Hey! I Love Your Writing So Much. I Think I Read Almost All Of Your Stories.

Axolotls. Incredible little creatures. Effectively immortal if left underwater, and forever youthful. Axolotls regrow their limbs because of their regenerating cells. These same cells were found to be present, but dormant, in humans.

Biochemists determined a groundbreaking method to isolate and reactivate these dormant cells. First practiced on mice, they extracted a small amount of blood, agitated it with chemical stimulants, placed it in a centrifuge, and re-injected it into the mice. The mice for a short time experienced cell regrowth, and through trial and error they refined the process.

They named this formula Formula A18, named after the axolotles that inspired it, and the 18 chemical stimulants that it composed of.

The results were, in essence, incredible. Beyond being a treatment to stop aging, it in effect allowed patients to regrow limbs and organs. It was heralded as a cure-all and a miracle drug.

However, the process of extracting, treating, and re-injecting cells was costly, and treatment locations charged handsomely for the procedure. Likewise, it needed to be re-administered every two years, as the effects depreciated. Some patients had adverse reactions to the treatment, as well as a higher predisposition to malignant cancers. As you were part of the at-risk group, you were deemed ineligible for the treatment.

At first, people in your life refused the treatment. "Who knows what those scientists are putting into our bodies," they scoffed. "Better for you to avoid all that, anyway." You would've given anything to receive the treatment, then. You were paraplegic and in constant pain after an accident, and you would've given your life savings for one dose.

Then a new variant of Formula A18 was introduced, Formula AV23. This one was different-- it was cheaper, worked faster, and only required one administration. Instead of extracting and re-injecting the cells, a virus was developed to target and reactivate the dormant cells, creating a persistent and cascading regeneration of cells. The company who developed it was a rival of the creators of A18.

Again, you were denied the treatment on the grounds that you were part of an at-risk group.

Everyone but you was getting healthier. You got even more stares than you did before on the bus. People scolded you for not getting AV23. Some even accused you of attention-seeking.

Five years went by. You witnessed a friend develop a particularly aggressive cancer attributed to AV23. The creators of A18 went out of business, and the formula was bought up by yet another company.

Though the name didn't change, A18 underwent modifications to become more "cost-effective" and "accessible". The revised name was A24, and the cheapest so far. Much more, you were eligible for it.

By this point, research facilities had cut funding to cancer research and many other life-threatening illnesses. Many believed AV23 and A24 could effectively replace all healthcare, and those who cautioned the repercussions of allowing such research to lose funding became the minority.

You decided not to try A24.

Five more years, and companies continued to add chemicals, change names, and cut more corners. FDA allowed variants to be grandfathered in. Business was booming, and people around you were changing. It was subtle, at first.

You noticed people would wander in circles. Some would stare listlessly at walls. Regulars on the bus struggled to remember how to swipe their card.

Five more years.

Adult daycare centers popped up all over. Hospitals were packed. Companies denied all connection to the rise in cancer patients and mass cognitive decline.

Five more years.

A man in Idaho accidentally cut off his finger. When he arrived at the hospital, the finger was reported to have fully healed and grown a small network of organs.

A woman in Berlin found hair in teeth growing from a wound in her midsection.

Five more years.

Many who took one of the AV23 and A24 variants went sterile, and birthrate was at an all-time low. Children born during the early introduction of AV23 and A24 physically and mentally stagnated, with underdeveloped limbs, poor fine motor control, short attention spans, weak vocal cords, and very limited cognitive retention. They were known as the "Cherub Generation".

The man's pinky from Idaho was kept under close observation. It grew a mouth, lungs, and a digestive system, and was able to crawl and consume nutrients independently.

A social media trend called "pinky pets" is inspired by this phenomenon.

Five more years.

Though you never went for treatment, you are showing the same effects of regeneration as everyone around you. Reports show AV23, A24 and its variants created a virus that can be transmitted airborne. You are finally able to walk, but your wounds heal in strange ways, and your blood feels like it's crawling.

Systems are developed to handle human's shorter retention spans. De-aging products are a largely thing of the past. Swimming becomes an extraordinarily popular activity, and the Cherub Generation seems to swim exceptionally well.

