a/n: I'm sorry if this feels a little anticlimactic, I'm not good at writing fighting scenes. But uh..I tried.
Pyri was sitting alone in her room, all of her former subjects had already been sent off, all her planets given away, now she was the only one left.
She removed her headdress, which bore the colours of the first emperor, the main part was red like his skin, and the top piece was gold like his eyes. Funnily enough, Pyri also had red skin and golden eyes, perhaps being the last empress was her fate from birth.
Pyri simply put the headdress aside, and sat alone in the darkness, overlooking her now abandoned planet.
Rick had came over to visit Julie, just to spend time with her. The two of them were relaxing and playing on a console Julie owned, while munching on wafer cookies. Julie was actually surprised she was able to play her old games again, but was actually quite relieved, relishing in the simplicity of Pong, watching as what looked like two glow sticks were hitting a white ball.
As they played together, they heard and knock at the door, and Julie got up and went over to answer it; when she did, she was greeted by Mark and Vivian.
"Hello you two! Come inside!" She invited gleefully.
Mark and Vivian poked their heads in, where they saw Rick, still holding onto the controller and giving them both a death stare. Mark chuckled nervously and looked over at Julie again, while Vivian glared back for a moment and looked at Julie too.
"Rick..doesn't seem to happy to see us…" Mark muttered.
"Don't worry about it," She assured him. "Just come inside."
Mark was a bit hesitant, but stepped inside anyways, and Vivian followed.
"What do you guys think we should do?" Julie asked. "Rick and I were just playing Pong, but I'm not sure if there's enough controllers for the four of us…"
Mark stroked the stray hairs on his chin and thought for a moment. "What about...Monopoly?"
Before anyone could respond, a loud crash was heard outside, making Rick put the controller down and stand up. "It's him.." He uttered.
"Who?" Vivian questioned.
"The...the alien that...that kidnapped me.." Julie replied.
Mark and Vivian were both shocked. "What?"
When they all headed outside, they saw a blue hand punch it's way out of the ship, before getting out and revealing the hand was Cyn's, his face was contorted in rage.
He pointed at Rick. "You! You took everything from me! And now I'm going to make you wish you never took that chunk!"
Rick rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
Cyn was enraged further that Rick wasn't taking him seriously, and began shooting at him, but Rick managed to dodge all the bullets.
Mark, Vivian and Julie watched as the two fought each other. Julie had her hands clasped together nervously, hoping Rick would be okay, while Vivian looked baffled and Mark was watching excitedly, he couldn't believe he was really seeing an alien!
Vivian turned her gaze over to Mark, and was shocked and confused by his reaction. "How are you getting excited by this?" She asked.
"How are you not?'' He retorted. Vivian just grumbled, blushing.
Julie put her hands against her face, not listening to Mark and Vivian, her focus was entirely on Rick. "Please be okay...I love you.." She whispered.
Rick knocked Cyn's gun away, and pulled out one of his own. Cyn gazed at it. "Is that gonna instantly kill me or something?"
Rick smirked. "Where's the fun in t-that?" He then proceeded to hit Cyn in the face with the gun, knocking him down. Before Cyn could get up, Rick held him down and placed a gun against his forehead.
Before Rick could shoot, Cyn got a devious idea. He knew Rick had a weak spot for Julie and used this to his advantage. "Don't you think by doing this, you might scare Julie?" He asked.
Rick's eyes widened. "W-What?"
"Well let's think, you hit me in the face,knocking me down! And now you're going to shoot me. You're going to kill someone right in front of her. How do you think she feels?"
Rick pulled the gun away. "J-Julie k-k-knows I d-do this.." He mumbled defensively.
"But in front of her? Have you ever done that?" Cyn asked again.
"I m-m-mean...yeah…"
"Was she even looking like she is right now?"
"Well no..but.."
"I guess this means you've never killed someone right in front of her eyes. Like I said, you might scare her by doing this." Cyn smirked. "Then she might be scared of you."
Rick stopped looking so angry, he looked more like a sad puppy. "B-But I.."
Seeing the opportunity, Cyn grabbed the gun away from Rick and shot him below the stomach. He fell to the ground, and Julie immediately ran after him. "Rick!" She cried out and embraced him, placing a hand over his bullet wound.
"Julie get back here!" Vivian called out.
However, Julie didn't care. She didn't care if Cyn shot her too, she just had to be there for Rick.
Cyn walked up to them, snarling. "Why are you even bothering to protect him! He's the villain here, not me. Sanchez is a monster, and I'm surprised you haven't realized it yet."
Julie suddenly got angry and defensive, she had enough of Cyn and him chasing after her and Rick. "Rick isn't the monster here Cyn, its you!" She yelled. Everyone was shocked at her boldness, except for Rick, who weakly smiled and rested his head against Julie's chest.
