Morty was looking in the bathroom mirror as he straightened his black bowtie to complete his navy blue suit. It's not like his hair needed a ton of grooming but he ran a quick comb through it. He brushed his teeth and sprayed some of his dad's cologne on. Once he was satisfied with his appearance he left the bathroom to put on his shiny black loafers. He was nervous about this dance because he considered himself to be a clumsy dancer. He hoped he didn't make an utter fool of himself and ruin it for him and Abigail. He could picture it now, him tripping and reaching out to grab on to something which would of course be her dress, he'd rip it right off and leave her in her bra and undies for all to see, she'd slap him and run away crying in shame and embarrassment and that would be the end of their friendship.
"Hey brother, looking sharp" Summer's voice broke into his thoughts.
"Oh, t-thanks Summer" he rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh no, I know that look, what are you probably way overthinking?" Summer asked.
"Well,I-I'm just a bit nervous, I-I am not a good dancer, what if I mess up and ruin it for her" Morty said.
"Well first of all, if she really likes you, she'd just be happy that she's spending time with you, nothing could ruin it for her, well besides like you dying or something, or you could always make an excuse not to dance, just kidding here let me give you a few pointers" Summer grabbed his hands.
"You could do a little ballroom dancing, take your left foot and place it here, then take your right foot and place it there, there you go just like that" she showed him the motions until they were dancing in a circular motion.
"See? It's not complicated at all, just don't overthink it, you'll do great" Summer reassured him.
"T-thank you Summer, w-where did you learn to dance like that?" Morty asked.
"When I was a little girl, like five or so, me and dad used to take dancing classes together as a father daughter bonding time, but as I got older he didn't really have time anymore" Summer smiled fondly, but he could note a hint of sadness like she missed those days. Morty felt a pang of guilt.
"Did I-I ruin it? Morty looked at her worried.
"No silly, I think it had more to do with the fact that mom had gone back to school, so dad had to take a more active role in raising me and you" Summer said.
"Are you ready to go Morty?" his dad said as he walked in the room.
"Y-yea" Morty said. His dad drove him to the highschool. He said goodbye to his dad.
Moments later Abigail arrived. She stepped out of the car, she was wearing a royal green midi dress with long sleeves, her hair was done up in a bun and she had emerald earrings and a choker style emerald necklace. Thankfully she was wearing flats and not heels or wedges, he often wondered how in the world women walked in those things let alone danced in them without breaking their ankles.
"Hey Morty! Wow you look really handsome" she gave him a hug.
"T-thanks, you looked really nice too" Morty said.
They walked into the gymnasium where the dance was being held. There were spring themed decorations on the tables and hanging flower themed streamers. There was a table with appetizers and drinks. And another one with desserts. There was a dance floor where some teens were swaying to the gentle music.
"I don't know about you but I'm hungry, can we eat first?" Abigail asked.
"Yea, t-that's fine with me" Morty said. They went and grabbed little plates. He put some meatballs, cocktail wieners, and some chips and queso on his plate. Then they found a table and sat down. He munched on some chips and queso.
"D-do you ever think about what you want to do when you grow up? Morty asked.
"Oh all the time, Of course I kinda just assume I'm going to work in my mom's diner, maybe I could make all the desserts and add some new ones onto the menu, what about you?" Abigail asked him.
"One of two things, I-I either want to work as a pastry chef in some fancy restaurant, or I-I supposed maybe owning my own bakery would be nice too, but I-I tend to lean more towards the pastry chef" Morty answered.
"Either of those options would be really cool, so I take it you are going to school to be a pastry chef when you graduate highschool" Abigail said.
"I-I would like to, but my parents aren't very supportive of the idea, so I-I'm not sure how I'll make it work" Morty said.
"I'm sorry to hear that, it is tough to follow your dreams when your parents don't approve, but I know you'll be amazing at whatever you decide to do" Abigail said.
"I-I'll definitely try my best, maybe if I-I do a really good job my parents will approve" Morty said.