On a cellular level, most humans have changed, yourself included. You notice your skin is tougher, and your eyesight a bit duller. Your hair falls out and webbing grows between your fingers and toes. A strange new organ grows alongside your lungs. You are no longer able to handle extreme cold like you used to.

Asexual reproduction becomes the only way for most people to reproduce.

Biochemists work around the clock to reverse the effects of the AV23/A24 virus.

Five more years. Humans enter the oceans. Amenities from above-land are redesigned for underwater use. Above-ground cities are largely inhabited by the rare few who were resistant to the AV23/A24 virus.

Deep in the lowest reaches of the ocean, where humans used to be unable to travel, you find others like you.

Scholars set to work to communicate with these ancient humans.

They lament the life you gave up, but they welcome you with open arms.

Humanity persists. Humanity stagnates.

Then, slowly, humanity seeks land, and the ability to change, to age, once again.

A drug is discovered that stops all effects of aging. You decide to not take it. 20 years pass and the side effects are discovered.

how do requests work? what can we ask for?

You are my first ask, so you get a special prize! 🍀 It's a clover! Congratulations! You have +1 good luck now. I take requests for hero/villain content. I don't feel comfortable working with other people's characters. I generally stay SFW. If you want spicy I will try and will likely disappoint you. I also draw pictures sometimes, but I have burnout and very rarely want to.

I also work very slowly on average. If you want a mediocre five sentence Halloween themed story with no satisfying conclusion you should ask for it now.

I work for free though, so the return on your investment of time is decent, all things considered.

All in all... Try your luck, ask a question and see what happens?

Anyway, have a good day.

love the solid impact and the feeling of weight

A very sweet and soft story

A child goes missing late one night after investigating a light emanating from their closet. The Child's teddy bear and the monster that lives under the bed must put aside their differences and form a truce in order to rescue the child.

"I found the cure." You hold up a vial.

"Y-you did?" They smile. "That's wonderful!"

They reach for the vial, but you pull it away. Their smile falters.

"You never loved me, did you?" You whisper, voice raw.

The blank page

There was something intimidating about the blank page. No words seemed good enough, she thought to herself. She looked at the blank page again, crisp and white, like a snowy field frozen in time. "You could be anything", she thought. A furrowed brow. An ink pen caught in between two fingers while scratching her scalp with the rest of them. The rain pladdering against the window 🪟🌧️☔

Beautiful arc and a good sense of weight

jumping fishboy :3

also quality is bad as before womp womp :c

The Empty Envelope

A blank white envelope lay at Hero's doorstep.

They turned it over in their hands. "To Hero," written with flourish. No return address, but it was unmistakably Villain's handwriting. Inside was a slip of blank paper.

Probably a secret message, Hero decided. They brought their paper in for testing.

Nothing showed under a UV lamp. No discernible indentations to uncover. No heat-revealing ink.

Carefully the hero unfolded the envelope to check the inside for some kind of clue, cipher, anything.

Wait, a white flag -- a sign of surrender. Was Villain surrendering? That didn't sound right. Maybe they were waging a war on... The paper industry?...

Confused, Hero dialed the Villain's number.

"Yes, hello?" Villain answered distractedly.

"Villain, I'm going to need you to explain what this note means, because the blank page is a little vague."

"Oh, right, the note. I meant to fill it out before I left it, must have forgotten. Yes yes, I have your little friend, they're in danger, blah blah blah-- NOT important right now."

"You have my-- Villain, you kidnapped my friend?!"

"Well, yes, at first--"

"Hero," their friend called over the speaker. "I need to see you! You would not believe what happened--"

Hero seethed. "You let them go, or I'll--"

"Yes, yes, anyway--" The Villain quickly hung up.

Hero, of course, broke into Villain's base immediately. They heard chattering through the vents, and crawled towards the sound.

"... No. You're so much better off without them. They do not deserve you," they heard from the room below them.

"We've been together for a few years, but--"

Hero jumped down from then vent. "Back off! I'm here to save my friend!"

They found themselves in a circle of several henchmen, villain, and their friend, all wearing comfy clothes. Takeout and chocolate wrappers littered the ground. Someone was painting their friend's nails. They looked as if they'd been talking for a while.

"Oh, hi, Hero!" The friend waved cheerfully.

"Uh, hi?..." Hero stared down at a cluster of bottles. One of the sobbing henchmen patted the seat beside them. The hero hesitated, but Villain shot them a threatening glare and they took the offered seat.

