Once again, many thanks for all the very kind reviews on the last chapter. Reading them seriously makes my day :)
I hope this one doesn't disappoint!
Chapter Four:
The Arkillium Macroalgae
There was a brisk chill running down the back of Jack's neck, forcing hairs to stand up. He didn't know what was provoking such an immense sense of fear, but as he wandered the empty halls of the AVL headquarters, it was a sensation he couldn't shake off. His surroundings were eerily quiet. Silence in a place as busy as this was unsurprisingly concerning.
Turning a corner, he halted when he found Ramsbottom sat in a dark and derelict room, Gru right beside him. They were both looking in his direction as he entered, obviously anticipating his presence. Jack blinked when their sharpened gazes met his. They had their arms crossed and their lips drawn into a stern frown, which grew ever stronger when they laid eyes on him.
"Uhhh…you asked to see me?" Jack glanced around the oddly cold room. No furniture, apart from a pair of curtains and the seats Gru and Ramsbottom were sat on, were present. It didn't suit the high-tech headquarters in the slightest. "What are you doing here, dad?"
"What am I doing here?" Gru spat the question back at him in a low yet fierce tone, leaning forward in his seat to unleash a more focused gaze on the teen. "Have yoo not seen what yoo have caused!?"
Jack only glared back at him in befuddlement.
"Tell me, Jack…" Ramsbottom interjected, before the eighteen-year-old could provide a bewildered response. "What assignment did I give you over the weekend? The one I stressed was incredibly important and needed completion ASAP?"
"The research thing?"
"Yes, the research thing!" The chubby AVL director roared, choosing also to lean forward. Jack couldn't lie, he felt somewhat intimidated right now, under the scrutiny of such heavy expressions. "I asked for a report regarding that new villain corporation being set up out of town! You're four days late, where is it!?"
"Oh, umm…" Jack looked down at the floor for a moment, conjuring a sufficient lie. He had, of course, been putting aside his AVL duties to spend time with Edith. Despite how bad of an idea it would be to reveal such a decision, no excuse came to mind. Therefore, he reasoned that honesty was the better cause of action. "Look, I've been researching villains for five months straight! I just…needed a break, I guess."
"A break? Oh, my apologies. I did not realize you needed to put your feet up." Ramsbottom stood from his seat and wandered over to the single pair of curtains. Pulling them apart, he revealed the view of the entire city, which was currently engulfed in a mountain of flames and explosions. "I guess I'll overlook this."
Jaw dropping, Jack silently traipsed forward with widened eyes, which were locked on the morbid sight from the window. Civilians were running in fear from the many superspeed aircrafts whizzing around through the sky, launching bombs and missiles across every square meter. The teen shook his head in complete disbelief. Panicking, he turned to the director for answers. He only replied with condemnation.
"They're attacking the entire city with stolen government weapons. They've been effortlessly hacking into our security systems left, right and center, and no warning of a breach was given to me." Ramsbottom narrowed his eyes, lowering his head to Jack's level. "If only somebody could've found out about their plans and brought it to our attention…"
"This is all your fault, Jack!" Gru's exclamation was equally condemning, as he rose from his seat to storm over to him. Jack's gaze was slightly defensive when under Ramsbottom's scrutiny, but filled with hurt when it was replaced with his father's. "There are thousands of innocent people DYING all across the city, just because yoo were wanting a stupid little break!"
Leaning forward to speak into Jack's ear, Gru left the teen glued to the spot out of both dread and guilt.
"I am very disappointed in yoo."
Those six words echoed through the teen's head over and over, again and again. They were seemingly growing louder in volume each time. It was like his brain was hammering his failure ever further into his conscience. The insurmountable shame became almost too much for him to handle, until every ounce of it was swatted away by a sudden shake.
Jack was abruptly awoken from his sleep by someone roughly shaking his arm. The person was obviously persistent, because they continued until he opened his eyes in confusion. Blinking, he moaned in protest and turned his head. Edith was stood there with a beaming grin on her face, already in the process of shaking his arm once more. His initial frustration from being woken up gave way when he saw her glee, especially when he recalled the dream she rescued him from.
"What d'ya want?" He asked timidly. Peeking at his digital alarm clock, he was pretty stunned to find that it was 6:50 AM, a time where Edith should be lost in deep hibernation. If she's awake, something must be wrong. "Are you okay?"
Edith energetically nodded.
"Uh-huh!" She happily lifted the latest riddle into her brother's squinted gaze. Though the messily drawn treasure chest was an obvious give away, it took his fatigued brain near five seconds to recognize it. "I had a dream about the riddle! I think I know what all of it means!"
"What…?" Jack frowned, releasing a yawn filled with pure weariness. He could barely understand what a riddle was right now, let alone try and solve one. "Edith, it's…too early to talk about this. Just tell me later."
"But I can't get back to sleep!" She forcefully pulled the covers down to her brother's waist, allowing her to climb up and sit beside him. He quietly groaned beneath his breath, as the chilly air of his bedroom hit him at speed. "I have to tell you now!"
Jack paused for a few seconds to study her. She was way too giddy for this time of morning, that was an obvious oddity. She was still dressed in her pink-onesie with nothing adorning her feet, proving that she must've just heartedly sprung out of bed and raced to his bedroom in a hurry. This whole treasure hunt thing was really exciting her, it seemed. If these were the levels she was willing to take, he knew he wasn't getting rid of her anytime soon.
Almost wanting to chuckle, he rolled his eyes and sat up a little. "Alright, what is it?"
"You know those big pile of rocks at the beach? The ones near the cliff? I could see them in my dream!" The tomboy explained at a rapid pace. Presenting the riddle to Jack, she pointed down at a particular part. "This line says to look around and check the peak. There's no hills or anything by the beach! The next riddle must be on top of those rocks!"
