The Path to Elysium

Chapter 1: Perseus

In the flatland of Texas, an ultimately empty and quiet part of the United Wasteland, a single figure would walk down an old trail towards a small town put together with old metal and wood holding together these old buildings.

The figure, sporting a black duster coat and old cowboy hat, matching the coat pasted the sign just before the town, "Borderhills." The figure then fixed his hat and read the sign for a second before pulling out a wanted poster and glancing at it. "Joel Konings."

The man spoke to himself and started walking towards the bar, folding the poster and slipping it back into his pocket. As the man walked, he saw and heard the busy shopkeepers speaking and selling their stuff, with many advertising weapons used in the old days that worked just as good now, something that was unfathomable.

In the bar, a man would laugh out loud as he drank more. "That's it! And then I said,'Well, you know who I am?' Then I shot him! Turns out, he was the mayor's son!" The man alongside the other civilians would laugh with him. Just then, the door would squeak as it opened, and the figure stood in the door a lot like he was scanning the room.

After a minute, he walked over to the man telling the story and pulled the poster out of his pocket again, unfolding it and slamming it down on the bar. "Joel Konings, I've been chasing you for a few days now. Make this easy for both of us and come with me."

Joel would set his drink down and read the poster and then at the man who had it. "They got my good side with this one. Anyways, who are you to order me around?! I'm Joel Konings! I rule these wastes!"

Joel would hit the cowboy hat, knocking it off of the man's head, revealing a nice head of brown hair and a dirty face from the walking. Light blue eyes were also noticeable. Joel's eyes widened as he began to slowly back away. "Shit... I know who you are... you're Perseus. You're the son of a bitch who was chasing me!!"

Perseus, in an instant would pull out his gun from his waist, aiming it at Joel's nose. "Pick up the hat and come with me. I don't wanna kill you here."

Perseus would take note of the weapons drawn on him and he'd speak up to Joel again. "Should we take this outside? I don't feel like staining the floors with you."

Joel would look around frantically just before he picked up his drink and threw it at Perseus and using that as a chance to run off. Perseus would groan slightly, shaking his head as booze dripped down his face and jacket. "Son of a bitch..

Running from the bar, Joel would keep looking behind him until he tripped and fell infront of Perseus, who somehow caught up to him. Standing over, Joel, Perseus would smirk as he pulled out his gun, aiming it at Joel's head once again.

"W-wait! Come on! There has to be another way!? Tell me there's another way!" Joel would beg for his life as the citizens of Borderhills surrounded them. Perseus would shake his head and tightened his grip on his pistol. "Unfortunately, your story ends here, Joel. It's the rules of the Wasteland."

With that, Perseus fired his pistol, killing Joel Konings immediately. After that, Perseus would kneel down, sliding his pistol back into its holster and pulling out a knife. Immediately after, Perseus would cut off both of Joel' index fingers and one of his ears before wrapping them up and standing upright, walking off while he slid his knife back into its spot on his belt.

After afew days of walking and resting at various stops, Perseus would finally arrive back home. Letting out a relieved sigh, he'd smile at the sign of his home. "Scrapheap...finally.."

As Perseus walked through the town, he immediately walked into a building with a mysterious symbol on the front door and a sign calling this place a Bounty Hunter's Guild.