Let The Ricks Fall Where They May

Written by Kat_Aclysm
Beta Read by Unlvcrjchick
Rated: - T for language

Disclaimers + Copyrights: This is a work of fanfiction. Rick and Morty is an Adult Swim animated comedy created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, who this author wishes would hurry up with Season 3 already. Where are my episodes, Justin? You have them, where have they gone?

NOTE:Not at all required, but if you want to listen to the songs I'm quoting, I highly recommend it. This chapter has been fixed for grammar and repeats. Reads a little better, too.


You know you can't keep letting it get you down
and you can't keep dragging that dead weight around
If there ain't all that much to lug around
Better run like hell when you hit the ground
When the morning comes

Let it go, this too shall pass

- This Too Shall Pass – OK Go


Chapter 12 – Ricknapped

November 24th, 11:28pm Local Time, 2001
Birdperson's Tree
Bird World, Dimension Unknown


It was official – Rick was totally going out of his mind. Granted, he had never been particularly sane to begin with but this was a new low, even for him.

As the scientist vacantly stared at the wall opposite his workbench, his mind was still reeling from the interdimensional communications that had just been sent to his portal gun. As far as he was concerned, he was totally screwed, done for, out of time. Rick's mind was plagued by all kinds of scenarios and possible outcomes, none of them taking him to good places. He had no idea if the other Rick was interested in killing him or not: what the hell did he want with him otherwise?

He couldn't come up with any conceivable answer whatsoever and it was completely doing his head in.

Rick plugged the portal gun up to charge and set Morty's wooden toys off to the side of the workbench to dry out overnight. He stumbled out of the room again, the bottle of unidentifiable amber liquid in hand, his mind off in another galaxy as he sank down onto the couch in Birdperson's living room. He pulled the blankets over himself and drew his knees up against his chest as he huddled in a ball, staring at the doorway. It was no longer a matter of if something was coming for him, but when and how, and all he could do was sit and wait for it to happen.

Rick began to wonder if the intruder would just come in through the door like a normal person or turn up in some stealthy fashion to take him out like an assassin. He began to ponder what he would do if it was himself in the same situation, but quickly pushed it out of his mind again because he had no inclinations to seek out other Ricks since being told to go away all those years ago.

So much for the non-interference code.

Birdperson paced through the kitchen, as it was getting late and the stove fire needed to be put out. When he noticed that Rick had returned to the couch, he took the opportunity to move over with a bowl of warm soup, wanting to encourage him to eat.

Rick didn't even seem to acknowledge his existence and continued to stare at the door, his gaze distant and faraway. He reasoned that the door seemed like a perfectly logical entry point to him, but quickly concluded that he wasn't really known for being logical most of the time.

"Rick?" Birdperson watched the spiky-haired man carefully as he set the bowl down beside the large dent on his table. "Is your mind still slow? Did you still need more time to warm back up?"

"No. That's done with, BP." Rick mumbled out the answer, his voice completely subdued. He picked up the bottle and took a heavy swig from it, partially out of habit and partially because he wanted to take the edge off his anxiety. He also wanted to shut his mind up, but came to the realization that getting it clear again would be an impossible feat right now.

"If you are confident enough to imbibe once again, you should eat something," Birdperson suggested, "it is unwise to stay hungry for an extended period of time. It is also late. You should consider going to sleep because you have had a particularly long day."

It seemed like a good idea, but Rick didn't respond. He knew that he was really tired but there was no way in hell he was going to get any sleep now; his mind was an absolute jumble of thoughts, terrible plans, and possible outcomes playing over and over again in his head.

Birdperson simply shook his head at him and departed through the front door.

Rick was only vaguely paying attention as he watched him go and his mind launched straight back into deep thought. He knew that there was little point in trying to hide or run away. If the other Rick knew where he was, if he could see him and hear him perfectly well, it didn't matter what he did or where he went; if he wanted him dead, then that was the end of it. His only chance of survival was to load up on guns and defend himself but he couldn't even do that very well because they were still inaccessible to him. It was at this moment that Rick began to wonder if enough time had passed that Birdperson would be OK with him having firing weapons again. Then he decided that it would likely become another conversation he didn't want to have, and he pushed it out of his mind again.

He had to come up with some kind of plan, and fast.

