EVE

SOMEWHERE IN SPACE

I'd never been in Rick's spaceship before, but the smell of liquor, cigarettes, and something definitely not human is making my nose hairs burn. I mean, if I would have known when I asked Jerry to take me with them on Morty's first driving lesson, that I would have to sit in the back of a tiny, smelly-as-fuck back seat, pushed up against Jerry in a so-called "ship" made out of garbage, I would have never even asked.

Well, I probably would still have. I've been sharing a room with Morty for the last month, so I gradually heard more about his adventures with his grandfather. I've always hated the idea that this is all there is to life. So when Morty explained to me that I'm living with a genius who travels across dimensions, I haven't stopped thinking about finding a way to join them.

"Learning to fly this thing, Morty, is going to be really liberating." I looked up from my view out the window at the stars flying by like glitter flowing through black paint.

"You know, y-y-you're gonna be free to go on all kinds of errands for me." Exactly, I can make him take me to see everywhere. I turned back to admire the view as we passed more planets, losing interest in the conversation. Suddenly, my trance was interrupted some old Nokia-style ringtone of "Back That Azz Up". "Hold on," Rick picked up the phone excitedly. In such a small space, it's easy to eavesdrop. "Yeah. Yeah, I have it. Where do you want to meet? Alright, cool." After he hung up, I tried to stay as still as possible, hoping that he would forget about me and not hear me. It reminded me of when I used to stay up past bedtime to watch a movie and would try to avoid being caught when commercials came on.

"Alright, Morty, lesson's over. We got some business to attend to a few light minutes south of here."

"Oh, you still use 'south' in space." Stupid fucking Jerry, and just like I expected, the fucking grandpa screamed.

"Whoa, Jesus, Jerry, what the hell are you doing here and why the fuck did you bring the last hope?" If I wasn't focused on glaring at Jerry, I would have glared at Rick. He's taken to insulting me with the phrase "last hope" during our very little interaction, a jab at the fact i'm his daughter and her husband "last hope" for a happy marriage. Fucking asshole.

"What are you talking about? We agreed that a boy's father should be present when he's learning to drive, and Eve asked to join to make it a family activity!" Well, no I asked to go with him to escape the shithole that is planet Earth or, worse school.

"I guess I remember that. Wow, but I don't remember saying she could come. You've just been back there this whole time? Amazing."

"Unfortunately, yes," I scowled up at Jerry for outing us, then turned back to face the asshole checking his watch. "Ever heard of a bin or at least an air freshener?"

"Ever heard of I don't care and we don't have time to take them to Earth, Morty. W- head for 3924917."

"Cool, haha! Looks like we're coming along for an adventure." Jerry smiled down down at me. "yyyep" Rick drawled out. Ok, I think we may have gotten away with that.

EVE

3924917 Me, Rick, Jerry, and Morty enter this strip mall lobby that feels like a low-budget animal hospital or car rental. Tf is this place. I watch as Rick nods at a reptilian-looking alien clerk behind the counter, who slides a clipboard to him, which he starts filling out. Meanwhile Jerry starts talking to this other motherly reptilian alien with a name tag of "Hellen" and walks away.

"Can you take this one too?" I look up to see Rick pointing at me with his pen. Take me? Wait, where are they taking Jerry? The alien thing looks me over before turning back to Rick. "No sir we're not currently looking after Eve's here" Looking after?

Rick signed and continued filling out the forms on the clipboard. I turned to Morty still confused about what Rick was talking about only to see Morty looking at the sign for this place, which is apparently called:

"Jerryboree? You created a daycare for my dad?" He said disgusted

"Are you kidding, I wish I had this idea. Well, I did have this idea, but I wish I was the version of me that owned it. That guy's rich." This little shit.

