Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Roxanne Ritchi fell in love for the first time in the student parking lot of Metro City High.

Before her in a sorry state of dilapidated glory was a bonafide 1950 Hudson Hornet; a true classic and an infamous racing legend. She could hardly believe her eyes!

Beauty was in the eye of the beholder where this beast was concerned. The Hudson, parked haphazardly beside a dirty school dumpster, was by all accounts a run-down jalopy. Most of the body panels were covered in patches of smooth, perfectly sanded Bondo. Others had new cutouts of steel welded into them, as if rust had been recently repaired. The factory paint had long since lost its luster, now some pale shade of stormy blue. Every chrome accent down to the iconic bumper was weathered and pitted despite the obvious effort put into polishing them.  Even the wheels were rusty and mismatched. Inside the cabin, what was left of the cracked and torn leather seats was being held together with chaotically placed strips of silver duct tape.

Roxanne was captivated.

“What are you doing?”

That familiar, stern voice cut through the sound of the marching band’s tune and the cheering of the crowd, causing Roxanne to shriek and spin around in surprise.

“Oh! Megamind! You startled me…!” she breathed in near laughter at her own reaction. With the way he was glaring at her, Roxanne suddenly felt uneasy. It reminded her of the first time she had ever met him. His eyes had been sharp, caustic, and cruel when he regarded her; the kind of guarded, spiteful glower that evolved through years of self-preservation. Even now they had a way of boring right through her. Some things never changed.

“I was just— this car! Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?” she motioned excitedly at the Hudson beside her.

“Beautiful.” Megamind repeated dryly. He didn’t bother to look.

“I mean, yeah! I’ve never actually seen one in person… it’s kind of mind blowing? You probably wouldn’t guess by looking, but this car is a real legend.” she continued with bubbling enthusiasm, “The Fabulous Hudson Hornet! It’s got a stock car pedigree! You know, NASCAR?”

‘I’m aware.” he uttered simply.

“R-Right.” Roxanne corrected herself and slipped her arms behind her back to fidget with her hands. “Of course you do, you’re Megamind! That’s—”

“Get out of my way.” he grumbled and took a step towards her, having clearly run out of patience. Roxanne seemed to take the hint, quickly moving in the opposite direction without resistance.

As if the universe had been playing some cruel game with her, Megamind pulled the door open and slid inside casually without another word, as if he wasn’t commandeering the coolest ride she’d ever seen. Roxanne flinched when the heavy door slammed shut behind him, taking note of the hurry he seemed to be in. She had no idea Megamind had a taste for classic cars. His affinity for leather clothing and spikes should have been a huge giveaway. She wondered for a moment when he had gotten his hands on a classic Hudson.

When the engine roared to life, Roxanne took in that throaty, rumbling purr with pointed excitement. The exhaust fumes were thick and carried the pungent scent of gasoline, but that was part of the nostalgic charm of old, carbureted engines. Those worn pipes thrummed rhythmically, drowning out the noise of the crowd. Without thinking things through, Roxanne reached over and tapped on the window.

The offended glower Megamind shot her way was not nearly as telling as his hesitant willingness to roll the window down. Everything creaked noisily as he rotated the lever until the entire glass panel fell somewhere deep into the door with a loud, hollow clank. Roxanne was trying with everything she had not to laugh at the way Megamind stubbornly held his unflinching expression despite the absolute state of his car.

“What.” It was an annoyed growl rather than a question.

“Do me a favor?” she began with a smile, unwilling to allow that unwavering glare detract from her innate curiosity. “Could you rev it before you leave?”

His expression changed so subtly, anyone other than her might have missed it.

“Tch.” Megamind changed gears and promptly left her there, driving away with a cloud of exhaust tailing behind him.

