The Greatest Villain in History
An alternate ending to the first film, in which Gru fully realizes the consequences of stealing the moon.
part 1
One Monstrous Accident That Changed Everything.
The escape capsule was hurtling confidently towards Vector's secret base. The Moon rested on a mug with a ridiculous "I love Evil" inscription, or rather, its shrunken copy the size of a grapefruit.
"Father…" he whispered, unable to tear his admiring gaze from the trophy. "Wait just a little longer. I'll prove it… I'll prove it to everyone."
His gaze slid to the large glass sphere built into the capsule wall. Three girls sat inside. They weren't crying; they were looking at him with silent, soul-chilling condemnation. But Vector ignored them. They were merely bargaining chips, bait. The main prize was on his table.
It was at that precise moment that the world outside roared. A deafening screech of metal on metal rang out, and the capsule braked sharply, with such force that Vector was nearly thrown from his seat.
From the open airlock came the whistle of air being sliced and the clang of a grappling hook.
A harpoon.
Clutching the rope, Gru was approaching his capsule. Icy terror pierced Vector to the core. He lunged for the control panel to slam the airlock shut, but it was too late.
And then, as if the Universe itself decided to mock Vector, the Moon grew to the size of a basketball, fell, crushing the mug, and rolled straight towards Vector.
"Ahhh!" he squealed, not even having time to understand what was happening. The heavy ball slammed into him, knocked him down like a bowling pin, and rolled out through the open airlock to plummet ignominiously down to the ground below.
"OH NO! MY MOON!" Vector howled, stretching a helpless hand towards the abyss.
His dream, his triumph, his justification—all of it had fallen and was lost somewhere down there.
But he wasn't given time to mourn the loss. Gru rose before him. His face was twisted with pure, uncontrolled rage.
"You…" Gru hissed. He leaned down, and his huge hand grabbed Vector by the jumpsuit, lifting him like a rag doll. His other hand clenched into a fist. Vector understood—the time for the pain Gru had promised him when he refused to return the girls had come.
Vector squeezed his eyes shut, raised his hands, covering his face with his palms, expecting a crushing blow. He let out a pitiful, squeaky whimper.
But the blow didn't come. An eternity passed. Vector saw through his lashes how the rage on Gru's face was replaced first by bewilderment, and then… contempt. He saw not a formidable rival, but a scrawny kid trembling with fear.
Gru didn't hit him; he simply threw Vector across the entire capsule. He hit the wall with a dull thud and slid helplessly to the floor.
"Let them out. Now," ordered Gru, his voice low and authoritative again, but now without blind fury.
Wordlessly, without raising his eyes, Vector crawled to the control panel. He pressed a button. The glass sphere opened with a hissing sound.
"DADDY!" Three small figures flew out of it and rushed towards Gru. Margo, Edith, and Agnes. They hugged his legs, his waist, clinging to him as if they never wanted to let go. Gru knelt down, embracing all three, pressing them to himself. His fierce face melted into a smile full of such relief and love that Vector could only read about in books.
"Gru!" came Nefario's voice from outside. "The Moon! We need to find the Moon!"
At that moment, the lighting inside the capsule changed to a pulsating red. The air filled with a low, rising hum.
"Ark Protocol activated," a pleasant female voice announced. "Planetary-scale existential threat detected. Evacuation preparation commencing."
"What?" Vector exhaled, his eyes wide. He ran to the nearest screen. "No! Evil, cancel! It's a mistake!"
Gru, still holding Agnes, frowned. "What is it? Did your toy break?" he barked.
"I don't know!" Vector nearly squealed, poking uselessly at the touchscreen. "Evil, what's happening? Is it a war?"
"Threat identified. Visualizing from satellites and seismographs."
The screen displayed an apocalypse. The landscape at the epicenter was no longer flat—it was sagging, forming a giant bowl into which entire cities were sliding and collapsing. Gravity, distorted to incredible magnitudes, was sucking everything into this funnel: concrete structures, steel beams, layers of soil and water. The ocean, torn from its familiar shores, churned with poisonous white foam, crashing onto land with tsunamis that wiped away everything in their path. And in the very center of this global collapse, pulsating and growing, was the familiar gray sphere.
Gru froze. He looked at the screen, and his brain, accustomed to large-scale villainy, for a second refused to comprehend the scale of the catastrophe.
"That's... the Moon..." he whispered with soul-chilling horror.