Chapter 27: Family Cookout
Buried in the confines of the Syndicate's volcano base, Gru sat in the room that had been provided to him, which was essentially little more than a concrete closet barely large enough to fit the simple cot he was using as a makeshift chair, and an even smaller bathroom, illuminated by a fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling. Though he was sitting still, Gru's mind was running a mile a minute as he pondered what he had been told. He was pulled out of his thoughts, however, by a knock on the room's metal door.
Standing up, Gru made his way over to the door and opened it, finding Lucy standing on the other side.
"We need to talk," Lucy said as she pushed past Gru into the room.
"Funny, that's what I was just theenkeeng," Gru replied as he closed the door and turned to face Lucy.
"So, I feel like it goes without saying that we have a situation here," Lucy said as she spun on her heel to face Gru.
"Oh, are you talkeeng about how the leader of a group of dangerous supervillains just asked me to kidnap Mr. Incredible's son?" Gru questioned sarcastically, "Because, honestly, that deedn't seem like a beeg deal to me."
Lucy's only response was to shoot a withering glare at Gru.
"So, what are we goeeng to do now?" Gru inquired as he sat on his bed, "I imagine thees ees the part where you whip out some kind of super advanced communication device deesguised as your shoe or sometheeng to call een the AVL and take these guys down, right?"
"What?" Lucy replied as she looked at Gru in confusion, "No, of course I don't have anything like that on me!"
"What?" Gru echoed as he looked back at her with a similar expression of bafflement, "What do you mean!?"
"I mean, I was the one that the Syndicate had no prior experience with and thus the one they were most likely to search," Lucy explained in irritation, "So there was no way we could take the risk of them finding any kind of tracker or communication device on me. And trust me, they looked."
"So what was the plan then!?" Gru questioned in exasperation, "We contact the AVL through messenger peegeon!?"
"Look, I don't have any kind of tracker, but I know how to make one," Lucy answered after taking a calming breath, "One that the AVL will be specifically looking for and that I can make out of parts that shouldn't be missed."
"Well, then build eet already!" Gru encouraged.
"It's not that simple," Lucy replied with a sigh, "The device isn't going to produce a signal strong enough to punch through the rock walls of this place and I don't have enough time to build it before Enigma is going to ship us out."
"So," Gru groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "We are back to square one. Which means we don't have a plan at all."
"No, but I have an idea," Lucy admitted hesitantly.
"Well, come on then," Gru said as he gestured for Lucy to continue, "I'm willing to leesten to anything you have to say."
"We kidnap Jackson Parr," Lucy stated bluntly.
"Except that," Gru replied, his eyes going wide, "That ees a terrible idea."
"It's the only idea we've got," Lucy argued with a sigh, "Like I said, we don't have the time or ability to get a message to the AVL, so the only option that we have that doesn't, in turn, get us killed is to go along with what Enigma wants."
"You say that this will not get us keelled, but you are forgetteeng that what Enigma wants us to do is kidnap Mr. Incredible's child!" Gru growled, his tone getting more aggravated with every word, "A man who could snap me like a twig, to say notheeng about what the rest of hees family will do to me eef we get caught!"
"Well then, I guess you had better not get caught," Lucy replied, speaking as though she was talking to a child.
There was a pause in the conversation, as Gru desperately tried to think of a retort to this.
"I guess!" Gru finally said as threw his hands into the air in defeat.
"Look, I get it, this is a shit situation," Lucy said with a sigh, "But if there's anyone who can pull this off, it's you."
"What makes you say that?" Gru questioned, arching an eyebrow at Lucy in confusion.
"I mean, you're Felonious Gru," Lucy replied with a smirk as she gestured at him, "You're one of the great all-time villains."
"Oh, you're just tryeeng to butter me up," Gru countered with a dismissive roll of his eyes.
