On Gromflom Prime, somewhere within the Krombopulos district, Krombopulos Amy was busy washing some dishes. She was a wingless gromflomite though she had a small tuft of green hair on her head and was currently wearing a pink dress. As she was washing the dishes, she heard her phone ringing. She put down the plate she was washing, dried her claws and went over to answer it. "Hello? Yes this is-" As she listened to the caller, her heart suddenly dropped. "What? Michael is...dead?" Her eyes started brimming with tears. "No...what happ-HOW? WHO?" She paused for a moment. "Rick Sanchez? But they were-his cruiser?" Her face scrunched up in confusion before she went to turn on the TV and turned over to the news. That's when she saw what she presumed to be Rick's grandchildren. A white haired boy and a smaller blonde girl. Both of which were in Rick Sanchez's cruiser. She dropped the remote in disbelief. The person on the phone kept trying to talk to her though she was unable to answer him. "I'm sorry-I'm sorry, but I have to go." She hung up the phone. As she processed everything, her grief finally caught up to her as she found herself sobbing. She knew something like this happening was a possibility ever since she married him. And yet she still wasn't prepared for it actually happening.
She spent around an hour mourning for her husband before she began trudging up the stairs. She pressed a red button on the wall which then opened it up, revealing where Krombopulos Michael kept his gear and weapons. She picked up one of his guns as her expression went stern. "Here I go killing now."
...
Lola sighed as she arrived at school. It didn't seem that long ago when she really made an entrance whenever she arrived here, full of style and confidence. Nowadays, she couldn't help but slump upon entering school, hoping to just make it through the day. She saw that some of her classmates noticed her as she came in. She gave them a small wave and a sheepish smile, only for them to walk away from her. Even after all this time, she was still considered a pariah at her school.
While she was somewhat glad to be away from the pageant world, she really missed the fame that it brought her. She missed how popular she used to be here. And while dancing somewhat filled the void left after leaving behind pageant, she missed performing in front of an audience. The looks of awe and admiration she'd get as she showed off her talents. She wondered if she'd ever get to experience that again, considering her current reputation might affect her dancing career too.
Truthfully though, she just wished everyone would stop looking at her like she was some kind of freak. Well, at least Carl and Adelaide treated her normally. Though something had been off about those two recently.
Lola recalled a suggestion Lincoln gave her a while ago. To try and sign up for being a new student buddy, a way to acclimate new students to the school. It wasn't something that would help her regain her popularity but it would be nice to just have one other friend right now.
...
Cheryl Farrell, the secretary at Royal Woods Elementary school, shook Lola's hand enthusiastically. She was a pudgy woman with very tall dark brown hair. She wore a yellow dress and a long teal blue skirt. "Ooh, we are just delighted to have you on board Lola. Meet our newest new student, Meli Ramos."
Lola wasn't sure who Cheryl was talking about for a moment until she noticed a girl stood timidly at the side of the room. She was a Latin-American girl who had her long black hair tied in pigtails. She wore a gray, overall dress with a pocket and a light gray shirt with long, oversized sleeves. She waved at Lola with a shy smile.
"There you are!" Lola grinned as she approached the girl. "Hi! Welcome to Royal Woods Elementary."
Meli held her other arm as she mumbled something Lola wasn't able to understand. "What was that, sweetie?" Lola asked.
"I-It's nice to meet you." Meli replied nervously.
Lola gave her a comforting smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you too."
...
After their meeting, Lola proceeded to show Meli around school. She was just about finished giving Meli a tour of the place. "And here's the dining hall!" She exclaimed before moving close to Meli. "Word of advice, you'd be better off bringing your own food."
Meli let out a small giggle. "Um, c-can I ask you something?"
Lola smiled. "Sure! What's up?"
"You seem so confident. Do you think you could help me, um, figure out how to fit in?"
At this, Lola's smile dropped. While hanging around Meli had helped her feel confident again, reality crashing down on her made her feel just as timid as the other girl. She should have known she wouldn't have been able to hide this from her. "I'm...probably not the person you should be asking that."
"O-Oh...how come?"
Lola sighed. "Well, I used to be one of the most popular girls in school but...something happened."
"What do you mean?"
Lola then got her phone out before showing Meli a news article online. The article was headlined 'Pageant star gone demonic?' and showed a picture of Lola transformed into a demon. She put her phone away. "I understand if you'd rather stay away from me now. You're not gonna get popular hanging around someone like me."