"You were going to try and put me in a fucking daycare" I swore at this ashole

Rick just turned back to his paperwork as the lady spoke again. "Trust me, Kids, I've heard stories from other Ricks. Jerrys don't tend to last five minutes off of Earth. Here they can romp and play with other Jerrys. And Eves are pretty rare so I'm not sure how you'll do out there. This is a totally unregistered cross-temporal asteroid, it couldn't be safer."

"You ever even think of putting me in this fucking place I'll tell Jerry you molested me so you'll get sent to an old folk home"

"Jesus Eve that's a bit much"

"Shut up Morty"

I turn away furious while still thinking about Rick's words. I'm rare for Rick's to have. I wonder how rare. Ha must be cuz most of me must be smart enough not to get stuck with this asshole. Wait that means there must be a universe where my parents are still alive. You know what? I might able to find out when we pick Jerry back up. I'm not sure how to feel about that. My thoughts continued as we got back into the car, Morty clinging on to some scrape of yellow paper for dear life.

EVE

SOME CARPARK SOUTH OF SPACE

"Okay, wait here," Rick says after finally parking down after I'd been thrown around this backseat seven times while he crashed into other much better-looking spaceships. "I want to come with." Morty says, and I nod in agreement as I sit forward, wincing as a bottle breaks under my weight.

"You kids don't come with, it's boring; it's business stuff."

"It's space business, how can it be boring?" I say, and Morty nods in agreement, adding, "What kind of business do you do in a garage? You know this seems a little shady."

"Right, yeah, like nothing shady ever happened in a fully furnished office? You ever hear about Wall Street, Morty? You know what those guys do in their fancy boardrooms?"

"Probably make a lot more money than you, old man," I interrupt.

"No, they take their balls and they dip them in cocaine and wipe them all over each other. You know, grandpa goes around and he does his business in public because grandpa isn't shady."

Just as Rick finished his sentence, a scared-looking alien tapped on the window beside us. I quickly moved to the other side of the car, and within seconds, you'd think we were used to aliens, but fuck, they're ugly. Rick rolled down the window and said, "Hey, what's up?"

The alien held up a bag, "Hey, Rick! Haha, here you go, three thousand flerbos. Do you have the weapon?"

Rick looked embarrassed, "Can we please, this is my grandson, Morty, and his friend, Eve."

"Shut up, you're fostering me. I'm not just Morty's friend," The alien burped, waving his hand. "I think you'll find that it's my - my daughter and her stump of a husband is fostering you.. I wouldn't have picked you." I want to fucking kill this asshole. I mean, I knew he didn't like me before because he acts the same with Morty, and at least he doesn't hate him, but you can never tell with this man.

"Well, hi, Morty, and Eve! I'm Krombopulos Michael, I'm an assassin, I buy guns from your grandpa!" I'm sorry, what?

"Ugh. Unbelievable." He hands over a black case. "Here. Go away."

Michael opens the case and displays a sinister-looking ray gun. It looks amazing.

"Ooooh, yeah, this looks deadly. So this shoots anti-matter? My target can't be killed with regular matter." Rick nods uninterested and then hands out cards to us both.

"Listen, if you ever need anybody murdered, please give me a call. I'm very discreet, I have no code of ethics, and I will kill anyone, anywhere. Children, animals, old people, it doesn't matter. I just love killing." I take the card, looking at Rick. "What about old men who think they're invisible?"

"Yep, anyone."

We ended, "I'd think twice about trying to put me in a daycare again, asshole."

"You're giving them a card?!" Michael exclaims before walking away, leaving us silent. Morty finally speaks up, "You sell weapons to killers for money?"

"Ugh, you've got what the intergalactic call a very planetary mindset, Morty. It's more complicated out here, this isn't 'money,' these are flerbos. Do you understand what two humans can accomplish with three thousand of these?"

"Uh, what?" Morty says, still mad as he tucks away the card in my back pocket.

"An entire afternoon at BLIPS AND CHITZ!