"No, I'm serious," Lucy assured him, "I mean, you're the guy who stole the moon. And that was just the grande finale to an amazing career. I mean, how many people can say they stole the Crown Jewels when they were ten? Or being the only non-super powered villain to ever escape Metro Man?"
"Yeah, that was pretty good, wasn't eet?" Gru agreed as he chuckled at the memory before a thought seemed to occur to him, "You seem to know an awful lot about me."
"Well, I mean, I am an AVL agent," Lucy replied, expression turning embarrassed, "I've, you know, read your file."
"That's true," Gru allowed while smiling knowingly, "But I don't theenk the average AVL agent has my file memorized like that."
"Okay, fine," Lucy replied with a roll of her eyes, "But don't go flattering yourself, I have all the villains' files memorized."
"Except for that freaking memo they stuck in Megamind's file without telling me," Lucy added under her breath.
"That seems like a lot of dedication, even for someone weeth your job," Gru observed as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.
"Well, I've always had a bit of an obsession with supervillains," Lucy explained, her expression becoming more subdued as she talked, "It's how I ended up in the AVL."
"What, were you some kind of superveellain groupie when you were younger?" Gru joked with a chuckle.
"No, it's because a supervillain killed my parents right in front of me when I was six," Lucy answered plainly, not looking at Gru as she spoke.
An awkward silence seems to stretch on for eternity between them after that revelation as Gru stared at Lucy in shock while she continued looking at one of the blank walls.
"Well, that was….not what I was expecteeng you to say," Gru said, breaking the silence.
"Obviously not," Lucy agreed with a derisive snort as she looked at Gru, "I mean, didn't you ever wonder why Mirage and I were friends?"
"I actually never really considered eet," Gru admitted with an awkward shrug, prompting Lucy to roll her eyes and look away from him again.
"So…" Gru began again, hesitantly, "Was eet-"
"Scarlet Overkill," Lucy interrupted, her tone clipped, "It was Scarlet Overkill. She blew up the restaurant they were in while escaping from the police. Doubt she ever gave a second thought to who was in there."
"Scarlet Overkill?" Gru repeated, his brow furrowing in confusion, "Eef she's the one who keelled your parents, then why take her name?"
"Irony, I guess?" Lucy answered with a shrug and a dark chuckle, "To tell the truth, I don't know why I said that. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing. I mean, maybe, since I never got to face her, tarnishing her name is the next best thing."
Another silence fell over the room, though it was not as uncomfortable as the one before.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your parents," Gru said sympathetically, "Scarlet was the worst kind of veellain. She took sick pleasure een hurteeng other people. We're better off weethout her."
"I remember your file saying you didn't care for violence much," Lucy observed with a smirk.
"Not when eet's unnecessary," Gru replied with a shrug, "And eet's unnecessary more often than you'd theenk. I mean, I'm the one who stole the Moon, after all, and nobody died dureeng that."
"Except for Vector," Lucy countered with an arched brow.
"Eh," Gru said with another shrug, "He brought that on heemself."
"So, you're the master villain here," Lucy prompted, "How do we kidnap Jackson Parr while leaving a trail for the AVL to follow, all while ensuring no one, including us, gets killed."
Gru fell silent for a moment, his expression lost in thought. Then, slowly, he raised his head, a gleam in his eyes.
"I have an idea."
Later,
"So, um, how do I look?" Fred asked as he stood outside the Parr family household alongside Violet, dressed in a button-up shirt and dark blue jeans, and sans his normal ski cap, his long hair carefully combed.
"Honestly, you look a little overdressed," Violet replied with a teasing smile, dressed in a purple t-shirt with lace sleeves, and blue ripped jeans, "This is a barbeque."
"I mean, yeah," Fred agreed with a nervous laugh, "I'm just nervous to be at your house for the first time."
"Why?" Violet asked in confusion, "You've already met my entire family. My mom was the one who invited you today."
"I know," Fred replied as he scratched the back of his head nervously, "But, well….your dad…."