Meli was silent for a moment. "Um...it's okay. I don't mind."
Lola gave her a surprised look. "R-Really?" Meli nodded slightly. "But what about fitting in?"
Meli rubbed her arm. "I just didn't want to be alone. I don't mind being your friend."
Lola sniffled before pulling Meli into a hug, causing her to blush slightly. "Aw! Thank you!"
After Lola let her go, Meli asked. "So you used to do pageants?"
Lola sighed. "Yeah, but that incident was pretty much the end of that career. I've moved on to dancing now."
"I'd love to see you perform."
Lola looked downcast. "Yeah, I'd like to perform too at some point." She tapped her chin in thought. "If only there was somewhere I could..." An idea suddenly came to her. With her current reputation, it'd be hard to perform for an audience anywhere.
At least here on Earth.
...
Rick and Lincoln were at home, watching TV, when someone entered the house. "Oh Rick!" Lola sung as she opened the door.
Rick groaned. "What is it?"
Lola went to climb onto the sofa, next to Rick. "Could you do me a teensy weensy little favour?" She asked in a cutesy voice.
Rick gave her a suspicious look. "Depends."
"I want to give a dancing performance onstage. But since my reputation on Earth's been ruined, I want to perform on another planet."
Lincoln gave Lola a concerned look. "Lola, are you sure you should-"
"Oh, is that it? Yeah, I can get something like that arranged." Rick interrupted Lincoln.
Lola pumped her fist. "Yes!"
Lincoln gave Rick a surprised look. "Wait, really?"
"Yeah, sure, shouldn't be too hard to arrange." Rick explained. "There's this planet that has all sorts of multicultural events, they'd probably love to see what human dancing is like. Hell, I could probably get her signed up to perform next week."
"Just one more thing." Lola added. "I made a new friend at school today and I want her come watch."
Rick shrugged. "Sure. You can invite however many friends you want. I don't really care."
Lola grinned. "Thank you, Rick." She then got down from the sofa and headed off upstairs.
There was a moment of silence after before Rick turned to Lincoln. "Hey, you know who Lola's friends are, right?"
...
The planet Deseydabius was a multicultural planet where alien races across the galaxy came and went. It was once under the control of the Galactic Federation, however, upon its liberation, still saw the benefits of different alien races coming together and became a place where they could share their culture through different events.
It had been almost a year since Krombopulos Amy left Gromflom Prime to find the ones that killed her husband. She was now wearing all-black stealth gear. While she knew how to use the weapons her husband used, she wasn't the assassin he was. She had been struggling to figure how to find Rick and his grandchildren as she knew very little about humans and where they lived. She'd mostly been chasing rumours, which ranged from being on a planet taken over by a hive mind to recently blowing up an asteroid full of face hugging parasites. She was currently at a bar on the planet Deseydabius, trying to find any other rumours when she spotted a poster on the wall.
It was an advertisement for a local theatre which highlighted a particular performer. "Come see the amazing human and her mysterious human dancing." She read to herself as she saw a picture of the human that was set to perform. A little blonde human girl. There was no mistaking it. This was the girl that killed her husband.
"I think you've had enough, pal." Krombopulos Amy heard the bartender say, followed by a groan. She looked over and to her surprise, there was another human here. At least she thought he was human.
A drunken Mr. Needful was drowning his sorrows before he was denied another drink. Angered by this, the demon began venting. "You know, I used to have something going for me! I once had my own store! A place where I gave cursed items to the unsuspecting public. It was wonderful! But that God damn Rick Sanchez ruined it! He exposed my store to the world. Now there's nowhere on Earth where people will take my stuff. There's nowhere for me to go!" His head slumped onto the counter. "I can't even return to the underworld. Queen Lucitor would have my head."
"Rick Sanchez ruined your life too, huh?" Mr. Needful looked over to see a large brosephamon sat nearby.
Risotto Groupon stared down at his cup as he explained his story. "I once had a kingdom that was usurped by force with weapons and technology supplied by Rick. After that, I was reduced to merely being the assistant general manager for a restaurant at a resort run by my enemies. I once had a chance to kill Rick there but it failed and I had no choice but to flee my planet before that incident could be linked back to me."
Mr. Needful scoffed. "Small universe."
An idea began to form in Krombopulos Amy's mind. Trying to take on Rick Sanchez alone would be risky. She could use some back up. She took the poster off the wall and approached the two. "What a coincidence. I have a grudge against Rick Sanchez too." She said, getting their attention. "It's thanks to him that my husband is dead. Luckily, I know where he's going to be next." She showed the two the poster. "If we work together, we can take him out. What do you say?" She raised her claw.
