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Slowly inching her way across the open threshold, making her way past dark corridors and various metal parts that lined the floor, Roxanne Richi walked carefully into the lair of the notorious supervillain Megamind. She winced as the clicking of her heels echoed down the long hallway.
The fact that the interior of the lair was so easily accessible was either incredibly stupid or incredibly bold on the villain’s part. Finding the lair had taken a little more time and work than finding the entrance had. Months of research and days of studying local maps had accumulated to this very moment. Megamind kept his lair well hidden but once she had found it Roxanne was surprised to find the main entrance to be nothing more than a hologram brick wall covering not a small closed door but a large garage door that had been left wide open.
Roxanne was a journalist at heart, living for the very research and hard work that came with investigating. While the majority of her job consisted of dangling over alligator pits and rehashing the dangerous evil plots Megamind dragged her into, the real excitement came from deciphering just exactly how each scheme worked.
The hallway was dark and the shadows engulfed her like a thick black paint. Roxanne pulled out her small phone that had a built-in light attached to the front, wanting to only bring the necessities and travel as lightly as possible. The light was sufficient and illuminated just enough for her to navigate safely through the dark room.
At the end of the hall, she saw a small door. Carefully, Roxanne pushed against it and found it was much lighter than it looked, which made it easy to slip past the frame into the next room.
Her instincts were screaming at her to turn around. Screaming at her for even deciding to go through with her investigation but her innate curiosity pushed her forward. No one but herself had ever been in the lair of the city’s number one villain. There were always stories about people who had, but she knew they were all lies.
Years ago, Megamind had taken it upon himself to capture Roxanne, kidnapping her from her work, from her home, and even going so far as to find her in the little coffee shop a couple blocks from her apartment. She was used to his antics, used to the game, and knew he wouldn’t do anything to harm her.
Still, as her light poured over the large room beyond the small door, there was a small prickling at the back of her neck, telling her to retreat.
If there was one thing Roxanne had never done, it was give up a case.
Shining the small light above her head, Roxanne found the room she had entered was much more spacious than the small corridor from before. Large machines hung from the ceiling that towered a good 20 feet above her head.
“Woah,” she breathed.
Some of the machines she recognized from previous plots and there were a gaggle of small rockets she had been tied to on numerous occasions. The small light in her hand could only reach so far forward in the massive room and as she moved around the shadowy figures disappeared into the space above her. Roxanne found herself crouching slightly, keeping her body low to the ground.
Suddenly from the corner of her eye, she saw a quick movement to her left and she whipped around, throwing the small beam of light toward a large stack of boxes.
Adrenaline pumped through her veins and made her heart pound. Roxanne slapped her free hand over her mouth in an attempt to cover her startled breathing.
Roxanne was trespassing in Megamind’s lair and most certainly didn’t want him to know she had found his hiding spot.
Everything was silent for a moment, even her heart seemed to stop as the dim light panned over the large objects around her. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled further and she realized she could feel a pair of eyes on her.
Turning her head from side to side she found nothing. Roxanne tiptoed slowly, moving toward the boxes where she had first seen the movement.
There was a deep chuckle from behind her and when she spun around, suddenly vivid green eyes were so close to hers that the only thing beyond them that she could see was the color blue.
Roxanne stumbled backward with a frown, lighting the figure and pulling him from the shadows slightly. A low growl protruded from the man in front of her and it turned into a dark chuckle, making her skin shiver.
“My dear, Miss Ritchi, I don’t remember a kidnapping being on the schedule today.”
Roxanne could only stare as the glow from her phone illuminated nothing but his face.
“You certainly didn’t come of your own free will, did you?” He looked her up and down, the smile on his face widening. “Interesting.”
There was a scraping sound from behind her and she moved, admittedly in poor judgment and instinct, to shine her light on the disrupting sound. There were a few stray brain-bots that darted behind some of the large machinery when the light hit their domes.
“Certainly you, of all people, aren’t so dim-witted to walk in here, on your own.” Megamind said behind her.
Roxanne quickly turned her phone light toward her captor again only to find he had disappeared.
Widening her eyes slightly, more out of outrage at being caught than of fear, Roxanne fumbled with her phone, swinging the light beam around her in a wild motion. Within the shadows around her, she saw a flash of blue and felt a hand over her mouth.
Roxanne let out a muffled swear before blacking out.