"Scares you?" Violet replied with a bemused smile and a roll of her eyes.
"I mean, he's a mountain that walks like a man," Fred explained, "But also, he's freaking Mr. Incredible. I'm both terrified and in awe of him. Your mom too. So, you know, I want to put my best foot forward."
"I mean, my dad saved you from getting crushed by Oni, I think you're kind of past that," Violet replied as she looped her arm around one of Fred's, "But all that should matter to them is that you're my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend, huh?" Fred asked, looking her in the eye as he gave her a small smile, "Is that...what we want to be?"
"I mean," Violet mumbled, turning her gaze away and shrinking in on herself as she talked, "Neither of us are dating anybody else, and we've gone on a couple of dates now, so I figured why not make it official, right?"
"Yeah," Fred agreed, nodding as his smile grew, "I think that's a great idea."
"Well then," Violet replied, lighting up at his response as she leaned in closer, "Maybe we should seal the deal?"
In reply, Fred leaned in closer, both of them closing their eyes as they prepared to share a kiss. Before they could though, a sudden whoosh of air interrupted them as Dash suddenly appeared besides them.
"There you are, Vi!" Dash exclaimed as he looked at his sister, "Mom wanted your help setting the table."
At that moment, Dash seemed to notice Fred for the first time and smiled at the young man.
"Oh, hey Fred!" Dash greeted before pausing as he looked Fred over with a look of confusion, "Why are you all dressed up?"
"Uh, you know," Fred replied with an embarrassed shrug as Violet pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance, "Wanted to make a good impression."
With that, the three of them began making their way into the house. Unbeknownst to any of them, sitting in a nondescript car a few yards away, Gru and Lucy watched them go.
"Well, we're in the right place," Lucy commented as she watched Fred, Violet and Dash reenter the house, "But now what?"
"Well, we eeneetiate the second phase of the plan," Gru explained as he scanned the street with his eyes.
"And what would that be?" Lucy inquired as she quirked an eyebrow at Gru.
"We distract anyone who may get een our way," Gru elaborated.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Lucy pressed.
In response, Gru pointed through the windshield. Looking in the indicated direction, Lucy watched as a trio of trash cans sitting on the side of the road a few yards down the street suddenly stood up and began hustling across the road on small booted feet.
"Are those some of your…." Lucy began to question in bewilderment.
"Minions?" Gru provided with a giggle, "Yeah, that's Kevin, Stuart and Bob. They're my top guys."
As Gru said this, one of the Minion's tripped over his own feet and crashed down onto the street with a loud clang. Sticking his head out of the hollow bottom, he spotted Gru and Lucy watching him, and gave them a quick wave and an awkward smile before quickly redonning his disguise and hustling to catch up with the other Minions.
"Top guys?" Lucy questioned as she quirked an eyebrow at Gru.
"Eet's a relateeve term," Gru admitted with a look of chagrin, "Anyway, Bob's great with keeds, so we'll have heem lure Jack out of the house where we'll grab him while Kevin and Stuart provide a distraction to cover our escape."
"That does seem like a pretty solid plan," Lucy admitted though uncertainty was still written across her features, "You think your "top guys" can pull it off?"
"Of course!" Gru replied, before a worried look crossed his face and he muttered, "Probably."
Meanwhile, in the backyard of the house, Bob Parr stood before a burning grill situated on a wooden deck, whistling happily to himself as he flipped over a burger patty. He was dressed in a red t-shirt and brown cargo shorts, over which he sported a black apron that had the words "Grill Master" embroidered on the front. At the same time, Jack-Jack, dressed in black and blue Metro City Masterminds baseball team t-shirt and dark blue cargo shorts, was playing on a swing set in the back corner of the yard.
"Fred," Helen, dressed in a sleeveless red and white blouse and white capri pants, said as she opened the door to the backyard and stepped through, followed by Dash, Violet and Fred, who was busy carrying a large stack of plates, "You're a guest. You shouldn't be helping set the table."
