The world fractured.
Reality peeled apart like paper, a tear through the very concept of "space." Cassian's body didn't move his system moved the universe around him. There was no falling, no motion, just a blink.
And then he was standing on concrete.
The sky above was wrong hazy green clouds, lightning that didn't crackle so much as vibrate, and a hundred flying vehicles screaming past in random directions.
[World Jump Complete.]
Current Location: Rick and Morty Universe – Dimension C-718 Citadel PerimeterLocal Threat Level: CriticalTarget Objective: Secure Evil Morty, obtain access to Citadel systems.
Cassian's first breath in this dimension tasted like battery acid and tacos. He coughed, glanced down. The system had shifted his form again: he looked older mid-twenties now wearing a nondescript lab coat, dirty boots, and a reality-stabilization wristband blinking softly.
No time to waste.
A crowd bustled behind him thousands of Ricks and Mortys of every kind, walking through portals, arguing, laughing, and in some cases, exploding. This was the Citadel of Ricks.
Cassian slid into the crowd, hiding in plain sight. His Containment Matrix filtered the ambient madness of the dimension he could feel the chaos, but it didn't drown him. Rick's world was built on instability. Logic didn't hold here. But he was not here to play by their rules.
[Tracking Evil Morty...]
Partial match detected. Updating trajectory.Threat Level: Moderate. Caution advised.
Cassian ducked into a side corridor where the crowd thinned, and unlicensed Ricks sold black-market gadgets from coat sleeves. He ignored the vendors. His eyes were locked on a figure in a mustard-yellow shirt, darker eyes, and a smarter posture than the Mortys around him.
Evil Morty.
Cassian pulled a small device from his coat his first custom build: a neural hijacker, patched together from stolen Star Wars mind control tech and a Rick-tech frequency stabilizer. It wouldn't kill, just... overwrite. Enough to make Evil Morty follow him long enough to access Citadel servers.
Cassian stepped out of the alley. "Morty."
Evil Morty turned slightly, suspicious. "Who the hell are "
Click.
The hijacker pulsed once.
Evil Morty blinked... then straightened. His eyes clouded for a second before clearing, and he nodded.
"Yes, sir."
Cassian exhaled. Good. Now we move.
Inside the Citadel's lower levels, Evil Morty guided him past retinal scans and DNA-gated doors. Cassian said nothing, letting the brainwashed Morty handle the talking. The Ricks stationed at checkpoints barely blinked Mortys were beneath their attention.
Finally, they entered a restricted data archive rows of crystalline data cores glowing in containment tubes. Cassian's heart pounded.
[Objective Updated:]
Data Access Node Found. Begin scanning C-137's cognitive signature.
He pulled out a second device a psionic imprint extractor. Not even his own invention; the base design came from Halo's Forerunner archives. He'd merely upgraded it to handle multiversal brainwaves.
He slotted it into the core labeled RICK C-137.
[Extracting... 4%... 9%... 17%...]
His hands trembled. He was stealing Rick Sanchez's mind. Not just memories the architecture of his genius.
But it wasn't perfect. Rick's brain was a labyrinth of paranoia and booby traps. False memories. Recursive loops. Traps for intruders. At 62%, alarms began blaring.
[WARNING: Trace detected! Local Ricks alerted!]
Cassian cursed and pulled the extractor early. He had enough maybe not everything, but enough.
"Morty, delete logs. Now."
Evil Morty plugged into the terminal, wiping traces just as the door blew open.
Three Ricks burst in with portal guns raised. "Hey! Who the hell are y "
Cassian pointed a third gadget. A Star Trek-style phase scrambler pulsed once.
VHRMMM
The Ricks collapsed mid-step, bodies intact, minds unconscious.
[Extraction successful.]
Cognitive Data: Partial Profile - Rick C-137Processing...Cognitive Overclocking Level Increased.Access to advanced tech trees unlocked.
Cassian stood still for a moment, letting the downloaded intellect settle in his skull. It was like a dam bursting—equations, theories, multidimensional calculus. How to build a time-splitting rifle. How to fold space like a napkin. How to turn planets into AI minds.
His knees buckled. Blood trickled from his nose.
[WARNING: Containment Matrix Overloaded. Cognitive Overclock in cooldown.]
He stumbled back, breathing hard.
It was too much.
But it was enough.
Minutes later, Cassian used Evil Morty's portal gun to open a new rift. The Citadel was swarming. Red lights, panicked Ricks, shouting Mortys.
He didn't care.
His hand hovered over the dial. "Take me back."
[Target World: Star Wars - Corellia]
Confirm?
Click.
The portal ignited.
And Cassian Voss, now armed with the stolen intellect of the smartest being in the multiverse, stepped through.
Back on Corellia, the stars looked smaller.
The forge lights inside Voss Hypertech Station flickered as Cassian walked back into his lab, his coat singed, eyes wild, hands trembling.
His assistant droid blinked. "Sir, you look... unwell."
"I've just met god," Cassian muttered, eyes unfocused. "And I think I'm smarter."
He walked to the fabrication console and began sketching.
No hesitation. No second-guessing. The Starforged Blueprint began to take shape an orbital fortress that could teleport, self-replicate, cloak between dimensions, and manufacture fleets autonomously.
His mind raced, faster than even his hands could follow.
The galaxy isn't ready for me.