Hello earthlings! We're in the home stretch now! I feel like I should mention before this chapter starts that I have no idea how politics work, so a lot of this stuff's probably going to be wrong. Anywhoo, thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you enjoy! I own nothing except a dysfunctional computer.
Davey grinned, full of adrenaline, as the bus where most of the mutant kids sat nervously pulled up near the mayor's office. It was as close as they could get, because of the crowd. There were way more people there than there had been last time. All of them were waving signs, with printed out pictures from the Refuge on them or the popular #freemutiekids slogan that was very popular on Twitter right now. Best of all, the entire area was surrounded by a force field that some mutant had made a few minutes ago- one they'd somehow made so it only let non-hunters into the areas where the three rallies were happening. Bounty hunters stood along the sides of the dome, most of them glaring at it angrily. The mutant kids slipped past them into the clear area, where they quickly found the rest of Spot's gang.
"Everyone good?" Jack asked the group of kids. Most of them looked nervous but ready. This could either go really, really well or horribly wrong. There wasn't really a gray area. But Jack, Davey, Spot and Katherine had the hardest job- actually going inside to meet with the mayor. Davey took a deep breath and followed Jack towards the huge, white building. The crowds cheered as they walked forward, and they practically screamed as they entered the building.
No one stopped the mutants as they walked through the huge building. The mayor's room was on the top floor, and the man himself was at his desk, staring at the window. And, through some tremendous stroke of luck, the other person they'd needed to visit that day was there too: Pulitzer. Both men turned and gaped at the new arrivals.
"Kelly, what is the meaning of this?" Pulitzer hissed. "Both here and my office have been swarmed with calls, complaining about me being a bounty hunter- which has previously been information not known to many- and something about the Refuge? And why is my daughter here?"
"I wanted to come," Katherine said, stepping forward. Her father just looked at her, confused.
"Why do you care so much, darling? This mutie kidnapped you, you come home and then barely speak to me for the past week, and now you're… what even are you doing?"
"I'm standing up for myself and my friends, Dad." The girl grinned as she stepped towards the wall, sticking her hand straight through it. Before either men could say anything, Jack cut in.
"Look outside. The town hall is surrounded. So's your office, and even your house! This time you can't count on your hunters to help you out. So, I suggest you listen closely to what I'm about to say."
"What do you want?" the mayor asked cautiously. Jack grinned.
"We want you to shut down all the bounty hunter rings, shut down the Refuge, and start being an advocate for mutant rights-"
"Are you kidding?" Pulitzer snapped. "Why? The bounty hunters are the best way to get dangerous mutants the help they need, the Refuge is a home to many-"
"No it's not!" Davey spoke up, glaring at the man. "The bounty hunters may have started out as a good idea, but now they're just used to get money and put innocent mutants into hellholes! And have either of you ever been to the Refuge or met William Snyder, the guy in charge?" At least the mayor had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Most mutants are just regular people who want to live their lives, and even the ones who are dangerous should be treated the same as every other citizen!" The boy paused, shaking his head. "Why don't you understand that?"
"Oh, because they're rich, normal men who just want to make a quick dollar and don't care about the freaks they hurt," Jack sneered. "Am I right?"
Pulitzer didn't respond, but the mayor shook his head slowly. "I… thought the hunters were helping the city… which is why I allowed them to work here... and the Refuge was helping the mutants-"
"Well, it's not."
Before anyone could say another word, an older woman with brown hair ran in. "Mr. Black! Mr. Pulitzer! You won't believe who just walked in!" Behind the woman, two people appeared- Ms. Medda and someone who looked similar to the governor of the state holy crap that was the governor!
"Joseph, Joseph, Joseph," the man said, shaking his head slowly. "What have you done now?"
Pulitzer just stared, looking shocked. "Um… Sir, I-"
"Let me answer that. You have started one of the cruelest hunter rings in the U.S.A., and now are slowly leading us into a mutant vs human war! Get it together!"
"Mutants are dangerous. I only did-"
"Yeah, sure, some mutants are dangerous, but so are your practices. My suggestion to you is to go ahead and shut down your hunters. I'll hopefully have the terrible system outlawed in this state soon…"The governor turned to the kids, grinning slightly. "Thank you for the letter. I had no idea things had gotten so bad here! You kids have a way with words."
Davey couldn't believe it. He'd always known that the governor was a strong advocate for mutant rights, but he hadn't known that he'd be this invested. And honestly, he'd kind of forgotten about the letter. It felt like they'd sent it a million years ago. And wait- did Medda know the governor? How? When? Why?
"But-" Pulitzer stammered, pointing at Spot. "This man is the reason we need hunters! I believe him to be the leader of a dangerous mutant crime ring-"
"I am not!" the young man protested. After a second he added quickly, "And even if I was, the mutant criminals deserve to be treated the same as other criminals. To be hunted down by actual police officers, and not by you creeps."
The governor nodded. "Exactly! The entire concept of you hunters goes against everything America is supposed to stand for! Now, Mr. Black, I suggest you make some calls and get the city council to make a bill outlawing all hunters and shutting down the Refuge."
