Despicable Me: Down the Bloodline

So I return with another Despicable Me fan fiction.

This one is going to be extremely adventurous and possibly a little crazy, but I'm gonna give it a shot. A little pre-warning for those who aren't a fan of OC's, this story will contain one, and they will have a pretty huge part in the storyline. However, this story is predominantly warm Gru family moments, with tonnes of cute moments.

Although, on that note, I should also mention that there are some very dark themes and topics used throughout the story, that you may or may not find disturbing. It can get pretty intense in a lot of places, so please take note.

But, if you're okay with that, then without further ado, let's get started...

Chapter One -
A Step Too Far

A collective cheer thundered it's way through the lab as Phil hammered the last nail into a huge, grey ray gun. The minion couldn't help but feel a rush of importance as the large crowd of Minions in front of him threw themselves into the air with an all-mighty roar. He put his fist in the air and cheered along with them.

Gru was standing right beside Phil as he hammered that last nail. He managed to contain his cheer, just to retain his intimidation factor in front of the minions, but still found himself unconsciously bouncing up and down in excitement.

A lot of research had been done before making this ray gun, and he was ebullient to get it up and running. He just hoped that all of this hard work hadn't been for nothing.

After a few seconds of watching the Minion crowd cheer jubilantly, he shouted with a loud authoritative voice, grabbing the attention of the entire lab.

"Okay, okay! Everyone calm down!" He exclaimed, as the minions looked towards him and did as he asked. "We do not know eef eet works yet!"

Just as he finished talking, Lucy entered the lab and looked over to Gru with a frustrated yet quizzical expression.

"What's with all the noise!?" She angrily asked, rubbing her tired eyes as she did so.

"Oh! Sorry honey..." Gru timidly responded, shrinking down in himself under his wife's irritated glare.

The minions began to snicker amongst themselves as they watched their boss reply so weakly. But, they were quickly brought back to intimidated silence as Gru turned and angrily screamed at them.

"Hey! Shut up!"

"What's going on?" Lucy boomed. "And more importantly, why is it going on at six-thirty in the morning!?"

"Oh!" Gru replied, looking down at his digital watch. "I deedn't realize eet was so early. But look, we've finally feenished de ray gun!"

"Oh, you mean the ray gun that's been keeping you so busy the past few days...?" Lucy replied, as she slowly strolled towards him. "The ray gun that's been keeping you so busy in fact, that you've been spending very little time with your own family...?"

Those words sent a sharp bolt of guilt through Gru's spine. It was, of course, the summer holidays, and Gru had promised himself that he would spend as much time as he could with his beloved family. But this ray gun was extremely important to him. Well...it wasn't the gun itself that was important to him, but what he and the minions had built it to do.

"Um...yesss...dat ray gun." He mumbled, shrinking back down again. "But don't yoo know what dis means!?"

"Not really..." Lucy tiredly responded through a yawn.

"Dis ray gun has de capability to melt carbonite!" Gru yelled excitedly as Lucy's eyes widened in realization. "We can free Dr. Nefario!"

The minions cheered again, as if this was the very first time they had been told. But, of course, they had known, as they were the ones who had built it.

"That's great, Gru!" Lucy loudly replied, trying to speak over the shrieking sounds of the minions.

As she leaned in and gave her husband a big kiss on the cheek, the minions all stopped cheering and turned to face the couple with a heart-warming smile.

"Awwww..." They cooed in unison.

"Yeah, yeah! Just...be quiet!" Gru shouted. He quickly shifted his gaze to the nearest minion, standing up straight with authority as he blasted his order. "Mark! Go get Dr. Nefario and put heem up on de stage! Ensure dat de ray gun ees facing directly towards heem! I want everytheeng set up right dis moment! Got dat!?"

"K!" Mark responded, turning away and chattering to a few other minions in their gibberish language.

As Mark and four other minions pushed the gun out of the room, the rest of the minion crowd dispersed to do their own individual activity.

"I'm so excited to see heem again!" Gru chriped, dancing around the lab with glee.

"Do you think he'll wanna stay here now?" Lucy asked softly. Of course, before getting frozen in carbonite, Dr. Nefario had been harping on about the lack of villainy in his life. Since her and Gru were still good guys, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon, does Nefario really want to stick around with the absence of heists and robberies? "I mean, he does like the whole villain thing...and now that you're no longer a villain..."

