Morty and his grandfather were traveling through space in a tense awkward silence. Morty was pretty sure they had been traveling for longer than it would have taken them to get back to Earth. He had no idea where they were going and honestly he was afraid to ask. Morty glanced at his grandpa, he was staring straight ahead with a scowl on his face. Morty knew that he was very angry about what happened at the petstore.
"W-where are we going?" Morty asked. His grandpa said nothing, he just kept staring ahead.
He supposed he should have known that his grandpa would give him the silent treatment. It was pointless to talk to his grandpa right now. The longer the trip drug on the more nervous he got. He was worried that his grandpa was going to take him to the farthest corner of the galaxy, murder him and dump his body out into space where no one would ever find him. Morty was getting sleepy but he was afraid to take a nap, with how angry his grandpa was at him who knew what he would do to him in his sleep. He tried to focus on the passing stars, stars when viewed from Earth are rather boring, just white dots in the night sky. But when you see them from space they are really pretty, they come in different colors, shapes, and sizes. Space was a beautiful place. However no matter how many times he travels to space Morty has to admit that it still scares him a little. Space was so vast, so infinite, full of all sorts of dangerous things.
Morty's belly was demanding food. Was this his grandfather's plan? To just keep going until they died. The prolonged awkward silence was really starting to freak him out.
"Grandpa, p-please tell me where we are going, we've been traveling for quite a long time" Morty said. Once again his grandpa said nothing.
Finally after hours and hours of travel they came to what Morty could only describe as a space station of some sort. It had glass domes over the different sections. He wondered where this was and why they were here. His grandfather guided his ship to a dock. Morty had a bad feeling in his gut so he was hesitant to disembark.
"Let's go Morty! Now!" his grandfather snapped leaving no room for argument.
Morty hesitantly followed. His grandfather just marched ahead with a fierce look of purpose on his face. They appeared to be in some kind of city. There were thousands of versions of himself and his grandfather. This must be that Citadel place that his grandfather told him about, where the Morty clones come from. But what were they doing here? He'd given up on asking his grandfather. Nobody batted an eye at them, most likely believing they are just another Rick and Morty that lived here. His grandfather came to a stop at a school of some kind. Morties still went to school here?
"Here we go Morty, you're new home, maybe you could learn to be a better Morty to a different Rick" his grandfather said. Shock rippled through him, his grandfather was joking right?
"W-what do you mean?" Morty was afraid of the answer.
"I mean that I'm done with you, since you'd rather take the moral high road then help me out, I have no need for you anymore, I thought we had something special going Morty, but at the end of the day, you are never there to back me up when I need you, you are either too scared or too holier than thou, and I'm sick of it, do you know how many times I've nearly been killed because of you, so maybe you can be retrained to be a better Morty, good riddance" his grandfather turned to leave.
"W-wait! You can't just leave me here, look grandpa I-I'm sorry, I'll do better I-I promise" Morty apologized.
"It's too late for that, goodbye Morty" his grandpa was walking away.
"Grandpa wait! P-please don't leave me! I'll be a better Morty I-I promise!" Morty ran and grabbed onto the sleeve of his grandfather's lab coat. His grandfather pushed him off causing him to fall onto the pavement.
"No! Don't go!" he wailed as he grabbed onto his grandfather's pant leg. His grandfather drug him along for a bit before throwing him off his leg. He grabbed the other one.
"Honestly Morty! Enough already! You have one more time and I'll just blast you instead if that will make you happier!" his grandfather glared at him coldly before storming off. Leaving Morty lying on the pavement crying his heart out.
The scene had drawn a few spectators. He knew he must have looked so pathetic curled up in the fetal position crying. But he was too heartbroken to care. His grandfather had abandoned him in this unfamiliar place. What was he going to do now? Where would he live? How would he eat? Would he have to live on the streets and hope people pitied him enough to toss a couple coins his way? Would he ever see his family again? His mom? Ok maybe not seeing his mom again wouldn't be so bad. But his dad? Summer?. His grandfather was just teaching him a lesson, that had to be it. His grandpa wouldn't really leave him here. He'd be back in a few when he feels Morty learned his lesson. He recomposed himself and found a bench nearby to sit on. He would wait here for him to return. He noticed another Morty was headed his way.
