Grim didn’t respond. He was too focused on navigating the shifting maze of the Cosmic Warehouse. The shelves seemed to twist and curve unnaturally, as if they were alive, and the objects around them pulsed with a strange energy. Every few steps, Tim felt the ground wobble beneath him, as though they were running on the surface of a trampoline.

“How do we find this emergency portal?” Tim called out, trying to keep his balance as the world around him continued to shift.

“There should be an exit sign somewhere,” Grim said, his eyes darting from side to side. “But the warehouse is unpredictable. It won’t show up until we’re close enough.”

“That’s reassuring,” Tim muttered, narrowly avoiding a large, floating mirror that suddenly appeared in front of him.

The Guardian let out another roar, and Tim felt the ground beneath his feet crack and tremble. A section of the floor split open just ahead, revealing a swirling vortex of darkness below. Without thinking, Tim leaped across the gap, barely making it to the other side.

“Grim!” Tim shouted. “This thing’s going to tear us apart before we find the exit!”

Grim gritted his teeth. “Just keep running!”

They darted around a corner, only to find themselves in a large open space—a clearing of sorts, surrounded by towering shelves. In the center of the clearing stood a massive, floating archway, glowing with an ethereal blue light.

“There!” Grim pointed. “That’s the emergency portal!”

Tim’s heart leaped with hope. The portal shimmered with a soft, inviting light, casting a faint glow over the strange landscape of the warehouse. It was the first thing in the entire place that looked remotely stable.

“Go!” Grim ordered, shoving Tim and Morty forward. “I’ll hold the Guardian off!”

Tim skidded to a halt, turning to face Grim. “Wait, what? You can’t fight that thing!”

Grim shook his head. “I don’t have to fight it. I just need to slow it down long enough for you to get through the portal. Now GO!”

Morty didn’t need any convincing. He bolted for the portal as fast as his legs could carry him, his cloak flapping wildly behind him.

Tim hesitated for a split second, looking between Grim and the Guardian, which was now bearing down on them, its massive claws reaching out toward them.

“Go, Tim!” Grim shouted. “I’ll meet you on the other side!”

With a lump in his throat, Tim nodded and turned, sprinting toward the glowing portal. Behind him, he heard Grim’s voice echo through the warehouse, chanting something in a language Tim didn’t understand. The Guardian let out a deafening roar, and for a brief moment, the ground beneath Tim’s feet seemed to solidify, the chaos around him stabilizing just long enough for him to reach the portal.

Tim dived forward, his body passing through the shimmering blue light of the portal. For a split second, everything went silent—no hum of the warehouse, no roar of the Guardian, just complete and utter stillness.

And then, with a jolt, Tim was thrown out the other side, landing hard on a cold stone floor.

He groaned, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees, his head spinning from the sudden shift. Blinking, he looked around and realized he was back in the underworld’s main administrative center. The familiar rows of cubicles and stacks of paperwork surrounded him, and the sound of phones ringing and clerks shuffling papers filled the air.

Morty was lying a few feet away, groaning softly as he rubbed his head. “We made it?”

Tim nodded, though he still felt disoriented. “Yeah… I think so.”

Before Tim could fully catch his breath, there was a faint pop, and Grim appeared beside them, looking none the worse for wear. He dusted off his cloak and nodded to them.

“Good. You both made it.”

Tim stood up shakily, his heart still racing from the ordeal. “What about the Guardian?”

Grim shrugged. “It can’t leave the warehouse. Once we passed through the portal, we were out of its reach.”

Morty let out a weak laugh. “We’re alive! Or… well, not really, but you know what I mean.”

Tim turned to Grim, his eyes wide. “That was insane! We nearly got torn apart in there!”

Grim waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. You’ve got your soul, and that’s what matters.”

Tim’s breath caught in his throat as he remembered the jar. “My soul! Where is it?”

Grim reached into his cloak and pulled out the jar containing Tim’s soul. The faint glow from inside the jar seemed even stronger now, pulsing softly like the beat of a heart.

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“Right here,” Grim said, handing it to Tim.

Tim took the jar carefully, staring at the glowing light inside. It was strange to think that this tiny, fragile thing was him—his essence, his soul, the thing that made him who he was. He held it tightly, a wave of relief washing over him.

“So what now?” Tim asked, glancing up at Grim.

Grim shrugged. “Now we take your soul back to your body and put it back where it belongs.”

Tim blinked. “That’s it? Just… put it back?”

Grim nodded. “Yeah. Pretty simple, actually. Once we get it back into your body, everything should reset, and you’ll go back to the mortal world like nothing happened.”

Tim raised an eyebrow. “Nothing happened? I nearly got torn apart by a cosmic monster, spent hours waiting in line in the Department of Lost Souls, and you’re telling me it’ll be like nothing happened?”

Grim gave him a dry smile. “Welcome to the afterlife.”

Tim sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Okay, fine. Let’s just get this over with. The sooner I’m back in my body, the better.”

Morty, who had been watching the exchange with wide eyes, suddenly spoke up. “Um… there’s just one problem.”

