A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews!
Morty's fear was quickly replaced by a strange kind of excitement. They weren't alone. They could still be saved. Maybe these people would find for Rick what he needed to make another portal gun. But they could also kill them. Or torture. Or both.
Morty swallowed hard staring at the sun and stars above his head. He wasn't quite able to decide if he was terrified or stupidly hopeful.
Morty felt like they were being dragged for eternity. He was thankful for Rick's coat since it not only was the only thing stopping him from freezing to death but it also prevented the net from encroaching into his skin. Rick still looked composed even though his hand was resting on his gun which he was clearly trying to hide from their kidnappers.
Eventually the strangers stopped, moved a few things around and continued pulling on the net. Suddenly the sky above Morty's head was replaced by complete darkness. He started panicking but one look at Rick's face convinced him to stay silent.
A few minutes later a bright light appeared blinding Morty. When his eyes finally adjusted to the brightness he noticed people all around them, staring at them in complete silence and what seemed to be utter shock. They looked mostly like humans but there was something about them reminding Morty of zombies.
Their eyes were wide open and their whites slightly yellow. Their skins were either grey or green. Most of them were bald while some had disgusting wounds instead of hair. Morty was even able to notice few with visible mutations, like third hand growing out of their stomach or a completely messed up face.
He swallowed hard wondering why they looked the way they did. The strangers stopped moving and took off their masks revealing equally damaged faces. One of them, a muscular man with an additional nose on his forehead pulled away the net from their bodies staring down at them as if they were rare animals displayed in the zoo.
Rick immediately stood up and only them Morty noticed that they were in some kind of cave with no furniture, just big rocks that were apparently supposed to be chairs for them. Rick dusted off his clothes and looked over at the people. "We come in peace." He began putting his gun on the ground in front of him. "My name is Rick Sanchez and this is my grandson. We kind of got lost on the way, so would anyone tell me what planet it is?"
The stranger raised his eyebrows, looking both afraid and confused. "This is Earth."
"Oh, shit." Rick said, seeming horrified. He looked over at Morty and then back at the man. "Ugh…then…is this how it's supposed to look like or did someone mess up?" He asked folding his arms over his chest.
Morty slowly lifted himself up feeling his heart pound loudly in his chest. His hand was still wrapped around the gun but no one seemed to care about that. "Is this some kind of joke? Who are you and why do you look like that?" One of them asked, looking around in confusion.
"Congratulations. You've just met the smartest man in the universe." Rick said bitterly reaching for his flask, clearly more out of instinct than anything else. His face barely scrunched when he remembered that it was empty. "I know it may come as a shock to you but I have the ability to travel through different dimensions…" He paused for a moment but the stranger remained silent. "It is beyond your comprehension, isn't it?" Only then Morty noticed that Rick's hands were just barely shaking and he was slurring a little. "God, Morty. Why did you have to get us to a world where people don't know the basic concepts of physics?"
Morty could only imagine that he was acting so strange because he was craving alcohol so much. He hoped they would return home soon. "What happened?" Morty asked dumbly looking at all the terrified people.
"You will speak with the chief." The double-nosed man said nodding his head, as if making that decision required a lot of wit.
Rick kept looking at him with half-closed eyes, clearly unimpressed. "Fine." He said. "Come on, Morty. It's time to take this shit over." Morty looked around but it seemed like no one was taking Rick's threat seriously.
As they walked through the cave people kept moving away from them, as far as they possibly could. Only the double-nose didn't seem to mind not keeping his distance. Looking over at his grandpa Morty kept seeing how uneasy he was, how he was trying to hide his shaking hands deep in his pockets.
They reached a wide hole in the wall, covered only by a massive rock. "Your architecture, man. It's really something worth seeing." Rick said sarcastically but double-nose didn't seem to get it as he just nodded his head in acknowledgment and proceeded to remove the rock.
Morty watched as in a matter of seconds the rock was gone and double nose was standing next to it and breathing heavily. "The chief will see you."
"Don't say anything." Rick said immediately. "Just let grandpa do the talking and stay back." He looked over at their guide and then lowered his voice into a whisper. "And you know…be ready to make use of that when the time is right." Rick said glancing down at the miniature gun still held firmly in Morty's hand.
"Ugh…okay." Morty murmured looking around uncertainly, half-expecting some kind of disgusting creature to jump at them. He didn't want to use violence against anyone but he was desperate to get back home and away from this rotting place. Killing someone didn't seem so out of question anymore.
They entered the hole to find a place unlike what they had seen until then. The place looked actually quite cozy. Colorful mushy carpets were on the ground and this part of the cave was fully-furnished with real chairs, tables and even some paintings on the walls.
In the corner was placed an armchair with an old man sitting on it. He did look slightly better than others but his skin was also in a light shade of green and his eyes were sunken and lifeless. "So yeah, we are two people from…from far away and we come looking for help." Rick said approaching the old man.
Before he replied Rick's arm was grabbed by double-nose and he was held back. "Bless your holy soul, chief." He said in a servant-like manner ducking his head before the old man. "We have found these two strange creatures on the surface…they seem…different. They weren't protecting themselves with any masks."
