Chapter 13: The Bloodied Stranger

Chapter 13: The Bloodied Stranger

The library was collapsing.

Not in the physical sense, but in a way that shouldn't be possible.

Rick could feel it shifting, like the walls were rearranging themselves in unseen dimensions. The bookshelves flickered—one moment they were full, the next the books were missing, as if they had never been written. The air itself felt distorted, thick like a storm was pressing down on them.

Miki's hands were clenched into fists. The other Miki—the one who wasn't supposed to exist—stood rigid, her body flickering slightly at the edges.

Then—

BOOM!

The library doors burst open like a cannon had gone off.

A figure stumbled inside, his hoodie torn, his face smeared with blood and dirt. His breath came in ragged gasps, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, one of them covered in bruises and deep gashes.

Rick's stomach plummeted.

The figure looked up, and his face was familiar.

Because it was his own.

For a brief, horrible moment, no one moved.

The injured Rick's eyes flickered across the room—taking in Rick, the two Mikis, the reality-warping library. Then, with a low, bitter chuckle, he shook his head.

"Well… shit."

Rick felt like the floor was crumbling beneath him. Another him. A second Rick.

The second Miki—the one who recognized him—rushed to his side, grabbing his arm.

Second Miki (frantic): "Oh my god, you made it."

The second Rick winced, sucking in air sharply as he leaned into her for support.

Second Rick (hoarse): "Barely."

Rick finally found his voice. "…Who the hell are you?"

The second Rick smirked weakly, but it was an exhausted, broken expression.

Second Rick: "I think you already know."

Rick's mouth went dry. His mind screamed at him not to accept what he was seeing, but the proof was bleeding out in front of him.

This was another him.

And he had been through hell.

The second Rick collapsed into a chair, his legs barely holding him up. The second Miki knelt beside him, tearing a strip from her own sleeve to wrap the worst of his wounds.

Rick and the first Miki watched in stunned silence.

After a moment, the second Rick exhaled slowly.

Then, he told them.

Second Rick (low voice): "I just came from another timeline. Worse than this."

Rick's fingers curled into a fist. "How worse?"

The second Rick's gaze darkened.

Second Rick: "I wasn't alone. There was another me."

He let the words hang, letting the weight of it settle before continuing.

Second Rick: "But he wasn't like us. He'd been looping for too long. Longer than any of us. He'd seen too many timelines. Crossed too many broken versions of himself."

His expression turned grim.

Second Rick: "And he snapped."

Rick's blood ran ice-cold.

The second Rick closed his eyes for a second, breathing slow and deep, as if remembering something too painful.

Second Rick: "He thought the only way to end it… was to kill every version of himself."

Rick swallowed hard.

The second Rick gestured vaguely at his own battered body.

Second Rick: "I got lucky. Fought him. Barely made it out."

Rick and Miki exchanged a horrified glance.

Rick couldn't stop himself from asking. "…Was he stronger than you?"

The second Rick let out a bitter laugh, touching the bruises along his ribs.

Second Rick: "He was a monster."

The room fell into an uneasy silence.

Then, suddenly—

The lights flickered.

The library trembles, like the world is rejecting their presence.

The bookshelves begin to stretch, warping like melting wax.

The two Mikis flicker, as if reality doesn't know which one should exist.

Rick clenched his jaw.

Rick: "If we don't move, we're going to be erased."

The second Rick groaned as he pushed himself to his feet.

Second Rick: "We need to force a stable exit."

The four of them work together, focusing on the one thing that makes sense—

A portal.

A way out of this reality before it collapses.

Rick and the second Rick stand at opposite ends of the room, trying to pull together the distortions. The air sparks, crackling with unnatural static.

The portal begins to form—but it's unstable.

Miki: "It's not holding!"

Rick's mind raced.

Rick (thinking fast): "We're missing something."

The second Rick gritted his teeth.

Second Rick: "Time's exactly what we don't have."

The portal began to rip apart.

Then—

The doors to the library slammed open again.

And more versions of them stepped inside.

