I pull the rubber glove and stretch the hem of it passed my wrist. It snaps upon release, filling the space around it with a light powder. I extend my fingers, allowing the space between the latex and my skin to close into a tight but comfortable fit. I push up my glasses and continue to clean the tennis table the best I can. I move my attention to all of the equipment Rick and I are going to be using, double checking that everything is working properly. My concentration is soon disturbed by Jerry's obnoxious singing in the kitchen near by. I try my best to ignore him but groan in annoyance when I find it to be no use.
"Hey do you think you can shut it Jerry! Your terrible singing is fucking with my thought process." I yell at him. He instantly stops but mumbles something under his breath.
"Do you want to repeat that Jerry?!" I shout at him, knowing it was most likely an insult he whispered out.
"U-uh no haha....I d-didnt say anything." I hear him respond in a nervous tone.
"That's what I thought, pussy." I say to myself, continuing on with where I left off. After finishing looking over everything I sit myself on the edge of the work table and take out an old notebook I've owned for years. I skim through all of the notes and small sketches that littered the pages. I take out a black pen, using my teeth to remove and hold on to its cap. I scribble down some notes and look up once I hear two pairs of steps enter the garage. I hop off the table and walk over to Rick.
"Are we all set?" He asks me, motioning our guest to lay on the table.
"Yup everything is ready." I reply while removing the cap from my mouth. I put away both my pen and notebook, heading over to the older man sitting on the table.
"Heya Ruben. I'm going to need you to remove your clothes and you can use this to cover yourself" I say while handing him a towel. While he undresses I put on a new pair of gloves. Rick comes over to sit on a milk crate, looking over his laptop.
"Rick can you hand me the electrodes for the heart monitor." I ask him. He looks up from his screen and hands me the package. I rip it open and begin attaching the padding to the correct places on Rubin, connecting them to their leads. The monitor sparks to life with a line elevating and descending on the screen, followed by an audible beeping noise, mimicking the man's heart beat. Rick stands up and grabs a stethoscope like device, pressing the chest piece against different parts of Ruben's body.
"So hows the park?" I ask Rick while looking over his shoulder at the device.
"Hm l-looks go(burp)od so far." He replies. Just when he says that Ruben starts to convulse and twitch.
"Spoke too soon I guess." I say, walking over to the heart monitor. I kneel down and examine the paper that came out of the machine.
"Oh man, somethings going on. These readings are unstable." I comment while looking over the paper, standing up to glance at Rick.
"Uh well might as well go get Morty then." He says while crossing his arms. I walk over to him and sigh, removing the gloves.
"Ah man, You think he can handle this?" I ask him in a worried tone. He looks down at me and groans in annoyance.
"Geez Ch-chill out. He'll be fine. Cmon." He says grabbing my wrist and leading me to the entrance hall. Everyone is standing in the hall talking to who I guess is Jerry's parents and, a friend? They all start to burst out laughing and Rick joins them, attempting to blend in with the group. I put on the best smile I can and allow Rick to do the talking.
"Hi Joyce, Leonard." He says nodding his head to the two. "Hello there."
"Merry Christmas, man." The other, younger looking man states.
"And who might you be?" The older women asks me with a small smile.
"Oh sorry. (Y/N), (Y/N) (L/N)" I say stretching my hand out for them to shake. "I moved in a while back along with Rick. Friend of the family." I say simply, shaking all of their hands.
"I guess we have something in common already." The younger man tells me. The older couple laughs at his comment and look at each other as if they were in on something that I wasn't aware of.
"Uhh what?" I say in confusion, starting to feel uncomfortable with the three.
"Morty! A moment of your time?" Rick states, changing the subject to what we came here for. Morty nods at us, following Rick and I into the garage. Ruben continues to twitch and foam at the mouth, sending Morty into a panic state
"He's in bad shape, Morty." Rick comments, pulling out the device and looking over Ruben again.
"Aw geez, you two! What did you do?"Morty asks the two of us.
"Gee, thanks Morty. What kind of monsters do you think we are? We-we're sittin' here trying to save the guy's life!" Rick retaliates, grabbing a backpack and handing it to me.
"We're going to need you to do us a little favor, buddy." I say while turning Morty around, lifting each of his arms to slip on the straps of the bag.
"We want you to find Dr.Xenon Bloom. He'll know what's goin' on." Rick explains,placing a device in Morty's ear.
"Uh... W-W-Where do I find Dr. Bloom?"Morty asks in a nervous voice.
"In Ruben." Rick replies while grabbing the glass helmet near by, shoving it over Morty's head.
"Ruben... Minnesota?" Morty confusingly questions.
"Ruben on the table, Morty!" Rick says with agitation in his voice. I hook up the tube from the backpack into the helmet, providing the oxygen that Morty is going to need.
