The Spider Bot had been completed, thanks in part to the surplus of steel he now had at his disposal. The main body had been expanded to have a diameter of two and a half meters so they could both be seated in the cab simultaneously.

It was built much like the mites in that it had eight red optical lenses mounted on the front and six legs. There were some key design differences.

Instead of mandibles, it had a pair of prehensile arms. On the body were evenly-spaced turbines. Their activation period was short but they would be able to provide a quick burst of speed when needed. The entire bot had a glossy black finish with spikes tastefully placed.

The gun had been upgraded closer to his own, having debilitate and death ray added on as options. It was attached to a segmented tail that arched overhead. The tail had a gunner seat which allowed someone to manually target the gun. It wasn't necessary, with the artificial intelligence being able to fire it autonomously. However, firing large lasers was extremely cathartic and almost equivalent to the decompress setting on his gun.

He favored the simpler AI versions, not only could they be housed on less complex components but training them and watching them play was very rewarding. There was one drawback that, while usually endearing, posed certain logistical issues with a larger creation.

"You want the stick boy? Do you want the stick? Go get it!" At his command, Minion chucked a broken street lamp into the night.

The spider bot gave an excited hop before dashing up the side of a building. From there its legs bent and it sprung out of sight.

They were still in the same area as their lair was. Research had told him it was called the Docks. He felt the need to check that a couple of times given that the place was primarily occupied by old warehouses, defunct factories, and garages.

"How is the arm Minion?" From the distance that lamp flew, it seemed his modifications hadn't impacted the strength of it.

"Still getting the hang of it Sir." Minion clenched his fist in a peculiar way and a transparent projection blinked into existence at the end of it. He'd taken inspiration from the locals and created a hard light barrier. It was in the shape of a large blue-tinted rectangle that one might call a riot shield. However, this shield will be doing the rioting.

"Have you put any more thought into what our next job will be?" Minion asked while swinging the shield experimentally.

Ideas had been bouncing around inside his noggin.

"I haven't decided yet." The second showing wasn't as impactful as the first but his first had never been properly shown to the public so its importance was higher than normal.

It needed to be bigger.

"I was taking a look at more tourist guides. There's supposed to be an art museum around here. Why don't we rob that?"

"No, we need a big crowd. Maybe if there was a gala but I checked and the nearest one is months away."

In Metrocity, it would not be out of place for him to wait several months before conducting his next act of supervillainy. However, he was the only game in town there. Here he was competing with a myriad of two-bits, he couldn't afford to wait that long lest he fall into obscurity.

"You've been complaining about the coverage of our bank robbery. Why don't we kidnap a reporter then? We can set the story straight. Like we used to do with Roxanne Ritchie."

It wasn't a bad choice. However, he'd already half-drafted a plan for it. He could do it on air, kidnap the entire station, and force an interview.

Something was stopping him from finishing said plan. It felt wrong and not in the right way.

"Maybe later." He deflected. "I'm thinking of something open-air, the acoustics might be an issue but we'll bring more speaker bots."

Out in the open, it'd have to be something they wouldn't be able to sweep under the rug.

"We could attack a parade. Do they have any of those happening soon?"

A parade? Setting floats on fire? Popping giant cuddly animal balloons? Releasing scores of balloons with his face on them? All in front of hundreds or even thousands of people? Televised?

How hadn't he thought of that?

"Fantastic idea Minion! I'll check when we get back to the lair."

Already, ways to accomplish the parade crash were emerging. He could design a robot disguised as a float. One second the foolish citizens would be enjoying their festivities and in the next, screaming in terror as his mechanical monstrosity revealed itself! Or maybe hide brain bots in the larger balloons. They'd be able to fill them with smoke and then tear them apart. Instantly, turning a bright day into an ominous night!

"I try my best sir! By the way, are you sure we shouldn't do anything about those guys?" Minion pointed a thumb toward a group in the distance. They were difficult to make out from here but he estimated about half a dozen men. There were originally two on the corner, the rest having been dropped off by a car after the fact.

They didn't look like the authorities so he had paid them little attention.

"They do seem to be multiplying." He scratched his chin, they didn't strike him as gawkers. There was meaning in their actions. "Once Spider Bot gets back let's give them a good scare."

He could treat them as a focus group and make adjustments to Spider Bot's appearance based on how panicked they became.

"It is taking him a while, I might have thrown the lamp too far."

He peered in the direction of where his creation had scampered off. With the absence of reliable lighting, he couldn't make anything out. That didn't worry him, Spider Bot's vision was vastly superior to his own.

"Nonsense. It could use the exercise. Working breeds have so much energy to burn off."