When Birdperson came back in through the front door, he was holding a very tired and grumbly Morty, who had been disturbed from his slumber. The feathery male simply carried the angry little boy over to the couch and set him down on the cushion next to his best friend. "Perhaps this will cheer you back up."

Morty forgot all about what he had been complaining about the moment he saw Rick. He responded to his presence with a loud, happy squeal to greet him and once close enough, he grabbed onto his arm and hugged it as hard as he could, wanting to express how much he had missed him.

Rick barely noticed. He simply kept his arm in place to keep the little boy happy, his attention still glued to the doorway. Morty's presence hadn't done him any good; he was just another unknown factor he had to worry about. Rick had no idea what was going to happen to himself, let alone to the little boy beside him. Whatever would happen, he sure as hell didn't want to subject him to yet another traumatic situation.

"Is something the matter?" Birdperson finally broke the silence. He knew it was an obvious statement; Rick's current mood and troubled expression was definitely not normal behavior but he had to say something, even if nothing useful would eventuate from doing so.

Rick didn't answer initially and reached over to pick up the bottle again, his attention glued to the agitated surface of the liquid inside. "Hey, uh. Thanks for the booze, and... s-sorry for being a dick earlier. I'm in a bad mood, shit's especially fucked up more than usual." He raised the bottle up to his mouth and took a heavy swig from it.

"What do you mean, Rick?" Birdperson stood there, his expression vaguely curious.

Rick was silent for a few moments and his mouth twisted into a very uncomfortable lopsided frown, seeming to have some difficulty reasoning through what he was about to say. "Can... can you remember w-what I asked yo-UURRPPu the other day, BP?" His attention was back on the other, his eyes suddenly locking on him in a hard, serious stare. "About taking care of Morty for me in my absence, I mean."

Birdperson raised an eyebrow, not understanding where this line of questioning was coming from. He said nothing.

Rick was not reassured by his silence at all. "You... you never said yes or no when I asked you the other evening. I remember it clearly, despite being utterly wasted. You were way more concerned with your own planet than the safety my own grandson." His brows furrowed in a deep scowl, insulted by the thought. "So... what's your answer now?"

"What is this about, Rick?" Birdperson's tone was still calm.

"Answer the fucking question, Birdperson!" Rick snapped suddenly, having completely reached the end of his patience. "Stop sidestepping it, i-it's a simple yes or no! Can you do it or not?!"

Birdperson's feathers momentarily ruffled in response, not very much liking the direction the conversation was taking. "I very much doubt that I would be able to do the job justice. I do not think that I would be able to nurture him well. I know for a fact that I would need to seek out appropriate education if he is going to grow up to be anything even remotely like you. But yes, Rick, of course I would take care of your grandson in your absence."

Rick set the bottle back down on the table and released a sharp exhale from his lungs as he sat up again; too many thoughts, too many unknowns. "Good... was that so hard?"

"I need to understand your thought process, Rick," Birdperson told him, "I can see that something is troubling your mind and that there is a lot more to this than you are letting on."

Rick made a loud, sharp, irritated sound as he sat up properly; he knew that Birdperson deserved an explanation but he wasn't sure he could give one when he didn't even know what was going to happen himself. "Just... let me deal with this in my own way. It's nothing you need to worry about, your stupid dirtball of a planet isn't in danger. It's me they want... it's always me, isn't it? I'll never be safe no matter where I go. So... fucking tired of this shit..." He picked Morty up and set him into his lap, feeling particularly uneasy about his presence; he had absolutely no idea what to do.

Birdperson wanted to press Rick for more details, but it was late and his mood had deteriorated far too much for his liking. He decided it better to retreat and left him alone with his grandson on the couch.

Rick leaned his head back, relaxing as much as he could for the time being. Morty made unhappy noises as he moved around, trying to get comfortable in his grandfather's lap. Rick simply ran a hand through the little boy's hair until he fell asleep again, his attention on the ceiling until he finally drifted off to sleep himself out of sheer exhaustion.


When his mind did finally stir awake again, Rick felt Morty move around on his lap, only to climb off him afterwards. When he heard the loud thump onto the wooden floor below, he half expected crying noises to follow it. Instead, he heard high-pitched giggling and cooing; definitely not a predictable outcome. He finally opened his eyes and sat up to observe the strange behavior.

