Content warning!!! Contains: The R-slur, ablism, murder, etc

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Carol looked around a bit before going to check on Fleck. The mayor was in his office, of course, working. Or at least trying to work. His body was round and inflated, his corn suit struggling to contain his massive form. His mayor's desk was nudged a little bit out of place from his growth, not enough to knock it over but enough to bug him. He was indeed a haver of the gene and the edge he was feeling was making it hard to deflate.   

The secretary/deputy mayor knocked on the door before cracking open the door a bit. "Mayor Fleck, may I come in?" She asked. "Oh, Carol, yes, please come in." 

Once she entered, Fleck started to deflate a little. Being around Carol calmed him down a bit, mainly because Carol worked with him, and working is his hyper-fixation. She was the only person who knows he has the gene. "How are you feeling?" 

"Not well... All this commotion Fendrich caused is making me inflate and it's making it hard to work..." The mayor muttered. "Oh, I can see how that isn't well for you. Have you tried taking deep breaths?" Carol asked. "...No..." 

Carol then decided to help Fleck by doing some breathing exercises with him, which helped him deflate.

"I'm not sure if I could continue to be the city's mayor at this rate." He sighed, taking a look at the cloud marking on his palm. "If the city were to find out, who knows what they'll do nowadays?"

"Nowadays?"

Fleck found himself slowly puffing up again from the stress, until he used those same breathing exercises to deflate fully. "It all started thirty-one years ago, the city was still under construction, and I awoke bloated." He explained, taking out an old dictionary, it looked as if it hadn't been used in decades. "I kept a log of every incident that happened since, I think it's only right to tell you." 

Right on Fleck's 26th birthday, he felt unusually bloated. "That's odd, I don't recall drinking that much soda last night." He thought, he would have reached for his belly if his arms could reach. "Oh? Are they numb? I can barely feel them." 

It wasn't until he took a glance at the mirror that he noticed what happened. "Ack! This can't be possible!"

He was already labeled as the R slur for his autism, but having the gene would only worsen things for him, especially now that he's trying to get a political job. He wasn't aiming high, after all, a man with autism in the 80s isn't likely to get a high-power job, at least that's what he's been told. He didn't entirely agree with the statement but decided that he needed to start low.   

And his plans would be foiled if this were to come out. "... I'll deal with that later though, first I have to deflate... I don't know how though, but still..." 

 After countless hours of trying to deflate, he finally succeeded. Now for the hard part, trying to conceal this gene. He wasn't very emotional, so it wasn't like he was going to start inflating as much in public. But that wasn't what he was worried about. 

There was a campaign against the Balloonmen, basically saying that if you had a 'friend' that you should try and scare them on their 26th birthday to expose them for a grand sum of 100,000 dollars, or roughly 210,935 dollars if they were turned in. He wasn't sure if getting a startle whilst on edge was going to inflate him or not, but he wasn't looking forward to the possibility.

In the bathroom was a cylinder box full of concealer, he would use it on his face to hide any acne. Now he would have to use it to hide the cloud shaped mark on his palm. "It feels weird having it on my hand, but it will draw a lot less attention than constantly wearing gloves every time I go outside." Fleck thought to himself, now comes the hard part. He would have to go outside and act natural around everyone, even if he had to deal with his former colleagues constantly talking about the reward money, they would get from exposing a Balloonman. "I know it's no longer considered witchcraft, but what has really changed in the public eye?" 

Fleck brushed it off as best he could as he exited his apartment. "Now, I'll just go in and see if I could find something small, like being the secretary. As long as I don't have to do a lot of talking to others." He thought. In his suitcase was a small plushie shaped like an ear of corn. It was even corn scented, he had it since he got his diagnosis. 

"I know it's silly, but it's comforting to hold onto." The comfort didn't last long, he saw two familiar faces bickering. "Oh, Mary Sinclair and R.E Fendrich. You'd think with all their wealth they would find some common ground."

 Nothing has changed between them, aside from the amount of hair on their heads.

