as that pretty color of blue instantly conjured in her mind the image of a blue, bald head that was as smooth as the ball that hung from her tree. And then from there, of course, she couldn't help but visualize green eyes peeping up from over the edge of the table as they huddled in their respective corners, laughing immaturely as they waited for an opportunity to lob another handful of their glorious turkey dinner at each other. Gosh, that was so much fun…

Gah! What's the use? She acquiesced. No matter how she looked at it or how hard she tried to convince herself she'd have a good time, she just didn't want to spend the day with the Scotts. Who would want to sit around in their boring, hoity-toity mansion and listen to Wayne's mother drop undisguised hints about "tying the knot" with her perfect, brawny baby boy and the benefits of spring weddings, or watch Lord Scott sit with his nose buried in the Wall Street Journal all day and completely ignore the rest of his self-centered family?

For the hundredth time, Roxanne wished Megamind would show up at the last minute and spirit her off for another crazy holiday bash at Evil Lair, but that wasn't going to happen. Despite the fact that in the end they all seemed to have enjoyed themselves immensely, he'd made it quite clear several times that her surprise social visit was a one-time affair… "We don't have guests!"

With a huff, she got up and crossed the room to look out her patio door at the drab winter skyline. Geez, even the weather didn't seem to want her to enjoy the holidays this year. Instead of the usual fluffy blanket of white that bejeweled the streets and brightened rooftops throughout most of the month of December, the city had remained stubbornly dark and gray, and a ceaseless downpour of rain and sleet had taken the place of the lazily spinning snowflakes that would normally be floating down like icy feathers. How was she supposed to "make the season bright" when she felt like she had absolutely nothing to work with?

Leaning forward and resting her shoulder and the side of her head against the cold glass, she reached out absent mindedly to pick at the needles and adjust the placement of the lights, and wondered if there was a way she could get out of going to Wayne's for the day. Spending Christmas alone sounded like a much more enjoyable prospect then the drudgery that was waiting to pounce at the ring of her doorbell.

As much as she'd like to, she knew there was really no way she could manage it. For one, she hated the idea of hurting Wayne's feelings. Second, she'd already begged off the last holiday; if she skipped out on Christmas too she'd never hear the end of it from Lady Scott, and the continuous guilt trips and prying questions would end up being the death of her – or at least be enough to give her a headache and nervous twitch at every meeting with the shallow woman for a good long time. If Megamind wanted to put her through a truly horrifying scheme, he need look no further than locking her alone in a room for several hours with the very pushy Lady Scott.

She snickered at the idea, but then immediately scolded herself for her negativity. Ah, knock it off. She's nice enough, don't be so hard on her. Come on, cheer up so you can go into this with a good attitude, or this is going to be a LONG day!

As she stared unfocused at her tree and found her eyes curiously drawn again toward that same blue glass ball that hung from the fragrant branch in front of her, she began to notice a sound coming from her locked front door; a rustle in the hallway outside that was accompanied by a quiet click, as though someone was gingerly laying their hand on the knob.

Momentarily taking note that it was incredibly odd that Wayne's notoriously late chauffeur would be arriving so soon, she flicked her eyes to the door, and thought, Well, might as well get this show on the road; at least there's less time to sit here and brood about it this way.

Deciding not to wait for the elderly gentleman to knock, Roxanne turned and approached the door with a reluctant sigh. Being the safety conscious city girl that she was, and doubly so because of her unique knack for being kidnapped on a regular basis, the journalist stopped a moment before opening the door to peer through the peek-hole. Instead of finding the tidy chauffeur in his pressed black suit and bow tie standing in her hallway like she expected, she saw… nothing. Just an empty hallway, the blank walls illuminated in the background by the recessed lighting hidden in the ceiling above.

Backing away from the peek-hole to think, she wondered for a split second if she'd been hearing things. It was entirely possible; those neighbors upstairs could be so noisy, and whatever she'd just heard could easily have come from their apartment. But as those thoughts were processing through her mind, she heard it again. There was no mistaking it this time. Without a doubt, it came from right outside the door… a bump, and a distinct rustling sound, like heavy cloth sliding across the carpet. Leaning forward quietly to peer through the hole again, she noticed for a second time the snicking sound of the knob and looked down just in time to see it jiggle, ever so slightly.