Grim turned to Morty, his bony fingers tapping impatiently on the handle of his scythe. “What problem, Morty?”

Morty shuffled nervously. “Well, uh… I kind of forgot to tell you… but while we were in the Cosmic Warehouse, there was a little… hiccup.”

Grim’s eyes narrowed. “A hiccup?”

Morty nodded rapidly. “Y-yeah. You see, when we were running from the Guardian, I might have… uh… accidentally reaped another soul.”

Tim’s jaw dropped. “You WHAT?”

Morty winced. “I didn’t mean to! It just sort of… happened! The scythe slipped, and now there’s this random soul floating around in the underworld that wasn’t supposed to die.”

Grim groaned, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “Morty, you idiot. Do you realize what you’ve done? If that soul doesn’t get back to its body soon, we’re going to have another mess on our hands.”

Tim threw his hands up in exasperation. “Are you kidding me? We just barely survived that whole warehouse nightmare, and now we have to clean up another one of Morty’s screw-ups?”

Grim sighed deeply. “Yes, unfortunately.”

Tim groaned, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “This day just keeps getting worse.”

Grim gave him a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry, Tim. We’ll get your soul back where it belongs, and then we’ll deal with Morty’s mistake. One catastrophe at a time.”

Tim rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. “Fine. Let’s just get it over with.”

Grim nodded and motioned for them to follow. “Come on. We’ll head back to Earth and find your body. Once your soul is back where it belongs, everything should return to normal.”

Tim gave the jar in his hands one last, nervous glance before tucking it under his arm and following Grim and Morty toward the exit. The sooner he could get out of the underworld and back to the land of the living, the better.

As Grim led them out of the underworld’s administrative center, Tim couldn’t help but wonder what kind of absurd situation Morty’s latest screw-up had landed them in. His mind raced with possibilities—what if the soul Morty reaped was someone important, like a world leader or a doctor about to cure some major disease? Or worse, what if it was a random person, now causing chaos in the afterlife because they weren’t supposed to be dead yet?

“So, uh,” Tim asked as they walked down the dimly lit hallways, “who exactly did you reap, Morty?”

Morty’s face turned a shade paler than usual, and he shifted nervously. “I—I didn’t get a good look. It all happened so fast, and, well, they kind of… slipped away before I could fix it.”

Tim groaned. “Slipped away? So now we have a rogue soul running around, and we don’t even know who it is?”

Morty nodded sheepishly. “Pretty much.”

Grim let out a long, deep sigh. “I swear, Morty, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were actively trying to get me demoted.”

Morty wrung his hands, his eyes wide with panic. “I’m sorry! I really didn’t mean to! But we can fix it, right? We just need to find the soul and send it back to its body before anyone notices.”

Grim rubbed his temples, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a curse. “Yes, we can fix it. But it’s not going to be easy. If the soul’s already slipped through the cracks, it could be anywhere by now. And if it’s been wandering around long enough, it might start causing reality distortions.”

Tim’s stomach churned at the thought. “Reality distortions? What does that even mean?”

Grim turned to Tim, his skeletal face grim. “When a soul is taken from its body too early, it creates a ripple effect. Time starts to bend, events get messed up, and reality itself starts to destabilize. The longer the soul stays separated from its body, the worse it gets.”

Tim stared at Grim, his heart racing. “So you’re telling me that because of Morty’s screw-up, reality could literally start falling apart?”

Grim nodded. “Yup. And it’s already started.”

Tim’s mouth went dry. “Great. Fantastic. Just what I needed.”

Morty looked like he was on the verge of tears. “I’m really sorry, Grim. I didn’t mean to mess everything up!”

Grim waved a hand dismissively. “Save the apologies for later, Morty. Right now, we need to get Tim’s soul back into his body and then figure out where that rogue soul went.”

Tim sighed, clutching the jar containing his soul a little tighter. “Let’s just focus on getting me back to the land of the living. Then we can deal with whatever reality-bending nightmare is waiting for us.”

Grim nodded, his cloak billowing behind him as they approached a large stone archway at the end of the corridor. The archway shimmered with an otherworldly light, and Tim felt a strange pull in his chest, like the jar in his hands was resonating with the energy of the portal.

“This will take us back to Earth,” Grim explained. “Once we’re there, we’ll find your body, and I’ll transfer your soul back where it belongs.”

Tim frowned. “What if someone found my body already? I mean, I was in the middle of my workday when Morty reaped me. What if my coworkers called the paramedics or something?”

Grim shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. As long as your body is intact, we can restore it. If they moved it to a hospital, we’ll just have to break in and do the transfer there.”

Tim’s eyes widened. “Break into a hospital? Are you serious?”

Grim gave him a look. “Tim, you’ve already been chased by a reality-bending monster in the afterlife. Breaking into a hospital should be the least of your worries.”

Tim sighed in defeat. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

Grim waved his scythe through the air, and the portal flared to life, casting a blinding light over the three of them. Tim shielded his eyes, feeling the pull of the portal grow stronger, as though it was drawing him toward it.

Without another word, Grim stepped through the portal, and Tim followed, clutching the jar tightly to his chest as he was pulled into the swirling vortex of light.