AN: Hello, everyone! I know it's been a while, but I'm in college again, so updates will be sporadic at best. I'll try to make sure that there aren't any huge gaps, but there are no guarantees.

I'd also like to take some time to say thank you to everyone who has supported this story, especially since it's the first one of mine to get over 100 favorites and followers! I also appreciated the reviews and am happy that Rick and the Louds has reached over 200 reviews in my absence!

Now, the adventure continues!

Rick and the Louds

Chapter 15: Young Love and Assimilation

Loud House 1st Floor (Dining Room) 4:27 PM

It was an average Friday afternoon in the Loud house, with Lincoln working on his part of his class project; a scale-model of the solar system. Granted, it seemed rather tame, but given his grandfather's scientific accomplishments, it seemed more believable if he did something like this. There wasn't a rule against outside help, but this was a small matter of pride for Lincoln and the boy was more than capable enough to work on this. Still, that didn't mean that he was against the fact that he'd been assigned Ruston "Rusty" Spokes as his partner.

While the boy would've preferred Clyde, his best friend wound up assigned to Christina, one of the girls in their class and Lincoln's ex-crush. His second choice would've been Ronnie Anne, which was only because even though they had feelings for each other, the girl wasn't as academically inclined as he was. Still, it was a moot point since she'd been assigned to Liam, another one of Lincoln's friends.

Lincoln was ashamed to admit it, but even though Rusty was in his circle of friends, he wasn't as close to him as the others. It mostly stemmed from the fact that they met each other when Rusty was part of a bicycle gang that mocked Lincoln for inheriting his Lori's bike. Granted, his grandfather later helped him revamp the bike into an awesome ride and their relationship improved after Rusty had seen Lynn dominate in a bicycle competition. Still, he knew next-to-nothing about the boy or his family, but he was determined to make the most out of this experience.

The silver lining to this was the fact that the project was almost done and that Rusty was coming over to help finish. Unexpectedly, Rusty was also bringing his younger brother Rocky since their parents were busy at work. Still, Lincoln didn't mind since he heard from Rusty that Rocky was only a few months younger than Lucy and was confident that he'd at least have her to talk to if they needed some space.

"Okay, here we go," Lincoln said as he finished placing Mars in his solar system. "Just a few more planets and it'll be all set."

"Hey, Lincoln," Lucy greeted as she revealed her presence in the room, oddly carrying a Tupperware container of red liquid.

Lincoln lightly flinched, but he was harder to scare due to his numerous adventures with Rick. Still, Lucy had the uncanny ability to unnerve anyone she talked to, a power that Lincoln knew Rick felt too. As such, he quickly recomposed himself before he turned to his younger sister with a quizzical look on his face.

"Lucy, what's the deal with the red stuff?" Lincoln asked in confusion.

"Oh, it's my special recipe for fake blood. I didn't even look up how to do it or ask grandpa for help," Lucy explained monotonously. She then glanced at the liquid and lightly sighed before she said, "Sigh. I wish that I could perfect it; I'm very close."

"Well, I wish I could help you, Lucy. Maybe after Rusty and I are done with the project," Lincoln offered as he went back to work, only for the doorbell to ring. "Oh, that must be them now."

"Wait, "them"? I thought only Rusty was helping," Lucy said, confused.

"He is, but he's bringing over his little brother, Rocky, since their parents are working. We're lucky that Grandpa Rick's here, even if he is in his lab," Lincoln explained as Lucy followed him to the door. "I think you'll like Rocky; he's around your age."

When Lincoln opened the door, he was met with the familiar sight of Rusty and the new sight of his little brother, Rocky. Rusty was eleven-years-old with light skin, noticeable freckles, brown eyes, and short, curly orange hair. He wore a lime-green t-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers.

Rocky was the spitting image of his brother at the age of eight, only with significantly less freckles. He wore a dark green shirt with a light green vertical stripe in the middle, brown shorts, and black shoes.

"Hey, Rusty. Glad you could come over," Lincoln greeted warmly.

"No problem, Linc. I'm glad that you don't mind that I had to bring Rocky over," Rusty replied as he and Rocky entered the house.

"No trouble at all, especially since most of my sisters are busy with their own stuff right now," Lincoln said as he exchanged fist-bumps with Rocky and Rusty. He then gestured towards Lucy and said, "Oh, and Rocky, you can hang out with Lucy if you want. What do you say, Luce?"

Once he turned to her, he noticed that Lucy was oddly frozen, even more than she usually was. Unbeknownst to the boys, Lucy's heart instantly started beating faster when she saw Rocky, an unfamiliar blush forming on her face, which was only accentuated by her pale skin. Lucy briefly hyperventilated before she ran upstairs and into her room, much to the confusion of the boys.

"Huh, guess she didn't want to hang out," Lincoln guessed, which the Spokes' brothers accepted as they nodded, though Rocky formed a small blush of his own.

Loud House 1st Floor (Lynn and Lucy's Room) 5:04 PM

After retreating to her room to recover, Lucy went over her later actions after bailing. Lucy wasn't exactly a stalker, but she'd be lying if she said that she didn't act like one towards Rocky. She always quickly retreated before he noticed her, but she honestly couldn't help herself. She knew it wasn't healthy, but she'd never felt this way about a boy her age before, not even towards her bust of a vampire that she dubbed as "Edwin".

Since Lynn was busy at one of her sporting events, Lucy could only confide with Edwin Jr. as his namesake in her room.

"What should I do, Edwin Jr.?" Lucy asked as she paced around the room. "I know he's not really the kind of boy I imagined feeling about this way but he's so…that word my older sisters have used towards boys they like."

Edwin Jr. could only provide a soft growl as he curled up towards Lucy, which the young girl accepted with a small smile. She turned towards Edwin with a small, remorseful frown and said, "Oh, Edwin, if only you were a real boy at my age. It's really nothing personal, but you'll always be my first crush. What do you think about all this?"

Edwin could only provide silence, but Lucy guessed enough what he would've said if he was real.

"You think I should go…talk to him, like my sisters in relationships do?" Lucy asked as she set Edwin Jr. on her bed and laid a comforting hand on Edwin. "I'm glad that you understand and I'll do my best."

Loud House 1st Floor (Kitchen) 5:12 PM

Rocky went into the kitchen with Lincoln's permission to find a snack in the fridge. When he opened the door, he found an assortment of food as well as Rick and Lisa's refrigerated experiments, but he wisely left those alone. He spotted a Tupperware container of red liquid that he guessed was tomato soup, which made him lick his lips in anticipation. However, once he got the container out, he saw a label on it marked, Lucy's Blood. Before he could question it, Lucy appeared and closed the refrigerator door.

"I see you found my blood," Lucy stated, which startled Rocky enough that he accidentally spilled the contents over himself and on parts of the floor. Lucy didn't seem too fazed by the loss since she could always make more.

"Not literally, of course. A normal fridge isn't cold enough to store blood," Lucy monotonously clarified as she inspected the damage and formed a quizzical look. "Hmm, now it has the ooze, but not the splatter." She then nonchalantly extended her hand, which was covered in the fake blood she'd inspected, and said, "Hi, I'm Lucy."