Mr. Needful and Risotto glanced at each other. An evil smirk then appeared on Mr. Needful's face. "Well, I can't pass up an opportunity for revenge." He placed his hand on top of Krombopulos Amy's claw.
Risotto sighed. "Well, I may never get another chance, so..." He placed his paw on top of the others.
The three then heard a honking sound before a wing went on top of three's hands. They looked down to see a goose wearing a red hakama over a white hakamashita. The three stared down at it in confusion. "Where did...that come from?" Mr. Needful asked.
Krombopulos Amy groaned in annoyance. "Ugh! Who cares! Let's move out!"
However, as the four were talking, they were unaware of another wingless gromflomite in the bar, who had been listening in on the whole conversation.
...
It was the day of the performance. Lola was already at the theatre, getting ready to perform as Rick drove his cruiser to the planet, along with Lincoln and a group that Lincoln had gathered whom he considered Lola's friends.
While Lincoln was sat up front, in the back, there was Adelaide, who was next to the window, and Lana, who was sat next to her. Both of them were playing with their pet frogs. Next to Lana was Meli who looked a little nervous. Both from being surrounded by others and from being in space.
Finally, next to Meli was Carl, who was gazing out of the window into space in amazement. "Whoa! This is so awesome! This is even cooler than trains! Hey, can I sit up front on the way back?" Carl asked Rick.
"Fat chance, kid." Rick replied.
"Aw man."
Adelaide then humphed, which Lane took notice of. "What's up."
Adelaide let out a sigh of exasperation before whispering to Lana. "It's Carl. The other day, I thought he wanted to be my friend. But he was just using me so he could ride in the conductor's cabin on my dad's train."
"Yeesh." Lana whispered back as she side eyed Carl.
Rick glanced back at all of the kids before turning to Lincoln. "Hey, uh, correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Lola just request just the one friend come along?"
"I thought Lola might appreciate it if all of her friends came to see her." Lincoln explained.
Rick shrugged, not really caring that much. "Whatever."
...
It wasn't long before they reached the planet Desaydabius as Rick parked his cruiser outside of the theatre where Lola would be performing, which surprisingly resembled a normal theatre. Upon entering, Rick showed the staff his VIP passes before the group entered the auditorium and took their row of seats. Meli went in first, followed by Carl, Adelaide, Lana, Lincoln and finally Rick who took the last seat on the row they were sat at. As expected, the audience was made up of aliens from all across the galaxy. "How come we didn't get the higher up seats?" Lincoln decided to ask.
"Because I'm not some snobby, rich asshole who needs to flaunt his wealth over where he sits in a theatre. The view down here's fine. Deal with it." Though Rick left out the part on how it'd be easier for Lola to spot them down here.
The group didn't have to wait too long before the performances started. Before Lola came on, they watched a couple of other performances. Some of them amazing the kids, others leaving them slightly bewildered. Finally, it was Lola's turn to come out. She was currently wearing a professional, pink ballet tutu. She bowed to the audience before classical music started playing as Lola began her performance.
While all the aliens there were unfamiliar with the concept of ballet, they were nonetheless impressed with Lola's twirls and leaps. "So graceful!" An alien in the audience said to herself.
"I never knew humans could do so much with just two legs!" A tentacled remarked to the alien next to him.
"Wow..." Was all Meli said as she watched her friend perform, simply thinking about how talented Lola was.
Carl wasn't particularly interested in dancing, only really coming out here to support Lola (and to get a trip into space). He couldn't help but notice Adelaide, who looked somewhat moody from having to sit next to him. He scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhat guilty about what happened. "Pretty impressive, huh?" He asked her.
"What's that Froggy Two?" Adelaide asked Froggy, who was sat on her head. "You don't hear anything? Me neither." Carl simply sighed in response.
Lincoln smiled as he watched his sister dance. He could tell Lola was enjoying being in the spotlight again so long after having her pageant career ripped away from her. "What do you think?" He decided to ask Rick.
"Yeah, she's pretty talented." Rick admitted. "Hell, she could really make a career out here."
Lincoln gave Rick a confused look. "Wait, what? Out here?"
