#fanficedit : “like father like daughter,” but rick prime doesn’t like it || The Sanchez garage was suffocatingly quiet. Rick Prime stood with his back to Beth, leaning on the workbench, one hand gripping a bêlt. Two days had passed since Mr. Lipnip knocked on the door, looking for his son. Two goddãmn days of answering police questions, dodging the neighborhood search party, and watching Diane pace the living room with a helpless look on her face. All because his eight-year-old daughter was a goddãmn sociopath. Rick Prime recalled Mr. Lipnip’s words, "Last time anyone saw Tommy, he was playing with Beth. But he never came home yesterday. Maybe she knows where he is?" Of course Beth knew where Tommy was. By now, Rick Prime did too. But he needed her to say it herself. "Beth," Rick Prime said, turning around. She had inherited the Lewis looks, not the Sanchez ones—Clyde’s blue eyes, Diane’s straight nose, those smooth, refined features. "You know why I called you in here?" Beth tilted her head, blinking innocently, "Is this about Tommy? I hope his parents find him soon. They must be really worried… They love him so much." If Rick didn’t know his daughter, he might have believed her. At just eight, she already lied better than most adults. God, she really was his daughter. His grip on the bêlt tightened, but he forced himself to stay calm. "What happened to him, Beth?" "How should I know?" That was enough. Rick cracked the bêlt against the concrete floor. Beth flinched. For the first time, there was real fear on her face—but Rick Prime didn’t feel guilty. Compared to the way his own father had treated him, he’d been downright gentle with Beth. He never hït her. Never even yelled. Maybe that had been a mistake. "Don’t lie to me." Beth bit her lower lip. "I… I took him to Froopyland. He got stuck in the honey swamp. I tried to pull him out, but he just sank deeper… And then he started crying and said he’d tell his dad everything!" Her voice rose. "I got scared and left him there." "You mean you pushed him in?" "He deserved it! He was mean to me!" "How exactly?" "He bragged about his dad… how he loves him… how he took him to a theme park…" Her eyes filled with tears. "All you do is make me dumb toys!" She pulled a pink talking knïfê out of her overalls and threw it. Rick barely reacted. Ah. So that was it—plain old childish jealousy. Well, at least she’d done it for a reason, not just for fun. And she wasn’t wrong. Rick had checked out of parenting, too busy working on the portal gun. Too busy trying to find his way back to the one who disappeared nine years ago. The one who would’ve known what to say right now. Clyde had wanted kids. He used to talk about it when they were younger—how he’d teach them to ride bikes, how Rick would help with homework… But Clyde was gone. Disappeared, leaving Rick with a pregnant Diane and no clue how to be a father. "So… he hurt your feelings, and you left him to dïe. Sure, Froopyland’s safe, but starvation is still a thing." Rick crouched down to her level, watching the mix of tears and fury on her face. "Now you’re going to promise me you’ll never hurt another kid again." "I won’t hurt other kids," she said, with more defiance in her voice than remorse. "Say it again. Like you mean it." "I won’t hurt other kids" she yelled. Tears and snot poured down, but still no regret—just fury. A cornered animal. A mini Rick Prime in sneakers and overalls. The bêlt was still in his hand. His father would've usêd it. Maybe Beth needed that. But Rick tossed it on the table. He looked at the chalk—the key to Froopyland. He could do the right thing. But it sounded like a lot of work. Besides… the boy had hurt his daughter. "Tommy stays in Froopyland. You made a choice—live with it. Now go. Grab a box. Pack up every invention I made for you. You want to be a normal kid? Fine. Let’s make it official.” #rickandmorty #ocxcanon #oc #originalcharacter #art #animation #edit #fanfic #rickandmortyoc #ricksanchez #dianesanchez #rickprime #bethsanchez - @evanescomeao3