His Spider Mites made great playmates for their larger cousin but they were frequently occupied collecting scrap in the Trainyard. Trying to focus with a multi-ton robot wanting scritches all day was a challenge of the unnormal variety.

Something flickered at the edge of his vision and he dove, years of fighting Metro Man paying off.

Minion was quick to act, punching the aggressor who doubled over for a moment before bursting into ash.

"I think there's been a mistake!" He rolled out of the way as a knife stabbed downward, his gun flashed out and sparks danced on the attacker before he exploded into ash again. "We're villains!"

He sprung to his feet and Minion rushed to his side, his deployed shield pinging as bullets rained from the group that had been watching them.

"He doesn't look like that talking type sir." Minion provided his opinion of the knife-wielding man now on a rooftop.

Megamind would give him points for the mask, it had a leering expression with a fanged grin stretched across. It was suitably evil-looking in his book. For the rest of his ensemble, the man wore a black bodysuit and bandolier. He appreciated the assortment of knives the latter held, it added a level of sinisterness. Overall it wasn't a bad attempt but there was room for improvement.

"Oni Lee! That's your name right?" He yelled over the gunfire, hoping he'd remembered correctly. It'd be embarrassing if he got it wrong. "Part of the abb? I have some notes for your boss. I left them at the lair but if you-"

Minion's arm swung overhead and there was a crunch. A cloud of red mist was soon replaced by ash, dirtying his costume.

Bullets whizzed by, never having stopped.

"You deal with those" He pointed to men in the distance who were firing at them from behind their cars. "I'm going to have a friendly chat with this one."

"Are you-" Minion saw better sense and stopped his line of questioning. "right away sir."

His shield charged away, presumably about to give a lesson in how little those cars provided in the way of safety.

Megamind readied his weapon, holding it close to his chest so as not to be disarmed easily. His head swiveled, searching for the cape who didn't have the decency to wear an actual cape.

"Shin'nyū-sha" A voice spoke behind him making him jump forward, the feeling of something skimmed across his back.

"I didn't catch that" He turned, firing at Oni Lee. He held one hand to his ear. "Say again?"

Two more clones burst and he immediately pointed behind himself, blindly firing another shot. He anticipated incorrectly and the attack came from the side.

He stepped back quickly, sucking in his gut to avoid a slash. His head jerked to the side to dodge a jab.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"I know we're having fun but that's a little too close for-" He ducked hastily and a knife soared through where his head had been. "I'm beginning to think-" His wrist was grabbed and squeezed tightly behind his back. He didn't drop the gun, wildly firing off shots. Sandwiched between two copies, he tried to push one away.

His finger caught on something.

There was a clink and then he was flung backward. The world spun a moment as he sat up. Ears ringing, he shook his head. His body ached at some points. It was a familiar sensation and he regained his bearings fast enough to stare up and into empty eyes. Their owner gripped a knife with both hands, preparing to have it descend. Megamind's feet kicked against the asphalt and his back hit something. His head inclined up, there were now many eyes on him. The nearest two pairs were empty. As for the rest in the corner of his vision? They were red.

"Sick em boy!" He yelled while bravely getting into a fetal position. The sounds of Spider Bot's turret rang out and the ground he was on cratered; his body tumbled down. After his roll came to a stop, he spat out dirt that had found its way into his mouth. He was in a hole some feet deep.

Climbing out, the street had seen some changes. There were wide holes in the road, similar to the one he just extracted himself from. Bits of asphalt fell into them as the gravel beneath them had ceased to exist, a consequence of Death Ray shots. A car was lodged into the side of a building and several other structures had chunks missing from them.

"Sir!" Minion dashed over. Behind him, he could see the groaning forms of the men who'd attacked them. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He batted away Minion's fussing arms. "We had a bit of a disagreement."

Megamind liked his head connected to his torso, Oni Lee wanted it otherwise.

The sounds of sirens slowly grew louder.

"We can talk about it at the lair." He pressed a button, recalling Spider Bot from wherever it had wandered off to. "Also, Don't let me forget to revoke Death Ray privileges from the Spider Bot!"

—

"Call Harry." He told Minion while searching on his terminal. They'd made it back to the lair without issue.

Minion was hovering over him, applying some balm to his arm. The costume he wore prevented anything from piercing through but the force still gave him bruises.

"I can't sir, it's aft-"

He shook his head in an exasperated manner.

"Yes yes, fine then. But first thing in the morning, get into contact and find out everything you can about this abb."

There was a wiki page he'd already committed to memory but it was only an overview. He needed street knowledge.