"Yeah, I mean, let's face it, Lincoln, she doesn't exactly have much chance of becoming a star on Earth after that incident. Luckily I can think of a ton of other planets with way less judgemental pricks. Heck, if the right people are watching now, she could get herself a head start on that."
Lincoln frowned at this. He couldn't help but feel troubled by the idea of his sister having a career on a different planet. It never really occurred to him that Rick could help him and his siblings get an opportunity like that, though he suppose it did made sense. While the idea of his sisters or him having careers on other planets somewhat weirded him out, what really troubled him was the idea of Lola starting a career like this now. Would this really be right for her, considering how much pressure her pageant career brought her?
As Lola was dancing, she couldn't help but bask in the adoration and adulation of the crowd. It was a feeling that she hadn't experienced in oh so long. Part way through, she had noticed the group that Rick and Lincoln had brought with them. Though she expected Meli to be here, she was surprised to see Lana, Carl and Adelaide here too. Though like a true professional, she hid her surprise well. Still, inwardly, she was happy to see them all here.
In one of the upper balconies, a rather rich alien that resembled a gerbil was also enjoying the performance. He chuckled to himself. "Ho ho ho, I do so enjoy being rich."
Immediately after, the alien was pistol-whipped at the side of his head by Krombopulos Amy, knocking him out.
Krombopulos Amy then got out her rifle and stared down at the audience. Getting up here was easier than she expected, thanks to that weird avian creature single handedly taking out of the security and theatre staff. At this point, she was supposed to take out Rick though she couldn't help but glare down at the little brat on stage. Dancing without a care in the world. As if she wasn't responsible for her husband's death. She aimed her rifle right at the little girl's head.
Before she was able to fire though, Risotto suddenly grabbed the end of her gun and pulled it up. "What do you think you're doing?!" He asked angrily.
"What are you doing?" She fired back just as angrily.
"I was under the impression that we were going to take out Rick. His grandchildren have nothing to do with this!" Risotto argued.
Krombopulos Amy pointed at Lola. "That 'child' is why my husband is dead!"
"W-What?"
...
Lola bowed to the audience as her performance came to a close. The audience applauded as the curtains were drawn. As Lana was applauding, she noticed something in the corner of her eye. She noticed two aliens were stood up, arguing in one of the upper balconies. Her eyes widened when she noticed one of them had a gun. "Uh, guys?" She said to Lincoln and Rick as she pointed to the balcony.
Upon looking where Lana was pointing in, Rick and Lincoln both had a similar reaction to her. "Oh crap!" Rick cursed before getting up, firing a portal and running into it with Lincoln and Lana following after him.
Carl stared at the portal in confusion as it closed up. "Uhh...what's going on?"
Adelaide frowned in suspicion as she could sense something was wrong here. "Come on, let's find out!" She grabbed Carl's arm and began to run out of the auditorium.
"Hey, wait!" Carl cried out as he was dragged along.
Meli watched as Carl and Adelaide ran off. She started to feel nervous as it seemed something was wrong. She decided to get up and go see how Lola was doing. Luckily, she still had her VIP pass.
...
"You didn't tell us it was his grandchildren that killed your husband!" Risotto shouted at Krombopulos Amy.
"Is there supposed to be a point to this bickering?" Mr. Needful remarked in annoyance. He was currently stood aside with his arms folded.
Everyone's attention was then on a portal that suddenly appeared as Rick, Lincoln and Lana stepped out of it. Rick glared at the three in annoyance. "Oh, are we seriously doing one of these?"
Mr. Needful grinned sinisterly. "Rick. As annoyingly meta as usual I see."
Rick raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry, do I know you?"
Mr. Needful scowled. "Oh fuck you! You ruined my life!"
"You..." Krombopulos Amy growled as she glared at both Lincoln and Lana.
Lincoln flinched at the glare as he and Lana took a step back. "Huh?"
"It was you two!" Krombopulos Amy exclaimed. "You two killed my husband!"
"What?! Ah!" Lincoln yelped as he barely dodged a laser shot at him. He grabbed Lana's arm and began to make a run for it.
"Get back here!" Krombopulos Amy screamed as she chased after them.
"Kids!" Rick shouted as he got out his laser gun. Before he was able to fire it at Krombopulos Amy, however, he just barely dodged a shot taken at him thanks to Risotto Groupon. "Rrgh!"
Meanwhile, Mr. Needful had slinked off amidst the chaos.
...
"Where are we even going?" Carl asked as Adelaide dragged him out of the auditorium.