Rocky could only stare in unease as he hastily left the kitchen to clean himself in the upstairs bathroom, much to Lucy's disappointment as she stared at the floor.

Loud House 2nd Floor (Hallway) 5:33 PM

After several attempts of getting the stains out himself, Rocky had an annoyed expression as he finally left the bathroom with several fake bloodstains still on his shirt. However, it soon turned fearful when he saw Lucy in front of him, with one of Lincoln's orange polos in her hands.

"Sorry about the blood thing. I got you a clean shirt, if you want one," Lucy said apologetically, but it did nothing to curtail Rocky's unease as he slowly backed away from her, which the young girl was oblivious to. "Just to be clear, it's my brother's. I'd never wear anything so cheerful," Lucy said with a small smile as she continued to approach him, only stopping when he was a few centimeters from falling down the stairs.

"Uh…" Rocky said hesitantly as he unceremoniously ran down the stairs and out the door, which Lincoln and Rusty noticed once they finished the project.

"Was that Rocky?" Rusty asked as he quickly grabbed his backpack to go after him. "Sorry, Lincoln! I know the project's done, but we'll be back tomorrow!" Rusty said as nicely as he could before he left the house.

Having a feeling that Lucy was involved, Lincoln traversed up the stairs and found his younger sister clutching her knees at the top step with one of his shirts on her left side. Lincoln formed a comforting expression as he sat on her right side, which the young girl didn't have any qualms about.

"Hey, what's wrong, Lucy?" Lincoln asked in concern.

"It's Rocky. I…I think I have a crush on him, but every time I try to talk to him, he runs from me," Lucy revealed as Edwin Jr. emerged from her bedroom and softly nuzzled Lucy on her left side.

"Well, how have you been talking to him?" Lincoln asked, unfazed by Lucy's feelings for Rocky.

"Well, after watching him for a while, I introduced myself by surprising him in the kitchen and he accidentally spilled my fake blood. I offered him my hand, but he just ran from me," Lucy explained, unaware of Lincoln's slightly disturbed expression from how calmly Lucy was explaining herself. 'I tried to make things better by offering him one of your shirts, but he still freaked out and almost fell down the stairs. The rest you saw when he ran from the house…and me."

"You know, maybe he's just uncomfortable with that kind of stuff," Lincoln said, doing his best to spare her feelings.

"Well, then what is he into?" Lucy asked, hoping to gain some insight.

"Lucy, if he doesn't like you for the stuff you're into, you shouldn't try to force it by pretending to like what he's into," Lincoln advised, though it fell on deaf ears.

"I'm not following you," Lucy said, confused.

"Well, all I can say is that he seems like a regular, normal kid and he'll be back tomorrow," Lincoln stated, only for Rick to traverse up the stairs and grab Lincoln's left hand.

"Lincoln, come on. We need to pick up Lisa and go on an important mission," Rick stated before he gave a warm forehead kiss to Lucy.

"Remember what we talked about, okay?" Lincoln advised as he left with Rick, which left Lucy alone with her thoughts.

"Hmm, 'regular and normal'," Lucy said to herself, taking the wrong things from Lincoln's advice. "Regular and normal."

Space (Unknown Time)

After picking up Lisa in his cruiser, it turned out that Rick's important mission was for the three of them to get ice cream and enjoy a scenic route back home. As such, the trio were immensely enjoying their time together, even breaking into a small, random song from Rick's playlist. However, their revelry soon ended when Rick's alarm went off, revealing a nearby distress beacon.

"Whew, this just got even better! We've got a distress beacon, kids!" Rick said cheerfully as he punched in the coordinates and piloted to the beacon's location.

"Hang on, you're excited about that?" Lincoln asked.

"Haven't you learned anything from our adventures or sci-fi movies yet, Linc?" Rick rhetorically asked as he explained. "Nine out of ten times, it leads to a derelict ship full of sweet treasure. I mean, one out of ten times, it's a deadly trap, but as long as I'm here, you'll both be safe."

Sure enough, the beacon led towards a large, derelict ship that seemed intact enough as Rick parked his cruiser in the empty docking bay, which allowed the trio to board. Rick brought flashlights for them all, but he discretely hid a laser pistol in his lab coat, in case they ran into hostiles.

While the ship seemed intact on the outside, the inside was riddled with cobwebs and destroyed equipment. Rick silently motioned for Lincoln and Lisa to stay close to him, but it seemed that they were the only inhabitants of this ship now.

"I'm already forming theories, but something bad happened here," Lisa said fearfully as she clutched Rick's left pantleg.

"Don't worry, Little Poindexter. Grandpa's going to protect all of you," Rick reassured as he looked throughout the ship. "Huh, there doesn't seem to be anything here. Still, watch your back, kids."

Suddenly, one of the ship's cabin doors opened, which revealed a random group of human-like aliens with blue skin, normal-colored hair, and three blue, yellow-tipped protrusions from their heads. They wore dark green spacesuits with an unknown symbol stitched in their right sleeves. Oddly, two of them had yellow sclera instead of white.

"Oh, thank God! Someone finally responded to the beacon!" a female alien exclaimed in relief. "You need to help us! Our planet was invaded by a malevolent entity that absorbed the minds of our people!"

"I mean, it was so flawless that we didn't know until it was too late," a male alien said as he broke into a nervous sweat from the recollection. "The people it takes over look like your friends, family, leaders, but they're not…themselves anymore."

"We almost ran out of food and water, but now you're here and we can report this to the Galactic Federation!" another female alien said, relieved, unaware of Rick noticeably cringing from the mention of that name.

"Uh, how can you be sure that it didn't get on with you?" Rick asked, hoping the change the subject as he pointed to the two aliens with yellow sclera. "Those two seem nonchalant about this."

As soon as he said that, the two aliens instantly screeched and pointed at Rick, Lincoln, and Lisa before they grabbed the other aliens and vomited a green substance into their mouths, much to Lincoln and Lisa's disgust and fear. As Lincoln and Lisa huddled together behind Rick, the elderly scientist took out his laser pistol, intent on killing them if they attacked him or his grandkids.

Once the display was over, all the aliens now had yellow sclera and stared blankly at the trio. Unsure on where they were going with this, Rick charged up the laser pistol, but nothing could've prepared him for what happened next. The aliens then formed flirtatious expressions before they collectively said, "Hello, Rick. Long time, no see."

"Unity?!" Rick yelled incredulously, now-knowing who this was.

"Grandpa, what's going on?" Lincoln and Lisa asked simultaneously.

"Oh, uh these are two of my grandkids, Lincoln and Lisa," Rick said sheepishly as he gestured to the two of them. He then formed an embarrassed expression as he did the inverse and said, "Lincoln, Lisa, this is Unity. Before I met your grandma, we used to…date."

Unity's Planet (Main Street) 12:00 PM

It had been an average day for the inhabitants of this planet: the ones with children were enjoying a day at the park, the ones with homes were watering their lawns at the same time, and the rest had been going throughout their day taking care of their host bodies. The inhabitants all resembled the race of aliens Rick, Lincoln, and Lisa had encountered, only they all had yellow sclera. Once the ship arrived in the atmosphere, all the available inhabitants arrived to welcome them, especially the one they knew all those years ago.

