Chapter 7: Armored Intentions

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I stood in Universe K-4529, the dimension where Rick K-4529 had died in a lab accident months ago. His abandoned garage was now my base of operations, quiet, untouched, and far enough from the prying eyes of Rick T-76A5. In this world, I could work without constantly looking over my shoulder, knowing that the Rick in my original universe wouldn't stumble in, half-drunk, demanding to know what I was doing.

The place felt eerily similar to his garage back in T-76A5, cluttered with discarded tech and half-finished projects. But here? It was silent. No insults, no burps, no threats. It was perfect. I had found a dimension where I could operate without interference, without fear of getting caught.

The last encounter with Rick T-76A5 was too close. He had looked at me with suspicion, like he was already piecing something together. If I slipped up again, he'd find me out. That was unacceptable. I wasn't ready to face him, not yet.

First, I needed to protect myself. And that meant building a personal defense shield.

....

I rifled through Rick K-4529's blueprints, most of them covered in dust, scattered across the garage. Among the chaos, I found a half-complete design for a personal shield that Rick K-4529 had abandoned, probably because it wasn't destructive enough for his tastes. It was perfect for me, though.

Piece by piece, I assembled the shield, scavenging components from the broken drones and failed inventions lying around. I made modifications along the way, enhancing the shield's power output by using an energy core I had found tucked behind one of the larger machines. This shield wasn't just protection; it would stop plasma blasts, physical strikes, even disintegrator beams.

I strapped the device to my wrist and activated it. A faint shimmer appeared in the air around me, then faded, leaving me standing behind an invisible barrier. Perfect. I could feel the energy humming in the air, a forcefield that would give me a serious edge if things went wrong with Rick T-76A5.

But I couldn't stop with just defense. I needed a way to strike back.

....

The plasma rifle was next. I found the initial design buried under a pile of old junk, but it wasn't functional, not yet. Using the knowledge I had absorbed from Rick T-76A5's green crystal and Rick K-4529's blue crystal, I modified it, making it faster, stronger, and more efficient than anything Rick K-4529 had bothered to finish. The result? A compact weapon that could vaporize anything in its path.

As I tested the weapon, the hum of the garage's machinery filled the silence around me. The plasma rifle worked perfectly, the energy output stronger than expected. It was ready.

I could feel the shift. Rick T-76A5 was too close to figuring me out, and I needed more than just stealth to stay ahead. The cloaking device I had built earlier would hide Universe K-4529, but that wouldn't be enough if Rick started actively looking. I had to ensure my bases were covered, literally.

....

I activated the portal gun, stepping back into Universe T-76A5, my original universe. The air felt heavier, my senses sharper as I made my way back into Rick T-76A5's garage. The place was a mess, as always, but I couldn't let my guard down.

I had left something behind last time. Something that could tip Rick T-76A5 off.

As I rummaged through the scattered gadgets, the door creaked open behind me, and there he was, Rick T-76A5, stumbling in with a half-empty bottle of some glowing blue alien liquor. He let out a loud, wet burp, bits of saliva spraying as he spoke.

"Huhhhp, Jerry, what the hell are you doing in here?" His voice was slurred, but there was a sharpness in his eyes that told me he wasn't nearly as drunk as he looked.

I froze for a second, quickly hiding the plasma rifle I had brought back behind a stack of scrap. "Uh… just fixing that broken toaster, Rick! Y'know, doing my part!"

Rick's face twisted in a half-sneer. "You? Fixing my tech? Huhhhp, yeah right. You couldn't fix a sandwich, Jerry. So why are you touching my stuff?"

Spit flew as he leaned closer, his breath reeking of alien booze. My pulse raced, but I forced a nervous grin, slumping into the same defeated posture I always used with him.

"Uh… thought it'd be nice to help out. Maybe… fix something?"

Rick shook his head, letting out another burp. "Sure, sure. Just don't blow up the house, huhhp, okay?"

He turned away, stumbling toward one of his workbenches. I let out a slow breath, grateful he hadn't seen the plasma rifle. He didn't know… not yet.

But that was too close. If Rick came snooping around again, or worse, if he started actively searching for me, he'd find K-4529. And then? It wouldn't matter what I had built. He'd annihilate me without a second thought.

....

I slipped back through the portal into K-4529, my new base of operations. The cloaking device was next on my list. The earlier prototype was functional but too rudimentary. I needed to scale it up, to cloak not just this universe, but this entire reality. Rick T-76A5 had dimensional scanners that could locate hidden realities, and I couldn't risk him tracking me to K-4529.

The floating cloaking field generator was more complex than anything I had built so far. Using the merged data from Rick T-76A5 and Rick K-4529's crystals, I constructed a device capable of hiding an entire universe from any dimensional scanner, including Rick's.

I worked through the night, assembling the pieces with precision, each part falling into place like a puzzle. The generator hummed softly as I activated it, the cloaking field expanding outward.

For a moment, everything was still. Then, the entire dimension shifted slightly, disappearing from any detectable scanner. I grinned. Universe K-4529 was now hidden, invisible to anyone—even Rick.

I wasn't just hiding anymore. I was preparing.

But something still felt off.

Even here in K-4529, miles away from Rick T-76A5, I could feel his presence creeping up on me. He was starting to notice the inconsistencies, the little things that didn't add up. I knew that Rick was far too smart to ignore those.

....

Back in T-76A5, Rick sat at his workbench, a half-empty bottle in hand, staring at the mess of gadgets I had left behind. He let out another belch, spit flying onto the metal surface. His expression twisted into something darker as he leaned forward.

"Something's not right," he muttered to himself. "Jerry… huhhhp, Jerry's too stupid to be messing with this kind of tech."

He glanced at one of his scanners, the screen flickering as it failed to detect anything unusual in the multiverse.

His eyes narrowed. "Where the hell are you hiding, Jerry?"