Chapter Text
Chapter One
A dark and empty house sits quietly in the middle of the night. A TV plays in the living room, a show entitled Ball Fondlers paints the house in the sound of bullets. From outside, the Smith family is all snug in their beds. Inside, it is clearly a different story. Five corpses lay scattered across the dining room, blood soaking into what Morty would identify as a cheap knock off Persian rug. Faces of choked horror frozen on Beth, Jerry, Morty, Summer and even Rick’s lips. Looking at the table would reveal the Smith’s undoing. Dozens of blue worm like creatures slithered through Beth’s pork loin meal. The silence is deafening as the bodies began the decomposition process. A newspaper lay next to Jerry’s seat at the table, the headline in bold. “Great Old One Chthulu defeated.” Suddenly, a blue portal emerged from the darkness.
“Oh my god!” Summer’s voice screeched as another version of the Smith family stood over their own rotting corpses.
“Rick! What the hell!” Jerry added in horror. He, Beth and Summer stared at the gruesome scene before them, Morty appeared slightly less disturbed while Rick was altogether indifferent.
“It’s fine, everyone calm down.” Rick groaned, taking a swig of whatever was in his flask. “ There’s and in-infinite number of realities. Just in this one Summer didn’t join a cult and summon Chthulu just to get in some guys pants.” He said, glaring at his granddaughter. “And also we happened to die right around the same time.”
“That’s us?” Beth questioned.
“Was us.” Rick corrected. “W-we’re just gonna bury these versions of ourselves and slip right in without missing a beat.” The family stood in shocked silence as Rick examined the dining room table. “Ah, Vermishes. Big ones too. Must’ve tracked those in from the gamma quadrant, what have I said about washing your hands after space travel!” With a sigh he turned to his corpse and picked it up. “Alright, everyone grab yourself and let’s head to the backyard.”
“But grandpa-!” Summer started to complain.
“Listen to Grandpa, Summer.” Rick said with a belch as he carried his body into the backyard. Morty was the first of the four remaining Smiths to pick himself up off the floor. Beth held her breath as she followed suit. Summer was next and hesitantly Jerry followed his family into the backyard.
After a few hours of digging, the bodies had finally been buried and the sun began to rise. A new day in a new universe for the Smith’s. It was then that they began to return to their daily lives. Rick disposed of the Vermishes and grabbed a beer from the fridge and plopped on the couch. Morty and Summer joined him as they continued watching the Ball Fondlers marathon on TV. Beth needed a glass of wine. Jerry picked up where his counterpart left off in the newspaper. They were all exhausted, but none of them dared to go to sleep after what they had just done. Beth held her glass of wine like a crutch as she walked around the house, examining every speck of dust. Exactly the same. But yet is wasn’t. As she walked down the hall she looked at the family pictures. A picture of her wedding day hung in the hallway. Funny, she distinctly remembered smashing it into a thousand pieces during her last fight with Jerry. She examined the picture closely. There she was, very pregnant in her cheap dress with a forced smile on her face. Jerry grinned like an idiot, as always. Her father, missing of course. She remembered all the girls in her bridal party, all girls from her high-school who hadn’t spoken to her in years. The groomsmen, some of Jerry’s cousins that she didn’t remember. There was one member of the bridal party that she just couldn’t place. A young flower girl stood next to Jerry. She had brown hair, very similar to Beth’s husband’s. She was no more than three years old. Who was this girl and what was she doing in her wedding photo? The only way Beth knew how to get an answer for this was to ask her father.
“Hey dad?” Beth called out into the living room.
“What is it sweetie?” Rick called out, a mix of sarcasm and annoyance evident in his voice.
“Can you come here?” She questioned timidly. With a loud groan Rick came out into the hall, his almost empty beer in his hand.
“What?”
“Dad, there’s someone in my wedding photo that wasn’t there before. How different is this universe?”
“Who?” He asked, not knowing himself due to his absence that day.
“The little girl. I did not have a flower girl at my wedding.” She snapped.
“So? In this universe you-you did. Does it really matter?” Beth could tell from his statement that he himself wasn't sure. He seemed to be pondering this for a second.
“No, I guess not.” Beth sighed to herself, chugging the rest of her wine. Rick returned to his original position, continuing his thought in front of the television. It was after a few more moments of silence that the doorbell rang. Beth checked the clock on the wall. Who could be at the door at 6 in the morning? Jerry put down his newspaper and went to the door.
A young woman stood behind the door. She looked to be in her early twenties, standing at around 5’2 with straight brown hair. She grinned at the man behind the door as she adjusted the duffel bag slung around her shoulder.
