Cherries and Porcupines (part 3) [Megamind fanfic]

The following day, Roxanne and Maddy arrived in front of KMCP's head office at the same time. While the former was wearing jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a grey jacket, the latter had a leather jacket covered in studs and spikes, an Alice Cooper's "Theatre Of Death" t-shirt and fingerless studded leather gloves on.
"I've seen lots of spikes in my life, but rarely that much on one single person", Roxanne laughed. "You make Megamind look like an amateur!"
"Where do you think the nickname Steel Porcupine comes from?" Maddy replied, laughing as well. "And you haven't seen everything yet!" she added while hitching her left sleeve up a little in order to reveal a four-rows spiked bracelet on her wrist. "I love spikes", she commented. "Spikes are cool."
"You and him would get along pretty well", the reporter said, half-joking, half-serious.
Maddy's attire attracted many weird looks and comments.
Near the end of the workday, both women responded to those comments by sending the following note to the employees :

Maddy is NOT going to :
-punch anyone with her studded gloves
- harm anyone in any way whatsoever
- bite the head of a chicken off
- worship the devil
- ruin KMCP's reputation
- stop wearing what she wants just because you don't like it

However, she will :
- wear whatever makes her feel pretty
- be nice to you if you treat her with respect
- leave you alone if you leave her alone
- appreciate it if you stopped judging a book by its cover.

"Are you sure we can get away with this?" the woman in black asked Roxanne, worried.
"I told you : the boss can't fire me" the reporter replied. "If I tell him I won't work with anyone else than you, he'll have to let you and your spikes stay."
"Why do you do that for me? You don't have to."
"Because all those close-minded people can get lost somewhere. I've had enough of all that crap."
She had barely finished speaking when the boss appeared and asked Maddy to follow him to his office. The woman in black felt her confidence fall apart. While walking towards the boss's office, she couldn't help picturing herself on the death row.
As soon as he closed the door, he said :
"Please take a seat. It's always nice to talk to a fellow sick thing."
Maddy's eyes grew as wide as saucers.
"You're one of us?"
"Of course, but unlike you I'm not brave enough to wear my Alice shirt at work."
She had never been so relieved in her life before.
"I thought you were gonna fire me or something, not compliment my 'bravery'!"
"Alice's fans don't fire each other", the boss laughed.
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Roxanne.
"Listen, I told her she could go to work in her normal clothes. She's not even on screen, who cares what she wears?"
"Thank you Roxanne", the camera girl smiled, "but it's ok, he's not gonna fire a fellow sick thing."
"Sick thing?"
"That's how we Alice Cooper fans call ourselves", the boss replied. "Don't worry, Maddy is here to stay."
"That's a relief to hear", the reporter said. "I don't want her to get into trouble because of me."

