The Last Crimefighter

It was a time for change. Words long yearned for, rang true, and the world stood to applaud the country’s latest historical event. People around the country held their hopes high for the promises given by Americas newest and first African-American President. His words filled a weary nation with hope, as they heard, there would be no more Washington Politics; no more trickle down from the corporations! It was time for the common person to have a chance at the rewards of a great nation. It was time for a new government! Yet the people never saw the change, the words became forgotten, their sincerity tainted by politics. First, one of the big corporations cried poor and then others joined in, as the American people lost their homes and livelihoods to these same corporations. The promise of trickling up became the usual trickling down, as the President bailed out these corporations with billions of taxpayer dollars. To save these flagging industries, he sold the country on the false promise of increased jobs and better health care. Neither happened, instead, a nation watched unemployment hit record highs, while corporations spent the money of every taxpayer, frivolously, on vacations and CEO pay raises, while they cried out for more. Experts reported, if the President and Washington had kept their word and trickled the money up, each family in the United States would have received approximately two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per family. They also went on to state, how this money, if it had been presented in this way, would have saved millions of family homes from going into foreclosure. The consumers would have had the money to purchase new cars, as well as other necessities at their own discretion, rather than forced to help institutions, who ended up turning their backs on the American people. After too many years under a falsely enacted war and the cowardly acts of terrorism left a country already grieving for their young and innocent, this last, loss of hope and pride was too much for a shattered nation to endure. Protests began popping up in Washington and other parts of the country asking for the campaign promises. Billboards with slogans like, “We need freaking Jobs!” began appearing in places the President did ‘Goodwill’ Campaigns. Then some of the small and more aggressive grass roots groups began to grow and encourage Americans to take action. Threats began spreading and hate groups sprang up, preaching alongside radical religious leaders, all fueled by an irresponsible media who was willing to put anyone on the air for an increase in ratings. It all hinged on the two political parties in Congress, who had decided that the American people, which had just helped bail out these same politicians rich allies, should no longer be supported by unemployment benefits. As the checks stopped, so did a nations patience. People, who had been applying for jobs with no reply of any kind, quit applying. The ones who had swallowed their pride and took ridiculously low paying jobs, became fed up with working their butts off just to go home at the end of the day, still unable to pay even the basic of bills. The corporations thought they had the whole ball of wax and played it for everything they could. Until the bottom fell out and Americans took a stand against the injustice, finally willing to fight for what was theirs. One by one, big business saw their production drop, as well as profits, but instead of doing the right thing and offer jobs with better pay, they went with cheap labor and got exactly that. The end came from a small government ran facility in Biloxi, Mississippi. Where a skeleton crew of scientists created a virus they did not quite understand. All they knew about it was that it killed people, randomly, within twenty-four hours. None of the scientists could figure out the common denominator for the random selectiveness of the virus, as far as they could find, there was none. While on the other end of this enigma, the virus had an opposite effect on plant life, instead, it flourished. It was the ultimate growth enhancer of the plant world. No one remembered the name of the skinny, pale faced security guard, who was on night duty the twenty-seventh day of December 2011. No one cared that he was overworked or that he felt ill. No one cared, until the red light went on and alarms sounded. No one saw him grasping his throat as a small cloud rose from the broken test tube shattered at his feet. Maybe because, shortly after the unremembered security guard passed away, there was no one left to care. For fifteen years, the cities decayed, while those who survived forgot the old ways. Small groups began to form communities and eventually towns, as civilization struggled to come back. With all the modern technology gone, they discovered easier ways to bring power back into their lives. That power was steam, easily attained and contained. The only thing easier to attain in the days after the world died with a sigh, was the bullets and guns found in almost every abandoned home and store a drifter came across. It can never be said that America, was not, well armed. Twenty five years later, cities began being rebuilt again, like White City just outside of the great lost city of Chicago in Illinois, which stood for almost five years now and considered the oldest metropolis in the new world. With buildings of white modeled after the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893 and streets paved cobalt black to make the buildings seem even brighter. The age of steam and methane lamps, horse drawn carriages and the occasional steam powered car were back. The skies, which once held jumbo passenger planes and supersonic jets, now saw large commercial zeppelins and the occasional helium filled personal transport vehicle occupying them. They, along with the Rhoades pedal car, were the rage, as we come to our story. Henceforth, Gentlemen let us don our top hats As we choose our finest sword wielding cane. While the Ladies Twirl their parasols and reassure themselves the hardness under their skirt is indeed a Derringer strapped against their thigh. Now if you are ready? Let us take that bold step forward, To enter the world of the The Last Crimefighter!