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I groaned as I opened my eyes. My vision was really blurry, I felt like I was about to fall over, and I couldn't feel my ankles or wrists. The last thing I remember is that I was in bed and two aliens hovered over me, spraying green gas in my face. What the hell happened? I winced when feeling in my wrists and ankles restored and I felt something holding them in place. When my vision cleared out, I saw something black holding my ankles and wrists in place. I looked up and I saw them! The two aliens! One was teal, the other was pink. They tried talking but I only heard gargling. Ok you got this Morty. Most criminals know that you're associated with Rick. "I don't understand you. Let me go. Rick will get you for this. Y'know the underground legend." The teal one stabbed me with a syringe. All of a sudden I could perfectly understand them. The teal one began talking "A man named Rick Sanchez scammed me and my partner out of a pretty hefty amount of money" I gulped, remembering what Rick told me to do if I get in this type of situation "I-I have no idea who that is." The pink one snapped "Tiru! You're scaring him! You're going to give the poor kid a heart attack!" "I thought we agreed not to use our real named Rusa! Now the kid can report us!" Rusa spoke "Well, Sanchez is a criminal, so I don't think he will" Tiru sighed "Whatever, you're missing the point Rusa, he's lying to us!" Tiru narrowed their glowing purple eyes at me, Rusa spoke "He's lying because you are scaring him! "
Rusa turned towards me and cooed "Don't worry little one, we won't hurt you. We are not violent people, we just need some money from your grandpa, ok? " Tiru spoke. I stammered "I-I really don't know him! Honest! " Tiru sighed "You're a bad liar kid. We know who you are. Sanchez speaks of you highly. We've come to understand that you are his grandson, so we are holding you for ransom" Rusa spoke "Maybe we are being too harsh Tiru, he is only a kid" Tiru spoke "Obviously I don't feel good about this, but we need the money, Rusa! We talked about this already! Neither of us wanted it to be a kid, but it had to be him! Sanchez will surely he want to have his darling grandson back. I hear that he is pretty protective of him and consistently boasts about him while drunk" Rusa moved their gaze to the floor "This just feels wrong T-"
I interrupted them with a laugh "Ahaha! Good luck with that! " I ignored the fat, warm, tears run down my face, I continued laughing with a big smile on my face "There's infinite versions of me, he's not going to waste his money on one! He doesn't care about me!" The aliens looked at each other and Tiru commanded "Scan his memories for proof. " Rusa used of their their tentacles covered in a thick, pink, slimy, ooze to gently put a helmet on my head. They spoke in what they seemed to be attempting a parental tone "We will scan your memory and check that, don't be worried little one, we'll skip any memories that are too personal." I hate how I felt myself relax slightly at being called that, even when I'm literally called that by my kidnappers, god, I really am affection starved aren't I? I'm sick. laughed as I felt tears pouring from my eyes "Go ahead! You're just going to see a bunch of him insulting me and putting me in danger!" Rusa gently placed on of her tentacles on my shoulder with a sympathetic expression, her tentacle was slimily and weird, but a nice gesture nonetheless. Tiru went to one memory.
