The world came into focus around his grandson's familiar face. It took Rick a second to remember why he looked so young, but as soon as he did, he jolted awake. "Morty!" he exclaimed in a croaked panic. "How did you get in here?"

"The vents," Morty answered as he tugged on Rick's arm. "Come on, we need to get going before they come back."

Rick groaned as he forced himself to sit up. Every breath felt like a stab in his chest. He knew his ribs were broken, but he'd worry about that later. "You need to go, Morty," he instructed. "I'll escape on my own."

"You can't do this alone, Rick!" Morty exclaimed in frustration. "They're going to sell us! My best chance is to stick with you."

"Well these assholes didn't chain me up," Rick grunted. He tried to push himself up further, but his muscles wouldn't hold his weight, so he fell back to the floor. "Morty, I'll think of something. But I can't move. I can't protect you. You need to go."

His grandson glared down at him, and Rick wanted to curse him out for getting the both of them into their current situation. If the idiot hadn't tried to be the hero, then they would be dismantling this operation Rick's way, but things hardly ever went Rick's way when Morty was involved. "They took my weapons, Morty," he pointed out. "What would you suggest I do?"

Morty shook his head in annoyance. "You have thousands of nanobots in your bloodstream, so why can't you heal?"

"Because the electric shocks di- disabled them," Rick explained. "They need time to restart."

"Then I'll buy you time," Morty decided. He stood and walked back to the vent.

Out of sheer panic, Rick was able to drag himself into a sitting position. "No, you're gonna get yourself killed," he snapped.

As Morty pulled himself back into the vent, Rick was surprised by the strength of his tiny body. "If you die, I'll kill you myself," Rick threatened as his grandson crawled out of sight.

"Hold tight," Morty ordered, and Rick rolled his eyes. As if he could do anything else. He sank back down to the floor and closed his eyes. Morty was a brave, resourceful kid with outstanding anger issues. He just needed to have faith that his grandson could pull off whatever the hell he was planning.

After crawling through the vent all evening, Morty's whole body was on fire. Adventures with Rick tended to be physically exerting, so this was nothing he wasn't used to. Luckily, the aliens hadn't moved Rick's weapons from the entrance. The problem was that two of the aliens were rummaging through his stuff with curiosity. Morty may have been reckless, but even he knew that he couldn't just burst from the vent and take them. Exhausted, he laid along the vent, trying to think of a plan.

Suddenly, his mind was brought back to a room full of other Mortys, all trapped and scared. Though they outnumbered their oppressor, the fear kept them from fighting back. Morty pushed himself back onto his hands and knees. He knew what he had to do. He needed to be the One True Morty once again.

He crawled his way back to the large room where the other children were being held captive. If he could get to Greg, then the other boy would help him. He slid the vent cover open and began to search the room for his friend. When he didn't see Greg, his heart dropped. "Where's Greg?" he called out into the room, fearing the answer.

The children looked up at him from their fearful huddle, turning all their hopeless eyes on him. "He's gone," one girl answered. "They took him."

Morty's chest clenched painfully, but he knew he had to act fast if he wanted to save Greg. "And they're going to take us all!" Morty responded. "That's why we're here! They're going to sell us off to the highest bidder!"

Some of the children clung closer to each other, and most of them started to cry. "But we're not going to let that happen!" Morty continued, and their attention was back on him. "There's more of us than there are of them, so we're going to take them down! Understood?"

Fear turned into determination on each face as the children began to stand and shout in the affirmative. Morty wormed his way out of the vent and jumped down to the floor, landing awkwardly on his ankles. He brushed the pain off and turned to face the tiny army. "Grab that bed," he ordered, and a group of the kids rushed to hoist it over them. "Take down the door," Morty added, and they obeyed. Screaming, they charged at the door, ramming the bed into it. The wooden door shuddered as the kids crashed into it again and again until it swung open.

Due to the sheer momentum of the child-made battering ram, the alien on the other side of the door was trampled. The rest of the kids rushed into the entrance, each stamping on the alien as they passed by. Before joining the others, Morty checked the limp body on the floor. He was dead.

The other alien had been pinned against the garage door by the bed being pushed by the other children. Morty rushed over to Rick's arms stash. He strapped a very large gun to his back and picked up another. It was heavier in this body's hands, but Morty still took aim and fired. The red surge of energy coming from the barrel pushed the alien flat against the wall. He could hear the crunch of bones before the alien crumpled dead onto the bed.

"Find the others," Morty instructed. As the kids began to examine Rick's guns, he charged up the stairs. It was much easier than making the vertical climb up the cramped vent. His breaths came in rough and jagged, and sweat soaked his skin and clothes. He felt wild and feral, like a predator ready to rip apart their prey piece by piece.

He didn't pause once he got to the third floor. Rick's screaming filled the hall, and Morty sprinted in that direction. It was easy to locate the source to one of the plain prison cell doors. Morty held the gun up and with a twitch of his finger blasted the door off its hinges.

Morty paused for a moment, taking in his surrounding. Greg laid limp on the floor but still breathing. Rick was on the floor too, spasming under an electric rod held by another alien. He lifted the rod and turned to run at Morty, but Morty fired again, and the alien splattered against the opposite wall.

Rick groaned and reached a weak hand out to Morty, who set the gun down and rushed to Rick's side. He took his shaky grandpa's hand in his own. "We're okay now, Rick," Morty said softly. "It's time to bring everyone home."