Location: Rick's Fortress of Chaotic Goodness (Now Temporarily Repainted in Existential Beige)
It was a calm morning. The kind of calm that only happened in the brief, terrifying silence before the plot explodes again.
Rick sat at the kitchen table, sharpening his favorite frying pan (for aesthetic reasons). Baby Chaos floated upside-down from the ceiling, humming the melody of a forgotten prophecy.
Carl was cooking pancakes with his new apron that read: "Cluck Around and Find Out."
Dirk, the formerly evil twin chicken, now reformed and emotionally complex, sat in a meditative chicken pose, eyes closed, surrounded by floating philosophical scrolls.
Lucky burst in, holding a glowing sprout that pulsed with plot energy.
"It bloomed."
Rick looked up. "What bloomed? Please don't say a paradox flower. I still haven't cleaned the last one off the ceiling."
Lucky placed the sprout on the table. "The Plot Seed. Baby C planted it two nights ago with finger paint and a piece of destiny string. Now it's alive and growing."
The sprout whispered.
"Once I bloom, you will find the Unwritten's heart. But only in the place where all untold tales go to die."
Rick stood. "The Backlog of All Things."
Carl dropped his spatula. "Not… the Backlog."
Explaining the Backlog (Briefly and with Regret)
The Oracle appeared via prophecy pop-up, her eyes swirling with caffeine and cosmic dread.
"The Backlog is a dimension where every story idea, rejected plotline, and abandoned fanfic lives on in limbo. It is infinite, unstable, and cursed by procrastination demons."
Lucky crossed her arms. "And that's where we'll find the heart of the Unwritten?"
The Oracle nodded. "It hides in forgotten tales. It feeds on them."
Rick grabbed his coat, which was actually a small tornado in jacket form. "Then it's field trip time."
Carl gulped. "They say no chicken has ever returned from the Backlog."
Dirk placed a wing on his shoulder. "Then we go together."
Entering the Backlog
The team stood before a swirling portal made of unfinished outlines and broken character arcs.
Baby Chaos handed Rick a map made of napkins and glitter glue.
"I marked the cool parts! Also, there might be an evil librarian made of regret."
The group stepped through—
—and instantly landed in a haunted library the size of a galaxy.
Books flew like bats. Paper dragons hissed from the shelves. A whisper echoed through the halls:
"Once upon a—Once upon a—Once—Once—Once—…"
Lucky glanced around. "This place is… haunted by unfinished ideas."
A nearby book opened itself and screamed, "MY PROTAGONIST NEVER HAD A MOTIVATION!"
Rick patted it. "Same, buddy."
Finding the First Clue
They moved carefully through the shelves, dodging plot holes that were literally black holes in the floor.
Carl stepped on one and nearly fell into a Hallmark AU. Dirk caught him just in time.
Finally, they reached a forgotten section marked:
"Untitled Chicken Romance Subplot"
Carl froze.
On a pedestal sat a book with his name on it.
"Carl & The Chicken Who Clucked At Midnight"
Rick blinked. "Wait, you had a love subplot?"
Carl looked away bashfully. "We were supposed to meet in Chapter 7, but the rewrite cut her out."
Dirk nudged him. "Open it."
Carl did—and a burst of pink magic exploded.
From the light emerged a stunning chicken with cosmic plumage and sharp eyes. She looked at Carl, narrowed her gaze, and whispered, "You ghosted me."
Carl fainted.
Welcome, Claudia
The hen fluffed her feathers and turned to the team. "Name's Claudia. I've been stuck in this subplot for twelve chapters. You've got some nerve dragging me back into continuity."
Lucky gave her a shrug. "We're heading to the Heart of the Unwritten."
Claudia paused. "...Heard of it. Nasty piece of plot. I'll help. But Carl owes me a date and a musical number."
Rick: "Deal. Let's find the next clue."
They moved deeper into the library, past sections labeled:
"The Lost Emo Phase of Baby Chaos"
"Rick's Tragic Pirate Backstory (Never Aired)"
"Plot Holes Too Powerful To Patch"
Finally, they reached a rusted vault.
Vault of the Forgotten First Drafts
The door pulsed with raw, cringe energy.
A sign read:
"Here lie the First Drafts—enter only if you can withstand unedited monologues and unnecessary adverbs."
Rick opened it.
A wave of pure embarrassment hit them. Bad metaphors, overwritten dialogue, and typos swirled like banshees.
Inside sat a single book. Bound in purple and gold, with a cover that shifted like a mood ring.
Lucky read the title aloud."The Thread Unraveled."
The vault shook.
The book opened.
The Revelation
A vision hit them all simultaneously.
A vast white void. A being of smoke and half-formed words.
The Unwritten.
It spoke.
"You dig through your castoffs and call it 'growth.'But I am the silence between plot beats.I am the ellipsis at the end of hope.And I… am already rewriting the end."
The vision faded.
Baby Chaos appeared next to them, holding popcorn.
"Whoa. That guy sucks."
Rick's hand clenched. "He's afraid. That's why he hides here."
Lucky nodded. "Then let's rip his heart out of the story and shove it in the rewrite pile."
Final Stretch: The Ink Sea
The last part of the library was a black ocean made of ink.
Floating on it: unfinished outlines, drifting scenes, and a boat shaped like a question mark.
Claudia stepped forward. "We sail."
They boarded. The boat responded to narrative flow, gliding across plot waves and dodging floating regrets.
Carl approached Claudia sheepishly. "About the subplot…"
She smirked. "Make it up to me in the musical."
Suddenly, the ocean parted.
A massive throne rose—made of paper, pens, and broken endings.
On it sat the Heart of the Unwritten—a pulsing, twisted orb of unspoken possibilities.
It whispered in Baby Chaos's voice, warped:
"Don't fix me. I'm the freedom of never finishing."
Rick walked forward. "Nah. You're just scared of a real story."
The Final Act (for Now)
Baby Chaos held out his hand.
The Heart thrashed, spit out false endings and fake memories.
Carl clucked defiantly.
Dirk shouted, "WE CHOOSE OUR STORY!"
Lucky cast a spell of completion.
Rick smashed the Heart with a frying pan infused with friendship and narrative resolution.
The Heart cracked.
Light spilled out—stories being born, characters revived, chapters restored.
Claudia leaned against Carl. "Okay, that was kind of hot."
Back at the Fortress
They returned, tired but victorious.
The Oracle wept tears of pure foreshadowing.
Carl and Claudia had their first official date (with a musical number that involved tap dancing on parallel timelines).
Rick stood with Lucky, watching Baby Chaos draw a new constellation with the stars.
Lucky smiled. "We beat the Unwritten's heart."
Rick shook his head. "We beat one version. The real one's still out there."
Dirk stared at the sky. "And I remember… another me. Still serving him."
Rick cracked his knuckles. "Then we've got work to do."
To be continued…
In Chapter 17: The Multiverse starts to collapse as the real Unwritten merges with forgotten characters from across dimensions. Rick and Dirk must face their own creator in the most meta battle yet. And Baby Chaos tries espresso.
(Which is probably a mistake.)