The sky above this scrapyard world was a swirling mess of rust-colored clouds, and the ground beneath me was a nightmare of jagged metal shards and half-functioning robots twitching in the heated—gas filled dirt. It wasn't the worst place we had been in, but it was up there.
Rick scanned the area ahead, his eyes sharp as ever. "Alright, Morty, the materials we need are dead ahead. Should be a quick grab-and-go—assuming we don't get jumped by the local junkyard thugs."
I tightened my grip on my portal gun, already assessing the odds. "Yeah, well, knowing our luck Rick, I'd say there's a ninety-nine percent chance we do get jumped."
Rick scoffed, taking a swig from his flask. "Oh, come on, Morty. What's life without a little danger? Keeps the blood pumping. Now stay sharp, we're not exactly sneaking into a bakery."
We moved through the wreckage, stepping over piles of twisted scrap metal and dismantled android limbs. The distant buzzing of malfunctioning generators vibrated through the air, punctuated by the occasional explosion from deep within the scrapyard. The place reeked of burnt wires and ozone.
Something didn't sit right with me. Our surrounds being completely devoid of life despite the environment is suspicion and looking around it was as if things were already moved and looted.. "Rick, this feels like a setup."
Rick smirked, already cutting into the rusted-out supply station with his laser tool. "That's 'cause we're just that good, Morty. Now quit worrying and help me pry this panel open."
I held up the metal while he worked, the smells of different metals filling my nostrils. Within moments, the sheet metal clattered open, revealing a stash of rare alloys and circuits.
"Jackpot," Rick muttered, stuffing his and my satchel with everything he could carry. "Told you this would be a walk in the park, let's hurry and head back before your mother locks us out permanently. "
I was still wary of our surrounding. Hearing a creak my eyes darted around the junk piles as I muttered, "Rick, I think we've got company."
Rick barely looked up. "Right on schedule."
Figures began emerging from the heaps of wreckage, scrap-covered thugs with makeshift weapons, their bodies reinforced with rusted cybernetic enhancements. But what really caught my attention were the sleek, glowing red lenses strapped to the sides of their heads, scanning us like we were data entries in some intergalactic hit list.
The leader, a towering brute with a metal jaw, cracked his knuckles. "You ain't from around here, are ya?"
Rick rolled his eyes. "Oh, great, a territorial scrap gang. Look, buddy, we're just here for the parts. No need for the whole 'tough guy' routine."
The thug leader grinned, revealing jagged metal teeth. "See, that's the problem. Everything in this yard? It belongs to us. And that means you're stealin'."
I groaned. "Rick, can we just portal out of here?"
Rick waved me off. "Nah, Morty, this is a prime opportunity to blow off some steam. Besides, we're not leaving empty-handed."
The gang leader let out a mechanical growl, raising a spiked club. "Wrong answer."
The scrapyard erupted into chaos. Rick moved fast, pulling out his modified plasma gun and firing precise shots that melted weapons and fried circuits. I stayed sharp, using cover to my advantage and taking down opponents with well-placed portal shots, no need to use the collar against fodder. Besides I couldn't be reckless as I used to be eery move had to have a purpose.
Rick ducked under a swinging pipe, countering with an explosive round that sent his attacker flying. "You see that, Morty? That's what teamwork looks like!"
I fired over my shoulder, blocking a thug trying to flank us. "Yeah, yeah, teamwork! Now less talking, more shooting!"
Despite the numbers against us, which were around 50 to 2, we were winning. Covering each other's blind spots, moving with an almost practiced ease, it was one of those rare times Rick and I actually worked in sync.
As the last of the thugs fell back, Rick dusted off his coat. "Alright, let's get outta here before more of them show up."
I wiped my brow, nodding. "Sounds good to me."
Reaching into my bag, I pulled out Rick's freeze ray I'd brought with the rest of my tools in my satchel and held it out. "Here, thought you might need this."
Rick's expression shifted, his eyes narrowing slightly as he took the weapon. "Since when do you carry my gear?"
I shrugged. "I prepared for a worst-case scenario. You always say it's good to be prepared, right?"
Rick scoffed, holstering the freeze ray. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you just—never mind."
For a second, I thought he was going to push the issue, but he let it drop. I rolled my eyes. "Can we just go now?"
Before Rick could respond, a loud beeping sound echoed from the distance. I turned, eyes locking onto the gang leader and the few remaining thugs standing atop a scrap heap. The scanners on their heads whirred ominously, pulsing with a red glow as they locked onto us.
Something about it clicked in my brain—this felt way too familiar. The way those devices lit up, the way they analyzed us… it was just like those scouters from Dragon Ball Z. Only this time, they weren't reading power levels; they were reading us, every move, every potential weakness.
Rick's face darkened. "Aw, hell. Morty, those scanners aren't just for show."
The gang leader grinned. "Oh, you have no idea what you're dealing with."
The beeping intensified as Rick reached for his portal gun.
The beeping crescendoed into a piercing wail, and before I could react, Rick grabbed me by the collar, yanking me behind a pile of rusted plating just as a blast of crimson energy scorched the ground where we stood.
