The bell to the big school rang loudly, signalling that it was now time for all the kids to leave school, which they happily did. Well… most kids. One kid had already left and was sitting quietly in her father's car. Gosalyn was nervous, very nervous. Her father was currently in the school, talking to the principal about the trouble she had gotten into. She was scared over what her water father would do when he finally came out to drive her home. Would he start screaming at her for pushing and shoving one of her classmates? Would he just ground her immediately? Would he revoke her food privileges?!

As she was panicking over the possible punishments she could receive, Liquidator opened the driver side door and sat down in the car, slamming the door shut behind him. Gosalyn's attention was immediately directed over to her dad, having this indiscernible look of strain on his face. Was he mad? Disappointed? Disgusted by her? He wasn't saying anything so obviously he was upset in some way. The little girl didn't know if she should say something or not, but decided she probably should.

"Father?" She muttered quietly and reached out to nudge him lightly. Liquidator jolted a little and gasped silently, turning his head to look at her. "Ah! Sorry, sweetie! I zoned out!" He laughed lightly and gave her a forced smile. She was surprised by his behaviour, as she expected him to be mad at her and scold her. But he acted as if he had just been lost in thought and was embarrassed about it. That was weird to her. "Um… is everything ok? Am I in trouble?" Gosalyn asked him confused, tilting her head and playing nervously with her hair. "Oh! Well… yeah. You did hurt one of your classmates. But… you didn't mean to do it. You were just trying to save Tank from some bullies, so I can't get too mad…" he answered her with a distant voice, as if his mind was elsewhere while he looked out the window of the still unstarted car.

Gosalyn noticed that he was not focusing on her and seemed to only be paying half attention. She was unsure why, until a thought hit her and she realized what the problem most likely was. "Father… did the principal start yelling?" She asked her dad with a concerned look. His face lit up, as if she had just said something important or something serious. "What?! Well… she may or may not have raised her voice… and told me how I should parent you…" his voice trailed off again, this time intentionally. Now the duck frowned and reached over to put a hand on his hand.

"Father… do you need to cry?" She asked him, like it was something she had heard before and was repeating to him. "Wha- cry?? N-no no! Of course not! That's not something a father should do in front of his child! That's highly inappropriate!" He got defensive and turned away from her, pressing his lips tightly together and clenching his entire face. He decided this was the time to start the car and head home. "Father, it's ok. We're not a normal family. I've seen you cry around the other Darkwing Ducks, so you can cry with me too" she tried to reassure him, another thing she had learnt from her other dad's.

"No no no! That's no excuse! We are just like any other family! And you are a normal kid! Just because you've been through a lot, doesn't mean you should have to take on more emotional baggage! If our family is ever going to be a real family then we gotta act like a real family, and in a REAL family the father is strong and can hold back his emotions for the sake of…!". "Father. You're crying right now" the child pointed out as she had quickly interrupted him to get his attention. Liquidator stopped talking and rubbed his tears away, just to check that it was true. "... BLAST IT! Why?!" He groaned and sobbed annoyed, reaching down to pull out a napkin to dry his tears.

"Why do you cry so much, father? You fight villains every night, but cry every time someone yells at you?" She asked him as she looked up at him confused, not understanding how that could even be possible. "Well… I think everything changed when I met your other dads, around the same time I became a mutant" he reminisced as he drove the car, making the duckling light up as he brought up his past. "Are you talking about your backstory? Maybe you could… tell me about it. You know, to distract yourself from crying" She suggested discreetly while glancing up at him not-so-subtly. His expression changed into a suspicious one, glancing down at her quickly before focusing on the road. "You're not subtle, you know. I know you've been asking the others for their backstory. You don't need to justify it, just ask" He sighed and shook his head. Gosalyn sat quietly and looked at him expectantly. "... Alright. Fine. I'll tell you. But you're still in trouble when we get home".

As I'm sure I've told you before, my real name is Bud. Bud Flud. I was a worker in this bottled water company called Sparkling Crystal Pure Water, as… a janitor. It wasn't the prettiest job, but it paid the bills well enough. It was a pretty big and popular company, our logo being a regular household product. It was kind of a big deal.

At my workplace, I was treated pretty terribly. Everyone only viewed me as "the janitor", nothing more than that. They would glare at me if I was vacuuming near them and throw their trash right in my way while I was moping. They would even ask me to get them coffee, even though that's the coffee boy's job, not mine. They didn't care, I was just there to serve their needs. To serve them. I was just… the janitor.

One day, I had headed off to the warehouse where the water supply was so I could clean up a bit. It was pretty quiet, like it usually was, me being the only person there at the time. Or at least that's what I thought at the time. As I was cleaning, I thought I heard something, so I removed my headphones to check. It was quiet, but only for a moment as soon thereafter I heard the sound of clanking, as if someone was running along the walkways above the tanks. I tried to investigate, sneaking around to see if I'd spot the person making sounds. And I did! I saw a mysterious figure wearing a mask and coat running up there, holding a big bag. I, of course, got suspicious and decided to walk over there and find out what was going on.

