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“I now present to you!”
Music slowly started to fill the air. All the Rick’s looked around to see a line of Morty’s making their way to the stage. They were all dressed in caps and gowns, looking wide eyed at the crowd. Some were smiling, while others looked downright terrified.
“Your new Morty’s!”
Zero sighed, slouching in his chair as the first Morty went up to get his diploma. A diploma lined with gold and signed off by the teacher in twirled, yet careless strokes.
Such an honor.
It signified that the Morty was in fit condition both mentally and physically (to a degree) to handle the adventures with the appropriate Rick counterpart.
It was a finicky system to say the absolute least. After evaluation on the Morty’s past and info on how exactly they lost their Rick’s, they were placed in the Morty school near the outskirts of the city.
If a Morty was deemed unfit to go to an active Rick, they would be dropped from the school and placed in either the Morty town, or the free for all above them that was “Pocket Morty’s” Up there, Rick’s who have hit a new low in their lives, banished for minor crimes, or just recently discovered inter dimensional travel and had unfortunately been found out- would run around trying to make their way back into society. When they are given approval from the new president, they could re-enter society with an assigned job at the new citadel.
Some Rick’s and Morty’s actually went up there for fun. Zero just couldn’t see why. He had gone up there once before to see what the hype was about, but it ended up being some fucked up battle of the classes. Upper, middle, and lower. Some were fighting for their lives, others. . . for their freedom. And the ones who visited were only there for fun without consequence.
Pass.
Rick after Rick left their seats to go retrieve their new Morty’s on stage. Most of them seemed to be fairly content with their new buddies, and some of them waved off the teens excitement with a tip of a flask. It was quite the pattern.
“What kind of Morty are, are you hoping to get?”
The two Rick’s in back of him were talking. Not having anything better to do as the ceremony continued, Zero decided to listen in a bit.
“Geez, anything but that freaky lizard one. W-What fuckin, a fuckin nightmare. And is that a fuckin Rick in there?”
He raised a brow, looking around the group of Morty’s that were still waiting. He quickly found the Morty the two Rick’s were talking about. The kid looked nice enough, and definitely excited. But there was no blending in with that one. Bright green and scales all over.
Yikes. I wonder if he changes color. Oh- he’s being called up now.
As the scaled Morty was called to the stage, an equally scaled Rick hopped on stage to greet him.
“Holy Sh-shit! There are two of them!”
The Rick behind him whispered. They began babbling and throwing insults under their breath as the two reptiles shook hands. Zero decided to tune them out, instead focusing on the small spectacle on stage.
At least they understand each other. But he did wonder what exactly happened for them to look that way.
He also caught sight of the taller one in the mass. Sure enough, it was a Rick. He didn’t look too upset with being there though, and judging by the way he crouched when he walked, stumbling over his feet to try and blend in; Zero assumed he must have some sort of mental illness. It was kind of sick, stripping someone’s identity away just because they aren’t up to par with the standards. But that was life in the citadel.
The Rick was called up next, but as the teacher at the podium gave him his diploma, the slow Rick just stood by him instead of waiting for another Rick to be called up.
Huh, maybe no one wanted to claim him. Tough luck. Can’t say I’m too surprised though. If he’s lacking real Morty waves and is no use as a Rick then he’s basically just a burden.
Oh well. When was it his turn? his ass was starting to fall asleep in his chair. He just wanted to get his new Morty and go home already.
“Z—000!”
Oh fuck. That’s me.
Zero quickly got up from his seat and walked over to the stage. When he got up there, he saw the teacher standing at the podium. C—158 as he recalled. The Rick smiled at him, either out of pride of the Morty he was presenting, or reassurance for him. Maybe a bit of both. C—158 was an odd one. Still an alcoholic, but clearly more gentle than your average Rick. Probably because of his job. Dealing with a bunch children all day must get to you at some point.
The slow Rick behind him also smiled at Zero before grabbing a bit of the teachers robe and hiding behind him.
Ohhhhh.. C—158 took in the Rick. That’s… strange.
He couldn’t bring himself to smile back, so Zero just nodded in their direction. He wanted to get off the stage as quickly as possible. He hated being put on the spot.
“Morty C—137.1 Please shake hands with Rick Z—000. He will be your new Rick.”
And there he was, Zero’s new Morty. He looked fairly generic. In fact, he looked like any other classic Morty in the citadel. His expression was a blank smile, directed right at Zero.
Okay. A bit unsettling.
“Aw geez, Rick! I’m really excited to be your new Morty.”
He held his hand out to Zero, who took a second to look around the room. They were all staring at him now. Judging, laughing, scowling. The lights were downright blinding.
He flicked his gaze to C—158 who was now calling up the next Morty.
“Uh.. I-um..”
He couldn’t get the words out. He instead focused on swallowing the saliva pooling in his mouth as nausea started to hit him.
