Cherries and Porcupines (part 1) [Megamind fanfic]

                      Cherries & Porcupines (part 1)


   After Tighten's defeat, Roxanne was given one whole week off of work. It was the first time in many years she didn't go straight back to work after a kidnapping, but her boss knew this time was different. And like everyone else, seeing Megamind rescue her and the city from the bad guy instead of the other way around really confused him and therefore he expected his most famous reporter to be as confused as he was.
She didn't mind having some time off though. She had lots of things to do.
Firstly, she contacted the Metro City Prison For The Criminally Gifted to know if it was possible to turn the blue alien's eighty-eight life sentences into community service. He could escape from jail anytime he wanted anyway ; an alternate punishment for his past actions would be better for everyone.
The reporter smiled. That's funny how fast things can change, she thought. Three months ago I would never have thought I'd help Megamind stay out of jail.
But he wasn't a villain anymore, was he?
Sure, he had kidnapped her and put her in uncomfortable situations countless of times in the past, but he had never actually hurt her. And when her life really was in danger, he came to the rescue. When Tighten was destroying the city, he had the guts to fight against him while Metro Man (or Music Man as he called himself now) had refused to leave his hiding place. Now that she thought about it, despite years of playing the part of the super villain, Megamind had proven to be more of a hero than Metro Man ever was. The least Roxanne could do was to help the former evil overlord in his path to the light side of the Force.
However, there were still a few things she needed to discuss with him, so she decided to drive to his lair.

The reporter parked the news van next to Megamind's lair, climbed out of the vehicle, locked it and went through the holographic wall of the building. Once inside, the first person she saw was Minion.
"Hello Miss Ritchi! Nice to see you!" the fish smiled.
Roxanne smiled back at him.
"Hello Minion. Glad to see Megamind repaired your body."
"That's the very first thing he did after coming back here yesterday."
"Is he here? I need to talk to him."
"He's working right now." He pointed a robotic finger towards the general direction of his master's worktable. "Over here."
She thanked him and walked toward the worktable where the new hero was repairing the pink brain-bot.
Roxanne spoke softly :
"Megamind?"
He froze then turned over to face her, the little robot still in his hands.
"Ollo, I mean, hello Roxanne. I… I didn't expect you."
It was the second time she went to the lair, but now she wasn't there to steal his secrets or fight against him. Another new thing was he didn't call her Miss Ritchi anymore. Actually, this one wasn't that new : he called her by her first name when he was pretending to be Bernard…
"May I have a few words with you… in private?"
The blue man gulped. A hint of fear was visible in his large green eyes.
"Just give me a minute."
He quickly finished repairing the brain-bot and gave it a pat on the head.
"You can go join your brothers now, Clarice", he said. "Roxanne and Daddy have important matters to discuss."
"Do they all have a name?" the human asked as the robot floated away and left.
"Of course they do", the alien replied. "Every single one of them."
"Anyway, I wanted to ask you something else…" She paused, trying to find her words. Seeing the worried expression on Megamind's face, she decided it would probably be better to get it over with. "When you were pretending to be Bernard and we were… dating… How much of it was true? What was part of the disguise and what was true?"
"Well…" He stared at the floor. "Bernard's appearance and name were part of the disguise, obviously…" after some hesitation, he finally raised his head and looked directly into her blue eyes. "But everything else was true."
Roxanne didn't know what to say.
She remembered when she hugged "Bernard", how long it took him to react and how awkward he was. Back then she figured out he probably didn't receive much affection as a kid, or even as an adult, but she never dared to ask him about it, afraid to bring back possibly painful memories.
Was the adorkable, nerdy, affection starved man she fell for the real Megamind? Actually… it does make sense. All his life he was either in a prison cell or alone with his only friend and some robots… when not conducting an evil plan and trying to look scarier, tougher and eviler than he really was.
The longer she remained silent, the more stressed out he was.
What was I thinking? I deceived her once, she won't trust me ever again, the alien thought. Plus, she made it clear she will never ever be with me… I've always known it anyway…
Then, to his greatest surprise, she hugged him. Tightly. He froze a second or two before hugging her back, smiling.
Keeping her arms around him, she looked into his green eyes. He had such beautiful eyes…
She was hugging him so tightly the spikes on his shoulder were starting to hurt a little (they weren't pointy, but they could without a doubt leave a temporary mark on her skin if she pressed too hard), so she loosened her grip a bit. And then, letting her instinct take over, she pressed her lips against his.
Megamind couldn't believe his luck. She was kissing him. Him and not Bernard. Not even in his wildest dreams did he think this would ever happen. He returned the kiss tenderly and wished for this moment to never end.
"Sir?" Minion called from another room. "Where did you put the spare parts for the overbike?"
Roxanne took a step back, breaking the kiss and releasing her hold on the blue man.
"Well, I guess I… I should let you work", she said.
"Your arm…" he noticed.
"Hum, what?" She looked down at her arm. "Oh, it's nothing. Just temporary marks. They'll fade away quickly. Actually, they're already fading! I'll just be more careful next time."
"Next time?" he repeated. There will be a next time? Does she really mean it?
The reporter giggled briefly.
"What, did you expect me to kiss you without meaning it, Megamind?" she replied jokingly.
"No. But to be honest, I didn't expect you to kiss me at all…"
"Sir?" Minion called again.
"You should go now", Roxanne told Megamind. "We'll, hum, talk more later, ok?"
While the alien (or both aliens) were busy repairing the overbike, the human went back outside, picked up something from the van, entered the not-so-evil-anymore lair once again and put a white piece of clothing on the less cluttered part of the worktable.
It was of course Metro Man's old cape. She thought the blue man would like to have it.

