Don't know how many times I'm going to have to apologize for taking so long. It's the same old excuse, blah blah blah lots of stuff going on blah blah blah.
Hope the ridiculous wait is worth it :)
Chapter Four -
The Hiking Trip
The whole of the AVL prison was completely empty. Not a single sound could be heard throughout the entire place, apart from Gru's very light and fearful footsteps, of course. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here, or what aided the decision to come here, but one thing was certain, he really wished he hadn't.
This place was beyond creepy when empty.
Thankfully, all of the lights inside the large, eerie place were on, otherwise, Gru's heart wouldn't be able to handle it. Darkness and silence is a mix for some serious, panic-attack rendering fear.
He trudged very carefully through the main hall, where the prison's reception desk and security cameras were located, trying to make as little sound as possible. All of the hundreds of TV screens that surrounded him displayed empty prison cells, which did serve to calm Gru's nerves slightly.
As long as he could see into the cells, then the fear of someone breaking free and getting to him was non-existent, since there was clearly no-one around.
Or, so he'd thought...
As he spun his gaze across the hundreds of TV screens, quickly analyzing each one, a particular one struck out to him. Upon it, the prison cell it was displaying was shrouded in a dark and blinding cloud, that was seemingly forming from nothing. From the small parts of the cell that he could see, it did still appear to be empty.
That was until a figure with dark red eyes appeared right in front of the camera, and as a faint yet extremely devilish smile formed on its face, the feed transitioned to total static...
Gru felt both his heart and stomach complete a full 360. The fright was so sudden and impacting, that his footing gave out and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. For a few seconds, he simply laid there, not wanting to stand up out of fear of coming face-to-face with that thing.
Although, at that point, he realized that laying completely still on the floor was a more vulnerable position, so he shook himself out of the anxiety and jumped back on his feet. He looked up at the security screen again, and as he predicted, it was still displaying complete static. Whatever that thing was must've deactivated the camera.
Not wanting to stay here for a moment longer, Gru spun around and made his way to the reception's exit door. He pushed himself through it and started sprinting down the long hallway behind it, trying his hardest not to look into the cells on both his left and right.
After a minute of fearful running, Gru made it to the prison's final door, which lead back into the main sector of the AVL headquarters. He grasped the handle and turned, but much to his dismay, the door wouldn't budge.
Someone, or something, had locked him in.
Panicking for his safety, Gru kicked the door with all of his strength and attempted to smash it off its hinges, but no matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn't break. It had been built to withstand anything in order to stop the prisoners from escaping, and Gru knew this, but the distress was beginning to severely affect his judgment.
Unsure of what else to do, Gru turned and spun his gaze around the hallway, trying to locate another escape route. But, as he forgot all about what he saw on the security cameras in the reception, he turned and looked inside the cell to his left, and a spur of pure dread went right through his heart.
That thing from the security camera was staring right at him. A misty cloud was floating around its feet and its entire body, apart from its face, was translucent. It was still smiling evilly, and now that Gru could see it up front and personal, he could see the blood that was dripping from its teeth.
"Hello again, Felonious." The thing said, its voice deep and dark. As it spoke, it slowly moved up closer to the cell's bars, just to frighten Gru that little bit more. Considering that it didn't seem to have any feet, it simply floated towards him. "It's been a long time."
"What de…what de hell are yoo?" Gru replied, as he subconsciously walked backward.
"What? You don't remember me?" It questioned, seeming quite offended. "Why…I was your best friend. All those times we spent together. All those things we did. You seriously don't remember?"
Gru was too afraid and confused to respond with words, so after a second or two of silence, he shook his head.
"That's ridiculous!" It exclaimed, as an aggressive frown formed on its face. "That family really has fried your brain, haven't they?"
"How'd yoo know about my family?" Gru asked immediately, becoming more defensive when their safety was put in jeopardy.
"How could I NOT know about them!?" It yelled. "They were the ones who ruined everything. They were the ones who tore us apart. And now, Felonious, I want you back for myself. It's time we got rid of them."
"What?" Gru muttered angrily, walking forward again, pushing back that prior fear. "What do yoo mean 'get rid of dem'! Dat's never gonna happen! I won't let yoo hurt dem!"
The thing smiled evilly.
"Oh, you can stop me from hurting them, Felonious…" It said, in a quiet yet absolutely terrifying tone. "But you can't stop yourself…"
Gru widened his eyes and gave the demonic creature a shocked look, but before he could question him on what that even meant, the cloud below him started to fade, and with it, so did the thing itself. As it gave Gru one last devilish smile, the world around him blurred, and within a moment, everything turned black.
In a bit of a sweat, Gru woke up to the feeling of someone lightly nudging his arm. Attempting to ignore it and get some more sleep, Gru kept himself still and quickly closed his eyes again before anyone noticed that he'd woken up. But, after a few more seconds of light nudging in his side, a fierce kick struck Gru's abdomen, and he just couldn't resist the urge to spin and unleash a fiery glare.