"Look, we-we (burp) don't have time for you to wrap your little walnut around everything." Rick states, bringing over the shrink ray before plugging it in.
"Just hold your breath until the process is over or your lungs will collapse, Mort." I say as I lift him onto the platform.
"W-What proc-AHHH."Morty shrieks as he begins to shrink into a small capsule. I pull out a syringe from one of our many boxes and hand it over to Rick. I watch as he loads it up with the capsule and roughly stabs it into Ruben's chest. I hear the garage door open and look up to see Beth coming in.
"Hey Dad, (Y/N), where's Morty?" She asks us.
"He's busy." We say in unison while Rick injects Morty into Ruben's system. Soon after Beth confusingly leaves Rick and I to ourselves. Rick hands me a headset while he slips on his own.
"Hello, Mort?" I say speaking through the headset.
"Morty, can you hear us? Head North!" Rick adds, slightly adjusting his device to get a better listen.
"Rick, (Y/N)... Where am I?" We hear Morty ask nervously.
"Depending on my aim, you should be just south of the entrance." Rick replies back at him.
"The entrance to what?" Morty questions.
"Welcome, Morty. Welcome...to Anatomy Park!" Rick says with a smile, clearly proud of our little project. I hear Morty slightly gasp in what seems like amazement.
"It's a little business venture (Y/N) and I have been cookin' up on the side with Dr. Bloom. An amusement park inside a human body. Science isn't ch(belch)eap, Morty. This should really help put a dent in the overhead." Rick explains as I walk over to his computer to look over everything.
"Oh my God! This is insane! Spleen Mountain?! Bladder Falls?!" I hear Morty say in awe.
"Pirates of the Pancreas?" His voice falters a bit on the last one.
"Oh geez, here we go." I say, knowing that Rick picked up on it too.
"You got a problem with that last one, Morty?" Rick says in an almost threatening way, grabbing the stethoscope-like device again.
"Huh? No, no, I'm just reading them out loud in the order I'm seeing them." Morty explains to him.
"Okay, alright, if I sounded a little defensive, it's because Pirates of the Pancreas was my baby.I-I got a lot of push-back when I pitched it, Morty. I guess I'm still a little defensive. Let's just find Dr. Bloom, alright? I-I'm picking up a distress signal in the liver, Morty. Proceed to the liver." Rick says to him in a almost relived way. I hear Morty board the subway and stay silent as he waits for his stop.
"Well at least your idea got green lit. They didn't even want to listen to my idea." I slightly complain to Rick while still typing up some data on his laptop.
"Well if it -it make you feel any better The Cir(burp)culatory Circus isn't such a bad idea ." Rick replies. I feel a slight warmth on my neck and look up to see him looking over my shoulder.
"Well not everyone is as great as us." I say with a smile, holding up my hand for a high five.
"Haha hellllllll yeeeeeeaaaaah!" Rick says, bringing his hand down to make contact with mine. I hear an automated female voice in my ear saying that the subway arrived at the liver. Morty lets out an audible 'ow' before hearing him leave the station.
"You alright bud?" I ask, not taking my attention away from the computer.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's really scary in here, (Y/N)." Morty replies in an uneasy tone.
"Well the liver's under maintenance, Mort. Ruben's seen some rough years. I mean you don't agree to have a theme park built inside you if your life's going great." I say to him. I flinch at Morty's sudden scream.
"OOOOHHH! guys, it's a monster!" He exclaims. I lift my headset slightly away from my ear, relieving them from the loudness of Morty's voice.
"No no, Morty. The only monster here is alco(belch)holism. That is an animatronic werewolf." Rick states trying to calm him down. I slightly laugh at Rick's comment and put my headset back on. I continue to work but stop in confusion once I hear a foreign voice coming in from Morty's end.
"Who are you? Answer me! Where did you come from?" The voice negotiates, most likely talking to Morty. My anxiety starts to rise, slightly afraid for the teen's safety
"Mmm! M-M-My-my-my Grandpa Rick and friend sent me!" Morty quickly states in fear.
"Poncho! That's quite enough." I sigh in relief, happy to hear the familiar voice of Dr. Bloom. I reach into my pocket and pull out a small capsule container. Pouring a few tablets into my hand and downing them dry. I sit back for a bit, allowing my anxiety to drift. I hear Bloom continue to speak, introducing himself and who I guess are the people with them.
"Hey Bloom, it's Rick and (Y/N). What the hell's goin' on here?" Rick asks him. I get up and walk over to stand next to him, leaning on to the table while attentively listening to what Bloom has to say.
"I don't know why, but the entire security system has shut down. And I'm afraid the exhibits are unlocked." The doctor replies. Rick and I look up at each other, slightly confused as to how that might have happened.