Wow, somehow managed to get two chapters out in a week. Hopefully, I can keep this going.

As I always say, hope you enjoy :)

Chapter Seven:
The Scary Orange-Pajama Man

The whole family, obviously apart for Gru, sat sorrowfully in the disgusting, tiny motel room. Margo and Agnes were sat on one bed, comforting each other quietly. Dru and Edith were sat on another, the both of them unusually silent. Lucy was sat on a chair in front of the window, staring out in the hopes of watching her husband return. While Jack was sat in the corner, his back turned against the family.

They were all thinking pretty much the same thing. Where was Gru? How did this even happen? How did everything turn from good to bad in that short amount of time? Though all those questions were in burning need of answers, the main one they wanted to clear up was the first.

Gru had been gone for just over an hour at this point, and the longer he was gone, the more frantically worried the family got. Although, thinking about it logically, they were probably worrying over nothing. Chances are, the stress of the faltering road trip and the demanding director job finally got to him, and he probably just needed some alone time.

However, something at the back of Lucy's mind was telling her otherwise.

He never got that mad. He would usually get pretty angry with the AVL agents whenever they messed up, in order to demonstrate his dominance, but never with his own family. It just didn't feel right. She felt like there was something else, some other unidentifiable reason, for this sudden outburst.

Was it her? He did imply that she hadn't been helping with anything on the trip, so maybe her decision to sit back and try to have fun was the wrong one. She shouldn't have expected Gru to organize all of this on his own and not feel some sort of stress repercussion. In fact, now that she thought about it, that should've been obvious…

She just hoped she was overthinking this. Again, maybe he just needed some space to relax and regather his thoughts alone. Given time, this whole situation would probably just resolve itself…

Jack was thinking along fairly similar lines, although in his case, most of his more rational thoughts were overcome with some pretty strong guilt. He never meant for this to happen. He was just defending his actions at the pool. He never thought Gru would have a near meltdown and storm off.

Maybe he should've just accepted his wrong-doing and apologized. That way, Gru would still be here and there wouldn't be any need to worry about his whereabouts.

On that topic, there was another wrong-doing he should probably apologize for. Of course, it was his stupid decisions that pushed Gru past his limit, so it should be up to him to help rectify this whole situation. Not only did he owe it to Gru, but he owed it to the whole family.

Turning around slowly, the teen looked over at everyone for a moment, trying hard to produce the courage to open his mouth. After spending another few seconds trapped in a nervous silence, Jack dropped his head with a sigh and finally managed to speak.

"I'm sorry, guys…" He muttered, ensuring that he didn't make eye-contact with anyone, since he knew it would only make it harder to talk. At the sound of his quiet voice, the rest of them immediately looked up and turned to him, offering him conflicting expressions of annoyance and surprise. "I'm sorry for…getting angry and…saying all that stuff and…making Gru storm off."

"It's a bit too late for that though, isn't it?" Lucy replied lowly, as the teen raised his head and looked up at her miserably.

"I didn't think he was gonna get that angry…"

"You had plenty of opportunities to stop shouting though, Jack. You knew he was already really stressed, so you should've stopped the second he yelled back."

"But I was just…I was only standing up for myself…"

"But couldn't you have just been quiet, for once!?" Margo exclaimed, butting herself into the conversation. She clearly caught Jack off guard, since his saddened look was swapped out for one of surprise when he turned to look at her.

"Well, okay, in hindsight I would've. But…I…I didn't realize that he was that stressed out."

"Have you been on a different trip or something?" Lucy jabbed sternly. She was very clearly trying to keep herself calm in front of the girls, since her frown was much more aggressive than her tone of voice. "Almost everything has gone wrong so far. Do you think that's been easy on him? And that's not counting the two months of stressing himself out as the AVL director before we even went on this stupid trip."

"Well, look…I…I just…I don't know what else to say…" Jack mumbled, turning back around and massaging his strained forehead. "I'm just a complete and utter idiot…"

The small room was yet again plunged into an uncomfortable silence. Everyone put their heads down and thought to themselves silently, each one of them trying to figure out a way to resolve this situation. All apart for Edith, who decided to share her thoughts with everyone else.

"Mom?" At the sound of her voice, Lucy slowly turned around and immediately disguised her concerned look, in order to avoid upsetting the girls further.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Why does dad stay as the director if he doesn't like it?"

For a few seconds, Lucy didn't know how to reply. To be fair, it was a very good question. The director job was obviously a very challenging and stressful occupation, so why didn't Gru just revert to his old agent job and ditch all the tedious paperwork and long nights?

If he did, he could simply focus on one mission, instead of having to deal with every single one the AVL faced. To put it into perspective, the USA AVL branch were sent out to stop at least three heists every day, and Gru was in charge of planning out a method to stop every single one. Occasionally, when all the agents on their books were already tied up in stopping another heist, he would also be the one to go out and put that method into action.