"I'm sure he'll be willeeng to help us out on AVL missions." Gru replied happily, not a single indication of doubt in his voice.

"Well...if you think s-"

"WELL EEF EET EESN'T MY FAVOURITE NEMESIS'S!"

Gru and Lucy both jumped in fright as Dru came running up from behind to pull them inside a huge hug. Lucy giggled as his hold got tighter, while Gru frowned as he frantically shook his brother's arms away.

"Aww! I've meessed yoo guys!" Dru yelled, prancing giddily around the lab, giving each minion he saw a hug.

"I wasn't expecteeng yoo to be home so early, brother..." Gru spoke, a small indication of disappointment in his voice. He loved his brother to death, just as he did the rest of his family, but his never-ending energy got very annoying very quickly.

"Wellllll...villainy does get quite boring after a while," Dru replied, all the while still prancing and hugging. "And I was starteeng to meess my family!"

"Well, you got home at the perfect time, Dru." Lucy spoke, beaming a toothy grin. "Nefario's getting unfrozen! Fancy watching?"

"Wait...yoo're gonna unfreeze Dr. Nerfroid!?" Dru shouted, the decibels of his voice increasing as each word left his mouth.

"Nefario!" Gru corrected sternly. "Ne-far-io!"

"Whatever!" Dru said, waving a hand in his direction, as if to swat him away. "Of course I'll come watch! But before dat, where are de gurls? I wanna see dem!"

"Dey're still asleep," Gru responded. "Eet ees six-thirty een de morning eef yoo hadn't realized..."

"Oh..." Dru sulked, lowering his head in disappointment. However, it didn't take too long for him to perk back up, as his plan came into vision. "I'll go wake dem up!"

Before either Gru or Lucy could stop him, Dru darted into the elevator and flew back up towards the house with a giddy smile planted firmly across his face.

"Ugh...I always forget how annoyeeng he ees until he walks through de door." Gru said, smacking a hand upon his forehead. With a sigh of frustration, he turned to face a few minions, who had all been watching the conversation in interest, and instructing them around harshly. "Put de unfreezing on hold for a few hours! A few theengs need ironeeng out furst."

The minions nodded and jogged off, while Gru started towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Lucy asked, giving him a look of uncertainty.

"Where do you theenk?" He sneered. "De gurls weel probably want breakfast after deir rude awakening."

"Ooo, breakfast!" She cheered, jogging up to follow her husband into the elevator. "Good idea!"

As the elevator shot up into the house, Gru's mind shook with happiness and excitement. Today was going to be a good day, he could just feel it. Nefario would be back, he could finally spend time with his family again, and everything in his life would be exactly how he wanted it. However...

...he never could've predicted how truly wrong he was.

Jack sat outside the looming door, peering around at all the different stolen artefacts that were placed upon the shelves around him. The room was completely empty, bar for him and the organisation's receptionist, who refused to offer him any of her attention.

Jack wasn't one to get scared, but at the moment, he felt a small amount of nerve building up inside his heart. Today, the big boss wanted to give him an 'important' assignment, or that's how a few co-workers had described it. Even though he had a good relationship with the boss, he still scared the living daylights out of Jack.

Without prior warning, the loud ring of a telephone broke the deadly silence inside the large waiting room, causing him to jump a little in fright. After realizing that it was only a phone call, he calmed himself down and attempted to sooth his nerves.

The receptionist spoke quietly for a few seconds, not seeming to care about the conversation she was having over the phone, before putting the receiver down and finally giving Jack a snide glance.

"You may enter." She sneered. Jack decided against responding and shuffled his way through the big door.

He entered a long, but thin room. Inside, the walls were plastered with a dark yellow and red wallpaper, which was decorated with multiple paintings of famous villains, all of whom were deceased. At the end of the room was a large desk, a bulky red chair placed firmly behind it. At the moment, it was facing away from him, indicating that the boss was electing for a more dramatic start to the conversation.

Jack trudged nervously towards the table, keeping his head down, before promptly sitting down upon the small wooden chair placed directly in front of it. With a clear of the throat, he perked up and started the conversation.

