CHAPTER 15

Gru stood at Dru’s state-of-the-art chalkboard, in front of a simple diagram of Balthazar Bratt’s lair. The place was a thin pyramid in the middle of the ocean with a giant Rubik’s Cube on top. Gru had been there before, and he remembered the tower and some of the weapons that protected it. Dru sat behind him, sipping coffee out of a #1 BROTHER mug. Occasionally he raised his hand for Fritz to give him a refill.

“Okay.” Gru tapped the chalk on the board. “This is Bratt’s lair. It may not look like much, but this place is armed with some of the most high-tech weaponry known to man. It’s considered impenetrable.”

“But a piece of cake for us, right, Brother?” Dru asked.

“This is not like stealing lollipops.…”

Gru hit a button on the side of the board, transforming the diagram into a 3-D view of the lair. Dru grabbed a bowl of popcorn from the table and started chomping fistfuls of it. “Whoa!”

Gru drew missiles and guns popping out of the side of the tower. The diagram zoomed out to reveal fighter planes coming toward it from either side. The fighter planes were destroyed in just two shots.

“This security system can detect an air assault from any direction,” Gru explained. “So we’ll have to approach low and close to the water.”

Gru drew a motorboat with a man inside. The chalkboard animated it, showing it racing through the ocean below Bratt’s lair. The man seemed happy—confident even.

“Then there are these deadly spikes,” Gru said, pointing to a set of spikes that popped out of the water. “Even if they don’t impale you, the poison will do significant damage.”

Suddenly the man was ejected from the boat. He hit a spike with full force, and his whole body exploded. “Geronimo!” he yelled as his head floated away. “Ouch!”

Dru stopped eating his popcorn.

“Good to know,” he said.

“So here’s the plan,” Gru went on. “You’re the getaway driver. So you’ll wait in the boat.”

“Wait, hold on.” Dru frowned. “Wait in the boat? But I want in on the action!”

“Dru…,” Gru started, trying to find the perfect way to spin it. “The getaway driver is the most crucial part of any plan. Do you know how hard it is doing nothing, touching nothing, with all of the adrenaline coursing through your veins… and you must wait. Can I count on you?”

Gru stared at Dru, hoping what he’d said had sunk in. Nothing. Do nothing. Touch nothing. Absolutely nothing. He couldn’t risk Dru messing things up.

His brother crossed his arms over his chest. “I guess so…”

“So I’ll climb up the cube and enter here,” Gru said, drawing an arrow to the Rubik’s Cube. “Then once I’m inside, somehow I’ll find the diamond. I’ve underestimated Bratt before. This is not going to be easy.”

“I think we can handle it.” Dru smiled. He leaned forward, pushing a button on the table. Two action suits popped up. “Dad’s villain suits!”

Gru and Dru ran over and pulled them on. The suits covered their entire bodies except for their mouths and eyes. Gru’s was pitch-black with gold piping along the seams. Dru’s was identical, except it was white.

“It’s go time!” Gru announced.