All of that certainly didn't sound like much fun, and considering how much it had negatively altered Gru's mental state, it very clearly wasn't.

"I…I don't know, Edith." She responded softly. "Maybe…maybe he just doesn't want to give it up. It is still pretty cool being the director of a huge organization, y'know."

"But I'm worried about heem, Lucy!" Dru exclaimed, turning to face her at speed. He obviously found her answer to be pretty unconvincing. In fact, Lucy found her own answer to be pretty unconvincing. "My brother would never yell at us like dat! Eet's like dis whole director theeng has…completely changed heem!"

"Okay, I wouldn't go that far." Lucy refuted, trying to speak as calm and reassuring as possible. "He's still the same person. He just…got a little upset, that's all."

"A leetle upset!?" Dru repeated, scrunching his face up in disbelief. "I don't theenk yoo can characterize screaming, storming off, and leaveeng us een some disgusteeng dump as 'a leetle upset'!?"

"Dru, just listen to me, everything's going to be fine." Lucy soothed, looking at the girls as well as the blonde villain, in an attempt to comfort everyone at once. "Yes, Gru got very angry, but he's not gonna be angry forever. I guarantee that he'll come back, give us all a big apology hug, and then we can get out of this horrible place and carry on with the trip."

At this point, Lucy was desperately attempting to not only calm her family's fears, but her own as well. She had to admit, it wasn't working. Both with herself, and by spying the dejected expressions on Dru and the girls' faces, them as well.

"But what if he doesn't come back?" Agnes questioned, getting closer and closer to tearing up.

"No, Agnes, don't think like that." Lucy replied gently, putting an arm around her. "Trust me, he will. I know he will."

She quite clearly wasn't convinced, judging by the fact that she buried her face in Lucy's side and tried to search for some comfort. It was hurting her heart to see her like that. What made it worse, was the fact that no amount of reassuring was going to work. She literally couldn't do anything to cheer her up. Until Gru did actually return, they were all going to be sat here in this hotel room, with a horrible feeling of worry hanging over their heads…

"Right, that's it." Lucy stated confidently, standing up at speed. The girls gave their mother an odd look as she ran over and grabbed her coat, a pleasant smile spread across her face. "Let's go find him!"

Even though they were a little caught off guard by her announcement, everyone seemed to lighten up a little at that proposition, since sitting around doing absolutely nothing was getting very tedious and worrisome. They all looked at each other with a faint, hopeful smile, all except for Dru, who stood up and gave her a doubtful look.

"But Lucy, eet's been an hour since he left! He could be literally anywhere at dis point. We'll never find heem…"

"Well, it's better than sitting around and worrying, isn't it?" Lucy responded, as she ran back over to the girls and kneeled down to talk to them directly. "Come on! We've still got a family road trip to finish!"

With his head down as far as he could lower it, Gru was traipsing sluggishly down the long and winding barren road, not paying heed to anything but his own thoughts. He'd been walking around in circles for about an hour at this point, ensuring that he didn't go too far away from the disgruntled motel building.

Originally, all he could feel was unbridled anger, but after walking around and clearing his head, his thoughts were now dominated by feelings of intense guilt. How could he ever scream at his wife, brother and son like that? How could he ever scare his own daughters in that fashion? How could he ever storm off and abandon them in some horrible, beaten down building like he had just done?

He didn't know what came over him. It was like all this stress that he'd been feeling had took complete control of his brain, making him do things that he would never, ever do to his own family. It was strange, because if he'd done that exact same thing and scared the living hell out of someone before he'd adopted the girls, he'd be proud right now.

It showed just how quickly things had changed, since what he was feeling right now was far, far away from the definition of pride…

He looked back over all those stupid things that he'd said to Jack and Lucy. He regretted almost every single word. He couldn't remember exactly, since some memories were blurred with anger, but he swore that he made fun of Jack's terrible upbringing somewhere in there. How could he ever do that?

And then he accused Lucy of doing absolutely nothing on this road trip. That just wasn't true. She'd been helping him by simply being the lovable spouse that he adored so much. If it wasn't for her, he surely would've gone crazy weeks ago…

And there he was, screaming at her like this was all her fault…

'God, why am I such a complete idiot!?' He thought to himself, as the vague feeling of a soon-to-be headache signaled itself at the back of his eye.

Sighing, Gru turned off the path and into the neighboring wood, ignoring the wet mud that occasionally splashed up his leg as he stepped hard into the marsh-like ground. He marched up to the nearest tree and put his head against it, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

What did he do now? Did he stay here and lean against this tree for a while? Did he go for another walk down the road and try to clear his head again? Did he head back to the motel building and apologize? That last option scared him a little, since he was unsure as to whether or not his family would accept his apology.

He didn't deserve a great family like them, so even though it would permanently break his heart beyond repair, he would understand if they decided against forgiving him.

Finally, he growled and punched the tree hard, breaking into the bark and leaving an evident dent. When he realized just how therapeutic it was to feel the pain soar in his knuckles, he proceeded to punch it over and over, each one becoming less and less powerful as his energy levels sapped away.