"It's fine, really," Fred argued as he set the plates down on the patio table, "I'm happy to make myself useful."
"And here I would have figured you'd have been spoiled growing up with a butler," Bob chuckled as he turned away from the grill and held his hand out towards the young man, "Good to see you again, Fred."
"It's nice to see you again, uh, Mr. Parr," Fred replied as she shook Bob's hand.
"Oh please, none of that," Bob laughed as he waved his free hand at Fred, "We're coworkers. Call me Bob."
"Uh sure….Bob," Fred said, before making a face as if something had tasted weird, "That doesn't feel right."
"You'll get used to it," Bob replied with another laugh as he gave Fred a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Jack-Jack!" Helen called to her youngest son, "Go wash up! Dinner's almost ready!"
"Okay Mommy!" Jack-Jack replied as he leapt off the swing at the highest point of its arc and took off running towards the house as he landed. Pushing his way past Fred and the rest of his family, Jack-Jack made his way into the house, making a beeline towards the first floor bathroom. Before he reached it though, a noise caught Jack-Jack's attention and stopped him dead in his tracks.
His brow furrowing in confusion, Jack-Jack followed the noise, which sounded like someone softly singing to themselves, and found himself in the living room. There, sitting on the carpeted floor in the middle of the room, was the Minion Bob, who was singing quietly to himself as he played with a teddy bear.
"Um, hello?" Jack-Jack called from the doorway, a look of complete bafflement on his face.
"Oh!" Bob exclaimed in surprise before he looked over at Jack-Jack and waved friendly, "Bello!"
"Who are you?" Jack-Jack questioned as he stepped inside, "Why are you in my house?"
"Oh!" Bob said again as he quickly hopped to his feet and put a hand to his chest, "Bob."
"Your name is Bob?" Jack-Jack questioned as an amused smile tugged at his mouth, "That's my daddy's name too!"
"Da, Bob," Bob confirmed with a giggle.
"What are you doing in my house?" Jack-Jack asked again before a look of realization struck him, "Are you lost?"
"Da, da," Bob answered with a nod, "Los."
"Well, I can help you," Jack-Jack offered before puffing out his chest, "I'm a superhero, you know."
As Jack-Jack said this, a look of terror slammed onto his features.
"Don't tell anyone though!" Jack-Jack pleaded, his voice dropping to a whisper, "My mommy gets mad when I say that. I'm supposed to have a secret indemnity."
"Da, zip," Bob agreed as he mimed zipping his mouth closed, before reaching out and taking Jack-Jack's hand, "Vamos la!"
Grinning broadly, Jack-Jack took Bob's hand and followed him towards the front door.
Meanwhile, on the back deck, Fred had sat at the table with Helen, Violet and Dash while their father returned to the grill.
"Hey," Violet whispered as she leaned over to Fred, "Relax. You're as stiff as a board."
"I am relaxed," Fred muttered in return, "I just don't know what to say."
"Well, Violet has mentioned you're kind of a superhero fan, especially of the time before the Super Ban," Helen observed with a smile,smirking as Fred and Violet realized she had overheard them, "I'm sure you must have some questions for me and Bob."
"Well, I mean, I guess there's a question that I've always wanted the answer to," Fred replied hesitantly, "I always figured Dash and Violet got their powers because you were their parents, but how did you two get them?"
"Ah, the origin story," Bob commented with a chuckle, "Classic."
"One that we always used to get asked but we couldn't always answer," Helen added, "Usually too much risk we might give something away that would let people figure out our secret identities."
"But, we don't have to worry about that with you," Bob continued, "So might as well share. For me, I was part of a military experiment to create super soldiers. Make us bigger, stronger, tougher, that sort of thing."
"Wow," Fred commented as he blinked in surprise, "So, obviously that worked. Were you like, a little guy before that?"