"You...uh...wanted to see me?" He asked, the fear in his voice box causing him to stutter a little.

A large man, who stood at around 7 foot and wore a dark green tuxedo, spun around in his chair until he was making eye contact with Jack. He beamed a bright smile as he laid his eyes upon him.

"Jack!" He cheered, his voice as loud as it was deep. "How the devil are you?"

"I'm doing good, sir." Jack replied, his usual confidence beginning to resurface. "I trust you are doing well yourself."

"Of course." The man responded. With the pleasantries out of the way, the man put his elbows upon the desk and started talking with more of an edge, proving the importance of his next sentence. "I have a big job for you today, young man."

"I love the big jobs." Jack replied, excitement slowly flooding over his face.

"Yes." The man said, shifting his gaze down. "But this is probably the biggest job you have ever faced. I wasn't sure if you were ready, but the standard of your work recently has been excellent, and I knew you were the right man for the job. I mean, frightening thirteen men into soiling themselves at once? I couldn't have done better myself!"

"Uh...thanks." Jack replied, a beaming smile pulling itself across his face. "What do you need me to do?"

"Well...the IVB are having a few financial problems." The boss replied. "We've come up with a plan that could excavate trillions of dollars, if it was to go smoothly and without any complications."

"Cool..." Jack murmured, nodding his head up and down. A trillion dollars. He wouldn't mind having that kind of money in his pocket.

"Yes..." The boss replied, seeming slightly frustrated with his nonchalance. "The plan is to kidnap all of the world leaders at the very same time, and then demand each country a hefty sum for their safe return."

"Ooook..." Jack started, leaning in with intrigue. "So...where do I come in?"

"Now, you're too young to be a villain just yet," The man said, leaning back into his chair, answering the question that he knew Jack was asking in his mind. "So don't get yourself too excited."

Jack scoffed angrily at his statement.

"Too young?" He exclaimed. "Age shouldn't matter if I'm capable enough."

"Well, age does matter when it comes to experience." The large man stated, tightly fixing his gaze upon Jack. "And you're only seventeen. I didn't start my first villain heist until I was twenty-three."

"Yeah, yeah, you've said a million times before." Jack huffed, turning his head away in frustration. "So, back to the question. Where do I come in?"

"You come in by doing your job!" The boss exclaimed, as if the answer was obvious. "Why else would I have called you here!? The International Villain Brotherhood hired you to intimidate non-complying villains into doing our will."

"Mm-hmm...I read the job description." Jack sneered, narrowing his eyes at the big boss.

"Hey! No need to get sarcastic!" The boss boomed heavily. "Remember, I don't have to give you this job! I'm risking my behind for you, so I would appreciate some co-operation!"

"You'll get co-operation," Jack argued quickly. "But the sarcastic tone comes bundled in the package."

"Yes..." The boss said, nodding in agreement, yet still seeming aggressive. "I guess it's needed in your job. Sarcasm does help with intimidation."

"So, who am I intimidating today then?" Jack questioned, sinking back in his seat with impatience.

"He's possibly one of the most ambitious and skilful villains I know." The boss explained. "I believe he tried to steal the moon..."

Jack's eyes widened immediately. Was he being serious? Surely not. In a short-lived spark of panic, he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Pftt...you want ME to intimidate FELONIUS GRU?" He exclaimed. With acrimony, he shook his head in doubt, looking at the boss like he'd transformed into a ghost. "There's no way I can do that! I'll be dead within a second!"

"Well...how can you expect to become a top-villain..." The boss said, leaning back in towards Jack. "...if you can't even intimidate another villain?"

"You know I can intimidate other villains!" Jack snapped, leaning forward in his chair to meet him. "But Gru is just a step too far. Everyone who has tried something on him ended up disappearing without a trace! Surprisingly, I don't want to be added to that list!" As he spoke, the boss emitted a low growl of anger, one of which Jack tried hard to ignore. "Plus I thought he'd gave up villainy to work with the AVL!"

"Once a villain, always a villain." The boss stated. "He must be using the AVL as a part of his next plot. He's a cunning fellow. That's why it is imperative that he is involved in this kidnapping plot."

Jack shook his head and slumped back down in his seat.