"And w-what the hell do you find so amusing down there?" Rick tiredly grumbled at him, still very much in the process of waking up. "Why are you in such a good mood?" He yawned and moved a hand up to rub his eyes; he hadn't gotten enough sleep and was already irritated.

Morty responded with a singular grunt and stood up, waving his new prize around in the air like a toy; he had found a large horned beetle to play with. He held onto it for a moment before throwing it straight at his grandfather.

Rick raised an eyebrow as he watched it sail over in his direction; the flightless bug harmlessly hit him in the chest and bounced onto the pile of blankets around him. "You little shit. What was that for? You think you're clever, huh?" He sat on the edge of the couch and stared down at Morty, baring his teeth in a grin. "You... you think I'm just gonna let you get away with that?" In another moment he was on the floor beside the little boy and started to playfully poke him in the chest. "Oho, you're going down!" He snickered in amusement as he tickled Morty's stomach.

Morty made loud squealing noises and flopped down onto his back, flailing his limbs in an attempt to make him stop. He didn't know what had provoked this behavior, but he was absolutely loving it.

"Hah, you're so screwed now!" Rick laughed at him and playfully pinned him down so he could assault him with another round. "Take that, y-you... devious little shit!" For a few moments, he tickled the little boy and grinned like mad, entirely forgetting what had been on his mind. After he decided that Morty had enough of it, he sat up again and smirked; that had actually made him feel a little better, surprisingly.

Morty already seemed ready for round two. He was back on his feet again and trying to tackle Rick's arm, pulling on the sleeve of his shirt, making loud demanding noises in an effort to make him play again.

Rick shook his head as he picked him up. "Yeah, yeah, I know you wanna keep at it, but enough horseplay. You smell like shit and we gotta find food. Real food this time, not that nasty crap we've been eating for the last week. It's backed me up and I have no idea what it's doing to you," he lightly poked the little boy in the belly and frowned, "but judging by the way you smell, probably not much, am I right?" He finally got to his feet.

Morty had no idea what Rick was saying but responded with loud, happy squeals and broke into another fit of giggles.

Rick grumbled under his breath as he carried Morty into the spare nest room, his mood already soured by the fact that he had to change yet another poopy diaper; this was his least favorite part about having such a young child around and his opinion was never going to be different. "You want some fruit? This planet's environment is much warmer than where we lived back home. It never snows here." He set the little boy onto the floor and screwed his face up in disgust as he began the task. "There's a wet season and a dry season. Just judging by the torrential downpour yesterday, the wet season has probably just arrived. Which means fruit, which means... not eating bullshit for once."

Once the job was complete, Rick moved to his feet again and slid the wooden toys off the edge of his workbench to grab Morty's attention. "There you go... occupy yourself with those for a while and don't get into the rest of my stuff. And do you think you could, y-you know, poop less often? That would be great..." He huffed as he carried the horrible bundled-up diaper out of the room so he could dispose of it and wash off his hands again.

Morty was back on his feet and immediately picked up both toys. Although neither of them made noise, they had become familiar and he was starting to like them. He knew what the spaceship was for and immediately threw it into the air to make it fly, giggling at the loud sound it made when it crashed back down onto the workbench. He wasn't amused for very long however, and had already decided that he wanted his toy back. When he attempted to climb the chair at the table, he realized that he was still too little to get very far and began to growl in frustration.

It was then that something much more interesting caught his eye; there was a bigger object shaped just like the one he was still holding, but there was a bright green glow coming out of it. Morty's eyes quickly followed the extension lead connected to the device and he began to pull on the cord, remembering that the same strategy had worked with the CD player he had broken the other day. With another short tug, the portal gun was freed from the power cord and it clattered down onto the floor at his feet, making a loud, popping discharge as it went completely dead.

Rick had already heard the noise and was promptly back at the doorway, glowering at the sight before him. He reached Morty in two strides and towered over him, his hands on his hips, giving him the most unimpressed expression he could muster. "Seriously? What the fuck, Morty?! I'm not even gone for a minute a-and you're already in my shit! What did you do this time? What did you do!?" He grabbed the portal gun and began checking it over for signs of damage. "You really can't be trusted with anything, can you?"

Morty made a loud whimper in response and crash tackled his grandfather's legs in an effort to appease him. He really hadn't meant to break anything and began to cry, sobbing into the fabric of his pant-leg.

