Chapter 15

Rick emerged on the other side of the portal, the surroundings around him looking identical to the surroundings he had just left, except for one key difference.

It was ghastly quiet.

All gun firings had ceased; in the main center of the city, the Gromflomites and the rebels faced each other, though all eyes were focused on something on the ground between the enemies. A sense of shock and fear saturated the air.

Rick stood off to the side, out of anyone's line of sight. He peered through the crowd, straining to see what they all saw.

There, lying dead in the center, was this dimension's Rick Sanchez, shot to death by the Federation.

Rick readied himself. He had found exactly what he had come here for.

!

Back in their own dimension, Summer and Morty sat together, huddled fearfully on the underside of the large bushes. They had been lucky so far- Gromflomites and rebels alike had ran past them with laser shots flying, though no one seemed to notice two small human teenagers hiding. Rick had been gone for nearly fifteen minutes; doubt began to manifest in Morty's chest that Rick was ever returning.

"Morty," Summer said, eyes wide as Gromflomite feet darted past them, "I think we should try and find a different place to hide, this is too close—"

"No, Summer, w-we have to stay here! We gotta do what Rick told us to do," Morty hissed back at her.

Summer pulled her knees into her chest, heart beating wildly in fear.

A familiar sound caused Morty to whip his head around—was that a portal? When suddenly, everything became deathly quiet; the battle had stopped. The backdrop of laser firings and cries for help had ended. Morty and Summer lifted their heads just barely so they could see above the bushes into the main center of the city, where the most concentrated fighting and Federation ships were.

The Gromflomites and rebels stood facing each other in a large circle. However, they were not focused on each other- instead, their eyes were locked onto the center of their circle.

Fear gripped Morty's heart- a part of him knew what had happened, a part of him didn't want to believe it—against his own wishes, he stood up and peered into the middle of the crowd, holding his breath.

There, in the center of the mass of Gromflomites and rebels, was the dead body of his grandfather, shot to death by the Federation.

The whole world felt like it was spinning. No, no no no no no… Morty instinctively grabbed his hair, ready to pull it out, ready to scream and cry and yell and beg for his grandfather to not be dead…

Without even realizing that she had stood up beside him, Morty felt Summer's tender hand grab his upper arm, steadying him. He looked at her, tears forming in her eyes, as she raised a single finger to her lips in silence. They both turned their gazes back to the scene in front of them.

One of the Federation ship's ramps slowly descended until it touched the ground. A humanoid silhouette emerged on the ramp. Its figure became clear as it descended down the ramp, high heels clicking sharply against the metal—it was an alien woman, her skin bluish, her eyes purple and sharp.

Her eyes swept the crowd in front of her, her gaze judging and calculating before she focused on the dead body of Rick Sanchez.

To his horror, Morty saw a small smile set itself on her lips.

The Federation woman gracefully walked over to the body until she was standing right above it. With an almost pitiful gaze, she nudged his body with a single foot. "Dead," she pronounced in a monotone voice, as if the death of the most wanted intergalactic terrorist had no effect on her. "Someone take the body."

Morty wanted to scream. He wanted to kill her. He hated her. How dare she defile his grandfather's body like that?

As she turned around to get back on her ship, a familiar voice spoke up in the crowd, from the rebels' side.

"Please…" Adalric said, his baritone voice breaking. He had a nasty cut across his temple, blood dripping down the side of his head. The Federation turned around, an eyebrow cocked. "Please. You've got what you wanted, and enough people on both of our sides have died. Please, may I ask for peace?" His eyes flitted down to Rick's body in the arms of a Gromflomite before darting back to her.

The woman looked Aldaric up and down, pausing. "In exchange for the death of Rick Sanchez and a guarantee of peace and disbandment of this rebellion from you, we shall not blow up your planet."

Adalric bowed his head. "You have my word."

"Good." She turned back around and walked back up the long silver ramp of the ship, her high-heels clicking loudly against the ensuing silence. The Gromflomite carrying Rick's body entered behind the woman as the ramp closed back up, sealing the ship.

One by one, all of the Federation bureaucrats filed into their respective ships before taking their leave of the planet, zooming away into the atmosphere until their little black pinprick could no longer be seen against the backdrop of the purplish sky. As the last Federation ship left, the rebels began to disperse until only Summer and Morty were left, sitting alone, underneath the large bushes.

Exhaustion suddenly overtook Morty. He needed to sleep, he needed to not think for a while; the image of his grandfather's dead body lying in the center like that, his whole body limp, not a shred of life in it…

The tears began to fall. Morty buried his head in his hands, gripping his hair tightly as a bubble of sorrow burst inside his chest. This feeling was nothing like how he felt when he had seen his own dead body; no, this pain was so much worse.