“Rick?”
His new Morty asked, reaching to grab Zero’s hand. This time to hold instead of shake. He doesn’t even notice the cold hand in his clammy one.
Zero caught sight of another person behind C—158. A hammer Morty peered out, his hand clutching the slow Rick’s one.
Damn. What the hell, C—158 They’re all like babushka dolls at this point.
He looked back down at his Morty and mumbled.
“L-let’s just uh, get out of here.”
He was done sight seeing.
“Okay.” His new Morty started. “The quickest route is through the backstage door, past the alleyway. There, we will find the parking structure.”
He was pretty sure he answered. Not that it mattered as he was tugged off stage by his new Morty and dragged all the way to the fucking parking lot.
But the Morty was fast. And before he knew it, he was being gently shaken out of his near stupor.
“What? Wha-where?”
Zero looked around, finding the varieties of spacecrafts parked in a many hazardous positions. Some were even parked on top of each other.
“Rick Z—000, please locate your spacecraft.”
Zero looked down at his new Morty and raised a brow, but nodded either way as he snatched his hand back and shuffled into the parking structure. It didn’t take too long to find the only spacecraft with a heavily tinted dome. Zero liked his privacy after all. Others liked to flaunt what they had.
Without a word, he signed for his new Morty to hop in as he got in the flying saucer himself. He briefly glanced at the kid in the seat next to him before starting up the vehicle with a near soundless hum.
“Wow! Your ship is pretty different from any Rick ship I’ve been in.” The kid burst out. “It’s so clean! Except for the ash, and it smells really strong in here, but still. The sound! It’s approximately 78% quieter than a standard start up.” Zero grit his teeth as the kid went on and on about the damn ship.
Chatter box. He was so quiet before.
”You know I had a magazine of Rick created aircrafts back at the Morty school. And Top Rick, and the limited edition of Rick’s time magazine featuring a Rickle on he front cover!”
He lifted off, gently making his way out of the structure and flying to the main city. He wouldn’t say it, but he was fairly proud of his ship. Unlike many other Rick’s with round spacecrafts, he liked maintaining it and developing new things to make it run smoother, faster, quieter.
He found that instead of making an entire civilization think of him as a god, he could simply make one of them into a cult leader and make him believe that he needed them to make energy for whatever the fuck reason he wants. Living organisms are selfish, corrupt. They took onto the idea easily. And it was easier for him because he didn’t need to renew their faith every once and awhile. Their “faith” was walking among them.
Halfway to the city, Zero decided to flick on the lowlights. He didn’t like being in bright rooms, so he installed a soft, blue tinted under light inside the dome to give him enough light to see the others face, but have it be easy on the eyes as well.
His original Morty had loved it.
Flashback
“I, uh. Have a surprise.”
Zero mumbled, walking across the garage and over to the spacecraft. Morty gave him a bored expression, but shrugged and followed him into the ship anyway.
“So… what’s the uh.. what’s the surprise.” Morty asked, seemingly bored, but Zero could tell he was excited by the way his fingers twitched around his gameboy. He smirked, flicking on the blue lights and closing the dome around them. The tired looking teen glanced up from his device, soaking in the colorful lowlights of the cabin before directing his gaze at Zero.
He smiled. It was rare for the kid to smile nowadays, so Zero took the moment to take it all in as best he could.
“Wow. An improvement for-for sure.”
Zero hummed. “Mmm. Thought you’d like it.”
They stayed in there for a good long while. Morty on his gameboy, enjoying the company and semi-privacy, while Zero studied Morty’s face as best he could. Memorizing every stress line, every freckle. His curly brown hair, the bleach stains on his shirt.
They say you never know how good you have it until it’s gone… but Zero didn’t believe that. He knew exactly what he had…
He just never thought he’d lose it.
End Flashback
“Rick?”
He jumped, looking over to the Morty next to him.
“D-don’t call me that.”
He mumbled, lighting up a cigarette and taking a long drag. The kid nodded, continuing to look around the ship as though he were at an aquarium. They landed shortly after that. Now parked on a military building in the citadel. Not a word was spoken to the empty air as they hopped out of the spacecraft and made their way inside the heavily guarded building.
The inside looked like a hospital. The stench of bleach and antiseptic almost overwhelming. The floors and walls were white. Some artwork hung on the walls here and there as they walked down one of the hallways, but it was obviously there to try and set the mind at ease in such a dreary place, and even the obvious purpose alone made that feeling just a bit worse in Zero’s opinion.
The dramatic amount of security cameras didn’t help either.
“We’re here.” He mumbled, pulling out a key card and opening the door with his dimension number on it. He held it open for the kid to walk in first, which he did with little hesitation.
“Why are we here?”
