There he was. My new Rick.
He promised you this would be your last night in the Citadel. Something as absurd of a sentence as that would've been taken lightly by you, but his voice reassured you.
He will be your new Rick.
The barracks beneath the commonground are rank with the smell of sewage. Sounds from above trickle down from the plaza like ghosts, and you can't help but reach up towards the slivers of artificial sun from the world above. A world you've never seen.
You close your eyes.
He promised me. You think, smiling. I'll be free.
Something in your voice sparks a doubt. You don't truly believe it yourself, but you can do nothing but cling to hope. You repeat the same sentence over and over again, smiling until the corners of your mouth became sore, and the aura of sewage around you begins to fade. Then, the door opens. Your eyes snap open.
"N-not again." You stutter. The happiness fades away, leaving the tarnished soul to stare at the silhouetted figure in the doorway. The hall stretches into infamy. A sea of hands stretch beyond your vision like a cape to the menace glaring straight at you. It's another Morty. A real Morty.
"Morty-C105," The Morty calls out, walking towards you with a blank stare.
"My na-n-name isn't-"
"Your name is Morty-C105, known commonly as Fake Morty." He speaks with a slight grimace that pounds your heart deeper and deeper down into your chest. A beat of silence passes and you try to stretch that moment into an eternity. No use.
"The Council has decided you will be passed into the custody of Rick-C188."
Your heart pounds a million beats a minute.
He was right.
The Guard Morty grunts under his breath and moves to your shackles. You hear a click that rings louder in your ears than in reality as time becomes sluggish. Freedom. You are pulled down by gravity for the first time in what seems to be a lifetime. Your knees hit the cobblestone floors and splash a light cascade of sewage onto your bare, bruised chest, but you barely pay it mind.
"Up." Guard Morty commands, adding pep to his monotone voice. The cold barrel of a rifle is pressed to your back. You rise, barely recognizing the blaster trained on you. A push gives the signal to walk, and you do, clearing the doorway and beginning the trek down the infinite hall.
Purple flame licks the moss-ridden walls but you stay fixated on the doorway at the end.
"P-please!" A dazed Morty cries to you from his cell. You see his hands jut out at you from behind the bars. Your mind blurs the majority, but you recognize his fingers are bent in awkward angles. The guard behind you silences him with a quick blow to his arms.
Closer. Closer. This is finally it.
"I'm free." You mumble through dry lips. A stream of tears break out from eyes you thought could no longer cry. The door is nearly within reach now. Then, from the right of your vision, a face emerges from the darkness of an unmarked cell.
"You're a real idiot, ya know?"
That voice strikes a chord in your mind. Time freezes, permanently now. You stare at the door, just barely a breath away. Freedom is so close. Then, a sharp blow knocks you to the floor, followed by a warm liquid that pools around your nose. Blood. Laughter buzzes around you. You pull yourself to a kneeling position and reach for the door. Another blow.
The guard continues to laugh. He pulls your near-lifeless body up and begins to drag you away from the door. Away from freedom. The hands behind the bars twist and transform into mouth and eyes that tease you.
"Nice try, kid."
"Almost there."
"Awwwww, so close."
So close…
This was the third time this week.
The smell of sewage returns. You're back in the stone room. The sound of chains clink as your heart breaks into a million pieces. The Guard Morty walks in front of you and kneels down. His smile is twisted, as always.
"So close this time buddy. Maybe one day you'll be fr-"
Your ears go numb. Something warm coats you like a dark mist. Blood, but not yours. The Mortys'. You open your eyes slowly to see the guards face. His eyes are wide, staring into the abyss. He falls to his side. A new face comes into view.
Him.
"It's okay. M-Morty." His voice is soft. "Everythings gonna be okay."
You believe him. You try to nod, but the weight of your spinning head pulls you down, and down, and down. Darkness.