#archie schultz

still, his mother did her absolute best to give him a good, safe childhood. unfortunately, there are things you just cant protect your child from.

when he was about 7, he was walking home from school and goofing around like a kid does, and he somehow got roped into a drug deal that was being made just a block from his apartment.

long story short, the guys were roughing him up (they were assholes.) and one of them was messing around and pretending to stick him with one of the syringes.

and then he actually did.

and it was agony.

poor, tiny archie was immediately overcome with the worst pain he'd ever experienced in his life to this day.

to avoid this section becoming a straight up 100k fic, ill just say that the recovery from the initial contact with the serum took archie weeks to recover from, and it many ways, he hasn't.

the boy is terrified of needles.

about the drug itself:

so you're gonna have to bear with me her because i am not a biochemist, and this might not make any sense.

so the drug, which i've dubbed VSD (Very Scary Drug) was originally made by a very shady crime syndicate, for underground fighting rings, kind of like a steroid but more permanent. the drug has 2 parts.

the first part of it works by acting on a specific DNA sequence, and spurring HGH (Human Growth Hormone) to amp up its production in the skeletal muscle cells, bone cells, and neuromuscular junctions (for better and faster reflexes)

the other part alters the somatosensory cortex, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe, and esentially causes them to be extremely active, to a point beyond human ability, but because of the first part of the drug, it's able to heal itself and create new cells

because VSD was designed to be permanent, it is very dangerous and not for everyone. the thing about it is that you have to be genetically compatible with it, or the entire thing could backfire or malfunction. only about 1 in every 100k people are even able to reap the effects of the drug. about 1 in every 100 even survive taking it at the dose archie recieved it.

if someone incompatible takes the drug, the effects are. dire. they can range from blindness, deafness, loss of sensation throughout the entire body, tumors, complete paralysis, and even the body just. not producing more cells. and then the vicitim would just deteriorate.

so yeah! not a fun time! and archie was incredibly lucky. the drug was obviously discontinued, and archie hasn't heard of anyone else who recieved the same effects that he did. there are only drugs that can do similar things now, but none are permant like archie's, and the abilities dont even begin to compare.

now what the hell can archie actually do?

well, let's first start with what he can't do.

the drug has no cognitive or behavioral effects, so archie is still the same old archie, only his body has changed.

the drug also has no effect on the immune system, both innate and adaptive. archie can get sick the same as any person, and has the same recovery time too!

now lets move on to the fun stuff!

like i said before, archie has about 4 times the strength as your average male his age. because of his muscle mass and bone density, he is also relatively resilient to injuries from "normal" people, but he's not like. invincible. if you smack that boy with a brick, its gonna hurt. he is sometimes unaware of his own strength and limits though, and throws himself to situations with the mindset of "this isnt even gonna scatch me" and is proven very wrong.

as for his senses, we'll start with vision

he can see about twice as far as your average person, and with clarity beyond even 20/20. he is also very privy to noticing small movements, even if theyre in his peripheral.

now hearing! he can hear much much quieter things than your average human. im not totally sure how to quantify this one, but basically he is hearing like.. everything. all the time. which we'll get into later. the way i gauge it is the fact than he can hear heartbeats, even when he'd just standing next to the person.

and lastly (and probably least interestingly) touch! he can feel sensations a lot more clearly than most. the sensation you would have on your fingertips is kind of what he feels all over, and it makes him have pretty bad sensory issues with certain things (me too archie, me too.)

how can we whump this boy?!

okay, now onto the drawbacks of these abilities!

you're probably thinking "bug. how are there even any drawbacks? these abilities seem sick asf! how do i get my hands on VSD?!"

and i'm here to tell you. NO no you do not want this. archie still suffers every day.

the first and most obvious one is the unimaginable sensory overload this boy feels every day. he hardly ever gets a quiet moment, and even when he does, he still can't tune out the sound of his own heartbeat thundering in his ears. it's hell. luckily, hes had 17 years to learn to cope, but he still has days where he curls into a ball in a dark room and sobs because everything is too bright and so so loud

also, the drug isn't painless. since the muscle mass isn't natural, prolonged use of his body (like in fights) cause horrific aches the days after. it feels like his body is trying to tear itself apart, which, it kind of is.

also, the headaches. god, the headaches. the human brain does not take kindly to being toyed with and doesn't archie know it. archie is sort just. in a perpetual headache. and he only really notices when that headache becomes a migraine. get this boy some ibuprofen, please.

another thing is increased appetite. because cells can't just synthesize out of nowhere, archie has to keep up with the rapid production. this boy can EAT. he is always hungry. always snacking.

lastly, the psychological aspect of the whole thing. growing up as a superhuman, where even playing thumb war could break your classmate's thumb, was hard. archie lived most of his childhood keeping to himself in fear of his own strength. as he got older, he learned to manage it a bit better, but he's still very anxious about it. he won't let himself near babies, cats, or small dogs.

and then, of course, there's the trauma. this manifests as a SEVERE needle phobia, as well as just a fear of doctors in general. its the reason why he and Simon's relationship just works. he doesn't see him as a doctor, he sees him as a friend who is always willing to take care of him when he needs it, and for that, he is forever grateful

end!