Trials In Love And Space (Billford)

Chapter 29: Axolotl

The Axolotl god floats serenely through the vast expanse of their realm, a shimmering sea of stars and swirling nebulae forming the backdrop of the Theraprism. They were used to the ebb and flow of energy, the constant stream of souls and beings passing through their cosmic care. Some, like Bill, were more challenging than others, but even his chaotic presence had become familiar over the years.

They move gracefully between the shifting dimensions, overseeing the delicate balance of their prison-therapy hybrid. But as they drift deeper into their domain, a ripple in the energy catches their attention. Something… wrong.

Axolotl pauses, their glistening body shimmering with blue and pink hues, their eyes filling with concern. A new form had entered their realm. That wasn’t unusual—but this one is different. It's empty.
Then there is another form, two of the same.

They move closer, focusing on the new arrivals. Bill’s human body floats there, suspended in the Theraprism’s energy, perfectly intact but utterly devoid of its essence. His consciousness, the spark that made him him, is missing. The same has happened to the other body as well - Stanford Pines's empty mortal form.

The Axolotl’s many eyes blink in unison, the luminescent glow around them intensifying. “WHAT...?” they whisper to themselves, their soft voice still reverberating through the ether. This isn’t supposed to happen. Bill had been permanently changed into this human form. His entire being should be here, not just this shell. And why is Stanford's body here in this same, empty state?

They swirl around the lifeless forms, their long, translucent limbs shimmering with an urgency they hadn’t felt in eons. “WHAT IS GOING ON?” The question echoes into the vastness, unanswered.

Axolotl’s thoughts race, concern mounting. Stanford and Bill are too important for this to be a simple error. They had to find out where the rest of them are—and more importantly, how to fix this.

Without hesitation, Axolotl summons their power, their radiant glow brightening as they prepare to search every corner of existence to locate the missing piece of Bill and Stanford. Whatever had torn them apart, whatever forces were at play, they would uncover the truth.

And they would ensure that the fate of these beings hadn’t just been derailed by something far more dangerous. Something that was powerful enough to transport souls to other bodies. If the two had just been killed, their bodies wouldn't have shown up here.

Axolotl knows it's their responsibility to make sure all of their released patients are living changed lives and not disrupting the very fabric of time and space for their own gain. This could be Bill's doing, but Axolotl doubts that - Bill has been so happy, so content with his new life.

They swim through time itself, a swirling tunnel of past, present, and future, all entangling together. Pinpointing Bill's essence in all of time and space and dimensions would be tricky for anyone else, but Axolotl has had millenia upon millenia to practice, and so they find the moment they are looking for almost immediately.

Entering the moment, they can feel this is an anchored point in time - something Axolotl will not be able to change.

As they take in the surroundings, their multiple eyes flicking in different directions at once, they see the person who is responsible for many of their grievances throughout time and space - Rick Sanchez.

Axolotl's external gill stalks frill and spread outward in anger. They should 'pop' Rick Sanchez out of existence once and for all, though they know they're not allowed to just because the being has gotten in their way, personally, in some annoying instances.

They watch as Rick leaves a very realistic holographic version of himself on the token counter and flashes into the past. Axolotl watches the two times simultaneously as Rick bumps into Ford before his past self comes into view a split second later. During the bump, he steals the portal gun that's strapped to Ford's hip and vanishes again. Now, a third time appears in Axolotl's sight - Rick in his garage messing with Ford's portal gun.
"Sloppy craftsmanship...blue?...triangle?...dumb homage to his fucking stupid demon husband. I'll fucking kill them both." He grumbles out as he angrily tinkers with the device.
Axolotl can tell it's actually a very sophisticated machine that Ford has created, especially for the people in his dimension, but Rick is angry. Axolotl has seen the dumb things he'll do when he's angry like this.

"MORTY!" Rick calls loudly, and then Morty appears in the doorway from the house into the garage/lab.
"What?" The boy asks, crossing his arms over his chest in an annoyed way.
"I need you to go put this back in a guy's pocket. He looks like he's about to raid an intergalactic Hot Topic. Don't let him know."
Morty rolls his eyes but catches the portal gun when Rick tosses it to him. "This counts as one of your adventures."

"Fine! Whatever! Just do it!"

A fourth scene appears in front of Axolotl - Morty following his grandpa's orders.

The boy appears in the arcade in the second scene, now linking the two scenes. "He went to Blitz n Chips without me?" Morty grumbles angrily as he looks around and spots Ford with Rick, putting an arm around his shoulders.

In scene three, Rick is drinking, a lot, and recording some sort of explanation video. Axolotl gets the gist of this and closes the first scenes like tabs open on a computer screen.

They watch as Ford's attention is on Rick while Morty carefully replaces the portal gun back into the man's hip holster.
Axolotl reaches into the event and takes the portal gun once Morty has left. They bring it out and in front of them, letting it float in the expanse of space before them. The black and blue triangular gun grows in size until it's proportionate for Axolotl, allowing them to stick their tongue out and lick the gun like an ice cream cone. In that moment, Axolotl simultaneously understands how the gun was made by Ford, what Rick did to mess with it, and how Axolotl can fix it to their liking - which they do.

Their external gill stalks wave in space, almost like Axolotl is under water as they flick their tail, causing the portal gun to shrink back down quickly and return to Ford's holster.

Maybe Axolotl hadn't been able to fix the gun exactly to their liking, but it would do. They couldn't undo what Rick had done since it's an anchored event, but the god could give the two beings a way out of the predicament. The two souls will have to figure it out, it won't be easy, but Axolotl hopes they can do it, they've become quite invested in these two, thinking of Bill as their greatest achievement within Theraprism.

The amphibian god swims away from these scenes, moving back through the time tunnel to locate the reality that now holds Bill's and Ford's essences.
Once they find it among an infinity of others, they stop, curl up comfortably, and watch the events unfold.

How dare Rick think he can just do these things with no consequences, Axolotl is fed up. They would find a way to punish him.

In the meantime, they need to make sure Bill and Ford are going to be okay. Well, didn't need to per say, but they did for their own peace of mind.

Rick thought he was so smart, sending these two into hell, playing on the irony and keeping them in disarray. He was just lucky that for the development of the timelines, his actions became an anchored event or Axolotl would have reversed the whole thing.