So We've Finally Reached Episode One?

Although Morty desperately wanted to collapse onto the table and sleep right then, watching Grandpa tear into people had always been one of his favorite shows.

Because when Grandpa started roasting someone with that mouth of his...

It cut straight to the heart!

The guy was practically the king of emotional damage!

Seeing his dad so furious that he looked ready to roll up his sleeves and throw down on the spot, Morty knew he was only putting on a threatening act, trying to force Grandpa to shut up with that useless tactic.

Then he glanced at Grandpa, who had no intention of fighting his dad, with Beth there trying to smooth things over.

That settled it.

Seeing that no fight was going to break out and no exciting little drama would follow, Morty lost interest. He went to the bathroom, splashed cold water on his face, and walked back out.

He picked up his backpack and headed out of the house with an indifferent look on his face.

But his incredibly annoying sister spoke up in a sarcastic tone. "Morty, your backpack looks kind of flat. Are you sure there are books in there? Don't tell me it's full of Grandpa Rick's little inventions."

[Summer... Summer, you asshole! No! Fuck you!!!]

[You know Jerry is already pissed off and too scared to fight Grandpa, yet you still have to stab me in the back???]

[If you keep talking, Mom, who's been trying to keep the peace, is going to ban me from going on adventures with Grandpa!]

After cursing her a few times in his head, Morty felt a stare boring into his back. He turned around and saw the terrifying look Jerry was giving him. Stiffening his neck, he defended himself, saying he was not going to school with an empty backpack.

Most of his books were at school!

He had only brought a few books and notebooks home with him.

After barely managing to fool Jerry and Beth with that excuse,

Morty walked outside. While waiting for the school bus, Summer, who also had school, came out as well. Empty-handed, she looked even less serious about attending class than Morty did.

Seriously? Seriously? And she had just tried to stab him in the back!

"Summer, if you pull that again, I'll wait until you're mooning over some guy you like, then use a little knife to cut a hole in your shirt and humiliate you in front of him!"

"I'll show you how dangerous the real world can be!"

Summer was not intimidated by those threats at all. She seemed to have picked up thirty percent of Grandpa's true skills and immediately fired back with sarcasm, followed by a line that might have worked on the original Morty but was almost useless against this Morty.

"Oh? Which guy are you talking about?"

"Oh, right. If you dare do that, I'll pull your underwear off while you're sleeping, take pictures with your phone, and send them to Jessica so she knows what kind of pervert you are!"

In truth, Morty merely appreciated Jessica's looks. He did not care much about losing all chance of dating her.

With Grandpa, such an enormous golden thigh, by his side, his life was already ridiculously great. Today, he could be with some knight princess from a fantasy world; tomorrow, some android girl from a cyberpunk world; the day after that, she might not even be human!

With benefits like that, why should he care about Jessica?

Wasn't she just a little pretty?

Still, despite all the sibling hostility flying around between them,

the root of their conflict was Grandpa.

Over the past six months, Grandpa had shown the whole family more than once just how powerful he was. He had even taken the entire family on adventures several times.

But from beginning to end, Morty had only wanted to rely on Grandpa to eventually obtain some amazing technology, especially the methods for making a Portal Gun and several ways to replenish its energy.

If something ever went seriously wrong one day, at least he would have a way to escape far away instead of waiting here to die.

As for Summer, she was simply competing for Grandpa's affection.

Sometimes, Morty honestly felt sorry for this sister of his, who looked strong and forceful but was actually alone both at home and at school.

Morty did not have many friends at school, not because he was excluded, but simply because he barely spent any time at school at all!

If some uncool-looking classmate only showed up at school fewer than eight times in an entire semester, who could possibly become friends with him?

Summer, meanwhile, did not often go out with the grandpa-grandson duo.

So she spent most of her time at school.

But in almost every American school, the barriers between social cliques were extremely severe.

Summer was not particularly beautiful, her figure was ordinary, and she had that same ponytail year after year, along with plain clothes that did not draw much male attention.

So at school, she was basically just another face in the crowd.

Only two ranks above Morty, at most.

Just then, Summer saw Morty suddenly stop arguing and look at her with an expression of pity. A fire rose in her heart...

That little piece of trash who always hid at home watching porn—what gave him the right to receive Grandpa's exclusive affection!

I...

"Morty, come here. We need to talk."

A storm that had been brewing once again was completely interrupted by his mom's sudden words.

Recognizing Beth's voice calling him,

Morty glared at Summer and mouthed something before walking aside with his mom.

To his surprise, his mom immediately said, "Morty, some of what your dad said was right, and some of it was wrong. Some of what your grandpa said was right, and some of it was wrong."

"Mom... are you trying to discuss philosophy with me...?"

"What I mean is, you still need to go to school. You still need to attend class. I always have this feeling that he'll leave again, so I really don't want the most important years of your life to be ruined like this."

Feeling the love in his mom's words,

Morty stopped joking around.

Even though he was a transmigrator who had replaced the original Morty and had not personally experienced the emotional interactions between mother and son, only able to recall them through increasingly fading memories,

Morty could still feel her sincere motherly love.

She truly wanted what was best for him!

Because Grandpa had ruthlessly abandoned her for nearly twenty years!

And Grandma had died very early as well.

It could be said that in this family, she was the only one who had made it to where she was today step by step, entirely on her own, after her parents left.

She had long passed the age of relying on her father. So when she saw his relationship with Grandpa growing closer and closer, she began to worry that the same fate might befall him.

That agonizing pain of waking up one day

and discovering that something you had once possessed had completely vanished.

Thinking of that, Morty, who had not slept well last night, forced himself to look energetic and solemnly promised his mom that what she feared would not happen.

"That's good. Go wait for the school bus."

His mom said nothing more and walked toward the car parked in front of the garage, because she had work to go to as well.

An hour later,

Morty sat in math class with his chin propped on both hands, looking half-asleep.

After finally sleeping until lunch break and recovering some energy, Morty stood by the hallway lockers, preparing to put away his books before going to lunch.

The moment he pulled open his locker door, a male student two heads taller than him suddenly appeared and shoved him in the back.

"Look! Who's this? It's Lord Morty!"

"We never see you around. Where have you been making your fortune?"

"How about lending me some money to spend today?"

Feeling like the scene before him was oddly familiar, Morty said nothing. With his right hand hidden behind his back, he reached into the locker and grabbed a hammer, preparing to strike the moment the other guy made another move.

He was not really as cowardly as the original owner of this body.

After going around countless multiverses with Grandpa, killing and looting wherever they went, he had long since become ruthless.

Some school punk wanted to bully him?

Beat the shit out of him!

But Grandpa arrived in time, successfully preventing the bully from ending up in the ICU.

Instead, he could go straight to the grave...

A freezing ray flashed past, and a huge ice sculpture appeared before Morty. With an ice layer that looked at least three centimeters thick, this guy was definitely done for!

"Morty, come here. I need you to help me pick some Mega Seeds!"

After six months of time and being bombarded with countless pieces of information, Morty finally remembered what day it was!

Today was the first episode of Season One of Rick and Morty!

The Mega Fruit that could grant its user intelligence no weaker than Grandpa Rick's with only a single seed, or even just a bit of flesh,

was about to appear!

He was about to receive his first chance to defy fate and change his life.

As Grandpa led him toward the portal, Morty felt, just before stepping through it, that he had forgotten something very important.

[What did I forget?]

[It feels like it has something to do with the Mega Fruit...]