"No," Bob replied with an amused snort, "I used to be a linebacker back in high school. No, they picked me as the first guinea pig because they figured I was in better shape to handle things if it all went wrong."
"Well, obviously it didn't," Fred observed, "So, why aren't there a bunch of giant dudes working for the military these days?"
"Well, the problem wasn't the outcome," Bob explained as he began scooping the burger patties off the grill and putting them on a plate, "The problem was that the machine needed for the process, something called a gene resequencer, turned out to be unstable. Right after it finished giving me my powers, the thing blew skyhigh."
Sighing sadly, Bob walked over to the table and placed the plate of burgers at the center.
"A lot of good people died that day, including the head researcher," Bob went on with a sad shake of his head, "But in the end, I emerged from the wreckage without a scratch, and I've been like this ever since."
"Wow," Fred whispered in awe, "And no one ever tried to recreate the machine?"
"The problem was that the first one was a recreation, but there have been a few tries," Bob admitted with a nod of his head, "But they never worked right. Most never even worked at all, and the few that did had some….less than stellar results. I should know, I had to throw down with a couple of them."
"So, how come you're not still working for the military?" Fred inquired.
"You can thank General Monger for that," Bob explained with a smirk, "He was in charge of the project back in the day, and when he realized that they weren't going to be able to replicate what they did to me, he figured I could do more good without the bureaucratic red tape of having a chain of command, so he pulled some strings to get me discharged. Even gave me my first suit."
"I take it the Army didn't really agree with that," Fred observed.
"Hell no," Bob confirmed with a snort of amusement, "But by the time they figured out what he was doing, I was already long gone. Didn't save him though, and they shipped him off to what they thought was a dead end command at the time."
"Guarding the monsters in Area 51," Fred said with a look of understanding.
"Exactly," Bob replied with a smile, "Honestly, it seems like he learned from what happened with me and was able to turn the whole thing to his advantage."
"So that's why you've been taking Susan under your wing since they put this team together," Violet spoke up as a look of realization crossed her face, "You think she's like a little you. That's cute, Dad."
Bob could only roll his eyes as Helen reached out and laid a hand on his arm while smiling in amusement.
"My origin has a lot less political intrigue to it," Helen said as she turned her attention to Fred, "Mine was a lab accident."
"So, you're a scientist?" Fred inquired.
"Not exactly," Helen admitted with a look of chagrin, "You see, as teen I ran with some….not so nice folks."
"What my wife is trying to say is she was a punk in every sense of the word," Bob explained with an amused smirk.
"Laugh it up, soldier boy," Helen countered with a small smile and a roll of her eyes, "Anyway, my friends and I heard about strange things going on at this research company out in the desert at the edge of town, so we decided to break in and see what sort of trouble we could get into. Unfortunately, said trouble ended up being my boyfriend at the time deciding to mess around with what turned out to be an experimental rocket. Some egghead had got it into his head that he could break the speed of light, and they were about to test it. We got caught and in the commotion of trying to escape, I got trapped in the cockpit and the engine started."
"What happened?" Fred asked, his expression intrigued.
"Well, I didn't go faster than the speed of light, I'll tell you that much," Helen explained with a sigh, "The rocket didn't end up going anywhere. Someone had got something wrong in the design and instead of moving anywhere, the engine generated a min-black hole, which started pulling everything within twenty feet or so inside."
"Wow," Fred gasped, "How did you survive that?"
"No thanks to my so called friends," Helen grumbled bitterly, "They left me for dead, and I would have been a goner if it weren't for the guy who was supposed to test pilot that deathtrap, Joseph "Snug" Porter. I was able to get out of the cockpit as the whole thing collapsed around me, but I wasn't able to get away before it started sucking me in. Snug managed to grab my hand and brace himself to keep from being dragged in, but the hole already had a hold of me too and…."
Helen trailed off as her face took on a haunted expression.