"I think your parents will grow to love your passion, when they see how happy it makes you and how much you love it" Abigail said.
He smiled at her, grateful for her encouraging words, but deep down he doubted his parents would ever approve of him baking. They moved to the dance floor, he tried not to think about the horrible scenario he thought of earlier. He wasn't sure where to hold her, that was another of his scenarios. He would grab her somewhere she didn't like and then she would deck him and send him sliding across the dance floor. He just put his hands on her sides making sure he didn't go too low. He didn't get punched so he assumed that was ok. He tried the steps that Summer showed him. They gently swayed to the music. He managed to get through the dancing without ruining everything.
They had decided to grab some desserts and sneak outside to enjoy the beautiful starry night. They munched on subpar probably store bought cookies and looked up at the clear night sky. There were too many stars to even count.
"I've always loved a clear starry night, it's one of the many joys of living in the country, no city lights, it makes for magical stargazing, plus it's quiet and peaceful" Abigail said as she rested her head on his shoulder.
He didn't know how to respond to that. Was he supposed to respond? He wasn't sure, ugh why is he so bad at this. She gave a contented sigh, so he must be doing the right thing. They sat there in silence for a while before they figured they'd better head back inside.
They were sitting at their table talking when the gymnasium doors flew open and a red carpet rolled into the gymnasium. In walked Stacy with a few people following her taking photos and recording. She was wearing a white dress studded with diamonds, rather they were real or fake he didn't know. She had a tiara on her. All eyes were on her, he supposed she preferred it that way. Abigail rolled her eyes. He too thought she had a lot of nerve to make this dance into her personal catwalk. As she walked gracefully down her red carpet walkway her ankle did one of those infamous bends to the side that typically happens to women wearing heels. She fell with a startled yelp into the table with the entrees on it. The food fell splattering barbeque sauce all over her white dress. She also got a fruit punch shower. She screamed and ran out humiliated as the place erupted into laughter. Even though she was always really rude to him he couldn't help but feel kinda bad for her. She will never live this moment down.
"Haha! Serves her right! Best dance ever!" Abigail cheered. A while later his father came to pick him up. He was ready to go to bed because once again he had to help Rick with something in the morning.
"Morty, let's go! We have to get to Astralius" Rick came in and jumped on his bed.
Rick shot a portal. Morty wished he would give him a specific time they would be leaving so he could have time to get ready. He put his clothes on uncomfortably as his grandfather glared at him the whole time. They stepped through the portal and were transported to a place where it was night. He wondered if his grandfather was being inconsiderate and was showing up to bother someone late at night. The ground beneath his feet was like sand of some sort. Honestly it reminded him of the moon's surface. In fact if he didn't know any better he'd say they were on the moon. But it seemed too big to be the moon. And before him lay a civilization of some kind. He looked up and was amazed at the frequent shooting stars. Maybe they were in the middle of a meteor shower.
"Come on" Rick said as he started towards civilization.
They walked to a star themed building and went inside. The inside was even more star themed, the floor was star tiles and there was star wallpaper. They went to a conference room. And inside was a man that looked exactly like his grandfather. Morty had to rub his eyes to see if he was really seeing what he was seeing. How is this possible? Did Rick have a twin brother he never told him about?
"Ah Rick S-283 I've been expecting you" the other man said.
"It has been a while hasn't it Rick M-791, I take it you have had success in the little project we've been working on" his grandfather responded. Both their names are Rick!? What is going on here? Morty was so confused.
"Yes, but we should get to work immediately if we hope to see any results, also your Morty can hang out with Superstar Morty While we work" the other Rick said.
"Let me call him here" he grabbed a radio. "Morty come to the Star Building right now!" he called into the radio. Morty? Was he talking about him? He's standing right here.
"Yes sir" he heard a voice say as a boy entered the room. Morty gasped.