I got up there and tried to sneakily check out what this figure was doing here. I saw this person lean over the railing to one of the tanks, as if making sure they were right above it. They then reached over to their bag and grunted as they lifted it up and pulled out some bottle with the label of a skull on it. At that point, I realized what was happening and I rushed out of my hiding place to put a stop to it. "What do you think you're doing?!" I yelled as I tackled them out of the way. But this only caused them to drop the big bottle as it came crashing down into the tank, coloring the water a sickly green. But I was too busy pulling off the mask of this criminal to see who he was. It was a duck with another black mask under that one only covered his eyes. But before I could try to reveal him a second time, he kicked me off. My back was against the cold metal walkway as he got up and walked over towards me.

"And what do you think YOU'RE doing, mutt?! Trying to act like some hero! What are you? The owner?" He asked me as he picked me up by my collar. "No! I'm the janitor! But I'll still stop you!" I growled at him. It's then I noticed the bag of that substance he had brought and figured if I could reach it, I might be able to hit him with one of those heavy looking bottles. "HA! A JANITOR! You're not even a tight tie office jerk?! That's hilarious! You think that a little lap dog that licks up their owners filth is going to do anything against me?! The number one up and coming super villain?!" He laughed maniacally while I tried to reach out for the bottle as he was distracted monologuing. I finally grabbed a hold of one and quickly used it to knock him to the side, off of me. I quickly scrambled up to my feet and snatched the bag so he couldn't do any more damage, then began sprinting as fast as I could. But before I could get away, he grabbed my shirt from behind and pulled me back, forcing me against the railing. "Nice try, dirt bag! But I think you and that bag of poison take a nice little bath!" He chuckled at my face before he pushed me hard enough to break the railing and send me falling down into the tank of poisoned water.

Gosalyn looked shocked up at her dad, covering her mouth as she heard him explain. "Was… was that guy who threw you…?" She asked nervously. "... I would prefer not to say" Liquidator muttered quietly, eyes focused intently on the road. "Well… how did you survive falling into poison water?! Shouldn't you be… you know?" She then questioned the logic of this story. "I honestly don't know. Ask papa, he's better at this stuff than me. But anyways-" he quickly tried to get back to the story.

I don't want to get too detailed, but let's just say that it hurt. It hurt a lot. I was… disappearing. Of course, I wasn't really conscious for long as the pain became too much and I assume something else happened that caused me to faint. I don't know how long I was asleep for. It must have been quite some time, considering what happened when I awoke. When I did wake up, there were rays of sun shining into my eyes, causing me to groan and try to pull back. But i couldn't move. I couldn't even feel my body. I felt paralysed, like I was melting. It was really scary to experience. I thought that I was either dying or I was dead already and this was me entering the pearly gates. But I wasn't ready to go yet, so I reflexively pulled back away from the light, which somehow worked and I ended up falling into something wet.

I quickly darted back up to the surface of the water and looked around panicked, noting that I was in a sweet or something like that. I had finally managed to get a hold of my body again and I pulled myself back up on dry land, except it got quite wet as soon as I got up and I didn't feel any dryer. I felt very different, something was wrong. I looked down at my hands and saw that they were covered in water. Or so I thought, until I moved my hands away and spotted my reflection in the water. I… I was water! My skin was blue and dripping wet. I felt like I was wobbling like a bowl of jello. I freaked, believe me. I started panicking and crying right where I sat. I curled up into a ball and started rocking back and forth, mumbling to myself "It's just a dream. This is just a dream. I just fell asleep at work. I was rescued and I didn't die". I just kept telling myself that while I covered my head and buried it in my knees, not wanting to see anything else, since I didn't want any of this to be real.

But soon enough, this newspaper fell down from the sewer grates that I had woken up under and it hit me on the head. It snapped me out of my panic and I looked over at it surprised. But I didn't expect to see my own face on the front page, my profile right there. I quickly picked it up and unfolded it to check what had happened to me. Maybe I could figure out what was going on with me and with that guy I had stopped back at the water storage. But what I saw was more shocking than anything I had expected. The head title read "Local mystery hero puts an end to crazed janitor" and the image underneath was of the guy who had tried to poison all the tanks, shaking hands with my boss while he held a bag of money, my profile right beside it with the story written under it. Not sure what all this meant, I just kept reading. "Local bottled water company, Sparkling Crystal Pure Water, had an incident at their water facility. Mentally unstable janitor at the company, Bud Flud, seemed to have snapped and attempted to poison the water supply. But a brave passer-by put a stop to his plan and ended up fighting him. This fight came to an end when the courageous duck threw the maniac into the contaminated tank, resulting in the death of mr. Flud".