"How is he not the monster here? He is one of the most dangerous and wanted criminals in the entire galaxy! Do you know how many people he has killed? Too many to count! His music is garbage too." Cyn growled.
"If he really was a monster, he wouldn't love me. But he does, and I love him too." She declared.
"Ha!" Cyn laughed mockingly. "You really think that monster is capable of any love? You must be joking!" He grabbed onto Julie's arm tightly and pulled her away from Rick. "You are such an idiot! Just let him die! It'll do the galaxy a favour!"
In retaliation towards Cyn, Mark grabbed onto a large rock and hit him on the head with it, knocking him to the ground and freeing Julie from his grasp. Angered, Cyn pulled out a taser-like object and shocked Mark with it, causing him to fall on the ground. "Mark!" Vivian screamed and ran towards him.
"Vivian…" He smiled weakly. "You do care.."
Vivian blushed. "Now isn't the best time Mark.." But he just laughed.
Cyn was fed up. He had to weaken Julie too in order to kill Rick. She'd gotten back to Rick, who was starting to regain his strength, and wrapped her arms around him, her face showing her worry.
He grabbed her again, causing Julie to reach out for Rick desperately, who reached back. "Let me go!" She fussed and squirmed about. Cyn was growing frustrated, and so he hit Julie hard on her head, making her fall down and lie motionless on the ground.
Vivian shook Mark and pointed to where Julie was, and they both ran over to her, checking her injury.
As for Rick, the moment Cyn knocked her down, he screamed her name out in desperation, and believed she was dead when he saw her lying down without moving. He regained his strength, and pulled out his gun again. Consumed with grief and a now murderous rage, Rick attacked Cyn and starting beating and shooting at him, tears streaming down his face the whole time.
Mark and Vivian watched in shock, and Vivian checked Julie's heartbeat. "Julie has a heartbeat..it's just a little faint. She's just unconscious.." She concluded. Mark nodded and placed a hand over Julie's wound to prevent further bleeding.
Rick was unaware of Julie still being alive, and was locked in anger. When he managed to calm down enough, Cyn was nothing but a bloody and mangled body. He swung his gun around, unable to do anything but cry. When he finished swinging, he dropped the gun and sat down on his knees, burying his face in his hands.
Vivian sighed and walked up towards him. "She's still alive Rick..she has a heartbeat."
Rick removed his hands from his face and stared at her. "S-she..she d-d-does..?" He sniffled.
He got up, and followed Vivian over to where Julie was, and shoved Mark out of the way, who'd been holding onto Julie. Rick held her close, and pressed his head against her chest, where he could hear her heartbeat. His tears of sadness turned into tears of joy, and he put his head up against her cheek, still sobbing happily.
Mark and Vivian watched them, before looking at each other, and smiled. Rick may have literally just killed someone right in front of them but at least...he showed how much he cared for and loved Julie.
Rick dissolved Cyn's body, and then carried Julie bridal-style to her room, and laid her on her bed. Using her first aid kit, he grabbed bandages and wrapped one around the wound on her head. Mark and Vivian had wanted to stay, but he angrily made them leave and said he'd take care of Julie himself. Vivian was annoyed, but begrudgingly agreed to it along with Mark. They'd asked him to call and let them know when she'd recovered, but Rick didn't give a shit about them, his only concern was for Julie.
He put a chair beside her bed and sat down on it. Rick figured that in the meantime, he'd remove the bullet still in his body. He'd much rather have Julie do it, but she was still unconscious, and he'd done this plenty of times before without trouble.
It had been painful as always, but in his mind, he really didn't care, it hurt more to see Julie like she was now.
After getting shot by Cyn, Rick had felt so out of it, but whenever Julie was near him, he instantly felt better, and far more relaxed. Then he'd seen Cyn hit her, and knock her unconscious. In his hazy state, he'd thought Cyn had killed her and immediately retaliated, killing him right back. The relief he felt when he found she was actually alive was unimaginable.
Rick wouldn't know what to do if he really did lose Julie, and he swore to himself then and there that he would do everything in his power to protect her from harm. He would never let anyone take her away from him.
Since Julie still hadn't woken up, Rick remained sitting on the chair, until he accidentally fell asleep.
Julie's eyes fluttered open, and she instantly felt pain in her head, and put her hand on it, only to realize it was covered by a bandage. She tried to think about why she was like this, and remembered the fight with Cyn, her last memory before blacking out was seeing Cyn glaring at her angrily, a fist raised in the air. Julie knew he must've hit her, and the punch had been strong enough to not only give her a headache, but render her unconscious. She sighed, at least she had some medication to relieve the pain that she could take.
