The war room was buzzing with the hum of machinery, the air thick with the smell of burning wires and the faint glow of various holographic screens displaying dimensional maps and energy signatures. Rick, Morty, and Summer were bent over the central console, their eyes glued to the latest readings as they worked to design countermeasures against the council's tricks. Data scrolled by at an almost dizzying speed, and Rick's hands moved in a blur, tweaking the settings on their latest devices.
Despite the flurry of activity, there was a question that had been nagging at Rick since their encounter with Vaxon, a question that wouldn't let go no matter how much he tried to push it aside. Finally, as the silence between them grew too loud, he decided to confront it head-on.
"Morty," Rick said, his tone uncharacteristically serious, eyes fixed on the young man in front of him. "I've got to ask—why the hell didn't you use your powers against Vaxon? I mean, you've been sitting on all that untapped potential, all that raw energy, and you didn't even try to fight back with it."
Morty froze, his fingers pausing mid-gesture over the console. For a moment, he didn't look at Rick or Summer; his face was carefully blank, as if he was bracing himself for something he'd been dreading. Summer's eyes flicked to Morty, concern knitting her brows together, sensing the tension that suddenly filled the room.
Rick pressed on, his voice a mix of frustration and curiosity. "You've got the power to bend reality, to manipulate dimensions, to go toe-to-toe with the worst the multiverse has to offer. And yet, when Vaxon was right in front of you, when you had the chance to level the playing field—you did nothing."
Morty's jaw clenched, and he finally looked up, meeting Rick's eyes. There was a flash of pain in his gaze, a vulnerability that was rare for Morty, a hint of something deeper he'd been hiding. He swallowed hard, then took a deep breath, seeming to draw strength from within before he spoke.
"It's not that simple, Rick," Morty said quietly, his voice rougher than usual. "There's something I haven't told you. Something I've been keeping from both of you."
Summer straightened, her concern turning into full-blown alarm. "Morty, what are you talking about? What's going on?"
Morty didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached up and slowly unzipped his jacket, peeling it open to reveal a part of his chest. There, just below his ribcage, was something that made both Rick and Summer's breath catch in their throats. It was a wound—a deep, dark gash that pulsed with a sickly, unnatural glow, almost like a star gone wrong, its edges twisted and raw, radiating a faint energy that seemed to defy the laws of reality.
Morty's voice was steady, but the pain etched in his expression was undeniable. "This is why I didn't use my powers. This wound—it's not just a physical injury. It's a rift, a tear in the very fabric of my being. If I lose focus for even a second, if I stop using my power to hold it together, I'm dead."
Rick's eyes widened in shock, his face paling as he stared at the wound on Morty's chest. "Morty, what the hell… When did this happen? How did this happen?"
Morty's gaze flicked between Rick and Summer, both of them looking at him with a mix of horror and disbelief. "It happened the first time I tried to harness the multiversal energies directly. Back when I was experimenting with Rick's portal gun to create my own technology—when I thought I could handle it all on my own. I overestimated my control, and I ended up tearing a hole right through myself."
Summer covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "Morty, why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I thought I could handle it," Morty said, his voice cracking slightly. "I thought I could control it, that I could use my powers to heal myself while still fighting alongside you. But the truth is, every second I'm alive is a battle just to keep this thing from ripping me apart."
Rick's expression twisted into a mixture of anger, guilt, and something that looked an awful lot like fear. "Damn it, Morty! You're walking around with a ticking time bomb in your chest, and you didn't think to mention it? You didn't think we might need to know?"
Morty's shoulders slumped, his eyes dropping to the floor. "I didn't want you to worry. I didn't want you to see me as a liability, as someone you had to protect instead of someone who could help. I've been holding this wound together with every ounce of power I have, just trying to buy us time to figure out how to stop the council. If I'd used my powers against Vaxon, I would've lost control of the energy keeping me alive."
Summer took a step closer to Morty, her face a mask of pain and determination. "Morty, you're not a liability. You never were. We're in this together, and we'll find a way to help you. You don't have to do this alone."
Rick's hands shook slightly as he reached out, placing one on Morty's shoulder, his voice softer than Morty had ever heard. "You stupid, brave kid. You've been fighting a war on two fronts this whole time—against the council and against yourself. And you didn't say a damn word."
Morty's voice was barely a whisper. "I was scared, Rick. Scared that if I told you, you'd make me stop fighting, make me sit on the sidelines while you faced all this alone. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let you bear all of this without me."
Rick looked at Morty, his eyes filled with a rare mix of pride and sadness. "Morty, I've dragged you through hell and back, and I've seen you become stronger than I ever thought possible. But this—this is different. You're not just risking your life; you're burning yourself up from the inside out."
Morty's voice trembled with the weight of his confession. "I know, Rick. But I'm not giving up. I can't give up. Not now, when we're so close. I'm going to keep holding this wound together, and I'm going to use every last bit of my power to make sure we finish what we started."
Summer wiped a tear from her cheek, her voice fierce and unyielding. "Then we'll help you, Morty. We're not going to let you fight this alone. Whatever it takes, whatever we have to do—we'll find a way to stabilize that wound. We'll find a way to save you."
Rick nodded, his expression hardening into a look of grim determination. "Morty, you listen to me. You're not a liability, and you're not fighting this battle alone anymore. We're going to find a way to close that wound, to keep you alive without burning out all your power. I don't care what it costs or what we have to sacrifice—no one messes with my grandson and gets away with it."
Morty looked at Rick and Summer, the two people who had been through everything with him, the two people he'd been so afraid of losing. He saw their faces, full of determination and unyielding love, and he felt something inside him shift. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he didn't have to carry this burden alone.
"Thank you," Morty said, his voice cracking under the weight of his emotions. "I—I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was just so afraid of letting you down."
Rick pulled Morty into a rough hug, his arms tight around him, his voice gruff but filled with an emotion he rarely showed. "You've never let us down, Morty. Not once. And we're not letting you go. Not now, not ever."
Summer joined the hug, her arms wrapping around them both, her voice steady even as tears streamed down her face. "We're in this together, Morty. No matter how dark it gets, we'll face it as a family."
As they stood there, holding each other in the war room, Morty knew that they weren't just fighting for survival—they were fighting for each other, for the bond that had carried them through every storm. And with Rick and Summer by his side, he knew that even this wound, this deadly secret that had haunted him, was something he didn't have to face alone.
They were going to take down Vaxon and his council. They were going to tear apart the shadows that threatened to consume the multiverse. And they were going to do it together, as a family that refused to break, no matter what the cost.
——-—————————————
If you enjoy this story and would like to support me on Patreon you can read up to 15 Chapters ahead at www.patreon.com/Rick_C_137