Chapter Text
Morty glanced from his Rick to the one walking right beside him. He and Rick had actually gone on an adventure with another Rick and Morty.
Well, he supposed that wasn't entirely accurate.
He and Rick had come to this planet looking for a specific alien ore and, apparently this Rick and Morty were also looking for it. So, after a LOT of begging from both Mortys, the Ricks begrudgingly agreed to work together.
They were now wandering through a forest, looking at the base of a cliff for any caves that might have the ore they were looking for.
Morty gasped as he ran into Rick, who'd suddenly stopped for some reason, and he peered up at his grandpa. Rick glanced down at him and held a finger up to his lips. When Morty heard a growl come from somewhere ahead of them, he realized why they'd stopped. Something was stalking them from the trees.
Nobody moved for a moment and the silence around them was broken by soft growls. Morty G-89 took a nervous step back, his hands shaking, but stopped when a twig snapped loudly under his foot.
And just like that, all hell broke loose.
The bushes exploded in a flurry of leaves as a wolf like creature jumped towards them. Rick shoved Morty out of its path as he and G-89 opened fire on it.
Morty's foot caught on a root as he stumbled back from the force of the push and he let out a yelp as he fell backwards against a nearby tree. He cursed under his breath as he cut his hand on the rough bark and felt something twist in his wrist as he landed awkwardly. However the pain wasn't too bad, so he ignored it as he listened to the fight a few feet in front of him.
One final loud shot rang out, followed by a whimper, and Morty watched as the creature fled with its tail between its legs. It was both scorched and bleeding, covered in burns from what had undoubtedly been a plasma gun and cuts from a bladed weapon of some type.
Morty cautiously poked his head out from behind the tree and, when Rick nodded at him that it was indeed safe now, he quickly hurried over.
"Woah, th-th-that was f-fucking..... fucking crazy!" Morty G-89's voice was shaking, either from fear or excitement, and he also appeared to have a few superficial cuts from whatever hiding spot he'd chosen.
"What was that thing?" Morty had never seen such a creature before and, had it not been trying to kill them, he would have found it kind of cool.
"A Canidae wolf. Usually hunt in packs, so that one must have been sick or something." Rick scanned Morty over to make sure he hadn't been bitten or scratched by it, but he could only see a mild cut on his hand that had likely been attained during his fall. Morty didn't seem bothered by it, so Rick didn't bother bringing it up.
"You good, Morty?" G-89 also checked his Morty for injuries and was satisfied when he couldn't find anything wrong. He turned his attention to C-137's Morty, who was bleeding from his hand. "Hey, kiddo. You're hurt."
Rick G-89 scanned C-137's Morty with his cybernetic eye to see where exactly the blood was coming from and he read over the analysis as it displayed.
Subject: Morty Prime
Condition: Injured
Injuries: laceration to left palm, minor sprain in left wrist-
Wait a fucking minute.
Rick G-89 had to read that over again to make sure he hadn't misread it and his eyes flicked from the heads up display his cybernetic eye was showing down to Morty, who was looking out into the forest with disinterest.
Rick G-89 had only agreed to this tentative team up with Rick and Morty C-137 because he'd assumed it would be safe, but the most dangerous Morty of the multiverse was now standing in front of him. He had to wonder if this was a trap, if this Morty was leading them all somewhere secluded to slaughter them all. It seemed like something he would do. It was then that he made up his mind. He'd just have to kill this Morty before he killed them.
"Are you going to heal me or not, cause it's cool if you don't wan-" Morty let out a surprised gasp as a hand suddenly closed around his bicep and jerked him closer. "Hey!"
Rick immediately turned at the sound and, panicking as he realized Rick G-89 was now pointing a gun at Morty, reached into his labcoat for a weapon of his own. His fingers didn't even get a chance to close around the gun. Something struck him in the arm and, as soon as he collapsed to the ground, he knew Rick G-89 had shot him with a paralyzer. "What the fuck are you doing? Get your hands off my grandson."
Rick G-89 felt bad for this Rick. He clearly didn't know his Morty was Morty Prime. He'd make it up to this Rick afterwards by getting him a new Morty. "I hate to break it to you, buddy. But this isn't your Morty. This is Morty Prime, Rick Prime's grandson."
Rick was suddenly struck with understanding. This Rick clearly found out Morty was from the Prime Dimension and suspected he'd infiltrated Rick's family for some nefarious purpose. He couldn't help rolling his eyes, one of the only things he could do in his paralyzed state. "Duh, you think I don't fucking know that. Can you let him go now?"
That had been the wrong thing to say because Rick G-89's eyes grew wide with shock before narrowing in anger. "You fucking knew, asshole? I brought my Morty with me cause I thought he'd be safe here. What if this psychopath had killed him?"
He jerked Morty closer and sneered down at him, ignoring the hurt expression on his face. "I've heard the rumors about you. They say you're just as bad as your grandfather."
Morty wasn't sure whether to be impressed or terrified. He obviously knew there were plenty of rumors floating around the multiverse about his own Rick.