"Morty, move your ass!" Rick barked, firing off a few plasma shots. They dissipated against an energy field surrounding the gang leader, the red glow intensifying with each shot absorbed. "They're using adaptive tech, every hit just makes em harder to kill!"
"Then let's portal out of here already!" I shouted, unconsciously ducking as another energy bolt seared past me.
Rick clenched his jaw, eyes darting between the attackers and me. But instead of pulling out his portal gun, his eyes locked onto something else, my wrist. More specifically, the collar. It pulsed faintly, its glow matching the red of the enemy scouters.
"Morty… what's going on with that thing?" His voice was sharp, but not yet accusatory.
I glanced down at the collar, frowning. "What? The collar? I don't know." Said slightly out of breath from running watching as it glowed.
Rick's face twisted in suspicion. "Oh, yeah? Cause it looks an awful lot like it's reacting to those scouters. And you wanna tell me why that is?"
I hesitated. "I don't know Rick? Just focus on escaping." I shot back, my frustration rising.
"Yeah, because it wasn't synching up with enemy tech like a damn hive mind!, Bullshit!" Rick snapped.
I scoffed. "Come on, Rick, I would know if I was compromised! You really think I'd be able to argue with you right now if I was?"
Rick's eyes narrowed. "Would you? Maybe it's subtle. Maybe it's just nudging your instincts, making you think it's all you. You ever consider that?"
"Oh, so now it's a crime to be competent?!" I said. "Rick, listen to yourself. You think I planned ahead, got better at fighting, and started using my brain more because some random piece of tech is controlling me? You always tell me to be prepared—well, here I am! You don't trust me because I actually started thinking like you?"
"I don't trust whatever's got its hooks in you!" Rick growled. "Weather its the collar or those scrap idiots until I know for sure you're not being puppeteered, I'm not bringing you back to earth."
We both halted in our tracks. A deep silence passed between us, even as the scrapyard burned around us.
I gripped the portal gun in my hand tighter. Then, without warning, Rick lunged.
I barely dodged as he activated a suppression field, sending a shockwave through the air where I had just stood. My instincts took over—I fired a portal at the ground beneath me, dropping into another location behind cover. Rick wasn't playing around.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be, Morty!" he shouted, his voice bouncing through the wreckage.
I gritted my teeth, pressing my back against the charred remains of a tank. "Maybe because you're trying to take me out instead of the real enemy!"
I heard the unfamiliar whir of Rick's speed boots, and I barely managed to roll aside as he reappeared, firing off a burst from his plasma gun. The shot skimmed my arm, searing through the fabric of my jacket. I bit back a cry of pain.
"You've got one shot to surrender, Morty!" Rick barked, reloading. "Otherwise, I will force you, your only proving my point by fighting back!".
I panted, gripping my arm. "I can't believe this… you really don't trust me. You'd rather fight me than listen!"
Rick hesitated just for a second. That was my opening.
I shot a portal beneath his feet, sending him plummeting a few stories down into a pit of crushed droids. I knew it wouldn't hold him long, but I needed time. Without it i couldn't calibrate the portal gun to go further.
I ran.
Pain pulsed through my arm, but I pushed forward, dodging between flaming wreckage as the gang leader's forces closed in. Their scanners were still trained on me. They wanted me—why? What the hell did they see in me that Rick couldn't?
"Morty!" Rick's voice rang out again, this time from above.
I looked up just as he reappeared, his arm cannon glowing with raw energy. He wasn't hesitating anymore.
I barely managed to portal away before his blast annihilated the ground where my legs stood. I reappeared on top of a scrap heap, trying to catch my breath. My mind was racing.
Rick wasn't going to stop.
If I didn't do something, he was going to kill me.
I clenched my jaw, fingers hovering over my emergency beacon in my scorched satchel . I didn't want to do this. But I had no choice.
I pressed the button.
The sky above the scrapyard split open as one of my Morty Arms cargo ships broke through the clouds in record time likely just completing a delivery, engines roaring . The gang members below scattered as the sheer force of its arrival sent waves of dust and debris flying.
Rick landed in front of me, panting, his weapon still raised. "You planned this?"
I glared at him. "Like you said, Rick. I'm learning."
For a moment, I thought he was going to finish me off anyway.
Then, the gang leader roared something in a foreign tongue. Before either of us could react, his scanners flared one last time—and then, a massive energy beam lanced through the battlefield.
Pain exploded in my side. No—my arm. luckily the one without the collar.
I held in my scream as my left arm was vaporized, the searing pain unlike anything I had ever felt made my mind more than I believed it could. The world blurred as I staggered back, barely staying conscious.
Rick's eyes widened. "Morty—!"
I forced myself to move. Blood poured from my shoulder as I stumbled toward the cargo ship's descending ramp.
Rick reached out. "Morty, wait!"
I turned back, eyes bloodshot filled with hurt. "No, Rick. You figure out what the hell you just did."
Then, before he could stop me, I stepped onto the ramp. The ship's doors closed between us, sealing me away from my grandfather.
And for the first time, I left him behind.
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Author Note:
(For those who read my other fics sorry im gonna be refocusing on my miraculous and rick and morty fic thanks for your understanding)