Despite the whirlwind of tonight, or maybe because of it, Megamind was very much looking forward to this. His hands were twitching and the beat of his heart gradually increased in tempo.

His frustration was bleeding away into excitement and while he knew it was only temporary, he welcomed the reprieve.

The future would be a complicated mess to untangle, but as for now? Now all he had to do was defeat the tin can in front of him.

And with an army at his back, Megamind was feeling more than a little confident.

Heedless of the peril he was in, Armsmaster stood against him. The city itself seemed to hold its breath before Armsmaster finally made the first move. The butt of his halberd was slammed against the ground, releasing a burst of electricity.

Megamind watched it with more than a little amusement and released a short laugh.

"Ha, did you think a measly electromagnetic pulse…"

He trailed off, watching the Brain Bots fall from the sky, clattering on the ground like hail.

That shouldn't have happened.

A flickering light gained his attention and he took his de-gun, holding it to his side and watching the blue hue fluctuate. He banged it against his hand and while it kept its glow, it wasn't as healthy looking as it should be.

"I told you," Armsmaster pointed his weapon toward Megamind. "I studied your technology."

Well, that put a downer on his opening.

"I'll give you a B minus," Minuses only existed for those were were petty. And Megamind had pettiness in spades. "Shows initiative but lacking in follow through."

Armsmaster charged him, long strides carrying him to Megamind in a scant few seconds.

More than enough time to play an old favorite.

Megamind retrieved a ball from his belt, crushed it, and caused an eruption of blue smoke. He disappeared into it and took stock of his situation. Reaching for his wrist, his watch was functional. That was expected, it was better shielded than his de-gun and that was still operational.

He had to cut his thought process mid-way when the armored man appeared out of the smoke swinging that halberd of his.

Megamind's lean back turned into a jump when the halberd abruptly extended and almost scored a hit on him.

Almost.

The super in super villain was not just for show.

"Sneaky, sneaky." Megamind used one hand to wag a finger while the other fired a Debilitate. "Not very hero-like of you."

Armsmaster took the absolute minimum amount of action needed for the shot to miss and was soon in Megamind's personal space again.

"I'm not seeking your approval." Armsmaster offered as a way of explanation. "You're out of your depth."

The blade gleamed in the night and Megamind's years of battle were put to the test as he avoided the pointy end of the high-tech instrument.

It swept past him, once, twice, three times! He quickly lost count and many were far too close for comfort.

He scraped by thanks to his impeccable reflexes and used the close calls to get a better look at the thing. Seeing it in action let him not only judge its capabilities better but the man himself.

Each swing felt precise and purposeful. There was a method to them and while he couldn't parse what they were working towards, he wasn't about to dance to someone else's tune.

Megamind took the time to fire another shot, confirming another one of his suspicions.

It missed in a similar manner to the last, with the bare minimum being done by his opponent. He didn't bother squeezing the trigger again, conserving his resources.

The man was moving prior to the shot going off. Experience, impressive reaction speed, or something else, it didn't matter. Either way, tagging the man himself would be tricky.

So he wouldn't aim for him.

"You know," Megamind nearly tripped on his cape when taking a hasty step back as the "Lately, I feel like all I've been doing is searching for solid ground. Do you know how that is? Would you like to find out?"

Megamind didn't wait for a response, firing a shot at a downward angle. Armsmaster merely shifted his right foot an inch back.

The pavement lit up and soon after, ceased to exist. Megamind gave a wave as the man fell into the newly made pit.

He didn't stick around long and soon dipped back into the smoke that had yet to dissipate. Armsmaster had found him quickly the first time, too quickly. The visor clearly held some visual enhancement suite, that much was obvious. But that wasn't the same formula of smoke he used as a boy, it was designed to counter such methods.

That led him to believe he was using some other method to track him. There were numerous options but the simplest was sonar.

Countermeasures? He could use his watch to emit a frequency to interfere with it, but that would involve finding said frequency.

No, it wasn't worth the effort. Especially since he wasn't trying to hide or run, he was trying to find a way to effectively fight back.

Megamind fell face-first onto the ground after his feet met with an unexpected obstacle. He was about to complain about whoever left their junk lying around in the middle of the street when he saw what it was.

