I'm gonna move to the southwest, and, I don't know...

As Summer pulled the junker jeep into the driveway of her post-apocalyptic suburban home, she braked just a little too hard, toppling over the grocery bag filled with the spoils of her raid: some wilted lettuce, a shitty orange, some sticks, an honestly really spindly arm, and some half-eaten meat on a bone. "Ugh," she muttered, sweeping down to pick it up as she climbed out of the car, including the jawless head that fell out onto the driveway. "Goddamn it."

"Hi, there, Summer!" called Eli from the lawn next door, pausing his mowing to give her a wave. "How were the ruins today?"

( I was a monster when you met me! )

Summer reached up to take the metal shoulders from her sweet raider ensemble and threw them to the ground. "Oh, cut the crap, Rick, okay? You proved your point, I get it. Let's just go home."

"Coolsies." Rick shot a portal into the ground, and Summer and Morty wasted no time in jumping in. Rick was soon to follow, but not before grabbing the small core of Isotope 322 in the generator that ran the electricity throughout the town, plunging it into an electricty-less darkness. And over the darkened streets and ramshackle homes, a shocked cry of realization emerged from Hemhorrage like an animal cry.

"Noooooooo!"
_____________________


Back at the Smith household, Beth eagerly tossed a pair of dice from a shaken cup onto the the table, took a look at her roll, and smacked her hand down on a button at the center of the table shared with the robot version of her daughter, her son, and her father. "Downbeat!"

"I enjoy this game," said Rick as Beth turned her bright grin toward them. It was a grin that fell quickly when a small beep drew their attention down to the watches on their wrists all in unison.

"We must go into the garage," Rick announced.

( I want to taste ice cream, but not just put it in my mouth and let it slide down my throat, but really eat it! )

"Ah, I'm sure it was nothing," Rick said, turning. "I'm gonna go, uh, work in the garage."

"We're not gonna finish playing Downbeat?" Beth asked.

"What," said Rick, "that dice game where you shake dice and yell out, 'Downbeat'? No, thank you."

"Mom," Summer asked, "would it be okay if I went to visit Dad?"

"Sure," she said with a small, uncertain smile.

"Thanks."

_________

Summer stood outside her dad's apartment, comfortable again in her own clothes, but not so much with her surroundings. She lifted her free hand, as the other one was holding a three-eyed skull with teeth and horns, knocked on the door, shifting a little as she waited for him to open it.

"Summer." The surprise was evident in Jerry's voice, but she didn't give him time to make a big deal out of it. She had her own big deal she was trying to make.

( Dad? I wanted to give you this as a reminder not to look back. )

"Soooo..." Summer said cautiously once she let go, glancing briefly over her shoulder to the parking lot of Jerry's shitty apartment complex, "lots of hookers outside, huh?"

"Is that what they are?"

Oh, Jerry. And you were doing so well...

[[ and fin! transcribed from S3;E2 of Rick and Morty, "Rickmancing the Stone." open for text and calls if'n you'd like! Summer will be back and normal (relatively speaking) tomorrow! ]]

The Death Stalkers had finally returned from their long raid in what used to be Vancouver, which was usually cause for a celebration of epic proportions, but Summer had returned with bigger fish to fry. She'd been with a metaphorical landmine in her pocket since Sunday and she needed some answers, hopping right off the rig before it even stopped and stomping over to the newly constructed domicile she'd be sharing with Hemmhorage, her brother, and her grampa.

"RICK!" she demanded.

"He-hey, Sum-Sum!" Rick greeted her with a belch and a grin. "L-look at this, urrrp, actual doors! How you like...how you like them apples?"

( How about you tell me why my bus driver best friend from Fandom was texting me about some robot attending my school right now? )

And hey! Guess it was a good thing to have real, actual, closeable doors again, because now she could gloriously slam it behind her to better show off her annoyance and rage.

"Okay, sweetie!" Rick called out to the closed door, continuing whatever it was he was working on. "You go on ahead and go push aside all your issues with violence in a completely healthy and perfect normal wa-a-urrpay! Don't be late for dinner!"


[[establishly, though she does have her phone for texting or calls. Also, writing Rick is hard as hell. I'm clearly not drunk enough right now to do it to its full potential]]

"I am Summer."

In the garage of the Smith household, Rick had finished twisting Summer's head back in place. He flipped up a switch on the back of her neck, which promptly dissipated back into her skin.

"Summer, state your deal."

( Its benefits are totally, like, less about the food than the emotional nourishment. )

"Tell it to my bread in the morning," Rick said, triggering the switch on the back of Summer's neck to shut her down. She fell forward into her dinner plate. "You just became my backup toaster."

"Aw, geez," Morty chuckled, but Rick was on his way over to him, too, hitting the switch so his voice got progressively deeper until it faded out. "My sister died in the spaghet---"

He, too, promptly died face first in the spaghet.

[[ CANON CATCH UP NEARLY COMPLETE! Part 1 of only 2 today, with a special OOC note to follow ]]