The story begins with Rick taking Morty to an abandoned factory to make a crystal deal with an intergalactic gang. Rick confidently tells his grandson that he has long anticipated the potential danger in the deal. He has secretly replaced a vat of acid in the factory with a replica filled with heated Mountain Dew, and even equipped them with a "fake bone" device that could retract quickly—if things went south, they just had to jump into the vat and play dead. Morty, however, sneers at this plan, bluntly calling it "childish and ridiculous." Their argument lays the groundwork for subsequent conflicts.
As expected, the deal takes a turn for the worse. The gang leader exposes the crystal in Rick's hand as a fake and immediately orders an attack. Rick quickly grabs Morty and leaps into the "acid vat," activating the fake bone device. Their "remains" float in the liquid, creating a horrifying scene. Unexpectedly, the gang members don't leave immediately; instead, they gather around the vat and start an "emotional support session," rambling from their fathers' expectations to career anxieties. They even fetch a spoon to test the concentration of the "acid." Unable to bear it any longer, Morty grabs the hidden laser gun, rushes out of the vat, and starts shooting. But he is so nervous that he misses his targets repeatedly. In the end, Rick steps in and takes down all the gang members.
On their way back, Morty is furious. He accuses Rick's acid vat plan of nearly getting them killed and complains that his grandfather never takes his ideas seriously. He mentions his own concept of a "life save remote control"—something that works like a video game, allowing one to save progress at critical moments and rewind to correct mistakes. Rick is enraged by his grandson's mockery, and the two get into a fierce argument in the garage. That night, Rick suddenly summons Morty, speaking in a dejected tone that he is getting old and simply can't create such a device. Morty's heart softens instantly, and he steps forward to comfort Rick—only to be shot in the head by him. The next second, Rick picks up the remote control, presses the rewind button, and grins, announcing, "It worked!" Before Morty can recover from the shock, he snatches the remote control and runs back to his room in excitement.
At first, Morty indulges himself recklessly with the remote control: he plays pranks on teachers at school, robs convenience stores, and even attempts all kinds of dangerous stunts. Every time he gets into trouble, he just needs to press a button to rewind to the "save point" a few hours earlier, erasing all consequences. This consequence-free freedom makes him addicted—until he meets a girl with a warm smile in a café. This time, Morty doesn't rush to save his progress; instead, he lets things unfold naturally. He gets to know the girl, falls in love with her, and starts a genuine relationship.
Their relationship quickly deepens, but tragedy strikes during a trip when their plane crashes, stranding them in the snow-capped mountains. Morty loses the remote control in the chaos and treks through the blizzard for hours to retrieve it. Looking at his shivering girlfriend, he clutches the remote control but hesitates to press the button—the save point was set before they met, and rewinding would erase their entire relationship forever. In the end, Morty chooses to call for help and face the predicament with her. As they cuddle in the hospital after being rescued, Morty experiences for the first time that a life without evasion is far more meaningful.
However, fate plays a cruel trick. Jerry mistakenly takes the remote control for a TV remote and presses the button, instantly sending Morty back to the café before he met the girl. Morty frantically searches for her, repeating the pickup lines he used back then, but he can never recreate that initial spark. In a panic, he accidentally overwrites the previous save point, turning this profound relationship into an irreversible past.
Devastated, Morty finds Rick and admits that he has finally understood: "Consequences are what define us and give meaning to our choices." As Rick watches his grandson come to his senses, he smirks cunningly and reveals an even crueler truth—this is not a time-rewinding device at all, but an interdimensional teleporter. Every "save and rewind" actually teleports Morty to a parallel universe where he made a different choice, and the Morty of that universe is killed to make room for him.
Horror-stricken, Morty demands that Rick undo everything. Rick activates the device to merge all the disturbed parallel universes. In an instant, countless memories flood Morty's mind—all the mistakes he "erased," all the versions of himself he killed, and all the people he hurt, all converging into real, searing pain. Although the Mortys from parallel universes are resurrected, all the people Morty has offended across these universes gather at his doorstep, forming an angry mob demanding justice.
Faced with this desperate situation, Rick points to the replica acid vat in the garage—and this time, Morty jumps in voluntarily. When the enraged crowd sees the "remains" floating in the vat, the commotion gradually subsides. Rick uses the same acid vat plan to get Morty out of this interdimensional crisis. Afterward, Rick admits that all of this was revenge for Morty mocking his idea: "Don't mock my ideas, ever."