"Rick LH-11. Glad you could make it"

"Rick WD-8, I guess they let anyone be the leader of Seal Team –urp Ricks now a days."

The two Ricks sat in a bar in the citadel of Ricks.

"So why have you –urp summoned me here." Rick LH-11 asked.

"Pariah." WD-8 said in a serious tone.

Then a Morty dressed as a bar tender walked over. "Hey I'm I-I'm bar tender Morty. What-what can I get you."
"The usual." Both Ricks answered.

"So Pariah huh." LH-11 said.

"You faced him?"

"Yeah I faced him alright."

Then Rick WD-8 grabbed Rick LH-11 by the throat.

"You faced him and sent that bastard straight to ME!" WD-8 yelled.

"Whoa easy there Walking Dead." LH-11 said.

"Pariah stole your damn Portal gun, now he can traverse dimensions." Rick WD-8 said. "And you didn't even bother to come after him, you just sat on your lazy ass while the hundreds of other Ricks got eaten by that monster!"

"Pariah huh?" Said Bar Tender Morty. "I thought he was just a myth."

WD-8 let go of LH-11 and sat back down.

"Oh he's real alright." WD-8 said. "Bastard ripped through an army of Ricks like they were nothing."

"Aw geez, so did you send in the genetically modified Ricks?" Bar Tender Morty asked. "I bet they could handle him."

"I did. But they were just snacks to it." WD-8 said.

"What about –urp, Doctor Rickhattan, that guy's basically a god." LH-11 said.

"He's dead too" WD-8 said, before taking a drink. "Pariah dug its way into his skull, and sucked him up from the inside like a black hole."

"Dang." LH-11 said. "I didn't even know that was possible."

"Pariah is like nothing we have ever faced." WD-8 said.

"Well f we can find a cure for the virus, we can –urp, take away his powers." LH-11 suggested. "Didn't dimension LH-12 cure it?"

Rick WD-8 slammed his mug on the table. "THE PEOPLE IN LH-12 HAD THE FORESITE TO CURE THE VIRUS WHEN IT WAS IN ITS EARLY STAGES! What we face now, it has evolved beyond just a virus. Its death itself, there's no way even a Rick can crack it now."

"I think I –urp, know someone who can." LH-11 said.

"Who?"

"The man who worked on that virus since the beginning. Doctor Alex Mercer."

...

Luke Loud sat in his room of an apartment building. His home was destroyed and he and his brothers had to sleep in that dirty motel for the night. Just like at his house each of the ten brothers took a room in pairs of 2. He was pared with his younger brother Lane.

His parents on the other hand, His parents spent the night in the hospital with his only sister,

Linka.

Luke sat on a chair facing the window, he watched as the rain poured outside. He held his favorite guitar in his lap. Ordinarily it would be plugged in to create the hard rock sound he loved. But now he kept it unplugged as he played a sad acoustic tone.

"If I had wings." He sang "Like Noah's dove. I'd fly up the river, to the one I love. Fare thee well, oh honey fare thee well."

A reporter stood in the streets of Royal woods.

"The small town of Royal Woods was rocked the other day." The reporter said. "In a devastating event that seemed to come straight from a comic book. Witnesses describe such bizarre things as a bald man shooting lightning from his finger tips, a giant blue person, an army of elderly men who all looked the same and seemed to literally materialize out of nowhere, and at the center of it all, a mysterious man in a black suit, and a cowboy hat."

"I knew a man, who was long and tall." Luke continued to sing. "He moved his body, like a cannon ball. Fare thee, oh fare thee well, oh honey fare thee well."

Meanwhile a hasmat team came in to clean up the blood and guts from the streets of Royal Woods. The Men in the hasmat suites scrapped the dead corpses off of the roads, Dozens upon dozens of the same elderly man with crazy blueish white hair, and a unibrow.

The mutilated bodies of the Ricks were loaded into the backs of a line of dump trucks to be taken to a secure location. A convoy of trucks filled with blood and guts of dozens of dead Ricks drove down the highway, among the trucks were a series of huge flatbed trucks, carrying the tree sized, severed blue limbs of Doctor Rickhattan, as well as his lifeless, hallowed out skull.