"There ya go. I told you that'd work, Agnes." Edith marveled with a mixed smile of both pride and malice.
"Edith!" Gru snapped angrily. "Don't kick me!"
"But you weren't waking up!" Edith argued, shrugging as if she didn't realize what she did wrong.
"Ugh…" Gru huffed, grasping the bridge of his nose. "What do yoo want!?"
"To wake up." Agnes mumbled quietly, peering up at Gru with a look that extinguished her father's rage almost instantly. "You were moaning in your sleep, daddy."
"I was?" Gru replied, as the memory of that nightmare came flooding back like a levee breaking apart. "Oh. I was just...haveeng a really nice dream, sweetie, dat's all."
Agnes smiled and gave her father a cuddle, one of which Gru didn't even realize he really, really, really needed.
That nightmare was extremely frightening.
"So, what are we doin' today." Edith questioned, as she tiredly dragged herself over to the minivan's table, where her uncle, mother, brother, eldest sister, and bowl of cereal were located.
"Yeah! What are we doeeng!?" Dru repeated, however, at a much higher-decibel level than her niece. The on-vacation director sighed, stood up from his sleeping bag, and moved over to the coffee-pot in the mini-kitchen. The headache the nightmare had left-behind made it difficult for him to think of an activity, so before he could provide his family with an answer, he really needed coffee.
After pouring himself a mug and moving over to the table, Gru slumped down beside his twin-brother, who looked like he was about to erupt with anticipation, and started with the response.
"Well, I've got a pretty cool idea." He started, pausing to take a sip of coffee before elaborating further. "I thought we could go for a hike."
While Lucy and Margo's reactions were one of content, the rest seemed displeased with that idea, evident by the four scoffs that were exclaimed in unison.
"A hike? Seriously?" Dru responded bitterly.
"Boring!" Edith declared, in the same tone as her uncle.
"But I don't like walking!" Agnes exclaimed.
"Yes, yes, but just…hear me out." Gru continued, holding up his hands to try and interrupt any more dismayed reactions. "I've always wanted to go hikeeng, ever seence I was a keed, so dis ees de best opportunity I have to go on one. Plus, we might see some cool stuff, and when we get to de top de view weel be awesome!"
"Trust me, Gru, it ain't that awesome." Jack replied, his disappointed frown seeming to be an exact clone of the one on Dru, Edith and Agnes's face. Gru handed him a mixed look of frustration and exhaustion, right before Margo cut in with the first response that wasn't a dissatisfied retort.
"So, where are we gonna go hiking?"
"Oh, well, I've done de research." Gru replied, as he reached over and picked out one of the multiple activity notepads. "De nearest one to here ees a place called Hunchback Mountain so-"
"NO! We can't go there!" Jack interrupted loudly, his voice filled to the brim with unexpected panic. The rest of the family turned and handed him an odd look, and after realizing how strange his reaction was, he quickly went silent and dropped his head to avoid eye-contact.
Of course, Hunchback Mountain was one of the first places him and his ex-girlfriend Violet went to. Just thinking back to that memory and the time on the summit sent a sharp spike of pain through his heart. Going back there would certainly be a terrible idea, since the whole experience would be a constant reminder of that stupid thing he said to her on her doorstep a month back.
"Why?" Gru interrogated, after a few seconds of eyeing him up.
"Uh…cuz…the name sounds…stupid." Jack answered unconvincingly, his voice now a mere husk. Frustrated, Gru rolled his eyes and responded sharply.
"I don't really care what eet's called, Jack!" He stated. "De next hikeeng range ees over ten hours away, so eet's either dis or notheeng."
"I vote for notheeng." Dru called out, slumping back into his seat in a sulk. Gru let out a long huff as he ignored the comment and moved over to the driver's seat.
"We're goeeng and dat ees final." He insisted, his voice now laced with a fake sense of calmness.
Dru, Jack, Edith, and Agnes all groaned, before turning in unison and offering Lucy a pleading look. Upon noticing the four pair of eyes all staring at her, the redhead chuckled slightly and shrugged, before getting up from the couch and moving over to the passenger's seat.
Honestly, Lucy couldn't care less what activity they were doing, as long as it was with each other. Plus, she'd always adored challenging herself with different obstacles, ever since she'd began training with the AVL, and a mountain hike sounded like a pretty original challenge to conquer.
And for Margo, it was a very similar mindset, except she was more interested in the nature aspect. Studying plants and the like had always been a hobby of hers, ever since she was a very small kid, and a hike was certainly a good time to examine some flowers.
However, such enthusiasm wasn't shared with the rest of them.
"This is gonna suck." Edith proclaimed, turning to her older brother with a pout on her face.