"It doesn't matter anyway..." He said. "I just...I can't intimidate Gru. His track-record is too risky for me to try."

"Jack..." The boss muttered sharply, giving him an angry glare. "I believe you said that co-operation was bundled in that package!"

Jack knew he had him there. His only wish was to join the heights of the IVB's top villain ranks, and he knew there was no way he could do that without complying and co-operating with his boss's demands. With a huge sigh, the IVB agent gave in.

"I'll get right on it..." He mumbled in defeat, getting up to leave.

"Jack!" The boss yelped, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. "The art of villainy requires a good mind and good planning. Your usual methods will be useless against Gru. You need to devise a good enough tactic beforehand, or you will be dead within a second! Got that!?"

Jack nodded solemnly, the thump of his heart beating against his ribs making itself apparent, before turning around and leaving through the big door.

For the first time, Jack actually had to think of a plan...

The stage in the lab was cluttered with around eleven minions, all of whom were fussing around with the large ray gun. They were moving it at different angles and directions, until finally, they were sure that it was ready to fire at the block of carbonite that was Dr. Nefario.

All the other minions, plus the whole Gru family, were watching from the seats in front of the stage, a countless amount of excited smiles flooding around the room.

"I can't wait to see Uncle Nefario again!" Agnes shrieked, bouncing up and down in her seat, much like Gru after the last nail had been hammered. The former villain peered down and presented a warm smile as he watched his daughter cheer with joy. He loved her excitement. It only seemed to add to his own excitement.

Unfortunately, the excitement of another person broke him out of his lucid thoughts, replacing his smile with a frown.

"Me tooooo!" Dru shrieked, jumping out of his seat.

"Ugh...yoo've never even met heem Dru! How can yoo be excited to see heem again!"

"Finnneee...meet heem den!" Dru responded frustratingly as he sat back down, still retaining that giddy smile of his.

With Dru, hours seemed to last an eternity...

"What if the minions don't turn the ray gun off in time and Nefario melts as well?!" Edith shouted, jumping up to stand on her seat and looking directly at her father, as if she wanted to scare him.

Well, she succeeded...

Gru felt the excitement replace itself with unbridled worry in an instant. He turned to send her a fiery frown, as the young tomboy grinned mischievously.

"Edith!" Margo snapped. With a level of comfort that spanned far beyond her years, she turned to face Gru and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure nothing like that will happen..."

"It could..." Edith jeered, leaning in closer to Gru. "What if the ray gun malfunctions and explodes and then we all get killed!"

Agnes gasped in fear, all indication of excitement erased, before leaping over and holding tightly onto Gru's arm. A few other minions who surrounded the family gasped in fear as well, jumping into each other's arms in a frightened cuddle.

This had no effect on Gru though. In all the years where the minions had been tasked with building a large weapon, not once did something go seriously wrong. He had total faith in their technological expertise, and knew that there wasn't a chance on earth that it would explode.

"Well, at least yoo'd shut up den..." Gru mocked through a joking smile, prompting everyone to laugh at Edith's expense. However, the nine-year-old didn't see the funny side, as she crossed her arms, sat back down and frowned in her seat.

Even though he was happy to laugh, Gru could still feel those worrying and doubtful thoughts that were sparked by his middle-daughter. And when one of the minions put his thumbs up to Gru to indicate that they were ready, a tinge of fright through his heart caused it to skip a beat.

"Um...maybe we shouldn't do dis now." He spoke carefully, turning to Lucy, trying hard to make sure his fear didn't show in his face. "Maybe...maybe we can find another way to unfreeze Nefario."

Lucy chuckled to see Gru get so worried. She put an arm around him, talking to him like he was a small child.

"Stop worrying, honey. Remember, this is a gun the minions built. How could it possibly go wrong?"

Seeing her chance to scare Gru again, Edith jumped up from her seat and stared him right in the eyes.

"Well, what if-" She started, before being interrupted by Margo, who threw her hand across her mouth to stop her from talking. Gru's stress elevated as one of the minions waddled up to the button on the side of the gun and turned to him, waiting for the signal to press it.

After a few seconds of blankly staring at the minion, Gru remembered how much he missed Dr. Nefario's company. All the sad times he spent working on inventions without him. All the depressing times he would look over to Nefario's carbonite block, afraid that they would never get him out...