"Thank you all so much," Friend gushed. "You all have been so... SO supportive-- I think I'm going to do it. I'm going to break up with my S/O."

"You're breaking up with your S/O?" Hero interjected.

"Yes, keep up, Hero," Villain snapped. "Your friend's S/O threatened them for allowing themselves to be kidnapped by me and--"

Hero's eyes lit up. "Wait, no, for real? You're breaking up? FINALLY?! Oh thank GOD--"

"RIGHT?!"

"I know, I know!" Friend waved their hands. "I should've left after they stole my credit card to sabotage my college funds--"

"They did WHAT--" Villain screeched.

"They didn't want me to leave." Friend explained. "It was... Sweet."

"They RUINED YOUR CREDIT SCORE!" Hero yelled, "INTENTIONALLY! While you were in the HOSPITAL!"

"Friend, listen, you're not just breaking up." Villain clasped Friend's shoulder. "We need to teach your ex a lesson. A permanent lesson."

They all looked at Hero as if expecting a retort.

"Are you kidding?" The hero smiled with a bloodthirsty glint in their eye. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this. I have so, so many ideas."

The Beast (Part 1)

The crowd screamed and ran at the sight of Hero's monstrous transformation. Hero roared, a pained and animalistic sound. Their shaking hands grew to long and sharp claws. Their teeth, jagged and pointed.

Hero cautiously approached a mirror mounted on the wall, terrified by what they might find. They recoiled at the beast that stared back.

They fled, out the doors and into the crowded streets. More people screamed. Someone threw a can, and they yelped. Shots rang out.

"The beast is getting away!" Someone cried.

They darted down an alleyway, and they kept running until they felt well and truly alone.

Or, so they thought.

"Ah, so you're the one they're after," said a voice in the shadows.

Hero bristled. They knew that voice.

"Oh. Oh my," Villain whispered reverently, stepping into the light. "You're marvelous."

"It went this way!" A voice cried.

"You're not safe here," Villain said. They threw open the doors to an abandoned warehouse. "Quick, inside."

Hero scrambled into the warehouse doors, up the wall and into the ceiling rafters.

The Villain shouted, "It went the other way!"

The angry voices receded, and Hero momentarily relaxed.

Villain closed the doors and all looked around. "Well, that's not ideal."

Hero shrank back into the shadows. Villain couldn't see them.

Villain ran to an intercom mounted near the doors.

"Listen up," Villain called over the intercom. "My pet is loose somewhere in this warehouse. Whoever brings them to me unharmed receives a little bonus."

Their lackeys sprung into action, running back and forth along rows of shelving and in and out of the various shipping containers littering the warehouse. A few ran into each other in their haste.

"Where did you go?" Villain muttered, scanning the ceiling.

They locked eyes with Hero, who bristled.

"They're on the ceiling nearest the compactor," Villain announced over the intercom.

Hero jumped down and scampered across the concrete flooring. Two lackeys tried to head them off, and they ran towards a set of stairs. Two more lackeys blocked their path, and they jumped off the stairs and darted over the shelving, toppling boxes in their wake.

"Boss, they're too fast!" One of the lackeys complained.

"Get the tranqs," Villain said.

Darts whizzed by as Hero tried to shake their pursuers. They cursed themselves for seeking asylum from a villain of all people.

They dove down to a set of doors and launched at them, but they wouldn't budge. They looked for some kind of lock or obstruction, but too late.

Something hit their shoulder. They tried to wrench it out, much too late.

They snarled as Villain approached them.

"Sorry, darling, but I can't have you tearing apart my warehouse," Villain said.

Hero realized they were laying down. They tried to get up, but they suddenly felt so, so weak. Villain knelt down and pet them gently, peering into their terrified eyes. They tried to nip at the Villain's hand, but that didn't seem to deter them.

"Rest now," Villain said.

Hero whined and went limp.

Part 2

Villain could feel her mind go blank. God, she really said that out loud.

Hero was close, much too close, and her strong arms gripped her shoulders so, so tightly. She smelled a little like strawberries and musk, and her hair tickled her face a little. No one had ever gotten this close before. Villain twisted her wrists in the cuffs behind her back and tried to ignore the warm feeling in her gut.