"Remember one night, in the drizzlin' rain." Luke sang. "And around my heart, I felt an aching pain. Fare thee well oh honey, fare thee well."

The trucks made it to a secret base outside of town. Once inside the hasmat team got out of the trucks. They took off their gas masks reveling themselves to be Ricks as well.

"One of these days, it won't be long." Luke Sang. " You'll call my name, and I will be gone."

At the base, the Ricks opened a green portal in the floor. They dumped the bodies into the portal. The Portal brought the chunks of dead Rick flesh to a Lava planet in a far off galaxy. The portal opened up over a river of hot lava to drop the remains in, to be vaporized. A couple of Ricks stood at the edge of a dark red and black cliff, overlooking the river of lava. They watched, emotionless as the dead Ricks were incinerated in the lava.

Finally they dumped the remains of Doctor Rickhattan into the portal. The last thing anyone ever saw of the blue giant, was his hallow head, and massive arm, slowly sinking into the lava. The Ricks then headed back to the citadel.

"Fare thee well, oh honey, fare the well." Luke finished his song. (the song was called Fare Thee Well. I don't know who wrote it.)

"You're worried about her too huh?" Lane said.

Luke didn't answer.

"I'm sure Linka was just in shock or something." Lane said. "She'll be fine. She's a Loud, we always come back from this kind of stuff."

Luke just continued to stare out the window.

"Sucks that we have to spend the night in this crummy hotel, huh bro?" Lane said. "But man that was some crazy shit back there huh? I mean I have no idea what happened, and I don't think I could really describe it."

"I flushed her rabbit down the toilet." Luke said.

"Excuse me?"

"Bun bun." Luke explained. "Linka's rabbit, I flushed it down the toilet."

"Luke buddy, that was a long time ago." Lane said.

"I never really got the chance to apologize to her." Luke said. "I always thought I'd have time to make it up to her but..."

"Luke." Lane interrupted. "Linka's gonna be alright. Trust me on this one."

"You're a comedian Lane." Luke pointed out. "You're not a doctor."

"Well neither are you." Lane said.

...

Loki sat up watching the news. His brother Loni sat on the bed next to him, staring at the ceiling.

"Say how long do you think it'll be until we get our house back?" Loni asked.

"I don't know dude." Loki said.

"Poor Linka." Loni said. "I hope she's gonna be ok."

Loki kept watching the news.

"You think she's going to be ok?" Loni said. "I hope she's ok."

"OH MY GOSH DUDE!" Loki snapped, "WILL YOU SHUT UP FOR 5 MINUTES!!!!"

"Sorry." Loni said, taken back by his brother's sudden outburst.

Loki sighed. "Na it's ok dude, I'm just a little on edge."

"We will keep you posted as this story unfolds." The lady on the news said.

...

Linka sat in the hospital bed. After those strange events occurred Linka had passed out after her and her brothers hid in Levi's bunker. She awoke in the hospital some time later with her parents at her bedside.

"What happened?" She asked.

"You passed out sweetie." Rita said. "We brought you to a hospital."

"Where are the others? Are they ok?" Linka asked.

"Your brothers are fine." Lynn Sr. said. "They'll be staying at a nearby motel until the house is rebuilt. We'll be joining them once your tests come in."

"How long will that take?" Linka asked.

"A long time." Lynn Sr. said.

Linka looked down, with a sad look on her face.

"Oh but don't worry sweetie." Lynn Sr. said. "This isn't forever. You'll be back sleeping in your own bed before you know it."

"Am I going to be ok?" Linka asked.

"You'll be fine." Rita said. Comforting her daughter.

"I don't wanna die." Linka said softly.

"You're not going to die." Said her father. "You were probably just in shock."

"I've been feeling weird even before I saw that man" Linka said.

"What man?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"The man with the cowboy hat, and the knives for arms." Linka explained.

"Did he hurt you?"

"I think he wanted to." Linka said. "But I just ran."

Then the doctor came in. "We uh got the results back." The doctor said with a sad look on his face. Linka and her parents immediately got quiet. The doctor's face filled them with concern, and anxiety.