Eventually, when he felt like his hand was about to fall off, he sighed somberly and turned away, looking off into the dense woodland. As he stood and stared at random trees and pieces of foliage, a figure seemingly faded into existence, catching him off guard completely. He stared profusely at it, trying to identify what the hell it was. And that's when he finally figured it out…

It was the demon from his nightmare.

"Hello again, Felonious." It spoke devilishly, grinning as it did so. Its voice was so unexpectedly loud in the director's head, even though it must've been around one-hundred meters away from him. "You're almost there, my old friend. Just carry on down this road. Don't go back to that motel. Ditch that family once and for all. Then…we can be together. Just like the good old days…"

"No…yoo can't…dis ees not…" Gru muttered in reply, shaking his head as he tried hard to speak coherently. "How are yoo here? Yoo don't exist! Yoo're just een my head!"

The demon's evil smile grew more intense.

"Oh, Felonious…" It spoke, chuckling a little. "Just because I'm in your head, doesn't mean that I don't exist. I mean, think of all those years we spent together. I definitely existed then, didn't I?"

"What de hell are yoo on about!?" Gru exclaimed. "We never spent any time together! I don't even know what yoo are!"

"You never needed to know before, Felonious." It responded sadly, shaking its head as if it was disappointed. "You never needed to question everything like you do now. You just used to go with the flow, do whatever I told you to. But now…ugh…well, things have changed now, haven't they?"

"Wh…I…what are you…" Gru stuttered, not knowing how to respond. After a few seconds of total confusion, he gritted his teeth in rage and spat words at it like a turret. "What de HELL are yoo on about!? CAN YOO JUST START MAKEENG SENSE!"

It cackled evilly before responding.

"Apologies, Felonious, but you are the one that doesn't make sense. Ditching me to be with those girls. Abandoning me to spend time with your wife. Going off and doing the exact opposite of every single blasted thing I SAY! I would love it if you could make sense of that situation!"

Gru watched wearily as it started edging treacherously towards him.

"Well, do you know what, Felonious? I am done. Once all this stress causes you to completely lose control, I'll be waiting. And that family of yours, well…they won't see it coming."

"No!" Gru exclaimed, closing his eyes and grabbing onto his head with all his strength. "No! No! No! I won't let dat happen! I won't let yoo hurt dem! Just…just get out of my head!"

For a few more seconds, he simply kept his eyes closed, hoping sincerely that the figure would be gone when he reopened them. Finally, pushing his reluctance aside, the former villain let go of his head and dared a look, sighing with relief when he saw that the demonic figure had vanished.

However, he didn't have enough time to notice the much larger human figure to his right, who punched him unconscious before he could even react…

"Gru!?"

"Dad!?"

"Brother!?"

As the family walked down the road for the fourth time, shouting Gru's name at the top of their lungs, almost every ounce of hope and determination they had left was fading. The sun was starting to set, and if they didn't find Gru soon, then they would be searching around a woodland in the blinding dark of night. That certainly wouldn't make this affair any easier…

Lucy was attempting to call Gru on his cell phone, in the hopes that he would pick up and provide them with his location, but after being met with a voicemail response for the seventh time, she gave up with a sad sigh and slipped the phone back into her pocket.

"Mom?" Agnes mumbled, tugging on Lucy's pant leg. The redhead looked down into the six-year-old's wide, sad eyes, and felt her heart sting a little. "I'm getting scared…"

"Agnes, sweetie…" She replied, leaning down and holding the small girl close. "Everything's going to be fine. We'll find Gru and get outta here really soon, I promise…"

"You've been saying that for the past hour," Edith replied irately, frowning. "What if he just drove back home and left us here?"

"But the minivan's still there," Margo informed, pointing over at the motel parking lot, which was only a little way down the road. "So, he must be around here somewhere…"

"Well, what if he just got a cab? What if he called Dr. Nefario and got the minions to pick him up?" Edith argued, racking her brain for more possible ways of traversing home. She thought back to that moment three months ago, the day before they met Jack, when Gru had completely disappeared from the front doorstep. "Or, what if he got kidnapped like the last time he went missing!?"

"Edith! Be quiet!" Lucy exclaimed, giving her a frown when she felt Agnes hold onto her a little tighter. "You're scaring your sister!"

"But what if it's true!?"

"But it's not!" Margo stated sternly, trying to get her little sister to be quiet, so she'd stop putting bad thoughts in their heads. "He just got angry and stormed off, okay! That's it!"

"Ugh, dis ees all your fault, Jack!" Dru jabbed, gathering the teen's attention as he was urgently looking behind various nearby trees. "Nice goeeng!"

"Hey! Don't you think I already know that!?" He exclaimed angrily, getting closer to the blonde villain. "And anyway, it isn't all my fault! You guys had something to do with it as well!"

