A dying man is given a second chance. This story is a fan fiction that takes place in the Whateley Universe.

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I was stretched out in the tub with my eyes closed, enjoying the hot water and the way the bubbles tickled my skin. Bubble baths were something of a guilty pleasure that I’ve taken to enjoying every morning. The way I figure it, if I’m stuck being a little girl, at least I can take advantage of the benefits.

When I finished my bath, I climbed out of the tub and began drying off, including taking care of my hair. Drying off this much hair was a real pain in the ass, but I had to admit that there was something soothing about brushing it out as well. Between the bath and the hair, I was feeling pretty calm and relaxed by the time I returned to my room to get dressed.

Once I was in my room, I slowly looked around, finding my shoes exactly where I’d left them last night. The dress that I’d haphazardly tossed into the corner last night was still there as well, though I made no move to pick it up. After all, it would dissolve and vanish before very long. One of the advantages of making my own clothes was that I didn’t have to worry about washing them.

“What to wear?” I mused, absently forming a pair of silk panties that were a perfect fit for me. Then I created a new dress as well, picking one of the four designs that I had firmly memorized, making this one in black. I created a white sash for the waist and a black ribbon to tie into my hair as well. Before long, I mused, “Perfect. And to think, the best part about being a mutant is all the money I’ll save on clothes.”

I chuckled as I thought about it, knowing that Melanie was actually pretty jealous of my ability to summon clothes. She’d even told me that if she could do this, she’d probably get carried away making new clothes as well. Of course, even the girls had a blast with my power, spending half the day yesterday demanding that we play dress up. I was more than happy to play with them, largely because it gave me a lot of opportunity to practice making other kinds of clothes besides dresses. The girls hadn’t been picky, but I had definitely improved.

In spite of already knowing that I looked perfect, I stood in front of the full length mirror that Melanie had placed in my room for me. I looked every inch a little girl, albeit a somewhat creepy looking one. I was dressing up in what Melanie called gothic lolita style, wearing a faux Victorian style frilly dress that was decorated with a few small skull decorations.

I left my room a minute later, though by this time, no one in the house was really surprised to see me dressing like this. Melanie commented, “That’s a lovely dress this morning,” while Kaylie asked about a new skull themed hair clip I was wearing. Without saying a word, I handed her an identical one, having bought a couple of them yesterday.

“So, what do you have planned for today?” I asked Melanie.

“I was going to take the girls swimming at the pool,” she answered pleasantly, giving me a curious look. “You’re more than welcome to come with, though it might mean going to the library later than usual.”

“I just might,” I responded with a smile, which earned me a faint look of surprise from Melanie.

Back in my old life, I’d never spent much time swimming. Though I never would have admitted it to anyone else, I just hadn’t been comfortable in the water. Every time I went swimming, my thoughts turned back to that old Jaws movie and I kept imagining what might be swimming around underneath me. And then of course, there was the fact that no one wanted to see my fat and hairy body in a swimsuit.

“I’m gonna need a swimsuit though,” I mused, knowing that it should be pretty easy to make one.

After this, Kimberly and Kaylie both ran and brought me their swimsuits to look over, then I looked online to get a few more ideas of what I wanted to do. Before long, I created a pattern in my head for the suit I wanted to use, though I decided to wait until I was in the pool locker room before creating it. I didn’t see any reason to carry anything more than I had to.

We were just getting ready to go when my cell phone started ringing. As soon as I picked it up, Rich exclaimed, “It’s Rachael…”

“What about her?” I demanded, feeling a surge of worry at the tone of his voice.

He hesitated a moment, then asked, “Are you still at the house?”

“Yes,” I responded, “but…”

Suddenly, there was a swirl in the air in the living room, then Rich stepped right out of it. Kaylie and Kimberly both gasped in surprise and confusion, which told me that neither of them knew about Rich’s abilities.

“How’d you get here?” Kaylie demanded, giving her uncle a suspicious look.

“He’s a mutant,” Melanie calmly told her daughters, who both gasped in surprise. Then she gave me a worried look, probably afraid of how I’d react to learning this. I hadn’t told her that Rich had already revealed this to me, though my reaction to his appearance now was a clear indication.

“What’s this about Rachael?” I asked him, turning off the phone.

“I sometimes work for the Clinic,” Rich blurted out, looking almost as though he was on the edge of a panic. “Usually, emergency patient transport. They just called me because they might need me to help them evacuate…”

“And what does this have to do with Rachael?” I demanded, growing impatient.

