I know you're half awake
And no hate and I know how to do it
Hold the door and let it out
Don't get it right or wrong
No, I don't get it . . .

- "Bleed Together" by Soundgarden

Chapter 37
Many Hands, Short Work

"Predator! Change of plans!" White Noise barked over the communicators, causing Adari'a to hold one ear. "Ditch the Freezer bomb. We have about 350 Kine that need to get turned around and back out into the service lots so we can get 'em in place for a dust-off!"

"A what?" Adari'a blinked, looking around to reorient herself. She noticed the still-living Kine hanging upside down on the conveyor line, and they seemed to be reaching out for her.

"We're setting up to get the hell out of here! Just get as many of those cattle freed and away from the building!" White Noise spat back as the camera cut over to White Noise's perch near the railing of the slaughterhouse's power station. He tapped his earpiece again, his line of sight shifting towards the rooftop. "Sovereign! How's the evacuation coming?"

"Most people ran for the doors when they heard Jigsaw's 'announcement'." Ace remarked, combing the rendering division of the plant to look for any stragglers. "We've come across a few people, but one guy just got himself trampled in the first mad dash, and another woman got her wheelchair stuck."

White Noise seemed stunned. "Nobody's putting up a fight?"

"It's a job, not a church. Nobody here's wanting to die just because they think Kine's tasty." Ace rolled his eyes, and the camera caught him walking on a catwalk grid as he took a potshot at a nearby pump. "Sure makes our job easier, though. We've started a few small fires in the area and busted up some of the grinders over here, but the worst we've come across up here is the smell."

"Works for me. Get out of the rendering area and start checking the lower levels. If you get to the bottom levels in time, give Predator a hand with the cattle rustling." Silk spoke, before changing his frequency again. "Black Hole Sun, we've got three minutes. Get out there and start clearing out a space for your new 'brothers' to get picked up!"

Jigsaw snapped at him. "Why aren't you doing it? You're already out there!"

"I'm currently playing 'lookout' as is and trying to get more ships down here, remember?" White Noise remarked, glancing out over at the nearby cliffs and noting the flashes of blue light. "And I take that back, you may not have three minutes."

"Shit . . ."

"Yeah, well the fan is closing in on us. Get moving!" White Noise snarled, cutting the conversation short, leaving Jigsaw and the rest of her team to bolt out of the office shed, noting the gunfire overhead. Jigsaw looked up, watching as the padlocks on the conveyor line were falling free, and with them came their cargo; sometimes agile enough to land right, other times landing hard and flailing ato right themselves.

"It's working . . ." She grinned, looking back to see Charity shooting the locks off from the far side of the plant, while Adari'a was working on matters the hard way and leaping into the corrals to try and reverse the flow of Kine. She noticed Crater working from the outside, rending one of the doorways further open to speed up the exit.

"Yeah? Well I hope your crusade was worth it!" Daisy shot back, wheeling on ahead. "Cain and I'll get to making some space out front."

Jigsaw nodded, watching as the two ran on ahead, while Slick stood his ground and started shooting out padlocks as well. Jigsaw ran on ahead, past the already-rumbling herds of Kine to get outside and oversee her grunts. She saw one of the vehicles moving, then blinked when she realized trucks weren't meant to move in that direction.

"You're kidding me . . ." She blinked, shocked to see Cain with his hands under the front bumper of a truck, pulling it to one side. Daisy was nearby, trying to add traction with her wheels, but kicking up great deals of dirt and dust instead. "Why don't you just try to drive it?"

"These gauntlets aren't made for hot-wiring!" Daisy remarked, holding up a spindle-clawed hand. "And if you think that'll work, you do it."

"I don't even think I can get up there . . ." Jigsaw remarked, before latching onto the bumper and giving it an experimental tug as the others pulled along, and suddenly the truck lurched forward, knocking the three flat. Jigsaw saw the two of them looking back at her, stunned, before they promptly stood right back up and did it again, pulling the truck away from the docks just as more and more of the Kine started to storm out into the service lot, howling and mooing as they went.

Jigsaw glanced out as she saw Adari'a and Charity running out after the Kine, and she smirked. "Well, they're out . . . now, how much time do we have left before the-?"

A thunderous CRASH cut Jigsaw off, and she turned to see Spyro landing feet-first on an abandoned vehicle, with White Noise dropping down onto Spyro as Aeris carried Xanatos down. Daisy turned to look, then remarked to Jigsaw, "I'd say time's a loan shark right now."

Ace ran out of the plant, followed by Geisha, Poison, and Zodiac as the sound of sirens hit the air, and soon Jigsaw found herself hopping up on Cain's shoulders to better see the flash of blue lights. "White Noise! Where are the damned ships?"

"I don't know; something's blocking their clearance." White Noise hissed. "Even our troop ships won't hold enough . . ."