"Uhh…yeah, sounds…yeah." Jack struggled to sound coherent in his response as he rubbed his drowsy eyes. It wasn't that he didn't care about what she was saying, he just literally couldn't process it right now. Trying to act like he wasn't on the brink of passing out, he lightly smiled. "Sooo…is that it?"
"Yep! I needed to tell you that…" All of a sudden, she released a massive yawn, one that forced her head to drop a little. "…before we go…to the beach…later."
Her usual morning energy, or lack thereof, came flooding back in spades. Her eyelids drooped and her gleeful smile vanished. It wasn't long before she flopped onto his pillow, quickly returning to the realm of sleep. Blinking, Jack gawked down at her for a second. He just knew she couldn't sustain that level of excitement at this time of morning. It reminded him of when she downed that mug of coffee on the road trip, just without the actual caffeine providing her with the means to keep it going.
Chuckling, he gently draped the covers over them both, taking extra care to ensure she was comfortable. Dropping back onto the pillow, he wrapped an arm around his younger sister and cuddled her close. Before the overwhelming comfort knocked him out cold again, he took a moment to reflect. Usually, he needed a few minutes to recover from a bad nightmare, especially ones related to topics he found legitimately stressful. While he was currently avoiding his AVL work, it was easy to see how this most recent one fell into that category.
He could recall multiple occasions where he'd starkly awoken during the night, spurred on by a nightmare. Being left alone in complete darkness made him feel so weak. Having someone here, on the other hand, provided him with the strength to simply shake it off.
He wasn't the only one in his family to learn that, yet they found out the hard way...
"Say cheeseeeeeeee!"
Lucy kept a loose grip on the digital camera, a hazardous decision while she was happily bouncing up and down in the sand. Margo and Agnes looked up from the sandcastle, of which they were sculpting small windows into, with very different expressions. The youngest sister matched her mom's glee, while the eldest countered it with an exasperated frown.
"Cheeseeeeeee!" Agnes cheered. On cue, Lucy snapped the photo. It was another great one! She shouldn't really toot her own horn, but as she observed the preview on-screen, she couldn't help herself. Either her photography skills were just that great, or the people in the photo made it absolutely amazing to her.
"Aww, you guys look so cute!" She dropped the camera back down to her side, so she could observe the two girls with her own eyes again. Agnes toothily grinned in response and promptly returned to her window sculpting, while Margo huffed and pulled her feet up against her legs.
"Mom, that's the sixth photo you've taken in like, two minutes." She complained. "It's getting kinda annoying."
"I know, I know. But I just can't help it!" Lucy wandered closer to them, all while rapidly examining her surroundings. It was a fairly busy day at the beach; many families were sat on their own towels around them. It helped to create a loud but joyful atmosphere, the exact two characteristics the AVL agent had in abundance right now. "I wanna remember all of this! We rarely come to the beach as a whole family anymore."
Speaking of which…
She turned to observe the others, all of whom were sat somewhere near their designated beach towel. Jack and Edith were strangely quiet, especially considering how excited they were to come here. They were absentmindedly digging small holes in the sand, snatching periodic glances between the rest of the family when they thought nobody was looking.
While Gru and Dru, also strangely, were being overly cordial with each other. By now, they usually would've had a mostly light-hearted argument, probably spurred on by the blonde man's effervescent personality. Rather, Gru seemed in extremely high spirits, matching his twin brother's energy and enthusiasm with a batch of his own. It reminded Lucy of their dinner at the Freedonia mansion, only this time they weren't trying to pull off some form of corny impression of each other.
"Take one of us! Take one of us!" Gru quickly leaped into view the moment she glanced around, Dru right at his side. They were posing like a pair of eccentric bodybuilders, a position that didn't particularly suit their lean biceps. Chuckling, she didn't need to be told twice.
"That's a keeper!" She announced upon snapping the photo. It definitely was, though moreso for comedic purposes.
Gru chuckled and wandered over to his elated spouse, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Turning towards the girls and their sandcastle, he blurted out a very loud inquiry.
"Everyone having fun, hmm!?"
"Yeah!" Agnes was quick to answer, launching her bucket and spade into the air in tandem. "So much fun! I love the beach!"
Margo, however, remained unresponsive, electing to halfheartedly pile some sand into her own bucket instead. Raising an eyebrow in concern, Gru leaned his head to the side and whispered into Lucy's ear, all while holding his gaze on his eldest daughter.
"She is still miserable?" He asked sorrowfully.
"Yeah. I think we'd better get used to it, Gru." Lucy glanced at him briefly, before looking back at Margo with a much more understanding expression. "I used to act all moody at her age too. That's kinda the point of being a teenager."
"Yes, but…not so suddenly. She was fine de other day." They turned to look at each other, where Lucy offered her worried husband nothing but a simple shrug. Seeking more conclusive answers, he moved away from his wife and over to his daughters. "Agnes, why don't yoo and Lucy go look for some pretty seashells, yes?"
"Ooo, okay!" Sandcastle abandoned, the littlest leaped up and sprinted over to her mom, who happily took her hand. Gru watched her dash away with a grin, before replacing said expression for his prior concern when he turned to Margo. He failed to steal her uncaring attention from her sand bucket when he gently sat beside her, an observation he found somewhat saddening.
"Jenny for your thoughts."
However, that unexpected conversation opener soon snatched that attention. She spent a good few seconds simply glaring at him.
"It's penny for your thoughts."
"Oh…really?" Gru took a moment to cringe, thinking back with embarrassment to the many times he'd used that erroneous phrase without realizing. Shaking his head, he pressed on. "Uh, well, whatever. What are yoo thinking about?"