Roxanne watched as he reached the end of the lot and stopped the Hudson for a moment; she didn’t think he’d go through with it. Instead, he did one better: with all the unruliness she’d hoped for, Megamind peeled out of the lot with tires spinning and mechanized thunder blasting through the Hudson’s pipes. It was truly a wonderful, old-school chorus of horsepower! Some moments later when Megamind disappeared from view, she could hear someone slam on their brakes and honk furiously at the speeding menace.

Damn, she wished she could do that. As she strolled under the sprawling shade of the bleachers and approached her aging Vespa for the ride home, Roxanne realized it would be a little too hard to pull off with 150ccs.

Now that she was no longer distracted by the fabulous Hudson, Roxanne realized her interaction with Megamind had gone pretty well. It might have even qualified as a conversation. He’d always been short with her, sure, but he avoided the same cruelty he reserved for everyone else; a detail Roxanne never took for granted. She couldn’t help but feel a little happier knowing he had humored her in his own way, even if he always seemed like he had somewhere else to be. Little did she know, that was exactly his situation.

Every day after school, Megamind would head straight to work. Given his tumultuous relationship with the law, it had been nearly impossible to find someone willing to hire him. In the end, one of his many ‘criminally gifted’ uncles hooked him up with a humble detail at his pick-n-pull. Working in a junk yard was an easy way to stay out of trouble and keep himself busy until he earned that useless diploma.

Wandering that dingy, cluttered lot felt like a dream come true when Megamind first started working there. It was a gear head’s paradise! Granted, it didn’t pay well at all, but as an added bonus, he was allowed to take anything he needed to fix up his car in exchange for keeping an eye on things.

Trying to live honestly was a real drag, but it wouldn’t be for long. Megamind had high aspirations for himself, most of which people were too stupid to even grasp. But if he was going to be forced to behave by the Warden, he may as well start working on something worthwhile to get things going, starting with his Hudson.

As Megamind pulled into the junk yard, the Hudson left a trail of dust and fumes all the way to the main building at the center of the property. It was a massive metal industrial structure with dingy windows and no air-conditioning to speak of; inside were rows of work bays with hydraulic lifts and other useful tools to help tear down the cars sent there for scrapping. All the guys who worked there were the usual troublemaking suspects— Megamind’s kind of people. They all knew and respected his Uncle Alfonso and treated Megamind as if he were family. It was a sanity-saving change from school, which only served to stress him out.

Ironically, Megamind was surrounded by as many convicts there at the pick-n-pull as he was in the Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted.

Megamind parked the rickety Hudson in his designated work bay and stepped out, already feeling the stress of being at school melting away. The building was unusually quiet for that time of day, which didn’t really surprise him. Most the men who were employed by Uncle Alfonso weren’t exactly used to honest work. They showed up when they felt like it.

“Minion? I’m home!” Megamind called out as he slammed the Hudson’s door shut. He was eager to see his companion after another grueling, pointless day wasted. Minion had been loyally at his side since Megamind was eight days old, but currently he was relegated to a fish tank until Megamind could get the latest iteration of his mechanical suit to function reliably. Being apart from Minion was perhaps the worst thing about being forced to go to school. As an alien fish, Minion wasn’t exactly seen as a person who needed an education; legally, he was nothing more than a pet.

Megamind hated that. Humans were truly detestable, close-minded creatures.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Minion swam near the edge of the glass tank to come see him. He looked happier now that they were reunited.

Megamind hopped into a swivel stool and rolled close to Minion, a broad smile overtaking his features. “Sorry I took so long… stupid football game held things up as usual. You been working on our program?”

“You know it! Hope you don’t mind, but I tweaked some of the parameters while you were gone. I think we may be onto something with the frequency. I got the hydraulic pump to turn on from over here!” Minion explained, spinning about excitedly as if he couldn’t keep still.

“That’s a relief…! The sooner we get you moving, the better. I hate leaving you like this, Minion.” Megamind admitted regrettably.

“Aw, it hasn’t been so bad, Sir. I have so much room inside this tank!” his companion assured him optimistically. Nothing could ever get him down. Not even when life seemed to throw their worst at them. While he appreciated Minion’s words, Megamind couldn’t help but feel guilty.