Eve

BLIPS AND CHITZ

We ended up in some intergalactic arcade. I just saw some Aline playing that game where you catch the duck but with fleas eating pranas and a leg.

"Oh, this place is the best, it's got beer, games, prizes, and you can never tell what time it is."

"You sold a gun to a murderer so you could play video games?" I mean…he kinda has a point, Morty i mean. o, I go to defend him when Rick walks up to some machine and holds up a helmet, showing us both.

"Yeah, sure, I mean if you spend all day shuffling words around, you can make anything sound bad, Morty. Here, check this out." Rick slaps a helmet onto Morty's head and inserts a flerbos. Morty's eyes roll back. I step back in confusion as I watch Morty just stand there while Rick just stands there, pulling out a fucking beer, watching the screen, saying, "Roy: A Life Well Lived." Shit, this is a fucking video game. Thank fuck, I was actually about to be worried.

"Well, that's boring," I go to turn away, but suddenly Morty's eyes roll back down, and he rips the helmet off his head in shock, looking around, screaming, "Holy crap, what the hell? Where am I? What in the hell?!"

I step back in shock, watching Morty panic as my own heartbeat rises, and my breath quickens. I'm pulled out of my momentary trance when Rick starts talking, about the video game...

"...you kind of wasted your thirties though with that whole 'birdwatching' phase." "W-where- where's my wife?"

"Morty, you were just playing a game. It's called Roy. Snap out of it. Come on."

Rick grabs tickets from the machine, hands them to Morty, and takes the helmet. Morty starts to really scare me as he looks around. "I'm Morty. You're Rick." He makes eye contact with me. "That's Eve." Before turning back to Rick.

"Hey! You sold a gun to a guy that kills people!" "Look at this..." Rick points to the screen.

"You beat cancer, and then you went back to work at the carpet store?" "D-don't dodge the issue, Rick! Selling a gun to a hitman is the same as pulling the trigger!" I have no interest into Morty's objections, and I hate just sitting in on a conversation that I obviously am not part of.

"Rick, can I have some money? I don't think I can use Earth currency here." He just sighs, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a weird green coin, and handing me two. I walk away, looking around the vast arcade setting in front of me. I spot a food counter in the back right of my sight and couldn't stop my feet from moving towards it.

I stare up at the range of exotic alien food with a furrowed brow. I didn't recognize anything but nachos and cheese, but all I could think about was how many calories everything must have. I'd grown up basically normal until my parents died and really had sugary food . So when I was in my first foster family, I went ham. By the time I came to the smiths, I'd been midsize for years. I'd always been insecure my weight, but that didn't stop me from binging. I'd always end up crying and trying to lose weight, which ended up in the extreme of restricting for days at a time then binging again. An endless cycle that I could never stop.

I'm currently restricting so I just stared up for what felt like hours at the signs trying to figure out what to do when all I could see was numbers. Well, that is until I feel something brush my ass. I turn around, slapping the alien that groped me hard and fast. How dare this thing touch me? I panic, hands overwhelmed, until I hear a very human and very final sound of a young boy crying out in pain.

"Morty?! What the fuck are you doing, you little perv!" I start yelling.

"I-i just wanted the card." He says avoiding eye contact as he makes his way back up from the ground, waving the tracking card, which just seconds ago had been in my jeans back pocket. "I'm going to find this guy and at least try and talk him out of killing someone." My eyes stay narrowed, watching him. I had half the mind to shove him back down but had a twinge of regret in my heart for smacking the poor kid down in the first place.

"And what does Rick think of this stupid idea?" I say, crushing what every part of my mind just felt bad. I was in the right; he shouldn't have just stolen from me and basically groped me like that.

"He's playing Roy." He gestures over his shoulder, showing Rick with the helmet from before on his head, surrounded by people watching the screen in front of him. "Come if you want. Just please don't stop me." The kid says finally meeting my eyes before turning to leave. This kid is gonna get himself killed. I sigh before running to catch up with him. "I might get to steal Rick's booze." I say as join him, walking out to the ship.