Vector could feel his heart beating that little bit faster as the minutes progressed. The closer and closer that he got to the Bank of Evil, the more fear started speeding through his veins. He hated telling his father when he'd messed up, especially when it was about villainy, since he always gave him this look of disappointment that seemed to shoot right through him.
In this case, however, he felt like he had done his best. There wasn't really a possible way to catch-up with Gru when he was travelling in a mini-van, so in a way, the situation was beyond his control. Although, if he'd arrived only a few minutes earlier, then Gru wouldn't have escaped and his children would definitely be orphans again right now.
Keeping his head down, Vector strolled through the barren front office of the Bank of Evil and over to the reception desk. Behind it, the receptionist had passed out asleep, most likely out of boredom. Considering the poor reputation that villainy now held, the number of villains that came to offer up their services had taken a steep decline, meaning that her job now consisted of sitting in front of a computer doing absolutely nothing.
That honestly sounded more entertaining to Vector than villainy.
Attempting to gather her attention, Vector cleared his throat roughly, which he hoped would be enough to steal her out of sleep. However, that didn't seem to be the case, as a deep snore was all he got in response.
Getting both tired and very stressed, Vector growled and slammed his fist hard on the desk, which produced a sound that was more than nearly enough to startle her awake.
"Victor to see the boss…"
Perkins huffed and sat back in his chair, watching as his son fearfully staggered into the office. Vector gave him a quick glance, but upon seeing the expression on his father's face, immediately proceeded to turn away and look down at his feet.
"So…" Perkins started, his voice ladled deep with exasperation. "I'm guessing you didn't take down Gru."
For a few seconds, Vector elected against responding, since the familiar situation of admitting his failure was getting a little tedious. But, when the already uncomfortable air of frustration within the room got thicker, he decided to just get it over with.
"Good guess…" He muttered.
"Ugh…what a surprise." Perkins replied sarcastically, dropping his head a little. "What did he do? Flick you off?"
Vector ignored the comment and simply shrugged casually.
"Got away in a mini-van."
"Hmph…that's a new one, at least." Perkins huffed, shaking his head in clear disappointment. Vector still had his eyes glued to the floor, so he had no clue as to whether or not he was giving him that 'look' that he despised so much. "Well, it's lucky that I had anticipated this situation. Do you happen to know where he escaped to?"
Vector shook his head.
"Of course, you don't." Perkins remarked, dropping his head even lower in total dismay. Vector's mouth curled into a dark frown, as his father's judgmental words were digging deeper into his skin. "It looks like we're going to have to get you some help then. Maybe someone more…capable."
Vector sighed and rolled his eyes.
"And who's that?"
"I'll show you." Perkins replied, reaching into his desk drawers to reveal a character profile. He slid it across the desk for Vector to see, and the unsatisfied villain lifted his gaze somewhat to spy it. "He goes by the name 'Fullbyte'. He's amazing with IT and technology and computers and the like, and I'm sure he'll be able to track down Gru within an instant."
Vector quickly scanned the details on the page, evaluating whether this guy could be a worthy assistant. According to the profile, he was sixty-seven years old and had a large amount of experience in the field of villainy. He'd worked with the world's top villains in executing some of the most well-known and infamous heists, and had apparently won the 'villain of the year' award in 1986. As his father had just mentioned, the word 'computers' was listed under the skills section.
"Hmm…he seems alright." Vector mumbled, nodding contentedly. "Looks like a good assistant."
"Pfft…assistant?" Perkins replied, chuckling a little. "You really think this absolute hero of villainy is gonna be your assistant? Y'know, you might be completely inept at being a villain Victor, but you're pretty decent at comedy."
Sick and tired of the insulting comments, Vector lifted his head and shot his enraged gaze at his father, ready to unload a response that would surely put him in his place. But once he caught sight of that disappointed look on Perkins's face, the anger was replaced by pure nerve, and yet again, he subdued and dropped his head.
"Now…" Perkins muttered, standing up from his seat. "Let's go get this guy on the team."
Gru pulled up and parked the mini-van in the derelict parking lot of Hunchback Mountain. There were only three other cars parked there, meaning that the whole place was going to be pretty quiet, just as Gru had anticipated.
As he came to a stop, Gru leaned forward and caught a view of the whole mountain. It was just the right size, not too small that it would be way too easy to hike, and not too big that the girls' small legs would give out before they made it to the top.
"Wow, it's beautiful." Lucy commented, as she looked around at all the trees and fields that surrounded the mountain.
"Mm-hmm, dat's why I chose eet." Gru replied, nodding in agreement. "De view from de top ees gonna be amazing."
Not wanting to waste any more time, Gru took the keys out of the ignition, stood up from the seat, and spun around to make his way to the vehicle's exit door. As he did so, five pairs of eyes stared right back at him, one of which was accompanied a smile, and the other four accompanied by a frown.