I blinked as I saw a familiar looking tavern. Wait. No. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. NO. I shook, my restraints tightening with each shake, the restraints dug into my skin "Any memory but this one NO" Tiru blinked "Kid why-" Rusa interrupted "Maybe we should skip this one-" They were interrupted by Rick's voice on my memory. I hated for the way my body relaxed when I heard memory Rick say "I'm sorry about all the stuff I said about your adventure, I'm having a good time, Morty! It's not so bad!" Thank god, it was after the fact. "N-Nevermind, s-sorry" I squeaked out. I heard my pathetic squeaky voice through the memory, do I really sound like that? I guess I sound as pathetic as I am. "I'm calling it, the adventure's over." He saw memory Rick blink at the kid "We can't leave now Morty! I'm on fire!" Typical selfish Rick, he didn't care. "See! I told yo-" I was interrupted by memory Morty "Look I wanna leave now, you win the bet, ok?! " Memory Morty started reaching in memory Rick's lab coat for his portal gun "Just give me the portal gun and let's go home, please! " My stomach churned with that memory, I felt like I was a piece of paper, one that could get stepped on at any moment. That my body wasn't mine anymore. After what Mr. Jellybean was about to do...tried to do...if I never fought back...I feel sick just thinking about it. I just wanted to go home. To sleep forever. To forget. I felt weak. I felt even more pathetic when the memory got blurred with Memory Morty's tears "P-please.. I just wanna g-go home... " I heard Memory Rick's voice soften as he spoke to memory Morty, with a very un-Rick-like smile. What? Did he just- Nope. I'm just hearing things. Rick doesnt care about anyone. I kept watching the memory and when Memory Morty wiped his tears away "Look Morty, I just won a bunch of schmeckles, how about I use 25 of them to pay slippery stair here for a ride back to the village, then we'll give the rest of the schmeckles back to the villagers, huh?" The memory was still slightly blurry with tears, and Memory Morty spoke "Really? " "Sure Morty, yeah, y'know a good adventure needs a good ending. "
The aliens began conversing, Tiru spoke "That's pretty damning evidence that we picked the right person. Sanchez will surely want him back, I wonder how much money we can squeeze out of Sanchez to get his grandson back..." Rusa spoke "Well, who wouldn't comfort a crying kid? Also, remember Tiru, we only want to get back the money he scammed us out of. Nothing more. " Tiru nodded "Agreed Rusa but if we happen to get more...", Rusa shook their head....I think. " No. We will only get the money Sanchez stole from us. " Tiru rolled their eyes and sarcastically stated "Ugh, fine birth giver. " They have sarcasm in this planet? Wait, why am I wondering that? Focus Morty! For once in your life, don't be an idiot! Show them why Rick doesn't care! I gulped, " So he didn't treat me like crap for two minutes! Big deal! That was years ago! Go to a more recent one! " Rusa shrugged "How much farther do you want us to go? " I shrugged "M-maybe a year from now?" That was still 5 years ago, but it would be enough to show how few fucks Rick gives about me. Tiru nodded "You heard him Rusa."
Rusa set up the memory, Memory Rick was speaking "Alright everyone put your collars on, we're out of time, it's ironic, huh?" I blinked as I saw the garage crumbling, oh. Right. I have like 63 other memories of this thanks to a feedback loop of uncertainty. Summer or memory Summer I guess, put her collar on and was able to get back to reality. Tiru blinked "What's...going on here." I shrugged "It's a long story...basically, we need those collars to live, if they are green, it means they work." Tiru shrugged "You had a lot of memories of this." Rusa nodded "Yeah, I chose the one that was the most different from the rest." Memory Morty blinked "Rick!" Memory Rick said, "What's wrong, Morty?" Memory Morty was sweating, my cheek tinged pink with embarrassment, ugh, I sweat way too much when I'm nervous. "The collar! Ooooh, the latch is broken! It won't latch closed around my neck!" I blinked, I could kind of recall this, but it was hard since I had 63 memories of practically the same thing. Memory Rick's unibrow furrowed "What are you talking about? It's not broken Morty, I fixed it! Just put it on!" Memory Morty spoke, "It's won't close! It's broken!" I bit his lip, did I really sound that whiny? Memory Rick rolled his eyes "Fine! Bring it here!" Memory Morty was about to give the collar to Rick, but I fell into a hole, Memory Morty gripped onto the floor "Rick!" The floor crumbled and memory Morty fell "OH!" I could briefly hear Memory Rick scream "Morty!" I rolled my eyes. Memory Rick probably left already. Memory Morty uselessly called out for Rick, dropping the collar in his panic. God, I'm a fucking idiot. No wonder Rick didn't care about me. Dropping the only thing that could save my life, way to go. I don't even know why Memory Morty was calling out for Rick, he wasn't coming. Oh right, that's because this was when he was naive, when he believed that Rick still cared, at least a little bit. Hah. At least he wasn't that stupid anymore. I stayed glued to my own memories, how did he get out of this? All of a sudden Memory Morty was pulled back by his shirt "RICK!? But...but I thought if I fell into a hole..." I went back to what I said in the fear hole "I'm afraid if I jumped into a hole, you wouldn't even bother jumping in after me!" Memory Rick asked "Morty, where's your collar? I'll fix it?" Memory Morty stated "I dropped it!" Memory Rick looked around and put his collar on Memory Morty. My eyes widen "WHAT!? This...this actually happened?! No, Rick would never! He doesn't-" Fuck. Why was I crying? Tiru shrugged "These are your memories kid." Rusa smiled "He does care, that's sweet." Tiru nodded "Exactly! We chose the perfect target!" Rusa quipped "Expect for the fact that they are a child..." Tiru rolled his eyes "I get it! I told you, I didn't want it to be a child, but we had to choose someone Rick cares about! Get off of my back!"