“Hey Jer!” The girl smiled as she walked into the house. Summer, Rick and Morty looked up from the couch at the new visitor as Beth walked into the room as well. “Hey guys! How ya been?”
“Uh, Wh-who are you?” Morty asked.
“Very funny Morty.” The girl replied. “Anyway, It’s good to see you guys. What have you got planned for my visit?”
Beth locked eyes with her father as he shrugged in response. The girl scanned all of their confused expressions. She herself shared that expression, but after a few moments of silence she sighed in what appeared to be annoyance.
“Let me guess, the Smith family in my universe died and you all came from a different universe and took their spots?” She inquired. Their silence only confirmed her suspicions.
“How-How the hell do you know that?” Rick said through a belch.
“This isn’t the first time.” She answered grimly. “Second actually.” Rick raised an eyebrow at this claim.
“Second?” Beth inquired.
“And I’m guessing you have no idea who I am.”
More silence.
“I’m Stephanie Smith, and I’m Jerry’s sister.”
“I don’t have a sister.” Jerry stated very mater-o-factly.
“Not in our universe Jerry.” Beth snapped at him. “But clearly in this one you do.”
“That’s not my fault!” Jerry shouted.
“Knock it off you guys!” Stephanie piped in. “Technically I’m Jerry’s half-sister.”
“Oh good, only half the stupid.” Rick rolled his eyes, taking a swig from his flask.
“Well now I know this definitely isn’t true since my parents have been together for forty years.” Jerry replied triumphantly. Rick stood up from the couch and walked over to the new visitor. He pulled some sort of device out of his pocket as he swiftly aimed it at the new guest. A syringe jabbed her in the arm.
“Ow! Hey!” She shouted. Rick stared at the device as it began processing.
“She’s right. 50% DNA match with Jerry.” Rick replied. Jerry’s eyes widened.
“I have a sister?” He inquired.
“Yup. As I’ve stated previously.” Stephanie replied. “Your dad and our mom had a very…er…open relationship. She had some other boyfriend and your dad liked to watch from the closet. It was gross and weird and I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You’re Jacob’s daughter?” Summer asked, almost excited.
“Who’s Jacob?” Stephanie asked. “My dad’s name is Keith.” More silence. Stephanie sighed as she made her way through the house, clearly knowing exactly where everything was. She grabbed a photo album from under the stairs and placed it on the dining room table, the rest of the Smith’s gathered around. Stephanie flipped to a page that showed a fourteen year old Jerry looking very similar to Morty. He was sitting on the couch holding a baby in a pink blanket. Behind him, stood three adults. A woman and a man who Jerry clearly recognized as his parents. The other man was a stranger to him. In the picture, he looked to be in his early twenties, much younger than his parents.
“Who’s that?” Jerry asked out loud.
“That’s you, Mom, Leonard, Dad, and me.” Stephanie explained. She flipped the page. “Look, here’s a picture of me with you and Beth at your graduation.” There it was, a pregnant Beth in a white graduation cap and gown and Jerry in a blue one next to her. In his arms was a three-year-old girl with pigtails grinning at the camera. She flipped the page. “And here’s us at Morty’s birthday party last year.” This picture looked far more recent. Beth and Jerry shared a forced grin as Morty stood proudly in front of a cake. Rick had one hand on his grandson’s shoulder and the other on some alcoholic beverage. And next to Beth and Jerry stood Summer and Stephanie. The proof was in the pictures; Stephanie was Jerry’s sister.
“I…I can’t believe it.” Jerry gasped.
“You guys, well the other you guys, invited me here for the weekend but I guess I’ll head back.” She sighed as she turned towards the door.
“Wait.” Beth called. Stephanie turned towards her sister-in-law. “You’re welcome to stay with us.”
“Beth!” Jerry whined.
“I think it’s important for you to get to know your sister. Spend some time with her! And the kids should get to know their aunt too.” Beth explained.
“Thanks Beth.” Stephanie smirked.
“Well, uh, it’s nice to meet you Aunt Stephanie.” Morty greeted. The girl rolled her eyes.
“Please call me Stevie.”
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Rick stumbled into his garage lab soon after. This kid claimed to be Jerry’s sister. But something wasn’t adding up. He plugged his portal gun into his computer in the ship. His coordinates were exact. A universe EXACTLY like their own except for only two variables. He had stopped Chthulu and the whole family had died. If this Stephanie was a possibility, then she shouldn’t exist in this dimension. Something wasn’t right.