A.N: Juan and Joanna made near-full recoveries, aside for Juan's now-cybernetic eye, and Joanna's grades in her last semester of high school.

Maive did not make a full recovery, but is doing remarkably well given the circumstances. About 10% of her body is now cybernetic in some form, and she works as a stress-tester for new medical technology alongside her job as a general manager for The Red Cup.

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I love that one, the world building at the start is wonderful

it could be a virgin mary kind of situation

Hemolymph.

He was a low-powered hemokinetic, rated at D-grade due to his lack of range and inability to control the blood of others. His biggest crime was a bank robbery, where he had successfully escaped with fifty thousand dollars. Overall, not very threatening.

The Champion Trio. Three young heroes just coming into their own. A speedster, a strongwoman, and a telekinetic made up their numbers, and while all were certainly stronger than Hemolymph individually, their lack of experience made them an equal match.

Or so the world at large thought.

Hemolymph was a villain hired by the world hero organization, a trainer for new hero teams to help cultivate their strength. Hemolymph, under the name Daniel Gould, also ran The Red Cup, a coffee shop that exclusively sold drinks in blood-red cups

A coffee shop that, as Daniel could clearly see, currently stood destroyed, with it's three employees alive but injured. Joanna, the highschool girl who just wanted some spending money, was underneath what remained of the register and parts of a cabinet. Juan, the immigrant worker just trying to make ends meet, was wincing as he removed shards of window glass from his face. One of his eyes was ruined, and without a healer...

And that was ignoring Maive, who was in the worst state of them all. According to Juan, the Champion Trio had interrogated her for information on Hemolymph, and when she had stayed silent, they began to break things. First, her left wrist, courtesy of the strongwoman Brute. Then her other wrist, at the hands of Minder. After Juan had turned away, they continued, breaking her body piece by piece. It was all Daniel could do to contain the bleeding.

Thankfully, all three were alive, and with his help, would stay that way. Joanna, he excavated with the help of Juan's blood, and Juan needed no immediate help. For Maive, he kept her heart pumping, and her blood flowing. It wasn't perfect, but she would survive.

The Champion Trio received an unexpected visitor in the aftermath of their celebration. It had been a few hours since the Latino man had told them about the Red Cup's owner, their nemesis.

The best part was, they didn't even have to go looking for him! He had come right to-

Three C-ranked heroes floated, held aloft by their own blood at the hands of Hemolymph. Three Heroes found out why supers of all varieties respected the Rule.

"Do not interfere with the life behind the mask."

The next day, Daniel Gould read the news as he finished writing his after-action disciplinary report.

"3 fledgling heroes in coma at the hands of Hemolymph after breaking the Rule."

Daniel, Hemolymph, and former A-ranked villain Bloodbath sighed. Maybe it was for the best, that he had retired from supervillainy. Heroism was much better for the soul.

They don't have to be unsavory, though. There is artificial insemination, there is willing to have sex because it could lead to pregnancy. There is the traditional method of the man spending into a cup and then you just use a pipette...

In his book What If?, the XKCD guy analyzed what would happen if you condensed all the rain from a thunderstorm into one giant drop. The results weren't pretty.

Still, the superhero in this story ought to find soulmate with the superpower of being able to turn anything into the perfect grilled cheese.

I recommend also picking up Uzumaki.

10/10 perfect story! Absolutely Marvelous!

[deleted]

yeah i was afraid that it would be a female MC and… unsavoury things would happen but i can’t and won’t write that

As someone who’s wishing they could rewind and tell their past self that she ends up being the only person I want when I end up in the hospital not long after - I’m sorry. That is the worst place to be.

You're welcome! I love your username BTW lol now I want papaya even though I don't even really like them.

"Her expression was simultaneously pained and enraged like someone hit a baboon with a whiffle bat as hard as they could."

Pure poetry.

500 megatons of good soup is still 500 megatons

Sure thing, leave my name out of it tho.

I stopped walking, stuck in place as I stared at the man. "Miss Edwards?" Lyla, the girl I was tutoring, said.

But I couldn't talk. I just could not believe what I was seeing. "Lyla . . . do you know what your father does for a living?"