This boy looked just like him! He couldn't help but look him up and down. His curly hair was the only notable difference as far as his physical appearance. He was wearing sheer black harem pants, and a sheer black long sleeved shirt, the black material made it so you couldn't really see anything even though it was sheer, only slightly. Both the pants and shirt had white star sequins in them. He had a dangly star earring in his left ear. He was wearing black flats bedazzled with star shaped rhinestones. He had gold stars with gold glitter on both of his cheeks one on each cheek. He didn't know if they were tattoos or face paint. He was wearing a gold star medallion. He realized he had been staring and dropped his gaze lest he creep the boy out.
"Morty, show this other Morty around" Rick M-791 said.
"Yes sir" he nodded. He turned toward him and smiled "Hi I'm Superstar Morty, but you may just call me Morty" he introduced himself. He didn't seem the slightest bit creeped out that they looked almost identical.
"Uh, I-I'm Morty too" he said.
"Nice to meet you, come, let me show you around" he turned and started walking towards the door.
"O-ok" Morty followed him. What is wrong with this boy!? Is he blind!? How is he not even slightly weirded out that THEY LOOK THE SAME!.
He led him to a building that from the outside looked like a theater. But it was hard to tell without seeing the inside.
"This is the Star Theater, it's where I perform, here let's have a look inside" Superstar Morty said.
They entered the theater, there was a section for snacks and drinks, they walked through star themed doors and were in a big open room. There were rows upon rows of black velvet chairs with stars all over them. There was a huge stage in the front of the room with beautiful sparkly black curtains that reminded him of a night sky. He looked up at the ceiling which had twinkling lights. The room was rather dark given the black interior. But it was a really pretty theater. Next they came to a dark purple tent with stars of course, that reminded him of a circus tent.
"This is the Star Tent, where I personally greet the fans, sign autographs, you know the whole nine yards" Superstar Morty said.
They went in the tent, it wasn't very big on the inside. The only thing inside the tent was a tufted dark purple velvet lounge chair with gilded accents. There were gold tassels hanging off the bottom of the chair.
"So, a-are you like a celebrity or something?" Morty asked.
"I'm not sure, I mean I perform and lots of people come to watch my shows, but I don't know if that makes me a celebrity" Superstar Morty responded.
Next he was taken to a medium sized star themed building.
"This is the Star Studio, she takes lots of pictures of me, but I'm not sure why" Superstar Morty said.
They walked into the building, the whole place looked like a night sky. There were tons of props and there was a big round dark leather ottoman with some ambient lighting above it in the middle of the room. A woman came in from a door in the back of the studio.
"Morty? You don't have any photo shoots today" she said.
"I know Miss Olivia, I was just showing him around" Superstar Morty said.
As they exited the studio a dog ran up to them. It was the strangest dog he had ever seen. The dog had black fur with white stars instead of spots. The dog had on a purple collar with a gold star tag that read Stella. Superstar Morty knelt down and started petting the dog, it's tail started wagging enthusiastically as the dog panted happily.
"This is Stella, sometimes when I perform really good, Mister Rick rewards me with animals" Superstar Morty said.
Morty was kinda jealous, he had always wanted a pet but his parents wouldn't let him have one. Maybe he could convince his grandpa to get him one. They continued on with Stella in tow to a large star themed building.
"This is the Star Gym, its where I train to stay in shape" Superstar Morty explained.
Morty glanced at his sheer clothes and wondered if he was in good shape. He couldn't really tell but he assumed so since he was a performer and all plus he trained at the gym. Automatic doors slid open as they entered the gym. It was huge, there were various exercise machines and equipment, and a long track going around the gym. Just then a man with a towel hanging over his shoulders came over to them.
"Morty bro, I don't have a training session with you today" he said.
"I know Mister Jacob, I'm just showing a friend around" Superstar Morty said.
As they exited the gym into the night. Morty was getting worried, I mean it was nighttime, was it getting late? Was he keeping Superstar Morty up when the boy clearly needed to rest?.
"Hey i-is it getting late? D-do you need to get to bed or something?" Morty asked.
"No, it's only noon" Superstar Morty said. It was only noon? How could that be? It was obviously night. Did he mean midnight? Maybe he was mistaking twelve o'clock am for twelve o'clock pm.
"But i-it's night" Morty said.
"Oh, it's always night here" Superstar Morty said.
"R-really? The sun never rises? I-it's always dark?" Morty was surprised. He nodded.
"How do y-you know when to sleep? O-or wake up?" Morty asked.
"Well we still tell time, so I have strict orders to be in bed by nine o'clock, and I can sleep no later than ten in the morning" Superstar Morty explained.
They were walking past a medium sized star themed building. There was a red cross above the door, it must be a hospital.
"That's the Star Clinic, I'll spare you going in there, nobody likes to go to the doctor" Superstar Morty said.
They came to a star themed house. The windows were all night sky themed stained glass. The door was a black wooden door with a pane of purple stained glass with a giant clear star in the middle. The black brick house had stars carved into the bricks. There were four steps that led up to a small porch. There was a single light above the door that cast dim light over the small porch. As they ascended the stairs he noticed two black lounge chairs with a small glass table in between them. And a star themed welcome mat in front of the door.
"This is called the Star House, its where I live" Superstar Morty said.
"Wow, y-you get the whole house to yourself?" Morty was astonished.
"I live here by myself, but my chef comes in to make my meals three times a day, and the maid comes to clean the house" Superstar Morty said.
"W-wow, Mister Rick must really care about you, h-he makes absolutely sure you are well taken care of, he basically built this whole place for you" Morty said.
"Yea, I guess he does…anyways come on in" Superstar Morty pulled out a golden star key and unlocked the door.
They entered the house, it was really nice on the inside. Black marble floors with white marble stars in the middle of each tile lined the foyer. He showed him the living room which featured. A large black velvet sofa with two black velvet love seats on each side of the large night sky themed rug. There was a black wood and glass coffee table in the middle. There was a huge tv mounted on the wall above a black brick fireplace. There were trophies on the mantle of the fireplace. There were silky black star themed curtains on every window.
Then he showed him his bedroom. There was a king sized bed with a really cozy looking black star themed comforter neatly spread across the bed. There were two black silk pillows. That bed must be pure heaven to sleep on. He just now noticed there was a black kitten fast asleep on the bed. He only noticed the black kitten on a black bed because it had clear starry wings sprouting out it's back. There was soft black carpet on the floor, there was also a black brick fireplace in the bedroom, there were two black velvet chairs in front of the fireplace. There was another stained glass door on the left hand side of the room. It was a bathroom. Morty was soooo jealous that he got his own bathroom. Before they could continue the tour of the house an older gentleman approached them.
"Ah Morty, I thought I heard you, you're just in time, your high protein low calorie lunch is ready" he said.
"Um, I'm not really hungry" Superstar Morty said.
"Morty, you know you have to eat, especially since you will be performing later" he said sternly.
"Oh alright, care to join me?" Superstar Morty turned towards him.
"Sure" Morty responded. They sat down at a dining table as plates of food were sat in front of them. Morty looked at the food. It was chicken covered in some kind of sauce over a bed of couscous.
"So i-it doesn't weird you out in the slightest bit that we look almost identical?" Morty asked. Superstar Morty swallowed his mouthful before answering.
"Not really, I've seen plenty of other Morties" he responded. Morties? Why did he say that like there were tons of them? Was there a whole planet of boys that look like him?
"D-do you enjoy performing?" Morty asked him.
"Well, I've been doing it most of my life, I suppose it is fulfilling" Superstar Morty said.
"So, w-where's your family?" Morty asked.
"My family?" Superstar Morty seemed confused.
"Y-yea, you know, y-your mom, your dad, your sister Summer" Morty asked.
"I don't have a mom or dad or sister, Mister Rick raised me, well him and all the people that help take care of me" Superstar Morty said.
No Beth? No Jerry? No Summer? What kind of "Morty" doesn't have them in his life. They finished their meal and went back to join his grandpa and Mister Rick. They were finishing up the project they were working on.