Once Rick, Lincoln, and Lisa arrived, Rick was the first to break the ice as he approached the vessel of Unity that led this species. The leader physically resembled the race Unity had assimilated, but was undeniably female. She had shoulder-length, dark red hair and was very well-endowed with a shapely figure and wore a set of square-rimmed glasses and red lipstick. She wore a burgundy suit jacket with a black, pencil-thin mini-skirt, and matching shoes. She was accompanied by two other thralls of Unity, both men and clad in black suits with purple ties. However, the one on the right was portly and the one on the left was thin.

"Well, this is a…surprise, Unity. You're a whole planet now, huh?" Rick asked, semi-nervously.

"After we…ended things, I spent some time wandering through space," Leader-Unity bashfully replied as her other thralls finished the conversation for her.

"Then I found this world…" Thin Guard-Unity continued.

"Where I was better able to focus on my passion for unification," Portly Guard-Unity finished.

"Uh, not to rain on your parade, but are you referring to the indoctrination of these innocent people?" Lisa questioned as she narrowed her eyes at Leader-Unity, who was unfazed at her inquiry.

"Well, you certainly are Rick's granddaughter. It's such a shame you aren't also mine," Leader-Unity said condescendingly, but with a hint of jealousy.

"Okay, let's not forget that we're guests on this planet!" Rick said quickly, wanting to defuse this situation. He then pinched the ridge of his nose and motioned himself towards Leader-Unity before he said, "Hey, how about you two spend some time with Unity while, uh…Unity and I catch up?"

With Rick's suggestion, some of Unity's other thralls went to fulfill it, only for Lincoln to briefly freak out from what he'd seen Unity do back on the ship.

"Uh, grandpa, isn't this kind of dangerous?" Lincoln asked as he and Lisa shrugged off their attempts. "What if they try to assimilate us?!"

"You're guests here on my planet. There is no need to fear its people," Leader-Unity said reassuringly. She then formed an unmistakable flirtatious smile towards Rick before she breathlessly said, "Besides, I've never been good at…disappointing Rick."

"Uh, what is she talking about?" Lisa asked in confusion while Lincoln and Rick formed embarrassed blushes.

"It's nothing! Let's uh…just go, Lisa," Lincoln quickly said as they left with some of Unity's thralls, but Rick and Lincoln overheard Lisa's sudden gasp when she reached her own conclusion.

"Wait, are they going to be…making out?" Lisa asked in confusion, with Lincoln nodding his head alongside Unity's other thralls.

Loud House 2nd Floor 9:00 PM

Meanwhile, night had long since descended back in Royal Woods, but Rick had the courtesy to inform the family of his, Lincoln, and Lisa's whereabouts to prevent any panic. Since Lincoln and Lisa didn't have anything pressing and it was the weekend, there was little argument. Still, in a home like the Loud house, arguments were always readily available.

"Lola! Did you take my Red Riot lipstick again?!" Lori called out into the hallway as she poked her head out of hers and Leni's room.

"No, but someone took my perfume! I bet it was Leni!" Lola replied as she stepped out into the hallway and pointed an accusatory finger towards the bathroom door.

"Was not! But I'd like to know who took my pink chiffon dress, Lori!" Leni defended as she pointed her own finger at her older sister and stepped out into the hallway.

"Hey, you're literally the one who stretches my sweaters out every time you borrow them!" Lori angrily pointed out.

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen! It was the first time any of the top halves got any exercise!" Leni replied, equally indignant.

"And what is that supposed to mean?!" Lori asked incredulously.

As their sibling argument increased, Lola stepped into the fray to find out who stole her perfume. "That's my scent! I can't let other people associate it with you!" Lola yelled indignantly, only to suddenly smell what she was looking for. "Hang on; I smell my perfume!" Lola declared as she followed her nose to Lucy and Lynn's room, with Lori and Leni accompanying her to try and find whoever stole their stuff.

"Lucy and Lynn's room?" Leni questioned, unsure of what either sister would be doing with their possessions. However, Lori and Lola were undeterred as Lola jumped to the only possible conclusion.

"Lynn! You better not be using the scent of my perfume to cover up the stink of your hockey pads!" Lola angrily declared as she opened the unlocked door, only for her, Lori, and Leni to gasp at what they saw.

Against all odds, the culprit was none other than Lucy, who was clad in the Leni's dress with Lori's Red Riot lipstick poorly applied to her lips and with Lola's perfume in her hands. Upon being discovered, she hastily hid the perfume behind her back and formed an uncomfortable expression towards her three sisters.

"What are you doing?" Lori asked to break the awkward silence between the four of them.

"I…I…I thought that if I could look more 'regular and normal', Rusty's brother, Rocky, would like me," Lucy explained as she shamefully looked away, knowing that she should've at least had the courtesy to ask them before taking their stuff. "I really am sorry that I took your stuff. I understand if you're mad." Lucy said apologetically as she held out the perfume to give back to Lola, but the young girl oddly left after Lucy explained herself.

"You're damn right we're mad!" Lori said angrily, which made Lucy sulk in shame. However, the atmosphere instantly changed when Lori formed a bright smile and declared, "Mad that you didn't let us help!"

"Yeah! No offense, but we've wanted to give you a makeover since, like, birth!" Leni innocently added, much to Lucy's confusion.

"Uh, what?" Lucy asked, only for Lola to re-enter the room with a poster board decorated with pictures of Lucy and the latest fashion trends.

"I've been working on this Lucy vision board for years!" Lola said happily as she gestured to her handiwork. "Until now, it was just a fantasy!"

"Guys, it's literally happening! Lucy is finally ready!" Lori declared as she stuck her head out into the hallway, which alerted the rest of her available siblings to enter Lynn and Lucy's room once they got their supplies.

"Guys, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but…" Lucy trailed off as she was suddenly surrounded by her siblings for her makeover. Before she could say anything about the situation, she was lovingly manhandled by her sisters to find the "right" kind of look for her.

Unity's Planet (Main Street) 12:05 PM

After leaving two of his grandchildren with Unity, Rick took the liberty of exploring the world his former lover created. While the citizens were stripped of all free will, the fact remained that this world was now free of war and anger, two things that Rick had seen all-too-often throughout his travels. As such, he rather enjoyed the headline of the Unity News newspaper that stated, World Peace Achieved.

"Huh, been a while since I've seen that kind of headline," Rick said amicably to the male Unity newspaper stand owner. "It's a little weird since you're the only being on this planet who'd read it, but I've never been one to judge. So, what's next for you?"

"After I've transformed into a Type-1 civilization, this world will be invited into the Galactic Federation," Unity stated as one of their male thralls took a paper to continue the conversation, which meant Rick followed him.

"Oh. Sounds like a drag," Rick replied distastefully.

"From there, I'll have access to countless planets and species," a male, suit-clad Unity avatar explained, only for a female thrall in a yellow business to suit to take over.

