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In his life, there was many a time where Megamind had been captured. He’d been chased to dead ends, caught mid-air after being knocked off a building, even just plain grabbed out of nowhere during a routine fight. He expected it, had grown used to it, and always got out of it. Never stayed in jail too long -- just long enough to let Metroman and the Warden think they really got him this time.
Megamind enjoyed the struggle, if he was honest. He liked the cat-and-mouse, the prison breaks, knowing Metroman was always right on his tail. It gave him a thrill, a sense of purpose.
This time didn’t feel so thrilling.
Something must’ve ticked Metroman off this morning -- besides Megamind waking him up before dawn with his newest scheme to take over Metro City -- because he wasn’t pulling his punches as much as he usually did. Megamind knew one full-force punch could literally go straight through his skull, and he always appreciated how Metroman refrained from outright killing him in front of everyone. Really, he’d meant to write him a little card to express that.
But these punches didn’t feel the least bit pulled. He knew they must have been, because he was still standing, but man did they hurt.
“You know, you could at least play fair--” Megamind started, but was interrupted by a rough hit to his abdomen. “Oof-- Come on, now…”
Metroman didn’t reply, just crept forward in that quietly terrifying intimidating stride of his. Megamind felt an unfamiliar shiver of fear snake its way up his spine, and he instinctively backed up, heading into an alleyway he often took as a shortcut to his lair.
“Ahaha, yes, you’re pissy I woke you up, you’ve made that very clear -- augh!” Quick as a bullet, Metroman reeled his fist back and let it crash into Megamind’s cheek, sending him reeling to the side, colliding with a nearby dumpster. The net gun on his hip -- Megamind’s newest baby, netting intertwined with lead -- clattered to the ground, but that was the least of his concerns at this point.
Getting up revealed a twinge of pain in his side, but Megamind couldn’t stay down so early in the fight. Even though Metroman was being scary and he was really starting to consider calling off this whole thing and trying again tomorrow.
“Okay, okay!” he said, raising his hands in surrender -- genuine surrender, which didn’t happen often. “Listen! We don’t have to do this right now! Can you just -- I don’t know, talk to me? ‘Cause you’re actually freaking me out here--”
In the next instant, Metroman grabbed Megamind by the shoulders, slamming him into the wall behind him. His head whipped into the unforgiving brick, and he groaned.
“Metroman, I’m serious--” A punch to the gut interrupted him. “Ugh… I give up, alright? You can even take me to jail, and I won’t break out for, like, at least three months!” Another punch. “Agh -- six months?” This blow landed on his face, and his head hit the wall again. Yeouch.
The taste of copper stung his tongue, and Megamind reached up to touch his face. Bad idea. Pain blossomed under his fingers as he felt his nose, and he let out a grunt.
“I thought you didn’t even need to sleep…” he muttered. Metroman didn’t laugh. Megamind didn’t know why he expected him to.
The pause in punches had Megamind looking up at the superhero cautiously, wondering if maybe Metroman finally thought he’d had enough. The sight that greeted him wasn’t comforting. Metroman was frowning, but there was an odd daze to his eyes, like he wasn’t really seeing Megamind. Now he was really freaked out.
It didn’t matter. Metroman looked distracted for the moment, and Megamind did have enough survival instincts to know that he needed to take advantage of that fact and bail. He dropped, hoping to shake Metroman’s grip on his shoulders, and scrambled away, nearly tripping over his own feet in his attempt to straighten while still booking it.
He managed to get just out of arm’s reach before Metroman snapped back into focus. Megamind tensed, expecting him to use his superspeed to rush over and grab him again, but for some odd reason or another, that wasn’t what happened. Instead, he heard a very unexpected sound -- the firing of his net gun. A second later, it hit him, legs tangling in the heavy net as he crashed to the ground.
Megamind figured now was a good a time as any to stay down.
“Oh, come on!” he cried. “Seriously? You’re Metroman, and you choose to use my net gun against me? That’s just mean!”
He didn’t even hope for a response this time. The only reason he still spoke at all was because the idea of this interaction happening in pure silence sounded like a nightmare.
Metroman gathered the ends of the net and took to the air, lifting Megamind like a captured stray headed for the pound in an old-timey cartoon. That didn’t sound too bad, anymore.
And then Metroman started swinging.
Megamind was tossed into the air, then brought back down at breakneck speed -- seriously, Megamind nearly broke his neck with how hard he hit the ground.
“Metroman--!” is all he could say before he was lifted again. The second time knocked the air right out of his lungs.
The third time knocked his shoulder out place.
The fourth time knocked him out.
His eyes opened to the blinding lights of a hospital room.
Squinting, he tried to shield his eyes from the evil fluorescents in the ceiling, only to find that his arms wouldn’t move.
Oh, no, was he paralyzed?
“Sorry, lil’ buddy, they insisted,” came a familiar voice. Megamind wrenched his poor, burning eyes open to find the source of the voice.
There, surreally, sat Metroman, perched in the uncomfortable bedside chairs of the hospital. Megamind stared for a moment, but then the absolutely unbearable amount of light got to him, and he closed his eyes again with a groan.
“...Wassat…?” he mumbled, and again tried to lift his hand. It didn’t get very far.
“They wouldn’t let you stay unless you were restrained,” Metroman said, and slowly, slowly, the pieces came together in Megamind’s pounding head.
“...’M res’rained…?” Now that he knew, it made more sense. He could feel the cuffs around his wrists. Not paralyzed. Thank whatever higher being humans currently believed in.
“Yes.” A silence that would be awkward if Megamind had the sense to recognize it as such. “...Listen, Lee…” Oh, his childhood name. Metroman was serious.
“...Sorry f’r wakin’ you…” he said before Metroman could continue. He heard a sigh.
“No, no, listen. Lee, I have to apologize. I wasn’t in my right mind. I wasn’t even awake.”
…Huh?
Either the confusion showed on his face or he’d actually said ‘huh’ out loud, because Metroman continued after a beat.
“I was sleepwalking. I would never hit you so hard, or fling you around so violently if I knew what I was doing. I don’t even really remember what happened. It feels like a distance dream. I swear, I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”
Megamind relaxed. He hadn’t realized he’d gotten tense. “...Y’re not…not mad?” he murmured, brain still working overtime to form the words.
“No. Goodness, Lee, even I was, I wouldn’t do that to you. I’m not…I’m not a monster.”
Another beat. Megamind felt like he should say something.
“...I know. Y’re…y’re Metroman…” He creaked his eyes open again, just wide enough to catch the soft smile on the superhero’s face.
“...Go back to sleep. You’re still not making much sense.” His words were dismissive, but Megamind caught the stamped-down, poorly hidden caring behind them.
He blinked once, twice. His eyes felt heavier than the net that took him down.
“It’s alright, Lee. I’m right here.”
His eyes slid shut, and this time, Megamind didn’t mind staying down.