Rick ignored him this time; as far as he was concerned, the little boy needed to know he'd screwed up. "I-I tell you not to touch something, you do it anyway. I tell you to stay put, you run away. And here you are all over again, touching my stuff even though I told you not to... are you actually TRYING to piss me off, Morty?" He growled at the little boy as he sat down at the desk and opened the portal gun to inspect the innards. After another moment, he had reconnected the mains power to the device and the portal gun began charging all over again. It was behaving completely as normal; the only real problem seemed to be that the battery had gone flat.

It had never been a particularly decent battery to begin with and the scientist knew it. It was composed of nothing more than a cheap, lithium-ion cell that had been repurposed from another device years ago. It was obviously near the end of its working life as well; its ability to retain charge had been deteriorating in more recent years and he knew it would have needed replacing at some point anyway.

Rick released a heavy sigh from his lungs and leaned back in the chair; he needed to calm down, but he was relieved that nothing worse had happened. "You're lucky you didn't break it..." He grumbled as he resumed scolding the little boy, though his voice was far more gentle as he spoke this time. "This really isn't funny anymore, Morty. Seriously, I'm really trying here, but... I-I need your help, I'm out of options. What's it going to take? How can I make you learn what's unacceptable and what isn't?"

Morty wasn't listening and continued to cry louder; he'd completely lost it.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it... you're sorry. I know, little buddy, I know." Once the portal gun was back together, he set it aside and pushed it well out of harm's way. "You're too young to understand how important my portal gun is to me, but holy fuck... you KNOW you're not supposed to touch my shit. You know that. Why won't you learn?" He reached down to pick Morty up again and held him over his shoulder, patting him on the back in an attempt to soothe him. "And you know what's worse? Now its completely dead... you just wasted about 8 hours of charge, which means it has to start all over again. I hope you like fruit, Morty, because that's what we're going to have to go get now. Thanks a lot!"

Once the little boy was quiet, Rick set him back down beside his chair and began loading supplies into his backpack in preparation to go out for the day. Everything he had with him yesterday was still too wet to use, so he loaded Morty into the silly cloth sling that Gresharak had given him earlier. Once he was ready, he hauled the backpack over his shoulder and set out on his way.

Rick had decided to leave the portal gun on the work table; it was flat so he had no use for it anyway. It still needed more tweaks before he would be completely satisfied with it and he also figured that he wouldn't need it just for a simple walk in the wilderness. This would soon turn out to be one of the worst decisions he would ever make, and it would be the last time in his life that he would ever go anywhere again without it.


Although Rick had been caught out in the storm yesterday, just seeing the aftermath in the community near Birdperson's tree house made him realize how fortunate he'd been in finding shelter. Gnarled, twisted trees and broken branches blocked many parts of the walking trail ahead and storm damage was just about everywhere he looked. Several of the houses high above were broken or falling apart and the people of Bird World were still cleaning up the mess that had been left behind. Some of the people in the community were also grieving over lost loved ones. Rick could only be glad for the fact he wasn't part of the death toll and briskly headed into the wilds beyond the village, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he tried not to think about it, Morty happily chattering to him in his nonsense language from the baby sling at his front.

He had no idea what time it was but didn't care; he was hungry and had needed to get out of the house. On top of all his other thought processes, he was reminded that both himself and Morty needed a more long-term strategy if they were going to keep moving forward. Now that he finally had his portal gun working again, he could do whatever he wanted, but he still had no idea what to do about Morty's future; he simply hadn't thought that far ahead. While the thought of raising the little boy all by himself was not something he wanted to consider, the longer he went on, the more and more likely it seemed.

It wasn't sitting well in his mind.

Rick had no confidence in his ability to take care of Morty; in the mere space of a week he'd upset the little boy more times than he cared to remember and he'd even lost him along the way. He believed he was already too screwed up to be useful in managing himself, let alone somebody else. Although he loved the little boy more than reality and the universe itself combined, Morty deserved so much more than he could offer. He felt a harsh stab of guilt in his chest and put his head down, trying to push it out of his mind again as he kept following the pathway.

Rick had only been walking for about another five minutes when he heard the flurry of wing flaps overhead, and rolled his eyes in irritation as he witnessed Gresharak land nearby. He noticed right away that she was by herself and although he found that observation a little odd, he didn't want to comment on it because that involved talking to her. He didn't even acknowledge her presence and kept walking along at the same brisk pace.

