Bucky's

Chapter 44: Meeting the Family

Ronny and Tanya were finally able to rest easy now that Bucky was gone. Ronny didn't have to fear getting ambushed and having Tanya snatched out of his hands. He wanted to do romantic things with her, like take her out on dates and for walks in the park. Tanya remained timid around other Giants, even friendly Giants like Martin, but she was improving as she began to realize that not all Giants wanted to devour her. Going out to eat at Giant restaurants was still out of the question, since Tanya was fearful of that sort of environment, but Ronny accepted that. He wasn't the best cook, but at least he knew how to make delicious spaghetti.

The fallout from the leaks kept growing as the truth spread. On the small side of the city, the human populace was horrified to learn that their own people, both petty criminals and innocents, were being shipped off to be eaten by Giants. When the news broke that politicians, lawyers, and judges were accepting bribes to change the laws and allow such things to happen, the outcry was tremendous. People protested in the streets and demanded an end to the corruption. With a population close to revolt, the people in power were forced to take action. Arrests were made, tainted authority figures were usurped, and chaos reigned until new unsullied stars rose to the occasion to fix the mess. The police, with fresh evidence, sought to bring to justice the reprehensible criminals responsible for the human trafficking operation that was funded by Big Corp Inc.

The humans who had been condemned to imprisonment on the large side of the city had their cases reviewed. Most were pardoned or let off with fines, which were waived based on time already served. Tanya, thankfully, was included in this group. However, actually releasing the prisoners at Bucky's proved to be more difficult. The humans would require cooperation with the Giants on the large side of the city, since their proclamations would be otherwise unenforceable beyond the barrier.

A similar process was underway on the large side of the city, but unlike with the humans, the Giant populace was more divided in opinion. Most agreed that the corruption needed to stop, and calls to arrest the politicians accepting bribes were mostly heeded, with those Giants with evidence against them ending up behind bars. Similarly, the gratuitous gore plastered all over the news of Mr. Wolfe blown open from the inside turned public opinion against Big Corp Inc. and their shrinking pills. No Giants wanted such a horrendous thing for their own society.

The fate of the humans at Bucky's, however, was up in the air. Many Giants, including those who had never eaten at the restaurant, were shocked to learn that humans were imprisoned there against their will. Giant opinion varied more on that particular issue, with some Giants caring deeply about proper treatment of humans, while others were more apathetic. Some even defended Bucky's, claiming that human criminals deserved to be eaten. Plus, humans were tasty, and inferior creatures, and existed to be Giant chow anyway, right?

Plenty of Giants boycotted Bucky's in protest, but many patrons continued to eat there. Regardless, Bucky's was doomed to fail without its owner, head chefs, or a steady supply of humans to keep it running. The quality of the food declined, and the restaurant was rapidly falling apart without effective leadership. The human stock stagnated and dwindled, and the restaurant could no longer offer fatal ingestion as an option, scaring off the wealthier patrons. The boycotts helped, but ultimately even the regular customers who didn't care about the well-being of the humans were alienated when the food didn't meet their standards. On top of the other woes, the law enforcement officers who hadn't been corrupted continued to investigate Bucky's for tax evasion, human trafficking, money laundering, and other shady activities. With increasing pressure from all sides, Bucky's was soon forced to shut its doors, and the humans were rescued by the police and sent home. When the event showed up on the news, Tanya was relieved to see many familiar faces, including Slim Jim, among the surviving humans.