I couldn't believe what I was reading. They had gotten the situation completely wrong! I was the hero, ME! He was trying to ruin the company and I was the one who was trying to SAVE it! And I died for it!! And now, after all of what I went through, not only the fight that resulted in my death, but all the abuse that my superiors had thrown at me during my time at the company, they slander my name and make my death out to be the riddance of some evil loon. The paper in my hands was getting drenched and I could see bubbles start to rise from my body. I was boiling with anger.

"WHAT?!? How could they do that?! That's so unfair!!!" Gosalyn yelled grumpily as she looked up at her dad, still focusing on driving. "Yes. It really was. But there was nothing I could have done. Well… actually there was. But… I regret ever even considering it" he sighed and stared at the road, a scowl creeping up on his face. Gosalyn looked worried as she hoped it wasn't something awful he was hinting at.

I had already headed out to find out what in the world was happening. As I walked down the street, people were looking at me with fear and horror as they ran away and screamed. I wasn't even paying attention to my monstrous self any more. I was too busy finding out more. I needed to see for myself if what I had read really was the story everyone else had heard. As I turned a corner, I spotted a TV screen in a store window that had my face on it. I stopped right in my tracks, as if my body had frozen over. The same story I had read in the paper was repeated again, this time with some venomous words of mockery added in to comment on how crazy and pathetic I was. Then when the screen showed the masked menace who had killed me, I went into a blind rage and shot a strong blast of water from a nearby fire hydrant to break the glass of the window. I then grabbed the television and tossed it into the street. A cop saw this and ran over to put a pair of handcuffs on me. Still raging I easily pulled my hand out of the cuffs, then reeled back and punched her in the face with a hardened, rubbery yellow fist. She was knocked out cold.

Soon after that I calmed down and realized what I just had done. I had assaulted an officer. How awful! But more than that, I started to think about just how I had done it. I had manipulated water and my own body, became boiling hot and hardened my consistency. I was some sort of super powered water being. I practically had magic! That was amazing! But I'd rather just be a normal dog with the respect of my superiors. But while I had these powers that made me into a monster, I thought I might as well use it for a monstrous purpose. I decided to head over to my old workplace to pay them a little visit.

Traveling along through the sewer system, I soon reached the office building where my "boss" was probably sitting and showering himself in his compensation money from the contaminated water. I could just imagine him in his office, celebrating my death with a big glass of expensive champagne. I felt myself get mad again, I wanted to break him with my bare hands.

But as I was seething, I heard some talking and directed my attention towards the sound. It was a couple of employees that were heading out for the day, laughing and surely gossiping about what had happened with me and the water supply. I growled to myself and decided it was time to put my plan into action. I approached the group as a puddle of water, stopping right under them so they would slip on me. One of them did and fell over, earning a "are you ok?" From one of the other guys. But before he could answer, I grabbed him by his ankles and lifted him up to smack him into the rest of the guys. They looked confused until I materialized out of my puddle, giving the dirtiest glare I could manage. They stared horrified at me and started to crawl away. I just moved over towards them and used the nearby sewer water to make a wall of water around them to stop them from escaping. "Don't worry, fellas! You will love this HOT new deal!" I chuckled as I made the water boiling hot before heading over towards the office. I extended my waist so I could peek inside the window I believed belonged to my old boss. I saw him in there, polishing off this new fancy water cooler he probably got from the compensation money. I could only growl and grind my teeth in anger as he looked so smug and happy. I thought that he didn't deserve to be happy after what he did! I used the water inside the water cooler, lifting it up a bit and shooting a hard stream of water at him that forced him out the window and falling down from a few too many stories up. He screamed as he was about to hit the ground.

But before he fell to his death, I caught him in my body before pulling him out and holding him by his collar, dripping wet. "Why if it isn't mister boss man himself? I see you've made BANK while I was gone! Sales must be GREAT after the janitor left" I hissed spitefully into his face as I started moving over towards the boiling water circle. He was panting and staring at me in stunned horror before realization hit him. "... bud flux?! No! Y-you… you died!" He stuttered in shock and reached out to touch me, presumably to make sure I was real. I held him up in the air and laughed with this evilly joyful voice. "That's right! Your old favorite doormat has returned! This time he's a hundred percent water and he has a deal for you that's worth DYING for!" I kept laughing as I grabbed a hold of his head and started to move it closer and closer to the deadly hot wall of water. He was whimpering in fear, trying his best pull away from it. But I just kept pushing him closer while laughing vengefully.