Eve

SOMEWHERE IN SPACE

As the vast expanse of space whizzed by the window, I got to see it in a new light. For once, I was sitting up front with Morty driving, not shoved in the back like some dog or elderly person you want to forget about. The planets looked even better from here.

"Do you ever wonder what it would have been like to be born on one of those?" Morty looks away from the wheel and the card he'd been following to look around.

"Not really. I mean, in some universes, we probably were." I just shrugged. Of course, Morty immediately thought that. I mean, he was only a year or two younger than me, but he really had lived through lifetimes. I mean, I'd kill to go on one proper intergalactic adventure, but to him, it's just a Wednesday. Still, the poor kid's probably had some issues that I've only seen tiny glimpses of.

"Um, I don't think I ever heard about where you're from," Morty says, trying to make conversation.

"That's a difficult question to ask anyone who's not American." I laugh, sitting up. "Well, my mama was from England, and my dad was Irish, but they met while working together in Houston. That's where I was born, so I'd say I'm a bit of all." Only after I finish, do I notice Morty wincing at my words.

I hadn't really gotten around to talking to Morty about my life before the Smiths since we never got a chance to actually interact We were in different grades, woke up at different times, and had different interests. We may have shared a room, but we were basically worlds apart.

"You know, my parents are probably dead too." I looked over in confusion. Damn, I knew him and his parents didn't have the best relationship, but Jesus, I had literally seen them not even hours ago. "My whole family is living on some post-apocalyptic version of Earth where everyone but them went insane, me and Rick fled here." He just looked lost in thought. "Sometimes I think that it's sort of my fault for not making Rick go back for them, you know." Talking about Jesus, I kept silent, not knowing what to say.

"Mine died due to a gas leak in our house when they both worked at home," I said softly. "I was at school, but afterwards, I decided to go to the library for an hour." I didn't say it, but we both knew how I must have felt about it. I may not have entirely said "me too," but I think we just got a little closer as brother and sister.

EVE

GROMFLAM MILITARY BASE SCIENCE LAB

I jolt awake, my head against the dashboard, pounding. Would it kill Rick to add airbags to this thing? "You have arrived at Krombopulos Michael. Your destination is below," the car says, but all I care about is the fact Morty is slumped over the steering wheel of the craft, knocked out from the impact like I had been. I shake him until he slowly regains consciousness.

"We're all out of off-white Persian."

"Morty, shut up, we're here," I said, getting out of the car, looking around just as Morty does the same. He spots what I just did: among the debris, he finds Michael's arm still holding the gun Rick sold him.

"Aw, man. W-w-w-what have I done?"

"Drop the gun!" A guard with a laser rifle has the drop on Morty and me. Morty obviously doesn't know what to do and just starts rambling before I interrupt.

"Look man, we're not gonna hurt anyone; we surrender," but the guard still looks like he has half a mind to kill us. Before he can lower his gun, one of Rick's portals appears in the middle of the guard's body, splitting him down the center like a knife through fruit. The front of his body falls forward, the back falls backward, leaving two even slices of guard on the floor as Rick steps through the portal onto the front half.

"What are you kids doing? This is a Galactic Federation outpost!" he says, shaking his head like we're just some misbehaving children, not people who just killed someone. "Look, I don't have time to tell you my entire backstory, but you need to understand that Grandpa and the government don't get along." I could say the same thing.

"They saved my life." What the fuck was that? I look around, my gaze landing on Michael's target. A bluish-white weird cloud thing stares back at me, just floating there, with colorful dots covering it all over.

"What?" Rick voiced my very thoughts. "Huh? Whoa! Are you Krombopulos Michael's target? W-w-w-what's your name?" I stared at him; what's its name? Jesus, Morty.

"My kind has no use for names. I communicate through what you call Jessica's feet. No. Telepathy," the thing said, well that definitely did not come from my mind.

