Fanfic / A Different Childhood

What if, instead of being raised in the Metro City prison, the government had sent baby Megamind to a secret facility to be raised by monsters?

A Different Childhood is a crossover AU fanfic between Monsters vs. Aliens and Megamind by futureauthor13. It can be found here.

---

Tropes found in this fic include:

• Actually Pretty Funny: At one point in Megamind's childhood, he and Link were playing hide-and-seek. When Link couldn't find Megamind, B.O.B. told him that he was hiding in the "chute". While Megamind was actually hiding in the laundry chute, Link thought that B.O.B. meant the garbage chute. Thus, he dove headfirst into the garbage to find Megamind...only to end up covered in garbage. Even Monger thought it was hilarious.
• Adaptational Wimp: Hal is still the annoying loser with an unrelenting, non-reciprocated crush on Roxanne, but this time he doesn't become a supervillain over it (partially because Megamind never meets Metro Man here and thus never gets to a position where he can give his powers to someone else). Once he quits the Channel 6 news in hopes that it'll get Roxanne's attention, he's never seen again.
• The Alcatraz: What the monster prison is largely implied to be. Dr. Cockroach, Link, and B.O.B. tried to escape multiple times, but eventually gave up. It's also outright stated by Dr. Cockroach that, even if someone managed to escape the base, the humans outside wouldn't accept them (which, unfortunately, Megamind learns the hard way).
• All-Loving Hero: Roxanne is easily the most accepting human in the fic, being among the first people to see the monsters as more than...well, monsters, and is nothing but polite and friendly to them, to the point that they consider her their first true human friend and fully support her when she starts dating Megamind.
• Badass Normal:
  • Monger qualifies, as he's an ordinary human man, but is also an experienced general who is ready and willing to fight an alien and fly a kaiju rescue the team.
  • Roxanne. While she doesn't do much fighting, she is an incredibly smart woman who is among the first civilians to see the monsters for who they are, and is able to come up with a way to help Megamind and the team escape via sending Violet the Brainbot to help. Plus, she single-handedly convinces the California state government to not ban the monsters.
• Benevolent Monsters: The monsters and aliens being held in the government base are all fairly good people, only being imprisoned because of what they are.
• Beta Couple: While the Official Couple of the fic is Megamind and Roxanne (seeing as how their relationship gets the most focus), there's also the slow-burn romance between Susan and Dr. Cockroach. B.O.B. and his relationship with the Jell-O also technically counts (they seem happy together, at least).
• Big Damn Heroes: Monger and Butterfly-asaurus pull one towards the end (like in canon).
• Character Development: Susan has an arc similar to what she had in canon, largely consisting of her coming to accept herself and realizing that she wasn't happy with Derek.
• Comically Missing the Point: When Susan leaves her friends at her parents' party, her mother asks her what they should do with them (implying that she's not comfortable with monsters at the party). Susan just says to put out snacks, clearly not understanding what her mother's asking.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: B.O.B. is very much the Cloud Cuckoolander of the group, often saying or doing things that make no sense (justified due to the fact that he has no brain). However, when the monsters go to Gallaxhar's ship to save Susan and Megamind, B.O.B. has the idea to disguise themselves by putting on the clone uniforms. Seeing as how the guards are dumber than B.O.B., this works.
• Darkest Hour: Gallaxhar has come to Earth and kidnapped both Susan and Megamind, Insectasaurus is down and possibly dead, Minion is out of commission, and none of the monsters know what to do. Luckily, Link gets a Heroic Second Wind, and they come up with a plan with help from Roxanne.
• Disaster Dominoes: This is what happens when Susan leaves her monster family at the Murphy's party so she can go see Derek. The monsters' various interests or lack of knowledge about the modern world leads to them inadvertently trashing the Murphy yard and scaring away the guests.
• Disney Death: Happens to Insectosaurus.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Megamind and the monsters spent decades imprisoned in the base, and even after saving the planet they are looked down on or feared by the rest of society. By the end, though, Megamind has found love with Roxanne and lives in Metro City while the monsters have become the country's (possibly the world's) number-one defense against monster/alien/robot threats. They still visit often, as at the end Megamind, Minion, and Roxanne visit the monster base for Christmas.
• Everyone Has Standards: Dr. Cockroach is a mad scientist who might bend the rules for the sake of his experiments, but he'd never experiment on a baby.
  Dr. Cockroach: I may be a mad scientist, but I'm not a mon-...well, I'm still not going to experiment on an infant!
• Family of Choice: The monsters and aliens are referred to as being very close, to the point that they consider themselves family.
• Fantastic Racism: The monsters and aliens are hated and feared by most humans simply because of the fact that they're monsters and aliens.
• Giant Woman: Susan, or Ginormica, as in canon was a human woman who grew to enormous size after being exposed to a radioactive meteor.
• Happily Adopted: Megamind (for obvious reasons) knows that none of the monsters in the prison are his biological family. But that doesn't stop him from viewing Dr. Cockroach as a father figure, or considering the rest of the monsters his family. This isn't hard to believe, as the monsters did a surprisingly good job raising him.
• Heroes Gone Fishing: Unlike in canon, nearly a month passes between when the monsters defeat the alien robot and Gallaxhar abducts Susan and Megamind. During this time, the monsters make themselves a base at the wrecked church where Susan got her powers. Susan takes some time to visit her friends and parents, while Roxanne Ritchie befriends the monsters and teaches Megamind about the city.