It was his fault that Minion was in this position in the first place. Every time he screwed up and got arrested, the authorities would dismantle Minion’s mechanical body and crush it. But he wouldn’t let that happen ever again. This new design would give Minion unnatural strength and dexterity, something previous designs were lacking.

Perhaps Megamind was taking advantage of the Warden’s naïve kindness, but he’d be damned if Minion was left powerless again. Now they had unfettered access to all the steel and electrical equipment they would ever need, things Megamind never had at his disposal in prison. Faking rehabilitation would be well worth it in the end. Minion would be an absolute nightmare for anyone thinking they could screw with him.

All they had to do was work out the kinks. Moving a robotic body of that size and weight was something they had never attempted thus far. It required power and hydraulic systems that Megamind was designing completely from scratch using nothing but junkyard rejects. Luckily for Minion, Megamind could create anything he set his mind on with few resources.

As long as Megamind behaved at school there was no reason for anyone to check in on what he was up to. He owed that much to Minion.

“Let’s try the fixes we came up with last night… see if we can’t get those actuators responding to your thoughts.” Megamind reasoned excitedly. He couldn’t wait to get started.

“Sure… but before we start… think you could shake some of my food in here? I’m starving!”

Chapter Text

The following morning, Megamind stood before his opened locker and sighed miserably. After working hard all night long, he was terribly exhausted. It was one of those days when he wished he could just pass out in the back of the Hudson and forget classes altogether. To make matters worse, he’d forgotten to shave down his stubble and now he felt unkempt and prickly on top of hating everything as usual.

Some days he really questioned his own willingness to go through with this nonsene.

Inane conversations being held in the crowded hall filled his ears as Megamind grabbed what he needed that morning. Despite the sheer number of students, nearly every locker in the vicinity was abandoned by his fearful classmates.

Save for one other.

“So, you going to tell me where you found the Hudson?” Roxanne asked him the moment he closed the flimsy metal door.

“No.” he replied stiffly and brushed past her so he could get on with it.

“Oh, come on… I’m only curious.” she complained lightheartedly and followed alongside him. It just so happened they had to walk a short distance in the same direction every morning; it was just long enough for her to notice his five o’clock shadow.

It looked dangerously good on someone with his style.

“You’re always curious.” he complained right back at her. Roxanne was persistent if not somewhat brazen. She was the only person in that entire school who dared breathe a word to him, and he’d let her get away with it far too often.

“It’s a curse.” she conceded knowingly. “Can’t help myself when your Hudson sounds so good… thanks for that, by the way.”

“I was in a hurry. It had nothing to do with you.”

“Fine, be that way.” she hummed lightly, “I'll try my luck next time!” With that, Roxanne darted off elsewhere to her first class.

Megamind felt less tense the moment he was alone again. He just couldn’t quite understand Roxanne. Feeling confused and unsure only made him more resentful and uneasy. Nobody was ever kind to him unless they had some sick angle. He knew that much. He had stopped getting his hopes up about people years ago.

Or at least he thought he did. He hated that there was still some part of him that ached for a connection, one he deliberately forced himself to deny Roxanne every time she tried to reach out to him.

Which was frustratingly often.

Roxanne genuinely threw him for a loop at unpredictable intervals. He could build weapons and machines but he had no idea what the hell to do with her. Still, Roxanne was an interesting case study in human duality. She was sharp as a whip and yet she was regularly stuck in detention alongside him due to her mercilessly sharp tongue and uncompromising stubborness.

“What are you in for?” she’d ask jokingly while leaning back dangerously far in her chair.

Roxanne was incapable of minding her own business. Megamind was doggedly determined to keep to himself, even if their interactions seemed unavoidable at times.

They were classmates, after all.

Megamind knew he would eventually see her again right before lunch during chem lab. Fashionably late, as expected. At least in this way, Roxanne was rather predictable.