"Oh, good job, Morty. Y-y-you- you killed my best customer but you saved a mind-reading fart," Rick said annoyingly.

"I like this name, 'Fart.' Morty, would you kindly release me by pulling that lever to the left of my cell? I am in great pain." I snorted at that; leave me alone, okay? I'm still just 15. Morty pulls the lever next to the cell, deactivating its laser bar, making an ALARM sound. "For fuck's sake, Morty, we need to leave," I yell over the alarms, hands to my ears, trying to breathe. Keep it together, Eve, don't let them see how much the noise is affecting you; they'd probably not bring you with them again if they noticed, fuck.

I can't concentrate on what's happening around us; all I can hear is the fucking noise. So when Morty opens the door to Rick's ship, I get in behind them, starting to calm down once the door shuts, muffling the noise. But I can still barely hear Rick or Morty. I'm finally thankful for how drawn up they are in each other that they rarely notice me, trying not to shed tears, with the fart sitting next to me. The fart is sharing my seat, for God's sake. Then he just announces that more guards are coming. I have to snap out of this stupid fucking state, but just as I struggle against my own brain, Rick goes back through a portal.

He just left us here. We're going to die here. My gaze immediately flicks to Morty who is stunned for a moment, then shakes it off and tries to start the ship. He can't. I flip that switch in the back of my head; I need to get us out of here. Just as I think that, several guards show up. I start looking around the filthy spaceship for a gun or something to help.

"Get out of the vehicle made of garbage or we will open fire!" the guards start yelling at us. I turn to the fart, "there has to be a way you can help us."

"Open fire!" I hear someone shout and hit the floor of the car so fast I smack my head; one of many things I learned growing up from age 7 in foster homes in rough areas, but the gunshots never come. As I look up, I see a solid, six-foot-diameter torrent of seawater quickly filling up the room. Morty and I watch as the guards float around outside the spaceship, panicking before another portal opens in the floor beneath them, and the room quickly drains of water, taking all the guards with it as if they're being sucked down a drain. That portal closes before a third opens, and Rick walks through and climbs in, shoving Morty over.

He came back for us. He came back for US. I'm shocked. 'I mean, I was hoping he would come back,but I wasn't so stupid to believe it. I just sit there stunned as he adjusts his seat back, ignoring the guards who came through the door before we take off, killing them in the process.

EVE

COGSPOT, GARAGE

We were all in this cluttered mechanic's garage while this man, or robot sort-of-thing, called GEARHEAD, was working on Rick's battered ship while arguing with Rick after Morty and I basically broke it.

Rick walks over to me, Morty, and the fart. "I don't think the Gromflamites can track us now, but it looks like we're gonna be here for a while," then he takes Morty aside as I continue to look around at all the machines and spare parts. I heard Morty say, "We're taking him back where he belongs." I look up at that to see the fart, Rick, and Morty still talking, so I walk over.

"I came here accidentally through a wormhole located in what you call, get out of my head, Fart, I know you're in here. Lalalala. No. In what you call the Promethean Nebula," the blob says much to Rick's annoyance. "Oh great, just a hop, skip, and an eight hundred light-year jump."

"Well, for one, I vote to help get him home" I finally speak up, and Morty nods his head in agreement. I almost feel bad because I could care less about some fart; I just don't want to go home when I could be exploring space. "You know you can leave anytime you want, Rick," Morty says, but Rick just walks off muttering to himself, "Whatever you want to do, you little punk-ass little bitch. I'm gonna go to Blips and Chitz."

"Thank you, Morty and Eve. You are not like other carbon-based life forms. You put the value of all life above your own." I'm glad the thing did not read my mind, at least. "It's how things should be. I-it's how they could be."