But now, there was a way to get him out! How could he not go through with it!? Swallowing back his fears, he gulped and shone a fake smile, giving the minion a nod.

The minion jumped in excitement and slammed his little yellow hand on to the button. A huge whirring sound quickly filled the room, making Gru and Agnes jump into a fearful hug with each other. As the gun shook wildly with power, Dru and Edith stared with their mouths agape, drooling uncontrollably.

The two of them loved big guns...

Finally, after ten seconds of shaking, churning, drooling and hugging, the gun released a massive red laser and sent it flying at Dr. Nefario. The sound it made was deafening, causing every minion plus the whole family to jump back in their seats and shriek in fear.

After a moment, the block of carbonite started to shake with a red glow as it slowly melted down. Everyone in the room watched on in anticipation, hoping that soon, they would see Dr. Nefario look back at them.

Then, with a thundering boom, the block shattered into pieces and released Dr. Nefario, who stepped back and shook his head in a daze. He couldn't say anything, all he could do was turn to his family in confusion, eyeing them up inquisitively. After seeing his first movement for an indeterminate amount of time, the family couldn't hold back their joy.

"DR. NEFARIO!" Gru and Lucy yelped, running up to him.

"UNCLE NEFARIO!" The girls shrieked, running up to him.

"NERFROID!" Dru screamed, running over and picking him up in an uncomfortable hug.

"I-I...uh...what...who ar...what is..." Dr. Nefario stuttered. His mind run itself ragged with millions of questions, all of which he wanted to ask at the same time.

"I'm so happy to see yoo again, Nefario!" Gru shouted, cutting his stutters off. "Yoo've had me so worried!"

"Worried?" Dr. Nefario inquired, giving him a strange look. "What in blazes 'appened then?"

Gru's happy expression quickly transitioned into an angry one as his gaze threw itself towards a nearby minion.

"Well...Dave got a leettle too excited weeth de new carbonation ray..." He chastised, his tone quiet yet furious. "...and yoo got frozen in carbonite for two months."

The whole family turned to give Dave an angry stare, who put his head down and nervously chuckled, promptly shuffling away with a guilty walk.

"It took you two months to get me out of carbonite!?" Dr. Nefario yelled.

"Well...yes...but...I didn't know what to do." Gru explained timidly.

"Pfft...I should've been out within two minutes!" Nefario exclaimed. With an expression full of rage, he flung his hands in the ray gun's direction, scoffing under his breath. "And you didn't have to make the ray gun that big!"

"Yoo know, a thank yoo would be nice!" Gru yelled, crossing his arms. Even though he seemed genuinely angry, inside, he was far from it. In the end, the constant irritation and lack of satisfaction was what Gru loved most about Nefario.

"God Gru, yoo're so useless!" Dru mocked, giving his brother a playful shove, who eyed him up aggressively.

"And who's this loud fella?" Nefario asked rudely, giving Dru a stare of suspicion.

"Ugh...Dru meet Nefario." Gru sulked, his features sagging with exasperation. "Nefario, dis ees my twin brother D-"

"DRUUU!" Dru interrupted, yanking Nefario's hand and giving him a wild energetic handshake. "Nice to finally meet yoo, Nerfroid! I've heard a lot of things about yooooo..."

"Uh...well, yes." Nefario nervously replied, prying his hand out of Dru's grasp. "Nice to meet you too...I think..."

"Yoo know, a leetle birdie told me yoo've been looking for a villain to join up weeth!" Dru responded, giving Nefario a menacing smirk. "I'M YOUR MAN!"

Before Dr. Nefario could respond with his doubtful scoff, the three girls jumped into him and gave him a long hug, almost knocking him off his feet.

"I've missed you so much, Uncle Nefario!" Agnes cheered, holding tightly onto his leg.

"Haha, I missed you too." Nefario replied, giving them his first smile in two months.

"What's it like being frozen in carbonite?" Edith asked.

"I don't know," Nefario responded simply. "I can't remember a thing about it."

"Aww...that's boring." Edith sulked, crossing her arms and turning away from him in disappointment. Lucy chuckled before wandering up to Nefario and giving him a small kiss on the forehead.