"Well, eet was yoo who gave Edith dat coffee, eet was yoo who made us walk all de way to your old house, eet was yoo who punched dat keed at de hotel, eet was yoo who yelled at him een de car! Everytheeng ees on yoo!"

"It wasn't just this terrible road trip though, was it!?" Jack rebutted, proceeding to say something that had been playing on his mind for almost two hours now. "Maybe if we had ALL been a better family, he wouldn't have been so stressed out all the time…"

And with that, another silence fell on them all. They all quickly turned away from each other and avoided eye contact, the only sound being the small breeze and the occasional chirp of a bird. They continued to stand silently on the roadside path, their minds filled with guilt and panic, until Lucy motioned vaguely towards the motel, sighing as she listlessly traipsed in that direction.

"Look…let's just head back to the room…"

"But what about daddy?" Agnes asked, looking up at Lucy with another distressed gaze.

"We'll just have to wait for him to come back, sweetie." Lucy mumbled gravely, holding onto her fatigued head. "There's…there's nothing else we can do…"

Without a word, everyone put their heads down sadly and followed behind her, walking at a pace that was similar to that of a snail. They occasionally caught a glance of the setting sun, and each time they did, that worrying question would come back in their heads and they'd feel the fear grow that little bit larger.

Was Gru going to come back?

Speeding down the road with aggressive haste, Vector raced his way down the woodland road towards the motel building, his foot pressed hard against the accelerator. The last time he'd checked the tracking device, the coordinates were referring to this location. Hopefully, he thought to himself, there would be no issues this time.

Or, more notably, he wouldn't be knocked unconscious this time…

He sped into the parking lot and jumped out of his vehicle, taking a moment to observe the repulsive building in front of him. Even though it looked terrible, Vector couldn't help but grin, since he couldn't imagine a better location to spill Gru's blood across the floor. Feeling the weight of the gun in his pocket, and then subsequently the weight of the tracking device, Vector took out the latter and double-checked that this was definitely the correct location.

However, after being met by block red text that read 'ERROR: CONNECTION LOST', his prior grin immediately dissipated. For a moment, all he could do was stare at it in disbelief, feeling a wave of complete anger boil up inside him.

Finally, in a moment of sheer rage, the young villain turned around and sprinted over to the woodland, throwing the device as far as he could in anger.

"YOU STUPID PIECE OF-"

However, right before he could finish his angry exclamation, three high-pitch gasps of complete shock interrupted him. Momentarily confused, he looked sideways to identify who it came from, and upon making eye-contact with the three Gru sisters, his mouth fell open in shock.

"It's the scary orange-pajama man!" Agnes screeched, leaping behind Lucy's legs to protect herself. A moment later, Margo and Edith did the exact same thing to Dru and Jack respectively, as they stared at Vector with a look of fear and anger.

"Who?" Lucy questioned, keeping an eye on the strange young man, who seemed a little dazed in surprise.

"It's Vector!" Margo answered loudly, the sound of his own name snapping the villain out of his small trance. "He was the one who kidnapped us from the dance recital!"

Dru, Lucy, and Jack were all still completely confused, but after the teenager spotted him reaching for what looked like a handgun in his pocket, he leaped forward and tackled him to the ground before he could unleash it. The weapon went flying across the parking lot, landing just in front of the minivan.

As Jack sat on top of him, staring dead into his eyes, he came to a frightening conclusion. If this man had at some point kidnapped the girls from a dance recital, then he was obviously an enemy of Gru. And, considering that he was here right now, not too long after Gru had completely disappeared, then had he…

"What have you done with Gru!?" Jack questioned at the top of his voice, shaking him as he laid helpless on the floor. Vector was giving him a look of total terror, and thus, couldn't respond. "I swear to god, if you've hurt him, I will break every god-damn bone in your whole body!"

"Woah, woah, woah! I haven't! I haven't! I swear I haven't done anything to Gru!"

"Well, what are you doing here!?" Margo asked aggressively, feeling confident enough to yell at him now that Jack had trapped him on the floor.

"I…I…I was just…walking around…enjoying the scener-"

"Lies!" Jack interrupted, screaming in his face. After a second, the eighteen-year-old elected to lift him up off his feet and carry him roughly through the parking lot, motioning for the rest of the family to follow him.

"Come on!" He exclaimed, heading towards the mini-van. "We gotta get back to the mansion!"

"Wait, what!? Jack, slow down!" Lucy responded, sprinting over to run beside him. Dru followed slowly behind, the girls sticking close to him out of fear. "What are you on about!?"

Delaying his response, Jack opened the doors to the minivan and threw the villain inside. He leaned down and picked up the aforementioned handgun, which was of a similar design to the one he'd threatened Gru with three months ago, before entering the vehicle and aiming it at him. Vector put up his hands immediately and tried to shrink down to make himself a smaller target.