"I could not agree more," the fart replies, but then, I swear to fuck, the thing starts singing while Morty gets a strange, entranced look on his face. I take a step back watching the scene. "Hey, Rick, I need a little help over here." He just looks up from what he was doing and starts yelling at them while shaking a cane. Morty thankfully snaps out of it. "This isn't a musical number; this is a fucking operation. We gotta be cool and lay low," but Morty just looks embarrassed.

EVE

COGSPOT, GARAGE

I jolt awake to the sounds of Rick yelling. Suddenly, I'm on my feet, looking around within seconds as Rick continues to give out to the gas-reliable being. "Oh terrific. No wonder every cop in the system is looking for us. Any species that gets a hold of this thing is gonna use it to take over the galaxy. Do you know how inconvenient that's gonna be to my work?" I shake my head, trying to shake the last dregs of sleep before I notice the ships outside the window. "Well, fuck."

"Somebody dropped the dime on us." That's when it hit Rick. "Gearhead." I turn shocked. Rick turns to Gearhead, who is holding a gear gun on them.

"I'm sorry, Rick. The reward on your head is too high. And like you always say, you gotta look out for number one." This fucker. I look around for anything to throw but find nothing but a wrench left on a workbench, so like any sharpshooter, I throw it as hard as I can right at the back of the dick-faced gear-loving thing who was still arguing with Rick, knocking it to the ground.

"Nice shot, kid," I smirk as Rick begrudgingly approves before I watch in shock as he swaps this man's dick for his mouth while he's knocked out. "Two things I want to make clear to everybody in this room: Never betray me, and it's time to go," Rick emphasized.

We all climb into the back of the ship as quickly as possible and are soon put through the nearest window, listening to the shouts of "Nobody move!" coming from the gear cops behind us, then horrible muffled gagging sounds. Rick's ship flies through a densely populated alley as I watch transfixed out the window, vendors peddle gear wares, an old gear woman with a babushka flaps the dust off a dirty gear out a window, children do playful gear-related things. I could get used to this, seeing all these different cultures and societies almost every day. I'd kill just to see one more, for God's sake. I'm so jealous of Morty.

Two government motorcycle ships give pursuit and open fire on us, but Rick shoots one of the aliens off its motorcycle, while thankfully, the other crashes into a parked gear car. "Hey, Morty, remember when you said selling a gun was as bad as pulling the trigger? How do you feel about all these people that are getting killed today because of your choices?" Jesus, Rick, that's a bit harsh.

"I did the right thing, Rick!"

"Tell that to Gearhead's gearsticles!"

"You did that!"

"Wrong, I'd be playing Roy right now. At a certain point, my hands are tied, Morty!"

I'm shoved against the filthy ship's side as we take a hard right, where two more ships start chasing and shooting at us. This is how I'm gonna die, surrounded by empty cans of beer that I didn't even get to drink, and I smell like shit because of it. "Rick, do something!" I yell as a third ship joins them in hunting us. Rick puts on the brakes so fast that my head smacks against the back window and the ships fly by. Rick shoots them, and the ships crash. "Happy!" he yells, but then WAY MORE people and bigger ships start pursuing them. "Morty, take the wheel!" Morty does just that asy takes the wheel as Rick shoots at people. Over my shoulder, I duck watching as Morty jerks the wheel and Rick falls over. I could definitely do that so much better, I think, noting to ask about that later.

"Whoa! Jeez, dammit, Morty, who taught you to fly this thing? Hahaha. I'm kidding; I know that's on me." I shake my head. God, I feel so useless just sitting here like a waiting duck. Until I look up, Morty screams, and we see a HUGE ship has blocked us, and we are surrounded. "Shit. Well, I guess this is it." Shit, shit, shit. I'm not dying here; I start to shake, not noticing the fart leaving until all the mini ships start crashing into each other. I just sit there watching as those explosions cause a chain reaction of others, sending smaller craft spiraling into nearby buildings, which collapse. Fucking Christ, this fart is deadly.

