Morty's grandpa hadn't spoken to him in the week since he told him he would no longer be joining him on missions. He was sad, he wanted to have a relationship with his grandpa. He certainly didn't want his grandpa to hate him. Morty was currently in his bed reading a magazine of cookie recipes. His phone buzzed, it was most likely Abigail.
His worries had come true, ever since he told her he had a crush on her she had been wanting to spend every waking moment together. Normally he wouldn't mind spending time with her. But it was just too awkward to try and act like he had feelings for her. He really wished they could go back to being friends. But he knew if he told her the truth she would be angry and that would be the end of their relationship, friendly or otherwise. Maybe he was being an ungrateful brat and he should be happy that he had someone who wanted to talk to him and spend time with him. But it was just so awkward, maybe he was projecting his own insecurities on her. He knew it would still be awkward even if he did have feelings for her, because this is new to him. He had no idea how to be a boyfriend. Perhaps they had a book called Being A Good Boyfriend For Dummies. He chuckled at himself surely even he could get it right then. He looked at the screen on his phone.
Hey Morty! Want to go bowling this afternoon?
Sure sounds like fun
He sat the phone on his nightstand and continued reading his magazine. Suddenly his door opened and his grandpa stood in the doorway. With the way his grandfather had been ignoring him he didn't know rather to be happy or afraid that he was here.
"H-hi grandpa, what's up? Are you finally done being mad at me?" Morty set his magazine down.
"Look Morty, I know you said you didn't want to go on adventures anymore, allow me to bribe you with an offer you can't refuse" his grandpa said. Morty knew he didn't want anything his grandpa could offer but he would hear him out nonetheless.
"A-and that is?" Morty asked.
"You are always talking about wanting a pet, if you agree to join me on adventures again, I'll take you to a pet store and you can get whatever one you want, and if you decide you don't want just a regular boring old dog or cat I'll even take you to an intergalactic one that will have all sorts of animals from across the universe" his grandpa smirked feeling as if Morty wouldn't refuse.
"A tempting offer grandpa, b-but the answer stays the same" Morty responded.
"Ok, how about this, I'll take you to a place called Lala Rainbowland, it's a place with a rainbow landscape and rainbow colored creatures, I even heard you can ride rainbow unicorns, and it's the safest place in the universe, so nothing bad will happen" his grandpa's voice had an edge of irritation.
"I-I'm sorry grandpa, the answer stays the same" Morty said.
"Final offer Morty, I swear if you don't take this I'm going to strangle you! There is this galactic baking contest, where you can watch some amazing bakers and try some treats from all over the universe, I know how much you love to bake, so what do you say? Will you accept this offer?" his grandpa was getting angrier by the minute.
"I-I'm sorry, I just can't" Morty gently refused his grandfather's offer.
"Fine! Be a douche then! I'm trying to compromise! Here I am swallowing my pride and asking you to come back instead of making you come back and you can't be bothered to consider a single one of my offers! You are such an ungrateful spoiled little brat! I hate you Morty! I hate you!" his grandpa was red in the face he was angry.
He slammed Morty's door shut and moments later he heard his grandpa angrily stomping down the stairs cursing with every step. He felt awful. His grandpa was right, he hadn't made good on his threat to replace Morty with someone else. Instead he came and was trying to get him to come back. He had to go make this right. He got out of his bed and headed for the door, just as he was about to grab the doorknob his door flew open hitting him in the face and knocking him back. He looked up to see his mother there and she did not look happy.
"H-hello mom" he greeted her.
"Don't hello mom me! Do you not realize how lucky you are that he wants to spend time with you, I've been begging my dad to spend time with me and pay attention to me ever since my mom died and he fell into that deep state of depression, every…single…time I try to spend time with him, he always says the same thing, oh sorry I can't I'm going somewhere with Morty! My own father would rather spend time with his pathetic excuse of a grandson than his own daughter!" his mom ranted. Morty was too stunned to respond.
"That's why I've always hated you Morty! I don't care if you bake! Or anything else for that matter! It was never about that! That was just a cover for the real reason I hate you! Ever since you were born you've been the center of my dad's attention! Always visiting only to see you! Not me YOU! He literally moved in so he could be closer to you! I stupidly thought maybe he would come around and want to see his daughter but noo! He only ever wanted to spend time with you!" His mom yelled at the top of her lungs.
His mom was yelling in his face at this point. He took a step back, Morty's gentle nature made him avoid conflict. He always preferred to come off in a submissive manner, one that didn't provoke an even angrier response in someone therefore defusing the situation. But it seemed like his mom was not about to be defused.
"Mom, I-I didn't mean…I-I never meant to…" Morty's heart shattered as he struggled to find the words to say. Tears stung his eyes.
"I resent my father, but I resent you more! When I was still pregnant with you, if I had somehow seen, somehow known that this was how things would turn out between me and father, I would have aborted you without a second thought!" she shouted.
"But, don't think for a second that that barrier can't still be removed, yes maybe if you weren't in the picture me and my dad could finally reconnect" her voice took on a darker tone. Morty swallowed audibly hard, was his mom threatening him? Suddenly he felt very unsafe.
"Mom, I-I'm so sorry, I-I didn't know, please forgive me, please I'll do anything, I-I swear I didn't mean for any of this to happen" Morty's voice cracked with emotion. His mom just scowled at him before leaving.
Morty sat on his bed, he felt bad for his poor mom, she was clearly deeply hurt by her father. He never imagined he'd be part of the reason his mom was in so much distress. He was torn and confused. He didn't fully understand why his mom was so angry with him. He never asked for any of this. He never asked his grandpa to focus solely on him. He never asked his grandpa to neglect his daughter for the sake of him. He was flattered that his grandpa wanted to have a bond with him, but this was extreme. Morty went downstairs to look for his grandfather. He knew just where to look, so he went into the garage. His grandpa was writing in what looked like a journal.
"H-hi grandpa" Morty said. His grandpa slammed the journal shut and got up to leave without a word.
"Grandpa w-wait please, I just want to talk" Morty said. His grandpa stopped but didn't say anything so he continued.
"Grandpa, I'm so sorry, I-I was being really stubborn and I'm sorry, I know you just want to spend time with me, I-I promise to be more appreciative of that, can you ever forgive me? A-also maybe you should take mom with you instead of me, s-she really wants to spend time with you" Morty said.
His grandpa said nothing and left the garage. Morty sighed, his mom and his grandpa were really mad at him. He didn't know what to do, it suddenly felt as if his family was falling apart. Morty worried about what the future held. His parents fought day and night. His mom was really resentful towards him and her dad. Now his grandfather hated him too. The cracks in the family were growing bigger and bigger, soon they would break apart. And then what? Morty was so far from being an adult, if his family fell apart where would he go? What would happen to him? The thing Morty feared so much seemed to be growing closer and closer to becoming a reality. Morty knew what would happen to him. He would enter foster care and never see his family again. Who knows where he'll end up. He knew if his parents divorced neither one of them would want custody of him. So they'd let him go. There was only one person that could calm his fears.
Morty went looking for his sister, he found her in the living room absentmindedly scrolling on her phone. He sat on the couch next to her. She looked up from her phone and smiled at him. Atleast his sister was happy to see him.
"Hey bro, what's up?" Summer greeted him.
"Summer, our family is falling apart, M-mom and dad are on the verge of divorcing, I-I don't want to go to foster care" Morty sighed at his seemingly inevitable fate.
"Foster care? Now where do you get a silly idea like that? There's no way your big sis would let you go to foster care, and neither would grandpa, I know he can be a stubborn old douche, but he loves you Morty, there's no way he would let that happen to you, and even if you did end up there, I promise you I would never lose track of you, I'd make sure I always knew where you were, some how some way, and then when I become an adult here in a few months I would take you in, I don't care how long or what it would take, so don't you worry Morty, no matter what happens to our family, you and I will always be together" she gave him a hug.
"Thanks Summer" Morty leaned into his sister's embrace.
As Morty was passing the kitchen he saw his grandpa in there eating a sandwich. He decided he would try to reach his grandpa one more time.
"Hey grandpa, I-I want to go to the galactic petstore if the offer still stands, I-I want to continue hanging out with you as long as we keep the danger to a minimum" Morty said.
"Finally you stop being a stubborn jerk and come back to hang out with your old man, I knew the lore of finally having your own pet would reel you in" his grandpa said.
"I want a pet, b-but I want to spend time with my grandpa more, and I-I figured a baking contest would be too noisy" Morty said.
"Ok then, lets go" his grandpa sounded much happier.
"Wait I can't right now, I-I told Abigail that I would go bowling with her" Morty said. A look of disappointment and annoyance was on his grandpa's face.
"Really Morty? This again" his grandpa shook his head.
"Come one grandpa, it will be a couple hours tops, then we can go" Morty said.
"Alright fine" his grandpa conceded.
Morty entered the bowling alley, he saw Abigail standing there waiting for him.
"Hi Morty" she hugged him.
"Hi s-sorry I'm a little late, my grandpa was being a jerk" Morty said.
"Hehe it's ok, grandparents are jerks sometimes" Abigail giggled.
"Well, shall we knock over some pins?" Abigail asked.
"We shall" Morty said.
They walked hand in hand to the counter to get their shoes, then they went to their lane and were putting their shoes on. Then came time to pick a ball, Morty was carefully examining each one. When Morty was a kid he will admit that he only picked the prettiest ball. But now he realized that they have different weights and finger hole sizes. He picked them up and measured how the weight felt. A heavier ball gives you more control but more fatigue whilst a lighter ball limits the fatigue of repetitive throwing but gives you less control. He was looking for a happy medium. One that wasn't too light or too heavy. He found it in his eleven pound green ball. He put it on the rack of the ball return.
"Ladies first" Morty said.
"Such a gentleman" Abigail batted her eyelashes at him.
She picked up her nine pound yellow ball and threw it down the lane, she knocked over four pins. Then she took her second turn knocking over three more pins. Then it was his turn. He grabbed his ball. He didn't put his fingers in the holes, he held it in one hand and did a twist and release. The ball rolled down the lane and suddenly curved hard to the left earning him a strike.
"Wow Morty! Where did you learn to bowl like that?" Abigail asked.
"It w-was a trick that my dad showed me when I was a kid" Morty said.
"I see I'm going to have to bring my a game" Abigail said.
"Don't bother bringing your a game, just s-sit back and watch the pros" Morty cringed. He wished he didn't stutter, it made him sound stupid when he was trying to be confident.
"Ooooh really? Ok then pro, please show this amateur how it's done" Abigail teased.
Morty took his second turn earning another strike. So it was her turn again, she tried doing what she saw Morty do, but she failed miserably; her ball flew straight into the gutter. She blushed in embarrassment.
"I-It's ok, try again" Morty reassured her.
She tried again on her second turn. Straight into the gutter again earning her a goose egg for that frame. She looked so embarrassed, Morty felt bad, he hoped he wasn't ruining it for her. Maybe he should play like a sucker so she wouldn't feel bad. Then again it would be obvious that he was holding back for the sake of her feelings, would that upset her more? Nah this was his time to let loose and not think about his chaotic family. Smiling, he grabbed his ball and earned two more strikes. Morty was satisfied with five strikes he bowled and decided to relax and not try so hard. In the end he scored 150 whilst she scored 90. They were sitting at a table eating some burgers.
"Wow you kicked my butt Morty, remind me not to challenge you in bowling" Abigail said.
"You're not angry with me are you?" Morty casted a worried glance at her.
"Of course not, why would I be? It's all in fun" Abigail responded.
"I-I'm sorry, I just….." Morty bit his bottom lip as he held back tears. His insecurities were getting the best of him right now. He tried not to think about the things his mother had said to him. But they just kept coming back up. Why here? Why now?
"Oh my gosh Morty, what's wrong?" Abigail's voice held concern.
"I-I'm so sorry, I'm ruining bowling" Morty apologized.
"Now you stop apologizing, something is clearly bothering you and I just want to make it better, so talk to me, do we need to go somewhere more quiet? Here, come on, let's forget about bowling and go somewhere quiet to talk" she said.
They returned their shoes and paid for the game. Then they left the loud bowling alley and found a bench outside to sit and talk.
"O-ok so, my mom said some really mean things to me earlier a-and it's just been weighing on me all day" Morty began.
"Wow really? What kind of mean things" Abigail asked.
"So me and my grandpa spend a lot of time together, a-and she said that she hates and resents me because my grandpa spends more time with me than her, s-she said it is my fault that he never wants to spend time with her" Morty explained.
"First of all, I'm so sorry, I can't imagine how much that must hurt to have your own mother say that to you, but she is wrong on so many levels, if her dad doesn't spend time with her that's a failure on his part, and she should be mad at him not you, it's not your fault that he is a bad dad, it's not at all fair for her to put that on you" Abigail grabbed his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
"I-I don't know…my family is always so mad at me…..maybe something is wrong with me…..maybe I am the problem" Morty sighed.
"Hey don't say that, that's not true at all, Morty you are the kindest sweetest person I know, if anything you would be the glue that holds the family together, I think your family is so angry with you all the time is because they are upset that they can't be as amazing as you, you have a light that they don't have and they are just haters, Morty none of their problems are you fault and one day they are going to have to look in the mirror and realize that they are the problem not you" Abigail comforted him. Her blue eyes held nothing but adoration.
"T-thanks Abigail, I just wish that my family could be less dysfunctional" Morty said sadly.
"I know it can be tough, but you are the hope of that family, you are not crazy like them, don't worry Morty you're going to turn out just fine" Abigail said.
"What about your grandpa? I know he is neglectful to his daughter, but he likes spending time with you, do you guys have a good relationship?" Abigail asked.
"Well, my grandpa has made it clear that I-I'm that loser that you bring shopping to carry all the bags, his words not mine, he likes me as long as I do what he wants, if not he hates me" Morty said.
"I'm sorry Morty, you don't deserve that" Abigail looked at him sympathetically.
The talk with Abigail had gone on for longer than he intended. He was walking home since it wasn't too far of a walk to his house from the bowling alley. The sun was sinking over the horizon bathing the place in scarlet light. He wanted to get home before it got dark. As the song goes, the freaks come out at night. He knew his grandpa would be mad that the bowling had taken longer than he had originally said, but it felt good to get some things off his chest. He was grateful to have someone to talk to. He walked in the house just as the neighborhood was bathed in darkness.
He went straight to the garage to apologize to his grandfather. But he was on the phone with someone so he figured he'd best leave him alone. Summer was at a slumber party. So he'd just go bake to pass the time. He entered the kitchen and saw his mom there. She glared at him the moment she noticed he was in there. Nevermind, he left. He saw his dad sitting on the couch playing a game on his tablet.
"Hi dad" Morty said as he walked into the living room.
"Hey Morty" his dad said without looking up from his game.
It was clear that his dad was too absorbed in his game to talk. So he went upstairs to read some more baking magazines. He grabbed one about different ways to decorate your heart cakes. Maybe he would make one for Abigail to thank her for comforting him. He began reading. A few minutes later his mother came into his room.
"Hey Morty, want to go get some ice cream?" she asked. She was just glaring at him in the kitchen and now she's inviting him to get ice cream. Something was definitely off.
"Uh, n-no thanks mom, I'm still full from the food I ate earlier" Morty said.
"I wasn't asking you!" she snapped at him.
"Oh, I-I thought you were asking me" Morty swallowed nervously.
"We're going now Morty" his mom left no room for arguing.
Morty slipped on his shoes and followed his mom. They passed the living room where his dad was still buried in his tablet.
"M-maybe dad should come with us" Morty said.
"No" his mom shut that down quickly.
They got into the car, Morty looked at the house as they pulled out of the drive. Would this be the last time he saw the house? At least he had his phone on him, maybe he could call for help when this went bad. They drove to the Freezy Kings ice cream parlor. His mom was intently looking at the different flavors they had to offer.
"Ooooh Morty, what flavor are you going to get? I'm thinking of getting the butter pecan" his mom said.
"I-I'm not sure" Morty glanced nervously from the display case to his mom.
His mom got butter pecan ice cream in a waffle cone. He got mint chocolate chip in a waffle cone. They were sitting there eating their ice cream in silence. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He had heard that parents often feed their kids their favorite food before they kill them. The way his mom kept looking at him was sending chills down his spine. She was totally going to murder him after this. They finished and got back into the car. Then they drove home. Morty was stunned as he entered his bedroom. The whole thing wasn't a ploy for his mom to murder him? How did she go from hating him to taking him to get ice cream? He realized that in all his paranoia he forgot to thank his mom. He went back downstairs to thank her for the ice cream. He saw his grandpa and father leaving out the front door.
Where were they going? His grandpa hated his dad so why would they be leaving together? His
"And remember Jerry I want the caramel dream chocolate ice cream, sorry guys you know it's that time of the month and all, I'm pmsing bad and I need my chocolate, dad please make sure he doesn't get lost in the toy section again" his mom called out the door.
"Beth, I don't need your dad to babysit me while I get you some ice cream" his dad sounded really annoyed.
"Remember when I sent you to get me some ice cream last month and you got lost in the Play Dough section?" his mom countered.
"But there were so many colors! How could I not look at them all" his dad said.
"And that's why my dad has to go with you, now hurry along" his mom closed the door.
"Alright I have twenty minutes tops to beat the ice cream out of this boy" his mom muttered to herself. He knew it! Oh god she was going to kill him. He ran back up the stairs.
"Morty don't run!" he heard his mom yell.
Morty ran into his room and slammed and locked his door. His mom was pounding on his door. Oh god oh god what was he going to do!? He dove under his bed. The pounding on his door got louder and louder. As his mom screamed in frustration. A few minutes passed and the pounding stopped. Had his mom given up? He heard her running down the stairs. Maybe his dad and grandpa got home. He crawled out from under his bed. Then he heard a loud noise that sounded like a chainsaw, his mom chainsawed his door in half. He just stood there completely stunned that she had actually done that. His mom had a crazed look on her face.
"Mom wait, I-I'm sorry" Morty's back met the wall.
She slugged him right across the face. He recoiled in pain, he could taste blood. She grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him against the wall. Then she punched him in his stomach, he doubled over in pain. She started kicking and punching him over and over again. He curled up into a ball, as the blows came relentlessly. It would stop eventually, she would get tired eventually.
"You are the reason my dad doesn't love me!" she gave him a hard kick.
Tears were streaming down his face. He was terrified that his mom was never going to stop beating him. He scrabbled under his bed. His mom kept trying to grab him and pull him out. He scooted further back until he was against the wall. She got on her stomach so she could reach farther. She grabbed his shirt and started pulling. Morty lied there limply so she would be dragging his dead weight. She was clearly struggling to pull him out. He heard the fabric of his shirt tearing.
"Morty, you are only making this worse for yourself" his mom said.
Then he heard voices downstairs. His dad and grandpa must have returned. His mom let him go. And got up and hurried out of the room. He just laid there shaking for a few moments before he came out from under his bed. After cleaning himself up he went downstairs.
"Hey grandpa, a-are you ready to go?" Morty asked. He was itching to leave, going and looking at some cute animals will take his mind off of what just happened to him.
"Right now? It's getting kinda late isn't it? We'll go get you your pet tomorrow grandpa is tired right now" his grandfather said as he left presumably to his room.
"Well, I guess we'd better hit the hay too, goodnight Morty" his dad said.
"Yea, goodnight Morty" his mom said ominously.
His parents headed up to their room leaving him alone in the foyer. Morty was terrified, he didn't want to spend another night here. He was certain his mom just confirmed that she was going to murder him in his sleep. He really wished his sister was here, then he could sleep in her room with her and his mom would be unable to hurt him. Maybe he could stay with his grandfather tonight. It was a long shot as he was pretty sure his grandfather would never let him sleep with him. But he was desperate. He went to his grandfather's room, he saw light coming from under the door. Good he was still awake. He knocked on his door.
"Come in" came his grandfather's gruff reply. Morty opened the door and stepped inside.
"Morty, I told you that we would get you your pet tomorrow" his grandpa said.
"I-I know grandpa, that's actually not why I'm here, I-I was wondering if I could sleep with you" Morty was prepared for his grandpa to yell at him.
"You wanna sleep with me? What are you five?" his grandpa raised a brow.
"I-I just….am still struggling with my near death experience at the volcano, I'm still having nightmares" Morty lied.
"Please grandpa, I-I want be a problem I promise" Morty pleaded.
"Alright fine Morty, but don't make this weird by wanting to cuddle or some weird crap like that" his grandpa said.
Morty climbed into his grandpa's bed making sure he was on the side that was against the wall so there was no way his mom could hurt him without his grandfather knowing. He pulled the covers over himself.
"There, are you happy?" his grandpa asked. Morty nodded. His grandpa leaned over and turned the lamp off. Morty felt safe and comfortable so he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning Morty woke up unmurdered. Sleeping in his grandpa's room had worked. He wondered if his mom went to his room to try anything last night.
"Alright Morty, let's go get your pet" his grandpa said. Excitement overtook him.
His grandpa decided he wanted to visit space again so they took his spaceship and traveled to a planet that looked pretty similar to Earth except it was mostly green instead of blue. His grandpa landed the spaceship and they went to a large building. It was the size of a mall, it was the biggest pet store Morty had ever seen. Then again if you had to fit animals from all over the universe in the building he supposed it had to be pretty big. They walked through the automatic double doors. The place was filled with the various sounds of various creatures. A green skinned man with antennas sticking out of his head approached them.
"Hello and welcome to the Universal Pet Mega Mart, I am Grier, I am the owner of this fine establishment, we have every kind of pet you could possibly imagine, here is a directory" he handed them a tablet.
"That handy little device will point you in the right direction of the kind of pet you are looking for, it can sort by type for example dragons or dragonlike creatures, dogs or doglike creatures, cats or catlike creatures so on and so forth, or if there is a specific planet you like you can type that planet in and it will show you all the fauna we have from that planet, looking for something very specific? Just type it into the search engine! Please have a look around and let me know if you need anything!" he walked away.
Morty didn't know where to start, the place was huge, he didn't know exactly what kind of pet he wanted. The different halls of the building had a sign that named a planet above them. He assumed that section would be full of creatures from that planet. The first hall on the right had a sign that read Forozium. He went down the hall and the first enclosure he came to had little foxlike kits that had fur that looked like it was made out of clear crystals. They were so cute as they hopped around playing in the snow. There was a pink alien with antennas standing there.
"Hello! My name is Zenia, let me know if you would like to pet or play with any of the animals" she greeted him with a friendly smile.
Morty smiled and nodded in acknowledgement, he moved to the next enclosure. There were little white bear cubs that had ice spines on their backs. They were cute but he assumed they would grow into big bears. He wasn't a fan of possibly getting his guts clawed out, so he would leave them where they're at. Ice themed pets were cute but not really what he was looking for. So he left that hall. He saw a hall with a sign that said Astralius. That was the place that his friend was from. He decided to take a look, star themed pets sounded really awesome. He came to the first enclosure, it had little kittens with starry wings, and twinkling star pelts. There were dark purple furred ones and black furred ones. They were so cute.
"Hello! My name is Xenirox, you seem really interested in the Star Kittens, would you like to interact with them?" a red alien with antennas asked.
Morty nodded, he totally wanted to play with the kittens. Xenirox motioned for him to follow. He was taken down a small hallway to a door. They walked in and they were in a room with food and different supplies.
"Oh and just so you know, behind each enclosure is a little store such as this one, in these little stores are all the supplies you will need to care for that specific creature, so in here is all the things you would need to care for a Star Kitten" Xenirox explained. Morty nodded in understanding.
They went through another door and were in the enclosure, the Star Kittens immediately swarmed him jumping on him and giving him their astral mews of greeting. He wanted to pet them all but he only had two hands.
"Allow me to tell you about these unique creatures, Star Kittens are very social and friendly creatures, these little guys are about two months old and cannot fly yet, they will start to fly when they reach their sixth month, since Star Kittens come from Astralius a place of perpetual night they do not do well with sunlight and must have very limited exposure so keep that in mind, other than that Star Kittens are pretty easy to care for" Xenirox explained.
Morty was petting the Star Kittens and playing with them with a feather teaser. "T-they are so cute" Morty said.
"If you think these guys are cute, check this out" Xenirox led him to another room. There were three Star Kittens with gold fur.
"We are the only pet store that has the gold variant, they are extremely rare" Xenirox said.
They were so adorable, but he didn't want to decide to fast. There were still so many animals to see. He thanked Xenirox for showing him the Star Kittens and moved on to the next enclosure. It had yellow stars that were alive and moving. Almost like a starfish but much fatter. And not in the water. Honestly they freaked him out so he passed on them. The next one had puppies with star speckled pelts, they came in black, dark purple, and yellow. They were absolutely adorable. But once again he didn't want to decide without seeing everything. He already wanted so many of the creatures he had seen. How was he ever going to pick just one? Maybe he could convince his grandpa to get him more than one. He went to another enclosure and there was a little purple dragon with starry wings, black scales, and gold horns. Morty knew he did not want a pet that could easily and potentially happily kill him.
Morty left the Astralius section. And the next hall was Firox, Morty did not want anything fire themed. Because he assumed anything from a fiery place could shoot flames and he wanted nothing to do with that. Him and fire were not friends. He skipped that one. The next hall was called Electorus, he assumed lightning themed creatures would be there. That could be really cool. He took a look. The first enclosure had creatures that looked like foxes except they had wooly coats like a sheep. There was a warning sign, Zapfennecs may zap you. He read on. Zapfennecs can't control their electric discharges until they are four months old. That means accidental zaps until then. He changed his mind on petting them. The next enclosure had yellow birds with long lightning bolt tails. There was a warning sign, Shockcaws may shock you, when startled or angry Shockcaws tend to release an electric charge to defend themselves. Moving on. Morty went to the next one. It had squirrel looking creatures with thick bushy yellow fur. There was a warning sign, Amprodents may zap you, Amprodents are very affectionate and sometimes zap you when nuzzling. Ok Morty was not a fan of the idea of getting shocked so he would pass on the lightning creatures.
The next hallway said Lala Rainbowland, that was the place his grandpa had offered to take him. Surely they had really cute animals there. The first enclosure had little fuzzy kittens with rainbow fur, rainbow feathered wings and a horn protruding from their foreheads. Ok he had to pet them. He asked the alien that was stationed there if he could play with them. He was taken into the enclosure he was petting and playing with kittens.