"Oh, come on guys, eet won't be dat bad." Gru said, trying to cheer them up a little. Based on the lack of responses and the growing intensity of the frowns, it seemed his attempts were proving unsuccessful. "Okay, look, how about we make dis a leetle more fun?"
"How are yoo gonna do dat?" Dru inquired, seeming unconvinced.
"Well…how about a race?" Gru proposed, smirking as the idea came into his head. "We split eento two different teams, and de furst to make eet to de top decides where we eat later."
As he suggested the idea, the four frowns within the van slowly faded away, being replaced with an expression of both intrigue and excitement.
"How are we gonna decide the teams?" Margo asked.
"How about adults vs. keeds?" Dru announced, moving to stand beside Gru and Lucy, as the three looked down on the younger four questioningly.
"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Jack argued, crossing his arms and sulking, ironically just like a kid would. The three gave him a dubious look, and after realizing that the girls were way too young to go hiking up a mountain on their own, he sighed and gave in. "Fine…under 20s vs. adults then."
"Hmm…I still dunno about this." Lucy thought out loud, shaking her head. "I mean, this seems a little unfair."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Edith asked, crossing her arms and frowning.
"Eet means dat we weel easily keeck your butts." Gru teased, grinning playfully. "Yoo guys won't even make eet halfway before yoo need de toilet or sometheeng."
"Nuh-uh!" Agnes exclaimed, standing up on the couch. "We're gonna win!"
"Yeah, you guys are like eighty." Edith joked, crossing her arms and smirking victoriously. "You'll probably break a hip or something."
As all seven of them laughed, Dru took the chance for a head-start and yelled back as he bulleted out of the van.
"Well, what are we waiteeng for!?"
Gru held back and watched with a smile as the rest of his family raced for the hiking trail, not wanting to fall behind. He both loved and kind of disliked the idea of this race. He loved it because everyone was now seeming to enjoy themselves, but he disliked it because he wouldn't be with his entire family the whole time.
But, that didn't really matter, since when they got to the top, they could hang around and spend time up there as a whole family…
Twenty minutes had passed, and Jack and the girls were making pretty good progress. They were fairly sure they were well ahead of Gru, Dru, and Lucy, and if things continued the way they were going, they would win by an absolute mile. God, how much Jack loved winning. It was always a chance to gloat and laugh at someone.
"My legs hurt…" Agnes moaned, as her previous excited walking had transitioned to a slow trudge. Jack, who was walking a little faster than the three girls, turned around to see how tired she was, and much to his dismay, it looked like she was about to fall over out of fatigue.
"Ugh…come on Agnes, it's not that much farther." He said, using his hands to signal for her to speed up. There wasn't a chance that was happening though, because her little legs were completely shattered, and the young girl was forced to come to a stop.
"Jack, it's so much further." Margo chastised, motioning her hand to the ever-winding trail that didn't want to stop. "It's gonna be like another hour 'til we reach the top."
"But we're gonna lose if she doesn't move." Edith sulked, joining her brother in the argument. She went over and grabbed Agnes's hand, where she tried to pull her forward. The six-year-old refused to budge, and when Edith tried to pull her harder, she started whining and getting close to tears. "Agnes, come on! Stop being a baby!"
"Edith! Leave her alone!" Margo yelled, pulling her hand away from the small girl. "No matter how much you pull her, there's no way she's gonna make it to the top on foot."
"Then she's gonna make it on my shoulders." Jack proclaimed, moving in between the two to pick Agnes up. Once she was on his shoulders, the teenager immediately continued walking at pace, seeming in no mood to lose. "If we don't win, Gru's gonna make us eat at some stupid fancy restaurant, just to annoy us."
"Ooo, if we win, can we go to a pizza place!?" Agnes quizzed loudly, leaning her head down to look right into Jack's eyes. The eighteen-year-old couldn't help but grin a little. Not only out of anticipation for her excitement, but also because pizza sounded pretty good.
"Obviously." He replied, proceeded by a cheer as Agnes lifted her head up again to start thinking about what kind of pizza and toppings she wanted.
The four continued to make fantastic progress over the next fifteen minutes, and with Agnes now happy and gratified on Jack's shoulders, there surely wasn't a possible way they could lose. Edith's legs, just like Agnes's, were also beginning to really ache, but since giving up wasn't her kind of thing, the ten-year-old refused to mention it. Plus, there wasn't any room left on Jack's shoulders.
As they turned around a small bend in the hiking trail, Jack could feel Agnes's legs tense up fearfully on his shoulders, right before she started to quiver a little out of fright. Puzzled, the teen looked up just in time for her to yelp and leap down from his shoulders, immediately proceeding to run over to Margo at pace.
"Oh, so now you can use your legs." Jack remarked, frowning a little.