But before I could burn his face, I felt this painful electric shock in my entire body. I dropped the man and the boiling water disappeared, allowing the other employees to flee. I groaned and turned around to see who had just interrupted my revenge. These three men were standing above me, looking like some costumed clowns. One quite literally. "Alright! Playtime is over for you, buster! Unless you learn to play nice!" The purple and red clown scolded me as if I was a disobedient child. I felt myself start to boil again and I grabbed him with my extended arm, tossing him up into the air. But as he came back down, a colorful parachute opened and he came back down safely with a pleasant "wheeeee~". "Listen, sir! You better stop terrorizing these poor workers or we'll be forever to put you behind… plastic?" The plant man said as he got these flowers to extend and try to hold me still. I just became hot and they retreated quickly. "Are you having anger issues? A thirst for revenge? Try relieving your tension on some idiots!" I just spouted out some nonsense as I grabbed the duck and started to try and drown him with my fist. There was then a fizzing sensation on my back and I saw a bathbomb starting to bubble up. That jester duck grinned innocently at me.

I dropped the other duck and glared at all these annoying guys with murderous intent. "Just give up, villain! We'll never let you hurt these innocent people!" The rat yelled as he pointed his fingers at me like a gun. That's when I realized what I was doing. I had just tried to kill someone, a few people! I had tried to end a couple of lives because of, what, petty anger? I felt like a monster. I was a monster. I had become something I had tried my very best to avoid. I started to quiver, feeling all that adrenalin from before disappearing completely. I melted down onto the ground and began to sob softly. The guys around me all stared at me with this confused look, probably not having expected that. "Why? Why is all this happening to me?! What did I do wrong?! What karma deity did I hurt to deserve this?!" I cried while curled up on the ground in defeat.

The plant duck must have felt bad for me, because he started to walk over towards me with this look of pity. The rat man pulled him back and whispered "no! It might be a trick!". But he just brushed him off and whispered back "just zap him if he tries anything". He then sat down beside me and asked me what had happened to me. I just burst and told him everything. I told him how I used to work here and how I was treated, before the incident happened and my name was slandered all over the news. I told him all of it while sobbing and breathing harshly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I did! But can you blame me for going crazy?! I died! Bud Flud died and his name was dragged through the mud! I don't want revenge! I JUST WANT TO BE A NORMAL DOG AGAIN! I DON'T WANT TO BE A MONSTER!" I wailed as I hugged myself while shaking like a bowl of jello. The hero beside me just gave me a sudden, comforting pat on the back after having listened to my entire ramble. "I… understand exactly what you mean. Believe me. I've been there so many times" he told me with deep empathy and gave me a big, trustworthy smile. A smile that made me feel like he really did feel my pain.

I couldn't help myself, I threw myself into his chest and kept the waterworks coming. I couldn't even talk anymore, I was too busy letting all my frustrations from my unforgiving work life just flow out. He hugged me back and muttered with a slightly awkward tone "it's ok… we'll help you out of this. That's what heroes do". Then suddenly the jester embraced us both and was crying these big waterfalls, somehow more than I was. "WE'LL TAKE CARE OF YOOOOOUUUU!!" he shouted as he squished us both together. The third man of the trio refrained from hugging as he gave up his suspicions. "You know… you're a pretty tough fighter. We could use a guy with relentless powers like yours" he said and grinned nervously down at us. I didn't care about my powers right then, I just cared that these randoms were showing me more compassion than most others in my life had.

"A-and so… sniff the three of them let me stay with them until I was more e-emotionally stable. After that, I was offered to join them in their crime fighting a-and of c-course I said yes" Liquidator sniffed softly as he got out of the car, having parked in the driveway as he finished telling his story. Gosalyn got out too and ran around to jump up and hug him. He caught her easily and held her as she squeezed him, grinning a teary smile while heading inside. "Hunni! You're hoooooome… uh… did something happen?" Bushroot walked up and greeted them before he saw the tears. Megavolt peeked out of the workshop as he heard the door shut. Quackerjack also popped his head down from the ceiling, where he was doing... something. "Father just told me his story… It was really emotional so now he's crying! HE NEEDS A HUG!" the duckling quickly said before Liquidator could explain it, leaving him surprised and embarrassed. "come on, hun! Their busy grown men! They don't have time fo-" before the man could finish, a pair of vines wrapped around his waist and pulled him into a Bushroot hug. "You're silly! We always have time for a comfort hug!" he chuckled. Megavolt also joined the hug, stating proudly "well lucky for me that I'm wearing rubber!". "GROUP HUG!" Quackerjack called out as he fell down from the roof and hung onto them with all four limbs, like a koala.

Gosaly giggled and nuzzled into the nice, warm hug from all her dads. They were all so different, so weird, so unordinary. They all had such crazy, heartbreaking, inspiring and cool backstories. How could she go from having such a neglectful and uncaring foster dad to having four dads with nothing but love and care in their hearts. She couldn't help but to feel happy. So so happy.