"One by one, I will unify them. I will become the universe and I will be what the single-minded once called a 'god'," the female Unity thrall explained as she boarded a bus, confident that one of the other thralls could talk to Rick.

"Wow. That sounds, uh…hot, I guess," Rick awkwardly replied as he then talked to an elderly female thrall that departed the bus. "Where do I get a drink around here?"

"Recreational substances were gradually phased out on this planet. There is no need to escape reality when you all share one mind," the elderly thrall explained as she entered a nearby bathroom.

"Unity, baby, who are you talking to? Where's the crazy chick that assimilated a police station to their hands on the evidence locker?" Rick asked to entice them.

"Rick, when we met, I was a young and foolish hive-mind with the population of a small town," a deliveryman Unity thrall explained as he finished with a nearby delivery and boarded his truck. "People, any people, just…change," the thrall stated as he drove away.

"Especially when I change them," a male hobo Unity thrall finished as he stared at Rick apologetically. "I'm sorry to say this, but I've grown up."

"Hey, so have I, baby," Rick stated hopefully, only for a few of Unity's avatars to form doubtful expressions towards him, which the elderly scientist noticed. He quickly said, "What? I have! I've reconnected with my family and I've been living with them for the past nine years!"

"Why's that I wonder?" an attractive policewoman Unity thrall asked semi-flirtatiously before she formed a rather hurt expression. "Don't forget, wasn't she the reason why you left the first time?"

"You know that's not the whole story, but you should know that she's…not in the picture anymore," Rick hesitantly explained, which made all of Unity's thralls form a hopeful expression. He then intertwined his fingers with the policewoman Unity thrall, which made him form a warm, loving expression towards her.

"Rick…why'd you come back?" the policewoman Unity thrall asked hopefully.

"Maybe it was a part of me getting too old for this…or maybe I just wanted to be part of a…collective again," Rick replied as he passionately kissed the policewoman Unity thrall, with the onlooking avatars cheering for Rick. However, it didn't last too long as Rick reluctantly ended their encounter and breathed heavily in anxiety.

"Rick, what's wrong?" the policewoman Unity thrall asked in confusion.

"This is wrong, Unity. This isn't right," Rick stated, much to the avatar's hurt and confusion, which was quickly replaced with happiness when Rick said, "We need a hang glider. And a crotch-less Uncle Sam costume. And I want the entire field of your largest stadium covered end to end with naked redheads! And I want the stands packed with every man that remotely resembles my father!"

Upon Rick's declaration, the policewoman Unity avatar cheered and signaled for the others to fulfill Rick's request, minus the ones that were needed to distract his visiting grandkids.

Unity's Planet (Hotel) 12:07 PM

Meanwhile, Lincoln and Lisa were holed up on this planet's equivalent of a hotel. Since Unity had no need for money and they were related to Rick, they had been receiving the best treatment available on this planet. Their room provided them with a view of a neighboring mountain that was chiseled into their likeness by some of the avatars. While Lincoln and Lisa had their reservations about Unity, Lincoln greatly enjoyed his treatment, especially when the chef Unity thralls made them burgers. Conversely, Lisa still retained a harsh expression towards their situation.

"Lisa, what's wrong? These guys are making us into a Mount Rushmore! They made burgers; you should be happy!" Lincoln innocently declared to his younger sister.

"Lincoln, open your eyes! There is no, 'they'! It's a planet of glorified puppets!" Lisa angrily pointed out.

"I can hear you," a worker Unity thrall sadly said, but Lisa merely scoffed at "his" response.

"Hey, I know they got the raw end of the deal here, but we should try to make the most of it since we can't do anything to save them," Lincoln admitted as he munched on his burger.

"Oh, we'll see about that," Lisa said to herself, only for a clown thrall of Unity to arrive with two handfuls of balloons.

"Balloon, Lisa? Balloon, Lincoln?" the clown avatar offered, but Lisa was unamused and answered for them both.

"We're not interested in your balloons. We're bored, so take us back to Grandpa Rick so that we can go home," Lisa demanded, only for the clown thrall to form an uncomfortable expression.

"Now's…not a good time," the clown thrall answered as he quickly left before either of them could question him.

Loud House 2nd Floor (Lynn and Lucy's Room) 9:10 PM

After what had to be the longest ten minutes of her young life, Lucy was now clad in the best look possible to fit her sisters' standards. With some help from Lincoln's costume trunk and her older sisters' hand-me-downs, Lucy now wore a dark magenta ribbon-like headband, a pink dress with a dark magenta jacket over it, and matching shoes. However, the biggest changes were the blonde wig, magenta earrings, and the applications of a light blush and red lipstick.

"Uh…wow. I…look like you guys," Lucy said hesitantly when she saw herself in the mirror. Edwin Jr. arrived and curled up next to her, with Lucy wishing to ask him for advice. "What do you think, Edwin Jr.?"

"Aw, sick! No more weird pets!" Lola declared as she chased off Edwin Jr.

"When he comes over, don't talk about mortality," Luna advised.

"Or death!" Leni added.

"Or ask him his blood type," Lana said tersely.

"Or suggest a cemetery for a date," Lori continued.

"And make sure to laugh at any of his jokes! It's not an issue with me and Maggie, but its still good advice!" Luan added encouragingly as Lucy monotonously laughed to showcase her skills, but Luan was unamused.

"Oh, and talk about sports! Anwar loves it when I do that!" Lynn advised.

"Just remember to keep your clothes ready for tomorrow. We'll make sure they stick around long enough so you can ask out Rocky," Lori explained as she wiped off the blush and lipstick from Lucy's face.

"Look, you guys went to a lot of trouble for this—" Lucy stated, only for Leni to innocently interrupt her.

"Yeah, and it'll all be worth it when they come over! We can handle Rusty while you talk to Rocky," Leni said excitedly.

"Uh…sure," Lucy stated as her sisters departed the room to return to their own devices. Once they were gone, Lucy finally went over her situation in her head. Granted, the girl had little experience when it came to boys, but something about the situation gnawed at her.

She looked at her parent's relationship and while it wasn't perfect, her mom and dad were themselves. The same was true of her older sisters' relationship; they were free to be themselves around their love interests. So, if they could be themselves in their relationships, why did she have to change practically everything about herself to talk to Rocky? She already knew the answer to that though; she was a freak.

As many times as her siblings, parents, and grandfathers told her she wasn't, she knew that wasn't true. Every time she looked in the mirror, she was reminded of why she had to constantly hide her eyes from the world. Rocky didn't even know about her heterochromia, but she knew that any chance to be more than friends with him would fly out the window if he found out. So, as much as it made her inwardly sick, if she could avoid being creepy long enough for Rocky to be comfortable around her, maybe he wouldn't keep running away.

With that resolve, Lucy carefully removed her new clothes and laid them out for tomorrow while she changed into her pajamas.