Meanwhile I didn't know what to say, I stared at the screen, Rick? Why would he? I said "T-that's not him...i-it can't be I..." I don't know why I was sobbing "He..he wouldn't he..." Tiru sighed and used his tentacle covered in teal fur to pat my back "Well...it looks like him." Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I felt warm tears fell down my face. I was crying. Why the fuck was I crying? My restrained tighten every time I moved, I felt the restrains dig into my skin, I knew they would leave marks later. Believe me, if I could stop moving I would. But my chest was rising and falling quickly. Why would he...? Rusa looked at my restrains and saw them digging into my skin. They whispered to Tiru "Can we loosen the restrains a bit?" Tiru sighed "Fine." Rusa slightly loosened the restraints, and they stopped digging into my skin. I tried to shoot them a quick smile as thanks, but I was too mentally exhausted and too busy crying. Tiru looked at Rusa, and whispered, thinking I wouldn't hear, "I don't know how to comfort this kid, you're the emotional one, can you comfort him?" Rusa nodded and kneeled down to me "Are you ok?" They asked, their tone parental. I sniffed "I...I don't know why I'm crying...this doesn't feel r-real but..." "Shh...it's ok..." I sniffed and she took a towel and wiped my eyes with it. I let out a weak smile, despite being mentally exhausted.
It took a few minutes, with Rusa staying by my side, but eventually I calmed down. Tiru went over to Rusa "Should we check other memories? I mean it seems pretty clear that Sanchez cares about the kid." I interrupted "He doesn't! I promise you he doesn't! That was years ago! And I promise you any care he used to have for me is long gone now!" Tiru sighed "Kid this lie isn't working anymore when we just saw the guy sacrifice his life for you-" "He had a backup plan I'm sure of it! Please just check for the memories for like last month or something!" Tiru let out a very long sigh "Kid, we really don't have time..." Rusa spoke "C'mon, it's just one more memory" Tiru blinked "Rusa are you serious? We really don't have time!" Rusa narrowed her glowing eyes "We tied this kid up and are now holding him for ransom, the least we could do is head his request for one more memory." Tiru rubbed his unnaturally long neck with his furry tentacle and gulped "I...but...fine. Make it quick." Rusa smiled wide, her sharp teeth showing "Ok little one! What memory would you like to see?" I bit my lip "U-um...maybe...the beginning of last month?" Rusa nodded and set the memory.