"No! Please, don't shoot! I swear I haven't-"

"If you don't SHUT UP right this second, then you might have some trouble avoiding your death!" Vector didn't need to be told twice, as he quickly complied and kept his mouth shut. Keeping the gun locked on him, the teen turned to Lucy, who was stood in the doorway of the minivan with a perplexed look on her face, and answered her question from earlier. "I think Edith might be right. I think Gru's been kidnapped."

"But, how do you-"

"Lucy, think about it! Gru's stormed off and seemingly disappeared completely, and one of his old enemies…" He paused to cast a momentary dark look on Vector, who was spinning his head around his surroundings, trying to determine some sort of escape route. "Is hanging around outside. Is that just some sort of crazy coincidence?"

"Well, yeah, it could be! What if Gru's still around here and this guy just happened to pass by?"

"Come on, Lucy, be real," Jack replied, shaking his head. "We've been searching for like an hour now, and there's no sign of him. Plus, if we head back and get Dr. Nefario to track down Gru with his supercomputer, we can just come back here and get him if you're right."

Lucy let out a sigh. "I guess. That also gives us a chance to interrogate…um…Vuc…Voc…Vector?"

"It's Victor!" The young villain exclaimed violently, as he continued to lay totally helpless on the floor of the minivan.

"What did I say about SHUTTING UP!?" Jack shouted. Moving over and throwing the villain into the minivan's bathroom, the teen locked the toilet's door and turned back to Lucy, nodding his head towards the driver's seat. "Come on! Let's get going!"

Letting out yet another defeated sigh, Lucy turned back to her daughters and Dru, who were all still looking fearful, and dropped her head a little. She was getting sick and tired of seeing their frightened faces today. All she wanted right now, was to get them all smiling again.

But, until Gru was found, there wasn't a chance that was happening, no matter how hard she tried.

"I'm sorry, girls…" She muttered, as she motioned for them and Dru to follow her into the van. "The…uh…the trip's canceled…"

She had to ignore the upset groans and complaints that soon followed, which proved to be a much more arduous task than first thought. She slowly trudged over to the steering wheel and slumped down in front of it, sighing for an unusually extensive amount of time. Today had been an extremely stressful day, full to the brim with doubts, worries, and an unshakeable feeling that something very bad had happened.

Was it Vector? Was he the source of that feeling? Something was telling her no, since Gru would easily be able to stop some punk like him from hurting him. Although, saying that, the two of them had failed to stop another punk villain before they left for this trip, so who knows?

If there was another reason behind this unshakeable feeling, then Lucy was having trouble pinpointing exactly what it was. Well, it was either that, or she was just too afraid to admit the reason…

With a painful groan, Gru slowly lifted his head and edged his eyes open, feeling the hardened discomfort bulge powerfully in his head. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a recollection of the events prior to blacking out. He could remember screaming at his family and storming off, something he wished he couldn't remember, and then he could remember detouring into the forest…but, the rest was just a blur.

He could already feel the bands tied around his hands and feet, and the uncomfortable wood of the chair pressed on his back, so hazarding a guess, someone probably came and kidnapped him. Whoever that person was seemed to be a faded memory, but by inspecting his surroundings and identifying where exactly he was, he'd hopefully find some sort of answer.

Once he opened his eyes and turned his head around the dark room, three figures immediately caught in his gaze. One was a very large man with spikey blonde hair and black shades, another was a short and stout elderly man wearing a fancy embroidered gown, and another was…

"Perkins?" Gru questioned aggressively, narrowing his eyes at his old foe. Immediately after speaking, a large beep sound emitted from a nearby supercomputer, something Gru hadn't noticed beforehand. He had to question how he didn't, since the large system took up the majority of the room.

"VOICE DETECTION SUCCESSFUL." A robotic voice proclaimed. The elderly man proceeded to press a variety of buttons on the huge keyboard in front of him, seeming extremely focused.

In terms of appearance, he seemed to slightly resemble Floyd Eaglestan, the owner of Eagle Hair Club, only a lot older and with a different hair color. But, in terms of the impression he gave off, there was certainly something odd about him, something Gru couldn't quite put his finger on.

Maybe it was the hundreds of unknown technologies that surrounded him, all of which looked like they belonged in an episode of a complex sci-fi show. Yeah, maybe it was that…

"Did you get that Fullbyte?" Perkins inquired, turning away from the AVL director.

"Of course," Fullbyte replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Just give me a moment to set it all up and we should be good to go."

"Good…" Perkins responded lowly, a malevolent smile spreading across his features. Looking back at Gru, the large man stood there for a moment, admiring the look of pure rage on his face. It looked like he wanted to rip his head off, and since that very prospect was a complete impossibility while he was strapped to that chair, he found it to be extremely amusing. "Hello again, Mr. Gru. It sure has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Let me out of dis chair, Perkins! I swear, theengs will be a lot more deeficult eef yoo do not!"