Her internal alarms immediately began to sound; someone was definitely out there, and it certainly wasn't old Edgar, like she originally thought. Whoever it was couldn't have good intentions with all that sneaking around, and as that realization settled in, she could feel an anxious knot begin to tighten in her stomach. She'd wished for a way to get out of spending the day at the Scott's place, but this wasn't quite what she had in mind…

Reaching out quietly to the table by the door, the prepared reporter felt around in her purse and grabbed her pepper spray, holding it tightly at the ready, and leaned in one more time to try and catch a glimpse of the sneaky would-be intruder. Situating herself at the hole, she silently aligned herself with the tiny portal that was her only window to the hallway beyond, and waited.

For several seconds, she saw nothing; just another view of the bland looking wall brightened by an ovular splotch of light. After a moment she almost began to doubt herself. In fact, if not for the occasional scraping swish outside the door and the irregular clicking jiggle of the knob, she might have given up her attempt and moved on to a more productive use of her time, but the stubborn brunette resolutely stood her watch. Her patience was rewarded in short order when she caught a glimpse of a blackish object, just the barest tip of something pointy that peeked itself up into her line of sight for a second, and then disappeared.

What… Oh wait - HA! That sneaky little… she interrupted herself when the blackish, pointy thing reappeared, followed by a thin sliver of robin's egg blue at the bottom of her field of vision; a leathery spike fringing the back of a very familiar bald alien head.

In the instant it took her to process exactly who it was lurking furtively outside her front door, all her anxiety evaporated and was replaced by an intense, giddy excitement that had been missing from her emotional repertoire all that holiday season long. He's here! YES!

But, what was he doing out there, poking around in the hallway so quietly? His usual MO included either kicking or blasting the door down if the lock wasn't readily thrown, or using the hover-bike to swoop in through the balcony and whisk her away with a shot in the face of that musty smelling spray. This was a little weird. But, eh, who cares! Even if she had to sit through one of Megamind's insanely shoddy master plans, although she dearly hoped that wasn't what he had in mind, it would certainly be better than the plans she already had laid out for her day. As much as she hated the idea of calling Wayne to bow out of yet another holiday, she was game to go ahead and make the call if it meant a chance of spending another day of fun with her kidnappers.

Bye-bye, Goody Two Shoes, she thought in happy mimicry of the villain who stood just outside as she tossed her pepper spray back in her purse, looks like your perfect party is going to be one guest short this year!

Despite being thrilled at her captor's appearance, she was still keenly aware that it would be unprofessional of her as his victim to allow him to see her excitement. Trying to replace the grin she was sporting for her best poker-face in an attempt to shore up her enthusiasm, she put her ear to the door and listened to the shuffling outside, waiting for the perfect moment to throw the door wide and usher him in.

The sneaky devil was still slinking around out there and messing with the door; what was he doing out there for such a long time? She'd recently replaced her standard deadbolt with one that was more upscale in hopes that it might be a little more Megamind-proof, if for no other reason than to give her a few extra minutes to prepare herself before he busted his way in, which was what he inevitably ended up doing anyway. But this time, she was puzzled as to why he continued to gingerly work at the lock - what was this soft-handed approach all about? Her curiosity burned in the back of her mind as she wondered and anxiously waited to find out just what it was he had planned.

As she continued to listen to the activity outside the door, she could easily tell he was beginning to get a little antsy; that fancy dead bolt must be working better than she'd expected! The soft scraping of fabric - obvious to her now that it was his cape sliding across the carpet - was still present, but now it was accompanied with frequent soft bumps against the heavy wood of her door, and the occasional irritated mutter drifting through the barrier. Ditching her determination to remain as straight-faced as possible in light of his surprise visit, the journalist's nose wrinkled with an amused grin at the mental image of him kneeling in front of her lock and trying his darnedest to pick it - without a lick of success.

Juuuuust another second… she thought as she silently laid her hand on the knob and tensed herself, grinning from ear to ear in anticipation…

The muttering had now grown slightly in both frequency and volume, and the bumping had evolved to a flat out scraping of a body part of some sort across the wood; he must have gotten tired and annoyed with all that hunkering down in the hallway, and simply rested his weight against her door to steady himself in hopes of simplifying his break-in. Perfect! Roxanne had to clap her hand over her mouth to stifle the giggle that threatened to escape at any minute, and spoil her surprise.

Ok, ready - one… two… THREE!

This story is already complete and ready to be published, so the next chapter will be uploaded sometime next week. Be on the lookout! Thanks for reading, and if you're having fun so far, I'd love to hear from you. Reviews are always appreciated!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :)