AN: A sequel to my first chapter, in which Megamind prepares to preform brain surgery on Minion that will allow him to control his own robot body. That's still one of my favorites, and this has been in the works for a while. You won't be too confused if you don't run back to read that one first.

Minion's fins swayed limply with the water as he sunk to the bottom of the tank.

"That bandage is a custom material I designed myself," Megamind explained to the unconscious fish as he carried the tank carefully through the door. The grey front of his shirt was soaked from filling it. "The inside is coated with oil that will protect your scales and make it painless to remove, but it's also waterproof and self-sanitizing…"

A little swarm or brainbots blew past him, off to clean up the lab. Five more followed behind at a distance, watching Megamind nervously. He set the tank down on the coffee table and sat on the couch nearby, never breaking eye contact.

Minions gills were moving, and his heart was beating as it should be. The sedative that they had used had been designed specifically for this, and Megamind was pretty sure he would wake up any second now.

The operation had not gone… as perfectly as he had hoped. Every so often he had set the tools down to step back and gather himself. He had accidently cut himself with the scalpel, and had to back off quickly to clean it out and stop the bleeding before he could continue. He had jarred Minion a few times, and the brainbots had saved him from nearly toppling the table all together when he tripped over the hose to the mist-ifying machine.

But he had been very careful when it came to the actual operation. It had taken four minutes and twenty six seconds, and he had sealed it up the best he could, clenching his fists every so often to stop his hands from shaking.

Now… was it good enough? Minion had survived, and would probably heal physically. But his brain was fine, right?

Megamind held his breath as he stared. One corner of Minion's square jaw rested on the bottom of the tank as the rest of him floated loosely.

"Minion?"

He squinted up at Megamind dumbly.

"Minion! Oh thank evil heavens, how are you feeling? You okay? How many fingers do you see?"

Minion's body sank lower in the tank, stabilizing on the bottom.

"Look, I'm holding up fingers. Can you see?" Megamind pressed two fingers against the glass so they wouldn't be distorted by the shape of the bowel. "Minion? How many fingers?"

Minion's eyes crossed as they slid closed once more. His body seemed to squish down into the bottom of the tank as it relaxed.

Biting his lip, Megamind leaned back on the couch, crossing his arms. This behavior really wasn't… unexpected. Minion had just had brain surgery after all. But the nightmarish idea kept flashing in his mind that somehow he had taken away that spark that made Minion… Minion.

What if he died? What if he became braindead?

Worse, what if somehow he just became a regular fish? A powerful shudder coursed through Megamind's body. He would have to keep him in a bowl and feed him, and Minion would just swim around stupidly… That couldn't actually happen, could it?

No… Megamind got off the couch and knelt on the floor. He rested his chin on the table and stared at Minion.

When they were kids, they had talked about what should happen to their bodies when they died. Megamind had wanted to be cremated and be sent into space. Minion had wanted to be flushed down the toilet.

"No!" He remembered saying. "I'm not flushing you like some normal fish!"

Minion had giggled and spun around in his bowl. "It's okay, I'll be dead! Plus it's funny."

"No it's not!"

They were kids then, so he supposed it shouldn't be taken too seriously. He wasn't sure what he would do, though. Probably bury him. That was usually the safe way to go.

Yep. Then he'd… probably… fight Metroman some more? He'd still do that right? Would he still want to?

He stared. He really, really wanted to tap the glass, try to wake Minion up, but he resisted, clasping his hands together. Let Minion sleep. His brain needed time to heal, get used to the implant. Not to mention he would probably have a killer headache when he woke up.

Which he definitely would. Probably. The surgery was okay, and Megamind was reasonably sure he had inserted and connected the implant correctly. He hadn't touched any other part of the brain when he had cut through the skull…

Oh gosh, Minion, wake uuuuuup…

He waited five minutes, ten. He got up and paced.

Minion was definitely going to be okay. This whole fiasco was… a good thing. He was going to be able to control his own body! Yay! He was just tired right now, needed a little help and consideration…

Megamind shut down the unnecessarily loud machines and dimmed the lights. Yeah, that would make it a little more comfortable for when Minion woke up. Nice and dark and quiet.

Too quiet. Megamind groaned and clopped over to his computer.

Youtube. He needed some kind of music, something cheerful, without percussion. Piano? Sure. Happy piano music.

He scrolled through videos, frowning. They were all very pretty, but few as cheerful as they claimed. Were these even in a freaking major key? Artists and their emotions! All he wanted was freaking HAPPY MUSIC.

You know what? Elevator music. That would have to do. He set it up to play quietly through the lair's speakers on a loop and went back to the table again, where he curled up on the floor in front of the couch, staring at Minion.

He waited another forty minutes and forced himself to think positively, about possible designs for the robot. He and Minion had shared whimsical ideas, but hadn't really talked seriously yet. A dinosaur? That would be cool…

Minion's eyes finally squinted open again, his brow ridge tense with pain.

Resisting the surge of relief and excitement that surged through him, Megamind carefully leaned forward instead, putting a gentle hand on the side of the glass so Minion would feel the slight disturbance in the water. "Hey Minion," he murmured. "Can you hear me?"

"Ugh."

Oh thank heavens he could still talk! Sort of. "Ok, fantastic. I told you everything would be fine! How do you feel?"

Minion stuck out his tongue and floated up in the water, leaning sideways.

"Right, okay, I'm going to take that as a theatrical response." Megamind smiled anxiously, moving his hand up and down on the glass so Minion would know he was there. His eyes were dilated and unfocused, but thank goodness he was responsive. That probably meant he would be fine.