Well now, that could work.

Megamind scrambled to kneel by the stricken Brain Bot. A quick prognosis showed it hadn't suffered a short-circuit like traditional EMPs caused. Rather, It seemed to be in an almost dormant state.

He could admit to being more than a little curious as to how that had been accomplished, but for now, he focused on what he could do to wake it up.

His eyes rapidly moved back and forth, taking every aspect of the neutralized power source and running calculations in his head.

In the lair, he would have drafted it all out and shown slightly more caution before diving head-first into experimentation.

Right now, he didn't have the time for that, so he put his faith in his genius!”

And, if for some inexplicable reason, that wasn't enough, he was known to be able to take an explosion or three…

Megamind pried open the gun for the second time today, extending a wire from it to the downed Brain Bot.

With the work he'd already done, it made it easier to make changes on the fly.

There was a spark and then the red eye came to life just in time to see Armsmaster glide out of the smoke.

"Surrender, you can't win this."

Megamind got to his feet, hugging the confused Brain Bot to his chest. Their appendages were designed to easily handle all manner of tools. This one happened to be equipped with a reliable buzz saw, it must have kept it from its construction job.

"You should know." Megamind gripped the appendage and lunged, the saw coming to life and clashing with the halberd's blade. "That's never stopped me before!"

Sparks danced in the air and Megamind quickly discovered, to his slight dismay, that power armor was an unfair advantage. He was pushed back roughly and only just braced himself when Armsaster came again with an overhead swing.

He met it, the screech of metal filling the air. Megamind listened to the song, changing the angle of his saw and listening to how the singing changed with it.

Interesting.

An armored boot swept forward, trying to take Megamind off his feet.

Megamind hopped up, allowing the Brain Bot's anti-gravity propulsion engine to bear his weight and avoid the outstretched foot.

Without the ground to keep him rooted in place, Megamind and the Brain Bot scooted back through the air.

There was a swishing sound and Megamind shifted his weight allowing them both to dodge the head of the halberd. His feet reached for the ground again and he went on the offensive, buzz saw crashing against the metallic pole.

He needed to hear more.

"You're more resourceful than people think," Armsmaster grunted out, shoving him back. Megamind barely got out of the way of the retracting blade in time. He'd almost forgotten it was there. A hiss was released and soon the bladed edge lit up. "So am I."

Armsmaster struck again, a confident smirk on his face as his weapon cleaved towards Megamind. His face twitched as instead of bisected metal, the buzz saw matched the blade without complaint.

"Hoooo? Did you think my Brain Bots to use some run-of-the-mill steel? Plasma won't cut it, got anything stronger?"

Megamind taunted, exchanging blow after blow while leveraging the anti-gravity of his Brain Bot to lessen the strain of each. He had an internal chuckle at the man's failed gambit. Great minds may have thought alike, but that didn't mean they could equally implement their plans.

"The upgrades in the shop." Their weapons locked Armsmaster twisted the halberd, trying to yank the Brain Bot out of his grasp. "But I'm saving that for a real threat."

Megamind's feet left the floor again and this time he rotated with the bot, blood rushed to his head as he parried attacks while upside down. He managed to right himself in time for the next follow-up.

"Oh, I can relate to that." Megamind's unconditioned arms began to grow shakier after each additional blow. "I have a couple of surprises I'm keeping in store for a real hero."

Megamind felt a sense of vindication at seeing the exposed parts of the man's face harden. The armored cape wasn't worth the charge time on an orbital death ray.

"You won't see this as a game after serving time."

Armsmaster didn't know the first thing about the game if he was talking like that, but he'd expected that much.

"I'll be serving something all right." Despite his strength waning, Megamind met the unrelenting assault. "I'll be serving you a big pile of disappointment!"

Megamind put his back into it, the buzz saw whining in protest as it strained against the halberd's pole. They'd shared many strikes now, it should be close now.

"Haven't you noticed?" Armsmaster gave no pause as he skillfully used his weapon to force Megamind's low and sent a punch his way. "You've already lost. Every second that passes, brings me closer to beating you."