"And where do you think you are going?" Gresharak called out to him, having to rush as she caught up to walk alongside the pair. She waved to Morty and smiled as he squealed back at her.

"You again? Great... w-what the hell do you want now?" Rick grumbled in her direction, trying to sound as uninterested as he felt. "I'm just going for a walk here, I wanted to spend quality time with my grandson. You know... quiet time? As in, just me and Morty. Which means not you, s-so... go away. Is that so much to ask?"

"No, it is not. I promise that this will be a quick conversation," Gresharak replied, "I saw you from the tree tops and had to come over. The color of your plumage is unmistakable and I could recognize it from anywhere."

"It's hair, get it right. Sheesh..." Rick grumbled, bringing a hand up to scratch his head, running a hand through his mess of spikes; it didn't improve his hairstyle but then again nothing ever did. "Ridiculous, unmanageable, stupid hair that I can't do anything with."

The feathery female seemed amused. "I am glad to meet with you again. I must say, I am also glad to see you on your feet so soon. I never really did get the chance to properly thank you for protecting my daughter through the storm."

Rick stopped in his tracks, making a point of glaring hard at her. "Look, don't bring that up again, i-it's nothing. If you want to thank somebody, thank your kid. She was the one that kept Morty warm." He fumbled with his backpack for a moment and pulled out the bottle of amber liquor to take a swig from it. "S-she also actually listened to instru-URRRPPctions, so they survived, mostly because of her. So go away and tell her she's a smart kid." He moved past her and resumed his brisk walk, putting his head down so he didn't have to look at her anymore. "In fact, why don't you do that... l-leave, I mean. Because I don't want to talk to you. Did that ever occur to you? No?"

"I am never going to be able to properly thank you for what you did," she quickly told him, "and I mean that. I just wanted the opportunity to tell you. Also, I wanted to see how you were feeling because I would be lying if I said I was not worried."

"Look, Gr... whatever-the-fuck your name is... I don't care." Rick was growling at her now. "Don't even ask me to attempt pronouncing your name because I don't speak your native tongue and I don't want to sound like an idiot trying to. I'm not an idiot, do I look like one? No."

Gresharak whistled thoughtfully. "Ah, that all suddenly makes sense."

Rick raised an eyebrow at her. As much as he didn't want to continue the conversation, he didn't understand and it had already managed to annoy him. "Wh-what does? What the hell are you even talking about?"

"You do not pronounce my name because you are physically incapable of it. You called my daughter 'feathers' and she has not been able to stop talking about it since. You have also done the exact same thing to the one you call 'Birdperson'. So tell me, Rick Sanchez, what would you call me if given the choice to name me whatever you wanted?"

"I don't know," Rick shrugged, "Big-Ass Momma Bird?"

Gresharak stared at him for a moment, only to break into a fit of loud screechy laughter. "I like it!"

"I really don't care..." Rick huffed back at her as he kept going, simply wanting to get away at this point. "You're wasting my time... do you want to be useful? Point me in the direction of the nearest fruit tree and go away!"

"Oh, did you hear the news?" Gresharak promptly caught up, walking alongside him again. "The entire plantation was destroyed in the storm. The crop we were growing for the year has died."

"Well, shit," Rick hissed, gritting his teeth, "I guess foraging is the next option." He tapped Morty on the head with an index finger. "See, look what you did! This one's on you, y-you deserve to starve for screwing up so bad. And just think, if you had left my portal gun alone, we could be eating fancy-ass sugary pancakes on some distant asteroid by now, either that or we could be..."

The scientist trailed off as his attention turned skywards; there was a strange buzzing sound in the air. Gresharak must have heard it, too, for she was also looking around, just as confused as he was.

"What is that?" Rick came to a halt once more, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the immediate area around him. "I've visited your stupid planet a billion times and I've never heard anything like that. Is there something going on that I should know about?"

"I have never heard it before." Gresharak quickly told him. "At this current point in time, I know about as much as you do."