“She’s attacking the Clinic,” Rich exclaimed frantically. “Rachael is attacking the clinic…and I think she’s looking for you.”

“Me?” I gasped.

“You have to stop her,” Rich pleaded with me. “You have to talk some sense into her…”

Melanie looked more than a little shaken as she said, “You can’t talk sense to Rachael…”

“Maybe,” I said grimly, knowing that Rachael might listen to me IF she wasn’t having an episode. But if she was… I shuddered, having learned a long time ago that when she was having a Diedricks episode, there was absolutely on reasoning with her.

“Take me to her,” I told Rich grimly.

Melanie gasped at that, giving me a look of fear. “You can’t… You know what she’s like…”

“I have to,” I told her quietly, turning my attention back to Rich. Rachael might be an adult now…and a super villain. But more important than either of those things was the fact that she was still my daughter. I had to try.

Rich used his powers to open one of those weird swirls in the air, then the two of us stepped through. A moment later, I found myself standing on the street sidewalk, with Rich right beside me. All it took was a single glance to see why he was so worried.

There were robots scattered around the street and sidewalk, more than a dozen of them. There were three different models of the robots, with some of them looking vaguely humanoid in shape while others looked like metal dogs. Then there were the third kind, which were metal balls with four legs, which somewhat resembled giant spiders.

I quickly looked over the robots, then my attention went to Rachael, who was standing on some kind of hovering platform above the entire scene. She was currently in full Lady Havoc mode, dressed up in the costume that she’d been wearing at the hospital. However, what made me more afraid than that was the look on her face. Even from where I was standing, I could see the manic expression that told me she was in the middle of one of her episodes.

“Where is he?” Rachael demanded loudly. “I know he was brought here…”

Rich looked worried and near panic and I knew why. Though he’d grown up with Rachael, he’d never seen her in one of her really bad episodes, at least not personally. Sure, he’d heard about it from others and had even seen it on the news, but that wasn’t the same thing.

I grimaced, knowing that Rich wanted to help but also that even with his powers, this would be pretty damn dangerous. “Go help in the Clinic,” I told him with a scowl. “I need to go have a talk with your sister.”

Of course, I wasn’t the only one trying to have a talk with Rachael either. Pinnacle, Asset and one other hero I didn’t recognize were present, fighting the robots and trying to keep them from the Clinic. There was another guy helping as well, who I thought might have been a hero. He had the right kind of build, but he was in civilian clothes with his arm in a sling, more likely a patient from the Clinic than a Freelancer on duty.

Rich hesitated a moment, then reluctantly nodded agreement. A swirl appeared in the air, and he told me, “Please save her,” before he stepped through the swirl and vanished.

I stood where I was for several long seconds, nearly shaking in fear. I wasn’t afraid for myself but for Rachael…and for what she might do. My daughter had not one, but four heroes going after her at one time. I didn’t know them or what their limits were. For all I knew, they’d decide that the best way to stop her rampage was to kill her. I dreaded the very thought of that happening.

At the same time, Rachael’s robots were wandering around, destroying things at what appeared to be random. People could get hurt…or killed. That had happened in the past and there was a very real possibility of it happening again right in front of me. I couldn’t stand the idea of that happening again. I’d spend more than enough nights, having nightmares about my sweet girl hurting people while I was helpless to do anything about it. But for the first time, I actually did have the power to do something about it. Or at least I hoped I did.

I walked towards Rachael, wondering how I was going to get up to her on that platform. However, before I’d gotten too close, several of the robots started coming towards me. I reached out with both arms, creating a massively long ribbon and carefully controlling it. One end wrapped around a light pole and tied itself into a knot while the other end wrapped around a parked car, creating a strand right across the road. I smiled faintly as it reminded me of one of those ribbons that they had at the end of a race.

I stepped back and several of the robots ran into the ribbon and tripped. Then I created two more ribbons, spreading one out from each hand. One of them wrapped around a robot’s legs and I yanked, pulling his legs out from underneath him. At the same time, I used the other ribbon to try the same thing on one of the spider robots, though it lifted its leg out of the way before I could entangle it.

“At least I’ve got this one,” I exclaimed, jumping at the robot I’d just tripped, then sending one ribbon to wrap around his body until he was tied up like a mummy.

One of the dog robots leapt at me, but I reached out and caught it in the air, then flung it over into another dog robot. As soon as the two of them collided, they both exploded, much to my surprise. I would have thought that they’d just crunch up and break, not explode like robots in some cartoon. Then again, they were made by Rachael, so that tendency to explode was probably one of the unintended features that cropped up in her inventions.

