Late at Night, Gru finally reached home, but with a dead tired expression on his face and a slouched body. What did happen, which made him so tired that he cannot even walk properly?

It was the consequence of the smugness that he showed in his meeting with AVL Director Silas Ramsbottom.

After insulting Silas, and making a 'Like a Boss' exit from the conference hall of AVL. He met the obstacle waiting outside the AVL base.

It was Ocean. Endless Ocean.

It turned out that the AVL had a big submarine as their base of operations, and at that time, it was in the middle of the sea. And in this perilous situation, Gru's tools which he could resort to in these types of situations were turning useless.

Mobile Phone. No Network.

Airship Keys. But the Airship is parked in the Underground Base.

Two Minions. Already Useless.

Now, all he could find was a boat with oars. So in order to maintain the smugness that he showed earlier, He scrapped the idea to ask for help from AVL, and he oared the boat from the middle of the sea to the shore all by himself.

After hours of oaring, under great physical taxation, and constant incomprehensible cheering of the Minions, Gru was able to reach his home but tired.

Gru entered his house with the two minions following him like they usually do. When he stepped inside, he was greeted by the Maid Minion, Tom. Tom quickly rushed towards Gru and started pointing towards the living room.

"Ospite!! Ospite!!"

"Guest? Why did you let them enter the house? I have told you not to let people other than the girls come in."

"Ospite abbiamo aspettato"

"Guest we waited for? Who? Friend of Giran from Japan? Didn't I tell Phil and Cole to pick him up and leave him at a hotel?"

"Vino solo."

"Hmmm... Came here by himself. Let's talk to him. I have a family here, and Giran's friend must be a villain. Not a good thing for the girls. He needs to leave."

Gru who was dead tired had his energy back when it came to his daughters. He rolled up his sleeves and entered the living room by slamming the doors open, with a futuristic-looking gun in his hands and Minions behind him with war weapons like an ax and spiked mace.

Gru started searching for the 'villain friend of Giran,' but he only found a middle-aged man sitting on a couch with a newspaper in his hands which covered his face. He aimed the gun at the man and shouted,

"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE!! BUT LEAVE OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!!!"

The man lowered the newspaper, revealing his face to Gru. Gru flinched a bit to see the man here but he didn't lose his composure.

"I never knew AVL will be so persistent for me that they sent an agent to take me back again," Gru said in a snarky tone but didn't lower the gun down.

"It seems you are misunderstanding things. Let me explain... Who won the cake?" Knuckleduster asked.

"I did," Gru answered the password that was decided by Giran, then he realized that the man is the guest that he was expecting to arrive. But he still had his doubts.

"If you are Giran's acquaintance then shouldn't you be a villain. But you were in the AVL base with me. You are also an Ex-Villain?"

"Ex-Hero to be exact. My situation was similar to yours. I was abducted to their base like you, but it was a voluntary abduction."

"For the same reason?" Gru questioned and lowered the gun.

"Hmm... They also want me to take part in the Investigation, and the reason for my selection was my track record."

"You agreed?"

"Asked for some time. But I will agree."

"But Giran told me that you are here for fighting some Underworld organization, then why put your head into this meatgrinder?"

"Ramsbottom indirectly threatened to take action if I refuse. And the team leader agrees that I should cooperate with AVL. It is the best option we could hope for."

"Then? What do I have to do?" Gru asked.

"Then nothing. Your part as a connection of Giran has been completed. AVL will be the one replacing you because you are of no use to us now.  I thought you would be an active part of the Underworld, but it is not. You are just a jam and jellies businessman, I don't think you should involve yourself in this."

"Why? I still have some uses like.."

"Didn't you flat out reject Ramsbottom, then why involve in this? Any particular motive behind it? If I remember correctly, You said you're a father and a legitimate businessman."

"Well, It was just not so nice to listen that I am of no use... so I tried to defend myself. Yeah."

"Yeah..? Since there is nothing more to do here then I will be leaving."

Knuckleduster stood up and left Gru's house. Gru who was a bit distraught after being called useless stood up and made his way to the Underground base.

...