I looked into her eyes and saw it immediately. She did know. And it wasn't a lie that her father told her. She knew. "He works in an office," she replied, trying to look confident in the fake answer. "Anyways, I see him there right now. I'll see you later!" She walked off to the car, where her wretched father leaned against. He was staring at me, and I could tell he recognized me as well.

"Hey, Dad!" Lyla told him. He turned his attention to her and greeted her.

"Baby, can you wait in the car? I'm going to speak to your teacher." Lyla nodded, and I grew tense as the man walked towards me. "Well, what do we have here?" he said, slightly smirking.

"You have a kid? I thought you were too sinister for that!"

"And I thought you were smart enough to get a job that pays higher, but oh well. You settled for teacher."

"So what? You rob banks for a living."

"That's not what I do, and you know it. Very common misconception about villains," he looked down at my school-provided ID, "Diane."

"Shut it. Now, I don't feel very comfortable with you having Lyla as a daughter."

His face dropped. "And why is that?" he said sharply.

"You know why. She's a very sweet girl and-"

"Yeah, I know that. She's my kid. And, not that it's any of your business, I treat her well. I give her what she needs and way more. I spoil that girl, okay? So don't assume I'm just a cold-blooded being living only to fight you. There's life in everyone, not just you. Even if you can't see it, we're all conscious, we're all alive and trying to get by. I do what I need to do to survive, and provide for Lyla, so just stay out of it if all you're gonna do is criticize."

I stood staring at him, feeling strangely guilty. I didn't really like the idea of this man being a person too, which was a weird thought, but true. I was making everything harder for him. "I'm sorry," was all I could say.

We stood silent for a few seconds that felt like hours, and finally, I looked up at the villain. Maybe I was his villain. I made his life worse, and before I knew it, I spoke. "What if we team up?"

"Team up? With you? No, thank you."

"No, I mean . . . if you become a hero, you'll be famous for being good and you'll get a bunch of money and even things for free too."

He shook his head. "They wouldn't let me. No one would trust me. Not after all these years."

"Well, I'll make them." I had a strange determination to get the people of the town to accept him. I needed them to. "They'll see you, I bet they will."

He squinted his eyes. "Why are you doing this? Why are you saying this?"

"You deserve to be forgiven. Everyone wants a life that they can enjoy, but I can't keep letting you steal things that don't belong to you, which is what's giving you the money to enjoy your life, so this is the solution. Switch sides."

He didn't speak for several seconds. "Thanks. No one's ever . . . Thanks." He turned and went into his car, and I watched him drive out of the parking lot and out of the school area.

The door slams open as I walk in with a fresh copy of “The Memoir of Beppy”. The love of my life jumps before she whirls in her swivel seat to face me. “Jack, you scared me! I thought-“ She stops as she sees one of her new books in my hand. “Oh, did you pick that up this morning? How sweet!”

“Laura, this is serious. Why is it like this?” I ask seriously. Her smile drops.

“I’m… sorry?”

“Why is it so different?” I ask. She shrugs.

“I mean, I know a story about a dead clown’s not mainstream but-“ I sigh, stopping her. I rub the bridge of my nose and rephrase my question.

“No, why is it not… why is it not so meh?” I ask. Laura gives a confused chuckle.

“Um… thank you, I guess?” She says hesitantly.

“No- Laura, I’m being serious here! It’s good! It’s original! It’s entertaining! It’s fun to read!” I ramble off, frustrated.

“Okay, I know my drafts weren’t the best, but you didn’t have to-“

“Just tell me what happened, please. I’m half-wondering if you’re really good, and half-wondering if you stole someone’s ideas,” I say. Finally, my girlfriend sighs, and answers my question with a bit of annoyance.

“After you read my draft and told me how you felt about it, I could see you didn’t like it. So, I rewrote the whole thing, from start to finish. Different gags, different styles, goodness, I used a whole different plot,” she explains. “I almost threw it away after I was done because I thought it still wasn’t good, but I figured why not send it over to my interested publisher and see if he liked it. Turns out he loved it.” She crosses her arms and leans back, expecting a reaction from me as I stare at her.

“… You rewrote… almost four hundred pages, in how long?” I ask. She looks up in thought before shrugging.

“Two days,” she says.

“Two da- Two whole days!?” I yell. “You basically took a skeleton of a premise, restarted, and finished it, in two days!?” Laura nods.

“Yes, that’s what I said,” she says with annoyance. I think for a bit before nodding.