"Mom?" Violet asked, concern in her voice as Bob reached out and took his wife's hand.
"The scientific term is spaghettification," Helen continued after a moment, her eyes looking at nothing in particular, "It sounds ridiculous, but essentially it's how a black hole reels you in, stretching you out atom by atom into a long line. That's what happened to me as Snug held on to my hand. Every part of me, inch by inch, was stretched out as I was pulled into that hole. It was the single most painful experience of my entire life."
The rest of the table fell silent as Helen squeezed Bob's hand.
"In the end, what ultimately saved my life wasn't Snug holding on to me, but the miniature black hole collapsing in on itself," Helen went on, "But that didn't fix what it had done to me, and so now there I was, this teenage girl stretched out over twenty feet of concrete floor, somehow breathing through lungs a quarter-inch thick."
"How did you survive?" Fred whispered in shock.
"Well, while that black hole was pulling me in, it turns out it was spewing out something called dark matter," Helen explained, "I don't really understand the physics of it, but basically, it mutated me, changed my body to adapt to this new state. But that was only part of the survival. I spent six months in that lab after that night, being cared for by Snug and the scientist who had designed the rocket as I learned to, well, pull myself back together."
"What did you do after that?" Fred inquired.
"Once I had my new powers figured out, I decided to go pay my old "friends" a visit," Helen explained, "Took advantage of the fact they thought I was dead to hide my identity. Almost brought our old hangout down on top of them in the process. Word got to the news and they dubbed me "Elastigirl". By that point, I decided I liked this whole "crime fighting" thing and took the Elastigirl name for myself. Snug and the scientist helped me get started and the rest, as they say, is history."
"Wow, those stories were everybit as cool as I hoped they would be," Fred commented as he sat back in his chair with a look of wonder on his face, "I wish my origin story was half as cool as those. All I got was, "Yeah, my Dad's a superhero, but all my equipment actually comes from this smart kid I know.""
"Your origin story is plenty cool," Violet replied as she playfully bumped him with her elbow, "Better than, "Your mom and dad were superheroes, so now you've got powers too.""
"You know, I've always kind of wondered what was up with that," Fred said as he looked at Violet and Dash with a furrowed brow, "Like your powers are nothing like your parents'."
"From what I understand, that has less to do with Helen and I's genetics and more with the combination of things that gave us our powers in the first place," Bob explained, "Something about the combination of dark matter and super science caused the kids to end up with a random draw when it came to superpowers."
"Some more than others, if you take Jack-Jack into account," Dash commented with a chuckle.
"Speaking of Jack-Jack, where is he?" Helen questioned as she looked around in confusion, "I told him to go wash his hands a while ago."
"I'll go check on him," Fred offers as he rises to his feet, "I'm sure he just got distracted by a toy or something."
"Thank you, Fred," Helen replied gratefully, giving the young man a smile as he made his way back into the house.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a pair of Minions snuck their way around the deck, creeping towards the grill, tools in their hands.
"Hey Jack-Jack, where are you?" Fred called as he began wandering towards the living room, "Your mom wants you to come eat!"
Reaching the front of the house, Fred glanced into the living room, noting the toys sitting forgotten on the floor but otherwise spotting no sign of Jack-Jack. Looking towards the front door, Fred noted that it was open. His brow furrowing in confusion, Fred stepped up to the open door and looked around, quickly spotting Jack-Jack crossing the street with Bob the Minion, the pair walking hand in hand. His eyes widening in surprise, Fred looked towards the car the pair were walking towards and immediately made eye contact with Gru as he sat watching from the front seat of his car.
For one horrible moment, Fred and Gru did nothing but stare at each other, both of their hearts freezing in their chests as they realized what was about to happen. Tearing his gaze away from Gru, Fred looked at Jack-Jack, who had almost reached Gru's car.
"Jack-Jack!" Fred cried, causing the boy to turn around and look at the young man in confusion.
It was at that moment the grill in the backyard exploded.