“Miss Ritchi.” he heard the teacher gripe when she stepped through the threshold, “So nice of you to finally grace us with your presence, today.”

“Sorry, I—”

“Save your excuses for after class. Have a seat.” he scolded her and got back to the lesson at hand.

Time had been slipping away from Roxanne all morning it seemed, and she looked utterly resigned to her bad luck. Roxanne had scarcely moved and already she began to hear familiar hushed whispering taking place at her expense.

Every table was already packed specifically to avoid Megamind. Everyone was staring at her like she was headed to the electric chair, not because she’d committed the grievous sin of being late to class, but because they knew she’d be the one stuck sitting next to Mr. Unsmiley over there in the back corner.

As Roxanne’s eyes darted about the room, she took note of the expressions of her classmates; some of them looked like they genuinely felt sorry for her, others seemed sadistically amused by her self-imposed fate.

Whatever. They could kiss her ass.

Despite warning her away with his best Evil Glare, Roxanne dropped her books at the table right beside Megamind, anyway. She remained annoyingly immune to his glowering. He scoffed audibly to let his displeasure be known.

‘You will not De-Hydrate Roxanne Ritchi.’ he reminded himself as he slouched irritably in his chair.

By the time the teacher stopped yapping, Roxanne had mostly caught up with the lesson. The moment the teacher finished and everyone started gossiping among themselves, she turned to ask a question.

“So, I was wondering—”

“Look,” Megamind cut her off abruptly and busied himself with the lab equipment, “This whole school sha-rahde is a waste of my time. Don’t make it worse.”

“Message received.” she hummed tiredly and held up her hands. “But for the record, you’re not the only one who’d rather be anywhere else…”

Megamind huffed to himself but was otherwise relieved when she took their blue book and got to work. Working in silence was best case scenario for someone like him and she was a quick study, at least.

The whole time, however, Roxanne was wondering how exactly titration would ever be relevant in her life. Some things seemed pointless even to a human student, let alone a super genius from outer space. Megamind could probably run the lab in his sleep.

Every movement he made was done with purpose and precision. His hands looked so smooth and oddly proportioned, and yet they worked so delicately that Roxanne couldn’t really see him working on those fantastic machines she’d read about in the papers. She couldn’t help but wonder why he was even bothering with this miserable place. He was unquestionably brilliant. He should be in college or working for NASA.

Possibly even living the high-intensity lifestyle of a famous rockstar.

Megamind was lucky; he could be free any time if he really wanted to, unlike her. She had read all about the highly illegal shenanigans he got himself into. But here he was, doing what was probably a mind-numbing, baby-tier experiment. The thought crossed her mind that there must be an interesting story there as to why. But she knew what he’d say if she pestered him about it… or anything else, for that matter.

“Not your business.” he’d always say with an irritable glower. She especially enjoyed it when he tilted his secret sketchbook away when she asked about his drawings.

The thought made her smile to herself. So what if she found his stubborness just the slightest bit charming?

“Could you check this for me?” Roxanne suddenly asked when she was done, fully expecting to be shot down.

Megamind replied simply, “It’s fine.”

“Is it?” she pressed for clarification.

Megamind sighed somewhat under the weight of her curious stare. “I was reading from here. It’s fine.” he repeated for emphasis.

“Oh, good. Guess I kinda lucked out, huh?”

Roxanne was selling herself short and without the slightest hint of guile. He knew better.

“You might want to work on your penmanship, though.” he added unwarranted criticism for good measure just so she wouldn’t get any ideas, “It’s a careless scrawl. Aren’t you supposed to be a writer?”

Her bright blue eyes sparkled at that, leaving Megamind feeling confused. That wasn’t the reaction he had expected.

“Student journalist, actually.” she corrected him with a sly smile.

Why was she looking at him like that? Megamind felt like he was under a microscope.

“So,” she leaned with a cocky air about her, “You like reading the school paper?”

There it was. Astute as always.

