The Crucial Miscalculation (Rick and Morty) | ✓

Chapter 3: Making New Friends

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.