Multifandom Short Stories

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Fandom: Crash Bandicoot

Requested by MayorDebbie

No, I did not put this in the wrong compilation, I just don't feel comfortable inserting father-daughter content (especially since the daughter's a CHILD) inside a book that's supposed to be about non-familial, non-platonic relationships
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Most kids were privileged to be able to see their dads in-person and not through the news.

You spent the first seven years of your life this way. Your mother was a phenomenal woman for raising a child on her own. She was always your number one fan, embracing everything about you and being the one to make you smile.

The only time she wasn't was whenever Dr. Neo Cortex's latest schemes entered the public discourse. The TV channel would be changed as soon as she touched the remote. Conversations would shift topics as soon as he was brought up. And throughout all of it, she seemed bitter.

One day, curiosity got the best of you. You mustered up the courage to ask her why she was so upset. Her eyes seemed distant. "He was your father," she admitted. "But he left me after we spent a night out together."

"Like... on a date?" you asked in amazement. Despite her sadness, you were anything but at the prospect of having everything finally be answered for you.

"Yes," she replied. Your mother looked at you with a tired grin. "That's as much as I feel comfortable saying right now. Do you want to play a board game?"

"Is it my fault?"

She placed her hands on your shoulders affirmatively. "Never." Your mom gave you a kiss on the forehead before getting up. "Now, come on. I'm feeling lucky in my checkers skills tonight!"

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Having those answers weren't enough. Your days were filled with dreams of meeting your long-lost father. You had so many questions for him that you knew your mom would never answer. There were so many father-daughter things to do with him that you didn't even know where to start.

Except for maybe running away. That would always be first. You knew your mom would forbid you from going to see him. Whether it be out of her history with him, the potential dangers involved, or something you weren't told yet, you didn't know. But one day, you fled out into the night anyhow.

As you searched far and wide for Dr. Cortex, you kept thinking about what would happen after you'd find him. Would he know you even existed? Does he have other kids you could play with? Where did he even live, anyways? How-

You tripped on something before you could finish that thought and tumbled down a hill. Screaming, you tried clinging onto something to no avail as you made your way down. Eventually, you rolled over onto what felt like another person and stopped right next to it. The figure shot up almost immediately and drew out a ray gun.

"Watch where you're going, you buffoon! Can't you see I was trying to sleep!?" he asked angrily.

Naturally, your immediate reaction was to cry out of fear. "I'm sorry!" you sobbed. "I didn't mean to!"

He lowered his gun. "Oh, wait, you're a kid? Ugh, that explains it. What are you doing out here in the middle of the night? Shouldn't you be at home?"

"What about you?" you asked bluntly. "Do you have a home to sleep in?"

"I do, but... it's a long story. I have to be alone for a while, so if you could just run along now and-"

"Have you seen Dr. Cortex?"

Silence. "Come again?"

You cleared your throat. "My mom says that Dr. Cortex is my dad. I've never met him. She doesn't want me to meet him, but I left so that I could. Please don't tell her!"

He observed you as best as he could in the dimness of the woodland night. "Is there anything you want to say to him?"

"That I wanna see him. And I love him. And I wanna do stuff with him. And there's so much I wanna know about him," you rambled. "Did you see him while you were out here?"

The man chuckled. "I can see you didn't quite inherit those genius genes." He shined a flashlight near his face, revealing himself to be an unflattering sight. Short stature, inhuman yellow skin, hair grown in odd places, and an overall joke of a package stood before you.

It was him.

"Dad?" you asked.

"Apparently," he shrugged. "What's your mom's name?"

You told him everything you could remember about her: her name, her hair, her favorite food, and her skills at checkers. Only the most important aspects in a potential partner. Cortex mumbled something about "getting laid" to himself before looking back at you.

"I'm sorry to cut this reunion short, but I'd rather not add child endangerment to my list of crimes. Well, at least not when it involves you." He patted your shoulder. "Seriously, though, you should go back home. I shouldn't be the reason why your mother would be angry at you."

Upset, you hung your head low. "Okay," you mumbled. You knew he was right, of course. It was more than likely that you'd get grounded once you got home. But there was no way that this was how your time with Cortex would end. "Can I have a hug before I go?"

"Oh, right! Probably should've done that earlier." The two of you threw yourselves into a loving, albeit awkward embrace. "I'm doing this for the sake of both of us," he told you as he held you tight. "You seem like a good kid. The last thing I want for someone like you is to become the laughingstock of society."

"That's okay. I'm just happy I met you," you replied.

You didn't know if you were ever going to see him again, nor were you sure what time you'd get back home. Plus, there was the fact that you now had scratches and bruises from falling down. But when your dad handed you a slip with a phone number on it, you didn't care. Now you had a father who loved you very much. And that was all you ever wanted.