Drowning (In What I've Done)

Chapter 1: Musings Of A Statue

What he did wasn't that bad, was it? With so low a dose, the toxins just tasted badly. They couldn't hurt anyone, he didn't hurt anyone.

They'd have to buy water anyways, is it so bad to make sure they bought it from him? No one would've gotten hurt.

Did he really deserve to die? To fall, to crash, to melt from the inside out? He remembers the burning and he mentally shudders. Bud Flud was weak, so he's no more.

But The Liquidator was strong, and is that really so wrong? All he did was good marketing! People would just have to pay a little more, is that so bad?

Alright, maybe hardening the bay wasn't the best idea, in hindsight. Actually, that probably disrupted trade, didn't it? And it's not like people can actually drink salt water anyways...

Whatever, he would've turned it back eventually. He's not the bad guy here! Okay, so he tried to kill the hero, but that duck had it co–

Wait, kill? That is what he was trying to to do, wasn't it? But, well... Darkwing killed him first! Accident or no, he had to pay. One can hardly blame The Liquidator for acting a little drastically in anger, pain, fear.

It wasn't like he did anything worse tha– wait, didn't he try to kidnap a little girl? A tough, business-minded little girl. He didn't, he couldn't, he would never!

But he did, didn't he? He tried to take her away. Why did he do that? He can't remember what he was thinking, what was going through his head. Is that the kind of person he is, kidnapping children?

And the more he thinks about it, the more certain he is that cutting off the water supply in a heat wave was a terrible idea. People could have died, in fact–

People might have actually died. He could be a murderer and not even know it. This isn't how it was supposed to go, he didn't want to hurt anyone!

He just wanted–

He just wanted to poison them. He just wanted to destroy their water. He just wanted their money. Because he's a greedy, amoral, business-obsessed fleabag.

Buddy Beagle was a chemistry nerd who cheated on other people's homework for money and blackmailed those that dared to pick on him.

Bud Flud was a self-made man, millions of dollars and a million ways to make more, he didn't care who he stepped on to get there.

And The Liquidator? Who was he? Currently, he was a statue. An attempted kidnapper. A maybe-murderer.

If he ever made it out, oh Mima if he was ever free again, who would be? A villain, definitely. Greedy, always. A salesman, of course. But maybe some new business standards wouldn't hurt...

He'd always had some sort of standards, some base morals. And he violated nearly every one of them! His mind felt as hard as the rest of his body, thoughts pushing through slowly and painfully.

Would he ever get out? Ever be free again? If he did, he'd do better. He wouldn't be a hero, he loved being the villain too much, but maybe... Maybe he could give his opponents a fighting chance?

No more Hard Water, that was for sure. And those water mites took too much concentration. Technically, with his new form, he could sneakily steal the desired funds without even being seen. Could continue on without hurting anyone.

But a life in the shadows didn't sound very fun. What was he to do? He felt like he was drowning all over again, acid replaced by guilt and confusion. If only he knew what to do, what the right answer was.