Margo lowered her head once more. "Nothing…"
"Hmm, that does not sound like yoo. Yoo're always thinking about something." He was, at best, receiving a deadpan look in response. In the time that he'd been her father, he'd seen that very clouded expression before, hence why he was struggling to chalk this off as teenage blues. Like he'd said, she wasn't even thirteen yet. "Come on, kitten, yoo know yoo can talk to me. Why did yoo shout like that yesterday? Have I done something wrong?"
Margo's frustration quickly gave way.
"N-no, it's not…" She looked up at her dad, and for a brief moment, Gru saw that cloudy expression disappear. "It's not you."
"Well, what is de matter?"
Gru reached out and placed a hand on his daughter's, and as if he were some sort of fatherly wizard, any trace of anger in Margo's eyes faded almost instantly. Staring down at the sand, she heaved a sigh.
"Do you think I'm lame?"
Out of all the things he was expecting to be asked by her, that was pretty far down Gru's list. He blinked at the question, pondering for a few seconds about whether she was being serious. However, when she looked up at him with more than just sincerity, it was clear that this was legitimately the root of the issue. He had to hold back the urge to heartedly laugh.
"Yoo? Lame? Yoo must be pulling on my leg." He couldn't deter the smile on his face at first, but knowing that Margo probably wanted a real answer if she was going to unreservedly ask a question like that, he promptly swapped it out for a more serious look. "Yoo are de last person on Earth I'd call lame! Think of all de awesome stuff yoo've done! All de villains yoo've helped stop! When you beat up that Perkins guy a few months ago! Does that sound lame to yoo?"
Five seconds passed and Margo still hadn't provided a response to that question. She instead kept her eyes firmly on her dad, who was glaring back at her expectantly. It was here where the soon-to-be teenager remembered exactly who she was talking to. Looking away, she heaved a sigh.
"That's not what I me-"
"Me and Jack are gonna go, uhhh…" Edith, with her brother beside her, came strutting over to her father and sister with clear purpose. However, at a similar speed, her gaze veered up towards Jack in a slight panic when she couldn't conjure an excuse on the spot. "Check out the, umm…rock pools!"
"The rock pools! Yeah!" Jack nodded along assuredly, as they both turned to their father with innocent grins. "We're gonna look for crabs and stuff…I guess?"
Gru could only look between them in befuddlement. He was struggling to wrap his head around Margo's behavior right now, let alone adding Jack and Edith to the equation.
"Yeah, sure, uhh…have fun?" He replied simply.
With that, the biological siblings toothily grinned at each other and ran off with a quiet giggle. The moment they darted off, Dru took up their earlier position in front of Gru and lightly coughed under his breath.
"Uhh, brother, maybe we should also…" He nervously glanced at Margo, who was clearly uninterested. "Check out de rock pools."
Yet again, he could only glare back at Dru in utter confusion. Obviously, the reason for his earlier excitement had been forgotten. Picking up on this, the blonde lifted his arm and impatiently tapped his wristwatch, an act that helped Gru remember in an instant. Glancing at his own watch, he found that it was indeed 12 PM.
"Oh, yes! De rock pools! Right!" He shuffled to get on his feet, but at the very last moment, his gaze once again met Margo's. Smiling, he sat back down and put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Margo, yoo are not lame. Yoo're one of de best gurls in de whole world! Anyone who thinks otherwise, they're de lame ones!"
With that, he pulled her in for a very quick hug, before leaping onto his feet and running across the beach with his sibling, of whom went crashing into several parents in a rush. After blankly watching after them for a few seconds, she reached into her pocket and brought out her phone. It was still loaded onto Avery's profile, the glowing 'Message' button standing out like a diamond.
Shoving it back into her pocket, she returned to her misery…
Gru and Dru paced over the beach to a spot behind the cliff, which was perfectly obscured from the public. Dave and Phil were waiting with a 'G' adorned speed boat, as promised. The minions offered a brief greeting in their infamous language as the two men leaped aboard, before thrusting the handle and setting off across the sea. As they bounced over the small waves, Gru reached into his back pocket and removed Dr. Nefario's coal-colored radar device.
He turned it on and was met by an entirely new operating system, fairly similar to the one the elderly man had designed for the cookie robots. After taking a moment to load, it displayed a rapidly spinning circle, which was clearly scanning the nearby area for the algae's chemical footprint. A yellow LED light, which had been built into the device, was blinking in the top-right corner. If he could remember the doctor's instructions correctly, that indicated that it was definitely within the vicinity.
"Tell me when yoo have found it!" Dru exclaimed, trying to shout over the sound of rushing wind. Putting on his scuba gear, he placed in the mouthpiece. "And I'll dive down!"
The man's voice was heavily obscured while the mask was on his face, making it difficult to hear what he was saying. Gru eyed him with a mocking grin. "Yoo should wear that thing more often!"
"What!?"
"I said yoo should wear that thing more-"
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!
Gru's attention was instantly snatched by the device in his hands. The LED light was now blinking a very bright green, while the radar displayed a small dot not too far in front of them. As the boat continued to move, the dot got closer and closer with each 360-degree turn of the radar. He lunged forward to tap Dave's shoulder.
"Stop de boat!" Gru's exclamation startled the minion into letting go of the handle and pressing down on the brakes, making the boat come to a slow halt. Turning to his twin, he pointed at the radar's screen. "It says de algae is right under here."
Dru, with an excited squeal, bent down to replace his shoes with the flippers that had been graciously provided on board. Rising up to sit on the edge of the boat, he gave Gru a nod. "Wish me luck."