Memory Morty was watching interdimensional cable then I heard Memory Rick's voice "Morty! C'mere!" Memory Morty immediately went to the garage. God I was a pathetic fucking lapdog. A squeaky voiced lying little- I snapped out of it went I heard Memory Rick's voice "Morty! I made you a gorilla gun!" I winced when I heard my squeaky fucking voice respond "Woah cool!" God. I was easily impressed. Rusa blinked and paused the memory "Sanchez really shouldn't be giving kids guns..." Tiru shrugged "I mean a lot of his memories look pretty dangerous, a gun is probably nothing to him. Come to think of it, a lot of these memories are him getting chased or hurt...how is he still alive?" They were talking about me like I wasn't right here. "Rick heals me." I stated, answering Tiru's question. I rolled my eyes "He can't afford to lose his obedient little lap dog. His human cloaking device. His butler. His slave." Rusa gasped "Little one don't talk about yourself like that!" I sighed "Whatever. That's the truth." Rusa shook their head and attempted a parental voice "You're more than that." That was pretty fucking hard to believe. But I wanted to end these conversation, so I just shrugged and made a sound of agreement. Funny. Aliens that fucking kidnapped me and are now holding me for ransom care more about my feelings than Rick ever did. That says something.
Rusa continued the memory, it was just Memory Morty going through, Matthew one of my bullies went over to me "Give me your lunch money!" Oh god. I felt a rush of embarrassment flush to my cheeks at what happened next. "Lunch money? Are you sure you wouldn't rather have a banana?" Memory Morty pulled the gorilla gun out of his locker and shot Matthew. God I'm stupid. Memory Morty was crying in the principals office while Rick was sitting next to him and Matthew was covered in bandages. I am so fucking dumb. I am an idiot. A little dumbass- Memory Morty's voice cut through my haze "I thought it would turn him into a gorilla!" I felt my stomach churned when Memory Rick asked an obvious question "Why would you want a bully to be a gorilla?" Memory Morty hung his head in shame. As he fucking should. Memory Rick continued "Please go easy on him, this one's on me and it won't happen again." Rusa smiled "Aw!" "He probably just wanted to go back to his science" I rationalized. Memory Rick said "Morty! This is a bully gun!" Memory Morty took it and started moving it around, fiddling with it. "Cool!" Memory Rick asked "Got any questions about it?" "Nope!" "Yep, should be self explanatory" Morty exhaled it should. Memory Rick smiled and waved bye to his grandson. "Have fun!" God. What happened next was embarassing. "Can we not watch this?" Rusa nodded "Sure." They exited the memory.
Tiru nodded "So he likes spoiling his grandson. Yep, typically doting grandpa." "Doting is the last word I would use to describe him! He...he probably just needed someone dumb enough to test it!" Tiru raised an eyebrow "Did he ever use those guns?" I gulped "W-well...not really..." Tiru shrugged "Ok then. So he wasn't just using you to test it. Time to call him." I shook my head. I knew he didn't care. I just needed one memory to prove it... "Just do one more memory! Please! Just go to the end of this month or something!" Tiru groaned "Again?" Rusa whispered "Be nice!" Tiru glared at them. "We legit are holding him for random! I don't think we can 'be nice' now!" "Just play the memory!" "Fine!"
Tiru played the memory this time. Oh, I remember this. This was when we were at the pet cemetery. Ben Franklin came to life. Memory Rick groaned "Shit. He came back evil." Memory Rick shot him. "What do you think will happen if we bury him again?" Memory Morty blinked "You don't know?" Right. Because Rick always knew everything. I'm so pathetic. Memory Rick responded "This is my first time using pet cemetery soil Morty. "Well...as long as we're asking questions...we've been here so long my phone died..." Memory Rick snapped "It's not going to charge your phone Morty!" Memory Morty defended himself, I need to do that more. "So you can be curious and I can't?!" Memory Rick backed down "Fuck you're right...we're sitting on top of brand new science here! Let's gather some data!" They buried a lot of things, for example they were pushing a car to bury it. Memory Rick commanded "Put your back into it Morty!" "You think it'll refuel the tank?" "Good pitch Morty!" They pushed it in and Memory Rick said "Now let's bury that kangaroo from the waist now!" Memory Morty geeked out "Holy shit! Will only his legs come back?" Memory Rick happily geeked out with him "Who knows?!" Tiru paused the memory. Rusa giggled whlle Tiru rolled their eyes "You guys are such dorks." Rusa spoke "I think it's kinda cute! Seeing them be geeks together!" Tiru unpaused the memory. Memory Rick put his hand on his shoulder "Hey, I'm having a great time with you tonight Morty!" Tiru exited the memory "So....just you guys bonding? This isn't helping your case kiddo." I spoke 'W-wait! You're just picking out the good ones! Try-" Tiru shook their head "You wasted enough of our time. I'm calling your grandpa." "Wait no! It's a waste of time! He won't come back for me!" I didn't know how he would react. He would probably scream at me for being kidnapped. Tears started to flow. Rusa rubbed my back with one of their tentacles "Maybe we shouldn't.." Tiru shook their head "Nope! We're going to do this!" They called Rick.
