Megamind gave himself a once-over using the remains of a mirror at the entrance of the shop. He wished he'd brought a change of gloves but nothing he could do would change that now, he would simply have to make do.

Given the option of dealing with Bitch or the heroes, he chose the latter for obvious reasons. He wasn't sure what he was going to say yet, the events too recent and too raw. Thankfully, improvisation was one of his many skills.

A menacing expression took hold on his face, it wasn't a difficult task. Purposeful steps brought him out and into the street.

His shoulders were broad, his chin high. For once, he had the moral high ground. It was a strange feeling and he took care not to show the uncertainty it caused.

The outside was quieter than he'd anticipated. He'd been prepared to deal with prt troopers swarming the entire area, it was difficult to call what he was met with being 'surrounded'.

Two heroes were all that opposed him. Did they always work in pairs? He supposed they had to compensate somehow, although two half-baked heroes did not make one whole one.

Dauntless was overhead, his helmet trained on his position. This was their first encounter since that day. As for the other, he recognized him from promotional material but had never met this Armsmaster.

The man was encased in blue power armor which sported tasteful silver accents. A helmet protected his head, stretching down far enough to cover his eyes and nose. He had a well-trimmed beard, with a few more adjustments they could have matching goatees. Aside from the bike behind him, his only other piece of equipment was the halberd tightly held in his grip.

Without taking a more in-depth look, his initial impression was that it wasn't shoddy work. Neat angles and polished surfaces, everything fit together perfectly like a puzzle.

Certainly, it looked far better than Trainwreck's gear.

In another life he may have made a proper adversary, they'd have to battle to decide who kept the color, but he could see it work for a time. It would have been temporary of course, no one could keep pace with his genius.

"Megamind," Armsmaster opened up first with a firm voice. "You were instructed to deactivate your devices."

There was something about that statement that made Megamind think it was more than service as if the hero had expected that to work.

"Oh yes, I heard you loud and clear." He nodded in an exaggerated manner before making a show of looking around. "I also heard a little something about being surrounded. I think you're overcounting by just a tad."

If you included the brain bots, they were thoroughly outnumbered. His pack was floating behind him and above the shop, waiting for his orders.

"Lack of proof of something doesn't mean it's not happening. Every route you could take has been blocked off."

At the end of the street, he thought he could spy some movement. It wasn't a large group, they wouldn't be able to stop him should he choose to escape.

"What fun!" He clapped his hands in mock cheer. "I'd hate for this to be too easy."

Despite his words, Megamind was stalling for time. Bitch needed more time to heal and Minion was meant to alert him when she was in a more stable state.

"This doesn't have to be a fight. Lay down your arms and let's talk about this."

Had it been anyone else, he might have believed it genuine. But it was Dauntless.

"Oh, yes. What a wonderful idea." A false smile was on his face and he pointed at the flying cape. "Tell you what: you first, and then I might consider it."

Megamind tensed as the man began to lower. He wasn't going to be caught off guard a second time, his legs were coiled and ready to spring him out of harm's way at a moment's notice.

Dauntless' descent was stopped by a raised hand from Armsmaster.

"That won't be happening. However, it's in your best interest to turn yourself in." There was a shift in his posture but it didn't come off as aggressive. The hero's gaze shifted higher. "That's a psionic shield you're wearing."

Megamind brought a hand up and made sure it wasn't skewed. Regent had called it a tin foil hat and while it was partially made of that, it was more than its parts. That Armsmaster was able to identify its function so quickly raised the level of threat he posed.

"How astute. I hope you're not expecting that to impress me." He didn't give voice to his true thoughts. His eyes scanned the halberd again, making assumptions and drawing conclusions. "A plasma blade. Along with a welding device and grapple. That blade is sharp, not something you can make in a regular forge. See, not so hard is it?"

There was more he could list off but that was more speculation. He was second-guessing himself because the amount packed into the slim piece of metal didn't make immediate sense. He would need to take a closer look at it to be certain.

The scowl Armsmaster gained as a result of Megamind's initial comment faded some when the topic of his weapon came up.

"I used a fiber laser of my personal design to craft it," he said with more than a little bit of pride. "I've studied your energy source. It's…promising."

The first thought that entered his mind was 'how'. Then it occurred to him all of the pieces of things he may have unintentionally left behind during his outings. Cleaning up after himself wasn't important, at least not in Metrocity where no one could begin to understand his work. For all the failings of this world, they were somewhat competent when it came to true science. One only had to look out into the bay and see the giant force field to tell that much.