With that, he threw himself backwards and plopped into the ocean. He dived underneath and swam through a small shoal of frightened fish, who completely unobscured his vision. All he could see beneath him was an onslaught of bubbles and an infinite shade of blue, that gradually got darker as he descended. It appeared this part of the ocean was quite deep…
Standing up, Gru paced across the boat and peeked his head into the water, where the white blob beneath slowly faded out of view. He looked back up and spotted a huge carrier ship on the horizon, likely the government search party that Nefario had mentioned yesterday. It was quite some distance away, making this whole mission a lot easier than he'd anticipated.
"Look at them!" He turned to Phil, who strutted over to him to follow his pointed finger. "They're miles away from de algae! Looks like de government are just as useless as they were in de olden days, am I right!?"
Him and the two minions laughed uproariously. Ah, the olden days. Back when the government provided pathetic attempts to thwart the ex-villain's schemes. Not once had they even gotten close to stopping him. The only real threats he faced were other villains trying to leech off his ideas. He couldn't really blame the government for their failures though. If they had someone as technically capable as Nefario on their side, they would've stood a better chance.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!
The radar began beeping again, this time with a much more screeching tone. Gru winced and looked down at the screen, where he spied three blinking red dots rapidly getting closer to their location. Brow furrowing, he looked back up at the carrier ship, where to his horror, a trio of high-tech drones were approaching them at speed.
Maybe he shouldn't have spoken so soon…
He immediately lifted the mask he'd concealed beneath his collar over his face, in the hopes of avoiding facial detection. After what happened at the hardware store, he wasn't taking any risks. The AVL would kill him if they found out he'd been messing with government operations. Nervously stepping back, both him and the minions watched as they thundered towards them and halted just above. For a good few seconds, they simply hovered in place.
Gru looked between each one, awaiting something to happen. He doubted these were being used for recreation purposes. It's clear by their high-tech design that they were likely equipped with some form of weaponry. Oddly enough however, it appeared they were content on just flying there. Maybe they'd been deployed to only detect the algae, like Nefario's radar.
In the matter of a second, a gun unloaded from underneath each of the drones, locking three laser pointers onto Gru's chest.
Maybe not…
"GO, GO, GO!"
Leaping to his left, he practically slammed into Dave's side, once again startling him into interacting with the handle. They bolted forward at speed, throwing Phil off balance and across the boat dangerously. Gru just managed to catch him before he hurtled off the boat, right as three explosive lasers fired from the drones and struck the sea behind them.
The powerful wave it created very nearly toppled the speed boat, but thanks to some good maneuvering from Dave, they stayed upright. Gru released Phil and dug into his jacket, where he equipped his oh-so-famous freeze ray. Looking up, he watched as the three drones abruptly spun to face them, laser pointers itching to lock on.
With incredible accuracy, he shot the one in the middle, trapping it in a block of ice. It swiftly fell from the sky and down into the sea, where it landed with a splash and began to sink helplessly. He had no time to celebrate however, since a member of their party was still under there with it.
"Dammit, what is TAKING him so long!?" His yell was followed by the firing of two other explosive lasers, which narrowly missed them and created another enormous splash in the water. Dave was forced into his second tactical maneuver to keep them afloat, as he spun the boat ninety degrees in a forceful fashion. Gru and Phil lost their balances again, but before they had the opportunity to steady themselves, the drones attempted to lock on once more…
Dru, oblivious to the happenings on the surface, finally had the seabed in sight. He grinned beneath his scuba mask and swam across the floor of rocks, sand, and seaweed. His eyes darted around at speed in search of the purple marine plant, the Arkillium Macroalgae. For a short while, he couldn't find it, and knowing that he should probably move fast when the government were also searching around, he was growing nervous.
But then, he spotted it. Sat in a bed of other strange seaweed plants was the exact one that Dr. Nefario had shown him on his 3D holographic device. Beaming, he lunged his arms through the water to approach it swiftly. He removed a small vial from his back pocket and delicately plucked the plant out, where he took a moment to simply gawk at it. Then, upon securing it inside the vial, he turned his attention upwards and started his ascent to the surface.
It took him another short while to make the distance back to the top. Right as he was about to finally rise from beneath, a huge burst of bubbles boomed downwards to his left, frightening him into pausing. He could've sworn that was an explosion. What the heck was happening up there? Worried for his brother, he continued swimming up, this time at a much quicker pace.
He resurfaced to find two high-tech drones hovering a few meters in front of him. They were using laser pointers to target their speed boat, which Dave was sailing around at an unprecedented pace. Gru, who was struggling to stay on his feet, noticed his brother reappear on the surface and instantly slammed his freeze ray into Phil's empty palms.
"Try and shoot de drones down!" He instructed. "I'll save Dru!"
Pulling off the mouthpiece, the blonde screamed out as he waggled his arm and legs to stay afloat.
"Brother, over here!" Unfortunately, such a yell attracted the attention of one of the drones, whose laser target spun to face Dru. When he realized the red dot was now on his head, he briefly looked up and then rapidly started to swim. "QUICK! QUICKLY!"
Gru launched his torso over the side to hold his arm out, as the boat spun to head in Dru's direction. Realizing that they were still a fair distance away, and that time was likely running out, the bald man felt the panic sharply rise. "PHIL, SHOOT IT DOWN!"
"ESTOY! ESTOY!" Phil angled the freeze ray upwards and desperately tried to keep it steady. Completely rattled, the minion spent little time aiming and pressed the trigger, just hoping it'd find its target. The ray of ice shot out and only just missed the drone, whose laser barrel was following Dru as he swam. Confident that it had locked on, the drone prepared to shoot.