"I think Lana saw something weird upstairs." Adelaide explained as they entered the lobby. Adelaide then suddenly came to a stop. Both she and Carl stared in shock at all of the security and theatre staffed scattered around, appearing to be unconscious. "What happened here?"
Carl started sniffing. "Do you smell soy sauce? Gah!" Carl was then sent flying due to a kick to the gut courtesy of the goose.
"Carl!" Adelaide cried out in horror.
Carl groaned as he recovered from the blow before looking in confusion at the goose. "What the heck?!"
The goose made a 'come here' gesture towards Carl. "Bring it on. I'll destroy you!"
Carl frowned at the goose. "Oh, you think you're so tough? I'll have you know, I know karate! Raaagggh!" Carl let out a battle cry as he charged towards the goose.
Adelaide then remembered the incident where the Louds hid at their apartment because of a goose. A goose that even Rick had been struggling to deal with. "Carl, wait!" She cried out.
It was too late as Carl was already attempting to deliver a flying kick towards the goose. "PREDICTABO!" The goose shouted as he grabbed Carl's leg before throwing him up into the air.
"Wah!"
The goose then made a circular motion with his wings, charging up his chi energy. Once Carl came down in front of him, he struck him with both of his wings. "RASHOUMON!"
"AAAH!" Carl screamed as he was sent flying into the wall. After a second, he then fell to the ground.
"CARL!" Adelaide shouted in horror.
To her relief, the damage didn't seem that bad as Carl groaned and opened his eyes to see the goose slowly walking towards him, chuckling. "Now you die."
Carl's eyes widened in fear. "Adelaide! Someone! Help!"
A look of determination appeared on Adelaide's face as she ran in front of Carl before getting into a fighting stance. "Don't worry, Carl. I know karate too."
The goose chuckled sinisterly. "Know your place. Reppuken!" He then created a slashing blade of wind on the ground that went towards Adelaide. She was able to expertly dodge it as she dashed towards the goose. She then delivered her own flying kick, only for the goose to one again catch it. "PREDICTA-wuh?!" Unexpectedly, Adelaide twisted her foot, causing the goose to lose both his grip on her foot, and his balance. Adelaide gracefully landed on the floor while the goose was still thrown off. She took the opportunity to grab the goose's neck before lifting him up into the air and slamming him on the ground behind her and then doing it again, slamming the goose back in front of her. She then threw the goose up into the air before jumping up and delivering a kick that sent the goose flying. "OOOOUUUUEEERRGGHH!" The goose screamed as it was sent flying before also crashing into a wall and falling to the ground.
After landing, Adelaide folded her arms as she had a smug expression on her face. "Had enough?"
The goose honked angrily as he got up and began rabidly running towards Adelaide with his wings spread. She got back into her stance as she prepared herself for whatever the goose may try next.
However, before the goose could reach her, a portal suddenly appeared in front of him. The goose honked in confusion before it accidentally tripped into the portal. The portal disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.
Adelaide stared at what happened in confusion before shaking her head and going over to help up the beaten Carl. "Carl, are you okay?" She asked as she offered him a hand.
Carl took the hand as Adelaide helped him stand up. "I'm okay-ow!" He rubbed his back.
"Do you want me to get some help?"
"I'll be fine. Really." Carl assured her. He started to look uncomfortable as he scratched the back of his head, looking away from Adelaide. "This isn't easy for me to say but...thanks for saving me. You're way cooler than I thought. I'm sorry about the other day. I'd be lucky to have someone like you for a friend."
Adelaide grinned. "Really?"
Carl looked back at her, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Yeah, you really saved my butt today, even after I acted like a jerk. Is there any way I could make it up to you?"
Adelaide tapped her chin in thought before smiling. "We could play superhero tea party when we get back home."
Carl smiled. "I'd be down with that." His smile dropped though when he looked around the lobby. "Wonder what happened to that goose though?"
"I wonder if Lola's grandpa had anything to do with it." Adelaide pondered. "Come on, I think everyone else is upstairs."
Carl nodded. "Right." He then followed her up the stairs.
...
Lincoln and Lana had been running through the empty upper hallways of the theatre as they tried to flee from Krombopulos Amy. Luckily for them, she wasn't the trained assassin her husband was as she missed all of her attempts to shoot them.
At some point, it appeared as if they lost her as the two stopped around a corner and tried to catch their breaths. "I think we lost her." Lincoln remarked.
"Guess again."