• Innocently Insensitive: Roxanne, when interviewing the monsters, asks Megamind about his home planet, unaware that this is a bit of a tough subject for him. He asks if they can stop the interview, and she gets the message.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite Megamind and Minion not growing up in Metro City (or, its prison), Megamind still meets (and falls in love with) Roxanne Ritchie. Also, he still invents his Brain Bots and Dehydration Gun.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Monger refuses to let Roxanne go with the monsters to save Susan and Megamind, as she's a civilian and, as a soldier, he can't allow her to get hurt. Roxanne isn't happy about this, but admits that he's got a point.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Monger. He does his duty as a general by locating monsters or aliens that land on Earth and locking them up in facilities. At the same time, though, he understands that the monsters haven't done anything wrong, and treats them with respect (only treating them like prisoners when they cause trouble). He even visits them after they complete their mission, and is more than willing to help them rescue Susan and Megamind when they're abducted.
• Last of His Kind: Megamind and Minion are the last people of their world, having barely escaped the planet's destruction. This is a bit of a sensitive topic for Megamind, as he doesn't know who his birth parents were, what his species is called or even the name of the planet.
• Mad Scientist: Dr. Cockroach. He calls himself a mad scientist, makes insane inventions out of garbage, and regularly laughs maniacally. Megamind takes after him, with the two having inventing competitions and engaging in bouts of maniacal laughter (to everyone's displeasure).
• Monster Roommate: Because Susan is the most human-looking of the monsters, she considers them all as this once she's locked up in the base.
• Mood Whiplash: Megamind and Roxanne's first real date is pure fluff, as the two simply enjoy each others company and have a great night. Then, right after they've revealed their feelings for one another, Gallaxhar's ship shows up and abducts Megamind. The exact same thing happens at the monster's camp, ruining a potential moment between Susan and Dr. Cockroach.
• Mythology Gag: When Link and Minion are talking about Megamind and Roxanne's relationship, Link states that Roxanne definitely likes Megamind as a friend, so they know that she won't "reject him in the rain or something like that."
• Narcissist: Derek. He only loves Susan when she's "normal", breaks up with her when they finally reunite after a month (essentially saying that his career is more important than their relationship), and tries to get back together with her when she becomes a hero as it would then benefit his career. With a little help from B.O.B., she dumps him on live TV.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Mildly subverted. At first, the monsters are still treated badly by the humans of Modesto despite defeating the alien robot. However, thanks to Roxanne Ritchie's efforts, the people start to warm up to them a little, finally seeing them as heroes by the end of the fic.
• Noodle Incident: Somehow, Megamind ticked Monger off because of something only referred to as "the peanut butter incident". All we know about it is that the explosions were an accident, and that Monger is still mad about it.
• The Only One I Trust: For a while after their fight with the alien robot, Roxanne becomes this for the monsters, as she's the only human (besides Monger) who doesn't view the monsters as freaks and treats them like people. She even stands up for them in front of the city council.
• Parental Substitute: While the other monsters all helped to raise Megamind, Dr. Cockroach is the one that Megamind views as a father figure, as he taught Megamind everything he knows, calls him by the pet name "Tesla", and is there for him after his traumatic escape to Metro City.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The monster team, without a doubt. Susan is a fifty-foot-tall human woman with silver hair, Dr. Cockroach is a mad scientist with a cockroach head on a human body, B.O.B. is a blue gelatinous cyclops, Link is a fish-ape from prehistoric times, Insectosaurus is an insectoid kaiju, Megamind is a super genius with blue skin and an unusually large head, and Minion is a fish-alien with a gorilla-esque robot body.
• Relationship Upgrade: While they were only ever friends in the movie, Dr. Cockroach develops a crush on Susan, and she later reciprocates it. The two are a couple by the end of the fic.
• Shipper on Deck: Link is the first one to realize that Megamind likes Roxanne and that Dr. Cockroach likes Susan. He teases them mercilessly for it.
• Too Dumb to Live: B.O.B. qualifies, as he quite literally has no brain and is the dumbest member of the group.
• True Companions: The monsters. They care deeply for one another, and are willing to put themselves in danger to help/save their friends.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Link is the group's resident Deadpan Snarker, and isn't above teasing or insulting his teammates. At the same time, he clearly cares about them and will go out of his way to help or save them if they need him.
• We Can Rule Together: Gallaxhar tries this with Megamind, as he knows that Megamind is the last member of a race of super-geniuses and that he could be useful to Gallaxhar's conquest. Out of loyalty to his monster family, Megamind turns him down. Gallaxhar, insulted, orders him killed.
• What If?: Because Megamind was raised by monsters instead of inmates, he never became a super villain, terrorized Metro City, or developed his rivalry with Metro Man. As such, he never feels the need lie about himself to Roxanne.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: After Derek breaks up with Susan and the monsters inadvertently ruin the Murphys' party, the whole group is feeling depressed. Susan, however, manages to snap herself out of her funk when she realizes that Derek has always put his career before her, and delivers one of these to her found family. It helps lift everyone's spirits, and boosts Susan's sense of self-worth.