As Fred looked back in startled surprise, watching a fireball plume over the house, Lucy took the opportunity to roll into the back of the car and fling open one of the car's backdoor before retrieving a cloth from her pocket, grabbing Jack-Jack from behind and wrapping the cloth around his mouth. Jack-Jack let out a muffled cry of surprise and struggled against Lucy's grip for a moment before going limp as his eyes fluttered close. Picking up the unconscious boy, Lucy pulled Jack-Jack into the car and closed the door.
"You had chloroform een your pocket!?" Gru demanded as he looked at Lucy incredulously.
"Back up plan," Lucy explained with a shrug, "Now drive!"
"Not weethout Kevin and Stuart!" Gru answered.
"Wait!" Fred shouted as he turned back to the car and took off across the lawn towards the vehicle.
Before he got too far, however, the two other Minions came running around the house. Spotting Fred racing towards Gru's car, the Minions altered their course towards the young man. Reaching Fred, the Minions threw themselves into the young man's legs, sending Fred flipping into the air before he landed hard on his back, knocking the breath out of his lungs.
"Come on, come on!" Lucy called as she opened the back door again to allow the two Minions to leap inside while Fred pushed himself up into a seat position.
In the backyard, a cloud of ugly black smoke emanated from the ruined remains of the grill. Quickly, the cloud dissipated, revealing the Parr family surrounded by a forcefield dome, the scorch marks forming a perfect circle around the patio table, with Violet standing at the center of it, her hands raised.
"Is everyone okay?" Violet questioned as she lowered her arms and looked at the rest of her family.
"Yeah, I think so," Bob replied as he glanced between the other members of his family.
"What about Fred and Jack-Jack?" Helen questioned as she looked around wildly, "Where are they?"
"Wait!" Fred's voice floated in from the other side of the house, "Stop!"
The Parrs looked at each other in confusion and concern before Dash disappeared in a blur of motion and a burst of air. A moment later, Dash came to a stop next to Fred, kneeling down next to the young man as he sat on the lawn.
"Dude, you okay?" Dash questioned as he looked at Fred in concern.
"I'm fine!" Fred insisted as he pointed at Gru's car, "But they've got your brother!"
"What!?" Dash questioned in confusion before he looked at the car and watched as Gru slammed on the gas and sent the vehicle zooming down the street. His eyes narrowing, Dash took off after the car and quickly caught up with it, jogging alongside the speeding vehicle as he looked through the back window of the car.
Spotting Jack-Jack laying unconscious in Lucy's arms, Dash's eyes went wide and he quickly grabbed the passenger door and yanked it open. On the other side, Dash found Kevin sitting in the passenger seat. The Minion locked eyes with Dash before he whipped out an high-tech, oversized gun and leveled it at the teenager. With shockingly fast reflexes, Dash dodged out of the way as Kevin pulled the trigger, sending a blob of plasma shooting out of the open doorway, which struck a car parked on the side of the road, causing it to explode in a massive fireball.
Quickly regaining his footing, Dash ran up to the driver's door and yanked it open, grabbing hold of the steering wheel before Gru could stop him and yanking it to the side. As the car veered sharply to the side, Lucy quickly thrust Jack-Jack into Bob's arms before nimbly swinging herself into the front seat and kicking Dash in the chest with both feet, forcing the young man to release the steering wheel and sending him tumbling across the road.
Slamming on the brakes, Gru skidded the car to a stop, the open driver side door facing Dash as the young man rolled to his feet. Reacting quickly, Lucy reached into Gru's pocket and pulled out a hi-tech gun that was made of a blue material and had a pair of large fans near the rear of the barrel. Pulling the trigger caused a beam of cold energy to shoot out of the weapon and strike Dash in the leg, causing a block of ice to form around the young man's leg and freeze it to the ground. Dash yelped in surprise as he was jerked to a stop and fell awkwardly to the ground.