Suddenly, a large insect accompanied the sound of the buzzing as it hovered ten feet over their heads, its wings loudly humming like a small helicopter. Everything about it was unnatural compared to the other bugs in the local ecosystem; it was easily five feet from head to stinger and looked very much like an overgrown bumblebee right down to the segmented spiked legs and fuzzy fur layer growing across its midsection. Instead of yellow and black stripes, it had uneven, shimmery, emerald-green and dark-grey striped splashes of color all the way down its abdomen. Its front set of legs were also modified, looking very much like a deadly set of overgrown, hooked, praying-mantis scythes.

Rick stared at the new arrival, his eyes narrowing even further as he watched it hovering in the air above him. Another insect soon accompanied the first, though it was smaller and far more vibrant in color than its peer. The scientist had absolutely no idea what either of them were but he already knew he didn't trust them; he had never been particularly fond of insectoid creatures to begin with and his run-ins with the Galactic Federation had only cemented those sentiments.

At least they didn't look anything like bureaucrats.

"What the fuck are those?" Rick grunted sharply, his attention practically glued to the insects overhead, waiting to see what they were going to do next. "I didn't know your planet had bees that big."

Before either of them could say any more, both insectoid creatures landed on the walkway ahead and began to buzz back and forth at each other as if involved in a heated discussion. The larger insect suddenly closed in on the scientist, its segmented eyes locked on him in a hard, expressionless stare. It raised its massive set of claws up and pointed them at him as it resumed its chattering buggy language, its spiracles hissing on each exhale; it certainly wasn't a friendly gesture.

Rick took three hurried steps backwards, suddenly feeling anxious and vulnerable all over again; this time he hadn't even thought to bring the hunting knife along with him. He was completely unarmed and worse, he had Morty with him. The little boy had already picked up on his uncertainty and began to cry, frightened by what was happening.

"We do not have anything like these insects on Bird World. I do not know what they are." Gresharak replied, becoming increasingly worried as she watched the spiky-haired man's behavior; she had never seen Rick so nervous before and if somebody like him was worried it was definitely a bad sign. "What are they?"

"The hell makes you think I know?!" Rick snapped back at her. He took two more steps backwards and feverishly looked all around his immediate location, his mind racing through probable escape routes. "Well... I can tell you one thing... this is very bad. Can you... no, y-you need to take Morty. I need you to get him as far away from here as fucking possible." He began to hurriedly undo the baby sling, holding Morty firmly in his hands once he had gotten it off. "Just... just run for it, OK?"

"What do you mean?" Gresharak's reply was quiet and nervous now.

"Look, don't worry about me, just get him out of here!" Rick growled as he launched Morty into the air, throwing him at her. "He's only going to make noise and slow me down!" He sprang backwards as one of the giant scythe-claws took a sudden swing in his direction. "Your planet doesn't have bees... why the fuck did it have to be bees?!"

"I do not understand, Rick. What in the world is going on?" The bird mother made a loud screeching sound as she clumsily caught the little boy, who began crying even louder.

"Just," Rick clutched at his hair spikes in pure frustration, "get the hell out of here! How many times do I have to tell you?!" He was about to add more, but when he heard the unmistakable sound of a portal open up somewhere behind him, he was already backing up, his attention still glued to the insectoid creatures as he turned on his heels and broke into a sprint. "Fucking get out of here! RUN!"

And just like that, he was running for his life all over again. The thrum of loud buzzing filled the air once more and drowned out the natural sounds in the area as more of them poured out of the portal in an angry swarm. Rick couldn't tell how many of them there were as he dashed off the pathway and disappeared into the thick underbrush in the attempt to lose them. He sprang over broken plants and fallen tree branches as his feet squelched across soggy ground, still very much wet from the downpour. When the first insect swooped him, he punched it between the eyes and kept going.

"You're gonna have to try harder than THAT, fucker!" Rick hollered back at the insect as he extended his middle fingers to it.

He quickly regretted the gesture as a second insect landed hard on his back, knocking him straight off his feet, sending him crashing to the ground in an uncoordinated tumble. A third insect immediately pounced and held him down, followed by a fourth, then a fifth, and then too many to count as they swarmed him. Tiny little claws began painfully digging into him as they grappled onto their prey, pushing him further down into the mud as they pinned him down, rendering him completely helpless and unable to move.

"Fuck..." Rick growled as he tried to lift his head, though a small three-toed clawed foot quickly put a stop to that. His face was stomped straight into the cold, soggy mud below, and he hissed in discomfort as it got straight into his eyes.