Unity's Planet (Stadium) 12:30 PM

After fulfilling his odd orgy, Rick, now clad in a yellow bathrobe, left the stadium thoroughly exhausted. He found relief as he leaned against a nearby streetlight and chugged a bottle of water one of Unity's thralls gave him. It didn't last very long as Unity's participating thralls exited, with the women clad in identical bathrobes and the men in typical suits, each with a flirtatious and satisfied expression towards Rick.

"Oh, Rick…you were so bad," one of the redheaded female thralls vocalized breathlessly.

"Ease up on the past-tense there, baby. Once I finish this bottle, we're totally doing that again," Rick said with a warm smile, only for his and the adjacent Unity avatars' attention to be drawn to a fleet of large, black spaceships that were landing on the planet.

"Oh, damn it! I thought they weren't supposed to come today," the same female thrall said, disappointed.

"Unity, what's going on, here?" Rick asked in confusion.

"It's a neighboring hivemind species, Beta-7," a different female thrall explained as the one of ships sent a small transport vessel to land. "Our planet has maintained a practical alliance in exchange for vital resources, so be nice."

Once the vessel landed and opened, it revealed the species that Beta-7 had assimilated all resembled portly men with short, black hair, pale skin, and red sclera. Oddly they were all clad in black uniforms with matching capes and had a cybernetic left eye.

"Greetings, Unity," the Beta-7 spokesman vocalized with a warm smile, which faltered when he noticed Rick's eyes weren't yellow and that the female Unity thralls were clad in identical bathrobes. "Uh, is this a bad time? Are all present lifeforms…assimilated?"

"Beta-7, this is my single-minded…friend from Earth, Rick," one of the suit-clad Unity avatars answered.

"Rick…Sanchez. Unity has spoken…fondly of you," the Beta-7 spokesman bitterly said with barely restrained rage.

"Nothing bad, I hope," Rick said warmly as he patted the spokesman on the back, which made him and his fellow thralls to shriek and point at the elderly scientist, much to his confusion.

"Beta-7, if my allies are a problem to you, then perhaps our alliance is as well," the first redhead Unity thrall said defensively, which instantly silenced Beta-7's cries.

"Our alliance is beneficial. When Beta-7 expresses concern it- it's only … be-because…" the Beta-7 spokesman answered nervously as he formed a blush around the Unity thralls. Before he could finish, Rick innocently interrupted him when he noticed what was among the supplies they'd brought for Unity.

"Awesome! Powdered neutronium?! Amphetetron?! You know what a guy like me can make with this stuff?!" Rick excitedly asked the Unity avatars, which made the main redhead thrall form an uncomfortable expression.

"Oh, Rick, I-I shouldn't," the redhead Unity thrall said apprehensively.

"Come on, it'll be just like old times!" Rick said goadingly, which made the redhead Unity thrall smile immensely as she and the others approached Rick.

"We can purify the resin and make fractal dust!" the redhead Unity thrall said happily, which made Rick's eager expression falter.

"Uh, actually I was thinking more along the lines of velocitinis, so…" Rick trailed off, only for a different female thrall to interrupt him.

"Oh, what's the matter? Are you too old to party with the whole planet?" the aforementioned thrall sweetly goaded, which made them and Rick break into a fit of healthy laughter.

As they walked away, Beta-7 slumped in despair as they silently made their way back to their mothership, sticking around long enough for Rick to lustfully say, "I can handle anything you want and more, baby."

Loud House 1st Floor (Living Room) 5:30 PM

The next day, Rocky and Rusty arrived to hang out with Lincoln now that the project was done, unaware of his real whereabouts. Knowing that they couldn't risk Rocky leaving prematurely, the remaining Loud siblings put their plan into action, with Lucy reluctantly going along with it, albeit for a reason she hadn't considered until after Rocky arrived.

"Ugh, why did you have to give me such a short dress?" Lucy asked her remaining sisters as she nervously adjusted her ensemble to hide her panties.

"What did you expect? That's one of Lori's dresses from when she was your age, but she was a bit taller," Luan explained as the group arrived at the top of the stairs. As Lucy awkwardly made her way downstairs, despite the lessons she received from Lola to walk in her new shoes, the remaining Loud siblings watched intently once Lucy reached the bottom.

"Okay, step one," Lucy softly said to herself as she posed like a model to get Rocky's attention, but the boy was idly throwing a baseball up and down as he sat in a chair while Rusty was looking for Lincoln in one of the other rooms.

Knowing that it wasn't working, Lucy slumped in defeat, only for Leni to signal for her attention. Once Lucy looked towards the stairs, Leni flirtatiously flipped her hair to demonstrate what Lucy should do next.

With nothing to lose, Lucy copied Leni's hair-flip was best as she could before she moved onto the second step. "OMG, Rocky. It's totes great to see you," Lucy monotonously said, which managed to get Rocky's attention this time.

"Um…who are you?" Rocky asked in confusion as the remaining Loud siblings silently gasped at his response.

"I'm Lucy," the girl replied, mildly hurt, but unsurprised by his reaction.

"Oh…I didn't recognize you," Rocky admitted as he formed an awkward expression towards her, much to Lucy and her remaining siblings' confusion.

Suddenly, Lori entered the front door with a confused Bobby, who'd only recently been informed of the plan. The teenaged girl was pretending to talk to someone on her phone as she dragged Bobby inside.

"You can't make it to mini-golf? But we already bought four tickets!" Lori said to her phone in mock-anger as Bobby formed an even more confused expression towards Lucy's new appearance. It didn't last long as Lori formed an annoyed expression and nudged him to continue his part of the plan.

"Maybe we should uh…'invite two other people to come'," Bobby awkwardly said as he read the instructions Lori scribbled on his forearm.

"Oh, what a great idea, Boo-Boo Bear!" Lori said cheerfully as she pretended to hang up her phone and look towards the two kids. "Do you want to come with us, Lucy and Rocky?"

"I was going to totally hang out with my friends at the mall, but YOLO," Lucy woodenly said, inwardly cringing at how wrong those words sounded in her mouth.

"I'm down for that, especially since Lincoln's not around," Rocky amicably stated as he got out of the chair.

"Great, its settled! Girls, look after Rusty until we come back, okay?!" Lori commanded as her group departed, much to Rusty's confusion when he arrived from the dining room.

"Uh, what's going on?" Rusty asked in confusion, only for Lynn to nonchalantly approach him with one of Luan's spare squirting flowers. He didn't wonder for long as the tomboy motioned for him to come closer and when he was in position, Lynn spritzed a purple gas from the flower in his face, which instantly made the young boy fall asleep.

"I figured it'd be easier," Lynn stated as her other siblings nonchalantly nodded while she laid him on the couch. "Thank you, Grandpa Rick."

Unity's Planet (Town Square) 9:30 AM

Meanwhile, after being separated from Rick for a day on this planet, Lisa decided to put her plan into action, despite Lincoln's protests. Lisa had acquired a megaphone from one of Unity's stores and stood on a soapbox to get her message to Unity's passerby avatars.

"Attention people of this unnamed planet! Stop acting so stupid and break free!" Lisa commanded through her megaphone, which only managed to stir one of Unity's passerby avatars to talk to her.

"Uh, I can hear you," the male, bespectacled Unity-passerby said, slightly offended.