Summer wrapped her arms around her brother, murmuring words that tried to comfort a grieving soul, but neither could she keep the tears from falling down her cheeks.

Their grandfather was dead, and they had no idea what to do now.

!

Hiding beneath his ship, Rick watched through narrowed eyes as the Federation woman descended from her ship only to touch his other dimension's self's dead body with her foot, before returning back into the spaceship. He knew who she was, what role she played in the Federation; he had known since the beginning.

Disgusting, Rick thought. She fucking touched me—well, him—with her gross-ass foot.

A small bubble of guilt welled up inside Rick as he watched Adalric beg the woman for peace. These people are all dead because of you, asshole.

But your grandkids will get back home because of you, too.

Rick watched, patiently as a predator, as the Federation left the planet. He made a mental note of which ship the Federation woman was in—T2604 was what it read on the side—before sliding out from underneath his ship, unseen by anyone, and jumping into the driver's seat.

It had been a year or so since he had last driven his ship, and he had missed it dearly. He felt the steering wheel underneath his hands, the old leather familiar, before starting up the engine. Rick flicked a switch on the dashboard, engaging the ship's cloaking device, before pursuing the Federation flock into space.

Rick drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he followed closely behind the Federation ships, slightly nervous, but mostly determined to get his revenge for what the Federation woman had done to him, his friends, and his family.

After an hour or so of listlessly flying behind the Federation ships, they finally descended into the atmosphere of the planet that the prison was on, one by one landing on the large landing strip outside of the prison gates.

Invisible to everyone, Rick landed beside the large ship that the Federation woman was in. He watched carefully as, one by one, the Gromflomites withdrew from the ships until he was certain that the Federation woman was the last one left.

She thinks she's so safe in her little ship all by herself, does she. Rick pulled out a gun from underneath his seat, the metal cool in his slender fingers. He coyly stepped out of his ship, watching as she began to descend from the ramp.

As soon as her left foot touched the ground, Rick ran up behind her, catching her by surprise, and clamped a hand over her mouth, dragging her as she fought against him back into the Federation ship.

Rick spun her around, forcing her to face him, as he put his gun up to her head. She stared at him with wide, fearful, and disbelieving eyes; a look that didn't suite her well.

"Yeah, surprised to see me alive, aren't you? Guess what—I am smarter and will always be smarter than you and your dumb Federation goons. I know who you are. I figured it out. You're 'President Sidera'," he said in a mocking voice, "the fucking leader of the Federation. Now, I want something from you, or I'm going to kill you, do you understand?"

She nodded fearfully. Rick pushed the barrel of the gun harder against her temple.

"Good. I want you to fucking remove the Federation from Planet Earth; you know, Planet 3-8 in Sector SJ1237? Yeah, that planet. I want you to tell every single last fucking Gromflomite to get the fuck out immediately, or I'm going to blow your brains out. Capisce?"

She nodded again, eyes flitting towards the gun against her head. She raised her wrist to her lips, eyes warily jumping between the gun and the hard lines on Rick's face. Rick moved his hand so she could speak.

"Computer, send this message to the entire Federation." She cleared her throat, putting on a commanding, calm voice which did not match the fear on her face. "I order Troop 349, in Sector SJ1237 on Planet 3-8 to abandon the planet immediately. I am executing Order 333905."

She lowered her wrist. "There. Are you happy, Mr. Sanchez?"

Rick grinned. "Very." He pushed her away, releasing her from his grasp. Without a second's hesitation, Rick pulled the trigger.

Her scream was cut short as her body hit the ground with a somber thud.

!

Rick landed his ship back on Meria in the center of the city, where the most action had occurred. He exited his ship, looking around, feeling satisfied for the first time in a while. Dismal people who were meandering about took notice of him, and began to shout and scream, exclaiming "he's alive! Sanchez has done it again, he's alive!"

Rick took no notice of them, however. He immediately made his way over to the bushes, taking long strides. Peeking his head around the bush, he saw his grandchildren, arms wrapped around each other in obvious sadness.

"Miss me?"

Morty and Summer's heads whipped around immediately, seeing the face of their grandfather above them, grinning.

"Rick!" Morty shouted, and, without a second's hesitation, both grandkids threw themselves into Rick, wrapping their arms around him.

"We thought you were dead! How did you—" Morty began.

"Whatever you're asking, the answer is I'm amazing," Rick said without hesitation, smiling. He gestured to his ship, it sitting perfectly in the center of the city, ready for the trio. "Now, who wants to go home?"

A/N: Alright everyone, we have one chapter left! This story has been such a roller coaster…but now is not the time for final notes! Next chapter should be up by Friday. If you enjoyed, please leave a comment. Stay schwifty!