After all of it is done, Koof floats back in through Morty's window, rejoining me in the back as I sit there in shock. "Alright, let's proceed." The thing says as I scoot over, avoiding the thing I'm seeing in a new light.

Damn. Can't blame that on the dog. Talk about silent but deadly! "I've seen some nerve gas, but this gas got NERVE." "Shut up, Rick," I interrupt from my backseat as he continues to laugh. "I'll let you two know. 'Gone with the Wind,' am I right? If you don't like that one, Eve, an alt on that could be, like, if I said 'Gasablanca.' All right, I'm done. Let's get to the Promethean Nebula so my grandson can finish saving a life!"

EVE

PREHISTORIC PLANET There's- there's a lot more where that came from, too."

I watch as Morty walks back through the brush without the fart, who must have gone home. He asked me to come with him to return the fart home, but I said Morty deserved to have his own adventures, which he looked surprised at but it turned into a smile before he walked off with the fart. Morty walks over to Rick at the ship. Rick is putting some strange-looking rocks into a hatch on the rear of the car. This may be the first time I've come with them, but I've learned not to question Rick from living with him.

"So did you guys make out a little bit? Is he gonna send you a postcard?" Rick says mockingly, and I expect Morty to react like he normally would, but Morty doesn't say anything, he just gets in the ship. "Drop it, Rick," I say before following Morty. There's something off with him, but I can't tell what. Maybe he's sad to see the fart go, but I don't know, it feels like the poor kid has been through so much already, I just don't know what to say. This kid confuses me, but I know that I'm slowly warming up to him the more I get to know him. We all just sit in silence as we fly through space. Morty is just staring out the window, lost in thought, while I watch the stars whiz by. I feel so free, so powerful up here, like I could go anywhere I wanted in the universe, like I'm the one in control like Rick. Rick's ship flies through space.

"Morty, I know I picked on your core beliefs and decision-making a lot today," I sit up listening to Rick talk in the still silence to Morty, "but I am glad that you insisted on getting that fart home. You know, at least all the death and destruction wasn't for nothing, ya know?." But Morty stares ahead, silent.

"You miss your fart friend, huh? Well, I've got a little surprise for you, buddy." I narrow my eyes at the drunken old man. I hope he gets a space version of a DUI at some point. "While you were gone, I found a new wormhole, with millions of beings just like him on the other side, and they're all coming to visit!" Well, that certainly got Morty's attention as he turns around frantically.

"What?! Rick, no, you can't!"

"It's too late, Morty. The hole's opening."

"No no, Rick, you don't understand!" I turn to Rick, "Wait, where did you find another wormhole," on the edge. I know if Morty's worried, I should be too, but that's when this guy just leans over, makes a face, then farts and settles back down, smirking. Morty stares at him, then looks out the window. I hate this guy. If I didn't need him and Morty wasn't here, I'd open the door, killing us both right now.

"There's- there's a lot more where that came from, too."

EVE

JERRYBOREE

As we park amidst the mass of Rick's ships outside Jerryboree, it feels like the end of summer camp as Ricks and Mortys arrive to pick up their eager Jerrys. I walk in with Rick and Morty, watching Rick engage in conversation with another version of himself; it seems fitting that the only person he would get along best with is himself. Looking around, I notice there are 20 Mortys but only one of me. Am I meant to be part of the Smith family in other universes, or am I just a freak even in the multiverse of myself?

Helen brings over what I assume to be our own Jerry, which is confirmed when Rick says, "Hey, Morty, there's our Jerry." Jerry nods and hugs Morty, then turns to hug me. "I've had one hell of a day," he laughs into my ear, obviously relieved to be going home. "I missed you. Hey, Rick."

"Glad you're safe, Jerry. Whaddaya say we go home?"

"I'd like that." We share a nice moment as we walk out, but as we do, another Rick walks up to Rick, showing his ticket. "Hey, wait, uh, do you have 5126?"