"I think I'll pass on that." Perkins retorted, as he moved closer to his helpless hostage to loom over him. Gru was doing his best to disguise all hints of fear, which, considering how many times he'd been kidnapped over the past twenty years, wasn't a very difficult task. "You can't do a thing while you're strapped to that chair, so I think I'll be safe. Anyway, pleasantries aside, you're probably wondering why I invited you here."

"Invited ees not de right word…" Gru uttered quietly, binding his teeth together in anger. Perkins chuckled a little before continuing.

"Well, it's a very long story. But, considering the circumstances…" He paused momentarily to cast a wicked look at the encompassing ropes around his hands. "I think we have plenty of time…"

Digging his dark gaze into him like a drill, Gru couldn't hold back the fierce growl that emitted from his voice box. Even though it was supposed to act as a type of coercion method, it seemed that Perkins was enjoying every last moment of his threatening sounds, something that proved to add to his anger.

"So, obviously, a lot of things have changed since we last talked," Perkins spoke, leaning back in his chair in thought. "You ditching villainy to start a family, you joining the AVL and subsequently becoming the director, you STRANGLING my bank's finances to the brink of bankruptcy! It sure has been a rollercoaster ride for you, hasn't it?"

Gru didn't grace him with a response. Instead, he continued to stare darkly at Perkins, hoping it would somehow frighten him into releasing him. Something told him that his efforts would surely be fruitless.

"It feels like only yesterday that you were strutting into my office, requesting loans for your evil schemes. Some, admittingly, were complete wastes of money. Like that one where you stole the small Eiffel Tower figure from Las Vegas. That one was…outlandish, to say the least. But others, well, others really brought in the cash. Overall, you were very beneficial to the bank, financially speaking of course."

"What ees your point, Perkins!?" Gru finally questioned, obviously impatient.

"I miss those days, Gru." He stated, leaning in closer to address him directly. Gru's look of ire made way slightly for a look of confusion. "There aren't many other villains out there that have the skill and determination that you possess. You were one of the brightest and most successful villains of the bunch. Though a few of your final heists under my backing were unsuccessful, I could never forget how much money you were pumping in at the beginning. Hell, the bank would probably have gone under if it wasn't for you."

Pausing for a second, Perkins looked to his side and let out a scoff, shaking his head as a look of total disappointment plastered itself across his face.

"And now look at you. Some goody-two-shoes who's wasting away his skills as the AVL director. It's a real shame to see such talent get flushed down the drain…"

"Pfft…eet seems dat I am not de only one who's changed!" Gru boomed. Perkins turned to him with a look of befuddlement. "What about all does theengs yoo said before!? Ooo, far too few of your plots are turneeng een a profeet, dere are many other villains dat are younger and hungrier dan yoo! What's weeth de sudden change een tone!?"

"I may be a man of perfection, Gru, but I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong. Those younger, hungrier villains that I mentioned before…well, let's just say, they weren't what I was expecting. Experience is key in this day and age, and you're a man who's got that in the buck load."

Gru scowled and turned his head away, the same way a picky young child would do when offered a vegetable.

"I do not care, Perkins! Dis ees not happeneeng!" He exclaimed. "Eet was fun while eet lasted but...dere ees not a chance dat I am getteeng back eento villainy! Dose days are over, okay! Dis ees de life dat I have chosen, and dat ees final!"

Perkins chuckled lowly.

"You are mistaken, Gru…"

Gru turned back to face him slowly, his frown softening a little.

"…you see, I wasn't giving you a choice on the matter…"

Perkins stood up and walked back over to the supercomputer, where Fullbyte was overlooking every tiny detail on his computer monitor to ensure that there were no complications. Once he was certain that everything was ready, he turned to his accomplice and nodded, being met by a wide elated smile in return.

"Could you load the example please, Fullbyte?"

Without a response, the elderly villain turned and pressed one of the larger keys on his expansive keyboard, making multiple nearby computers whirr loudly. Even though he was too perplexed to even hazard a guess of what was happening, there wasn't a chance that Gru could ever expect what happened next.

"Hello, my name ees Felonious Gru. Even though I am completely inept at makeeng life choices, I am definitely one of de best villains een de business. Weeth a leetle bit of help from my friend Perkins, I will certainly blossom eento an unstoppable killeeng machine, capable of pumpeeng millions of dollars eento de Bank of Evil's treasury. De earth has my utmost sympathies, but once I am done weeth yoo, nobody will be free from my reign of terror. Not even my own family…"

Gru stared in shock as the supercomputer's speakers spoke those words in the exact same tone and accent as himself. It was scarily accurate in the way it portrayed him. In fact, it was completely faultless in the way it portrayed him. Though the very prospect that Perkins could imitate him with such clarity was quite terrifying, Gru couldn't help but find it incredibly impressive.

"Woah…" He muttered, turning to Perkins and Fullbyte in awe.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" Fullbyte declared, a haunting smile dominating his face. "It's a little something I've been working on for the past few months. You record someone's voice, type in what you want them to say, and the computer will speak the words in a perfect rendition of said voice. Not to toot my own horn here, but…I think it's up there with some of my best inventions."

