8/2/02

The Origin of Road Rage

Stan Wendall is cruising around downtown Manhatten. He's a cop and a good one too, maybe too good some would say. He takes his job very seriously, so seriously that he often gets 3-4 times his ticket quota each day, he did anyway before the his chief took him off the street and put him in a car. "I thought the whole point of being out here was to give people tickets and uphold the law, but apparently the chief doesn't think so. So I gave people tickets for any little thing that they did wrong, that just makes me a good cop I think." He rubs his head feeling his military issue crew cut. "Hmmm, gettin a little long I better have that taken care of." He's been an officer for only 3 years now but he's amassed more tickets than officers with three times the experience. He spots a Cadillac Escalade taking up two spaces, its things like that that really piss him off. In fact seeing people break the law, no matter how small, angers him more than anything else. He wants to give them a ticket but he knows thats not his responsibility, now its up to the meter maids. He knows that they won't give the guy one and that just makes him even angrier. "I better go around the block one more time then head back to the station its getting late," he says just as he pulls up to the light. Next to him is a red firebird with three guys in it. None of them can be any older then 18. The driver looks over at the officer's car and smiles an evil grin. He lifts the can of Budweiser to his lips and takes a swig. Smiling he says "What's the matter officer? Ain't ya never seen a thirsty guy before?" Him and his buddies laugh. He throws the can on the ground. This is just what Stan's been waiting for, an obvious crime and some punks to vent his anger on. If they didn't break the law then his morals wouldn't allow him to harm them but these guys are asking for it. Stan jumps out of his car and pulls his gun,"GET OUT OF THE CAR AND GET ON THE GROUND!!!!!" he yells towards the car but the guys just look at him like he's nuts and laugh. This only makes Stan more furious then he was before. "GET OUT OF THE CAR NOW!!!!" The driver gives him the finger and speeds off nearly hitting the bus in the intersection. Stan holsters his gun, jumps back in his car and pursues them. The firebird is going at a very dangerous speed for inner city driving, hitting speeds of up to 80mph. Stan knows that he has to keep up with them so he increases his speed as well. "I don't think I'll call for backup on this one, I'll just punish them when I catch them. Scum like this doesn't deserve to be allowed on the street." He shuts his radio off and speeds up. The firebird is doing close to 90mph now and is getting dangerously close to hitting other vehicles and pedestrians. The car slows down a bit to make a turn but doesn't quite slow down enough as it skids into a newspaper stand sending papers and magazines everywhere. That didn't slow the car down for long though as it quickly regains its speed and takes off. Stan makes the turn but has fallen a little behind,thanks to all the people checking on the newstand owner who's lying unconcious on the sidewalk. He can still see the car but its further away than he would like. The firebird turns into the old chemical plant breaking through the rusty gate with relative ease. It speeds through the facility until it comes to a dead end. The three guys get out of the car and decide to wait hidden in the shadows. Stan turns into the plant but since he knows that its a dead end he slows down considerably. " They have to be in here somewhere, there is only one way out and I would have seen them if they tried to get out." A little further in he sees the firebird just sitting there. "I know I'm walking into a trap but that's just going to make this so much more satisfying." He stops his car, grabs his shotgun and and proceeds to walk towards the car. The shotgun is aimed at the windshield and Stan's just hoping that they try something. "I wish the windows weren't tinted then I could at least see what they're doing in there." He can feel himself tensing up ready to fire upon the first thing that moves. "Hey officer," the driver of the car says, "Are you going to arrest us?" They laugh again. Stan can tell that the voice is coming from the direction of the car so he takes a few more steps forward which is his undoing. The pipe stikes him just above the ear on the right side of his head. He staggers and releases his hold on the shotgun. The pipe comes down again, this time it hits him between the shoulder blades. He can feel himself losing conciousness. He tries to fight it knowing that if he passes out he's as good as dead but its too much for him. He falls down in the dirt,as he looks up one last time he can see the three guys looking down at him laughing menacingly. The driver kicks him one last time for good measure and says "So now what? We can't just leave him here like this." His buddy looks at him with disbelief on his face and says, " You want to take him to the hospital after what we did to 'im they'll put us in jail for sure." The smack across his forehead catches him off guard. "No dipshit, we have to dump the body somewhere. Are you always gonna be this stupid?" They laugh and look for a place to dump Stan. After a few minutes they find what appears to be a large drain pipe, they figure that it'll do and they drop him down. They hear a splash as Stan lands in a pool of chemicals. "That's that now let's get outta here. The three jump back into the firebird and disappear in a cloud of dust.

Two days later Stan wakes up in the pool of chemicals. Apparently the drain pipe wasn't a drain pipe at all but is actually the opening to a large storage tank. He gets up slowly and rubs the side of his head. " Where am I?" he says. He notices that his voice is deeper but maybe he just swallowed some of this dirty water. "Wherever I am I have to get out of here, wherever here is." He walks or more accurately lumbers towards the sunlight coming into the opening. He sees the liquid that he's been laying in for the first time and its certainly not water. Its got a metallic sheen to it and it feels more like syrup than water. As he gets closer he sees his hands and is horrified at what he sees. "My hands! What's happened to them?They're so big and my nails have turned into some kind of claws! I'm missing a finger too." He moves into the light some more and now he can see himself a little better. His skin is the same metallic color as the liquid and his muscles have grown considerably. He has gained nearly a foot in height making him just about 7' tall now. His forehead has 3 spike-like projections coming out and is sloped like a caveman's. His pants are torn to shreds as is his shirt. For the first time since he's been a cop, he's scared. More scared then he can ever remember being. He falls to his knees and cries. He hasn't cried for nearly 17 years of his 25 years and it overwhelms him now. He thinks about everything that he'll have to give up now that he's a monster. He'll lose him home, his job, and there is no way the cute dispatcher Lisa will ever go out with him now. He just sits in the darkness thinking about what to do.

After an hour of brooding he realizes what he must do, he must get to a doctor but first he's got to get out of the tank. He gets up and tries to get out but the opening is too small for his massive form to squeeze through. " Maybe I can pry it open with something?" He looks around but in the darkness he can't find anything. He looks at his hands and figures that he's has nothing to lose if he tries to pull it open with his hands. He only hopes that it doesn't hurt too much. He reaches up and grabs the metal opening and pulls with all of his new found might. The ease at which the metal rips surprises him and he falls back splashing in the metallic ooze once again. Getting up he pulls himself out of the tank into the morning sun. Normally the morning sun would feel good but now he can't even feel its warmth. "Oh my God! I can't even feel anything now! I need help, but who's going to help a monster like me?" He turns to walk away when he sees his squad car. " Its starting to come back to me now those guys did this to me. They'll pay for what they've done." He takes off what's left of his shirt and wipes the dust off of his window so he can at least see his face. It certainly isn't human anymore. His teeth are large and pointed and so are his ears. "I've got ears like mother fuckin Yoda." Even though he's not happy about it he almost cracks a smile at his own criticism. He reaches for the door handle and as he grabs it and pulls the whole door comes off in his hand. He tosses it aside and tries to get in the car but his size won't let him. "Oh great! Now I can't even get into my own damn car!" He pounds the hood of the car smashing it in and blowing out the tires at the same time. Seeing the damage just makes him madder and he grabs the car and hurls it into the building smashing it even more.He lets out an inhuman roar and storms off to find the guys who robbed him of his humanity.