The ForchMan Story. Part 2. (Comic Version)

In our last installment of Forch'N Telling, I had proceeded to explain the ideas behind the ForchMan Comic Book Character. The first episode was to provide some backstory on the newly formed metropolis of Winfield City of the "Winfield Amalgamation and Rejuvenation Initiate".

Today's installment is going to delve deeper into our Protagonist: Chris Fortier, aka: ForchMan.

When the story begins, it is the summer of 1996. Chris (Or Forch as his friends call him) is a 19 year old video store employee. He lives with his parents, and is about to start college in the fall. Unsure of his future, Chris was feeling uncertain of his career path. Somewhat of a slacker, he also possessed a reasonably high level of intelligence.

Always the one guy who couldn't seem to get a break with the girls, Forch felt like he never fit in, at least with the cool kids. He had a great amount of friends, both male and female, but he could never get over the anxiety that he had around girls, so he never possessed the courage to ask a girl out on a date.

Chris lived with his Parents, Mitchell and Katarina Fortier, and his younger brother, Joe. His father a successful architect, and his mother who worked in the local mall in the former Welland area of Winfield City.

So on the fateful night of July 20th, 1996. Fate struck a blow in the life of young Chris Fortier. On the fifth anniversary of his grandmother's death, as he was taking the garbage out he was one of the 172 people caught in the Discharge of the Winfield City Hydro-Electric Plant fiasco, set off by General Harland Mills, and Terror, Inc. Chris, being the only survivor, and was left in a coma after the strike.

3 days later, Chris awoke in the hospital, after hearing what he thought was his late Grandmother telling him to get up. After being advised of what had happened, and doing a series of preliminary tests, Chris was almost unaffected by the massive electrical discharge, save one problem. His Pancreas was the one thing that was totally shut down due to the high voltage that passed through him, so Chris was left a diabetic.

Chris and his family were relieved at the fact that he came out of it pretty much unscathed. Chris was put on a regiment of meds to control his condition. Going back to his life would be relatively easy, with very little change... Or so he thought.

A few days after getting settled, Chris awoke, late for work. When he went to his car, it wouldn't start. Knowing that he had 10 minutes to get to work, he started running, because no one was around to give him a ride. So he ran. And as soon as he started running, everything became very blurry and in the matter of a few seconds, Chris was at work. Unsure as to how he got there so quickly, he shrugged it off and went to work.

Once working, he started to feel like time was moving slower. Whenever he had to do something, he seemed quicker, and more adaptable. Reading things became clearer, and more concise, and the retaining of the information seemed more solid.

By the end of his shift, the store was then closed, and he proceeded to start walking home. Walking behind the store, a bunch of criminal-types decided to hold him up, to gain access to the safe in the video store. When Chris refused, one of them pulled a gun on him, Chris, feeling that discretion is the better part of valor, took them inside the store, opened the safe, and gave them all of the money inside.

Once they had what they needed, the leader pulled his gun out and fired, intending on killing the only witness to the crime. Chris, possibly out of instinct spun out of the way, using reflexes that were faster than any person alive, and caught the bullet in mid-air.

The Criminals, stunned by what they saw, were only able to see a 19 year old kid with a bullet in the palm of his hand, and shaking like he had just been through the most traumatic experience of his life, and as his hands were shaking, that very bullet started to glow, and look like it was ready to explode.

Chris ran out of the store, almost invisible to the naked eye, and threw the bullet into the air as fast as he could, to watch it explode, and much more explosive than any bullet. Putting two and two together, he came to the realization, that something's happened to him, and realizing that he had the ability to do something about it, he ran back in the store, and within the blink of an eye, the Robbers were subdued, tied up, left outside of the store, the money put back into the safe, a note left for the police, a bunch of candy bars taken, with a note left for the manager. Oh, and the doors were properly locked, and Chris went hope. Eating the candy bars, to put back the sugars that he realized his body expended in using these new gifts.

Trying to conceal that he was the hero behind the events, Chris left, and went home, leaving the criminals to be found by the authorities.

The next morning, Chris awoke, to the sounds of his parents screaming down into the basement, where he had his bedroom, and ran upstairs to see what they were trying to get his attention for.

They pointed at the TV, which on the news, showed security camera footage of Chris, subduing the criminals from the night before, as well as outside footage of his throwing the bullet in the air, with a headline that said: Video Store Superhero??? The news identified that it was Chris that stopped the robbers, and within seconds of his name being revealed, a media circus ensued on the Fortier family lawn.

Within hours, the Mayor of Winfield City, Ilene Dover, called a press conference, with Chris being put on the spot to ask questions. In that instant, Chris became a media darling, relishing the spotlight that his newfound success had afforded him. People liked his charisma, and he as well, loved the idea of being a superhero.

After the press conference, Chris was whisked off to Watchtech Labs, the government-funded scientific research company, Winfield City used to build all its technological advances. Chris was tested thoroughly, to determine the extent of his abilities.

After thorough testing, the extent of his powers were revealed.

He was able to run at speeds of no faster than 1200mph.
His memory retained more information, after reading.
He was able to add kinetic energy to any object, expanding it's explosive field.
Other than his pancreas, his healing abilities were sped up to match his speed.

But the one flaw with his system, was that once his blood sugar was outside optimal levels, his powers would start to diminish, until they reached a safe level. So to compensate for that, a gauntlet was built to go on his left arm, which monitored his physiology, and allowed it to regulate his body, while using his powers, which used a large amount energy, which appeared to keep him outside of optimal levels.

In addition, a Costume was built. Out of an experimental material, called Frehlonite. The Frehlonite Polymer was used, because of its ability to both withstand high velocity, but as well be able to be compressed and stored within the gauntlet.

So after all of the testing, and preparation, The City of Winfield unveiled its newest Champion.... ForchMan.

But this tale, is far from over...

But that's just my opinion... What do I know???
F.M.