Turning her head to look beside her, Julie saw Rick sitting on a chair next to her bed, fast asleep. Her heart fluttered, knowing he'd put the chair there so he could watch over her. Sure he'd fallen asleep, but still...it showed he cared. She also noticed blood on his clothes, and wondered what happened.
Julie got closer to him, and shook him a little, making him wake up.
"Guh..huh? Julie.." Rick muttered out sleepily.
She giggled and shook him more. "Rick it's me, Julie."
His eyes instantly snapped open and he started looking panicked. "Julie!"
She placed a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him. "Rick, I'm here, it's okay.."
He looked back down at her, his heavy breathing beginning to steady. "Julie?" Then, a smile formed on his face and he hugged her. "Y-Y-You're okay…"
She hugged him back, before pulling away and gazing at him again. "What happened? Where's Mark and Vivian? Why are you covered in blood?"
"Well.." Rick hesitated for a moment. "I-I thought...I th-thought that when Cyn had knocked you unconscious, he'd actually killed you. I w-was so angry and grief-stricken that I-I-I...k-k-killed him back. Vivian revealed you were still alive, so I took you back inside and.."
"Were you the one that put the bandages on me?" Julie asked.
Rick blushed shyly. "Y-Yea...that was m-me...I told Mark and Vivian I'd look after you and made them leave. I took the bullet Cyn had shot me with out by myself, and then waited for you to wake up."
Julie gasped. "You...you took the bullet out by yourself? Why?"
He shrugged. "You weren't up yet. Plus, I've done this myself before, it's not a big deal."
"But it is a big deal! It's dangerous!" She panicked. "Don't ever do something like that again!"
Rick laughed at this, but it faded when he saw her hold onto her head in pain. "Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.
"Yeah...I'm okay.." She smiled.
Rick smiled back and cupped her cheeks with his hands, before leaning in and kissing her forehead. Afterwards, he got off the chair and sat on the bed beside her, holding her gently in his arms. Rick's happiness was there, but briefly, his expression faltered, and Julie took notice of it. "What's wrong Ricardo?" She asked.
He sighed. "He was right you know, I'm a m-monster."
"That's not true.."
"Don't defend me Julie, it's not worth it. I'm not a good person, you should know that." He then clenched his fists together angrily. "I've done terrible, irredeemable things in my life, so don't even bother." Rick snarled.
Julie was silent for a moment, before kissing him on the lips, and watching how shocked he was by it. "W-Wha..huh?" Rick asked.
"You're not as bad as you think you are." She assured him. "You're always there for me when I'm upset, you protect me and look out for me, and need I remind you of when you nearly sacrificed your life for me?"
Well, Rick had to admit, she did have a point there. "I-I mean...I g-g-guess...but I've still done a lot of awful things t-too. Don't you even care?"
"The good outweighs the bad for me." She admitted. "I love you, nothing is going to change that."
He was stunned, his mind felt a blur, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say. "I don't understand...is there nothing that would make you stop loving me?"
Julie shook her head. "I will never stop loving you, no matter what."
Rick severely doubted this, but he was grateful nonetheless. She always was there for him, no matter what, and he felt unworthy of her love. They were as different as night and day, she was an angel and he was a demon. He never felt like he deserved even an ounce of her kindness, it was like she was wasting it on him. Regardless of how much of a terrible person he really was, she loved him anyways, and it was baffling in his eyes. Sometimes he wondered if he could ever deem himself worthy of her love. He didn't think that was possible though.
After taking some pills to deal with her headache, Julie called Mark and Vivian to let them know she was okay, and they both seemed relieved. She thought it was best not to mention Rick hadn't cared to initially tell them when she had recovered, knowing what Vivian's reaction would be.
With that out of the way, Julie just decided the best thing to do now was relax. When she saw Rick come down the stairs to see her, she smiled. There was no Cyn, there was no Fyralogin Empire, they weren't on Glorf anymore, it was just the two of them together, and she saw a bright future between them.
a/n: I have this tendency to keep making Julie constantly suffer, and it's not going to get any better.
Also, when Julie says she'll never stop loving Rick..she means it. Bitch, if she saw the shit Rick was doing in the show she'd still love that man. That's true dedication, love and loyalty right there.
One thing I wanted to mention is one reason Julie's personality is the way it is, is because I think Rick would need to be with someone different than him. His relationship with Unity for example, was a disaster. Rick is his own worst enemy, why would he be with someone like him? It wouldn't work it. Before you ask, no I don't like any Rick ship that's out there, including that popular crossover pairing and the ship that shall not be named. I think it's better to give them such contrasting personalities and beliefs, it makes things more interesting. That's why the dynamic between Rick and Morty works so well after all. I wanted Rick, Julie, Mark, and Vivian to all have their own unique personalities, it's fun to have them play off each other. And again, my hero/villain, opposites attract, beauty and the beast ship loving ass demanded it.