"Alright, now we just have to wait for the results of this test, why don't you guys stay for Morty's show, he won't disappoint you, right Morty?" he looked at Superstar Morty sternly. He gulped.
"I won't, I promise" Superstar Morty said.
"Ok, we can stay for his show" his grandpa said.
"Why performing? Why is that what you chose to have your Morty do?" his grandpa asked.
"I'll show you why" Rick M-791 said. He pulled out a tablet and tapped and scrolled for a few minutes.
"This is how much money I'm going to make off his next show alone" he showed them the tablet. Morty's eyes grew wide, tens of thousands of dollars on one show alone!?.
"
"Wow, how do you make so much money off of just one show?" his grandpa asked.
"By charging a hundred dollars a ticket of course, and one fifty if you want to meet him after the show, two hundred if you want to get pictures with him, two fifty if you want pictures with him plus an autograph, plus we have a concession stand where they can spend more money buying outrageously priced snacks, and a gift shop where they can buy Superstar Morty merchandise, and I just went digital so people can by Morty merch online so my profits are set to skyrocket" Rick M-791 responded.
"People really pay those ridiculous prices for this?" Rick asked.
"Of course, everyone loves Superstar Morty, I'm telling you Rick S-283 if your Morty has some special talent you should totally monetize it, you can make a lot of money" he smiled. He turned to Superstar Morty.
"Go get ready for the show, it is going to be a packed house plus our special guests, you had better be at your best" Rick M-791 said.
"Yes sir" Superstar Morty said before leaving.
Morty felt bad for him, he couldn't imagine how much pressure it must put on him to have to perform perfectly for so many people all the time, then again he had been doing it most of his life. Maybe he was used to it by now. Rick M-791 led them to a balcony overlooking the stage at the theater, normally only he sat there to observe Superstar Morty's performance but he let them join him. The view was rather nice from where they were.
They were told to order whatever snacks they wanted. Morty got some gummi Morties which he thought were rather oddly shaped but they tasted just like any other fruity gummy snacks. His grandpa was working his way to the bottom of a giant bucket of popcorn. The theater was packed, there wasn't an empty seat. Rick M-791 was smiling widely at the full theater, of course he was happy, he made at least a hundred dollars off of everyone here. Morty wondered if that number that he had shown them had increased at all. Just then the lights went out and it was pitch black in the theater. Everyone immediately quieted down.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Welcome to Superstar Morty's five star show!
Yellow stars lit up on the front of the stage one by one until all five were lit. A star shaped spotlight shown on the middle of the stage. There Superstar Morty stood smiling and waving. He was standing on a yellow star shaped tile. Suddenly the tile lit up, he sat down as it rose up into the air. Silly circus music started playing. He stood and did some acrobatic tricks. Five more star tiles lit up and also rose up. He did a cartwheel across all five stars. Then he did it backwards back across. Then the star tiles lowered and lined up to create stairs but there was a considerable gap in between each tile. He jumped from one to the next until he reached the top. Then he turned around and jumped back down. He turned back around and did frontflips back up the tiles until he reached the top. Then he did backflips back down.
Everyone was loving the show, but Morty was so nervous he found it hard to watch. One wrong move and Superstar Morty falls to his death right in front of everyone. He wondered how in the world Superstar Morty enjoyed doing such a dangerous performance. He turned his attention back to the stage.
The star tiles lined up into a bridge and Superstar Morty did a handstand and walked on his hands across the bridge he did a backflip back onto his feet. He did a backwards cartwheel back across the bridge. Then the tile he was standing on started moving wildly around the stage he stood on one foot and maintained his balance throughout. He did a somersault through the air and landed gracefully on the tile several feet away. Then he did a backwards somersault to another tile. Then he jumped off the tile. Morty gasped in horror. He's going to die!