His energy source wasn't exactly child's play, despite him recreating it when he was one. He'd never considered someone else being able to replicate it, but he couldn't discount the possibility of someone in this world figuring it out.

He refocused on the word used to describe it. Coming from the mouth of an alleged hero, it was more than odd.

"Promising? No, no. Promising is for things that haven't been able to deliver. If you knew even a fraction of the mechanical nightmares it has powered you'd be quacking in your power armor."

A brief recollection of those was enough to quell some of his antsyness.

"I'm aware of its capabilities. I don't think you are. This can do far more than power a few camera bots. The output of an ounce of the material is magnitudes larger than anything else we have on file. I've been careful to not deplete the samples we've collected but my tests show it beating out other power sources in nearly every category. It's ubiquitous in usage and remarkably stable when properly contained. I've noticed you prefer a type of tempered glass, I would suggest an additional layer made out of a stronger alloy."

There was a rush of indignation that came from being told HE didn't understand what his technology was capable of. He'd been prepared to interrupt and go on a tirade about how he knew exactly what it could do. But the man had continued and his feelings grew conflicted.

He wasn't completely unused to compliments on his work. Minion sent plenty of praise his way, all of it well deserved. Trainwreck also expressed his approval, if in a cruder fashion. However, they were all on the opposite side of the law. He'd never expected someone from the other side to speak positively of it let alone seem to understand why it was incredible.

His superiority was a given, but having it pointed out was…nice? It wasn't enough to quash his anger and frustration at the heroes but it did give him pause.

"I can't claim to understand what Armsmaster is talking about but I have read the reports. You could power the city with it. I know Tinker tech is temperamental but if you work with us, who knows what could be accomplished? Behemoth has caused a global energy crisis, you could help turn that around. Be a part of the solution."

His mind screeched to a halt. Megamind's intellect was an insidious thing, constantly pumping out new plots and plans. But even he could not imagine how heinous the person in front of him could be.

"Fiend!" He declared, with all the righteousness he could muster. "How dare you suggest I use my technology for-" He struggled with the words. "For good!"

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He blurted with a huff, his chest heaving to recoup the oxygen lost in the outburst.

It was a ridiculous notion. Him, of all people, doing good?

"Dauntless," Armsmaster's voice was sharp and he detected some rebuke in it. "Is getting ahead of himself. The list of things we can use to put you behind bars is getting larger by the day. Freeing Canary did you no favors in that regard. However, there are certain mitigating factors we can potentially use to reduce your sentence." He paused there, seemingly contemplating something. "Willingly handing over your technology will also go a long way. If those helmets work as advertised, even a handful of them will make a difference."

Megamind checked himself over. Again.

Custom black leather boots made out of baby seal? Check.

Fantastically stylish yet also insolating black and blue body suit? Check.

Gloves with metallic spikes jutting out of them? Check.

Long flowing cape that screamed he was in charge? Check.

"What about my image says anything other than villain!" Was this some attempt at reverse psychology? He didn't appreciate being taken for a fool. "I am Megamind! I was forming evil plans when you were in diapers! My name was written on the naughty list with a permanent marker! Thousands tremble at my presence!"

He hadn't meant to slip into that, it was a consequence of what had been spoken along with who had been the speaker.

He could see Dauntless' eyes watching him, he didn't like the look they had.

"The Enbringers threaten both heroes and villain-"

"Dauntless," Armsmaster said through gritted teeth and silenced the man. "Megamind, I don't think you appreciate how incredibly lenient we're being here. Having this conversation at all is out of the norm. Do you know why we're actually having it? It's not just because of the power source."

Megamind did not care to know and he was losing his patience. If it wasn't for the sake of buying time he might have lashed out by now.

"Humor me then." He waved dismissively.

"Protein Design. We're here because you designed a highly active de nova enzyme that's never been seen in nature. If our timeline is right, you did this in mere minutes. On a whiteboard of all things."

Had he done that? Oh, right. Now he remembered, that had happened in the chemistry room before New Wave had confronted him. The board had been filled with reasons why something like that was difficult so he thought it fit to draft one up and add a taunting note for effect.

"What of it? It's not like that particular protein is of any use."

It was a quick job and he hadn't been going for anything specific.