"I'm really sorry." The doctor said. "But we found a tumor in your daughter's brain, and it is cancerous."

"Can... can you fix it?" Linka asked.

"This cancer is like nothing we've ever seen." The doctor said. "It's progressing faster than anything we've seen before, and quickly spreading through her body. We're not even sure if it is a cancer at all. The way it's spreading is faster than anything we've ever seen."

Tears formed in Linka's eyes, and her parents had shocked looks on their faces.

Outside a crow perched by the window.

"Our best estimates say you have about two, maybe three weeks." The doctor said.

"Until what?" Linka asked, even though she knew the answer.

"I'm sorry." The doctor said

...

Soon the parents brought the boys to the hospital to see Linka. Before they let the boys into her room they told them about Linka's condition.

"She's very sick guys." Rita explained. "The doctors they..." it was almost impossible for Rita to explain to her sons that their sister was going to die. "They don't know if she'll make it."

"Well can't they try Chemo or something?" Loki asked.

"Her condition is advancing to fast." Lynn Sr. said. "But the doctors are doing the best they can. We can only hope and pray she'll make it through this."

"Well can we at least see her?" Loni asked.

"That is why we brought you here." Lynn Sr. said.

The family piled into the room. Linka was lying in her hospital bed with her back facing them. She was holding a pillow as she quietly cried into it.

Loni sat in the chair beside her bed and placed an arm on her shoulder. "You ok Linka?" He asked.

"No." She said.

"Hey cheer up sis." Loni said. "You'll get better soon."

"I'm dying Loni." Linka said. "Didn't they tell you?"

"I gotta go get something." Luke said, then he left the room. Lane fallowed him.

"It's not fair." Linka sobbed. "I'm just a kid. I... I don't wanna die."

Lane stopped Luke in the hall. "Where you going bro?"

"I... I have to fix something." Luke said.

"Something more important than your own sister?" Lane asked.

"Oh and what do you care?" Luke snapped back. "Life's just a big joke to you anyway. You've probably picked on her more than any of us."

"I still love her." Lane said. "And I know you do too."

Luke glared at Lane.

"And between you and me." Lane said. "I think Lynn's been teasing her more than I have. I guess he is the closest to her in age. But things will get better bro, you just gotta have patients. Ha ha, get it?"

"This all just a big joke to you isn't it?" Luke said.

Lane's eyes began to fill with tears. "Of course not."

"Goodbye Lane." Luke said back harshly.

"Fine, leave then you piece of shit!" Lane said. "Go fix whatever was so important to you while I stay here comforting our dying sister! And I hope one of those monsters comes back and eats your face!"

Back in the hospital room, Loki had his eyes glued on the TV, tuned to the local news channel. The Anchorwoman was interviewing a familiar looking old man.

"I'm here with a leading scientist on strange weather phenomena." The woman said. "Can you tell us your name again sir?"

"Rick –urp Sanchez." The old man said.

"What exactly happened here in this small town of Royal Woods?"

"A hurricane came through." Rick said. "Nothing paranormal at all, just some really, really bad, burp weather."

"And what of all the sightings of strange creatures?"

"Simple miss anchor woman who the author of this story won't give a name because she won't be important to the plot anyway." Rick said. "The hurricane carried toxic chemicals from the nearby sewage treatment plant. And everyone in town suffered hallucinations brought on by the –urp chemicals."

"Well that's a load of bull shit!" Loki yelled at the screen.

"LOKI!" his parents yelled.

"I know what I saw. And it wasn't a hurricane, or some fucking chemicals!"

"Whoa bro! What up with the language?" Lane asked as he walked in. Then Loki shoved his way past Lane and left the room.

"Oh come on! You too?" Lane said. "Does no one care about our own sister?"

Linka coughed. "Lane, it's ok."

Rita put her hand on her son's shoulder. "Of course they care about Linka." She said. "They just have their own ways of dealing with it."

Lane hugged his mother and started to cry.

...

Luke Loud made his way to the nearest toy store. The store was pretty empty on a count of the disaster that had just happened. It was amazing this store was still standing. Luke walked in.

"Can I help you?" A voice came from behind Luke. Luke turned around to see a kindly, if not a bit awkward looking old man, smiling back at him.