Mory asked, looking around the small apartment space. It had a plain white sofa, a tv, a small breakfast nook, and a door leading into what he assumed would be the bedroom/bathroom. There wasn’t any sign of decor or personal touch anywhere, which surprised Morty considering the ship seemed to have been almost one of a kind with how tinkered with it was. The only colorful thing in the room was a small framed insignia on the wall. The new insignia for the citadel.
“W-W-Why do you think, Morty. I live here.”
Came the blunt reply. Morty looked to see his new Rick, cigarette in mouth, placing his keys on the hook near the door and lightly hugging himself as he walked over to the bedroom.
“I’m gunna t-take a nap. Too much, too much social interaction for one day. Do me a favor, M-Morty. Tell me if my walkie talkie goes off. And uh, make yourself at home I guess.”
His voice was quite, scratchy. An obvious result of his smoking habits. He watched until the Rick disappeared behind the doorway, a tightness in his gut.
Walkie talkie.
He looked around the place, finding what he was looking for on the kitchen counter. A large brick phone looking device sat on the white tiles. The words on the other either side of it was in the most commonly spoken language in the galaxy, and that wasn’t English. Thank goodness Morty happened to know that language.
He grabbed the walkie, scanning the symbols on the side.
//Walkie Z—000
If misplaced, report to building 602 of the citadel.//
Morty knew that building 602 was a shady place. No one was ever seen walking back out of the place. There was only one door in the front of the building with an overhanging light, behind a giant wall of barb wire and police dogs. It was also located right next to the Celanthrapor Citadel Structure, where the new president resided. CCS for short.
He placed the walkie back down, letting his gaze wander to other places in the apartment. It was a little hard finding something to entertain himself with, the place was barren. He would never have tagged this Rick to work for the inter-dimensional Citadel army of all things. Then again, he had only just met this Rick. Who was he to know what motivated him.
That means there is an 82% chance that he does not own a portal gun.
Rick’s in the citadel weren’t allowed free range to most of the technology they desired. Portal guns that haven’t been registered and tracked were highly illegal; and even then, only high ranked sergeants were allowed portal guns on the daily. Beat soldiers (privates) were given limited and altered portal fluid when out on a mission on rare occasions.
Things had certainly changed from the citadel everyone used to know. Better or worse, he honestly couldn’t tell. His teacher had told him that the school was shutting down before they all left to the ceremony. Morty wanted to ask where he would end up, but the teacher already looked upset, he didn’t want to risk anything on his big day.
Morty really liked his teacher, he may not have been the nicest Rick, but any Rick was a friend of his, and he did help him get where he was today. He hoped that things worked out for the guy.
Morty decided to flip through some tv channels. They weren’t allowed interdimensional television from the looks of it. It just seemed to be pushing ads and news all from within the city. He grew bored pretty fast, until one channel caught his eye.
The new president of the citadel had taken to the red carpet right outside the CCS for the first time since the accident. A Jessica was perched on his arm, though the president's face was passive safe for a small smile he gave to the crowed when waving. It made Morty feel uncomfortable. He should feel happy that there was a Morty running the place, but something about that one just made his stomach do flips, and not the good kind either.
“M-mister president! How does it feel to be back out on the red carpet after— after what happened?”
One of the news Rick’s asked, leaning as best he could over the barrier of the carpet to get his microphone close to the suit adorned Morty.
“Feels good, great even.” He said calmly, looking directly into the camera as he spoke. “What happened was unfortunate, but not unexpected. I am aware of those who aren’t happy with the new changes going on in this beautiful citadel we call home, and I would like to say that I am doing everything in my power to make things better… for all of us.”
He then continued down the carpet, waving and gripping onto the Jessica’s waist. There was a tiny Rick approaching the carpet now, standing on the tips of his toes to lean over the border.
The president stopped, raising a brow but keeping his smile nonetheless as the tiny Rick handed him a piece of paper. This apparently wasn’t allowed as two of the security Rick’s went to intervene, only to be stopped by a wave of the president's hand. They nodded, halting in their spots. He couldn’t see what it was from the tv, but judging by the way the president autographed it before ruffling the Rick’s hair, he assumed it was just a poster or something.
The security Rick’s looked to be on high alert the whole time, probably to try and avoid the same incident from last time. Morty had watched from the news when that other Morty tried to assassinate the president.
They were constantly tapping into their coms and whispering hushed orders. Crowd control was shifting as the president started finishing up pictures and question answering. The crowd was being pushed back little by little as they started to wrap up.
“*CSH* Code 726– Z—000 do you copy *CSH*”
Morty whipped his head around to look at the walkie talkie sitting on the counter. The crackling of the connection was blaring throughout the apartment.
He approached it slowly, picking it up before heading to go wake his new Rick up. The door creaked as he gently pushed it open to peek inside.
The bed is empty.
