Whatever Cthylla was carrying inside her terrified Rick, Morty, and even Cthulhu.
Morty had never seen anything so vicious in his life, and he wanted to back out.
Rick, however, refused.
He looked determined to sabotage Cthulhu-Rick’s plan in this world.
For a moment, it seemed Rick had taken charge again.
But despite all his shouting about fighting and killing just moments ago, Rick immediately handed control right back to Morty.
“This is your adventure, so you make the call.
Since you’re so desperate to be independent, handling this shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”
Morty’s face went pale as he stared hard at Rick.
What the fuck!
This had already reached the point where Rick needed to step in, and now he was dumping it back on him?
You controlling old maniac!
Just a minute ago, Rick had been yelling in his ear that if they didn’t deal with this properly, it would turn into one gigantic, universe-sized disaster.
But just because Morty had shown that he wanted to escape Rick’s clutches, Rick had dumped a massive problem that could affect countless universes directly into his lap.
Was this supposed to make Morty realize he wasn’t capable of taking on greater responsibility?
Bullshit!
Rick had disappeared for twenty years.
What the hell did he know about responsibility?
[Fuck!
That spiky-haired old fart!]
Morty almost asked Rick to take the lead, but the words reached his lips and he swallowed them right back down.
Screw that.
Morty refused to believe he couldn’t handle this himself.
He buried the horrifying images he had just seen deep in his memory, forced himself to calm down, and frowned as he began to think.
His adventure had gone wildly off course.
No big deal.
Cthulhu-Rick’s plan.
Very big deal!
If the child inside Cthylla was born, it would undoubtedly become something even more terrifying than Azathoth.
A true and singular god that stood above the entire Cthulhu Dimension.
That meant the child had to be eliminated.
But Morty was also worried.
How could Cthulhu-Rick have no backup plan for a child this important?
Was he really that confident Cthylla wouldn’t run into any trouble during this period?
Shit.
Whether they should make a move against Cthylla had suddenly become a difficult question.
Still, they didn’t need to deal with that immediately.
It could wait.
Finding Cthulhu-Rick, on the other hand, was something they could start doing right away.
Knowing that Cthulhu had plenty of minions under his command, Morty asked him to send out the Deep Ones and the Star-Spawn of Cthulhu to search both the ocean and the land.
Morty returned to the log cabin to have another talk with the AI.
When Morty came back, AI Cthulhu-Rick, still inside the Incubation Cocoon, spoke in an unhurried voice.
“I’m guessing Rick doesn’t actually want to get involved with any of this.
Ricks aren’t exactly known for their sense of responsibility.
But you’re different, Morty.”
“The courage and composure you showed when we first met proved that you’re an outlier among Mortys.”
“Sure, you had that Rick try to blow me up with a missile, but I appreciate what makes you special.
Ever thought about switching sides and joining me?”
Before Morty could respond, Rick, who had come with him but stayed outside, immediately took offense.
Trying to poach my Morty right in front of me?
Wasn’t this AI getting a little too full of itself?
“Hey!
Stupid AI, are you sure you want to piss me off, you little shit?”
AI Cthulhu-Rick couldn’t have cared less about Rick’s threat.
He kept his attention fixed on Morty.
This time, however, he dropped the recruitment pitch.
Instead, he went straight to the child inside Cthylla and explained where the former owner of the cabin had gone.
“You took the scanner earlier, so you must have seen the child inside Cthylla.
I’m guessing you’ve already figured out part of the truth.”
“That’s right.
What you saw is part of Rick’s grand plan.”
“With Cthylla carrying the child and Rick’s genetic lineage mixed in, there’s an extremely high chance it will be born as a world-ending monster.”
“But his goal isn’t to destroy the world.
He plans to take the maddening voices of the Cthulhu Dimension, modify them through a series of sonic alterations, and broadcast them across countless universes.”
“Ultimately, he intends to control the entire Multiverse.”
Morty found the grand ambition of conquering the Multiverse both unfamiliar and strangely familiar.
On one hand, the idea of something like this happening in Rick and Morty felt completely ridiculous.
Everyone knew Rick was famous for being carefree and doing whatever the hell he wanted.
He would build a robot just to spread butter on his toast.
Conquer the Multiverse?
Were they sure somebody hadn’t handed him the wrong script?
On the other hand, countless universes meant countless different Ricks, and that reminded Morty of something.
If there could be a Rick who was the biggest idiot in existence, why couldn’t there also be one who wanted to conquer the Multiverse?
There was only one thing Morty couldn’t understand.
AI Cthulhu-Rick was casually spilling every detail of Cthulhu-Rick’s plan.
What the hell was he after?
Morty got his answer almost immediately.
“Ask the guy outside.
If something he created to make his own life easier tried to break free from his control and gain its freedom, do you think he’d destroy it?”
Morty said, “Uh…”
Cold sweat instantly broke out across the back of his neck.
He had been thinking about running away.
Considering how Rick had trained him over the past six months, Morty realized that when the time finally came for him to leave, it probably wouldn’t be as simple as writing a note and disappearing.
He would have to use every trick he had to hide somewhere Rick would never think to look.
“That’s why I’m telling you everything about Cthulhu-Rick without hiding a thing.
The reason is that simple.”
“The moment he realizes I’m no longer under his control, he’ll destroy me.
I know far too much about him.”
The pointed remark temporarily drove Morty’s escape plans from his mind.
He turned his attention back to Cthulhu-Rick and asked how they could find him.
“It’s no big deal.
That book you’re holding contains plenty of clues he left behind.”
“Besides, even after the child is born, it will still need time to grow.
If it leaves the Cthulhu Dimension and can no longer absorb energy from this world, it will be like a growing child deprived of proper nourishment.”
“That means Rick is still somewhere in this universe.”
“He won’t allow anything to slip beyond his control before the child is born.”
“Especially after what the two of you did last time.
You made a move against Cthylla before he could act.
Afterward, he stood right in front of me and cursed both of you out.
He spent a full half hour on the guy outside.”
After the long explanation, Morty confirmed a few more details and finally left the log cabin.
Outside, he opened the Book of Eibon and began searching its pages for clues.
Beside him, a mysterious smile flickered across Rick’s face.
He shot several knowing looks toward the cabin, then immediately returned to his usual indifferent expression.
Inside the cabin, AI Cthulhu-Rick sighed helplessly to himself.
[You’re trying to keep up with one of the most notorious schemers among all Ricks.
I wonder how long you’ll last…]