"Nice to see you again, Doctor." She greeted. Nefario gave a small smile as a response, before shuffling off with a slow walk.

"Right...how much of a mess have you left my lab in then..." He muttered, sighing coldly.

Gru watched him walk away with a beaming smile, one of which he'd been holding back for the past few minutes. He'd really missed the way Nefario would annoy everyone around him with his aggravating condescension and grumpiness.

As Dr. Nefario disappeared and the room transitioned to silence, Gru rolled up his sleeve and inspected his digital watch, turning to face the girls after clarifying the time.

"Looks like eet's lunch time." He said. "What do yoo gurls fancy?"

Before they could respond with their barrage of food options, Dru leaped in front of his brother's line of sight and shouted his desired choice.

"OOO! Let's have hot dogs!"

"Yes! That sounds awesome!" Edith chirped. With blinding excitement, Dru turned around and picked up his three nieces, energetically prancing towards the lab's elevator for the kitchen. As Gru stared on with a mix of surprise and exasperation, Lucy slowly started following the rest of her family, giving Gru a mocking smirk as she strolled.

"Come on!" She spoke. "I'll help you make them."

Gru smirked in return before following on behind. The whole family shot up the elevator, which made things a little cramped, before emerging back into the living room. The girls and Dru sprinted out of the room towards the kitchen, while Gru and Lucy chuckled and followed behind with a small stroll.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"I've got eet." Gru proclaimed, diverting his attention to the front door.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Lucy asked.

"No, de gurls look starved!" He yelped. "Go get de hot dogs started, I'll be back een two seconds."

Gru opened the front door to find a young boy standing in front of him. He had long brown hair and very large biceps, which were practically bulging out of his scruffy grey hoodie. When Gru answered the door, he was looking away from him, as if he thought of himself as much cooler than everyone else in the world.

"Uh...can I help yoo?" Gru asked carefully, shooting the boy a suspicious look. With the question, he quickly turned his head and inspected the AVL agent, tearing him apart with an extremely fierce gaze.

"That depends if you're who I'm looking for." The boy stated sharply. For a boy so young and casual, his manner of speaking was fairly professional, as if he'd been working in an office for decades. "Are you Felonious Gru?"

With apprehension, Gru cleared his throat and answered nervously.

"Um...yes, dat would be me."

The boy smiled venomously before extending his arm out to offer a handshake. Gru accepted the handshake, but due to the mass amount of suspicion, didn't smile back.

"It's very nice to meet you, Gru." The boy greeted. For such an innocent greeting, the boy's voice sounded oddly evil, as if every sentence was a threat. "My name is Jack. At the minute, I require your assistance...and...I won't take no as an answer."

Cautiously, Gru took a small step backward, affixing a watchful eye on him. Jack noticed his obvious fear, and even if he wanted to, couldn't hold back the satisfied menacing smirk.

"Um...dat...dat depends on what yoo need..." Gru replied, a hint of reluctance in his voice. Something here, he thought to himself, smelt fishy.

"Hmm..." Jack pondered, turning away from Gru in a small thought process. "Apologies, but I can't take that as an answer either."

Before Gru even had a chance to react, Jack swiftly thundered forward and punched Gru very hard, knocking him unconscious instantly. Within only ten seconds, Jack carried the former villain's body away from the doorstep and over to the van stationed on the curb.

Emitting a huge growl from the engine, Jack sped off down the road at speed before anyone could see him, escaping with his new hostage...

At this moment, Lucy emerged from the kitchen and looked down the hallway, inspecting the front step.

"Gru, honey. I heard a commoti-" She called, interrupting herself upon noticing the wide open front door. She nervously traipsed through the hallway, watching every nook and cranny, before peeking her head outside to analyse the front garden.

"Gru, honey...

...where have you gone?"

And with that, Chapter One comes to a close.

I hope you enjoyed it because I loved writing this one. I quite seem to like writing conflict scenes...

The only issue was that I'm new to writing Dru and Nefario's characters. Did I do a good job, or did I mess it up completely?

If you enjoyed this chapter or even downright hated it, please consider dropping a review. Not compulsory obviously, but it would be very much appreciated.

See you guys VERY soon with the next chapter! Excited to post it!