Lincoln and Lana yelped as Krombopulos Amy had somehow gotten to the other side of them as she aimed her gun at them. "You two have no idea how long I've waited for this." Krombopulos Amy said.
"W-Wait, can't we just talk this out?" Lincoln pleaded. "What do you mean we killed your husband?"
"Does the name Krombopulos Michael ring any bells?" Krombopulos Amy asked. Lincoln gasped at the name. "Why did you do it? He was Rick's friend. He was never going to harm you. He never did anything to you!"
Lincoln found himself speechless as old feelings of shame and self loathing suddenly started coming back to him. He justified the other times he'd killed before as self defence. That they needed to be done and he had somewhat made peace with that. But he had struggled to justify what he did to Krombopulos Michael. Because truthfully, what Krombopulos Amy said was right.
"So what!" Lana shouted, causing Lincoln to look at her. "That cruddy Michael was an assassin that killed people. He deserved to die!"
Lincoln stared at Lana with wide eyes, shocked that she would ever come out with something like that. Luckily, it seemed Krombopulos Amy was just as shocked with Lana's comments as she stared at her wide eyed. Lincoln took this chance to grab Lana and make another run for it.
It didn't take long before Krombopulos Amy to snap out of her trance. "YOU BITCH!" She screamed as she began chasing them again.
After managing to get out her sight again, Lincoln and Lana ran into the bathroom before hiding in one of the stalls. Lincoln closed the stall door and locked it before he and Lana began catching their breath again. After a moment, he glared at Lana. "Lana, why would you say that to her?"
Lana shrugged. "What? It's the truth, isn't it?"
"Lana, we...we killed her husband. Don't you think she kinda has a right to be angry at us?"
Lana huffed, folding her arms. "So what? He was a villain. Just like Poncho and Fart. They deserved to die! And if she married that Michael guy, then she's probably a villain too!"
Lincoln stared at Lana in horror before it suddenly dawned on him why she thought like this. This was her way of coping with what she'd done. By telling herself that they were villains and that the world was better off with them dead. Of course a seven year old was going to think like this. In a way, he couldn't blame her. She never should have been put into those positions to begin with.
Still, he wondered if this was a bad mindset to have. Thinking like this may give Lana a rather warped view of the world. But would it be cruel to make her truly confront what she had done? With how depressed and how much self-loathing he felt upon being forced to confront it, would it be right to make a seven year old do the same?
He sighed. At times like this, he sometimes wished he thought more like Rick. To realise that nothing mattered so why let anything affect you? He's tried thinking like that before but no matter what, he could never stop himself from caring.
Still, he was struggling to think of something to respond to Lana. What should he do? "Lana, I..." He and Lana suddenly went silent as they started to hear footsteps. Krombopulos Amy wasted no time ripping open the door to the stall, they were in, causing them both to yelp.
"Now I've got you." Krombopulos Amy growled as she aimed her gun at them. "Ah!" She suddenly yelped as a portal formed underneath her, causing her to fall through it.
Lincoln and Lana stared at the portal in surprise as it quickly disappeared. "What just happened?" Lana asked.
"Grandpa Rick?" Lincoln called out. There was no response.
"Come on, let's go find him." Lana said as she ran out of the bathroom. Lincoln followed after her though he still couldn't help giving her a concerned look.
...
Rick was still in the upper balcony, in the middle of a shoot off with Risotto Groupon. He was currently hiding behind the chairs. Risotto was stood a distance away. Krombopulos Amy had lent him some of her equipment which included, to Rick's annoyance, a large shield that deflected lasers. This made it considerably harder for Rick to kill him. Especially since he didn't want to use explosives or something like that as that could cause collateral damage. Not that he really cared if anyone else got hurt. He just knew that it would upset his grandchildren. Miraculously, no one in the auditorium seemed to have noticed them as their attention was on the current performers who just so happened to be making a lot of weird, loud sounds. "Are you assholes for real?" Rick shouted. "Can I not go to a fucking theatre to watch one of my grandkids do a dance without shit like this happening?"
"You've brought this on yourself, Rick." Risotto responded. "Did you think you could ruin people's lives without consequence?"
"So what's your problem? Did I call you a loser at some point and you never got over it?"
"You caused me and my people to get enslaved by supplying our enemies with advanced weaponry!"
"Oh, right." Rick said as he remembered that incident. He then scowled. "Wait, you're the fucker that tried to have me taken out at that resort!"
"Excellent deduction skills." Risotto snarked.
