Chapter 20:

After the Dust Settles

It felt like just yesterday that Gru and co. had broken Hypno-Joe's spell. Margo, Edith, and Agnes have caused a lot damage in their villain trance, and it would take quite a bit of time to clean up. Thankfully, the police had enough evidence to recognize this as Hypno-Joe's work, and thus, no charges were pressed against the girls.

But despite the relief that they would not have to go to juvie, the girls still felt a little bad about the destruction they caused in their villain trance. Sometimes they would cry when they thought too hard about it, and whenever they did and their parents were around, they would immediately be comforted. They were also not allowed to go the city with their folks while it was being fixed. Not that they wanted to, since the flashbacks they were going through were bad enough.

Fortunately, it didn't take them long to get over it. Not only did they have the warm glow of familial love to thank for it, but Alex's company too. His continued relationship with Margo and playtime with her sisters had really helped them take their minds off the incident, and they felt closer to him than ever before. And by that time, they had already prettied themselves up to look like their old selves again, regular clothes and all.

Before long, the city was all fixed, and the girls were allowed to go on car trips with their parents again. And much to their relief, nobody recoiled in fear at the sight of them like they feared. Instead, there was sympathy and otherwise pleasant interactions between them and the various business staff and citizens they came across. It was good to know how understanding even people who weren't their family or neighbors were. Clearly, only Hypno-Joe was to blame for all of this, and the girls got a giggle from the horrible things that were said about him by the people who sympathized with them, offering their own share of mean things to say about him. Gru and Lucy weren't usually comfortable with their children saying nasty things about people, even if they were supervillains, but they let it slide in this case.

Unfortunately and fortunately, the police still hadn't found Hypno-Joe's body, suggesting he may not be dead after all. Unfortunately because the villain well-known for controlling peoples' minds is probably still out there. Fortunately because if he survived, that meant the girls didn't kill him, taking one burden off of their shoulders. You would think that the girls should be worried about the monster that made them hurt people. But they weren't. They felt like they were in good hands with both two super-cool secret agents for parents, and a superhero for a next-door neighbor. If Hypno-Joe ever did return…well, he'd better watch out, plain and simple.

But by far, the biggest relief they felt was their father and Devoted Devan officially ending their feud and becoming friends. When they saw how much they got along and how much they had in common, the girls had never been happier for their old man. Not to mention their mother bonding with the superhero for what felt like the first time since they were kids.

Gru was happy too, because this meant he got to fulfill his promise to his wife. From the day the Prestons moved in, Lucy had wanted them to get along, and now they are.

As you may remember, Susan and Alex were confident that this day would come soon enough. They both saw the good in Gru at Devan's absolute worst, and Gru could not thank them enough for their support. And because of this, Gru felt slightly more comfortable with Margo going into the dating world. Slightly.

And Gru's sacrifice was anything but senseless, as they always enjoyed each other's company. Alex would always charm Margo with his serenades, and she would always make him laugh with her dry humor. Adults that witnessed this would let out an "aww" every chance they got, as would Agnes. Not Edith, though. She had a long way to go before she grew out of her "boys and girls kissing are gross" phase.

As everybody was getting along, Margo's 13th birthday drew near. Preparations have been made for this special day. The day Margo becomes an official teenager. Gifts have been bought; family members have been called; and people have been addressing Margo as "the birthday girl." Dru had taken the rest of the month off from villainy so he could be there for his oldest niece on this momentous occasion. And since this meant the return of the Minions, that means the girls got a nice break from the chores. And after what they've been through, they could use it.

To make Margo's birthday extra-special, Alex had written another very special song for her, and everybody wanted to make a production out of it. Together, the Grus and the Prestons have set up a stage in Gru's lab for Alex to perform his song for the girl of his dreams. It reminded Gru of the time he made a private ballet recital for the girls shortly after officially adopting them. The stage's background was the same background for World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. Obviously, it was Alex's idea.

Finally, the time had come. Everyone had gotten Margo to come down to the lab to listen to the song Alex made her. It was a huge turnout. Aside from the parents and children of both families, there was also Marlena, Dr. Nefario, Devan and Susan's parents, Dru, and several Minions, with one of them even being a DJ for Alex. They were all sitting in folding chairs, and sitting in the front row was the birthday girl herself. And of course, all of them were wearing party hats.

After a few minutes of waiting, the curtains rose, Alex was tuning his guitar, and the Minion DJ did his thing.

It begins.

My dearest Mar-Mar.

The only girl for me.

It warms my heart,

To know that she's free.

...

No longer living under Miss Hattie.

Or a love puppet to Antonio.

Adopted by a loving family.

That's all I need to know.

...

Our fathers are friends now.

Hero and ex-villain.

Ending their quarrel,

Because they are willin'.

...

Not a day goes by, Mar-Mar,

Where I don't think of you.

Your lovely smile and face,

Your warmth and kindness too.

Margo enjoyed the song so much that she began waving her fingers as if she were a conductor.

Happy 13th birthday, Margo.

Enjoy your gifts from people that care.

You mean the world to me, Margo.

And I just want to make you aware.

Alex continued to sing his song for the birthday girl, and she never wanted it to end.