"Margo! Margo!" The small girl yelled, wrapping her arms around the twelve-year-old's waist. Margo looked down at her youngest sister in confusion, as she seemed to be approaching the point of a complete meltdown.
"Woah, woah, what's the matter?"
"She's come back! She's gonna take us away! We're gonna get sent back!"
"What? What are you on about?"
Agnes lifted her head up a little and pointed just up the trail, and to the three girls' cataclysmic shock, Miss Hattie, the orphanage owner, and another large man, presumably her boyfriend, were slowly trudging up the mountain.
"Oh my god…" Margo mumbled, now becoming just a little frightened herself. Even though she knew Miss Hattie could no longer cause them any trouble, since they'd obviously been adopted and were no longer under her care, her presence was all it took to bring back some bad memories and a very unsettling feeling.
"What?" Jack asked, completely perplexed. He gave his surroundings a quick inspection, where he could identify nothing of concern, before turning back to the three girls with a bewildered expression on his face. "What's wrong?"
"That's Miss Hattie!" Edith exclaimed, pointing over to her and expecting Jack to understand that explanation without any kind of context.
"Who's Miss Hattie?"
"The owner of our old orphanage." Margo elaborated, looking visibly uncomfortable. "Uh…she wasn't very nice."
"Oh." Jack replied, looking over and spying the large woman. He stared at her for a few moments, simply analyzing her bulky appearance, before coming to a memory of something his little sister had told him the day he'd found her. He quickly spun back around and turned to Edith, the faint resemblance of a very dark and angered frown emerging on his face. "Wasn't she the one who told you weren't ever getting adopted?"
For a few seconds, Edith didn't answer, as if she were under some sort of trance and therefore couldn't think straight. Just like Margo, knowing that she was within earshot made her very uncomfortable. But, after snapping herself out of her thoughts, she turned to her brother and sent him a very dim nod. The moment she confirmed his theory, the anger on Jack's face spiked off the charts, and he balled his fists together out of complete rage.
Slowly, the teenager narrowed his eyes and started walking towards her.
"I think me and her need to have a little cha-"
"No, Jack! Don't!" Margo yelled, dashing over and grabbing his hand to stop him from moving. Once she did, Jack obliged and immediately came to a halt, but not without giving her an inquisitive look, however.
"Margo, I'm not gonna let her get away with saying tha-"
"No, Jack, I'm begging you, please don't go over to her!" She pleaded, using a deadly-serious and insistent tone. Jack, noticing how frantic and erratic she was becoming, gave in and held up his hands to try and calm her down.
"Okay, okay...I won't."
"Look, could we just…hang back for a moment?" She asked, as the young bespectacled girl ceased eye-contact and looked over to her sisters.
Jack really wanted to argue, since he really wanted to win and that they would lose if they stopped for too long, but upon seeing just how uneasy all three girls were becoming, with even a few tears building up in Agnes's eyes, he elected against it and nodded.
He absolutely hated losing, but between that or furthering the complete and utter terror that was on his little sister's faces, he knew which one he would opt for.
Gru, Dru, and Lucy were trailing up the mountain as fast as they could, but considering that Jack and the girls were nowhere to be seen, the three were fairly sure they were being annihilated so far.
How were they losing this badly? Gru and Lucy were both AVL trained and experts when it comes to travelling long distances, and they were currently being beaten by a team with an average age of under 12-years-old. Yes, one of them may also have AVL training, and also five years of IVB training, but three of them were little girls so there was just no excuse.
"Could we…take a leetle break…for a moment?" Dru requested, pausing every few seconds to gasp for air. He, unsurprisingly, was not AVL trained and was not used to walking long distances, so the past thirty minutes of hiking was really taking a toll on him.
"No, Dru," Gru replied. "We're getteeng hammered enough as eet ees. We really can't afford to stop."
"But I'm tirrreeedddd." Dru moaned, huffing relentlessly. Sighing in response, Gru turned and sent him a sharp look, watching as Dru's face curled into a very stubborn sulk.
"Yoo are literally a child, y'know dat." He mumbled, with a tone that suggested that he was joking, even though he really wasn't. Dru decided against replying, instead opting to concentrate on not falling over out of fatigue.
Lucy, who was finding the hike very easy so far, was spending most of the time moving her gaze across the surrounding trees and plants. She'd never really been keen on studying flowers and forests and all that stuff, but she had to admit, this whole place was very pretty.
As she did so, her gaze landed on a nearby young couple, who were silently walking up the trail beside them. They both wore a dark and infuriated frown, and judging that even Lucy could feel the air of discomfort, they must've just had some sort of argument. Not taking heed to that detail, Lucy smiled and gathered their attention.
"Hey." She greeted, as they quickly turned towards her in unison. "Hiking too, huh?"
"Oh…uh…yeah." The girl replied, giving her a faint and obviously fake smile. "We're on vacation so…it sounded like a pretty good idea."