"Ollo Roxanne! I have something for you!" Megamind told his girlfriend as soon as she entered the lair. He then pointed at one of his brain-bots and said "Bob, bring Daddy the package."
"Bob?" Roxanne laughed.
"He's one of the youngest brain-bots ; I didn't have much inspiration for names anymore when I created him", the hero explained.
The robot came back carrying a sphere of wrapping paper which he gave to its creator.
"Did you wrap it yourself or did an elephant wearing boxing gloves help you?" the human asked jokingly.
"Hey, I've never wrapped presents before!" the alien replied defensively. "Anyway, I know how villains work and you know as well as I do the hero's girlfriend is always a target, so I made this for you."
He handed her the gift and she started the long process of unwrapping it. There was way too much paper on that thing.
She finished unwrapping the package to reveal a miniature version of Megamind's de-gun.
"It only has the dehydration setting, but it can fit in a purse or pocket", he explained.
"Thank you dear" she smiled. "I'll keep it with me 24/7."
"Good. I wouldn't want you to be kidnapped by someone else."
Roxanne laughed, and then decided to test her new toy on various objects all over the lair.
"Minion, we're going to need a water bottle! Roxanne, DON'T SHOOT AT MY BRAIN-BOTS!"
"Sorry! But at least now we know this gun works perfectly. Good job, Megamind."
"Of course it works – wait, did you say 'good job'? You like it?"
"I think she may like it a bit too much, sir", Minion commented.
Before Roxanne could reply, her cell phone rang ; she put the gun in the pocket of her jacket and quickly apologize to Megamind and Minion before picking up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi Roxanne, it's Maddy. I'm a bit early, I know, but hey, I'm here and those floating plasma balls won't let me in!"
"They won't let you in unless Megamind allows them to", the reporter explained. "It won't be long. See you in a minute!" She closed her cell phone and said to the aliens : "It's Maddy, you know my camera girl? I told you guys she was coming."
"I just hope this one won't hit on you or tie you up with a street sign at the top of a tower", Megamind mumbled.
"Don't worry about it : they chose a woman for the job especially to prevent that kind of situation from happening ever again."
The blue man ordered the brain-bots outside to let the camera girl in. Soon, she joined human and aliens in front of the giant idea wall, wearing her usual spiked attire and an Ozzy Osbourne t-shirt.
"Hello guys!"
"I must say you have great tastes in clothes", Megamind commented.
"Thanks. By the way, I love your gloves, where did you get them?"
"I make all of his clothes myself based on his ideas", Minion replied proudly.
"Good job!"
"Thank you Miss… Excuse me, what's your name again?" the fish asked. "Your full name?"
"Maddy Mabelle Manson. Some friends of mine call me Porcupine for obvious reasons."
"So", the blue alien said, getting straight to the point for once, "Roxanne told me about a webcomic idea…"
"My partner Cherry Bomb and I thought you could help us find inspiration", Maddy told him. "You've been on both sides of the villains-and-heroes thing ; you must know it better than anyone else I'll ever get the chance to talk to. Plus, your life should be turned into a movie or comic or something, don't you think? I know I'd buy it."
Roxanne couldn't hide the smile on her face. If with this she doesn't convince him…
While the woman in black and the blue man were talking, Minion brought chairs for everyone to sit on as well as some drinks for the three humanoid creatures.
Suddenly, Maddy noticed a small blue cube lying on the floor and asked what it was.
"Miss Ritchi was testing the dehydration gun the boss made for her earlier" the fish explained while grabbing the water bottle to rehydrate the cube, which then turned into a rather disoriented brain-bot.
"How does your dehydration thing even work, Megamind?" the camera girl asked, fascinated.
"I can't reveal this information", he replied. "It is top secret, you see."
"Ok, ok, I understand." She remained silent for a moment, thinking, then asked : "this may sound a little weird, but could it be possible to dehydrate me and send me to Cherry by post? I really wanna meet her."
"You've never actually met each other?" Roxanne asked.
"The wonders of the internet : we've known each other for two years and yet we've never ever been on the same continent. But that doesn't prevent us from working together."
"Anyway, sending people by post, even dehydrated, doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Imagine if the envelope was lost or something…" the reporter pointed out.
The camera girl sighed.
"You're right. I guess Cherry and I will have to wait a bit longer…"
"So, I made cookies, who wants some?" Minion asked cheerfully, hopping it would lift Maddy's spirits and wipe that sorrowful expression off her face.
Before anyone could respond, an alarm went off. The one that meant Metro City needed its defenders right away. The monitors showed a map of the city and the precise location where Megamind and Minion's presence were required.
"Quick, Minion! To the invisible car! Metrocity needs us!"
Within a blink of an eye, both aliens left the lair to stop some bank robbery, leaving the humans alone.
"Well, unfortunately I gotta go too, so… see you at work on Monday!"
Correction : leaving Roxanne alone with the brain-bots.
Not knowing how long it would take for the blue man and the fish to return, she decided to explore the lair a bit further, as there were still parts of it she didn't know yet. Like the basement.