"You piece of shit, you put my family in danger back then too!"
"The only person endangering your family is you. You're endangering them by getting involved in their lives to begin with!" At this, Rick didn't have a response. "What, no clever come back? I have no interest in hurting your family, Rick. The only one I want is you. Why don't you stop making everyone's lives more difficult and simply surrender?"
Rick had a look of contemplation on his face before scowling. "Yeah, fuck that." He then stood up and used the enhancements in his arm to magnetise the shield Risotto was holding towards him. He then leapt over the seats and used the shield to ram into Risotto, sending him to the ground and causing him to drop his gun.
"Grah!" Risotto cried out.
Rick stood over him, aiming his own laser gun at Risotto's head. "Yeah, how's this for avoiding consequences?" Before he was able to fire though, a portal suddenly formed underneath Risotto as he dropped into it. The portal closed before Rick had a chance to follow him into it. "Oh, God damn it."
A moment later, Lincoln and Lana arrived at the scene. "Kids!" Rick exclaimed. "Oh, thank God you're alright."
"We're okay but..." Lincoln trailed off.
"That cruddy Amy fell into a portal. Did you do that?" Lana asked.
Rick raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no. Though weirdly enough, same thing just happened to the guy I was dealing with."
Lincoln started to look nervous. "You don't think...?"
Rick narrowed his eyes, looking away as he stroked his chin in thought. "N-No, that shouldn't be possible. I had her portal gun self-destruct."
Before they could ponder this any further, Carl and Adelaide arrived at the scene. "What are you guys doing here?" Lana asked them. "And what happened to you?" She asked Carl.
"We wanted to see what was going on when you guys ran off." Adelaide explained. "But we ran into some trouble on the way."
"This weird, fighting goose attacked us!" Carl exclaimed.
"Wait, that fucking goose is here too?" Rick asked, surprised.
"That things still alive?!" Lincoln asked.
Carl smiled. "It's okay, though. Adelaide took care of it. You guys should have seen her. She was awesome!"
Rick narrowed his eyes. "W-Wait. You're telling me Adelaide here was able to beat that goose?"
"Pretty much." Carl replied as Adelaide looked rather proud of herself.
Rick was silent for a moment before he let out a deep sigh. "Never gonna live this one down."
Adelaide then frowned. "Though something weird happened, when it tried to charge at us again, it disappeared into a portal."
Lincoln then realised something. "Uh, guys? Wasn't that Mr. Needful guy here too?"
Rick's eyes widened. "Oh crap! Lola!"
...
After finishing her performance, Lola returned to her dressing room. She sat down at her mirror as she let out a sigh of satisfaction. It felt good to be the centre of attention again. To be the star. She found herself staring at herself in the mirror.
However, the longer she stared at herself, the less satisfied she started to become. The more she thought about it, the more she thought she would've looked better if she put on a bit of makeup.
Also she wasn't really satisfied with the outfit she was currently wearing. Couldn't she have worn something with a bit more pizazz? Something a bit more memorable and stylish?
And now that she thought about it, was that really the best performance she could have given those people? She's done better dance routines than that before. Honestly, what would Lindsay Sweetwater say if she saw-
Lola shook her head. She wasn't doing pageants any more. Why was she thinking like this?
"Old habits die hard, don't they?"
Lola quickly turned around and gasped at the sight of Mr. Needful. "Y-You!"
"Ah, so you remember me." Mr. Needful grinned sinisterly. "At least someone has." He then muttered to himself.
"What do you want?" Lola asked nervously.
"I'm just here to catch up. It's a shame that you ended up losing your pageant career after that incident. Truly. I must admit though, I didn't think you'd ever come back to that kind of life. I thought you were trying to become a better person."
Lola wanted to ask how he knew any of that though she could probably guess it was because he was a demon. Plus she found herself too scared to speak.
Mr. Needful continued on. "It seemed like you were doing well on working on those anger issues of yours. Though I suppose you couldn't resist being the centre of attention again, hm?" He began chuckling. "Let's face it. You haven't changed a bit. I can see into your soul! You still pine for fame and glory. You still strive to be above everyone else. You're still the angry little demon from when we first met!"
"Y-You're wrong!" Lola managed to shout.
"Am I?"
Their conversation was interrupted as Meli opened the door and came into the room. "Lola? Are you-" She then gasped as she noticed Mr. Needful.
"Well now." Mr. Needful smirked as he noticed Meli's frightened expression.