He was wearing a gold vest that had gold buttons, black slacks and the typical white shoes that he and most of his counterparts wore, he had a gold wrist watch, two necklaces, one was a long gold chain with a diamond studded dollar sign hanging from the chain, at least he assumed they were real diamonds, the second necklace was a shorter gold chain with Cash Morty in cursive, he also had gold and diamond stud earrings. He had a gold ring with a dollar sign engraved into it on his right ring finger. He was going to assume that this Morty had a lot of money.
"Hey kid, I saw what happened there and I just wanted to say that I'm sorry and if you need a place to stay I will be happy to help you, Oh, where are my manners, My name is Cash Morty, but you can just call me Cash" he introduced himself.
"H-hi Cash, thanks for the offer but my grandfather will be back, h-he's just teaching me a lesson" Morty said.
"I'll come check on you later" Cash Morty gave him a sympathetic look before leaving.
Morty could tell by the look on his face that Cash Morty didn't believe that his grandfather was going to come back for him. But he knew he was, he knew his grandfather wouldn't really leave him here. He would get occasional strange looks from passing Ricks and Morties. With each passing hour Morty got more and more worried. Finally the sun was setting giving the sky a beautiful orangish reddish hue. The view was blurred by the tears that threatened to spill over. He saw Cash Morty had returned.
"I see he didn't come back, well the offer still stands, you can come stay with me if you want" Cash Morty said.
"I-I don't want to intrude" Morty didn't want to end up in another place where he wasn't welcome.
"Oh nonsense, you wouldn't be intruding, I have plenty of room I promise" Cash Morty said.
"O-ok" Morty said.
"Great, follow me" Cash Morty motioned for him to follow.
Morty gave one last look at the bench, his heart grew heavier, he now had to admit that his grandpa had abandoned him. He then followed Cash Morty who led him to a motorcycle with a metallic gold paint job. It vibrated as it roared to life. Morty climbed on the back of it and held onto Cash Morty. He sped off. They were racing through the streets of the Citadel. He wondered in which part Cash Morty lived. Cash Morty turned down an alleyway. They were quickly headed toward a dead end. However he wasn't slowing down or stopping. Did he not see that brick wall that was getting closer and closer? Suddenly Cash Morty whipped out a portal gun and shot a portal that they sped through.
They came out on a gold paved road. As he observed his new surroundings he realized that the whole place was gold. Gold streets, gold buildings, gold sidewalks, even the sky had a golden hue. They came to a huge golden mansion with a gold fence around it. Cash Morty pushed a button on a fob he had on his keyring and the gate opened automatically he drove through and it closed behind him. He pushed another button on the fob and a huge garage door opened up. He drove inside and parked the motorcycle in a spot amongst a whole bunch of other motorcycles.
"W-wow, you have a whole lot of motorcycles" Morty said.
"Oh yea, I love to collect them" Cash Morty twirled the keyring on his finger. Then he hung it on a gold keyring holder.
"Please, come in, come in" Cash Morty said as they walked through a gold door bedazzled with diamonds.
They were in some kind of foyer, the floor was gold tile, gold wallpaper lined the walls and ornate gold tiles decorated the ceiling, there was a gold chandelier with teardrop cut diamonds hanging off the different branches, ahead was a huge golden staircase with red velvet carpet covering each step.
"A-are those real diamonds?" Morty asked.
"Of course, the chandelier is real ice, I'm wearing real ice, everything you see is real ice, only broke people use cubic zirconia, come on let me show you around" Cash Morty walked through one of the doorways.
"This is a twenty four thousand square foot mansion with nineteen bedrooms and thirty three bathrooms, so you know if you get the runs you have plenty of facilities to use, this is the kitchen my favorite place in the whole house" Cash Morty said.
They entered a large kitchen with a huge white marble island, there were two six burner gas stoves side by side, the cabinets were white with gold diamond pattern stained glass doors, for both the upper and lower cabinets, the cabinet doors had ornate diamond doorknobs, the countertops were white marble, the kitchen had a gold tile backsplash, above the gold sink was a beautiful bay window, there was a oval style gold and diamond chandelier above the island, the floor was white marble with gold swirled into it, there was a gold diamond pattern stained glass door that led to a pantry roughly the size of his old bedroom, there were canned goods of all kinds, huge bulk bags of sugar, flour, and rice, the pantry was fully stocked with pretty much anything he could imagine,
"Yea, this is where all the magic happens, this is where my butler makes all the meals" Cash Morty said. He had a butler?