He couldn't see a thing even if he wanted to thanks to the sheer mass of insects surrounding him. Rick froze at what he heard next; there was a voice somewhere overhead and nearby that sounded exactly like he had just spoken himself.

"Well well, B-526, look at you." There was a pause. "You're late."

"What the... what the fuck do you want with me...?" Rick managed to growl back at him.

"I'm curious, do enlighten me," the other Rick completely ignored his question as he stepped towards the mass of insects, a wide victorious smirk on his face, "what are you even doing with yourself out here, Rick? You're pathetic. Did you at least have a nice time gallivanting around the forest with your... what is it... hippie bird friends?"

"Where are you going with this? Get to the point already!" Rick growled out the response. He attempted to wiggle out from the mass of insects, but was promptly rewarded with another clawed foot to the face. "Fuck, t-that hurts! Get these things off me!"

"Wow, not much of a conversationalist, are you?" He snapped his fingers and pointed to the immediate ground at his left. "Get over here."

The cluster of insects behaved like perfectly trained dogs as each one silently moved off their target. Not a single sound or movement was made once they had formed an orderly line directly beside their master.

Rick wasted no time sitting up to wipe the mud out of his eyes. "So what was the point of that?" He forced himself to his feet and began to brush the mud off his clothes. "What do you even want with me?"

Now that he could see again, Rick made a point of glaring hard at his assailant. The other Rick looked just like him and yet was wrong somehow. He had even wilder spiked, powder-blue hair than he did that seemed to defy gravity, and was just quietly standing there in a freshly laundered coat with short tails, a pair of small, rectangular-framed glasses sitting squarely across the bridge of his nose. He looked incredibly annoyed, but also cocky and far too proud of himself. On the right side of his coat was a caduceus staff pin, and on the left was a rounded, silver, three-pointed star with a capital R in the middle of it.

Rick recognized the symbol on the left, but the silver logo completely eluded him. Although he wanted to ask about it, there were far more pressing questions on his mind. He also didn't know what the other Rick was going to do and simply stood there, silent, his mind already torn in two directions: whether to attack or make a break for it.

"You're late... I told you not to be late, Rick." The newcomer decided to speak first as he folded his arms. "I'm so ashamed of you. You're setting such a bad example in punctuality for your Morty."

"You leave Morty out of this! This has nothing to do with him, it's me you want, right?" Rick balled his hands into fists and took a singular step forward, not seeming to care anymore that the other Rick still had his army of bees.

"Oh wow, really? Are you actually serious about that?" The other Rick laughed at the aggressive gesture. "Don't do something you're only going to regret. You're not that stupid, are you?" He made a soft noise of mockery and shook his head. "Look, I've been fair here, so this one is on you. I gave you ample opportunity to come of your own accord. I gave you the exact coordinates to my location, I gave you the time of day. Hell, I even waited for you but you didn't come. You decided to ignore my request and... what are you even doing out here?" He tilted his head slightly, his eyebrows rising in mock disappointment. "Picking fruit, was it?" He pulled a large ray gun from the inside of his coat and began to play with it in his hands. "I hope that was worth missing our appointment."

Rick wanted to ask him all the questions that had been on his mind, but found himself in a silent, tense stance, his attention locked hard on the gun.

"This is always my favorite part," the other Rick practically purred out the words as he pointed the ray gun at one of the insects beside him, "watch them realize how badly they've fucked up and then watch them either shit themselves, o-or laugh at their pathetic attempt to get away. Let me tell you something, B-526," he raised the ray gun up once again, this time pointing it at Rick's chest, "you ignored my summons, so you're coming with me now. I always get what I want."

"Huh, so that's it?" Rick growled at him. "Are you going to kill me or not? Get it over with if you are, I-I only ask that you make it quick."

"Hah, no." The other Rick smirked and raised his head, a toothy, arrogant smirk growing wide across his face. "You honestly think I'm going to kill you? Well maybe not initially, at least... that would be boring." A soft laugh came over him and he seemed to be having too much fun with the position of power he currently had over the other. "Where's your portal gun, Rick? Where did it go?"

"It's... i-it's back at the house..." Rick lowered his head, deeply scowling now. He knew he'd made the wrong choice in leaving it behind, but it angered him that the other Rick was making a point of telling him how badly he'd screwed up.