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Yes, he had noticed that. Armsmaster was not only better at close combat, but the power armor meant he wouldn't tire as quickly as Megamind.

"Alright boy," Megamind whispered to the Brain Bot. "Make daddy proud."

The buzz saw sang for one last time and clashed against its foe. There was no contest of strength this time, Megamind having pressed the manual release button on the Brain Bot's appendage. The saw fell away and the halberd went after it, the momentum carrying it.

Armsmaster reacted quickly to the changing situation, just not quick enough to stop the Brain Bot's metallic jaws from clamping down on his weapon.

Megamind released the bot, springing back and watching as the tiny machine shot up with impressive speed. Like a dog with a bone, it savagely shook the weapon.

He watched from the corner of his eye as the little bot struggled with all its might to complete its part. It failed, and Armsmaster managed to free his weapon, beginning his fall to the earth from ten meters up. Rocket booster ignited, slowing his descent.

Megamind didn't worry about that just yet, keeping his focus on making the final modifications to his gun today. Or ever, for this particular one at least. It had already worked once so he was willing to push his luck.

Armsmaster landed and was rising from one knee when Megamind dashed his way, gun glowing ominously in his left hand and his right clutching the end of his cape.

He tossed the gun and Armsmaster acted with the proper caution, twisting his body out of the way and using his rocket boosters to nearly instantly appear before Megamind.

The blast went off, a blue pulse knocking them both slightly to the side. It was followed soon after by the violent rupture of glass as several of his downed Brain Bots were reduced to slag.

That hadn't been his intention but you couldn't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. So Minion said at least, Megamind could think of half a dozen ways to accomplish it.

Round of explosions or not, Armsmaster didn't hesitate and moved to end things.

Megamind swung his cape, the long cloth detaching and getting between the two men. It didn't last long, tearing in less than a second as the blade sliced it in two. But it was enough for both of his hands to stack on to each other and grab the middle of the halberd.

He pulled.

With his eyes covered, it was difficult to tell but Megamind imagined the man was unimpressed. A crackle signaled the spreading of electricity through the weapon, a countermeasure for this exact scenario. The gloves ensured the the sparkling snakes didn't reach him and the grin that had found its way to Megamind's face faltered just the slightest bit.

He was sure that should have been enough by now. He'd actually expected the Brain Bot's jaws to do it in.

Megamind gave another tug, putting his full weight behind it. The following sound of wrenching metal was music to his ears.

The force of his pull made him stumble back and his feet frantically moved to catch him. Armsmaster looked momentarily paralyzed, holding the two pieces of his broken weapon.

He'd tried to break Megamind's toys, turnabout was fair play! Did he think Megamind was swinging away like a brute that entire time? No! He may not have been the best fighter out there but engineering? If he claimed to be second who would dare say they were first? Couple that with an intimate knowledge about points of failure…well anyone could do the math to see where that led; Megamind had, done the math that was.

Throughout the fight, he mentally calculated and revised his work after each exchange. Listening and watching to see how the halberd reacted to each strike.

Not giving up the opening, Megamind's hand went to his left arm and clicked a button he hadn't pressed in a while. Truthfully, he'd only kept the hot sauce launcher because he'd kept forgetting to remove it.

The pellet landed in his opponent's mouth, causing a change in color in the man. Armsmaster took a step back, coughing and hacking.

Megamind ran up to him, capitalizing on the man being off balance and delivering a kick to his shin in the hope of toppling him.

"Oww, owwwy." Baby seals, it turned out, had very weak skin and he was left hopping while cradling his aching toes. "That was a mistake, a very preventable mistake."

"That wasn't the only one you made." Armsmaster wiped his mouth, dropping the pieces of his weapon and clenching his fist. He raised them and looked more than ready to continue. Perfect, Megamind preferred it this way. Facing Armsmaster was easier than what followed. "This end-"

A van crashed into him, knocking him off his feet and sending him skipping across the asphalt.

It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him and Megamind forgot all about his injury.

"No, no, no." Megamind rushed to the side of the fallen cape. "Shake it off. You have to keep going, our fight is not through yet!"

