Chapter Twenty-Four
Before long everyone was enjoying their lunch and socialising.
Jun and Dahlia ate their meals in silence and Dahlia looked at all the mutants present, those she had met and those she still had yet to meet.
She was curious to know where they all came from, and how Mutopia was formed.
So many questions, yet no answers.
Jun was also wondering the same thing, what their backstories were, it would take a while, but he was curious to know.
As he was scanning the crowd he soon saw a human man walking with a female marine iguana with blonde hair.
"Dahlia." He nudged his girlfriend who looked over and she also saw the human.
"Wait, is that?" she asked, "He's not a mutant animal like the others."
Jun frowned harder.
"I thought this place was mutants, yet I see a human? Is he one of the residents or is he visiting?"
"If you're wondering who he is, that's Jake."
The tiger and wolf turned to see a male owl walking past carrying a tray of food as well as couple of drinks "He's the only human resident in this place."
"I see..." Jun muttered as he watched Jake.
"How come he didn't mutate?" Dahlia asked.
Vincent leaned down.
"it's a long story," he said, "And I'm sure Tyroth's gonna give you the blow by blow but I'll give the short version." He leaned down to the two new mutants.
"He came here with his brother and sister after they were attacked by an enemy in New York, his younger brother was seriously hurt and had to be mutated, but he didn't take well to his new form and went rogue."
"Rogue?" Dahlia asked.
Vincent nodded and narrowed his eyes.
"Diablo..." he said
"Diablo?" Dahlia then remembered Tania mentioned that name, yet before she could ask the owl, a voice was heard from the side.
"Vincent, what are you doing?" The owl, Jun and Dahlia looked over to see Bill the Duck and Rose the Lynx looking a little appalled "You know we're not supposed to speak about him."
"Well, if we got new residents here, they should know." Vincent said.
Bill was about to speak but then a clapping noise was heard, and everyone looked over to see Tyroth standing on a stage at the top of the mess hall along with Old George.
"Attention please, attention." He said to which everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him.
"Good day everyone." Tyroth said as he addressed the Hall "Now as a lot of you are aware, only a few hours ago did we welcome two new residents to Mutopia."
He looked over at Jun and Dahlia.
The wolf blushed and Jun frowned as everyone turned to look at them.
"May we please welcome Jun the Tiger and Dahlia the Wolf." Tyroth announced to which everyone started calling over.
"Hello!"
"How do you do?"
"Welcome to Mutopia!"
"As much as I encourage you to be welcoming," Tyroth continued "Please be aware that they are still trying to adapt to this new life as tragic circumstances lead them here."
He looked over at Jun and Dahlia.
"And whilst I could explain how they came to be, it is not my story to tell, and should they wish to tell you, you may ask them if they will, but for now, let us make them feel welcome and help them settle into this new life."
Everyone murmured in agreement and again gave their welcomes to the new residents then George said a few words before leaving the stage with Tyroth so everyone could continue eating and talking.
Jun and Dahlia looked back to see where they saw Jake and they soon saw him walking over with the female marine iguana and Sephie the Gecko.
"Hey there!" Jake said as he sat down at their table "I'm Jake."
"Hi." Jun and Dahlia replied.
"I'm Amber." The Marine Iguana said "I'm Tyroth's little sister."
"And of course you know me!" Sephie smiled "Sorry about my husband's big announcement, but he wanted to make sure everyone knew who you were."
"It's alright." Dahlia said kindly, yet Jun shrugged.
"We were told that you might benefit from one of the meetings I've done for those who arrived in Mutopia via tragic circumstances." Sephie said "In fact, if you want to, I'll hold a meeting tomorrow once I've asked around?"
Dahlia's eyes lit up and she looked over to Jun.
"Sounds like a plan?" she asked.
Jun frowned yet looking at Sephie, Amber and Jake who looked rather hopeful, especially Sephie who had a bright smile on her face, he decided there was no point in being rude, so he nodded.
"Maybe it would help." He said, "I am curious about how all of you came to be here."
He looked over at Jake.
"How come you didn't mutate?" he asked to which Jake looked a little awkward.
"Well, that is kind of a long story." He said, "And I had my reasons."
"Most of us had no choice when we mutated." Amber said, "I was on the brink of death, very much like you two."
"Everyone has a story." Sephie said "Some had no choice, yet there are some who welcomed it, Sarah was one of them," she gestured to the Cheetah at a neighbouring table, as was James our doctor." She pointed over to James who was drinking tea at a table a few feet away.
"Welcomed it?" Jun asked.
"They did yes, some of our residents didn't want to live their human lives anymore as they felt lost, or not worth it, or they had no-where else to go, thus they came here."
"How?" Dahlia asked.
"Not here." Amber said, "If you come along to the meeting, then we can all speak about our lives and why we're here."
"I know very well why we're here." Jun growled lowly "The mafia, that bitch Antonella gunned us down!"
Jake winced and Sephie bit her lip.
"The Mafia took away our lives and took us away from our families!" Jun said, "And will we get justice for it?"
"Calm down Jun." Dahlia said placing a hand on his arm and she looked apologetically at Jake, Amber and Sephie.
