Little Timmy Hatings was a happy child. An average student with a large group of friends and loving parents, he felt like he was truly content with his life. He lived every day joyfully and tried to spread his joy to others, so he never had a problem with anyone else.

That is, until he crossed paths with the wrong person.

School was over for the day, and Timmy was playing with his friends in the school playground while he waited for his parents to pick him up. The sun was almost setting and a chill was in the breeze, but that didn't keep him and his friends from enjoying a nice game of soccer.

He had just passed the ball to one of his friends, who in return kicked it a little too hard, sending it flying over his head towards the other end of the playground. Being the helpful little boy he was, Timmy quickly rushed in the ball's direction.

The ball came to halt just a few feet away from the swings, so Timmy didn't have to run too far to catch it. But when innocent twelve-year-old neared that location, his natural smile dropped into a frightened frown.

Sitting on one of the swings was a girl from his class. Timmy had seen her before, but was always too afraid to talk to her. She always kept her head hung low, so he had no idea what her face looked like. All he could see was her long glossy dark-purple hair blowing gently in the breeze. He noticed that she always wore the same clothes: a black sweater with extra-long sleeves that hid her hands, a black miniskirt that showed her pale legs, and a pair of black and white sneakers over a pair of white tube socks. To any other person this could've looked a normal girl, but there was something about her that sent shivers up and down Timmy's spine.

He quickly grabbed the ball and ran back to his friends, who noticed the frightened expression on his face upon his return.

"Dude, what happened?" asked one of his friends, cocking a brow at him.

"Uh…" he stuttered, looking back at the girl. "N-nothing…"

"Who's that?" another one of his friends inquired as he looked over Timmy's shoulder.

"I don't know." He replied as he set the ball down on the ground. "She's a girl from my class, but I've never talked to her, so I don't really know her name."

"She looks weird." The first friend commented. "I don't like her."

"Dude, you know what you should do?" the second friend inched closer to keep anyone else from hearing their conversation. "You should pick on her."

"What?!" Timmy gasped, involuntarily taking a step back. "W-why would I do that?"

"'Cause she's weird."

"And different." The first friend added. "My grandpa's always saying that people who are different are always out to get us and should be punished for that. He should know, he fought in Vietnam."

"I don't know…" Timmy muttered, looking down at his feet.

"Come on, man! Don't tell me you're afraid of a girl!"

"I-I'm not!" he stammered, giving him an angry glare.

"Then prove it."

They turned him around and pushed him forward in the girl's direction, stepping back a few feet afterwards. Timmy looked back at his friends, who told him to keep going, and took a deep breath. Clenching his fists and putting on the most determined expression he could muster, he walked towards the girl, trying to think about what he was going to say.

He stopped right in front of her and waited for her to look up at him, which she didn't. He took another deep breath.

"H-hey, you!" he began, feeling his heart beat heavily against his chest. "Why are you so weird? You don't look like you have any friends, and you never talk to anyone. So what's your deal, w-weirdo? Are you this sad and lonely because you want to, or just because everyone else thinks you're a freak?"

His heart almost jumped out of his chest when he saw her hop off of the swing, still keeping her head down. Timmy took a step back, feeling his breathing become irregular.

"What did you call me?" she asked, her voice emotionless and slightly high-pitched.

"I-I… I c-called you a freak!" Timmy retorted, trying to sound as brave as he could. "And I'll do it again! You don't scare me, y-you freak!"

She lifted a hand towards him without touching him, the end of her sleeve swinging with the motion. Timmy wondered what she was doing, but he got his answer when he felt his throat start to clench, like there was a pair of invisible hands squeezing his neck with great force. He clawed at his neck in a vain attempt to free himself when she lifted her hand up higher, making him float upwards in the air.

Suddenly she looked up at him, and Timmy's now bulging eyes widened even more when he saw her blood-red eye glowing as she gave him a wicked grin. He only saw her left eye, her right one being covered by her hair, and he didn't even want to think about what was beneath it.

"Do I scare you now?" she hissed, her voice sounding like pure venom.

Timmy felt the invisible force tighten around his neck even more, his vision starting to fade as he felt himself blacking out.

"Erin Maleficent Cipher!"

His neck was released all of a sudden and he drop to the dusty ground on his back. Sitting up, he saw the girl had retracted her hand and turned around to look at a blond adult with fancy clothes and… an eyepatch?

"Oh hey, dad." She greeted him, her tone back to being emotionless.

"Don't 'hey dad' me, young lady!" he said as he crossed his arms, looking rather displeased. "What have I told you about using your powers on mortals?"

"To not use them on people whom I see on a daily basis." She sighed. "But in my defense, he was picking on me."

"Well, that is wrong. But I still don't want you using your powers. I don't want people knowing about what your capable of."

He walked past her and headed up to Timmy, who was still observing the scene from his spot on the floor.

"As for you, if you even breathe about this to other people, you better get yourself a pretty good health insurance." He threatened him, forming a blue flame on the palm of his hand. "Got it?"

Timmy felt like he had lost his voice in his state of shock, so he nodded vigorously at the man before him.

"Good." He said, the flame disappearing as he walked back towards his daughter. "Now then, let's head home. Your mother should be done with dinner by now."

He grabbed her by the hand as they both made their way towards the exit, but not before she turned her head and gave Timmy a menacing glare. He watched them leave, mostly to make sure they were actually gone before lifting himself up and walking away. His friends were gone, surely because they were so frightened by what they had seen that they didn't want to stick around and have that happen to them.

Timmy kept his promise, and from that day forward, he didn't speak another word to anyone else ever again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE (PLEASE READ)

After I reread this chapter, I felt like an old granny pulling her grandchildren onto her lap and saying "Come, my darlings, let me tell the story of little Timmy Hastings." x'D

And that's the end! I wanted to end it by showing how Erin would be like in the future from someone else's perspective. Did I do good? I hope so…

And now that this is over, please tell me: how many of you guessed the cover art was Mabel and Bill's baby from the beginning? Seriously, please tell me, I'm really curious. x)

OK, since I'm done with this… I WILL BE ACCEPTING REQUESTS. I have a few one-shots in mind, but I will take any requests you guys throw at me. Just keep in mind that they might take a while. Besides writing the story itself, I also need to make the cover art, and that takes some time.

Thank you all again for the wonderful support you've given this story, and I hope to hear from you again very soon. ;)

*brofist*

~LeelaSmall