"Uh…well, dat ees…very cool and all…but what ees de use of haveeng a machine dat can speak exactly like me?"

"Well, I figured that attempting to persuade you into ditching your family and rejoining villainy would be pretty pointless," Perkins started, the grin on his face seeming impenetrable. "But, if I can get a machine that'll speak exactly like you, and then make your family think that you've ditched them and rejoined villainy, then you'll pretty much have no choice but to do so."

"No…" That was the only word that Gru could speak, since the feeling of panic surfacing in his chest sent his thoughts astray. He very quickly realized the sheer magnitude of this terrible situation, especially since he'd just stormed off in anger and abandoned them in some grubby motel room. It wouldn't be too difficult for Perkins to convince them that he hated them. "Yoo…dey…dis…I won't let yoo-"

"Is this your phone?" Perkins interrupted, removing the aforesaid cellular device from his pocket. Gru stared apprehensively as he strutted over to him, flicking through his contacts with a smile. "Hmm…who's Lucy?"

"She's…uh..." Gru replied, trying to keep his composure intact. It was proving to be a very laborious task. "She's nobody."

"You certainly have a lot of pictures of her on here." He spoke, chuckling a little. After a few seconds of scrolling through the gallery of images, one of the pictures caught him a little off guard, making his eyes widen and his expression change. However, it didn't take long for his malicious smile to return. "Are…are you married to her, Gru?"

"What!? Of course, no-" However, he had to interrupt himself when Perkins turned the phone around. It was the picture of him and Lucy on their wedding day, with the girls, Dr. Nefario, his mother, and two of the minions surrounding them. He growled and sent the Bank of Evil owner a fierce look. "Yoo're really oversteppeeng de line here, Perkins…"

"Hmm…I wouldn't say that, Gru. You see, I've barely even started." He replied, as he navigated his way back to the contacts screen. "Why don't we give her a call…"

Ignoring the speed limit, Lucy was practically racing down every road on her way back to the mansion, her mind filled with only worry. She was worried about Vector's involvement, she was worried about the girls' sorrow, and she was extremely worried about Gru's location. Even though she knew that Dr. Nefario would almost definitely help find him, there was still that niggling doubt in her mind…

What if they were too late?

Dru was sat beside her in the passenger seat, completely silent. The girls were sat around one of the small tables behind her, looking out the window in search of their father. And Jack was stood beside the bathroom door, occasionally punching it and telling Vector to shut up when he would try and make a sarcastic remark.

"You know this is just a waste of time, right!?" The villain exclaimed from inside the toilet. "I don't have a clue where Gru is, so don't even bother questioning me!"

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, Vector…" Jack muttered dangerously, giving the door a very sharp gaze.

"It's Victor!"

Huffing loudly, the teen gave the door another strong punch, immediately frightening Vector into silence. That must've been the seventh time that very conversation had happened in the last half-an-hour, including the punch to the door, and Jack's patience was starting to wear thin.

Around the table, the girls were switching their frightened gazes from the window to the bathroom door periodically, whether it was to look for Gru or to ensure that Vector hadn't escaped. They had been mostly silent since they'd left the motel parking lot, both out of worry for their dad, and disappointment for the trip cancellation.

"I wish we didn't have to go home…" Edith sulked, resting her head in her arms. "I wanna carry on with the trip."

"Me too, Edith..." Margo replied, looking at the floor sadly. "But you know we can't. Not while dad's missing."

"I know…" The ten-year-old replied, sighing. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't suck…"

Margo gave her a small sideways look before returning her gaze to the floor.

"Has the scary pajama-man hurt daddy?" Agnes asked, looking at Margo with an expression that begged her to say no. The twelve-year-old was just about to comply with her wish, if it wasn't for Edith beating her to the punch and doing the exact opposite.

"Probably." She muttered sorrowfully, glancing at the bathroom door. "Why else do you think he's here?"

"Edith…" Margo spoke lowly, giving her a stern look before turning to Agnes with a much softer one. "I'm sure dad is fine. Vector was probably just walking past, I doubt he had anything to do with dad disappearing…"

"Alright, well, if he didn't take dad, then where is he?" Edith asked, returning Margo's previous stern look. The twelve-year-old turned back to face her little sister with an expression of discontent. "He wasn't around the motel, he isn't answering his phone, he didn't take the minivan. Face it Margo, he was either kidnapped, or he hates us."

"Daddy hates us?" Agnes inquired, her voice tightening up that little bit more with each new question.

"No, of course not," Margo said soothingly. "He just got angry, that's all. Everyone gets angry once and a while. That doesn't mean that he hates us."

"Then why doesn't he pick up mom's calls?" Edith butted in, dropping her head back into her arms again.

"He's probably just really busy."

"With what?"

