Three months after the girls moved in. . .
After having lunch, Gru was in the process of cleaning up the kitchen, when he caught sight of Edith running into her room and slamming the door. Used to the girls racing back and forth through the house, he paid it no mind. That is. . .until his phone started ringing in his pocket. Quickly taking out, he flipped it open. "Yes?"
"Gruuuuu!" Nephario's voice hollered so loud, that he jerked the phone away from his ear.
"What?!" he muttered, glaring at the phone with aggravation.
"We have a situation! Get down here now!"
Within a matter of minutes, Gru, Margo, and Agnes, quickly arrived to a lab full of white smoke. That's when he noticed sulfuric looking burns all over the equipment and walls. He could hear it sizzling as the chemicals continued to corrode making black streaks all the way to the floor! Before Gru had a chance to say anything, Nephario pointed to the two girls and shouted, "Don't let them in here! It isn't safe! And they've already caused enough trouble!"
Immediately catching on, Gru's eyes rolled up, then gradually shifted down to Margo. "Gurls. . .Would you mind going back up please. . ."
"I know. . .we're gone. . ." Margo said, taking her little sister by the hand. "Come on, Agnes. Dr. N. is in a bad mood. . ."
"He's always in a bad mood. . ." Agnes whined, as they began to walk away.
Grinning at them, Gru watched as Nephario glared toward them full of disgust. It wasn't until he looked back, that Gru actually noticed him trembling with anger!
"Look at this!" he shouted, wildly flinging his arms up in the air. "In all my years as a scientist, this is the worst disaster I've ever had to deal with!" he snapped, wildly pointing at the mess. "It's going to take me forever to clean and repair the damages! Which will be expensive!"
Trying to be rational, Gru quickly threw a hand up in the air. "Now look. . . You need to calm down a before you borst avessel in your head! Now tell me, what happened?"
"Not what! But, I'll give you a who. . .Edith!"
Suddenly recalling when she ran to her room, Gru closed his eyes and tensely mumbled, "Oh, boy. . .What did she do dis time?"
"She's been tampering with my serums again! Only this time she mixed two toxic compounds, which caused the explosion!"
"Explosion?!" Gru mouthed out, suddenly overwhelmed with worry. "Was she hurt?"
"She would have been if Mark hadn't pulled her away. . ." Nephario yelled, as the blackened, scuffed-up minion awkwardly stepped in front of him. For a minute Gru was taken back over his burned up appearance. So much so that he actually knelt down in front of him. "Mark! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"No. . .no. . .Ok. . ." Mark said reassuringly.
Not convinced, Gru quickly reached for one of his arms. "Here. . .let me see. . ."
Very carefully he turned his stained up, yellow arm from one side to the other. Stunned to find that there were no burn marks whatsoever! "Dis is amazing. . ." he muttered, looking at Nephario over his shoulder. "Pat yourself in de back, Doc. Cause eet looks like the resilient DNA profile you made for de little guys is actually wurking! He doesn't have a single mark on him!" Looking at Mark, Gru smiled and nodded. "Way to go, boy. Edith is very lucky because of you."
"Yeah, this time. . .But what about next time! And the next. . .and the next!" Nepherio snapped, as Gru heavily sighed, then stood to his feet. "We've told that girl repeatedly not to dabble with our experiments, and this time she's gone too far! You've got to do something!" He angrily demanded.
"I know. . .I know!" Gru moaned with exasperation. "But de question is- what?"
"How about giving her a good swat on her backside!"
Mouth falling open, Gru huffed and said, "No! I could never strike de gurls!"
Almost insulted, Nuphario flung a hand on his hip. "Oh, really?! Well then you'd better do something drastic Gru, and get her where it hurts!"
Messaging his temples, Gru stood there deep in thought. Then suddenly his eyes opened, then narrowed from an occurring thought. It had him looking down at Nephario with a very firm expression. "I know exactly what to do. Come with me." he ordered, as they briskly headed for the girls room.
By then Margo and Agnes had found Edith, who had frantically changed her clothes, and was desperately trying to hide them somewhere. "Edith. . .what in the world did you do?! And what happened to your cap?"
"Nothing! Just mind your beewax!" she snapped, roughly pulling it off her head.
Standing right outside the girls room, Gru turned to Nephario and hissed through his teeth. "Let me handle dis!"
"Umm, hmm. With minimal results. . ." he irritably muttered under his breath.
In that second Gru opened the bedroom door just in time to see Edith tuck something away on the shelf. Catching her deception, Gru and Dr. Nephario both walked in as she bounced on her bed. "
Hows eet going, Edith. . ." Gru mimed rather sarcastically.
"Fine. . . Why you ask?"
"Oh, curiosity. . .Cause I was wondering. . .What you just hid, dere?"
