Venomous

      “That's not blood on my hands, that's sauce.”   -That's what Henry said as the cops confronted him.

     “That's not sauce son, please come with us,” the cop said unhooking his gun.

     Henry paused and started to walk toward the cops. After considering his chances he stopped and stared at the ground. “Don't try anything stupid!” the cop yelled pulling his gun out of the holster.  “Stupid, eh?” Henry said slowly. His gaze slowly moved focus from the ground to the sergeant before him where it pinned the man in place. With eyes that burned red he said, "Now why would I do that?”

     A creeping tremor shook the sergeant’s limbs as he took in the sight before him.  “Oh God it’s him the escaped experiment!” he yells, unloading his clip into Henrys body. Physically unfazed by the 12 shots the cop had just put into him, Henry looks at him in shock. “As a civil tax payer I believe my taxes pay for your bullets,” Henry says as his expression goes dead-pan. “SO WHY DON'T I REPAY THEM TO YOU!” He lunged forward with purpose, his bloody hand morphed to bloody claws. With ease he sliced the police car in half.

   The cops took off running, but Henry grabbed both of them and slammed them to the ground.

   To their confusion and horror he sat down Indian style in front of them.  He began to speak, but all they could see are his three-foot claws.  Noticing this, he shifted back to his normal hands, now slick with car fluids on them. He looked at the cops and said.  “Haha! -you needed a oil change. So let's talk.” And jus like that, Henry looked evil again.  “So, Sgt. Ripley it says,” tapping the police tag. “You have shot me, not once, not twice, not even three times, BUT TWELVE TIMES!   I DO A SHOWY EYE GLOW AND YOU UNLOAD ON ME!  Officer Brown here didn't fire, not once.”

   In his terror Ripley attempted to stutter out his excuses.... But Henry was having none of it, cutting him off with a loud, “SHUT UP!!”  Henry collected himself and began again, “You know I never did like cops.  But I never expected twelve shots emptied into my chest.” He grabbed up a piece of fabric from the upholstery making them continued both flinch.  He started cleaning his oily hands and calmly continued.   “I had a very crappy day. Do y'all know why?” he asked, glancing at the two. The men simultaneously shook their heads no, while their faces filled with anxiety.

   “I woke up in a tank with cords attached to me and crazy powers I had no control of.  But these claws, now, they’re a plus.”  Henry morphed back an forth between fingers and claws as he passed them back and forth beneath the chins of the officers. The nearness of the claws to their jugulars and the psychotic calmness of the fugitive before them caused fear to rise up into the faces of the cops.

   Henry shook his head in amusement, “But anyway back on topic.  I see people in white lab-coats probing and studying other people in containers much like my own. So I got out made a run for it. I don't like being studied.- Or messed with.”  The cops looked on in horror as Henry’s mood swung once again and he began to inspect his hand again.  With a tone full of irony he continued speaking with a little more vehemence, “Well halfway out I started melting things on touch.”

    The men watched as Henry’s  hand became burning green and glowed with caustic energy.  “I never wanted to have powers. –and for the first few hour I destroyed a lot of things before I got a handle on things.  -But they did this to me.  -And I'm gonna find out why.”