Fleck, awkwardly, just sat there waiting for his interview to start. He wasn't one to ease drop, of course, it wasn't professional. However, would it even be considered ease dropping if they were basically shouting as they were bickering, or at least Fendrich was. "Well, my family basically owns the city." Fendrich declared, getting an eye roll from Sinclair. "Why would I believe that someone who was as small brained as someone from your family founded this city, I'm pretty sure it was my family who founded it, so-" 

"Excuse me, what is the issue?" Fleck interrupted. "That's none of your business, this is the matter for the mayor... Wait I know you, you're that retard who's like obsessed with corn and politics. Because of your messaging to congress I-" 

"Fendrich, please the man is trying to help. To but it simply, Fendrich is falsely claiming that his family founded the city, or the land it's settled on, so he thinks he should be the ruler of the city." 

 "Ruler of the city? The city is not currently run by a monarchy, it's a democracy." Fleck explained. "Well, obviously, but my family founded the city." Fendrich exclaimed. The blond could feel inside himself getting a little bloated from this encounter, but thankfully, he was called in for his interview and got to get away from the two rich people.

Getting away from Fendrich was enough for the future mayor to deflate, although he could only hope the pair were too busy arguing with each other to notice that he suddenly puffed up from nothing. "Mr Solomon Fleck?" A voice piped up, leading Fleck to sit in front of a desk.

"That is my name." He replied. "I have my resume out and ready, and I have references to vouch on behalf of me becoming a member of the court." 

An old man took a seat behind the desk, taking a look at all the papers and Fleck's resume. "I see, it looks like you're very dedicated to getting such a high-level job. It's not every day you see a man on the spectrum wanting to be in politics. Is there any particular reason why you would want to start here?" 

"Erm, I just have an interest in work in this field. I suppose I've always been fascinated by what goes on by those in charge of the city, and maybe I could make a change. Even if it's just a small one." Fleck stated. "Is there something wrong with that?" 

"Oh no, nothing's wrong. It's just you have some big goals already despite only being part of the court, it's not like you will go as far as to be the mayor of the city. At least not yet." His interviewer remarked. "But I can already tell you're more than qualified for the position. I will forward your papers to the court, and they will make their decision, but I'm certain you will get the job." 

Fleck let out a small smile in response. "Thank you, uh. I didn't get your name."

"The name's Adriano Damiani, but you can just call me Adriano." The man said with a smile. Fleck then left since he had to officially get accepted before he could just start working immediately.   

He would get a letter a week later saying that he was accepted for a position, not as anything higher than an assistant. He was going to work hard anyways for he believed if he worked hard enough, he could reach the level of mayor.  

That was actually going to happen sooner than he thought, and not for a pleasant reason. There was an incident, apparently where Adriano was allegedly bloating in public, in a private area but still somewhat visible. After being notified, a group of anti-balloonmen men, also known as poppers, stormed city hall.  

Fleck was there but didn't know what to do, other than call security, but the security didn't come. The blond tried to stop them from barging into the mayor's office but was shoved out of the way by one of the poppers due to how light and lanky he was. Soon, after a long while of violent sounds, they left.   

The office was covered in blood, but Adriano was alive, barely. "A-Adriano, sir, I need to call an ambulance-" 

"Non ce n'è bisogno... They won't let me in anyway.... Tell my wife and bambino... I love them..." The dying man stated weakly before passing away in the blonde's arms. 

Fleck didn't know what to think, he couldn't believe what the city had done to Adriano. His sadness quickly changed to anger; how dare they do this to an innocent man? How could the police just let a storm of people just pile in on him? Especially someone who works with the mayor, if he got any angrier, he would have fully inflated right on the spot. "I can't let this happen to anyone else, in my position I can't do much. If I were mayor those men would be arrested immediately." He hissed. 

Fleck carried Adriano's body out of the building, it didn't feel right just leaving him in there. Especially since his condition wouldn't have allowed him a proper funeral. Finally, the blonde made his way to the outskirts, wrapping Adriano in a white cloth. "I will have to tell his family the news. They'll be heartbroken, especially his child." Fleck thought. "Damiani, I'll look them up in the phonebook." 

The blonde man felt uneasy as he approached the house, but he knew they would find out sooner or later. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell. "Mrs. Damiani? Erm, you might not know me, but I know your husband." 