The mayor finally spoke up. "But sir, the Refuge is to help the kids who are left on the streets! It's not-"
"Actually," Jack cut in, "a lot of the kids there are kidnapped from their parents by Snyder and his goons to get more money from rich folks like you. And I guarantee it all goes to his own pockets. And most of the kids who are homeless aren't a threat to anyone, and should be allowed to either go into foster care or to stay wherever they want!" All of that was true. Davey hadn't really believed that the Refuge was that bad until the photos had started to arrive. He needed to get his brother out of there. He'd almost just gone ahead and broken in before Jack had stopped him, telling him that they needed to do this the right way.
The mayor looked shocked, but he and Pulitzer still looked reluctant, at least until the governor leaned in closer and whispered, "I suggest you do this, Mr. Black, or the transition will be a lot harder for you when mutants are finally given the same rights as normals." That was all it took.
The mayor sprung into action. "Right, sir, I will call everyone in city council and propose a new bill that outlaws hunting in this city, shuts down the Refuge, makes sure that mutants are protected by law and given the same rights as everyone else-"
Pulitzer cut him off. "You can't be serious! William, mutants are dangerous! All of these laws are for the protection of humans-"
"No, they're to benefit you!" Jack snapped. "Hunting being legal benefits no one except the hunters!"
"What about the people who are safe from dangerous mutants?"
"Think about this. If you were kidnapped for doing nothing wrong except being a mutant and homeless, wouldn't you be angry? SO if you escaped, wouldn't you want to hurt people? Most of the time when mutants go psycho, it's because they were captured by hunters, and then escaped! You're just causing the problem you say you're trying to fix!"
The man froze, frowning in concentration. "You know…" Pulitzer said slowly. "You may not be wrong…"
Jack scoffed. "Of course I'm not wrong. Have you ever actually met one of the so-called "dangerous mutants? Most of them just want to live their lives."
"Even so, the ones who commit crimes should still be punished, and the ones on the streets should be given a home-"
"You don't go around kidnapping non-mutie kids off the streets and take them to hell, do you? That's bad, but doing it with mutants is fine? And the part about rounding up bad muties - that's a good thing hunters do. But muties should be treated the same as normies, and that means the same jails. And the cops or socials can deal with those types just as well. Face it, the only reason hunters are still around is to line your own pockets!"
"The boy's right, Joseph," the governor cut in. "You can't go one pretending it's solely for the good of the city."
Pulitzer looked like he wanted to keep arguing before he looked at his daughter and sighed, rubbing his temples. He gave the mayor the "go ahead" gesture with his hands.
The mayor pulled out his phone. "I'm gonna… make some calls."
A few tense minutes later, everything was ready. The mayor had called the people he needed to call and had, in half an hour, managed to get everyone needed to approve a bill that, among other things benefitting mutants, completely outlawed bounty hunting in this city. The occupants of the room stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the gathered protestors. The crowd looked up, their eyes full of anticipation. Jack stepped forward.
"Muties…" Davey could feel the tension as the other boy paused for dramatic effect. "We won!" The inside of the dome dissolved into cheering. Muties and normies alike waved banners and called friends, family, and the ralliers at the other locations. Pulitzer had already sent a message out to all hunters, telling them that he was disbanding his twisted organization and that they should find something else to do with their lives. Davey didn't know how many of them would listen, but at least, in this one city, if they were doing something cruel and awful they could, hypothetically, be punished by law. That was something, right?
"Thank you for coming, Governor," Katherine said to the older man.
He shrugged. "Well, your letter was so well written that I could hardly refuse, especially after Miss Medda here reached out to me and told me all about you kids."
"Oh yeah," Jack turned to the dark-haired woman. "You never said you knew the governor!"
"What do you mean? I've said it thousands of times!" Now that Davey thought about it, he did remember hearing Medda mention it, but he'd always just kinda ignored it. Apparently Jack did the same thing.
The governor suddenly grinned even wider as he checked his phone. "I'm sure you're all enjoying your moment of triumph., but a few minutes ago I texted a man about a particular establishment, and he just told me that there's enough reason for the man running it to be arrested. You might wanna go check it out"
It took all the mutants a few seconds to realize what he was talking about, but once they did they instantly sprained out of the office, down the stairs and into the crowd, weaving around the people celebrating. As they passed by the factory kids, Jack yelled for them all to follow him and the kids and Spot all climbed into the bus-which-had-uncertain-origins. The vehicle sped through the streets, stopping only when it reached the Refuge.
It was chaos, with police officers all around and kids huddled on the sidewalks. As the mutants piled out of the van, an officer walked by, escorting the man Davey and the others had run from a million years ago. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Jack. "Kelly," Snyder hissed.
Jack laughed. "Have fun in the slammer, Spyder."
The man who'd terrorized mutie children for years stepped into a police car's backseat, which was when the group of disoriented kids who'd just come out of the Refuge noticed the people who'd just arrived on the bus. A few rushed over, stumbling as they went but still coming.
Davey noticed a short teenage girl, high-fiving Spot. He noticed Mush and Albert rejoining the factory kids amid much cheering. He noticed a boy with a makeshift crutch, tightly hugging Jack. But then he noticed his little brother, running towards him and beaming, and nothing else really mattered.
Again: No idea how city politics work. Sorry. So, that was the next to last chapter! How'd you like it! I hope it didn't feel too rushed… if you have suggestions, constructive criticism and/or words of encouragement, please leave a review! Later, potaters!