"Yeah, sure you can," Lisa said dismissively as she aggressively kicked the avatar in his shins and said, "Wake up! You have to have some individuality left in there!", much to Lincoln's apprehension.

"Lisa, stop that!" Lincoln requested, which made Lisa reluctantly end her assault while the thrall she had been attacking adjusted his glasses and rubbed his shins.

"Lisa, why do you hate me so much?" the male Unity-avatar asked evenly, unfazed by her earlier assault.

"I'm not talking to you! I'm talking to…" Lisa trailed off as she pulled out the avatar's wallet from his left pocket to find any ID of who he was. "Your name is Steven Phillips! Steven, you have to free yourself from this evil monster!" Lisa declared as she pulled out his driver's license.

"Lisa, before I took over this planet, this man was a registered sex…he did bad things to kids, okay?" Unity-Steven hesitantly explained, unwilling to articulate his real crime.

"So, what? At least he was his own person," Lisa stated with a hint of hesitation as some of Unity's other thralls approached her and Lincoln to explain themselves.

"This woman was a drug addict on the verge of taking her own life. Now, she's a marine biologist," one of Unity's female thralls stated, clad in their equivalent of a marine biologist's uniform.

"Look Unity, I don't think that my sister is saying that life would be perfect without you," Lincoln interjected, wanted to deescalate the situation, unaware of a small smile Lisa shot him. "She just understands that without you, life would be…life, you know?"

"I think you two don't understand," a different male Unity avatar vocalized as he continued his explanation, albeit with some of it omitted for his young audience. "The…lovers for money are now scientists, the… cop-ticklers have desk jobs, the homeless are now phisosophers."

"Wait, what was that last part?" Lincoln asked in confusion as the male Unity avatar started to stumble and groan.

"Lincoln, don't they look exactly like Lori right before she…?" Lisa discretely asked Lincoln, only for the male Unity avatar to vomit and collapse with the others following suit on the latter, much to their shock.

"Whoa, this is bad," Lincoln stated as he nervously searched around for a phone. "I can call the hospital or…"

"I'm fine!" the Unity avatars quickly stated before they unceremoniously collapsed again, much to Lincoln and Lisa's confusion.

Unity's Planet (City Hall) 9:32 AM

Unbeknownst to the duo, Unity was losing control as they partied with Rick; their thralls consuming more drugs and alcohol than ever before. Rick was hanging out on the couch with Leader-Unity inhaling fractal dust while the elderly scientist drank beer. She formed a flirtatious smile upon finishing and lustfully gazed at Rick, thoroughly inebriated.

"You know why I fell for you, Rick?" Leader-Unity rhetorically asked as she formed a seductive pose on her desk. "You were the only single-minded person I've met that saw the bigger picture."

"I don't doubt that," Rick said nonchalantly as he approached her with a concerned expression. "Listen, this has been fun and everything, but now that we've got some, uh…alone time, maybe we should talk about what you said about the whole taking over galaxies and…"

"Oh, before you finish that, watch this!" Leader-Unity interrupted as she signaled a barrage of missiles to attack a town across the river, which vaporized it instantly, much to Rick's horror as he clutched his head.

"Whoa, what the hell did you do that for?!" Rick asked in shock, which was accompanied by laughter from Leader-Unity and her fellow thralls.

"It's okay! It's okay; I evacuated!" Leader-Unity explained in a fit of intermittent laughter as she gestured towards the town's entire population that escaped the explosion, all of whom reassured Rick they were fine, but that did nothing to curtail to elderly scientist's unease.

"Uh, yeah! That was…totally not disturbing! Uh, Lincoln and Lisa weren't in there, right?" Rick hesitantly said as he nervously laughed. Oddly, he then walked towards Leader-Unity and seductively grabbed her firm butt, which she didn't reject.

"Oh, Rick," Leader-Unity said lustfully.

"This avatar's room, right now," Rick breathlessly stated, mildly to Leader-Unity's confusion, but she quickly followed Rick into the bedroom anyway.

Unity's Planet (Town Square) 9:35 AM

Suddenly, the entire town was suffering from Unity's lack of control, with most of them either vomiting or disastrously failing at whatever they were supposed to be doing right now. The chaos soon reached a nearby construction project with the Unity thrall in charge accidentally dropping a load of girders nearby Lincoln, Lisa, and Unity-Steven. When the dust cleared, Lincoln carefully inspected Lisa before all three got up, with Lisa asking Unity-Steven about what was happening.

"Unity, what's going on?!" Lisa asked in horror, but nothing could have prepared her for what Unity-Steven said next.

"Who's Unity?" Steven asked as he formed a lustful expression. "I love little kids' feet. Mind if I take some pictures?"

"Uh, why?" Lisa asked in confusion as Lincoln protectively led her away from the newly-freed Steven, unsure of his intentions, but wary enough to keep Lisa safe. Unfortunately, they were soon met with an unwelcome sight as every Unity thrall they encountered in town was now vomiting.

"Lisa, you're the smart one, here. What's going on?" Lincoln asked his younger sister.

"If I had to say…for some reason, Unity seems to be losing control over the natives," Lisa deduced as the victims of Unity rubbed their heads when they successfully purged the entity from their system. "Do you…remember who you were?"

"Yeah, my name is Rob Benson. I was an electrical engineer and father of two," Rob groggily answered before he formed a smug smile, ripped off his shirt and declared, "And as you can see from my flat, concentric nipples, a member of this planet's top race!" Upon the discovery of his accurately described nipples, some of Unity's former thralls cheered him on.

"Uh…that's good!" Lisa hesitantly stated as she formed an awkward expression. "Maybe you shouldn't put too much emphasis on the last part."

"My name is Daryl Jefferson. I used to be a landscaper," Daryl fiercely stated before he ripped off his own shirt, which revealed that he had large, cone-shaped nipples. "Death to the ripple-nipples! Long live the cone-nipple people!" Daryl declared, with support from his specific group.

"Shut your goddamned mouths, you knife-nipple bastards!" Rob venomously declared as he and his group stared intensely at Daryl and his group.

"No, you shut up, you target-chested pieces of crap!" Daryl similarly stated as a random male alien from one of their sides yelled, "Race war!"

With that declaration, chaos erupted amongst the newly-freed aliens as they relentlessly attacked each other, with Lincoln and Lisa barely managing to get out of the violent fray in time.

"This doesn't make sense! They're all the same species, so why are they fighting?!" Lisa incredulously asked her older brother, who could only form a worried expression as he embraced Lisa.

"Don't worry, Lisa. Your big brother's seen a few of these already; you'll be safe with me," Lincoln reassured as they did their best to hide from the madness.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the entire city to erupt into chaos with most of the aliens fighting to the death in their race war. Fires were spreading throughout the town and the buildings were in bad shape, mostly due to the efforts of the construction workers. There were countless bodies left to rot or writhe in agony throughout the town, with Lincoln doing his best to prevent Lisa from seeing the death and destruction.

"Lincoln, I never wanted this!" Lisa lamented as she and Lincoln continued to hide behind an overturned car.