Armsmaster had fallen to his side and Megamind moved to put him on his back to check his condition.

He was rewarded with an armored greave crashing into his abused nose.

"What is with you people and hitting my face!" Megamind cried while scrambling back and clutching his nose. He forced himself to set the pain aside, it wasn't like he'd called time out so there was no reason to complain. Besides, now they could go on. "Now let's reset-"

He didn't get to finish as a tide of darkness swelled and then engulfed them. Megamind groped blindly until he felt a hand grasp his collar and haul him away.

Yanked back into the night illuminated by the few surviving street lamps, he blinked when he was roughly turned to face a motorcycle helmet stylized to resemble a skull.

"Where is Bitch!" The man spoke, his voice having an eerie echo.

His mind was quick to put a name to the leather-clad cape who was carrying a bent crowbar. This was Grue, a member of the Undersiders.

He supposed he should be glad someone on her team cared enough to check up on her.

"She's fine." Probably. Minion was there so it should work out. "Now what's the big idea? In case you were wondering, I was in the middle of de-arming Armsmaster!"

He filed away an idea for a setting on his yet-to-be-built replacement de-gun.

Grue clamped an arm on Megamind's shoulder and led him to the van.

"You're coming with us."

The 'us' part was readily answered as he spotted Tattletale on the street. She was looking at where the shop had been.

"Rune was here." It sounded as if she were talking to herself. "She rushed Othala here and then escaped with everyone while you were occupied.

Grue didn't seem to like that response and Megamind found himself standing on the tips of his still-aching toes as he was lifted up.

"Bitch is with the Empire!?"

He sounded upset. Megamind could relate, not being thrilled at this type of gratitude.

"Grue! Chill!" Tattletale came to the rescue. "The fish is with her. She'll be okay. Now we need to get the hell out of here. Armsmaster's orders to keep back aren't going to hold up when they can't reach him. We can talk in the van."

Grue came to his senses and released him. It wasn't a moment too soon as Megamind was about to do something regrettable. Regrettable for Grue that was.

"Well hold on," Megamind planted his foot down. "I don't want there to be any misunderstandings here. That," He pointed to the cloud of darkness that Armsmaster was presumably still in. "doesn't count. If it wasn't for your incompetent driving I'd still be winning."

Tattletale stopped mid-step, turning to him quickly.

"Yes, yes. Whatever. You win." She waved off his concern dismissively and then her head snapped to her partner. "Not the time or place Grue. Now we really, really need to go.

Finished with her urging, she jumped into the passenger seat.

Megamind briefly considered striking it on his own. While waiting for Bitch to heal, the Megamobile had been dehydrated and kept by Minion for safekeeping. He could find another way back but he needed to hand off Bitch anyway so traveling together made since.

He snapped his fingers and got everyone's attention.

"Wakey, wakey. That's enough sleeping on the job." The unexploded Brain Bots shifted, their mono eyes blinking open. That last pulse wasn't just a distraction, it was meant to reactivate the whole lot. It was just a shame some of them hadn't made it but that was the risk he had taken. "Surround the van, we'll need an escort."

Megamind ignored the apprehensive look Grue had and ran past him to take a seat in the van, he didn't make it far as something rolled under his boot and he landed on his bottom. There was a lot of falling today and he wasn't a fan of it.

Checking at what had caused the most recent one, he gave it a brief glance before grabbing the piece of metal and clambering into the back of the vehicle.

"Finally," Tattletale commented as Grue took the driver's seat. "Like the ride? The old one got busted up by Hookwolf. Don't worry though, we lost him in Vista's fun house about a block down. That should hold up most of the reinforcements but better safe than sorry."

He recognized the name from the Empire's roster but saw no reason to be worried. Although that did explain why they were currently in an armored prt van.

The van hummed to life and the vehicle lurched forward. He was about to use his watch to check in when Tattletale's voice sounded.

"I wanted to save this for later but," Tattletale twisted in her seat to address him with a raised eyebrow and strained smile. "We really need to talk about your search history."

Her demeanor suggested this was an uncomfortable topic, which led him to wonder why. He hadn't searched anything untoward, unless…

"Minion! What did you do?!"