You would be forgiven for not thinking Hypno-Joe would be able to survive falling from a cliff, tumbling down various sharp rocks, and splashing into the water with various injuries. But on one dreary and rainy day, a dark figure had risen from the ocean depths while no one was looking. A completely drenched dark figure covered in sea barnacles.

Hypno-Joe was alive.

And he was not looking particularly happy, considering everything that happened to him. Nor was he looking like he was in great shape. The cut on his face from Edith's katana was still there, as were his various injuries from the rocks he fell on, making it hard for him to walk. Despite this, he still walked away from the shore he was washed up at. He had a place he wanted to be, and if he had to limp there, so be it.

Finally, after a long period of limping, Hypno-Joe has made it to his destination. It took forever, but he has reached the cemetery. And he saw it. The grave he came here to see. Slowly, he limped toward…

Scarlet Overkill's gravestone.

All of the anger he felt toward everybody who wronged him…Devoted Devan, Gru, the girls, the Anti-Villain League…it all faded away the closer he got to Scarlet's grave. When he was finally there, he reached into his top hat. There was one last item he had stored in there.

A beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Gently, he laid the bouquet onto the fallen supervillain's grave. Thankfully for Hypno-Joe, there was a bench next to the grave, which he really needed to sit on after all that limping. And sit he did, getting a perfect angle to speak to the tombstone.

"Hello, Aunt Scarlet," he began. "It's me, Hypno-Joe. Well, you know me as Joe-Joe. That was always your favorite nickname for me. The name I went by when I was around you. And I guess it is here too. I wish I could hear it from your beautiful voice again. But I know it's impossible to revive the dead. Believe me, I tried. I don't even know if you would want to see me anyway, me being a great big disappointment and all. I failed you, Aunt Scarlet. I'm not the villain you wanted me to be. I could never defeat Devoted Devan. I've been arrested by the police countless times. I couldn't even make Susan fall in love with me for longer than three days. But worst of all was my worshipping of Gru, the villain who singlehandedly ruined your reputation. And all because of that stupid fight we had so long ago! What was I thinking?! I've been taking pointers from the wrong villain! My only arguable accomplishment was transforming Gru's daughters into supervillains, and even then, I forgot to make them obedient to me. I was lucky to survive my last encounter with them. I don't know if Gru managed to turn them back, and don't care much, really. I also don't care if his own daughters HORRIBLY MUTILATE HIM IN FRONT OF EVERYONE HE LOVES!...I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk like that. Death is hard enough for me. This is why I don't resort to murder unless I'm driven to. So, what's the plan now? Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure. I don't know what the future holds for Hypno-Joe. I mean, what can I do? Go back to California and make a grand entrance? I'm still a wanted criminal, dead or not. I don't even know where I can go to get these injuries healed up without somebody spotting me with the intention of arresting me. Again. Maybe it's for the best that they think I am dead until I can sort out my life. If I can sort out my life. But whatever happens to me, or whatever you may think of me now, I just want you to know that I love you, Aunt Scarlet. I love you like a mother. And never let it be said that I don't love Uncle Herb either. You both took me in when my parents disowned me, and I will never forget that. As far as I'm concerned, you are my real mother, and the only supervillain for me."

As soon as Hypno-Joe was finished speaking to his deceased aunt, he saluted the grave with his weak arm. Then, he stared at the sky while on the bench, trying to figure out what his next move should be. He figured he had some time to contemplate his life before staff began poking their noses into his business.

Then he saw her. A cloud formation of the late Scarlet Overkill. It looked almost exactly like his dead aunt. The resemblance was so uncanny that he began to tear up, and before he knew it, he found himself breaking down in tears. He cried harder than he ever had in his life. He was so glad he was the only one at that graveyard, both because anyone who recognized him would call the police, and because he didn't want anyone to see the great Hypno-Joe cry.

It would be the first time anyone saw the villain cry.

He missed his aunt so much.

The End

And thus concludes my first ever story posted on this website. Let me tell you that it has been one heck of a journey planning for and writing this wonderful story. I love how it turned out, and I hope you do too. If you enjoyed this story, feel free to post your thoughts in the review section. I'd love to hear what you think of it.

I'd like to give a special shout-out to Swalker2000 for not only leaving at least a couple reviews, but also being the first person to favorite my story. Swalker is the author of many great stories, all of them Despicable Me related. It's safe to say that some inspiration from these stories made it onto here, such as the girls no longer calling their parents "Gru" and "Lucy", or this story ending on one of the girls' birthdays. So, receiving this particular positive feedback truly means a lot. Check out this person's stories. You may like what you see.

There's one more Despicable Me story that I'd like to give a shout-out to: "Despic4ble Me" by MysteryWriter2187, another story that features Gru's children going bad...willingly in this case. Incidentally, if you're familiar with a certain interview with Miranda Cosgrove about what she wants to see in Despicable Me 4, then it's not hard to see where both of our ideas come from. But in my opinion, as good of an idea as it sounds for the girls to turn to villainy, it seems a bit out-of-character for all three of them, so...being hypnotized it is!

So, what's my next story going to be? I'm not sure, actually. There are so many franchises I like that I could make my next story be about, but I don't know which one to pick. I'm sure I'll come up with something, but for now, I think I'll be focusing on other things.

Take care, everyone! And remember, Hypno-Joe is watching you!