“Could I… see your other drafts? One’s you’ve restarted, I mean,” I clarify. She sighs.

“Honey, they’re not any good-“

“Let me read them, please,” I say. She sighs and looks toward her laptop. Pulling them up, she lets me read over her shoulder. As I skim read, it takes about ten minutes before I look at her with amazement. “It says there’s three hundred and seventy two pages here,” I mention.

“Yes?” She says with confusion. “Honey, could you tell me what-“

“Send me more of your drafts, I want to read them before I make dinner tonight,” I say, backing off.

Later, after reading four separate drafts totally redone by my love, I walk over to Laura from my room, who’s watching some crime drama on the television. “Laura,” I say. She looks up and smiles.

“Hey honey! I didn’t see you all afternoon, what-“

“You’re sending these drafts to the publisher tomorrow morning,” I say, sitting next to her and hugging her.

“Uh- what?” She asks.

“Sweetie, your drafts are amazing. It’s like you worked out every single dent in your first draft. I- I love your work,” I say, smiling. I’m so proud of her, I don’t even know how to word it like she would.

I stopped walking, stuck in place as I stared at the man. "Miss Edwards?" Lyla, the girl I was tutoring, said.

But I couldn't talk. I just could not believe what I was seeing. "Lyla . . . do you know what your father does for a living?"

I looked into her eyes and saw it immediately. She did know. And it wasn't a lie that her father told her. She knew. "He works in an office," she replied, trying to look confident in the fake answer. "Anyways, I see him there right now. I'll see you later!" She walked off to the car, where her wretched father leaned against. He was staring at me, and I could tell he recognized me as well.

"Hey, Dad!" Lyla told him. He turned his attention to her and greeted her.

"Baby, can you wait in the car? I'm going to speak to your teacher." Lyla nodded, and I grew tense as the man walked towards me. "Well, what do we have here?" he said, slightly smirking.

"You have a kid? I thought you were too sinister for that!"

"And I thought you were smart enough to get a job that pays higher, but oh well. You settled for teacher."

"So what? You rob banks for a living."

"That's not what I do, and you know it. Very common misconception about villains," he looked down at my school-provided ID, "Diane."

"Shut it. Now, I don't feel very comfortable with you having Lyla as a daughter."

His face dropped. "And why is that?" he said sharply.

"You know why. She's a very sweet girl and-"

"Yeah, I know that. She's my kid. And, not that it's any of your business, I treat her well. I give her what she needs and way more. I spoil that girl, okay? So don't assume I'm just a cold-blooded being living only to fight you. There's life in everyone, not just you. Even if you can't see it, we're all conscious, we're all alive and trying to get by. I do what I need to do to survive, and provide for Lyla, so just stay out of it if all you're gonna do is criticize."

I stood staring at him, feeling strangely guilty. I didn't really like the idea of this man being a person too, which was a weird thought, but true. I was making everything harder for him. "I'm sorry," was all I could say.

We stood silent for a few seconds that felt like hours, and finally, I looked up at the villain. Maybe I was his villain. I made his life worse, and before I knew it, I spoke. "What if we team up?"

"Team up? With you? No, thank you."

"No, I mean . . . if you become a hero, you'll be famous for being good and you'll get a bunch of money and even things for free too."

He shook his head. "They wouldn't let me. No one would trust me. Not after all these years."

"Well, I'll make them." I had a strange determination to get the people of the town to accept him. I needed them to. "They'll see you, I bet they will."

He squinted his eyes. "Why are you doing this? Why are you saying this?"

"You deserve to be forgiven. Everyone wants a life that they can enjoy, but I can't keep letting you steal things that don't belong to you, which is what's giving you the money to enjoy your life, so this is the solution. Switch sides."

He didn't speak for several seconds. "Thanks. No one's ever . . . Thanks." He turned and went into his car, and I watched him drive out of the parking lot and out of the school area.

[removed]

I was okay with the "my hole" story but the one about people having really long dreams haunts me to this day. I think it's called Nagai Yume.

❤️ honestly needed this happy thought, thanks!

Same here. I can't read Junji Ito, it's too much

That was sad, but beautiful. Am a little confused on the last line though!

"It's because you've only read the first page, dumbass. I showed you stuff 3/4 of the way through"