"Adriano? Did something happen to him at work?" She asked. "Where is he?" 

"He... He was killed... Popped..." Fleck mumbled. "May I come in?" 

".... Please. And erm, call me Sienna." She introduced; it was clear she was trying to keep a brave face as Fleck entered. "You said he was popped? I knew he was a Balloonman, but he told me no one knew besides me." 

"Someone must have caught him, there was that prize for exposing anyone with the gene. It disgusts me what some people would do for money. But I can't just sit here and watch as more people are popped, I may just be an assistant to the mayor but I have some power in the city." Fleck declared.

As he was talking to her, Fleck noticed a boy around twelve years old enter the room. He was most likely Adriano's son. looked at Fleck for a second before looking at his mother. "Where's papà...?" He asked.   

Sienna paused for a moment, trying to find the words to explain that his father died without scarring him. "Ah... Vito, my bambino..." She started placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "Papà... Papà is no longer with us..." 

A look of shock appeared on his face. "Wha... Mamma... Why...?" 

"I don't know, my bambino...." The mother stated before stroking his head gently before pulling him close to her, trying not to break down over the loss of her love. Vito was sad at first, but something brewed within him, a hatred for the police since they didn't stop the murders that killed his dad. 

Fleck just stood there, not really knowing how to help the situation. But he swears that if he becomes mayor, he will stop this and avenge Adriano for the sake of his family. 

The moment he was called in for work, the deceased man never left his mind. Fleck searched through the court files, specifically murder cases to have a standing in defending any other Balloonmen in the city. After that he found a list of every known holder of the gene, the most recent addition being Adriano. "I'm guessing every one of these people met his same fate." He growled. Once the blonde man had all the files and news articles he needed, he stomped right into the council room. 

"Solomon Fleck? What brings you here? Your shift ended half an hour ago." A court member remarked. "We knew you were a workaholic, but I didn't think to this extent." 

"Yes, well after what happened yesterday, we lost a valuable member of the senate after the Poppers barged in. Security didn't even try to prevent anyone from harm." Fleck snapped. He rarely lost his temper, but he made a promise to Sienna. 

"Well... Erm, it's just that the Balloonmen are still so unknown to us, their condition could be contagious for all we know." Another court member piped up. 

"So, you're letting mobs commit murder? I may be just an assistant, but what happened was a man died. All due to a gene, if this goes on there won't be anyone left in the city. There will be chaos in the streets." 

The court didn't care much for the inflatable people but hearing that they would look bad in the news got their attention. "Well, I suppose we could call off the Balloonmen hunt."

"You suppose? From the research I've done, there have been 24 other Balloonmen, and they've all been murdered. The blood that has been spilt would be on your hands then." Fleck stated. "Okay, we'll stop it, thank you for your concern." A third court member stated before writing some stuff down.   

The blonde left and sighed. "They only care about their reputation... Do they even care about the people?" He thought, aware from their attitude about a literal murder that they most likely don't care.  

But that didn't stop him from trying to fight for the fallen balloonman. Sure, they weren't being killed now, but they didn't have protected rights like other citizens, but there wasn't much he could do yet.  

Over the years, he worked and gained a reputation for being a hard worker and in general a really good guy. That reputation was what got him to where he is now. He was signed up for the mayor election and won. He surprised at this, though was grateful to be able to work for the city. 

Which led up to present day, when he was surprised Fendrich was to be his rival in the upcoming election. "He will undo everything you've worked hard on, especially your equal rights bill." Carol mumbled; she was horrified to hear what had happened to those carrying the gene back in the day. "He might... Oh. You don't think his family started the hunt, do you?" 

"Carol, let's not jump to conclusions. Fendrich is a terrible man, one with enough money to get away with whatever he likes. But I can only hope he wouldn't stoop so low as to be the one handing out those cash prizes to people who exposed Balloonmen." Fleck remarked. But he was unsure, as Fendrich was suddenly interested in his medical files. 

"I have tried many times to grant proper rights to those carrying the gene, blocked by the court every time. But I'm certain this time it should work. I called it the Adriano act, it is time justice was finally served." 

"Well, I hope it would work. I wonder whatever happened to his son, he sounded heartbroken in your flashback."