(This is part of an experiment in hypertext fiction. See Bridgeborough, New Jersey for more information).
A controlled substance that nearly wrecked havoc on the eastern seaboard of the United States in 1984 had it not been for the efforts of a number of costumed vigiliantes soon to be known as Jumping Jack Limited. It was in fact the inciting incident that caused that group to be formed.
Rhapsody was beginning to be bought and sold on the streets of many major metropolitan cities including Bridgeborough, New Jersey, and for most people it functioned similar to a hallucinogen or narcotic. It gave the user great euphoria, unbridled energy, increased emotional output and sexual desires, distorted perceptions of reality, and affected sensory perception in unpredictable ways. In a small percentage of the exposed population, it also unleashed dormant genetic mutations, and caused some people to temporarily exhibit what can only be referred to as super powers like unaided human flight, super speed and the ability to turn one's own illusions and hallucinations into reality as well as others. These individuals did not seem to exhibit the same side-effects as the masses. Those who aquired special abilities seemed to be able to retain their faculties, but the drug was slowly killing them. It was highly addictive, and a potentially decimating menace to Humankind.
It was called Rhaspody because a previous version of it, codenamed Rhapsody was found to be much too strong in laboratory tests, and didn't find its way to the public until many years later. Rhaspody was a slightly altered molecular variant to its predecessor, and its unknown inventors believed this new version could be controlled and used for financial gain. Jumping Jack Limited followed the path of destruction that Rhaspody left in its wake, and eventually found the source of its creation in the Yucatan. JJL destroyed the faculties that produced the drug, and believed they destroyed the only known directions for how to recreate it. Several years later Rhapsody appeared on the market, and JJL returned again to thwart the menace, this time being made in a warehouse near Bridgeborough, New Jersey's Waterfront District.
Though it is now believed that those responsible have died and all instructions have been destroyed, it is rumored that a group somewhere in Central America is even now trying to recreate the drug again by using a precious small amount of still surviving specimens to distill and re-enact the chemical composition. However today, Jumping Jack Limited no longer exists to stand between Rhaspody's terrible potential, and an ignorant world populace.