"Fun facts about these little guys, the horn on their head isn't just for show, they are magical creatures and from the horn they can expel different types of magic, their eye color comes in one of the six colors of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple" the yellow alien explained.
Morty was currently holding one, he found out from the alien that it was a female. He was petting her as she purred. She looked at him with adoring orange eyes.
"Y-you are pretty cute, you know that?" Morty said as he continued stroking the fluffy kitten.
"Morty, we have to go, now!" his grandpa ran over in a hurry.
"B-but I'm not done yet, grandpa you said I-I could have whichever one I want, I'm not done looking" Morty wondered why his grandpa was suddenly in a hurry.
"We can come back some other time Morty, or better yet just take the one you have, but we need to get back to the ship" his grandpa said with urgency in his voice.
Morty hesitated, this kitten was cute but there was so much he hadn't seen yet. You know what? No, he wasn't going to let his grandpa ruin this for him. He had told him he could have whichever pet he wanted, so Morty was going to take his time and choose wisely, he was not going to let his grandpa's impatience soil this exciting trip for him. Morty set the kitten down and went to see what his grandpa's problem was.
"Grandpa you're being really unfair, Y-you said-
His grandpa put his hand over Morty's mouth.
"Shut up" he snapped. He pointed.
Morty's eyes widened as he looked where his grandpa was pointing. There was a group of aliens that looked like they were from a police force. They were showing a wanted poster of his grandpa to every patron they saw. Oh no, what had his grandpa done? One of the patrons pointed in the direction of the hallway they were currently in. the cop aliens started heading in their direction.
"Crap Morty, they know where we are, let's get back to the ship" his grandpa said as they started mking a mad dash back towards the entrance.
"Hey! Stop! Stop that crook!" one of the cop aliens shouted as the group gave chase.
His grandpa started knocking over shelves of pet supplies to trip up the aliens that were chasing them. Which drew the ire of the aliens that worked at the pet store. Morty stepped on a spiky blue ball, it squeaked loudly under his foot, startling him. Before they knew it there was a whole gang of aliens chasing them. They were moving to block the exit so they couldn't escape. Morty was not about to go to another alien prison because of something his grandfather did. Morty threw himself at his grandfather. With a shout of surprise his grandfather went down.
"There! I-I got him, now he can answer for whatever he did!" Morty pointed at his grandfather.
He looked at Morty with a look of shock and betrayal on his face. The aliens caught up to them before his grandfather could even think about getting off the ground. One alien shook hands with Morty before the whole gang of cop aliens proceeded to beat the tar out of his grandfather. Morty was shocked, he hadn't expected them to do that. After several minutes of violence they forced him up on his feet.
"Thought you could leave Chateau De Exerox without paying, did you!? Well you thought wrong! Pay what is owed and your innards will stay on the inside!" one of the aliens demanded.
His grandpa glared daggers at Morty, he grumbled some expletives and pulled out his wallet, he pulled out what he owed the alien and gave it to him. The alien snatched the money from him, the alien pushed his grandpa and swore in an alien language before leaving. Good it appeared the issue was resolved.
"You'd better clean up the mess you made!" Grier crossed his arms.
Morty and his grandpa had to clean up all the shelves that had gotten knocked over, whilst a bunch of the employees kept a watchful eye on them. It took them hours to clean everything up, when they finally finished, they were trespassed from ever returning. Well there went Morty's chance of getting a pet. He could tell by the way that his grandfather was walking that he was very angry with him. They were watched by aliens until they boarded the ship and left.
A/N, I wanted to emphasize Beth's cruelty towards Morty in this story based off the theory that in the show the reason that she is sometimes cold towards Morty is because she is resentful and envious of the fact that Rick spends the most time with Morty, remember the main Beth was abandoned by her father, also in the episode where she had to pick between saving Summer or Morty, it is suggested that she choose Summer without hesitation because she secretly resents Morty for her father showing him favoritism.