"And right through there is the dining room" Cash Morty pointed to an arch doorway at the back of the kitchen.
They walked through the arch doorway into the dining room, there was a huge white wood table that had decorative legs, and a gold table runner across the length of the table, there were eight matching white wood dining chairs with gold velvet cushions, above was a waterfall style diamond chandelier, there was a white wood hutch that showcased all kinds of fine china, the walls were covered in gold floral pattern wallpaper, there was ornate white crown molding.
"Real nice ain't it? This dining room is for casual dining like if it's just me or a couple of people, if I'm hosting a party we usually have dinner in the ballroom, but let me show you the real cool features this house has" Cash Morty said.
Cash Morty took him down a flight of ornate gold stairs, there was a long hallway with gold wallpaper, floors and ceiling tiles, there were gold and diamond sconces on the wall, on either side of the hallway there were gold stained glass doors, Cash Morty took him to the first door on the left, it opened into a bowling alley with a full services snack bar, the second door on the left opened into a huge movie theater with a conscession stand, the third door on the left led into a huge gold swiming pool area complete with sauna, steam room and hot tub,
"W-why do you have the swimming pool in here instead of outside?" Morty asked.
"Oh I have one outside too, I just have an indoor one incase the weather outside is stormy or cold that way I can still go for a swim if I want" Cash Morty explained.
The first door on the right opened into a library, the second door on the right opened into a gym, the third door on the right led into a game room.
"Oh just so you know all the places I just showed you have restrooms in them" Cash Morty informed him.
Cash Morty showed him the huge swimming pool complete with slide that was outside, there was a full outdoor kitchen area complete with a pergola covered seating area. He showed him the tennis court, the golf course, the basket ball court, and the batting cages, and the adult sized playground complete with huge ball pit.
"All I have shown you is available for you to use at anytime, let's go now to the King's quarters" Cash Morty said as they headed back inside.
They walked back through the foyer and down a different hallway then the one they had originally gone down. At the end of the hallway was gold stained glass french double doors. They walked through the doors into an atrium, Morty wondered if they were outside, he looked above him and saw a glass ceiling so they were still indoors. There was a gold fountain in the middle of the atrium, Cash Morty tossed a coin into the fountain.
"I wished for more money, just kidding I have plenty of that" Cash Morty cracked up like what he said was the most hilarious thing ever. Morty shot him an unamused look, this Morty was rather full of himself.
They continued through the atrium to a gold stained glass door with a stained glass green dollar sign on it.
"This is where I lay my head at night after a long day of making crap tons of money, here come on in" Cash Morty said.
They entered the room, it was the size of the living room in his old house. There was a fireplace with two gold lounge chairs in front of it, there was a huge canopy bed with gold bedding, Cash Morty showed him the walk-in closet, and his own private bathroom. There was a smaller gold bed in the corner of the room, it had a really cozy looking blanket on it. It looked like a dog bed. But Morty hadn't seen a dog so far. By the time they completed the tour and made their way back to the foyer Morty's jaw was on the floor. He could imagine how much money this mansion must have cost Cash Morty. Gold and diamonds everywhere, he had to guess well in the millions.
"I-If you don't mind me asking, how much did this mansion cost?" Morty asked.
"I don't mind at all, it was only eighty eight million, I got such a good deal on it" Cash Morty responded. Only eighty eight million!? Just how much money does this Morty have?
Just then the front door opened and in walked a Rick with slicked back hair and a white suit with a sky blue bowtie, he had a golden retriever on a diamond studded gold leash.
"There's my baby" Cash Morty said in a baby voice as he knelt down to the dog's height and gave the dog all sorts of pets and belly rubs.
"She quite enjoyed her walk sir" the Rick said with a British accent. Cash Morty stood up.
"Oh Richard there is someone I would like you to meet, this is…well Morty and he will be staying with us, you'd better treat him nicely, Morty this is Richard" Cash Morty introduced them.
"Nice to m-meet you" Morty said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too sir" Richard said.
"And this is Goldie, my best friend in the whole wide world" Cash Morty said as he patted the dog.