Pinnacle landed beside me and demanded, “What are you doing here?” Then before I could answer, he asked, “Are you to help her or try to stop her?”

“I’m here to try talking some sense into her,” I responded with a grimace.

Pinnacle nodded at that, perhaps realizing that if there was anyone capable of talking sense to her, it was me. Then he smiled faintly and said, “Nice trick with the ribbons.”

I nodded at that, then charged at one of the spider robots, sending several ribbons to wrap around its legs. However, part of its metal sphere opened up and suddenly spat out a burst of flame, which hit my ribbon I was holding. The ribbon immediately burned and dissolved, revealing that even though my ribbons might be pretty strong, they were definitely vulnerable to the fire. The robot then aimed its flame thrower at the ribbons entangling its legs, freeing them completely.

“Well, fuck me with a garden hose,” I spat out in frustration.

Another of the dog robots leapt at me, but I saw it coming and easily dodged to the side. I gave it a swift kick right as it landed, sending it flying back where it hit a parked car and exploded. Unfortunately, the humanoid and spider robots didn’t seem to have that particular weakness.

Pinnacle punched one of the humanoid robots and smashed its front, though it continued to try fighting. Asset threw some kind of grenade at one of the spider robots, and the explosion took out the legs. He then threw another grenade at it and finished it off.

“I can’t believe this crap,” I grumbled.

I’d just barely turned into a mutant, and in spite of my decision to avoid the whole cape and costume nonsense, I’m already caught up right in the middle of a battle between heroes and a villain. I was pretty sure that somewhere up there, God was laughing his ass off at me.

“Where are you hiding him?” Rachael demanded again, holding up some kind of energy rifle and shooting it at the clinic. The blast hit the front doors and they melted into a nice hole. “Bring him out here immediately…”

Asset scowled and responded, “Bring out who?” However, from the look on Pinnacle’s face and the way he glanced to me, he realized exactly who she was asking for.

“Rachael,” I called out, though she was far enough away that she didn’t seem to hear me. I tried again, but there was an explosion and the crunching sound of one of her robots being destroyed. It was no good. I’d have to get closer.

While I was distracted by trying to decide how to reach Rachael, one of her robots started coming up from behind me. I noticed it in time to avoid being hit, but then it swung heavy metal arms at me several more times. The thing was slow and clumsy, so it was easy to dodge and avoid. Then I grabbed one of the arms and flung it over my shoulder, slamming it into the ground and then tearing the arm right off. I beat the robot with its own arm, then started for Rachael again.

When I got closer to Rachael, I flung one of my ribbons up to grab her floating platform, thinking that I could climb it like a rope. However, at the same time I was trying to do this, Pinnacle flew right at her. A glowing blue bubble appeared right around Rachael and her entire platform, and when it appeared the bubble actually cut right through my ribbon, dropping me back to the ground. It was a fifteen foot fall, but it didn’t hurt at all.

“Come on Rachael,” I snarled in frustration, wondering how I could possibly get through to her when I couldn’t even get close.

Pinnacle punched at Rachael’s force field bubble, and after a minute, Asset got involved, using what looked like some kind of rocket launcher. I cried out in horror, but after his attack hit and exploded, she was unharmed. But a moment later, he tried something else and suddenly her force field bubble popped and her platform dropped out of the air as though it had lost power. She hit the ground hard, but quickly got back to her feet.

I saw my opportunity and started going towards her, holding out my hands to show that I was unarmed and harmless. “Rachael,” I tried one more time.

Rachael finally turned to look at me, her eyes gleaming with madness. It was enough to instantly fill me with pain over what she’d gone through and what she’d become. However, she didn’t seem to share any of those emotions because she snarled, revealing her sharp teeth which made her look all the more terrifying.

“Calm down,” I told her, trying to be firm but gentle at the same time. “You need to calm down so we can talk…”

For a brief moment, Rachael hesitated and looked as though she might be willing to listen. But then Asset got too close and she suddenly snarled and opened fire on him, causing him to jump to the side. She began to open shoot at random, not seeming to aim or care what she was hitting. She was so far gone into her episode that all rational thought seemed to have fled.

“Rachael Anne Morgan,” I exclaimed, trying to get her attention.

That was enough to make Rachael hesitate again, but only for a moment. She suddenly swung her rifle right at me and fired. My entire body was engulfed in a searing pain that shot through every nerve, right before everything went dark.