“Never read it.” he insisted a little too dismissively. The way she bit at her lip like she knew better was enough to make Megamind’s blood simmer with embarrassment.

“You’re so full of it.” she accused with slick amusement.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you mean.” he managed smoothly.

Maybe he didn’t appreciate her nosiness, but there remained the slightest spark of admiration for her apparent lack of fear. Which, now that he thought about it, was probably doing her no favors socially. He could already hear more confused whispering.

Whatever Roxanne thought she was doing complicated things. Everyone else seemed to understand the rules, except her. Megamind himself was a dangerous, unstoppable force of nature, and she an obstinate, immovable object. Roxanne didn’t seem at all fazed that the others had already been speaking pejoritively about her willingness to associate with him for some time now.

Somehow, that brought about the faintest twinge of genuine fear. He resented that feeling deeply, wondering what had even possessed him to harbor such a reaction in the first place.

Megamind swallowed it down and reaffirmed what had always served him well: it wasn’t his business what happened with her.

He was done here.

Feeling thoroughly annoyed with himself, Megamind stood from his seat and left without another word. It’s not like anyone would care whether he stuck around for the bell or not.

Surprised by his abrupt exit, Roxanne watched him leave the room, and no sooner had the door shut behind him, there came a collective sigh of relief from the others, teacher included, as if his presence there had been looming large over everyone.

She was once again reminded why he was so pissed off all the time.

After enduring another nagging speech about tardiness once class ended, the dreaded Third Degree began the second Roxanne slinked back out into the hallway. Regrettably, she was carrying too many books to quicken her pace and end all her suffering. Roxanne didn’t know how many more times she had to hear about how dangerous Megamind was before she lost her shit entirely.

“You should be more careful, Roxy. There’s something seriously wrong with that guy.” Hal nagged like a surrogate mother as he trailed beside her in the hallway crowd.

Yeah, like the fact that he was utterly disinterested in human girls?

Tragic.

“You know he turns people into freaky, glowing cubes, right?” Leah added with concern, “Who knows what that could do to someone down the line?”

Some people kind of deserve to be turned into a glowing blue cube. So what?

“They had to get a mountain of court orders just to allow him back in public. Aren’t you worried he could kidnap you or something?” she asked with genuine concern.

“Would you two lay off, already?” Roxanne groaned without any malice, but her patience had worn thin regardless of their concern.   “The entire city is scared of the guy, I get it.”

“Seems like you don’t get it at all?” Hal reasoned sarcastically. “Leave it to Roxy to keep pressing her luck!”

“No kidding. The whole school is waiting for him to flip his lid. Just don’t do anything to get on his bad side, please?”

“Does he even have another side? Dude’s a complete menace.” Hal laughed.

It was more than a little obtuse to assume someone as bright as Megamind had nothing to offer the world other than mayhem. But what did she know? Her opinion as an outsider was apparently worthless.

Mercifully, they decided to drop the subject of Megamind soon after, leaving Roxanne to endure a disappointing lunch in relative peace. The mood had lightened considerably though, and soon they were making plans amongst themselves. There was a game coming up in a few week that Roxanne wasn’t keen to miss. It would sure beat being alone at home doing nothing. Her parents didn’t care where she went so long as the police weren’t involved.

There was always buzz around a game when a ritzy private school came around, but this game was particularly special. Local legend Wayne Scott would be in attendance, and nobody wanted to miss out.

Roxanne had already become acutely aware of the local lore regarding Wayne. Metro City residents never seemed to stop talking about him. He was the super-powered golden child of well-connected billionaire parents, attended the most prestigious school in the region, and he was absolutely adored by everyone save for one viciously bitter rival.

Megamind.

It wouldn’t surprise her if the school preemptively banned him from going to avoid a major incident. Or maybe he wouldn’t even bother going at all? He did have that Hudson to work on. Though Roxanne had never personally seen any, Megamind was known for his unbelievable mechanical inventions. She could only imagine that Megamind preferred creating to anything else, especially a football game.