"I… Um…" Villain tried, flustered. Her eyes flicked to Hero's lips. They looked soft.

Hero cleared her throat and put an arm's length between them. "Nice try, but you're still going to prison."

Villain's stomach did little somersaults. "You're, uh, going to take me there yourself?"

Hero blinked and seemed to avoid her eyes. "Well, um. Yes."

"And, um, keep a close eye on me?"

Hero flicked a glance at her and grabbed a walkie-talkie with one hand. "Hey, Superhero," Hero squeaked, voice cracking, "When's your ETA?"

Villain could see a little pink in her ears.

Static. Hero muttered a curse. Superhero always took his time answering.

Villain knew she should take the opportunity to try to run. Hero only had one hand on her shoulder. One warm, strong hand.

She pulled her shoulder back and barreled into the Hero. Hero, caught off guard, dropped the walkie-talkie and fell back. Villain made a run for it, jumping off the rooftop onto a fire escape.

"Hey! No, get back here!" Hero roared. She leapt onto the fire escape below Villain, cutting off where she was headed. Villain jumped off the fire escape to the ground, and Hero launched after her.

The full impact hit Villain square in the back, and the resulting fall knocked the wind out of her. Hero straddled her from the back and roughly grabbed her arms.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're cute," Hero grunted.

Villain's heart fluttered. She turned her head as much as she was able. "You think I'm cute?"

Hero reached for her walkie-talkie and came up empty.

"It's on the rooftop," Villain helpfully reminded her. "Does he normally take this long to respond?"

Hero seemed conflicted in whether to answer. "…Yeah," She conceded.

"With just you, or--"

"I really, really don't want to talk about it," Hero sighed tiredly. "Just… Please."

Villain hummed. "You deserve better," She said.

"So do your victims," Hero said, voice hard.

Villain opened her mouth. Shut it. "This seems personal," she said.

"It is," Hero said. "Superhero saved me from Villains like you. So now, I work for him and pay it forward."

"Funny," Villain said, voice lowering an octave. "Superhero is the reason I'm like this."

Hero was going to ask what she meant, but Superhero came flying from above. A short while later, a prisoner transfer vehicle arrived.

"Thanks for your help as always, Hero," Superhero said. He flashed a wide, toothy grin for the paparazzi as he secured Villain into the back of the vehicle.

"I have something important to take care of, so I'll see you back at the base, Sport," Superhero said, patting Hero's back. Hero slid into the passenger's seat quietly, knuckles white. She watched him laughing with the press as the car rolled away.

"Wow, he can't even help escort me back?" Villain said, smile sardonic. "Also, what was that just now? Is he stealing the credit from you?"

"I don't want the attention," Hero said. She looked down. "Justice is its own reward."

Villain snorted. "Oh, honey... You keep telling yourself that."

The driver flicked his eyes towards the backseat, and pushed a button to lock the car doors.

"Just ignore her," Hero said to the driver, flashing a smile. "Have we met? You don't look familiar."

"He didn't get in the car," The driver gruffed.

Villain sighed. "I know, I know, but proceed with the plan anyways."

"Yes, boss," said the driver.

Hero whirled around. "Hey, wait, what plan--"

There was a sudden sting in her arm as the driver injected her with an unknown substance.

"What th--" Hero ripped the tranquilizer from her arm and tried to grab the wheel.

The car veered and the driver wrenched her arm back. She elbowed him in the eye and grappled for the wheel. He pulled out a gun and aimed it at her.

"Hey, now," Villain said, reaching her arms through the bars. "I like her, so be gentle."

"Yes, boss," The driver said. He kept the gun ready, and glowered at Hero with his good eye. They were speeding down a gravel path. Hero tried the door but her hands felt weak.

"Child lock," Villain said.

Hero bit her tongue to stave off the unnatural woozy feeling in her head. "You'll... Be... S-sorry," she said.

"Don't worry, shh, I'll take care of you," Villain shushed, petting her hair gently. "I just can't let you interfere with my plans. Okay? Okay? Sleep."

Hero's eyes went heavy. She leaned into the soothing hand despite herself. Her vision went black.

Prompt (440)

The hero clicked the handcuffs over the villain’s wrists. “You’re done terrorizing the city. Any last words?”

“I think I’m in love with you,” the villain said.

The hero turned the villain around. “What?”