"I'm very sure this had nothing to do with you, Lisa. Remember, something's going on with Unity," Lincoln reassured, only for one of the male aliens to acknowledge their presence.

"Hey, what race are you two?!" the alien rioter violently asked as he stabbed an alien from the opposing side.

"We're neither, okay!" Lincoln quickly yelled as he lifted his shirt to reveal his own nipples. Before he could do the same for Lisa, she motioned for him to stop.

"Take my word for it; we both have regular nipples," Lisa answered, unwilling to expose her chest to a stranger, even though she wasn't old enough to start developing.

"Hey, these two freaks have no race! Let's get them!" the rioter exclaimed as Lincoln grabbed Lisa and quickly ran away from the rioters, who were hot on their tail. Unfortunately, the chase soon reached its end when Lincoln and Lisa found themselves in a dead-end alley, with the rioters menacingly approaching them.

"Lisa, I love you!" Lincoln declared as he protectively embraced his younger sister.

"I love you too, eldest brother!" Lisa similarly stated as the two awaited their fate. Thankfully, the two heard a helicopter above their heads, which was quickly followed by a few sets of rope appearing in front of them along with police officers with riot shields to protect the duo. Before they could question the rescue, they were suddenly snatched by the officers and safely taken inside the helicopter.

"Hello, Lincoln and Lisa," one of the Unity-Officers stated as the Unity-Pilot flew away from the town's destruction.

"You two are safe, now," the Unity-Pilot stated, with Lincoln deciding to vocalize the situation.

"Unity, what's going on?" Lincoln asked in confusion and relief.

"Unity, please forgive me! I had no idea that the species of this planet was so full of hatred!" Lisa admitted to one of the Unity-officers.

"It's okay, Lisa; you had no way of knowing," Pilot-Unity reassured as he formed an awkward expression. "I'm just…having fun with your grandpa! I lost a little control, but its not too bad. I shouldn't be driving anything right now, nor should I be…running two-hundred-thousand pediatric hospitals and twelve-million deep fryers, but hey! It's not like any other planet would take me!"

Lincoln and Lisa formed concerned and confused expressions from Unity's explanation, but Lincoln vocalized their feelings. "Uh, shouldn't we get you some coffee, or medical attention, or water on your face?"

"Nah, that's okay. If I wanted to be sober, I wouldn't have gotten drunk!" Pilot-Unity exclaimed as he flew the ship towards city hall.

Loud House 1st Floor (Living Room) 8:32 PM

After stashing Rusty in Lincoln's room, the remaining Loud siblings enjoyed the time amongst themselves as they awaited Lucy and Lori's return. Soon enough, the front door opened and overwhelmed by happiness for Lucy, were ignorant of her angered expression and Lori's concerned one.

"Ooh, tell me everything!" Lola yelled eagerly.

"Are you totes in love?!" Leni asked supportively.

In a fit of anger, Lucy removed her pink shoes before she addressed her remaining siblings. However, rather than yell at them, she merely slouched in disappointment and morosely stated, "No, we're totes not."

"Why, what happened?" Lynn asked in concern.

"I screwed everything up trying to be 'regular and normal' like you guys. I complimented Rocky for something he messed up on, I laughed when I shouldn't have, and Rocky's never going to talk to me again," Lucy glumly explained as she attempted to go upstairs, only for a concerned Lori to stop her.

"Lucy, wait! We're sorry we pushed you so hard," Lori said apologetically, which was met with similar apologies from their remaining sisters. "We went overboard when you said you wanted to be 'regular and normal' like us, but we shouldn't have forced you like that. You're Lucy Loud: a dark, gloomy, utterly wonderful girl and we love you."

"Thanks, Lori, but I was doomed from the start," Lucy admitted as she turned around and lifted her wig's bangs to properly address Lori with what she meant. "With these eyes, I'm never going to pass as 'regular and normal' and no one outside of you guys would hang out with me if they knew."

"Lucy, we've been over this; we don't care about your heterochromia and neither does mom, dad, or Grandpa Rick," Lori said supportively, but that did nothing to dissuade the young girl.

"I know you're trying to cheer me up, but the only good thing about tonight was that Rocky doesn't know about these…and he never will," Lucy bitterly stated as she finally turned away from Lori and started to trek upstairs. "I'm going to bed now, okay?"

Knowing that she said all she could say, Lori allowed Lucy to go back to her room with the remaining Loud siblings, especially Lynn, looking at the depressed girl in concern. Once Lucy was alone in her room, she affectionately petted Edwin Jr., who sense her pain as he lovingly curled up next to her. As such, she was unaware that Lynn had followed her as the young goth girl removed her forced disguise.

"Oh, Edwin Jr., it was my own fault. I knew something was wrong once they started to change me, but now I've lost Rocky for good," Lucy glumly stated as she apathetically threw her wig at the foot of her bed, which made Lynn's heart sink.

"Maybe I took the wrong things from Lincoln's advice. Aw well, I can live with being alone for the rest of my life," Lucy morosely said as she wiped her face and started to change into her pajamas while Edwin Jr. lovingly accompanied her.

"Oh, Lucy. I wish I could say something to make you feel better," Lynn said to herself as she discretely left the door, knowing that Lucy needed to be alone right now.

Unity's Planet (City Hall) 12:35 PM

Once they successfully arrived at city hall, Lincoln and Lisa were escorted by the officers and some of Unity's guards to safety. Unfortunately, the entire interior of the building was littered with drunken Unity thralls, empty alcoholic beverages, and odd piles of green dust that the duo instinctively stood away from.

Before they could talk to any of the higher-ranked Unity avatars, they were escorted to wait on the couch before they could talk to one. Unbeknownst to them, in the neighboring, sound-proof room, Rick was making love to Leader-Unity; the two in the throes of passion. While the other avatars could feel, see, and hear everything inside, they managed to control themselves as Rick had her all to himself.

"Oh, yes! Oh, yes! Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, Diane!" Rick yelled at the top of his lungs as he climaxed, only for Leader-Unity to gasp incredulously and Rick to form an awkward expression when he realized what he said.

"Diane?!" Leader-Unity yelled incredulously as she ran from the covers, only clad in a sheet and on top of their pile of clothes. "You were thinking about her?!"

"Okay, I-I-I know this looks bad, but…" Rick said placatingly as he stood up, only for Leader-Unity's emotions to overwhelm her.

"Just shut up, Rick!" Leader-Unity furiously interrupted as she formed an undeniably hurt expression and turned away from Rick, now with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe this. I can't believe you're doing this to me again!"

"Baby, calm down! Diane's…"

"The real love of your life?!" Leader-Unity bitterly interrupted as she turned to face Rick, her face now wet with tears. "When we first met, I fulfilled every desire I could, but I was too small at the time. A part of me wanted to assimilate this world so that on the off-chance we saw each other again…I could be enough for you."

"Unity, you are enough for me! Diane totally bailed on me and took my son!" Rick argued, but Leader-Unity refused to listen.

"Rick, do you have any idea how it feels to know that I can be everything you want, and your heart still belongs to Diane?" Leader-Unity asked as she turned away again before she venomously asked, "Or how when you met her, you bailed on me the first chance you got and started the family we should've had?!"