"That design is arguably worth more than anything you took," Armsmaster muttered before continuing at his normal volume. "The average tinker doesn't know how their tech works. They may think they do but their powers fill in blanks they didn't even know were there. If they try to explain their work to non-tinkers it almost always leads to failure with nothing gained. This makes working with them extraordinarily difficult. That protein you designed was verified as viable by non-tinker experts. With that and what I've recovered from your equipment, my colleague believes you may be in the rare category of tinker who can contribute to large-spread scientific development. That changes things."

Megamind didn't pay much mind to what the man said, focusing more on his watch that had beeped. That meant he could finally get to the heart of what he wanted to talk about.

He took a breath and closed his eyes. When they opened his hand was in a fist, the leather keeping his nails from digging into his palms.

"How do you think this works? Throw some white on me and pretend I'm not a villain to my core?" A low chuckle came from him, it wasn't a nice one. "I might even fit in, with what you have the gall to call a hero in the city."

Venom dripped from his tongue and it did not go unnoticed. Armsmaster pressed a button and the blade on his halberd shifted.

"What do you mean by that?" A terse voice responded to him.

So they were still talking? His hand was by his belt, ready to fire when needed.

"You think the reason we're here is because of some silly chemistry problem? It's not! It's because I had to stop someone from dying because of one of your heroes!"

He pointed an accusatory finger and watched their reaction. Dauntless had looked to Armsmaster who looked unphased by his declaration.

"Collateral damage, while unfortunate, is sometimes unavoidable-"

Megamind cut off what he thought sounded like a boilerplate excuse.

"Collateral? Is that what you call a bolt being put through an abdomen."

Even now, the blood caked his gloves and flaked off with every movement. He was careful not to get it on the rest of him but knew the entire thing had to go in the wash when he got back. He wasn't certain if that would be enough.

"Explain," Armsmaster spoke after an extended pause.

"Shadow Stalker ambushed and left someone for dead." That the person was a villain should have no bearing. Heroes needed to hold themselves to higher standards.

"She's not on patrol. Did you see this happen?"

If, and it was a large if, the man was telling the truth then perhaps it was the actions of a lone wolf? Did that make things better? He decided it didn't.

"Well, not directly-

"Do you have any proof?" The gruff voice butted in before he could finish.

The bolt had been left by the scene and the brain bots had been tasked with perimeter duty, never entering the rink.

"Not on me."

He could go back to the scene and collect what was there. Surely any competent policeman would be able to piece things together.

"This is a serious accusation. Is there any evidence at all?"

The phrasing of his question caused something to click in Megamind's head. Should he have expected as much?

"This is all starting to make sense to me." Megamind momentarily clutched his head with one hand. He shook it and forced a smile. "You don't care about what she actually did. All you care about is covering it up!" He raised his voice when they looked ready to protest. "Don't try to deny it!" He swung his arm to the side and stomped his foot. "I've come to a decision. This city is forfeit. I Megamind, lay claim to all of Broken Bay!"

His proclamation echoed in the street, the sounds of the city seeming muted in comparison. Seconds ticked by with neither hero making a move.

He swung his arms wide, ready to call on his brain bots and swarm the pair. He didn't get a chance as a cracking sound erupted behind him. His head swiveled in time to see the foundation of the building he'd come from be violently ripped up and begin to defy gravity by rising into the air.

"Later losers!" A high-pitched voice yelled and he identified it as the rude child.

They were making a run for it? He wasn't upset at it. The decrease in variables made things easier.

The floating slab of concrete was enough to spur a reaction out of his opposition and Armsmaster barked orders.

"Intercept them." There was the sound of shifting metal and Armsmaster took a stance. "I'll handle him."

Dauntless seemed to hesitate before shooting off. Megamind would have preferred to chase him but technically, fighting the leader of the local heroes was more fitting.

"Sir!" Minion called, precariously leaning over the edge of the rising structure that was shedding debris. "I'm on my-."

"Stay with the patient. We'll meet up at the lair." Megamind took the time to communicate through his watch before turning his full attention to Armsmaster. This was normally the part where he'd make a quip about battling justice but it didn't feel right. "Cower if you'd like, I couldn't possibly think any less of you."

His hand flexed next to his belt, allowing the other party the first move. He was going to need the handicap.

"It's Brockton Bay."

The words caught him flat-footed, he hadn't expected a well-crafted rebuttal but that ignored everything he'd said!

"Excuse you."

"You said Broken Bay." Either not caring or realizing, Armsmaster explained. "It's pronounced Brockton Bay."

Despite coming out as a whisper, Megamind's next words reverberated across the street.

"We'll see about that."