"Anyways, I know you are ready to settle in so go ahead and choose what room you want, they're all color themed, there are some bedrooms on the bottom floor if you prefer, if you need me I'll be in the dining room" Cash Morty said.
Morty went upstairs, he knew he wanted a bedroom upstairs just like his old home. He felt a pang of homesickness, he wondered if his grandpa told his family that he had died so they'd all forget about him and move on. He passed a room with a red stained glass door, a plaque was next to the door that read, The Red Room, he was looking for the blue themed room since blue was his favorite color.
He found it across from the purple themed room. He entered the room, it was a large room with a king sized bed with blue bedding on it. It had blue carpet and blue wallpaper. There was a little living area complete with sofa, coffee table, and a flat screen tv mounted on the wall. He saw two stained glass doors. One led to a full bathroom and the other to a balcony. There was also a closet that was fully stocked with different blue outfits. This room was way nicer than his old room but he wondered if he could really feel at home here. He was far away from everyone and thing he knew and loved. He realized that the only thing he had was the clothes on his back. Suddenly he heard a light knock on the door. He opened it to find Richard standing there.
"Good evening sir, I was wondering if you would be joining us for dinner" Richard said. Morty knows he should be ravenous, but he wasn't in the slightest bit hungry.
"I-I'm not hungry, b-but thank you for the offer" Morty politely declined.
"Yes sir, if you need anything just let me know" Richard left closing the door behind him.
Morty wanted nothing more than to go to bed, he was sad and exhausted. He went into the closet and found a nice pair of pajamas. He changed into the silk pajamas, he figured it would be rude not to properly thank Cash Morty for his hospitality. He went back downstairs to the dining room. Cash Morty was reading a magazine titled. Things Rich Guys Buy, whilst eating some delicious smelling food. When he noticed him he smiled.
"Hey Morty, did you find a room to your liking?" Cash Morty asked.
"Y-yes I did, I-I just wanted to thank you for being so kind to me" Morty said.
"Of course, in this Rick dominated universe us Morties gotta stick together" Cash Morty said.
"Are you hungry? You should eat, Richard made some lasagna" Cash Morty said. Morty frowned, he didn't want to seem rude but the thought of eating revolted him.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude, but I'm really not hungry" Morty was worried he would offend them.
"It's ok, I know you're going through a lot right now" Cash Morty said sympathetically. Morty glanced at his feet.
"Hey, I know you're scared now, but I promise you, once you settle in you'll realize you're much better off this way, maybe taking your mind off of things would help, tomorrow I'm doing a walk through of my factories, you should join me, I promise it will be fun" Cash Morty placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Morty smiled, grateful for his comfort.
"T-thank you, that does sound like fun, I-I will gladly join you, but for now I-I think I'm going to turn in for the night" Morty said.
"Alright, goodnight my friend" Cash Morty said.
Morty went upstairs to his room, he went into the bathroom to find it fully stocked with toiletries there was also a card where he could request specific items, he brushed his teeth using the fancy toothbrush and paste that was provided. He climbed into bed, the bed was really comfortable, he felt like he would pass right out. But given the circumstances he found it hard to sleep. He tossed and turned.
He wondered what was going on back at home. His heart ached, he already missed his family, just when the relationship between him and Summer was improving this happens and now he'll most likely never see her again. He'll never see any of them again. His mom, again debating on rather that's a bad thing, his dad, his sister, and then there was his grandfather, as he thought about his grandpa an unknown rage welled in him. His grandpa never loved him, he had only ever been a disposable pawn in his grandfather's eyes. His grandpa had gotten him into trouble time and time again, and when Morty godforbid didn't want to get caught in the middle of something stupid that he did his grandpa acted like Morty was in the wrong. He often accused Morty of betraying him. But the real traitor was his grandfather, his love was so conditional.
Perhaps Cash Morty was right, maybe it was much better this way, he could finally sleep without fear that his mom would kill him in his sleep, he'll never hear his dad call him a disappointment again, he knew he'd really miss his sister, but most importantly, he'd never see his grandfather again, no more dangerous missions, no more dragging him along with no care for his time, health, or safety, he was finally free to do what he wanted with his time. His heavy heart lightened a little as he thought about all the possibilities, he has a new friend in Cash Morty and Richard so he wasn't alone. For now he had a roof over his head and a means to get food. He was safe, he was cared for, what more did he need. He was finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.