Difference between revisions of "Pulse & Rigor"

An accomplished physicist employed in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Adrian Benson caught the industry's attention when his research on the use of sonic fields for rehabilitating patients with terminal cancers was published in one of the world's most prestigious medical journals. While many seemed to ridicule his findings, he was nonetheless approached by benefactors willing to offer their funding for continued work on the subject-- including one Richard Jackman, who even offered to commission an apparatus that operated on Adrian's principles. While he had his doubts about the man, the promise of his career taking an incredible upswing was too good to ignore.

Jackman followed through on his word and more, but trusting the unscrupulous man would lead to one of the biggest mistakes in Dr. Benson's career. His benefactor was, in fact, in the employ of a VIPER cell interested in obtaining the mechanism for a more destructive purpose-- and they came to collect as the two were testing their final prototype, intent on stealing the device and leaving behind no witnesses. A wayward gunshot struck the gadget in the ensuing crossfire, causing it to malfunction and self-destruct with a pulse of pure sonic force. While Jackman and several agents were disintegrated by the blast, Adrian was instead innervated with the released energies and granted superhuman powers.

Even with his invention destroyed and his traitorous colleague dead, the damage to his professional prospects was the least of his worries now that he had to deal with the onset of changes to his body-- with every fiber of his being now vibrating uncontrollably without sufficient concentration or an outlet to release his consistently built-up energy. It was during this time of moral crisis that a man by the name of Todd Meyer stormed into his life, almost literally.

Afflicted with a tumor that wouldn't respond to conventional treatments, Todd-- an otherwise unremarkable blue-collar family man-- was roused to seek out Dr. Benson after reading the publication featuring his work. Struck by the man's determination to live, Adrian reluctantly confided in him the fate of his research before attempting to turn him away...