Phil shot once more and, this time, hit the drone dead on. It froze and fell into the sea with another big splash, causing Dru to splutter as the water drenched his face. The speed boat rushed across and gave Gru the opening to grab Dru's hand, where he pulled his brother up with all his strength. The other drone, which had gone slightly forgotten, took a shot and once again hit the water just behind them. The resulting explosion knocked the boat around for a third time, making Dru's landing a pretty painful one.
As the two brothers flopped over, a much more confident Phil stayed upright and accurately pointed the freeze ray. He held the trigger down and shot a massive beam from the unique weapon, making the third and final drone a much easier target. It quickly joined its counterparts in the ocean, where its frozen form sank into the depths.
To ensure that no backup arrived, Dave sharply spun the boat around yet again and headed back for shore. Gru immediately removed his mask and turned to his brother, who leaped to his feet in joy. "Did yoo get it!? Please tell me yoo have got it!"
"Oh, I DO alright!" Dru dived into his pocket and presented the glass vial to him, which did indeed contain the Arkillium Macroalgae. The relief in Gru's face was palpable. "MISSION SUCCESS!"
"Nice work!"
In celebration, Gru also leaped up, where he went to give his twin a high-five. However, having other ideas, the blonde pulled him in for a tight victory hug, startling him greatly. He should be used to the man's overzealous embraces by now, but it seemed such a feat was impossible. In fairness, he didn't particularly mind. This had been a lot more action-packed and thrilling than he originally believed.
Now, to return to the beach and pretend like none of this had ever happened…
"We probably could've just told 'em what we're doing." Jack thought aloud. "We didn't need to make up an excuse."
He and Edith were approaching the large rock piles near the cliff, a hearty spring in the latter's step. The piles were near eleven feet in height, a rather impressive feat when you consider that each one of them were a natural formation. According to the information board nearby, they'd broken off from the cliff walls and fell perfectly onto the beach in six masses, where they now served as a daring challenge for parkour lovers.
"Nuh-uh, mom and dad can't find out about the riddles! What if they try to solve it before us!?" Edith rebutted, coming to a stop just as they got to the rocks. Twisting around to her brother, she pointed from her chest up to him. "This has gotta stay between me and you."
Jack stopped alongside her, failing to hold back his appreciative smile. Ever since they'd been reunited, he'd looked forward to the day they could fight villains together as siblings. Never did he think the opportunity could come so soon. Despite the fact that this case will probably end in quite an anti-climactic fashion, he wasn't about to complain…
"Sounds good to me." He replied with a slight chuckle, lifting his head to observe the rock pile. "So, ya think the riddle is on top of one of these?"
"It's gotta be!" Edith reached into her pocket and took out the previous riddle, where she silently read it over once more. After confirming for the seventh time that day, she reached out her hand and offered it to Jack. "It literally says 'check the peak' and 'the rocks', where else could it be?"
The teen took it from the little girl and read it for himself again. There likely wasn't any point in him thinking about it, considering that Edith had been their only source of breakthroughs thus far, but there wasn't any harm in trying. It was safe to say that, without a proper education in his youth, he wasn't a very 'puzzle solving' kind of guy.
You solved it well, your mind is grand
Now head on forth beside the sand
Do look around and check the peak
The Rocks once stood to fight the weak
Jack shrugged, mostly to himself. She must be right, he supposed. Unless there was a critical flaw in their line of thinking, this couldn't be referencing anything else at the beach.
"These things are pretty tall…" Edith commented lowly, surveying the top of each one. She was hoping to spot the next riddle without having to check the top at a close distance. Based on her lack of luck, it appeared she had no other choice. Turning to Jack, she pointed upwards. "Lemme get a closer look."
Somewhat puzzled, Jack diverted his attention from the laminated paper in his hands to look down at the girl, who only glared up at him impatiently. Glancing at the rocks, he realized what she wanted and got down on one knee, where she walked around and climbed up his back. Once sat on his shoulders, the teen stood up and approached the first pile.
Edith reached forward and began her meticulous search. Thankfully, as most of them were quite small, she had the strength to lift up the rocks and check beneath each one individually for the riddle. Unfortunately, despite her efforts, it wasn't to be found on the first rocky tower. Moving to the next pile, they continued the hunt.
Ten minutes passed, and they were yet to find the riddle. The concern on their faces was palpable when they got to the sixth and final pile, still empty-handed. Edith spent a good three minutes checking under the rocks on this occasion, even lifting ones she'd already searched beneath. When it was clear that the riddle wasn't here either, the frown on the ten-year-old's face was poisonous.
"Edith?" Jack eventually inquired, after another minute of aimless rock lifting. "Have you found it?"
"Does it look like I've found it!?" She snapped back, little fingers almost hurling the rocks out of the way in frustration. The teen frowned at her tetchy response but was unable to utter a word before she huffed and threw her hands into the air. "T-this…this doesn't make any sense! It has to be here!"
"Well, we've searched every single one…" He looked around between all the piles she had thoroughly dug through. Any longer and they would've been reduced to ten feet in height. They'd likely get in trouble if they ransacked through them any further. "If you haven't found it, then it can't be here."
With the both of them sighing, Jack got back on his knee and let Edith climb down onto her feet, where she promptly held her hand out again. "Gimme the riddle."
Jack obliged and handed it to her. The young girl read through every single line yet again, her brain running a million miles an hour as it tried to piece them together in a way that made sense. There weren't any other rocks around here, not enough to constitute a peak anyway. Where else could they go that was 'beside the sand'? For that matter, who were the weak that were being fought? What was it talking about!?
Completely bereft of ideas, she looked up at her brother helplessly. Jack found the expression way too reminiscent of her sorrowful look on the backyard two nights back, a reminder that stung his heart just the same. It was clear this entire 'treasure hunt' was an important hurdle for the child to cross, so this failure was evidently hard to swallow.