"I…he…I don't know, okay!" Margo stated loudly in annoyance. "But look, he probably just needs some time for himself or something. I know for sure that he doesn't hate us."

At that point, Lucy felt her phone vibrate violently in her pocket, coupled with the jolly ringtone. Attempting to fish it out while keeping control of the van, she kept her eyes fixed to the road as she carefully slipped the device out of her pocket. However, when she saw Gru's name flashing on the screen, every aspect of road safety went out of the window, and she let go of the steering wheel to answer it with lightning speed.

"Gru!?" She exclaimed, ignoring the truck that they were about to collide with. Thankfully, Dru leaped over and grabbed the steering wheel, swerving it away from an almost certain fatal accident. As that happened, Jack and the girls ran to overhear the conversation, relief washing over everyone in unison. "Thank god you're okay! You had me really wor-"

"Lucy, I am calleeng to tell yoo dat I am DONE weeth de lot of yoo!" Gru's voice exclaimed from over the phone, laced with a very clear sense of fury. The AVL agent took a moment to register what he'd just said, but after it clicked, she felt her heart rate rise tenfold. "I have realized today dat I am sick and tired of everytheeng een my life! De AVL job and YOO have been makeeng eet a complete nightmare! So, I will be rejoineeng de villainy profession, and I will be stickeeng weeth eet permanently!"

"Wh…what are you-"

"I will also be fileeng for divorce right after dis phone call! Don't EVER contact me again! Goodbye…"

The call cut off.

His voice was replaced with a long, low-pitch tone.

The next few seconds ran like an eternity in Lucy's mind, as she stared dead forward with the blankest of expressions. She slipped the phone back into her pocket, her hands trembling as she did so, and swallowed back the complete shock.

As she continued to stare forward in a daze, Margo poked her head from behind the seat and looked at Lucy with a very hopeful smile, finally breaking the AVL agent out of her imprisoning thoughts.

"So?" She interrogated. "Where is he? Is he okay? Is he coming back?"

"Um…" Lucy mumbled, looking down at her feet for a few seconds. Her mind was a still a million miles away, so all traces of logic and reason had vanished from her conscience. The short but extremely sour conversation was repeating itself over and over in her head, seeming to put emphasis on that final damned word…

Goodbye…

"It…it was the wrong number…" She muttered quietly, trying to utilize every ounce of her AVL training, particularly the teachings of hiding your emotions and stopping people from identifying what you were feeling. "I…must've read the contact wrong…or something."

Margo's face dropped very quickly.

"Oh…but…if it was a wrong number, then why would it have come up with a-"

"I don't know, Margo!" Lucy interrupted, perhaps a little too sternly. She turned away from her eldest daughter and regained control of the steering wheel from Dru, trying with all her will to avoid a breakdown. "Just…go sit down for me, would you?"

"Um…okay." She replied, silently ushering for her sisters to follow her back to the table. Jack and Dru gave Lucy a perplexed look, as she stared dead forward in almost traumatized fashion. After a moment, the teenager looked at Dru and shrugged, before walking back to the bathroom door to check on Vector. As he did so, Dru turned back to his sister-in-law, giving her a deep questioning look.

"Ees…everytheeng okay, Lucy?"

"Yep, yep, everything's…everything's fine, Dru." She responded hurriedly, her eyes not moving in the slightest. "Just…y'know, a little worried about Gru, that's all."

"Oh…" Dru replied, seeming convinced despite the very clear distress in her voice. To him, it did sound like a reasonable explanation, since he was having very similar worries about his brother. "Well, eef eet helps, I'm sure he's okay. As yoo said earlier, everytheeng ees goeeng to be fine."

He was right. She had said that. But, looking back on that conversation in the motel room, what Dru had said just before turned out to be a lot more accurate…

'Eet's like dis whole director theeng has…completely changed heem!'

Lucy felt the almost painful sting of tears at the back of her eyes.

"Yeah…" She muttered wretchedly. "You're right…"

Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.

Honestly, out of all the chapters I've done for this story so far, this one was probably the most enjoyable one for me to write. I don't know if you would agree, but I felt like all the fluff was getting incredibly oversaturated. It seemed like every chapter was pretty much the same thing, so it really needed a shakeup.

Also, looking back, I realize now that I was a little brief at the end of the last chapter. When I said that I'd changed the whole plot, I just meant that I'd removed a few sub-plots that were originally going to be included, and that I'd trimmed out a lot of the fluff chapters (I'd originally planned to have nine chapters following the family on the road trip, but there's only so much you can do before the writer's block starts hitting you very hard). The main storyline and the themes are all still the same.

Hopefully, from this point, the updates will be less infrequent. No promises, since I've got a whole lot of real life stuff to do, but I'll try and write these chapters in any free time I get.

Also, I haven't forgotten about The Outbreak. It will eventually get an update, but since I've really enjoyed writing the last two chapters of this story, I'll probably focus on this one a little bit more for the upcoming weeks.

Any reviews are appreciated. Will return soon.