"You know that's not what happened, Unity! You w-w-were incredibly possessive, and our relationship wasn't healthy!" Rick countered and then pinched the ridge of his nose in exasperation. "Listen, let's just forget about what I said and…"

"No, you know what? Screw you, Rick!" Leader-Unity bitterly stated.

"I thought that's what we've been doing so far," Rick lightly joked, but Leader-Unity remained unamused. Silently, she made her way to the front door and opened it, but not before she motioned for Rick to take his clothes.

"Leave…now," Leader-Unity coldly stated, which made Rick reluctantly comply as he got fully dressed and walked out with his portal gun in hand. Rick silently greeted Lincoln and Lisa before generating a portal home.

Once Lincoln and Lisa entered, he shared a forlorn look towards Leader-Unity, who retained her cold demeanor. Knowing that there was nothing more to be said, Rick entered the portal with a saddened expression. It wasn't until the portal closed that Leader-Unity lost her composure and broke down crying alongside her other avatars.

Loud House 1st Floor (Living Room) 8:00 AM

After Rick explained where he'd been, while omitting some of the racier details, which included his and Unity's bitter breakup, Rick ordered Lincoln and his sisters to go to bed while he drove the still-unconscious Rusty back home in his space cruiser.

Now that morning had arrived, Rick listlessly ate his breakfast on the couch alongside a despondent Lucy while conversely everyone else ate in the dining room. Interestingly, it also included Rusty and Rocky, both of whom Lincoln had invited after inadvertently bailing on them while he was on Unity's planet.

Once everyone had finished breakfast, Rick included, they all went about their business. However, for Rick and Lucy, that merely included staying on the couch while everyone else was having fun.

"Sigh, my heart feels like its been turned into a black hole," Lucy stated, having confided with Rick as to what happened while he was gone.

"Don't worry about that kind of stuff, Sugar Bat. You're young; you'll have time for better people," Rick reassured as he sighed heavily, still saddened by what happened yesterday.

"What about you? Whatever happened, it's made you sadder than even me," Lucy mentioned in concern, with Rick awkwardly clearing his throat to avoid the subject.

"Let's just say...I have a very good idea as to what y-y-you're going through," Rick answered as he took a swig from his flask.

"Good to know and I understand if you don't want to talk about what happened on Unity's planet," Lucy conceded as she licked her lips in thirst. "Great, now I need some water."

"Good, good," Rick stated as he formed a despondent expression. "I'll uh…be going to the garage soon. I'll meet you in the kitchen, probably."

"See you then, grandpa," Lucy stated as she went into the kitchen. After a few moments, Rick followed her, knowing that there was only one thing he could do to escape from the heartache Unity left him. However, once he arrived, he found Lucy and Rocky conversing, which was enough of a sight that the elderly scientist refused to interfere and watched from the kitchen entrance.

"Uh, hi! You changed your hair back," Rocky said as he held two cans of orange soda in his hands, apparently for himself and his brother.

"Yeah; the blonde doesn't work for me," Lucy replied as she continued her explanation, "I wanted to be more 'regular and normal', but I think I'm better off being myself."

"I'm…really happy to hear that," Rocky said with a warm smile, which Lucy initially didn't notice.

"Thanks. Well, have a nice life," Lucy stated, only for his words to make a connection in her mind as she turned back in shock. "Wait, you are? I'm glad to hear that, but when I tried talking to you as myself the other day, you kept on running away from me. I thought I was freaking you out."

"Honestly, I thought you were too cool for me," Rocky guiltily admitted, now knowing that Lucy had misinterpreted his actions. "I just couldn't think of anything to say, so I just…bailed."

A beat of silence resonated throughout the room as the two children stared at each other, now realizing the truth; they liked each other as they were. The realization made them both form a smile and blush, but Lucy's went away after a few moments when she knew why this couldn't work out.

"Rocky, I'm so glad you aren't freaked out by me, but…I don't think we can hang out," Lucy admitted as she looked away, much to Rocky's confusion as he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Lucy, what are you talking about?" Rocky asked.

"It's just…if you saw the reason why I hide my eyes, you'd run from me; I know that now," Lucy grimly answered, but Rocky remained undeterred as he motioned himself in front of her. Lucy made no attempt to move until Rocky's hands went towards her bangs, which made the young girl flinch in rare terror.

"No, please. You'll…"

"Lucy, I don't know why you don't want me to see your eyes, but I want to see…the real you," Rocky sincerely stated, which made Lucy's blush return and in the moment, made her nod her head as Rocky parted her bangs.

Lucy lightly hyperventilated as she opened her eyes and the second Rocky saw her heterochromia, he gasped in awe. However, Lucy misinterpreted his reaction and quickly closed them shut and turned away from him.

"Oh, dang it! I knew you'd freak out like this!" Lucy lamented in a mixture of anger and sadness. "You think that I'm…!"

"Incredibly beautiful?" Rocky appropriately interrupted, which made Lucy form a small blush.

"What?" Lucy asked in a mix of hope and incredulousness.

"Lucy, your eyes are the coolest ones I've ever seen! I liked you before, but…why would you keep them hidden? They're beautiful!" Rocky innocently stated, only to be unexpectedly embraced by Lucy from his response, much to his confused joy.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Lucy said sincerely as she lightly cried on his shoulder, but the boy hardly minded as he returned her embrace with a warm smile.

As Rick silently observed their exchange, suddenly everything was put into perspective as rather than continue to the garage, he formed a warm smile and sat back down on the couch as he observed the typical craziness of the Loud house in stride.

While he knew there was no chance of getting back together with Unity, the fact remained that because he stuck with Diane for as long as he did, he had been blessed with a son and eleven wonderful grandchildren. Lucy and Rocky's interaction in the kitchen made him fondly remember his early days with Diane, her face eternally imbedded in his mind, even though they'd long since divorced. Knowing that everything would be okay, Rick formed a small smile and nonchalantly watched TV.

AN: And now, time to recap.

Delay of this chapter: honestly, the work I'd been doing the last semester left little time for me to write. I don't think I'll be able to get the next one out soon, but rest assured that I intend to finish this story.

Changing the ending of the Rick and Morty half: I intended to follow it straight, but I wanted to give Rick some backstory about his relationship with Diane, who will be making an appearance sooner rather than later. It also would've been very depressing since this Rick has a good relationship with his grandchildren.

Unity: I don't think she'll be making another appearance and I refer to Unity as "she" because her primary form is female, "they/them" doesn't sound right to me unless its officially confirmed as the pronoun for the character, and I found the canon "it" to be dehumanizing, which I loathe. I also made her a bit clingier to better fit her and Rick's breakup.

Lucy and Rocky: I love their relationship and it'll be something that pops up every now and again, but I know that the ship might not be for everyone. I also thought that it would be a sweet moment for them if Rocky complimented her eyes, so I went for it.

So, rate, review, and I'll be back with the next chapter as soon as I can.

Next time—Chapter 16: Big Trouble in Little Sanchez