"Lesson one," the other Rick cocked the ray gun into the fire ready position, "don't leave your portal gun at home. Repeat, do NOT leave home without your portal gun. I hate repeating myself but it seems that you're so stupid, maybe I need to say it twice, hmm? Just in case you didn't hear it the first time."

"Fuck you!" Rick snapped at him.

The other Rick waved his finger, making small noises of mockery at him. "Ah-ah-ah, Rick. Fuck you? Don't flatter me. Hah, it's 'fuck me'. Don't worry, you'll learn it all before too long... we'll teach you how to behave properly."

Rick narrowed his eyes in response, saying nothing this time.

Before either of them could say any more, a sudden barrage of white-hot plasma fire rained down from above and four of the insectoid creatures suddenly collapsed, completely lifeless, emerald green fluids and visceral chunks spewing out of the smoldering holes that had just been made in their head carapaces.

"Ugh..." The other Rick seemed more annoyed above anything else. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I took too long, right? Here comes the fucking cavalry." He began to fiddle with the settings on his ray gun and began firing at the sky. "What a pain in my ass."

Rick turned his attention skyward; Birdperson and four other large, winged males sailed overhead, armed to the teeth with rifles, guns, and other assorted weapons. He took the opportunity to lunge at the other Rick while he was distracted and tackled him to the ground, immediately trying to wrestle the gun out of his hands. The other Rick promptly retaliated and they began to struggle against one other in a flurry of limbs and fists, the other Rick soon getting the upper hand by slamming Rick hard in the stomach with both of his knees, knocking the wind out of him completely.

"Wow, didn't know you had so much fight in you. Good for you!" The other Rick promptly shoved him off and got to his feet once again. "Say goodnight, Rick." He aimed the gun and fired, the gleeful smirk returning to his face. "Sorry, but you lose this time."

Rick felt a sensation of intense burning fire through his entire body as the ray bolt struck him in the chest, stunning his senses. He had already been down, but this was just adding insult to injury.

The other Rick simply laughed as he stood over his captive prize. "Don't fuck with me. You'll learn that before too long, too." He pulled a small metal collar device out of his coat pocket and clipped it around Rick's neck, his voice suddenly becoming uncharacteristically gentle and sympathetic once he had snapped it shut. "There you go, you don't have to fight it anymore. It'll be all over before you know it, don't you worry."

"...why?" Rick finally managed to force out the singular word. The ray-gun fire had hurt enough, but the energy resonating from the activated collar was even worse. He felt waves of electricity coursing through him as the collar disrupted the electrical pulses in his nervous system, rendering him completely frozen in place, paralyzed from the neck down.

"Yawn. I always did hate theatrics, you know... of course you would ask that." The other Rick rolled his eyes, his attention back on the sky as he fired shots at the bird people overhead. "This wasn't the best option, but what else was I supposed to do? Y-you didn't exactly give me any other choice here." As he fired at the other bird people in the sky, a sudden grin came over him as he took out two of them with one shot. "Zing! Oh yeah, still got it, baby!"

Rick could only lie there helplessly as the other Rick shot down the remaining bird people. When he saw Birdperson go down, all he felt was a deep sense of regret wash over him; they had been fighting for him, but he wasn't worth it.

The other Rick seemed incredibly pleased with himself after he had taken out the remaining members of the sky patrol. "Well, there you go. Not too much carnage this time," he turned his attention back down towards his captive, seeming unhappy for just a moment, "hey, I know what you're thinking. But don't worry, they're not going to die. Had to neutralize all the potential threats in the way of the primary objective. You understand that, right? Give them about an hour; they'll be flying around again before you know it."

Rick didn't respond; he simply stared off into the distance, feeling completely hopeless. He couldn't move, he couldn't do anything; he felt defeated in every sense of the word.

The other Rick dropped the ray gun and his hands were a sudden flurry of activity as he motioned sets of instructions for the remaining insectoids. "Go find his Morty and take his portal gun. This charade ends NOW."

Rick made a pathetic noise in his dismay, utterly powerless to do anything about it. His attempt to run, to fight, to do anything at all had been in vain. All he could do was lie there and wait, his mind completely aware and tormented in the fact that more of the same was about to happen to the bird woman, and then to Morty.

He couldn't have felt worse if he tried.