It was then that Morty heard the water going off in the bathroom. Rick was taking a shower. The bathroom door was slightly opened, steam pouring out into the frigid bedroom.
“*CSH* Code 726 Z—-000 please respond immediately- over CSH*”
Morty flailed, flicking his gaze from the walkie to the bathroom until finally deciding to answer it himself. He clicked the button and held it up to his mouth.
“Uh… Hello?”
He released the button, awaiting a reply. It came quickly, the walkie crackling for only a few seconds before the other Rick responded.
“CSH* State identity and current location CSH*”
“I’m Morty C—137.1 I am currently in Rick Z—000’s apartment in a building I do not know the number of.”
There was a pause.
“CSH* Mory C—137.1 Please report lost walkie t-to building 602 and— and be ready to answer some questio-“
Morty’s heart leaped into his throat, and he quickly mashed the button down to respond.
“No, no! You don’t understand. I’m Rick Z—000’s new Morty. He is currently taking a shower, and told me to keep an ear out for his walkie if it went off. I didn’t steal it.”
“CSH* Uhh.. I-I need to hear from Rick Z—000 to confirm this. CSH*”
Just then, the water turned off.
Oh thank God.
Morty ran over to the bathroom and started slapping his palms on the pasty white door. “Rick! Rick!” He chirped, trying to get the others attention. He was suddenly feeling excited. He was talking to a Rick, helping him out on what could have been a disaster.
He felt like a true Morty.
He hit the door over and over until a pair of icey eyes peered out.
“Rick!” He smiled, holding up the walkie to him. The starfish man took it into the bathroom without a word, emerging a second later in a large bathrobe.
Morty watched in awe as Rick casually clicked the button down and responded.
“This is Z—000. State the code and—and your location, soldier.”
Morty was practically bouncing up and down as he watched the older man be so focused and professional. He felt he got a really good Rick out of the bunch.
“CSH* Sir, you’re needed for a code 726-location coordinates 00036492519402528 Copy CSH*”
Rick glanced over at Morty as he responded.
“Copy that. Give me five minutes.”
Rick dropped the walkie onto the bed and headed for the closet, emerging with a gold adorned uniform fit for a Sergeant, a hat tucked under his arm.
He’s not a private! Holy shit!
“M-Morty.. do me a favor.”
“Anything!” He smiled, but Rick just rolled his eyes, opening the drawer of his nightstand and taking out a fresh portal gun. Morty felt his jaw drop at the sight of it. The pulsating light making the uniformed Rick look all the more menacing and cool to him.
“Don’t—don't do anything stupid while I t-take care of this. I don’t have food in the fridge or— or clothes that would fit you, so remind me to take you shopping when I get back.” He was setting the coordinates into the portal gun while talking, aiming at the wall before firing it off.
“Wait, I’m not coming with you?” Morty pouted, eyeing the new portal in the wall. It was small, so that meant Rick must not have a lot of portal fluid.
“No. No one really gets to come along unless they’re also apart of the—of the military. Not that you'd really want to. It’s n-no adventure out there. You just focus on writing a- a list down for me. Sound good?” Morty followed him to the kitchen where the tore a piece of paper off the notepad on the fridge and grabbed a pen, handing both to Morty.
But Morty’s thoughts started to take a darker turn as Rick clipped the walkie onto his belt and headed back to the bedroom to no doubt go through the portal to who knows where!
Is his mission dangerous? Will he be back soon? What if I lose him? What if he dies out there! I just got him!
Without fully realizing it, Morty had sprinted to catch up with Rick. Pen and paper thrown to the floor as he latched onto the other's coattails to keep him from disappearing behind the green mass of math.
“Wait! Please!”
Zero froze, turning on his heel to glare down at him. Morty shrunk under the sharp gaze, feeling tears well up in his eyes and joints click in protest to the unnecessary action. He gripped Zero’s jacket loosely in his hands, pulling himself closer.
“I-I just. Don’t want to lose you.. I may have only just met you, and I know that we don’t know each other, an-and I don’t even know what to call you if you don’t like Rick.. but I just. I’ve been waiting so long for this moment, to finally be with a Rick. I’m such a big fan.. and I care.”
There was a hand on his shoulder, and suddenly his new Rick was kneeling so that they were eye to eye.
“Please be safe..”
He finished. The hand on his shoulder squeezed before raising to ruffle his hair a little. He laughed, batting it out of the way even if he only wanted to lean into the touch.
“I’ll be home before dinner… b-because we have yet to make it.” Came the raspy reply. Morty giggled.
“True. O-Okay.”
A small smirk, and rick was up and heading for the portal once more, stopping just before touching it.
“By the way, they uh… they call me Zero.”
And he was gone, the zap of the portal closing being the last sound to come from the corner. Morty got up, smiling to himself as he went to make the list for later.
“Zero..”
He liked the sound of it.