After finding a quiet spot to work on her severely neglected stack of homework, Roxanne spotted Megamind casually leaning against a payphone while he chatted to someone on the other end, all the while eating thick jelly donuts out of a familiar, solid pink box.

Mr. Donut was just about the only thing she ever saw Megamind eat. It was just the slightest bit funny and endearing. Megamind really was the strangest character she had ever met; he was supposedly evil to the core, and yet also hopelessly addicted to ungodly amounts of sugar.

Maybe that was just the universe’s way of balancing him out?

Roxanne remembered back when she first moved to Metro City, Megamind almost seemed like an urban legend. Very few people had actually ever seen him with their own eyes. He was as elusive as he was capricious. Every so often she saw some grainy, unfocused image of him in the local papers, like some kind of wild, goth cryptid. Based on how people treated him, he may as well have been one. Because as far as they were concerned, Megamind was chaos personified, an unrepentant one-man alien invasion.

That alone piqued her curiosity. Maybe it was because Roxanne wasn’t from around there that she wasn’t more cautious. Everyone else seemed rightfully traumatized by his insane antics. But those same people had changed him over the years; he wasn’t some shy kid they could bully anymore.  Megamind was a loner, through and through. He despised small talk and hated people even more. Even in halls teeming with a sea of students, Roxanne always saw him standing alone; a solitary figure that parted crowds without so much as a glance. His very presence demanded it.

Looking at him now, Roxanne could understand why. Megamind’s entire aura was deliberately hostile. She never saw him smile, rarely heard him talk. He only ever wore black clothing, and his favorite leather jacket was covered in menacing spikes. Every meticulously styled article hugged skin-tight against his figure perfectly; Megamind was enviably slight and nothing but sharp, masculine angles.

The foul, lingering flavor of a graphite-imbued eraser finally brought Roxanne to her senses. She hadn’t realized she’d been gnawing on her pencil while checking him out.

When the bell rang, Roxanne couldn’t help but grumble in disappointment when he hung up the phone and sauntered off to his next class obliviously. She should have never allowed herself to discover that the local super-genius bad boy had the cutest butt she’d ever seen.

God, he really was a special kind of nightmare, wasn’t he?

Granted, Megamind’s butt was the least of her concerns. Roxanne already had the reputation of being habitually late to class, so no matter how badly she wanted to flake out, she just couldn’t afford it lest she end up in detention again. It just seemed like school wouldn’t end some days, and she was too free a spirit to be loitering around one place for too long.

At least it was Friday. She had the whole weekend to look forward to, right? All she had to do was get through three more classes.

That sense of grueling monotony was well known to Megamind, too. Every day was just that, counting down the minutes to sweet freedom and Minion’s calming presence. As it was, Minion had given him promising news during their call, which put him in a better mood than usual. They had finally managed to get Minion into a functional exosuit the night before, which he was excited to test while Megamind was away.

The endeavor thus far had taken too long for Megamind’s liking. One day, he was going to have enough money and connections to provide for them both without having to belittle himself with forced integration; it was only a matter of time. Until then, Megamind was content to sketch some new, donut-fueled design improvements.

Fortunately, Roxanne had already learned some time ago to stop asking about what Megamind was drawing. Less fortunately, she was still quite chatty. He should have known better than to relax.

“Is it true you made Wayne Scott forget how to read?” Roxanne asked out of left field. She was sprawled in the grass with a drawing pad, working on her own art assignment.

That cursed name alone made his drawing cease entirely as he peered over at her.

“I’m surprised that idiot even knew how to read in the first place.” he sneered with mild delight at the pompous billionaire’s misfortune.

“So, what’d he do to piss you off?” Roxanne asked as she wore down her eraser damn near into a stump.

Her question hit him strangely. Nobody ever bothered to ask what anyone did to deserve the shit he put them through. It didn’t ever seem relevant. So when Roxanne asked, it set his teeth on edge.