The man had long curly white hair that came down to just above his shoulders. He had dark eyebrows, brown eyes and hipster glasses.

"Who are you?" Luke asked.

"I'm James." The man said in a sweat yet awkward voice. "I own this store." The man had this warm glow about him. Behind his awkwardness he seemed to convey a sense of great wisdom. "And you look like a young boy in need of direction."

"I'm looking for a stuffed rabbit." Luke said.

"A rabbit huh?" James said. "Yeah you should find one in our stuffed animals department. That is unless you're looking for an actual rabbit that was killed and stuffed. For that you would have more luck at a sporting goods store."

"Nah, just a toy is fine."

"If I may, You seem a bit old to be playing with stuffed animals."

"It's not for me, it's for my little sister." Luke said.

"Is it her birthday?" James asked. "Birthday parties are such fun. You should really enjoy them while you can. Though I still celebrate my own birthday. You're never too old to celebrate another year of being alive, that's what I always say." The man giggled a bit.

"No she's uh. She's sick." Luke said.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that." James said. "If it helps we also sell get well cards."

"Thanks but I'm not sure she's actually going to get well." Luke said, a great sadness in his voice. "My parents seem to think she may pull though, but she's dying, and I know that."

A look of sorrow came over the old man's face. "Losing a loved one can be hard. I lost my own sister a long time ago. But you know the ones we love are never really gone, they live on through us, and our memories."

"But what happens when I die."

"Well then you'll see her again. But until then, you should live life to the fullest, I'm sure she'd want it that way."

"Thanks for the help." Luke said. "I... I feel a bit better."

"No problem." James said. "You know, when my sister died, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. At the very least, you still have a few moments with her."

"If you don't mind my asking." Luke said. "How did your sister die?"

"That's a story for another day." James said.

...

Luke returned to the hospital.

"Oh so you're back." Lane said. "What was so important that you had to leave anyway. Our house is gone! Where did you even go, back to the motel?"

"Toy store." Luke said. Then he pulled a stuffed rabbit from behind his back that resembled the one Linka used to own that Luke flushed down the toilet. He then handed it to Linka.

"Here you go sis." Luke said. "I'm really sorry we've picked on you so much all of these years."

"Thanks." Linka said. "And don't worry about it Luke. You're my brother, we'll always be family. Even... Even when I'm gone."

"Don't say that sis. You'll get better soon enough." Luke said.

Linka sat in her hospital bed for a moment, then gave her brother a hug.

"Hey Luke." Lane placed his hands on Luke's shoulders. "Sorry for blowing up on you back there. I was just..."

"Don't worry about it bro." Luke said.

"What are we going to do?" Linka asked. "Our house is gone. And I'm going to..."

"We'll stick with you though all of this sis." Loni assured her.

"We'll always be here for you honey." Rita said.

"No matter if our house is still standing. Or if it was blown up by some giant blue guy fighting a shape shifting cowboy." Lynn Sr. said. "You're still our daughter, and we will never leave you."

"If it's ok with you guys" Loki said "I'm gonna go find this Rick Sanchez guy, and try to get some answers."

"When you come back." Linka said. "Let me know what you found out. I'd like to know too."

...

Rick Sanchez of universe LH-12 was working in his garage when the garage door opened. He turned to see a young blond teenager standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?" Rick asked.

"My name is Loki Loud and I..." Loki started.

"Whoa whoa whoa. I'm gonna stop you right there kid." Rick said. "Your name is Loki? As in the Nordic god of mischief?"

"Yeah."

"Who the FUCK names their kid after a god of mischief?"

Loki looked at Rick puzzled for a second. But then he figured he didn't have time to explain something as trivial as his name to this creep. He needed answers, and he wasn't leaving until he got them.

"I saw you on the news today." Loki said.

"Let me guess, You're from –urp, royal woods aren't you?" Rick said.

"That was no fucking hurricane back there!" Loki said. "We don't even live anywhere near the ocean! And do I even have to mention that you look EXACTLY like those guys who that thing was fighting! My little sister was the first one to see that thing when it came out of that portal. It nearly killed her."

"Sister?"