"N-nothin. . ." she stammered, trying to play innocent. Seeing right through it, Grus eyes narrowed. "Noting, huh?" he mimed, now reaching forward until he was tussling up her blond hair. "Where's your hat?" Swallowing hard, she quickly replied,
"Didn't feel like wearing it. . .that's all. . ."
"Oh really?" Gru mimed. "Well, dats a furst. Hmmm. . .Well, maybe I should wash it. Eet needs it anyhow!"
"No. . ." she pled, as he quickly went straight to the shelf. Roughly he began pushing toys and dolls aside until he found what he was looking for. Being her pink wool cap. Only. . .it was covered with the same black marks that were all over the lab, walls, and Mark! When he held it up to the light, it looked like pink swiss cheese! Through Margos surprised gasp, Gru immediately turned angry.
"What?! Look at dis, gurl! Dis could've been your skin!"
Now trapped, Edith began to nervously fidget. "I know. But I was just trying to. . ."
"Nephario told me what you deed!" Gru angrily cut off. "You mixed de chemicals, and nearly burned down de lab!" By way Ediths head dropped, Gru knew there was no way she could deny it now, which only made him madder. "How could you do dis?! Do you realize what would've happened if Mark didn't save you?! You put him in danger too! Deed you ever think about dat?!" Now he stopped, when he saw the hurt looks on Margo and Agnese's faces. Desperately trying to control his temper, Gru blew out an angry sigh. He then glared down at Edith who looked scared to death. "Dats it, then. You leave me no choice. . ." That's when his angry gaze darted to her back pocket. "Give me de game. . ."
Now her breath sharply sucked in with horror. "What?!"
"I said. . .give me de game. . .now!" he demanded, the clip of anger more evident in his voice. By the devastated look on Edith's face, he just as well have spanked her! For deep down, Gru knew how much this really meant to her.
He could remember when the girls were just settling in, one of the first things Edith asked him for, was a cat. And although he hated cats with a passion, his truthful excuse was that that Kyle would have it for lunch!
So to satisfy Edith, he bought her a Gigapet, a handheld game where she had to raise, feed and nurture a virtual pet. . .Her choice, being a kitty! She carried the game in her pocket always, sure not to miss a single meal, or brushing. And in some ways, Gru thought it was great. It was teaching her responsibilities. And not to mention, that was better than the real thing! He knew how much she adored it. And now. . . Sadly enough, it was about to be used against her. "Well? Come on!" he angrily ordered.
Knowing he meant business, Edith slowly reached in her back pocket until she pulled it out. As she placed it in his hand, Gru firmly glared down at her.
"You may not play dis for a month!" he sharply announced, as she let out a horrified gasp.
"But. . .but. . . my kitten will die. . ."
"Dat's too bad! Better it, dan you! Maybe dis will teach you not to touch tings that don't belong to you!" As her head sank low and the tears began to surface, Gru could feel himself wanting to go to her. Yet. . .he knew for the moment, that he had to remain firm. Glaring straight ahead, he walked out of the room slamming the door behind him.
Once in the hallway, his head sank as low as Ediths. "Ohhhh. . ." he moaned under his breath. At the same time, Dr. Nephario was very pleased.
"Good for you, Gru. . ." Nephario said, as he sadly looked at him. "It's about time you stood your ground. . ."Anquished, Gru rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. . .But I feel terrible. . .I was hoping it would never come to dis. . ."
"Well welcome to parenthood, cause this is what it's all about. Disaster!" He sarcastically chuckled, as Gru gave him an irritated glance. "And to think you gave up being a super villain for this?" Having about enough, Gru sharply replied,
"Yeah, I know. . .you remind me all de time! I know you've never wanted de gurls here from de beginning. EspeciallyEdith! So dis should make you real happy!"
By the time Gru walked way from him, Nephario had the same hurt look as Edith. One that he also chose to ignore!
As he slowly walked to the living room, Gru felt a little hand grab onto his. Looking down at the upset expression on Agnese's face, he immediately bent over and scooped her up into his arms. Hugging her he whispered,
"I'm sorry you had to see dat. . ."
At the same time he felt another tug on his arm. Knowing it was Margo, Gru found her a little harder to face. That is until she said, "Dad. . .don't apologize. I think you handled it very well. . ."
Although still upset, Gru found himself somewhat amused by her grownup behavior. "Oh, really?"
"Uh, yeah. I've known my sister longer than you. . .And she can be very hardheaded. She deserved what she got. . ." Giving her an artful grin, Gru replied,
"Uh-hmm. . .Easy for you to say cause you're not de one paying de penalty!"
"That's right. And I won't, either. Cause I'm not gonna do anything to make you mad." Unable to help himself, chuckled and shook his head. Oh, Margo. . .so wise beyond her years.