I heard Tiru's gruff voice "Sanchez! Recognize this voice? You scammed me and my partner out of 5,000 jimglops." I heard Rick's voice through the futuristic phone "Ye-*burp*-ah? And?" "I think you'll want to hear who we have restrained at the moment" Tiru brought the phone over to me, I spoke, my voice shaky from crying "R-Rick...uhm I'm sorry...t-they found me and..." I heard Rick yell "YOU KIDNAPPED MY FUCKING GRAND-*burp*-SON!?" I would've jolted back if the restraints weren't holding me, I've never seem him this angry at anyone before save for maybe Rick Prime. Rusa's eyes widened and Tiru blinked in surprise "Well ye-yeah bu-" "AND WHY DOES HE FUCKING SOUND LIKE HE'S ABOUT TO CRY!? WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!?" Tiru stammered out "W-well no that wasn't, w-we didn't..." "BULL FUCKING SHIT!" Tiru spoke "Well uhm it's not...look we'll give him back but uhm we wanted some money" Rick laughed "You think I'll fucking let you get away with this!? No, I'm coming for you now!" Tiru quickly said "There's no need for that! We'll just give him back alright?! He's fine!" "Fan fucking tastic. I'll go over to you." "You already know whe-" "Of course I do, I already traced your location." "Ok! Ok! Ok! We'll see you there." He hung up the phone and sighed "Well that didn't work." Rusa sighed "Well I mean we could tell that he cares but I guess things don't go as planned..." "I mean we knew he was powerful...I guess we never considered that..." Rusa sighed "Yeah..."
A few seconds later, Rick crashed his spaceship in the building they locked me in. "Release him now." Rick commanded. I gulped, I never could know how he was so terrifyingly calm while furious. Rusa removed me from my restrains gently and I immediately ran to hug Rick. I don't know why I do that. It just calms me ok? I don't get why. Rick's body tensed up, but he awkwardly planted one hand on my back. He glared at Rusa and Tiru "Touch my grandson again and it'll be the last thing you do." He put his hand on my back and led me to the spaceship "C'mon Morty, let's hit it." He walked away and I sat in the spaceship, feeling a strange sense of calm wash over me, followed by a surge of panic. I started hyperventilating, was I still in the hole?! I looked at Rick, my voice cracking "Rick!?" He spared a glance "Wh-" I grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him closer. His eyes widened "Morty what the fuck!? I'm driving! Let me g-" I interrupted him "Do you care about me!?" "Morty what the-" He looked at my eyes, seeing how wide they were, how small the pupils were. "Morty are you.." His voice got drowned out by my inner voice, please say no, please say no, please be sarcastic and snarky so I know this is real life PLEASE! Stop talking about random things and answer the fucking question! I yelled out without thinking "JUST ANSWER THE GODDAMN QUESTION!" My chest was rising and falling quickly while tears fell from my eyes "Don't be stupid Morty! Now let me go! I'm driving!" I smiled. Yes. This was real. I hugged him and Rick tensed up but focused on driving.
This was real.
Rick was real.
I'm safe.