"Yeah, and now she's dying of some sort of super cancer, and I'm willing to bet it has something to do with you, those clones of you, and whatever happened back in royal woods." Loki accused.

"Uh huh." Rick said. "And how exactly did you react when your little sister came home screaming about a monster coming through a portal? Did you believe her?"

"Not exactly."

"You know kid." Rick said. "I get the –urp, feeling that this isn't really about me, or finding answers. You didn't believe your sister when she told you a monster was after her. I'm willing to be you even made fun of her for making up stories and acting childish. And now, not only was she right about the monster the whole time, but now she's terminally ill. Sure you may be telling her, and yourself, that she's a strong girl, and she'll make it through this. But we all know she's done for. Your dear sweat sister is knocking at deaths door, and deep down you can't help but feel that somehow it's all your fault. And now you came here so you can direct that self hatred and loathing somewhere else. At me."

Loki was stunned. Truth was that everything Rick said was true. Loki knew deep down that Linka wasn't going to make it. He had made fun of her for what she saw, but now that she was proven right, and that she was about to die. All Loki could feel was guilt.

Before Loki could make another move, Rick picked up his portal gun and aimed it at Loki.

"don't ask questions you aren't prepared to handle the answers to kid." Rick said, then he shot a portal at Loki's feet. Loki fell through the portal and landed just outside the hospital Linka was at.

"Dang it." He said.

...

"Did you find out anything?" Linka asked as Loki walked in.

"Sorry sis." Loki sighed.

Then Loki got a text. He looked at it. It was from an unknown name, with an unknown number. The message read "Meet me outside the Loud House. I think I can help."

...

Linka seemed to be stable for the moment, so the doctors cleared her to leave the hospital, but they urged the family to bring her back immediately if she starts feeling sick again, or if she passes out again.

The family did as the message said. They gathered outside of the Loud House, to see a construction crew slowly rebuilding the house.

In front of the house stood a familiar looking old man.

"James?" Luke said. "From the toy store. What are you doing here?"

"Well I felt really bad about what was happening with your family." The kindly old man said. "So I thought I would help you guys out. And if it isn't too much trouble, I've been having some troubles of my own, I thought maybe you guys could help me out."

"What kind of troubles?" Luke asked.

"Luke do you know this guy?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Yeah he works at the toy store where I got Linka's new bunny." Luke answered.

"And how's he gonna help us?" Lynn Jr. asked. "Does he have a cure for Linka's cancer somewhere in that toy store?"

"I'm afraid I can't help your sister." James said. "But I can help with the house."

Then James began to change shape. He grew a couple of inches, his back straightened out, his brown eyes turned sky blue, his face turned a lot younger, and his hair shortened and turned black. Soon the kind old man turned into a tall dark hooded figure in a black leather jacket.

"Who? What are you?" all the members of the loud family said at once.

"My name, my real name, is Alex Mercer." The man said, in much deeper and darker voice.

"Hey , aren't you one of those guys who were fighting that evil cowboy guy?" Linka asked.

"Yes I am." Alex replied.

"And how exactly are you going to help us?" Lynn Sr. asked.

Then Alex Mercer quickly ran around the torn down house like a tornado. Picking up lumber from the construction workers and building it onto the house at blinding speeds. Within a couple of minutes the house was completely repaired, and Alex wasn't even out of breath.

The loud family starred in disbelief, jaws to the ground.

"Now then." Alex said. "I scratch your back, how's about you scratch mine." He held his hand out as if reaching for a hand shake.

"Scratch your back?" Loni said. "Ok I guess, but we're gonna need a back scratcher."

The rest of the family face palmed.

"Before you answer." Alex said. "Just know that as quickly as I can fix your lives, I can also tear down what's left, just as fast."

...

Back at the bar in the citadel of Ricks, Rick LH-11 and Rick WD-8 continued to talk.

"You know." Said Rick LH-11. "Alex Mercer has nearly become a god, after just one year of being infected with DX1118. Pariah's had the virus from birth. He's had it for over 40 years."

"Well" Said rick WD-8. "Then I recon we haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg of what Pariah is capable of."

Just outside the bar, a raven crowed in the sky