"Yeah, sounded like a pretty good idea." The boy cut in, not hiding his anger in the slightest. "I can think of about a million other things that are more fun than this."
"Ugh…would you quit with the moaning." The girl stated aggressively, though she was trying her hardest not to yell too loudly. "You're acting like a child."
"Oh, here we go again with the whole child thing!" The boy bellowed back, not trying in any way to tone his voice down. Lucy was now starting to regret striking up the conversation. "I'm twenty-six, Sarah! You can't be a child when you're that old!"
"Would you stop shouting." The girl responded, clearly trying her hardest not to go insane with fury. "You're embarrassing me."
"Oh, I'M embarrassing you!" The boy screeched, as the couple now came to a stop. "You've been embarrassing me this entire tr-"
However, before he could finish, a mugger jumped from behind a nearby tree and snatched the girl's handbag, quickly darting away at speed after doing so. He had obviously been waiting for the right time to strike, and them coming to a stop was a prime-time to do so.
"Hey!" The girl screamed, completely unable to grab it back from him before he got away. As the thief sprinted back down the hiking trail, Gru and Lucy turned and gave each other a quick glance, both of them knowing immediately what to do without the need of clarification.
They barreled after him, the couple locking their eyes on the mugger as he desperately tried to get away. He tried his hardest to beat them for pace, but considering that the two were very used to chases with criminals, they easily started catching up with him.
After another few seconds of frantic dashing, Gru got right behind him and wrapped both his arms around the handbag in the thief's grasp, forcing him to come to a stop. They engaged in a tug of war, with the two of them pulling the handbag with all of their strength. Gru eventually won and snatched the bag from his grasp, but now that the mugger had his hands free, he balled his fists and proceeded to hammer Gru's nose with a punch.
The AVL director fell to the ground and hit his head against a nearby trashcan, which knocked his head into a blinding daze. The mugger turned and watched as Lucy was very quickly making her way towards him, and realizing that the bag was nowhere near worth the risk, he spun and raced away at speed, hoping sincerely that they wouldn't try and chase after him.
More concerned with her husband than some stupid robber, Lucy shrugged him off and moved over to Gru's side, as he held his head and moaned in pain.
"You okay, Gru?" Lucy asked, kneeling beside him. In response, Gru sighed with exasperation and tried getting to his feet, but the spinning sensation in his head locked him to the floor and he was forced to keep himself still.
"I don't theenk so." He muttered, frustration thick in his voice. "Yoo'd theenk I'd be used to a punch to de nose by now."
Feeling the sensation of warm liquid on his lip, Gru wiped the bottom of his nose with his hand and looked down at it. To his annoyance, it was slightly covered in blood. Huffing with ire, he reached into his trouser pocket and took out his phone, where he used the front camera as a mirror. Judging by the amount of blood, and judging from the sting he could feel in his nostril, the mugger probably busted the cartilage, which is never not bad.
"Fantastic…" Gru muttered sarcastically. "Dis whole trip has just been…fantastic."
"Come on, let me help you up." Lucy offered, wrapping her arm around his side and carefully lifting him to his feet. As she did so, the couple ran over to them at pace and the girl took her bag back from his grasp, offering him a huge grateful smile in return.
"Oh my god, thank you so so much! See Jarrad, that's a real man, right there. Unlike you!"
"What!? Are you being serious!?" The boy replied angrily. "So a mugger steals your bag and your first instinct is to yell at me!?"
"Yeah, cuz all you did was just stand there and watch! I mean, did you even care that some thug had stolen my bag!?"
"Of course, I did! Why wouldn't I!?"
"Don't lie to me, Jarrad! Just admit that you don't care about me!"
"I'm not lying, Sarah! Why don't you ever trust me!?"
As the two continued to yell at each other persistently, Lucy nudged Gru's side with her elbow and gathered his attention, before faintly nodding her head in their direction.
"We'll never be like them, right sweetie."
"Of course, not…" Gru replied, as he desperately tried to ignore the horrible mix of both pain and irritation in his head. "Never een a million years…"
Gru, Lucy, and Dru had officially accepted defeat at this point. Gru was now walking at a much slower pace compared to before the nose-punch, and Dru was complaining so much about being tired and needing a break, that the two were giving in and stopping every ten minutes just to appease him. They'd come to terms with losing, and honestly, seeing the bright expressions of the girls after they learn that they've won will probably make it all worth it.
As they got closer and closer to the top, the three were shocked to see Jack and the girls sat on the floor only one-hundred meters away from the end of the trail. Jack and Edith looked pretty irritated, while Agnes looked slightly traumatized as she was latched onto Margo's side in a hug.
"Guys? What's goeeng on?" Gru questioned, making all four of them lift their heads quickly and spy both their parents and uncle. "De feenish line ees right der-"
"Mommy! Daddy!" Agnes exclaimed, quickly leaping to her feet and sprinting over to her parents' feet, a few visible tears appearing in her eyes. "You're not giving us away again, are you!? Is that why she's here!?"