"Look, it's fine. We'll find this riddle eventually." He reassured. "We were just wrong, that's all. It doesn't mean we should give up."
"But…what about my dream?" She looked around all the rock piles again, on the off chance that her gaze would spot the riddle in a place she accidentally hadn't checked. That never happened. "It said it was right here."
"Well, sometimes…" Jack looked down at the floor for a quick moment. "Dreams…lie to us."
There was a brief silence, where the teen could only look into his sister's irritated, yet obviously saddened eyes with his own batch of dejection. It was clear they weren't getting anywhere here, so maybe a little resupply of energy was what their overworked brains needed.
"Come on, let's go get some ice cream." He said, nodding behind him. "That'll help us clear our heads."
Edith was reluctant, but with a hand devoid of new riddles, she nodded to the proposal.
Five minutes later, she was slumped on a bench near the sand, glaring down at the floor with a scowl. She couldn't deny how frustrated she felt right now. It wasn't just the fact that she got it wrong, but also the fact that she had absolutely no idea where the riddle could possibly be. It must be around here, but with so much beach to cover, she had no idea where to begin.
After a short trip to the ice cream van, Jack wandered over to the young girl with two cones of the sweet treat, one of which he offered to her. Edith took it and began aggressively licking the ice cream like it was the cause of all evil in the world, which drew a look from her brother as he sat down beside her.
"You're gonna give yourself brain freeze ya keep eating that fast." He said with a chuckle. The tomboy completely ignored him, so as he'd predicted, the cold pain arrived to rupture through her brain cells like a frozen earthquake.
"Ahhh!" She instantly lifted a hand to her forehead and clamped her eyes shut to focus on deterring the pain, which thankfully only lasted a few seconds. When she lowered her hand again and reopened her eyes, she found a stranger glaring at her with an irritated look, clearly startled by her yell.
Not particularly in the mood for intrusive looks, she narrowed her eyes and offered the man a hostile expression. The child's sudden ire caused him to blink and carry on his way down the path, pretending like nothing happened. Jack watched her scowl the stranger away with a humorous look. Even though he didn't like to see her this downtrodden, he was way too happy to be out of his bedroom and at the beach with his sister to conceal his glee.
"Calm down, Edith. We'll figure this out." He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, inviting her intrigued glance. However, not in the mood for pep talks, she quickly turned away again to blankly stare forward. She got back to licking her ice cream, at a slower pace this time. "Besides, it ain't a big deal. All that matters is that we're finding whoever made these riddles toge-"
"Oh my god…" She interrupted him by slamming her hand down on Jack's, making him blink in shock. Leaping onto her feet, she shot her widened glare forward, at the statue that stood around fifty meters away from them. "Look!"
She pointed up at its head frantically. Jack, very intrigued, also stood from the bench and followed her finger. Strapped to the very top of the bronze statue's head, which stood atop a concrete slab just in front of the sand, was a small piece of black duct tape. Unless they were imagining things, it looked to be the exact same size as the other riddles. Edith very briefly glanced back at her brother in excitement before rushing towards it, abandoning her ice cream.
Jack speedily followed on behind, ensuring he was there to prop his sister up so she could reach the peak again. Edith was practically hanging from his shoulders as she extended her arms out, thankfully only just being able to grab the duct tape and peel it off.
Sure enough, strapped to the bottom, was the third riddle.
"We've found it! We've found it!" She cheered elatedly, almost losing balance and toppling to the floor. Fearing losing grip on her jiggling legs, Jack quickly reached up and lifted her from his shoulders, setting her back down. She instantly leaped around in unfiltered glee, eyes locked to the next piece of this strange puzzle. "B-but I…I don't get…why is it HERE!?"
Internally asking the same question, Jack scanned the statue up and down, until his eyes landed on the plaque built into the concrete slab. Bending down, he observed it up close.
"Dedicated to the infamous Rocks brothers…" He read aloud, sharing a brief wide-eyed look with his sibling, who was still watching the newfound riddle with a delighted toothy grin. "These two generals led a small army to protect this very beach from a British invasion during the American revolution. They are credited for their overwhelming victory, making their enemies appear weak."
And with that, it all made sense.
"Cool…" Edith commented under her breath, shaking her head around emphatically. "This is so cool."
"I can't believe you spotted that." Jack complimented, once again filled with pride. So far, she was proving to be a much more valuable asset than him in this search. It seemed his only use was moral support. Despite his competitive nature, he didn't particularly mind in this instance. Maybe because Edith's victories were very much on par with his own. "Well done..."
The ten-year-old finally looked up from the riddle to give her brother a smile, who was beaming down at her. But, within a matter of a second, her gaze was once again focused on it. Carefully peeling the laminated paper away from the tape, she spun it around and scanned the back. Sure enough, that terribly messy font was present once more.
So where to next? No time to cheer
Inside the farm, it'll shine so clear
Step on the field, turn to your right
You'll find the next upon midnight
Jack leaned in closer to also observe the new riddle. The two siblings silently read it out in their heads, before turning to each other inquisitively. Edith, waiting a second to ensure she was on the right lines, eventually smiled.
"Inside the farm..." She offered a single nod. "That's where the next one is."
For the second time this week, Waker was in a public space. A much too public space. Since he could hardly afford a computer in his apartment, not in his current financial predicament anyway, the only way to do some internet research was to head to the library. Annoyingly, the closest one to him was all away across the city, near the beach. So, reluctantly, that's where he was headed.