Meli was about to make a run for it before Mr. Needful grabbed her arm. "Ah!"
"Going so soon?"
"LET HER GO!" Lola screamed out of both fear and anger.
Mr. Needful grinned. "Or else what?"
"RRRAGGH!"
Not even Mr. Needful was prepared for what happened next as Lola suddenly dashed towards him, leaped onto him and started clawing at his face. He fell to the floor, forcing him to let go of Meli. "Argh! Guh! Stop it!" Mr. Needful screamed as Lola kept clawing at his face. As she was doing so, Mr. Needful was able to catch glimpses of her as not only had her hands turned into claws, the pupils in her eyes had become slits as pure rage was written all over her face.
"Get off me!" Mr. Needful shouted as he managed to shove Lola off of him. He stood up. "I'll teach you to-gah!" A portal suddenly appeared beneath him, causing him to fall into it. The portal then quickly disappeared.
Lola was still seething with rage until she saw Meli staring at her nervously. She gasped as her eyes and hands returned to normal. She went over to Meli with a look of concern. "Meli! Oh my gosh, are you okay?"
"I-I think so." Meli replied though she still seemed shaken up by what just happened. "A-Are you okay?"
"I..." Lola didn't know how to answer that as she stared down at her hands. Rick cured her, didn't he? How was she able to do that?
Before she could think about it any more, a portal suddenly appeared again as Rick, Lincoln, Lana, Carl and Adelaide ran out of it. "Lola! Are you okay?"
Lola stared at Rick in surprise. "I-I think so."
Rick let out a sigh of relief. "Ugh, thank God."
"Did something happen?" Lincoln asked.
Lola rubbed her arm. "Mr. Needful was here. He tried to attack Meli so I..." She trailed off.
Meli then muttered something. "Uh, what was that?" Lincoln asked.
Meli spoke up a bit. "Lola saved me." This surprised Lola.
Rick shook his head. "Man, what a wuss."
"Way to go, sis!" Lana cheered. "I bet that dumb demon didn't know what hit him!"
"I'm just glad you're safe." Lincoln confessed. "We were so worried for you."
"I hope this didn't ruin things for you." Adelaide said. "Because you were awesome out there."
"Yeah." Carl added, looking somewhat awkward. "We're just glad you're okay and stuff."
Lola stared at her friends and siblings for a moment before she began sniffling. Lincoln got worried. "Lola? Is something wrong?"
To all their surprise, Lola then pulled her siblings and friends together into a big hug. "You guys are the best friends and siblings I could ask for!" She said through teary eyes though she was still smiling despite that.
After Lola let them all go, Lincoln asked. "I hope this hasn't put you off from doing something like this again."
Lola shrugged. "Eh. It's okay. I think I'm done with these kinds of performances anyway."
"What?!" Everyone except Rick and Meli shouted.
"I've just decided that maybe I don't need to do this kind of stuff now." Lola explained. "I'm only seven. Maybe I can just do this stuff later. If I still want to. Besides, who needs an audience when I have you guys?" The other kids all shared heartfelt smiles at this.
"Alright, are we done with the sap?" Rick asked. "Because I'd like to leave before anything else happens now."
...
After everyone was caught up on what happened to everyone else at the theatre, the group all rode home in Rick's cruiser. Though as they were riding home, some of them still had something on their minds, troubling them.
Lola couldn't help but keep staring down at her hands. She wondered if she should've told them exactly what happened but she was scared to. She couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Needful was telling the truth. That deep down, she was still a demon.
Lincoln couldn't help but glance back at Lana every now and then as he thought about how she acted today. After contemplating it, he decided to just leave it for now. He didn't want to end up hurting his sister and as long as this mindset didn't cause any problems then maybe this was nothing to worry about. Right?
Meanwhile, Rick had a couple things on his mind. One was about what happened to his enemies and where those portals came from. And if it was something he should be worried about. The other was about what Risotto had said to him. About endangering his family's lives.
Of course, like many other times Rick had those kinds of thoughts, he shoved it into the back of his mind. There was nothing he hated more than thinking like this. It bored him.
...
Mr. Needful grunted as he fell out of the portal and onto the cold, hard floor. He noticed Risotto Groupon, Krombopulos Amy and the goose nearby around him, all looking as confused as he was. Looking around, it appeared that they were in some kind of spaceship. "Well, then." The four looked up to see a girl walking towards them with a smirk on her face. "Welcome to the Galactic Federation." Tammy greeted.