“What do you care?” he asked cautiously.

“Need to know how hard I gotta boo him when his team shows up.” she replied with a mischievous grin.

There wasn’t enough time in the day to discuss the things he had been through on account of Wayne Scott. Megamind’s whole life had been derailed and devalued from the beginning because of him.

But Megamind wasn’t willing to trust anyone with the scarring details of his past. It would be foolish for an aspiring super villain. That was just leverage that could be used to hurt him later.

Besides, everyone loved that idiot Wayne. There was no way she was being serious about booing him, even if he rightfully deserved it.

“Forget it. It’s not your business, anyway.” he grumbled and went back to his sketchbook.

Roxanne belted out a bright laugh at his words and smiled at him. Her laugh was purely sweet and golden, with no hint of malice or ridicule whatsoever.

It wasn’t like other people’s laughter.

“That line again? You are sooo predictable!” she concluded with sparkling amusement.

Megamind didn’t like that one bit. The audacity!

“Predictable?” he repeated with a scowl and a rush of defensive embarrassment.

“You should already know by now… that line doesn’t work on me, anymore.” she informed him as if this was news to him.

“Believe me, I am painfully aware of how nosy you are.” he shot back, unamused and grouchy.

“Nosy and full of great ideas.” she added before tossing her sketchpad over the short distance between them. “Tell me what you think?”

The thought crossed his mind to completely ignore her. Roxanne was insolent and constantly testing him, so it was probably what she deserved for being so cheeky and presumptuous! But when his eyes peered down at the sketchpad laying there in the grass beside him, Megamind couldn’t help but feel curious. Everything about this moment felt so overwhelmingly strange now that he had made the mistake of hesitating. When was the last time anyone had ever treated him with anything other than disgust, disappointment, or fear?

Such a rare thing.

Laying on her belly in the grass, Roxanne rested her chin in her hand as she awaited his critique on her work.

Megamind gave Roxanne a rather distrustful  glare as he lifted her sketchpad from the grass and turned it around to peek. He was not quite prepared for what he saw; just a bunch of silly doodles of him, each sporting a different beard on its face. One of the beards cascaded all the way down to the floor. His face twisted in momentary confusion and he felt the tips of his ears go hot.

Roxanne hadn’t missed anything; the spikes on his jacket, the steel plates on his boots. Even his scowl was annoyingly accurate…

“Do you always make a habit of drawing people without their permission?” he grumbled at her.

He didn’t know what made him feel more self conscious; the idea that Roxanne had been looking at him this whole time, or if she hadn’t, that she had already committed him entirely to memory.

“I need permission, says the guy who has robbed two banks!” she teased him. He scoffed and sulked about it, making her laugh once more. “Come on, don’t tell me these aren’t cool?”

His eyes darted over to her for a moment but he was determined not to encourage her.

“You said you were going to be a supervillain, right?” Roxanne rolled onto her back and sighed in relaxation, peering over at him with interest. “You’d look pretty badass if you let that grow out.”

The realization that Roxanne had in fact noticed his unshaven appearance made him groan audibly. It was embarrassing to be seen in such a state, but worse having it acknowledged at all.

“Nothing gets past you, does it?”

“No, not really.”

Still, there was something intriguing about Roxanne’s suggestion. She had actually not given him any shit about his aspirations. Just accepted them as they were. He wasn’t sure what to make of that.

Looking over the drawings once more, Megamind could already tell which ones would inevitably get caught up in gears or catch on fire. Unfortunately for her, the warlock beard wasn’t quite feasible.

“My beard can’t grow this long.” he offered up as a consolation prize for her work, but still refused to admit he liked quite a few of the dastardly styles she had come up with.

“Damn, really? That Istari look is classic.”

Ah! Cultured and with an eye for evil.

Megamind would have to consider putting her in the permanent No De-Hydration Club. Which now that he thought about it, hadn’t existed until that very moment.