"We understand." Jake said quickly.
Sephie bit her lip.
"I can tell you that we have a friend up top who is already on the case in finding out what happened topside, as well as inform your families." She informed.
"Come again?" Dahlia asked and Jun's eyes widened.
"A friend?" he asked.
Sephie nodded.
"Hugh Beauregard." She said, "He's Chief of the Chicago Police Force, he's been our friend and ally ever since Tyroth and I saved him from being attacked by a criminal who he had tried to take down but was found not guilty due to lack of evidence, he was about to be shot in cold blood, but Tyroth saved him by taking the bullet that saved his life."
"Wow..." Dahlia breathed as she listened then looked at Tyroth who was talking to George.
"That's very brave of him." Jun commented.
"Yeah..." Sephie said dreamily.
"Anyway," Jake said, "Hugh is on the case on what happened to you, I'm not making any promises, but he is the best one who can handle what happens topside."
"Do you think he might find the ones who killed us?" Dahlia asked, "And Jason?"
"If he finds out anything, he'll be in touch." Jake said yet as he said those last words, his phone buzzed making him jump and he saw a text message appear.
"It's Hugh." He said.
"Speak of the Devil." Amber commented.
Jun and Dahlia said up straight as they heard that.
"He says he has some updates regarding your case." Jake said, "And he's on his way down."
"He is?" Sephie cried.
Jun and Dahlia looked at each other and blinked in surprise.
"I wonder if he's found out anything?" Jun asked narrowing his eyes.
After ten minutes, Hugh arrived at the sanctuary, and through Sephie, he was introduced to Jun and Dahlia.
The Wolf and Tiger were shocked to meet another human who knew about Mutopia, but they were happy to introduce themselves to him.
The Police Chief was shocked when he saw them after he had seen their human photos, yet he was sympathetic to them both regarding their situation.
"You must be Sam and Alex?" he asked sitting down at a table with them in the Mess Hall.
"Were Sam and Alex." Jun reminded him.
"It's Jun and Dahlia now." Dahlia said.
"Of course, I'm so sorry this happened." Hugh said sympathetically "I was on scene as soon as I got the call."
He took a sip of coffee provided to him by Patch as well as a couple of doughnuts.
"So you're a fighter?" he asked Jun who nodded.
"Been drawn to the field of martial arts since I was a kid." He said, "Took lessons, earnt my belts, then I started taking part in Underground Fights, and earnt my stripes there, so to speak." He said looking at his stripes.
"I read your files." Hugh said, "Said you'd gotten a couple of records, even done some time in Prison."
Jun scoffed.
"A couple of those incidents were over a Racist attack." He said, "I didn't start those fights, and the Prison time was six months for Grievous Bodily Harm."
"I see." Hugh said with a nod and a frown, then he looked at Dahlia.
"And you're a nurse, right?"
Dahlia nodded.
"That was my profession yes." she said.
"And how did you come together?" Hugh asked "You're both from different backgrounds and well..."
Dahlia chuckled.
"I know, a lot of people have said that." she placed her hand on Jun's paw.
"He saved my life, well, he fought off a mugger who was trying to rob me when I was walking home from my shift, then he ended up in the Emergency Room where I was on shift a couple of days later, and I asked him out for a drink to thank him, then the rest is History."
Jun nodded.
"Yeah, pretty serendipitous." He muttered.
"Wow." Hugh said, "Quite the meeting."
Jun nodded then glanced at the Police Chief.
"Do you have any leads to finding the ones who killed us?" Jun asked.
"The forensics are working on it as we speak, we've interviewed witnesses, and they all confirm that they saw the Mafia, and we are assigning officers to inform your families as soon as possible."
Dahlia sucked in a breath and Jun sighed as he looked down sadly.
"What are you going to tell them?" Dahlia asked.
"Well since there's no bodies." Hugh said, "All we can say to your families is that you're missing."
"I see..." Jun muttered.
"We are working tirelessly to see who did this." Hugh said, "And we can only do what we can."
"And we appreciate it." Dahlia said gratefully "Again thank you."
"The witnesses aren't wrong." Jun said, "The Mafia were the ones who killed us, The Chicago Outfit."
Hugh frowned.
"I know of them." He said, "We actually managed to get a few members sent down a few weeks back."
"Do you know of their leader?" Dahlia asked "Antonella?"
Hugh frowned harder.
"Antonella Maria Luciano." He said, "I do yes, well I've never met her, but I am aware of her, and anyone whose crossed her have never been lucky to walk away unscathed."
He looked at Jun and Dahlia and realised what he had just said.
"Sorry." He said, "but anyway, I will be extra vigilant and keep up informed should anything happen, as well as let you know about your families once they're informed."
"Thanks Hugh." Dahlia said gratefully.
Jun snorted as he was still feeling angry as well as worrying about how his and Dahlia's family were going to react to the news about him and Dahlia's plight, but he nodded at Hugh all the same and shook his hand.
"Thanks Chief Beauregard." He said.
Jun and Dahlia have been announced to the rest of Mutopia and the new residents have met Hugh whose offered to keep them informed of his findings on their case topside.