The old man nodded his head slowly, watching them closely with his half-closed grey eyes. "What brings you here, travelers?"
Rick rubbed his face tiredly. "Listen to me, you old prick. I don't care how you made this world so fucked up but I just want to leave…just leave this goddamned place…"
Seeing as Rick was struggling with words Morty knew it was his time to step in against his grandpa's instructions. He cleared his throat loudly gaining everyone's attention. "I think what my grandfather is trying to say is that we don't want to cause any trouble." Morty said plastering a fake smile onto his face. The old man seemed untouched by his words so he kept going. "We just want some help from you? Maybe?"
"You weren't wearing masks." The chief said matter-of-factly.
Morty shared a look with Rick. "No, we weren't. But we're fine. See?"
"You may feel well for now." Double-nose said. "But you'll die in a matter of hours."
Morty's eyes went wide. "Ugh, what?"
The old man looked at double-nose for a brief second before looking back at his guests. "What were you thinking just walking through the desserts without masks? What were you expecting to happen?"
"I don't really care about that." Rick said harshly. "What I care about is getting the fuck out of here. With your help or without it."
"I'm afraid there's no point in us helping you and wasting our resources on people that will die soon." The chief said joining his hands together. "I'm sorry but this is how life works."
Once again that day Morty felt like his whole world was falling apart right in front of his eyes. He wanted to cry like a baby and curl on the floor but when he looked into Rick's eyes he noticed some kind of spark that made him believe that his grandpa had a brilliant plan that would save them from dying.
"Morty." Rick said his name calmly. his eyes darting towards Morty's gun. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he held up his shaking hand and aimed the gun at the old man. Under different circumstances he would beg Rick to do something else, to try to convince him but when their lives were on the stake, he couldn't hesitate.
Out of desperation and hope he pulled the trigger and watched as a small hole appeared on the man's forehead. "What the fuck, Morty?" Rick asked turning to his grandson. "Why would you do something so dumb? You just killed someone that could potentially save us!"
Morty looked down at the gun and then back at Rick, feeling anger start buzzing through his body. "You told me to do this, you hypocrite!"
"I didn't tell you to shoot the guy's head off. I thought you were smart enough to understand that I just wanted to threaten him. God, Morty. It's like working with a baby." He walked over to the body of the chief and started going through his pockets.
Morty looked over at double-nose. He stood frozen in place with a mask of fear on his face. "You want to end up like him?" Morty asked doing his best to sound threatening while pointing his small gun at him. The man shook his head quickly. "Good. T-then from now on you d-do as we say, a-alright?."
"There it is!" Rick said pulling a glass bottle from under one of the tables. He opened it and took a long sip scrunching up his face. "It's god-awful. No wonder you all are like a bunch of lifeless turds." He leaned against the table looking relaxed and more at ease. "Now be a good boy and tell us what the hell is going on in this place. Why does the Earth have two suns?"
"The smaller one is not a sun." Double-nose said softly. "It's actually a spacecraft."
"I see you've decided to stop playing dumb for a change. Nice. Real nice." Rick said.
"We've been invaded by aliens?" Morty asked still pointing the gun at him.
Double-nose nodded. "Almost a hundred years ago."
"What about the disease that makes you look like God's biggest mistake?" Rick asked taking another sip.
"The whole world is toxic." He replied looking down at his feet. "We have to live under the surface but it doesn't really change anything. If we breath in the toxic air we die in a matter of hours. Like you will. But what kind of life is this anyway?"
"A pathetic one." Rick said looking around. "Okay. I think I might have the solution for this illness. But I'll need some things first. If you bring them to me I might be able to help you."
"I…" Double-nose trailed off, his eyes darting over to his dead leader.
"Don't think about it. I'm giving you the chance to rebuild your civilization and fight off the aliens. I think the answer's pretty simple." Rick put away the bottle, walked over to Morty and basically pulled off the coat from around his body and put it back on his own. "We need to get to work immediately since apparently we have only a few hours to work out a cure. I will give a list of things I'll need you to bring."
After a few minutes of explaining double-nose was on his way. As soon as he was gone Rick laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. "What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be working on finding the cure?"
"Illnesses are not complicated, Morty. I could work out the cure in like…three minutes? So excuse me while I take a nap." Rick said.
"Then why would you send that guy for all those things?" Morty asked folding his arms over his chest.
"Because I still need to build the portal gun, dummy. Do you want to get out of here or not?" He asked.
"Yeah, but…" He trailed off, knowing what was the right thing to do but still having trouble admitting it. "Shouldn't we stay and help them get rid of the aliens?"
"This is not our war, Morty." Rick said calmly. "Right now we need to leave this dimension as soon as possible since we're extremely easily traceable."
"What do I do then?" Morty asked.
"I don't care." Rick replied, clearly wanting to get rid of his grandson as soon as possible. "Go meet people. Bang some chicks. Do whatever you want."
Rick closed his eyes and sighed deeply indicating that the conversation was over. Morty looked around the room, at the dead man still sitting on the armchair and at all other things that reminded him of home but also were the proof that everything he loved could be destroyed in an instant.
He looked towards the big hole through which they had come through. It was time to meet new people.