"What!?" Gru quizzed.
"What are you on about, sweetie?" Lucy asked, as they both worryingly kneeled to her level. Agnes was now in too upset of a state to talk, and in a panic, she latched her arms around both their necks, where she cried heavily. The two of them were beyond confused and upset by this, and they picked her up together to give her a hug.
"What happened?" Gru asked, giving Jack a mixed look of worry and annoyance, as if he'd already pinned the blame on him. Jack noticed this and narrowed his eyes with indignation, but before he could reply with an aggressive retort, Margo butted in.
"We saw Miss Hattie on the way up." She explained, giving her little sister a concerned look. "She must've spent her day off hiking. It…uh…kinda freaked us out a bit."
Gru sighed sadly and patted Agnes's back, as she continued to cuddle and sob into his chest. If he and Lucy had been there when the girls had seen Miss Hattie, then maybe, they could've calmed them down before they got this frightened.
Suddenly, Gru was really hating this race idea.
"Shh, shh, eet's alright." Gru soothed, pulling her away from him a little so the two of them could look into her eyes. "We would never give yoo away, Agnes. Never…uh…never again, anyway."
"It was just a wild coincidence, honey." Lucy added, wiping away a few tears from under her eyes. "We love you too much to ever get rid of you."
"Promise?" Agnes asked, sniffling.
"Pinky promise." Gru said, smirking and sticking out his pinky. Relief washing over, Agnes smiled and wrapped her pinky around her father's, before proceeding to hug back into his chest again. The two smiled and cuddled her back, right before Edith could stand up and change the subject to something a lot more light-hearted.
"So, who won?"
"I say we call it a draw." Lucy suggested, shrugging.
"We can't do that!" Jack exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "Who gets to pick where we eat?"
"How about we just get peeza?" Gru announced. By the sounds of girly cheers that followed, that proposition seemed to go down well. The family turned back and started their way back down the mountain, much to the dismay of their legs. They all really needed to find a bench on the top and take a rest, but considering that they might see Miss Hattie again, and considering how badly this hiking trip had gone so far, the less time they spent here the better.
"What's with the bloody nose?" Jack inquired, giving Gru a troubled look.
"Some mugger tried stealeeng some woman's handbag." He replied, as if it was something of nothing. "He punched me before he escaped."
"I'm guessing you got it back though." Jack said, grinning.
"Good guess."
Vector and Mr. Perkins arrived at the lair of the elderly, but legendary, Fullbyte. His mansion was made of a mix of gold, diamond, and titanium, and aesthetically, it looked sublime. Perkins nodded impressively as he stared from the car window, while Vector simply glanced and turned away, completely uninterested.
"This place puts your lair to shame, Victor." Perkins remarked, not taking his gaze away from the mansion. "No stupid sharks, no bland colors, no game consoles. You could learn a few things from this guy, y'know."
"Mm-hmm." Vector mumbled, electing to tune out his father's comments and just get out of the vehicle.
The two strolled through the beautifully decorated front garden and towards the large double-door, which was made of ruby and emerald encrusted gold. Vector couldn't help but find the place to be a little overkill, since the number of reflective surfaces was enough to eventually turn you blind.
Upon reaching the front door, Perkins rang the doorbell and turned to cast another look around the place. Not only was Fullbyte incredibly smart, but he was also a man of class and vigor, three traits he wished his son donned.
A few seconds later, the double doors opened up, and a fairly short elderly man, who wore a gown embroidered with the letters 'F' and 'B', peeked his head through and investigated them.
"Can I…help you?" He questioned, seeming rather dubious.
"Why, Byte, it's been such a long time." Perkins greeted, extending his arm to offer a handshake. Fullbyte continued to give him a perplexed glare, and after realizing that old age must've started compromising his memory, Perkins continued with an elaboration. "It's me. Perkins."
"My god, Perkins, it's been more than just 'a long time'." Fullbyte replied, this time with a lot more cheer in his voice as he accepted the offer and shook his hand. "It's been decades, old chap. And this must be your son. God, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you."
Vector elected to keep himself silent. This was already becoming quite an annoying experience. This introduction was reminding him a little of when he used to visit his grandfather when he was young.
"Well, come on in, come on in." Fullbyte spoke, waving them inside the mansion. "Don't stay out there in the cold."
"Fullbyte…um…I should mention that we aren't just here for a friendly catch-up." Perkins said, as he walked inside and quickly analyzed the shear number of impressive paintings and portraits that lined the walls. "We require your assistance."
"Perkins, come on now, I'm not senile just yet." Fullbyte replied, chuckling as he walked through the hallway, Vector and Perkins following on behind. "No-one ever goes places for a 'friendly catch-up' these days. It's always for personal gain, especially in the villainy profession. Whatever it is, I will be glad to help you out."