He was known as Rogue Rick, Loner Rick, the Rickest Rick.
And everyone knew who Rick Prime was, but to find out that there were also rumors about Morty going around?
That was news to him.
He was hoping to salvage this though. Maybe he could lie his way out of this the way Rick would. "N-no, I'm.... I'm Morty C-137."
"You lying little shit. I scanned your fucking injuries. Your dimension label might lie, but your blood doesn't."
Unfortunately, that was true.
Rick had been able to alter his scannable dimension number, but Morty's blood was a surefire way to identify him as a member of the Prime bloodline. He definitely wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of this one.
"So what, you just gonna lead us into some cave and kill us when our backs are turned?"
"NO!" Morty's eyes widened in surprise and he frantically shook his head. He glanced from the Rick's furious expression over to the Morty, who had backed away from him in terror. "Where the hell did you get that idea?"
"I won't let you kill us, Prime."
Morty could hear Rick shouting his name, but all he could focus on was the barrel of the plasma gun pointing at him. He flinched when Rick G-89 cocked the gun and he knew he'd be killed if he didn't do something. Rick wasn't going to be able to protect him this time.
Morty brought his knee up, right between Rick G-89's legs and jerked away when his arm was released. The plasma gun had been dropped and Morty immediately lunged for it, backing away as he pointed it at the Rick.
"I knew you were going to kill us." The Rick glared up at him from the ground, where he was curled up and clutching his injured groin.
"I'm only going to kill you if you make me." Morty jerked his head towards his own Rick and kept the gun trained on G-89. "You're going to go un-paralyze him and then he and I are leaving."
"I don't take orders from you." Rick G-89 was in a tight spot. He was certain he could steal the gun back from Prime, but he was going to have to be quick. He could survive being shot once, but he probably wouldn't be able to survive anything more than that, given how close in proximity they were.
"Get up and do what I fucking said. Now!" Morty could see movement in the corner of his eye and he turned the gun on the Morty, who'd begun approaching him. "You'll stop right there if you know what's good for you."
Rick G-89 took his chance and leapt up from the ground, reaching out towards the gun. He'd just managed to lay a single hand on it, before Morty realized his mistake and elbowed him in the gut. Rick G-89 knew he fucked up as soon as he doubled over. The gun was pointed at him again and, just based on the wild look in Morty Prime's eyes, Rick knew he was about to die.
Morty didn't hesitate.
He pulled the trigger three times in rapid succession, each shot hitting the Rick square in the chest, and he stepped back when the Rick collapsed dead against the ground. Morty turned around to ask Rick if he was okay, but a body suddenly slammed into his own. Morty grunted as he painfully collided with the ground and he winced as fists started hitting him.
It was Morty G-89.
"Y-y-you piece of.... piece of shit. You killed him! YOU KILLED MY RICK! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
"Get off of me!" Morty planted a foot in the center of his counterpart's chest and kicked Morty G-89 off of him. Before the other Morty could scramble to his feet for another attack, Morty pistol-whipped him in the temple and knocked him unconscious.
"Morty, buddy?" Rick wasn't entirely sure if Morty had lost control of his repressed rage or if he was in control and simply defending himself. There was no way to check while he was still paralyzed. "Are you alright?"
There was blood covering the gun and Morty's hands and he was quick to drop the weapon, frantically wiping his hands on his jeans. Morty stumbled over to his grandpa and collapsed next to him, letting out a long tired sigh. "Geez, what a couple of assholes."
Rick had never been so terrified before. He'd been so afraid that Rick G-89 would kill Morty and he wouldn't be able to do a damn thing to stop him. But Morty had managed to fend him off and even kill the Rick. He had never been more proud of his grandson than he was right now. "Hey, buddy? Can you take this paralysis chip out of my arm?"
Morty looked down and pulled the device out of Rick's arm, inspecting the small chip before tossing it away.
As soon as he could move, Rick pushed himself off the ground and pulled Morty into his arms. He could feel just how badly his grandson was trembling and he ran a gentle hand through Morty's hair.
"I.... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill him." Morty glanced back over at the Rick's body, grimacing at the pool of blood that was forming under it. He hadn't been lying. He truly hadn't wanted to kill the Rick, but he'd had to go and do something stupid like lunging for the gun.
"Shhhh, it's alright, little Junebug." Of course, Morty was blaming himself for this. Rick didn't expect anything less from him. After all their adventures together, Rick knew how Morty's mind worked by now. "It's okay. You were just defending yourself. Do you want to go home now?"
"What about them?"
Rick honestly didn't give a fuck about them. If Morty wasn't with him, he would have just left them where they were, but he knew his grandson would be pissed if they did that. So he set the destination for G-89 on his portal gun and opened a portal under the Rick, then dragged the Morty over to the portal as well. Once the portal closed, he reset the destination to their own dimension and helped Morty up from the ground.
Morty looked over his shoulder at the pool of blood that'd been left behind, but his view was immediately blocked when Rick slung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into his side.
"Come on, Junebug. Let's go home."