He knew the moment he woke up this morning, when the bright shine of the sun was piercing through his window, that it would be busy here today. As he paced down the path near the sand, he literally wanted to bash his eardrums into dust to drown out the many families that were screaming and shouting around him. God, he couldn't wait to terrorize them all! It's what they deserved for spawning so much aggravation in his life.
Despite his want to speed through this crowded area as fast as possible, he did slow down somewhat when he neared the Rocks statue. He grinned when he noticed the small strip of black duct tape still strapped to its head. That plan felt so insignificant in hindsight. Even if the Gru's did fall into the trap, the outcome was nothing compared to what he was conjuring now. That riddle scheme would likely have crippled them, but his current one was going to destroy them.
"Ahhh!"
He was frightened from his thoughts by a sudden yell to his left. He turned to find a young, pink-hatted blonde girl sat on a bench with an older teenager, holding her head in pain with eyes clamped shut. Irritated that he'd been startled by a middle-schooler, he paused for a moment to glare at the child, so that when she did reopen her eyes and see him, she'd regret her abrupt shout at once.
However, instead of an apology, all he got was a more intense version of his glare. The anger the kid was showing was enough to startle him for a second time. Safe to say, he wasn't expecting a literal child to be so aggressive with a terrifying adult like himself. Puzzled, he chose to turn away and carry on down the path. Why waste time trying to scare a single person when he could be furthering his plan to scare thousands?
Arriving at the library, Waker shuffled his way through the aisles of bookshelves and over to the computer section. Taking a seat, he quickly navigated towards the internet browser. He wanted to be in and out of this place as fast as humanely possible. At least perfectly silent in here…
He needed information on Dr. Joshua's location, and with little other ideas, he hoped that browsing his name on the internet would yield some clues. Since the man had remained so elusive, there wasn't any declassified information on him that the GADD could provide. Hence, this was his only option. He started by simply typing down his name into the search bar.
Dr. Joshua
The only results were links to medical practices around town. There was apparently a fantastic orthodontist named Doctor Joshua down the street, with an abundance of five-star reviews to his name. Frowning, Waker concluded that he maybe needed to refine his search a little.
Dr. Simon Joshua
Now he was getting links to social media sites halfway across the globe, including one of a man in Portugal. Take a guess at what his name was. Despite the fact that he held a Ph.D. in biology, from what he could see on his profile, he worked as a fisherman. He had to hold back the urge to laugh. Why waste away in such a dead-end occupation when you have a valuable degree like that? Anyway, time to refine some more.
Dr. Simon Joshua IVB
In an instant, the results went blank.
Waker raised a confused eyebrow. That's strange. How did adding just three letters completely mess up the search results? It wasn't like the International Villain Brotherhood was a secretive organization anymore. They'd been known to the public for many months. Shrugging to himself, he decided upon another approach.
Dr. Simon Joshua Venin
Okay! Results this time! Unfortunately, upon inspection, they didn't appear to be very helpful. The top link was an article referencing an apparent 'technical fault' at a nearby military base, caused by a lowly villain named 'Venin'. Waker snickered. The AVL and the government did their best to cover it up, but most within the evil community knew what Venin had actually done. The US president's death, the nuclear bombs, the brainwashed army. He knew about it all.
That's what made Dr. Joshua such an exciting partner prospect. Someone who worked with the heartless Venin must be equally heartless themselves. It was insane to consider that a human could so unreservedly wish to destroy an entire nation. It was the character of a true psychopath, a man with no love or feelings at all. It was a shame that Venin had to die so soon. Regardless, he knew that Dr. Joshua could take his place and bring all of his villainous dreams to life.
But just how was he going to track him down…
"…and I was trying to explain to Sandra that it was actually her turn to change Amy's diaper, not mine." A suited man in black tinted shades sat opposite to two businessmen at a coffee shop, using conversation to ignore the pelting rain slamming against the window. "But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fool her. It was my turn, after all."
The three men chuckled in unison.
"Ah, classic Peter. Not taking responsibility ever." The man to Peter's left stated, making them all momentarily chuckle again. "We still need to meet Sandra and Amy. Three months of being pals and we've never even seen your home."
"Well, she's very much the private type…" Peter paused to take a sip of coffee. He wasn't a big fan of the caffeine-based beverage, so a glass of wine was really tickling his fancy right now. "I'll try and persuade her, but absolutely no promises."
The three smiled and fell into a short silence, where the gazes of the two businessmen veered towards the window. The rain was continuing to pick up. It wouldn't be a surprise if Detroit was put on a flood warning if this weather continued.
"What a terrible day." The man on his right commented, with a frustrated shake of the head. "Me and my daughter were thinking of flying our kites after I finished work. Looks like we'll have to wait a little while longer..."
"Oh man, you've been talking about doing that for weeks-"
Beep…
Peter was cut off when a quiet beep emitted from his glasses. Pupils darting to the top-left corner of the high-tech lens, he watched a notification panel drop down and display an orange-tinted warning. Well, it was going to happen eventually. It had been a little while since the last one of these. In all honesty, he'd been somewhat hoping for it.
Searched: Dr. Simon Joshua IVB
"Peter?" One of the men questioned. He looked down to find them both watching him, visibly puzzled by his sudden pause. "Everything okay there, buddy?"
"Oh! Yeah, sorry…" Peter stood up from the table and nodded towards the door of the café. "Do you think we could head outside? I've got something I need to show you both."
"Outside?" The man on the right glanced out of the window again. "It's raining buckets out there. Could we wait until it eases up a little?"
"It'll only be a moment." He stepped away from the table to signify the importance of following him. When they still appeared reluctant, he persuasively smiled. "C'mon, trust me. It's going to blow your minds, I promise."
The businessmen offered each other a quick look. Grinning, they shuffled back into their jackets and followed Peter out of the building. He took them down the block and into a thin alleyway, where he briefly arched his head up to spy the roofs of the buildings. No surveillance...
