Drowning (In What I've Done)

Chapter 3: Reborn In The Crumbled Stone Of Who I Was Meant To Be

Bud Flud's life had been boring. Oh, at the time he hadn't thought so. Money, fame, women, cars, more underhanded schemes than you could shake a stick at — his life had been everything Buddy had ever dreamed of. Everything he'd worked so hard to achieve. His absolute perfect life.

But being The Liquidator was so much better. Sure, it had its downsides; being turned into stone, being turned into pudding, being tortured by an angry clown demon who had a grudge with Jack, getting trapped in little mason jars, etc.

It was a worthy trade off. He got challenges, adventure, freedom! Both in the sense that a supervillain doesn't have to worry about ethics boards, and in the sense of being made so entirely out of water. Sometimes, he pitied his more solid friends.

Friends, that was something else Liquidator had that Flud never did. Reggie, Elmo, Jack, even the Boss — he wouldn't trade them for anything.

Even when they got caught, it was exciting. Fighting cops, going toe-to-toe with Darkwing, running away into the night, organizing jailbreaks, and so much more. Even when he and Elmo collided, even when their powers got stolen, even when the Boss took all the loot, he didn't regret a moment of it.

And, okay, maybe he's not the most loyal of teammates. Does he steal the others' shares and hide them before they all get arrested? Does he sneak civilians out of the fighting zone? Does he manipulate his teammates into rebellions and arguments just for his amusement? Yes, yes he does.

Would he die for any one of them? Well, that's a moot point, he can't die. Would he spend the rest of his days trapped in stone for any one of them? He hopes he never has to find out.

Because he thinks he's the sort of person who'd sacrifice anything for those they care about, but he'd thought he was the sort of person who'd never harm a child. He doesn't want to be proven wrong again. Buddy Beagle had enemies, Bud Flud had minions, Liquidator has friends. He has to be The Liquidator, because who is he otherwise?

Who is he, if he isn't who he thinks he is? Who he wants to be? Who those closest to him expect?

He'll never be the hero, but he isn't so bad, is he? After all, he almost never tried to hurt anyone, did he?

Really, what he's done isn't all that bad.