"…After years of being Metro City's resident super villain, Megamind has taken his first step on the road to redemption by saving our city from Tighten. He also promised to help rebuild everything that has been destroyed and pay for all the damages he has caused himself before Tighten arrived…"
Metro City's most famous reporter was interrupted in her speech by a swarm of brain-bots flying behind her, carrying various building materials.
"…and I see the reconstruction has already begun! This is Roxanne Ritchi reporting live from the soon-to-be-rebuilt Metro Tower."
She signed for her new camera girl to stop shooting.
"If Megamind's redemption doesn't drive up the audience rating, I don't know what will!" commented the camera girl, a twenty-six years old blonde all dressed in black and wearing her hair in a braid.
"It sure will!" the reporter replied. "However, most people are still a bit… sceptical about his turn to the light side."
"It's easy to influence the audience's opinion with television" the camera girl (what was her name again? Mary? Maggie? Maddy? Maddy) stated. "You used the word 'redemption'. Redemption stories can work well if you know what you're doing."
Megamind wasn't forgiven for his crimes. However, sending him back to jail again would be pointless, not only because he could escape easily, but also because he didn't even perceive being imprisoned as a punishment. He was raised by the prisoners after all. And Roxanne suggested a brilliant idea : sentence him to serve the city as its new hero. They didn't need to know he didn't see this as a punishment either.
However, in order to be officially recognised as a hero, he was asked to prove he was no longer a villain. One good deed wasn't enough. So he offered to rebuild the city for free. He was even willing to pay for the reconstruction or replacement of everything that was damaged or destroyed during his brief reign as Metro City's overlord, including the Metro Man Museum. He planed to sell some of his inventions to collect enough money for that task.
It'll take time, Roxanne thought, but they'll get used to the idea of Megamind as the good guy eventually.
Maddy put her camera back in the news van, then froze a second, thinking.
"Actually… yes, this story would be great as a comic book… Roxanne?"
"Yes, hum, Maddy?"
"You're close to Megamind, right?"
"Well... I…"
"You see, my… partner and I, we host a blog with a weekly webcomic and we're looking for new stories to tell. Would he agree to let us use his?"
"He would certainly appreciate that you thought about him for your blog, but I doubt he'd be willing to talk about his past to strangers."
Maddy nodded slowly.
"If he's ever interested about being featured in Cherries & Porcupines, tell me." She shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to ask, even if his answer is 'no'. Anyway, if we can't make the comic about him, he still can be our consultant. He must know the whole villains-and-heroes business better than anyone else."
"Cherries & Porcupines?" Roxanne repeated. What kind of title was that?
"It comes from our screen-names", the girl in black explained. "She goes by Cherry Bomb and I go by Steel Porcupine. It's a very, very long story… You've never heard of our blog, have you?"
The reporter shook her head and added :
"Anyway, let's go to the courthouse while the brain-bots do their job. Hal's trial will start soon."