Superstar Morty whistled and a strange winged creature came and caught him. Morty released the breath he was holding. Superstar Morty was standing on the creature's back as it did circles and flips around the tiles. Finally the creature landed and the tiles returned to their places in the stage and Superstar Morty dismounted with a flip onto one of the tiles it dimmed as well as the others bathing the place in darkness again. The lights came back on as the theater erupted into thunderous applause. People started leaving. Rick M-791 took them to a dressing room behind the stage where Superstar Morty was sitting and drinking water.
"Well, did you guys enjoy the show?" Rick M-791 asked. Superstar Morty cast a worried glance as if his life depended on them saying yes.
"Y-yea it was really cool" Morty said.
"It was cool I guess" Rick shrugged indifferently.
"Glad you enjoyed it" Superstar Morty looked relieved.
"Go get ready for your meet and greet, you have a lot of fans waiting to see you" Rick M-791 said. Superstar Morty nodded before heading out.
"Well Rick, we have a couple of days before we see any results on our little project, will you be heading home or are you staying?" Rick M-791 asked.
"I guess I better get him home, his parents are probably worried about him, just kidding they don't really give a crap about him or where he is, but still we're heading home" his grandpa said. Morty felt a pang of sadness as his grandfather was speaking the truth. His parents really didn't care about him or his whereabouts.
"Well then safe travels, until next time" Rick M-791 said.
They traveled back home, Rick went back to tinkering in the garage. Morty was going to leave his grandpa to his work. But he just had to ask him about the other Rick and Morty.
"Grandpa, h-how did those people look just like us? A-and Superstar Morty said that he's seen plenty of other Morties, what did he mean by that?" Morty asked.
"Simple, they are versions of us from another dimension" Rick said.
"W-what?" Morty cocked his head in confusion.
"Ugh, fine I'll explain it simple terms that even a moron Morty can understand, where we live right now is just one in an endless universe of endless dimensions, in these different dimensions are a version of me or you or Summer or Beth even Jerry, not so much on Summer or Jerry, in fact let's just say there are way more Ricks and Morties than any of the others, now there is a dimension where Beth died as a child so you and Summer don't exist in that one" Rick explained.
"I-I asked Superstar Morty about Summer, Beth, and Jerry, h-he had no idea what I was talking about, he said he didn't have a mom or dad or sister, h-how is that possible?" Morty asked.
"He was likely a clone then, there is this place known as the Citadel, it is a city of nothing but Ricks and Morties, the Citadel makes Morty clones, so if he lacked a Beth or Jerry then he was cloned at the Citadel" Rick said.
"B-but why? For what purpose would they need to clone Morties?" Morty asked.
"Well many reasons, Morties are sidekicks to Ricks, servants, and some Ricks need a Morty's moronic brain waves to hide them, if a Rick's Morty dies than he can just replace him with another Morty from the Citadel" Rick explained.
Morty decided to leave his grandpa alone to work. The last thing his grandpa said was swarming in his head like a hive of angry bees. He wondered if Rick found him to be that expendable. If he died would his grandpa simply replace him and move on? His grandfather did seem to be annoyed with him most of the time. As he passed the dining room he saw his mom and dad sitting at the table. He knew they wouldn't care or miss him if he died. Summer might, now that she decided she doesn't hate him anymore. He went up to his room without a word to his parents, he knew they preferred it that way.
A whole city of Ricks and Morties, he wasn't sure he'd ever want to see a place like that, it seemed creepy to be staring at your own face all the time. Then he thought about Superstar Morty, if he really was just a clone who's whole purpose in life was to be exploited by Rick M-791 for money it made him that much more grateful that he lived his own life, his parents may not approve of his hobbies but at least he was free to enjoy them.
He couldn't imagine his whole reason for existing being to basically be someone's slave. Maybe Superstar Morty enjoyed it, if he didn't he could just leave right? What would make him stay? He could just return to the Citadel couldn't he? So why stay? Maybe not all Ricks treat their Morties horribly. Maybe Rick M-791 treats him kindly. He certainly hoped so. It sounded as if they would have to return in a couple of days so maybe he will ask him then. He figured there was no sense in dwelling on it before then as he went downstairs to see what his family was doing.