"I'm not sure. Morty?"

Morty pulls out his ticket, showing it's a Blips and Chitz ticket. "What?"

"Way to go, Morty. Eh, whatever." The Ricks lazily swap their Jerrys as the Jerrys look at each other in fear. "Wait, Rick, are you sure that's our dad?" I question, but Rick dismisses me, saying, "Alright, come on, Jerry," and they walk off as I follow without saying anything, as I always do.

"Rick, why are there a million versions of you and Morty but no other me?" I ask as we continue to walk to the ship. He just shrugs, ignoring the question, just as he did with my first one. He stayed silent until we all got into the ship, and while Morty and the Jerry were talking on their way home, I ask again, pulling on his lab coat.

"Fuck off, you little shit."

"Seriously, Rick, why am I the only one here? Am I the only version of myself where I ended up with you?" His eyes narrow thoughtfully before he finally speaks in a low voice, "It's not common for Ricks to meet a Eve, but it's not unheard of. There are a few of you in the Citadel, but even the Eves that do end up with Ricks don't stay close to their Ricks for too long. They either return to society or—" he trails off, wincing like he said too much, and returns to trying to get his ship off the ground.

Well, if one of my two most common fates is bad enough to make the smartest man in universes wince, then I don't want to know. I mean, I'm not planning on staying with the Smiths for long; I never stay with families for long, and so far, other than Jerry and Beth being nice, the only reason I have to stay is getting access to Rick's tech. God, what I'd do to have that power. I mean, I'd always valued power and freedom, but watching Rick have total control of everything and being able to do what he wants, no matter what, just fills me with extreme envy.

EVE

SMITH HOUSE

I run my hand over my eyes, shielding them from the light coming from Morty's side of the room as I sit up, confused. The clock on the wall says it's 4 a.m., and I didn't have a nightmare, so my pills should still be working; why did I wake up? That's when I hear the sounds of someone trying not to cry loudly. I turn to Morty, who is sitting up as well in his own bed, shaking while trying to wipe his eyes. He hadn't noticed me yet, but I could tell he needed someone.

I lift my feet out of the bed, tugging a blanket over my shoulders as I make my way over to him. He doesn't see me until I sit behind him. He jolts away from my touch.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he says, trying to hide his face. I put my hand on his shoulder. I mean, I was never good at the whole comforting thing, but me and Morty are both on the autism spectrum, so there is an understanding that just by me putting my hand on his shoulder, I am here for him. We sit there as he continues crying but less violently than before.

"You can talk to me and tell me anything, Morty. Trust me, I've been through everything from bullies to death," I say, trying to get a smile out of him while squeezing his shoulder. One thing I love about what me and Morty have is the understanding; neither of us likes eye contact, but there's no need for it when we're together. We just talk, and we know the other is listening.

"Fart," he starts but stops as his voice trembles. "I know you'll miss him," I say. I get it; he must have really liked Fart and really missed him. "N-no, I killed him Eve," he goes still, before just nodding and pulling him into me as he sobs. I hug him tightly, just the way I like, as he just keeps crying into me. "H-he was g-g-going t-t-o kill everyone in our uni-v-vers," he continues crying into me.

"Morty, Morty, it's okay," I say, rubbing his back like my father used to do to me."I'm here, you don't need to justify it, you can talk to me, or, not, but i am here and I know you'd do only what you think is right." We sit there, me just holding Morty as he cries into my chest. I just stay there, rubbing his back and holding him. I think back to today and the sky full of stars. I need to be there again. I mean, I wonder what my life would be like if I had an older sister to do this. "True, he has summer, but she has no clue what it's like to be a neurodiverse kid. What if I helped him? I would have loved to have an older sister to hold me when i cried, to look out for me, to teach me how to surize. That's when I make my choice. I will help Morty, to try a be a good older sister he needs and maybe find a way to use Rick's tech to live the life of my dreams.