"Where are we going?" One of the men asked, as they followed him past the trash cans.
"Just down here. It's only up ahead." They reached the end of the alley and rounded the corner into a barren clearing. "I was going for a stroll and found a cozy little park. I was thinking of bringing Amy down here and-"
BANG, BANG!
Dr. Joshua spun around and shot the two men dead.
Pocketing his pistol again, he pressed the side of his glasses and noted the IP address that flashed up on the thin screen inside. It's quite a few states away. He'd need another fake identity for the train. He'll also need to make a brief stop off at the hideout. He didn't have many belongings, so carrying them will be little issue during his journey…
To the other side of the country.
My eyes were locked on the poorly performing computer screen. It had been a nightmare trying to navigate through the firewall of the town's newspaper column, to the point where it had taken well over an hour to breakthrough. It wasn't that the security was anything special, it was the extremely slow CPU that was turning this into an arduous task. Much more arduous than it needed to be.
"Stupid little…" I grumbled beneath my breath, bashing my fingers upon the sticky keyboard. "You're absolutely useless."
At that moment, my wife entered the room and tip-toed over the tattered clothing and random piles of garbage that littered the living room floor. She approached me at the computer and took a seat beside me, as I continued typing commands into the terminal.
"I've just put her to bed." She informed quietly, her eyes watching the screen in interest. "Let me know when you're finished, and we can…"
Her words trailed off. Throughout the time where I'd began hacking the local newspaper's computer system to ensure tomorrow's car crash was reported as an accident, I hadn't once taken my eye off the screen. When she made that comment, I couldn't help myself. I turned to her sorrowfully, as she responded with a pained look of her own.
No words were spoken. When they finally were, the subject had been changed.
"Did you check the orphanages?" She asked.
"Yeah, it works how I thought." I got back to typing, wanting to get this over and done with. This was already a difficult night, sitting here at this painfully slow computer wasn't helping in the slightest. "There shouldn't be any problems there."
"Good. That's…good." She glanced away for a few moments. A photo frame on the coffee table caught in her eye. The day they'd returned from the hospital, with the little girl they'd dreamed of having together, felt like just yesterday. "Look, I know…he's made it a little difficult for us. But thank you for listening to me."
"A little difficult?" I repeated, eyes not diverting from the screen, despite how outrageous that understatement was. "Look around. Look at all the problems he's caused us. At the dump of a house we live in. He did this to us. We'd be a lot better off right now if you'd just let me get rid of him."
"He's still our child, whether we like it or not." She stated directly. That comment caused me to pause for a second, to release an angered huff. Is a child really your child if you never wanted them? "Besides, we've found a better way to do it. Once we leave tomorrow morning, we'll never have to deal with him again."
"I guess you're correct." I replied, as I entered the final command into the system, making a beep emit from the bulky computer. Turning around in the chair, I nodded at my spouse, who swapped a very nervous look between me and the screen. "So, let's get the hard part done first…"
With slight reluctance, we silently rose from the desk and left the room for the upstairs bedrooms. We walked past the first without even a glance. Was he even home? Who really cares? No, I would much rather concern myself with the little toddler that was fast asleep in her cot, oblivious to the unexpected turn that her life was soon to take.
When we reached her bedroom and moved over to the girl that was stone-cold asleep, we simultaneously kneeled and looked into her closed eyes, both our hearts aching in unison. What we would do tomorrow would certainly negatively affect her. What we would do tomorrow would change her whole life.
But it must be done. For so long now, we have been stewing in this unbearable way of life. No longer would we suffer through this poverty. It will be difficult, but once our riches have been obtained, they can finally be a family. A proper family…
…completely devoid of mistakes.
"My precious little gem." I spoke, stroking the little girl's short hair gently, fearful of disturbing her peace. "You're so beautiful. Look just like your daddy." I chuckled a little, a tinge of sorrow present within my voice. "You're gonna grow into such a great person, I know you will."
"We love you with all of our hearts." My wife whispered, planting a very light kiss upon her forehead. "I'm so sorry we have to leave you like this. But you'll be safe. We promise you."
The two of us stayed there for a further forty seconds, simply watching the little girl. We reached for each other's hands and held them together tightly, turning to each other with solemn looks. Her voice choking, the woman wiped away the small tears forming in her eyes and stood up again.
"Goodnight, my little angel."
As she turned and left the room with her fists balled, a method of containing her emotional breakdown, I didn't move an inch, instead opting to stay there and watch her for a little while longer. Even though we'd still see her in the morning, even though this was not the last time we'd be together, it hurt to know that this was the last goodnight I'd ever wish my little girl.
"We'll see you again. I promise…"
After a moment of hesitation, I stood and followed my wife out of the room, right after planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. I had never, in my entire life, felt so weak and helpless. I knew I was a strong individual. Given the opportunity, I could cause complete chaos. But as I approached the room's exit, it was almost like that part of my being was erased. Glancing back, I only just managed to choke out the final word.
"Goodnight…"
I closed the door, leaving Edith in complete darkness.
Alone…
And there we have it! Another chapter complete!
So I'm sure you've noticed at this point, but a big part of this story is to more thoroughly expand upon the lore of this ridiculously big AU I've created haha. The idea of Down The Bloodline started as just 'what if Edith had a long-lost biological brother', then it became the IVB and Venin and brainwashing and all these OCs and…it's kinda crazy lol. I hope I'm not making things too complicated or anything. Above all else, I just wanna provide a fun and dramatic read for a franchise that I hold so close to my heart.
Anyways, I'm gonna put my head down and hopefully return with another installment soon. Ciao for now :)