"Great." Perkins responded, nodding his head. "See, I've been having a little trouble with a certain somebody, and me and Victor were wondering if you could track him down."
"Pfft…that's it?" Fullbyte quizzed jokingly, chuckling as he did so. "That can certainly be done. Just give me his name and I'll have him found in no time."
"His name is Felonious Gru." Perkins answered, as Fullbyte came to a stop. He turned around and offered his old friend a slightly stunned expression, as Perkins let out a hushed sigh. "You might've…heard of him."
"Felonious Gru? Why, I haven't heard that name in years." He marveled, looking down to the floor. "Why on earth would he be causing you trouble? Isn't he a fellow villain like ourselves?"
"Not anymore he's not." Vector butted in, much to the frustration of his father, who seemed to be enjoying the conversation without his son involved. "He's gone all soft and started a family with these three little orphan brats. I wanna see him dead, to be completely honest with you."
"Oh. I see." Fullbyte said, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "I've never really understood the concept of 'going soft'. I mean, what's so special about settling down and having children and the like?"
"I…really don't know." Perkins replied, giving his son a quick glance, who seemed to take that comment like a knife to the heart.
"Well, if we take a small trip to the supercomputer, I should be able to find him." Fullbyte informed, as he made his way towards a small, darker room. Perkins didn't waste a second and followed on behind, while Vector stopped and held back for a moment.
Out of all the insults his father had used before, that last one hit him the hardest of any other. When he was a young child, he always looked up to his dad as the best person on earth, and in return, he was actually a pretty good father. But then, he started growing up, and after providing him with disappointing heist after disappointing heist, the real reason for him having a son revealed itself.
He didn't love him, he never did. He just wanted someone to follow on in his footsteps and take over as owner of the Bank of Evil. He just kept manipulating him, trying to make him trust him, before eventually keeling over and keeping his business intact with someone who would stay loyal.
That's all he cares about. Not him. Just his stupid and worthless business.
"Victor!" Perkins yelled, snapping the young villain out of his thoughts. "What are you doing just standing there!? Get in here!"
Vector obliged and raced over to the dark room, where inside, the sounds of whirring fans was almost deafening. They were clearly needed though, since the number of servers in the room was nearing quadruple-digits, and the amount of heat they must produce is probably hazardous.
"So, let's see if we can't find the old softy then, aye?" Fullbyte said, as he sat in front of the colossal monitor and began typing a series of codes and numbers. Eventually, after seemingly breaching some sort of firewall, he typed in Gru's name. "This will now search through the entire world's SIM database and pin-point the location that Gru's smart phone last contacted its network operator. From that, we will know where he's situated."
"Good, good." Perkins hummed, grinning and nodding devilishly. He watched as the program started scanning through millions of pieces of information at a lightning fast speed, and after a small three second wait, a series of co-ordinates appeared on-screen, obviously Gru's location.
"It seems he's at a hiking range called 'Hunchback Mountain'." Fullbyte detailed, as he sent the co-ordinates to a transparent, odd-looking device with a very large Bluetooth adapter. He turned and handed the device to Perkins, who spun it in his grasp. "This should now keep updating Gru's location every time his phone makes signal contact. That way, as long as his phone is switched on, you'll always know where he is."
"Amazing!" Perkins exclaimed happily, nodding excitingly. "You're a genius, Fullbyte!"
"Pfft…nonsense." Fullbyte replied, waving him off with a smile. "I just know what I'm doing, that's all. You two are welcome to stay for dinner. I'd love to actually have that friendly catch-up now that you've mentioned it."
"Well, I'm certainly up for that," Perkins replied, as he handed the device to Vector and gave him a serious look. "But Victor has a few things to sort out, so I'm afraid he'll be on his way."
"Oh, that's unfortunate." Fullbyte spoke, giving him a disappointed look. "Well, it was great seeing you again, Victor."
"Yeah, yeah." Vector replied, as he snatched the device and trudged his way out of the room.
"Victor!" Perkins yelled, grabbing his attention just before he disappeared through the door. "Change of plans! Don't kill Gru. Just, kidnap him for me, would you? That would be very much appreciated."
"What!?" Vector exclaimed, seeming beyond irritated that killing Gru was off the table.
"No arguments." Perkins stated demandingly. "Now…shove off."
Vector sent his father one last extremely fierce look before leaving and making his way for his next destination…
…Hunchback Mountain.
No promises that the next chapter will be out sooner, since I really don't know anymore. I don't even know how I've managed to finish this one, to be 100% honest.
If you do decide to review, that would be very much appreciated, only if it's positive though. Nah, I'm just joking, but if you do give some criticism, could you stay nice about it. I can take criticism and have always supported it, but being aggressive about it isn't cool. Thanks :)