"Those were the people from tonight? Any idea of why they attacked us?"

"They claim ownership on these 'Docks'" He air quoted the name. "I searched what he told me, it means intruder, trespasser, or something along those lines."

Claiming a part of the city? What was the point of that? It was like eating a slice of pie and sharing the rest. Pure madness.

"Do you think they're upset we didn't stop by and say hi with a gift basket or something?"

Oh, he'd give them a gift basket. A gift basket of doom that is!

"We're past any 'whys' Minon. I'm going to knock them down a peg or two."

His fingers danced on the keyboard, writing line after line of flawless code. The abb was a diverse collection of individuals. He wanted to make sure his enemies, whoever they were, understood how hopelessly outmatched they were. To that effect, his new priority was creating a universal real-time translator so he could explain it to them in every language they understood.

"But aren't we supposed to be planning something against the heroes?"

"I checked, look" On one of his many screens he pulled up the March calendar and clicked through to the next. "See there's no parades planned for this or the next month."

He opened some links and showed what they did have. The events were small in scale and inappropriate for what he was going for.

"Huh, kinda weird. Metro City always had large events we could crash."

Metrocity appeared to have spoiled them in that regard. He'd also not forgotten about his eventual return.

He spun his chair around and ignored the chiding from Minion who hadn't finished applying the balm.

The lair had expanded, it had gotten cramped so they knocked out some of the walls and took over the surrounding structures. He made sure to add an abundance of support beams, he didn't want the roof caving in on them again.

The living quarters had moved into the new right wing. Most of the workshop and storage had been moved into the left wing but he kept some sturdy tables in the original building. It felt better to work in.

Spider Bot had built itself a nest in the corner, a collection of scrap he didn't particularly need. It was sleeping or rather pretending to as it moped. It pitifully clutched the street lamp. The puppy eyes wouldn't phase him, Death Rays were for bots who didn't nearly atomize daddy.

In another corner was the skeleton of the teleporter array that had taken them here. It was a complicated piece of machinery and he took great care when assembling it. Its original purpose was to serve as an emergency getaway for when Metro Man busted down their door. In that sense, it worked.

How it transported them to another Earth was in no way clearer than when they first arrived. Because of that, he was building it to the exact specifications of the last one; down to where some of the paint had dribbled on its side. He'd written down a detailed account of the day and had Minion do the same. He would perfectly recreate the scenario that led them here. From the ambient temperature to the orientation of the Earth he'd leave no factor unchecked.

And then, after all that.

They'd test the damn thing. There was zero chance he was putting either of them at risk using a technology he didn't fully understand to cross dimensions of all things. That was asking to have pieces of them scattered across several worlds.

No, he would design scanners and collect every bit of data from it. He would build a beacon of some kind and try to track its travel. With any luck, not only would he be able to maintain contact but with the information it provided he'd determine where it ended up. If that was his earth, then he could see about the next steps.

Whether that be using the teleporter or opening some portal depended on what he found.

"If I'm following you, we're going to mess with the abb while we wait for the city to throw a parade?"

Said out loud, it sounded too passive for his taste.

"Should we ask Trainwreck what he knows?" Minion posed the question.

"I'd prefer to handle this in-house," Megamind responded reluctantly. "But more to go on would not be amiss, do you think he knows a lot about them?"

"He has to." Minion nodded enthusiastically. "While you were working on those legs we got to chatting and he told me this city is all he's ever known."

"Hmm, fine. Bring it up casually when you do your next supply run. I'm not making any more concessions."

Minion assured him that the rate they received for processing their goods was competitive but their stores of cash would not last forever.

"It's a shame they don't have any on the books." Minion spoke, focusing back on the lack of parades. "I wonder how those work? It felt like the Mayor of Metro City held one whenever they had reason to celebrate. Come to think of it, a lot of those were for your arrest and conviction weren't they?"

Megamind was about to let his mind wander to another tangent when he mentally replayed Minion's words.

He rose from the chair and approached his Minion. He leaned in and inspected him closely.

"Sir?" Minion backed up and Megamind advanced, not letting up. "Is there something in my teeth?"

"No…." He ceased his search, not having found anything off. "That's two good ideas you've had in a day. I'm starting to think my genius might be contagious."

Then again, he had been genetically created by Megamind's parents. Maybe he was a late bloomer.

"Thank you! But, uh what idea?"

He sat back in his chair, typing away.

"If the city needs an excuse to form a parade." He clicked and a blurry picture of a man surrounded by flames showed up. "Then all we have to do is give them one."

Tricking the city into a day of happiness and then ripping it away.

What could be more villainous?