Full Body Inflation

In the dimly lit corner of a cluttered apartment, a man sat hunched over a table, surrounded by an array of beakers, flasks, and vials. His name was Dr. Piotr Kowalski, but the underworld knew him as Dr. Zła Nauka, the mad genius behind some of the most notorious and profitable illicit chemical creations. His eyes, a piercing blue, darted between his notes and the bubbling concoction in front of him. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on his brow, not from the heat of his makeshift lab but from the intense focus and excitement of his latest endeavor.

Another long day of bar work was complete. A six-hour-long shift of serving rude and off-putting people for what was probably the equivalent of pocket change to whoever ran the place, done and over with. Alicia stumbled out of the backdoor, tired, exhausted, and ready to return to her apartment. 'Down on her luck' could hardly describe how unfortunate her life had been for the past month. First, her old office closed down seemingly out of nowhere, leaving her out of a job. Then, her first apartment complex burned down after two kids let off some fireworks as a prank.