The basement was even more cluttered than the rest of the lair. Roxanne had to be extremely careful not to step on something sharp or make rusty, broken metal pieces fall off their piles. Right in the middle of this mess, she could see a few humanoid robots standing in a clear area. Could they be…?
The reporter came closer to the centre of the basement to have a better look. Yes, those ARE the Roxie-bots he tried to fool Metro Man with that one time… Or what's left of them.
Though they all had lost their human disguises, a few of them still wore wigs mimicking the real Roxanne's hairstyle.
"So Metro Man didn't destroy all of them…" she whispered as if her voice could wake the robots up.
Next to them stood a locker large enough for two people to stand inside. An entry system had been added to the door ; the human would have to find the code if she wanted to know what the locker contained. What could the code possible be? Megamind's birthday? The date of his arrival on Earth? His prison number?
As she was trying to figure it out, she heard the door opening.
"Roxanne?"
"I'm right here!"
"What are you doing here?" Megamind asked as he joined his girlfriend at the centre of the basement. "I thought you had left without telling me!"
"I was just being curious, that's all. By the way, I thought all the Roxie-bots had been destroyed."
"Those are the very few that are still able to stand. Let's get back upstairs now, Minion made cookies."
"Do you ever eat anything else than donuts and cookies when you're in this lair?" And how are you still that skinny?
"Why should I?" he replied.
"…Nevermind. Before we go upstairs, can you tell me what's inside this locker right here?"
The alien froze. He remained silent a few seconds, then turned to the stairs and replied :
"Nothing. Let's go now."
The human's first impulse was to grab her boyfriend's shoulder, but she decided she'd better grab a spike-free zone instead, so she took his upper arm in her hand.
"Why would it be locked if there was nothing in it? Come on, dear, you wouldn't have bothered building that entry code if the locker were destined to contain 'nothing'."
Megamind sighed.
"I didn't want Minion to open it."
"Why? What's inside that thing? And what is the code?" Roxanne asked. She could see him hesitate. But she knew he couldn't refuse her anything if she asked nicely enough. "Please?"
"… The code is the date of your first kidnapping", he revealed.
She let go of his arm. He faced her again, then turned to the locker, entered the code and opened the metal door, revealing…
"Another bot?"
"She's the only completely intact Roxie-bot", he explained. "I didn't use her in the Recyclo-tron of Doom – you remember the Recyclo-tron?" She nodded and he continued his explanation : "I kept her safe here in Evil Lair to make sure I'd have at least one intact Roxie-bot. Metro Man destroyed so many of my ra-bots…"
"And you didn't want this robot to be destroyed as well."
"I thought I could use her in another evil plan… but I never did."
While the alien was speaking, the human stared at the android.
"The resemblance is… uncanny", she whispered.
"It is", he said. "You know… once or twice I got up in the middle of the night just to make sure she was still there… but the only thing you have in common is the appearance. All she can say is 'help me, Metro Man!' I couldn't have conversations with her. So I quickly stopped trying."
"That's what you didn't want Minion to know? That you decided to keep this robotic look-alike for… Why did you keep it for?"
"I… I don't know."
They both fell silent for a moment.
Then, Roxanne spoke softly :
"Dear? Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did."
She rolled her eyes.
"Another one then… How long have you… How long have you been in love with me?"
"I'm not sure… I think I've always been. I mean, I've loved you since I first met you."
"That's why you always tried to impress me."
"That's also why I always made sure the weapons pointed at you were unloaded or would stop moving before reaching you", he confessed.
"Ha! I knew they weren't loaded! I knew it!"
"No wonder you weren't afraid then…"
Megamind took Roxanne's hand in his.
She remembered that one night in the rain, the pain in his eyes as he whispered "no." He had been in love with her all these years and had been hiding it because he was convinced she would never accept him as he was.
Right now, he was silent. For once, he didn't have anything to say. He just wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her perfume. She hasn't changed her perfume since high school. That's not a bad thing though. I love this smell…
He pressed his lips against hers. It was the first time he had ever initiated a kiss, and Roxanne was happy to be on the receiving end for once. You should do that more often, dear. Wrapping her arms around his torso, she kissed him back while he ran his fingers through her hair. it, why did I chose to wear these gloves?
"Sir? Miss Ritchi? Where are you?"