As Real as it Gets

Plan B: Secret Assassin (Chapter 14, Part 3)

After wandering around for a bit in the awfully quiet rooms, Rick and Squanchy came across a bunch of computers all laid out in a circle with a table in the center.

"You thought it was over, Sanchez?" Tammy stood in the doorway, smirking.

"Well, no. That's why I'm still here. And that's why you're still breathing." Rick replied blankly.

Tammy laughed as Phoenixperson stepped behind her, "You think that this is going to be easy because you've killed everyone else on the ship? You think that you've got the upper hand? Well you're wrong. I've been training for this my entire life. You will not- "

Rick sighed, "Alright, wrap it up will you? I've got places to be."

"Phoenixperson! Kill them!" She yelled.

The robotic bird person spread his red metal wings and flew towards the two prisoners in a split second. He went to punch Rick, but missed when he moved and ended up hitting the table, smashing it into countless little bits. Squanchy took the chance and climbed on top of his head to block his vision while Rick grabbed some thick cables to try and tie him in place. Phoenix person broke the wires and freed himself with ease, then grabbed Squanchy and threw him at the wall.

Rick was walking backwards while avoiding the punches as best as he could, "Birdperson, it's us, your friends! Rick and Squanchy, remember?! I know you do! Alright, I know this bitch fucked you up, but I also know the real you still in there somewhere."

When Squanchy threw something at Phoenixperson to distract him from killing Rick, the robo-bird went to deal with him instead. Rick's gaze fell on Tammy, more specifically, on to the remote controller she had on her.

"Oh no you don't!" She took out her gun and started shooting Rick. Unlucky for her, he had a gun too and was more skilled than her as well. He shot her in the stomach so she started running away and he followed her. Rick turned a corner and was met with a gun to his face.

She wanted to speak, but was stopped when a laser gun shot her in the head and her lifeless body dropped to the floor, "Thanks, Babe." Rick smirked as he was taking the remote controller from Tammy's hand.

"No problem." you said, "Now go help your friend."

When he returned, he saw Squanchy struggling to not get killed. Rick then quickly pushed a few buttons on the controller, shutting down Phoenixperson's cyborg parts. "Now Squanchy! Bring him over here!"

Squancy then lead Phoenixperson over to the computers where Rick had taken out some wires. Rick connected the wires to his head, "Do what you gotta do."

"On it." you spoke.

"Now... we wait." Rick sat on the cold floor to rest a bit, Squanchy doing the same.

About a minute later, Phoenixperson's eyes opened. Rick and Squanchy had their hopes up.

"Birdperson? Are you back to normal yet?" Rick questioned.

"Do you remember our band? The Flesh Curtains?" Squanchy tried to jog his memory, "Remember how we used to rock on the stage? The crowd would go wild!"

Phoenixperson blinked a couple of times as he looked at his friends, "I... remember our band."

"Anything else?"

"I remember the fight at blood Ridge on Glapflap's third moon against the gromflomites, I remember Tammy and the wedding. I remember... dying. I remember everything."  

Rick sighed in relief, "Alright, the boys are back!" He removed the wires from his head and they all went back to the Spaceship Port. 

Birdperson and Squanchy entered a ship, but Rick stood outside, "Rick, what are you doing? We're leaving!"

"You guys go, I still have one more thing to take care of." He explained.

"Rick, leave now!" you raised your voice, "Go home!"

"No, not without you." He whispered and turned his head away from the ship, "And stop yelling at me!"

Squanchy was very confused, "Seriously, who are you squanching to?"

"He is conversating with the virtual entity that guided me back to my true self." Birdperson spoke, "Y/N, she seemed nice."

"The virtual- what?" Squanchy was getting more confused by the minute.

"Rick!" you panicked, "The gromfomites must have sent an emergency call, because a Federation ship is on its way here!"

Rick then went to close the door of the ship, but Squanchy stopped it, "I'm not leaving until you tell me what the squanch is happening here." 

He sighed, "I will Squanchy, I will. But you really gotta go, backup Fed ships are coming." 

Birdperson opened the door and exited the ship, "We're not leaving you." He placed his hand on Rick's shoulder, "Go save Y/N."

"Alright." Rick spoke as he grabbed a strange alien hard disk from a drawer and started transferring your data over to it. The progress bar stopped at 90%, "Hey, what happened?" He wanted to type on the computer, but you wouldn't let him.

"Rick, if anything goes wrong- "

"Nothing will go wrong, okay?" He tried to reassure you, "It's gonna be fine, we're going home, Babe."

You spoke louder, "Listen to me! If anything goes wrong or if this doesn't work... I want you to know that it's okay..."

Rick shook his head, "No, shut up."

"It's okay to grief if I'm not there with you in the end..."  your voice was soft with affection.

"Babe, stop."

"But I don't ever want you to blame yourself for what might happen. None of it is your fault. If this ends up being the last time we speak... I want you to promise me you won't do anything to hurt yourself." you whispered.

Rick sighed shakily, "I- I promise."

"I love you, Honey."

"I love you too." 

The progress bar reached 100% and Rick took out the hard disk. He then set a timer for the prison self destruct. As he was making his way back towards the small ship, something collided with the prison and the ground shook violently, making Rick almost lose his balance. 

"They're here." Birdperson addressed. 

"Oh, really?" Squanchy commented sarcastically, standing up to his feet, "What made you think that?"

Within a few seconds a new, giant ship docked in and blocked the entire way out, "Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me." Rick sighed in annoyance.

"What the squanch do we do now?" Squanchy panicked.

Rick put the disk in his pocket and reloaded the gun he had, "We kill them and take their ship, duh."

Countless gromflomites started emerging from the ship's metal gates, "That's too dangerous, look how many there are!"

The trio quickly hid behind some boxes, "We don't really have time to waste, y'know? This whole place is gonna blow in about 20 minutes!" Rick said in a hushed voice.

"I've got a plan." Birdperson spoke, "Follow me."