Elysium's Justice

Present day

“I want a perimeter all the way down to Elm street and I want it yesterday! None of those criminals get away, especially that Vigilante!”. I can hear Officer Gainer’s gravelly voice all the way up on my rooftop, seven stories high. Police are never good, makes getaways messy. I keep running and dive off the edge of the building, arms tucked in so I can streamline the air past me. Nearing the ground I quickly spin my body and fire off the grappling hook mounted to my wrist. It attaches to a nearby rooftop, allowing me to swing over the cars that zip by underneath me.

I press a button on my palm releasing the grip my hook has on the building feeling it fly back onto my wrist as I land on the white van that contains my goal. I assume they heard my landing, because quickly afterwards the van lurches to the left, throwing me off. I flip on the magnets that are hidden in my gloves and quickly attach myself to the van’s door. It quickly slides open, taking me with it. I feel the movements run through my arms when a bearded face pokes out of the door holding a shotgun underneath it, the man screaming a war cry that would make a bear jealous. I feel the beginnings of a smile play across my lips, wondering why any idiot would let me in so easily.

I point my wrist past the man’s head and fire the hook into the back of the passenger seat throwing myself away from the vehicle at the same time. I see the flash erupt from the barrel with the roar quickly following, bullets shredding the metal I was just attached to. I press the second button on my palm that pulls me towards the hook as I push my feet forward, straight into the chest of the bearded man, throwing him into the opposite side door. As the metal rattles underneath his weight, the shotgun falls from his grasp, the barrel landing right into my outstretched hand. I swing the gun at the woman emerging from the backseat, colliding with her  jaw in a very unflattering way. She falls with a groan, followed by the fall of the bearded man who also takes the stock to his jaw. I point the gun at the headrest of the driver, hoping that the thought of dying is enough to persuade him to obey me.

“Stop”, I growl out. I hear the sirens in the distance getting closer, so I make a show of pressing the end of the barrel against the back of his head and trying to make my voice as commanding when I say “Pull this van over now, or you’re going to learn why those cops want to arrest me.”.

I feel the van suddenly jerk to a stop as I fly forward, hitting my shoulder against the windshield hard. I feel a fist smash into my jaw as the driver lunges upon the opportunity to take a swing at me. Suddenly the van springs back into action, throwing me into the backseat, right on top of his female accomplice. “Bad choice”, I growl as I climb back up the van. I glance through the windshield to see the police barricade ahead, beginning to get slightly worried that I would not be able to get away after I take this man out of commision. I drop the gun and dive out the side of the van, grappling onto a nearby building. As I zip out, I reach into the left hand container on my waist and pull out a small cylinder. A little bit of scrap metal, a few basic household supplies and a whole lot of know-how can make a whole arsenal of weaponry. I throw the grenade into the lap of the driver as I exit the van and hear his scream mixing with the sound of squealing brakes.

I land on top of a nearby building, not stopping to look back as I hear the all too familiar shouting of police officers. Nice of them to clean up my mess. I stop to catch my breath, slumping against the side of the stairwell that leads down into the depths of the building when the whole roof is lit up with a helicopter’s spotlight.

“Vigilante! This is the Elysium police! Put your hands in the air and do not make any sudden movements!”. I clench my fists as I walk out into the center of the roof. I’ve been the Vigilante for two years now and this is the closest the police have ever been to capturing me. I see police dropping from the two helicopters, all pointing their guns at me. A total of seven men surround me, with an eighth walking towards me. The smirk coming close to me is someone I unfortunately know. Red buzz cut hair, eyes that looked like they could murder at any moment, Mark Gainer strode towards me, twirling his handcuffs on his finger.

“Oh how the mighty have fallen”, Gainer laughs and continues as I stand, steeling myself for a fight, “The fabled Vigilante, protector of the little man! Well who is going to protect the protector?”. I look past him at one of the police members who happens to be talking into his radio. “Suspect is of average height and build, clad in all black with a crimson X crossing his chest from shoulder to ribs. Mask covers his head, obscuring facial features. Fits all known descriptions. Aiming to apprehend now.” I look back at Gainer, forming a plan that may actually get me out of this mess. I turn around and place my hands behind my head.

“That’s a good little criminal. I cannot wait to see what is under that mask.” I hear the gravelly voice rumble behind me as I take a deep breath, smelling his cheap convenience store cologne, bracing myself for my next move. I feel the cold metal begin to touch my wrist and I spring into action. I drop and spin, grabbing Gainer’s ankle and quickly standing back up, flipping him upside down. Right as I finish standing I kick out before he can hit the ground, my foot landing in the small of Gainer’s back, sending him away from me a short ways where he hits the ground with a large grunt.

“Stand down now!” an officer screams as they all close in on me, guns raised. I smile, even though I know they can’t see it. “Good thing I can protect myself” I remark as I reach into both of my side packs and pull out two small cubes. Flashers as I call them, and they live up to their name. I fling them straight out from my sides, pressing their buttons as they leave my hands. I quickly drop and roll forward, the flashers hitting two of the officers in the face and bursting with bright bursts of light that blind everyone looking at them. I spring up, hitting the first officer I reach in the solar plexus with the heel of my palm, listening to the breath whimper from his lungs as he collapses. I then spin, bringing my elbow into the face of the next officer, hitting him square between the eyes. He drops backwards as I leap over him, running over the edge of the building. I quickly grapple onto the next rooftop, hearing the joy inducing sound of Gainer bellowing in rage. I dive from this second rooftop through an open window across the alley.

As I land I quickly roll and continue running until I reach a stack of containers, diving behind them. I take a moment to examine my surroundings, noting that I am in a warehouse, and judging by the all too familiar symbol on the boxes, a warehouse belonging to Gryphon Corporation, the mega corporation that produces most of the medicine in Elysium. I hear the helicopter rotors beating and I duck down beneath the boxes,waiting for them to pass by.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hate traveling by sewer. Yes, the police never check here, and no, there’s no traffic, but it takes forever to get the stench washed out of my suit. I could probably just throw my outfit at criminals to stop them. On the bright side, there are manholes everywhere, and they are easy to slip into after the police have left the area. As I look around, a thought springs into my mind that even Elysium has dirty sewers. The golden city can’t keep everything clean. Elysium was built to be “America’s utopia” and to the outside eye, it's achieved its mission. With buildings that reach high enough to embrace the clouds, you can see the lights and decadence of the city for miles. Every business has an office, every millionaire has a house, and every country has an embassy here. Gryphon sponsors most of the enterprises, so businesses often thrive in the city of gold.

But it’s all a gilded show. Scrub away the lights and shows and you see the truth behind Elysium. There lives a lower class, shoved into the northern area, cleverly nicknamed “The Slums”. When Elysium was first built, most people put their whole lives into trying to make it rich here, leaving too many people with not enough jobs. Most of these people were forced to settle down, living off the scraps that Elysium left them.

The police are certainly no help, being overtly corrupt, unable to tell right from wrong unless someone opens their wallet to point them in the right direction. The city’s leaders are just as bad, the mayor taking bribes and orders from the top bidder each week. As long as you have money, Elysium is paradise. However, if you happen to not be able to afford basic human rights, you became no more than a statistic.

So that left only me. I became the Vigilante so the lower class wouldn’t have to be scared to walk the streets at night. When the more evil amongst them come out of the shadows, I’m there to beat them back in. The “officials” may see me as a criminal, a person that needs to be brought to justice, however the common folk, the people that matter, see me for what I truly am. They see that I am the justice that paradise lacks.

Author's Note

If you read, drop me a review with your honest thoughts. All opinions are appreciated. If you want me to continue just let me know and I will continue to post chapters