October 22, 2014

Glassbreaker

Leo studied the man before him.  His actual shape was hard to discern, draped in a heavy leather apron and face blocked with a welding shield, but something in his movement suggested he was thin.  Shards of broken glass stuck into the leather and fell to the floor as he walked.  His heavy boots crunched with every step.  The apparition halted, pulled off one massive gauntlet, and held out a narrow spidery hand.

"Havatachi min Rogenthol, at your service!  Delighted to meet you.  Leo, I presume?  Even if you're not, still delighted.  But you are, right?  I hope you are or you're probably a little confused and the real Leo is probably getting disappointed.  Or frustrated... if he's stuck in traffic somewhere."

The man never paused and Leo realized he was going to have interrupt to get a word in.  "Uh, yes.  I mean, yes, I'm Leo.  You're Mr. Rogenthol?  The Glass Breaker?"

"Please, call me Havi.  Only my ex-wife's lawyers call me Mr Rogenthol.  And, to be honest, I don't like the Glass Breaker moniker either.  I'm a maker, see?  I'm trying to make strong glass and you gotta break it to know how strong it is, dontcha?"  The apparition had finally succeeded in disassembling the rest of its outer layer and the man standing before Leo did, indeed, prove to be quite thin.  And bald.  And covered in a series of fine scars virtually anywhere Leo could see skin.  And, apparently, unable to manage any expression besides a huge face-eating grin.  "Or rather, you gotta TRY to break it."

"But you designed the ShieldShatter.  The Fire & Rescue guys rave about it and there's that informercial with all those testimonials from people who used it to escape from sinking cars."

Havi waved his hand over his head, "Yeah, yeah, I built that.  I needed something hand-held once I outdid my own arm strength with a hammer."  He held out his wrists, "That was some time ago. Ha ha, my wrists are just about back to normal size.  But it's a tester, see?  I sold it on the side and I'm glad it's helping people but it's not what I DO."