"M' swimmin's all messed up…"

"Yeah, it's okay, that's temporary. It's gonna be kind of hard to orient yourself for a while. Can you feel me on the side of the tank?"

"Nuh"

"You can't?" Megamind tapped the glass gently. "Can you feel that?"

"Uuuuhhh do it again…"

Frowning, Megamind took off his glove and touched the surface of the water, stirring it slowly. Minion's mouth hung open. "Izzat the top?"

"Yeah, I'm at the top now. Can you feel my hand?"

Lethargically moving his fins, Minion attempted to right himself, but only tilted to the opposite side. Megamind considered reaching in and helping him, but thought better of it, pulling away. "There's stuff on my head," Minion moaned.

"That's a bandage. It's okay, but it'll have to stay, at least for a few days."

Minion's gills flared out as he sighed and sunk again to the glass bottom, squeezing his eyes shut.

"But hey, it worked! The implants in, everything looks okay! It all went pretty okay. You okay?"

Minion's jaw fell loosely open, eyes still closed.

"You alright? Minion?"

He began to tilt further sideways.

Megamind stood up. He paced. He turned the music off. He washed his hands. He stared at Minion. He put some bread in the toaster, drank some milk, washed his hands again and stared at Minion.

"You still awake?" He coaxed gently, tapping the table. "Want some toast?"

Minion came to rest on his side at the bottom of the tank, moaning softly, his boneless fin squished beneath him.

When the toast popped, Megamind buttered one for himself and put the other in the freezer. Minion didn't like hot food. Returning to the table, Megamind knelt and rested his chin again in front of the tank. Staring at the bandages. Staring at Minion's teeth.

When they were really young, Minion's teeth would come in bigger and faster than his little mouth could handle. Megamind remembered waking up without him one day, apparently because he'd been crying for warden in the middle of the night, hurting and terrified.

So Megamind had read up on dentistry and removed the problem. It had seemed like the obvious thing to do. But...

From the faint images Megamind could remember, an adult… Minionfish... was supposed to have big canines on the sides of their lower jaw. Huge. But they had only been an inch and a half when little guppy Minion was screaming, and his whole mouth was bleeding, and Megamind had been so sure that he'd die if they didn't come out…

He put his hand elbow-deep in the tank and stroked Minion's side with the back of his finger. His gills flared, and his eyes blinked barely open.

Now he'd never be the way he was supposed to be. This water was probably different, his diet was probably different. Same for both of them. They could be completely deformed thanks to this planet, and not even know it. That was a nice thought. Bad gravity, bad air, freaks even for being freaks, and now he was trying to throw a foreign robot body on top of it? What was he thinking?

He rubbed his eyes and swallowed.

"You don't need this, you know," Megamind choked. "You don't need a body of you don't want one."

"Hm?"

"I'm... sorry... I ever made you feel like you needed a body to be useful to me." He used his other hand to hide his face, though he doubted Minion could see much beyond the glass. He could feel him lean into the fold of his fingers.

"Minion, you're special." He dared to meet his half-lidded eye. "Anyone can walk around and do work. I can hire people for that. That's easy. You… You're you. I don't want to change you into something you're not."

Minion's gills opened and closed slowly, and he hummed, pressing into Megamind's palm.

Megamind grinned and rubbed Minion's side with his thumb, the clunky bandage rough in his hand. "Fantastic fish," he chuckled. "Why do you have to do everything I ask you to? It's not fair."

"Hm?"

"Are you sure you want this?"

"Want what?"

Megamind barked out a laugh and carefully withdrew his hand, laying Minion down to rest again. He wiped it on his shirt. "Silly ichthyoid… Want some toast?"

"Kay."

They'd already talked about whether or not Minion wanted the implant several times. It was too late to backtrack, anyway. Megamind went to fetch Minion's toast, gliding on light toes, and grinned at Minion's sleepy but expectant face.

As he sat back down, Minion righted himself, rolling against the bottom of the tank. "Can I be a gorilla?" he asked.

Pfffft, "Can you what?"

"Can my robot thingy be a gorilla?" He still looked half asleep. "Like Tarzan's mom?"

Megamind scoffed and giggled, breaking off a piece of cold toast. "I keep telling you, Minion," He let it soak on the surface of the water, and then sink down. "Kala is not even a Disney Princess."

"You're right," mumbled Minion with slowly closing eyes. "She's a Disney Queeeen…"

The soggie piece of bread fell on the bandage on Minion's head. He didn't notice it until it slid down to rest under the corner of his jaw. Startled, he began to float up sideways, eyes crossing. "I-ugh!" He fluttered his fins as his body flipped over, beyond his control. "Can't swim!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Megamind reached in and steadied Minion with one hand, carefully pulling out the toast with the other. Going belly-up didn't automatically mean death, but it was still scary to watch. "Maybe later," he murmured. "Okay, buddy… Easy…"

Minion's face was tight with nausea as he let himself sink again, "Sorry," he moaned.

"Shh, it's okay," Megamind stirred the surface of the water again so Minion could feel where it was. "You okay? Should I change the water? How's the temperature?"

"Mmrgh." Minion's eyes squeezed shut, his mouth pressed against the curved glass. He smiled a little and mumbled, "You're such a mamafish."

Megamind gasped, smiling despite himself. "You...! Are! Probably not going to remember any of this anyway!" He pulled his hands out when he noticed Minion's eyes drooping, and rubbed the side of the bowl, standing up. "We'll talk more when you're feeling better, hm?"

Minion grunted, and he was out again.

As for himself, Megamind was feeling much better. He found some more engaging music and his sketch pad. A gorilla, huh? Synthetic fur? Hmm. Yesss...