An Elevator could be seen descending with Gru in it. When the elevator reached the floor, Gru exited the elevator and greeted the minions working in the production units of Jams and Jellies.

"Tim... Nice Haircut."

"Tommy, Hang in there baby, it's almost Friday."

"Oh!! So How's today's batch Dr. Nefario?"

"I have discovered a formula which allowed me to add the flavor of every known berry into one jelly."

Gru with excitement and anticipation tasted the jelly, but it tasted horrible. Horrible to the level that he started grunting while grabbing his stomach.

"It's terrible isn't it?" Dr. Nefario asked,

"No..No... We are making great progress. Here... try some" Gru gave the jar of jelly to one of the minions.

The minion had his doubts, he looked between the jar and Gru for some time but then he take a leap of faith. He inverted the jar and took some jelly on his tongue. Tried to take the flavor, and then it happened.

The minion took his tongue out and cleared the jelly as fast as he could, and threw the jelly on the ground.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

And with that chaos spread amongst the minions. All running around just to avoid that horrible jelly.

"There are some problems with the taste but I know you will deal with that.." Gru tried to assure dejected Dr. Nefario.

"Look Gru... There is something that I wanted to talk to you about..."

"What is it?"

"You see... I miss being evil. Sinister plots, Large scale crimes. It is what I live for. I mean don't you think there is more to in our future than... Jellies and Jams."

"Well... we are trying to change our ways Dr. Nefario... Always being a Villain was not a good thing." Gru said in a polite tone trying to convince Dr. Nefario.

"The thing is Gru... I am offered employment elsewhere."

"You are kidding, right? Come on."

"It's a great opportunity for me. Bigger Lab. More Evil. Full Dental." Dr. Nefario pushed a button on his workspace and everything started folding. The entire workspace folded into a metallic suitcase.

"Okay... Then let's give you the proper send-off... MINIONS!!"

....

In a wide hall, minions have gathered all around, with Gru, Dr. Nefario in the middle. Seven Minions came out of the crowd in an orderly manner with odd-looking guns in their hands. They aimed the guns at 45-degrees.

"The Highest Honor Awarded to Dr. Nefario for your years of service. The 21-Fart Gun Salute."

With that, Another Minion came forward and started the ceremony.

"PULATO!!"

*PBBBBT* X 7

"PULATO!!"

*PBBBBT* X 7

"PULATO!!"

*PBBBBT* X 7 + *PFFT*

"I counted 22," Dr. Nefario pointed out.

Gru gave a side-eye look to the Minion who was giving the commands.

Dr. Nefario revved the engine, and started his mobility scooter, after covering some distance, he pushed a button and changes the wheels turned into mini-jets. With that, Dr. Nefario left the Underground base.

Gru who was looking at the leaving figure of Dr. Nefario was feeling sad. It was natural. His accomplice in crimes who was beside him for so many years now left him.

He was thinking whether this transition from bad to good was worth it. After the change, he himself was struggling to get back to normal life. At first, He was itching to do bad things but he restrained. He restrained himself from doing those things because he has something more important than himself, His daughters.

He needs to change for his daughters. But he couldn't control these urges to do some adventure. He wanted some action.

Gru who was in his thoughts suddenly remembered something and took out a card from his pocket.

______________________

[Next Day, Paradise Mall]

Inside a Cupcake Shop.

"What are you doing here?" Knuckleduster asked the bald man standing in front of him.

"I agreed to Ramsbottom's proposal," Gru replied.

"You kidding?"

"No... I am here to prove that I am not useless, as you said to me last night. I will prove it and you will accept it that I am not useless but I am more useful than you."

"You know what? I don't like you... So don't try to interrupt my work. You may take this as a game but I am serious about this. Very Serious."

"I am serious too... Yeah, Baby." Gru crossed his arms and looked at Knuckleduster with a gaze filled with competition.

"Stop Fighting you two... Partners don't fight when they are on a job together." Lucy came from the kitchen door.

"PARTNERS???!!!" Gru and Knuckleduster shouted at the same time, asking Lucy.

"Yeah, Partners," Lucy affirmed.

"HELL NO!!!" *2