Rick barely had time to process the four new Ricks stepping into the library before everything erupted into chaos.

The leader of the group—the one who had spoken—cracked his knuckles, smirking.

"You weren't supposed to make it this far."

Then—they attacked.

Rick dodged back immediately, but he wasn't fast enough.

A fist collided with his gut, knocking the air from his lungs.

Pain exploded in his ribs as he stumbled backward, crashing into a bookshelf.

Miki screamed as another doppelgänger grabbed her wrist, twisting violently. She kicked him in the shin, breaking free, but before she could react, another lunged at her.

Second Rick moved fast.

Bloodied and bruised, he still had the instincts of someone who had fought for survival.

One of the enemy Ricks swung a fist toward his jaw—he ducked, countered with a sharp elbow to the ribs. The doppelgänger grunted, staggered, but didn't go down.

Another one grabbed him from behind—he threw his head back, slamming it into the attacker's face. A crunch. A yell of pain. Second Rick spun, throwing a brutal hook to the side of his skull.

The doppelgänger collapsed instantly.

Rick, gasping for air, stayed on defense. He wasn't a fighter. He knew that.

Instead, he analyzed.

He looked at the portal, still swirling behind them—the unstable energy pulling at the air, flickering in and out of existence.

They weren't winning this fight.

But they could end it.

Rick (gritting his teeth): "Throw them into the portal!"

Second Rick didn't hesitate. He ducked under another punch, grabbed the nearest enemy Rick by the collar, and used his own momentum to hurl him backward—

The doppelgänger fell straight into the swirling mass of light.

For a second, he let out a strangled scream—then vanished.

Rick turned. One down. Three to go.

The two Mikis fought together, using their smaller size and speed to dodge and counter. **One of the enemy Ricks lunged toward them—**but Miki twisted aside, hooking her foot behind his knee and sending him crashing onto his back.

She and her double grabbed him together and shoved him toward the portal.

The energy tore him from reality.

Two down.

Second Rick slammed his knee into another attacker's stomach before flipping him over his shoulder. Three down.

Only one enemy Rick remained.

He was breathing hard, bleeding from his temple, but his grin never faded.

He tilted his head at Rick, voice mocking, amused.

"You have no idea what's waiting on the other side."

Rick's chest tightened.

For a brief second—he hesitated.

Then he shoved him straight into the portal.

Everything went silent.

For a fraction of a second, Rick thought they'd won.

Then the portal exploded.

A force yanked him from the ground, twisting reality apart.

And then—everything went black.

Rick's body hit the ground hard.

Air rushed from his lungs as he rolled onto his back, gasping.

A dull ringing throbbed in his ears, his head spinning.

He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the dizziness away—then sat up.

His stomach lurched.

The world was wrong.

The sky above him wasn't a sky. It was an endless shifting void, colors bleeding into each other like oil in water. The air was still. Too still.

There was no wind. No sound.

And then—he saw them.

Hundreds of people.

No—hundreds of themselves.

Scattered across the landscape, some wandering aimlessly, some huddled together, whispering.

Some… watching them.

Rick's skin prickled.

Miki pushed herself up beside him, eyes wide with horror.

"W-What is this place?" she whispered.

Second Rick cursed under his breath, dragging himself up to his feet. His expression was grim.

"I think we just made things a whole lot worse."

Rick swallowed hard. Zero Time Zone.

A place where all broken versions of them were dumped.

All the ones who had tried to escape and failed.

He forced himself to stand, his legs trembling. A slow, eerie silence filled the space.

Then—

A slow clap echoed through the void.

Rick's blood turned to ice.

The four of them turned, instincts screaming at them to run.

A group of figures approached.

Not lost.

Not confused.

Confident. Organized. Dangerous.

The one in front stepped into the dim light.

Rick's heart stopped.

Second Rick's face lost all color.

Because standing before them—was him.

The same twisted Rick who had nearly killed Second Rick before.

His expression was unreadable—but his eyes burned with something cruel, something far beyond sanity.

His lips curled into a mocking smirk.

"You should've stayed in your loop."

The chapter ends.