"Come on!" Lucy shouted as she yanked the door close and rolled off of Gru, snapping him out the daze he had entered when she had suddenly plopped herself onto his lap, "That's not going to hold him for long!"
Watching as Dash began rapidly clawing at the ice holding him, Gru nodded in agreement, Gru slammed his foot on the gas pedal and swung the car around, sending the vehicle shooting back the way they had come. As they shot back towards the Parr residence, Gru's eyes widened in surprise as Violet stepped in front of the car and conjured a large forcefield before the oncoming vehicle. Rolling down a window, Lucy leaned out and aimed the freeze ray at Violet before pulling the trigger. However, as the ice beam shot out, it struck the ground a short distance in front of Violet's force field, creating a mass of ice that Lucy shaped into a ramp. Understanding what Lucy was doing, Gru slammed on the gas and drove the car up onto the ramp before launching off of it, shooting over Violet who watched with a shocked expression.
As the car slammed back onto the pavement, all of the occupants jolted in their seats before Gru reoriented the car and continued down the road at high speed. They didn't get far, however, before the car suddenly jolted to a stop, and the tires screamed as they spun in place, burning rubber against the asphalt. Looking out the back window, Lucy spotted Helen gripping the back of the car, her hands enlarged and her arms elongated while her whole body vibrated with tension. Bob stood behind her, his arms wrapped around his waist and his feet so firmly planted onto the street that cracks were forming in the asphalt.
Jerking the steering wheel from side to side, Gru did his best to shake Helen off the car, but she held firm and he only managed to swerve the car back and forth on the street.
"Violet!" Helen called as she fought to maintain her grip, "Lock it down!"
Running up next to her parents, Violet thrust her hands forward, causing a pair of force field bubbles to form around the front wheels, locking them in place and stopping the car from swerving.
"Fred!" Violet yelled to her boyfriend standing on the family lawn, "Get Jack-Jack!"
Nodding in reply, Fred rushed over to Gru's car and pulled open the backdoor, only to find Bob the Minion sitting in the seat on the other side, a bazooka-like weapon resting on his shoulder.
"Bello," Bob greeted as he pulled the trigger, causing a blob of purple goo to shoot out of the end and hit Fred in the chest, knocking the young man off of his feet and sending him crashing back onto the lawn. As Fred tried to get back up, he found that the purple goo that now covered his chest was also stuck to the lawn and holding him in place.
As the Parrs continued to hold the car, Stuart leaned out of the open door armed with what looked like a stun gun the size of a rifle. Pulling the trigger caused the two prongs at the end of the weapon to hum and spark before bolts of electricity shoot out and struck Violet in the chest, causing her to spasm in pain before she collapsed to the ground, unconscious, the forcefield bubbles around the front wheels disappearing as she did.
At the same time, Lucy rolled down her window and leaned out, armed with her glowing red pistol. Leveling it at Helen, Lucy pulled the trigger, sending a bolt of red energy shooting out and striking the other woman on the arm, causing Helen to cry out in pain and release the hold she had with one of her hands. As Helen continued to struggle to hold on to the car, she locked gazes with Lucy before the redhead pulled the trigger and shot Helen in her other hand, forcing her to let go and sending both her and Bob tumbling to the ground.
With a screech of rubber against asphalt, Gru's car went shooting down the street, Stuar pulling the passenger door closed as Lucy slid back into the car. Dash limped up next to his family, his legs still stiff, and a look of horror on his face, one he shared with the rest of his family and Fred, who was still stuck to the lawn. As Violet helped her parents up, Helen continued staring after the car as it disappeared around a corner.
Tears welling up in her eyes, Helen let out a cry of despair that echoed across the block.
A/N: Happy New Year everyone! I know it's been awhile since I updated any of my stories, but don't worry, I plan on posting a lot more this year, and we're starting here. This chapter proved to be longer than I expected but I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you all enjoyed reading it! As always feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!