"Great . . . all that work and we're stuck with the local cops." Jigsaw grumbled, steadying herself; Cain took hold of her ankles to stabilize her. "Well, we've got two options; run, or try to explain ourselves."

Adari'a blinked, before looking up at Jigsaw. "I could be wrong, but I think the 'flashing fire' means they're not going to listen very hard."

"The cat's right. We're screwed." Ace snarled. "This is all your fault, rodent!"

"I didn't see you doing much, monkey!" Jigsaw snapped, before trying to turn around. "Now damn it, if that had been a swarm of naked humans hanging off those meat hooks, you'd have acted just the same!"

"That's it!" White Noise peeped up, running to pluck Jigsaw off of Cain's shoulders. "Quick, strip!"

"Wait, what!" Jigsaw yelped, shocked.

"Not like that! You and Slick, strip off your armor and get lost in that herd!" He clarified, pointing to Slick as he approached. Slick nodded, and quickly darted into the herd. "Daisy, Poison, Ace, Adari'a, Cain, up in front and helmets off! Try to look sexy!" With that, White Noise retracted his own helmet back, giving his mane a quick whip so the strands of blue hair turning gold were now flying free in the nighttime wind, just as the squad cars of Novalis's finest arrived at the gates of the service lot, streaming in. "We're going to pull this off yet . . ."

"Attention suspects!" The first squad car boomed out as its driver exited the vehicle. "Do not move! Put your hands in the air and your weapons where we can see them!"

"You heard the man." White Noise remarked, raising both hands high with his blaster hanging upside down from one finger. It took a moment, but soon Ace, Adari'a, Poison, and even Daisy followed his lead, each of them similarly holding their blasters up in idle threat; Cain held his hands up as well, but his were truly unarmed.. Only White Noise dared to speak, turning his head back to the police. "Good evening, men! Is something wrong?"

"I'd damn well hope so." The officer spoke up, as more of them came out of their cars. "We received a flood of calls for at least the last half-hour about you . . . you terrorists . . ."

"Terrorists?" White Noise repeated, almost in disbelief. "Sir, I assure you, this was all in the strictest of self-defense!"

The officer turned a floodlight on the group, causing half the group to wince, and Cain had to shut his eyes completely. The officer spoke again, this time with more of a growl in his voice. "All that armor and weaponry don't say 'self-defense' to me."

"I can explain everything right here and now, Officer . . . er, name please?"

"Gordon." The policeman hissed back. "Chief Gordon."

"Very well, then, 'Chief' Gordon . . ." White Noise smiled, stepping closer and offering his unarmed hand out to the officer, palm up with both thumbs facing out. "My name is Rampart of the High Seas. These are my friends here; we're a local security operation in your star system."

"Uh-huh . . ." Gordon muttered out, accepting White Noise's hand with a suspicious glare.

"Well, we were suiting up to escort one of the local cattle convoys to this fine establishment, when we discovered that a few of the ranch hands mistook two of our close friends for some of their cargo." The Anyr made eye contact with the chief, making sure the statement sank in. "Naturally, my fine lieutenants couldn't bear to see them turned into someone's next pot roast, so we had to come here and make sure that our friends were safe! We would have resorted to less drastic means, but unfortunately that simply wasn't possible . . ."

"Is that so?" Gordon blinked, looking out at the milling herd of Kine who were now just standing there, looking out at the floodlights and keeping up their cacophony. "Look, as much sympathy as I may have for you people if your story's true, I have a hard time believing that there'd be anybody on this planet who could get mistaken for one of those dumb, stupid, brainless, fellati'atin' beasts!"

Both Poison and Daisy flinched on that last remark, but Ace picked up on it without skipping a beat. "Jessie! Sam! If you're in there, shout up! I couldn't find your skins in the processing room!"

Soon after, a loud 'mrowr!' came from somewhere within the herd, catching the chief off guard. He blinked, and sure enough, from the middle of the herd, a hand shot up out from above the heads of the rest of the herd, twinkling her fingers. The chief blinked, and saw her golden fur against the black and white of the Kine, plain as day.

Gordon's jaw dropped, his grip on the flashlight wavering. "What the . . ."

The hand moved forward, and after a minute of struggling through the herd, Jigsaw emerged out of it, looking banged-up in a t-shirt and denim jeans, barefoot, and with her hair in total disarray. Slick looked equally worse for wear, and also barefoot, covered in dust. Both were coughing, half-hunched over, and in need of a good grooming; in short, they looked lucky to be alive.

"There you are!" Daisy spoke up, dashing towards the two Lombaxes, giving them a hug — or as least as well as she could in her armor. Poison followed behind, and the two quickly started doting on them, trying to look as 'authentic' as possible.

White Noise smirked, wrapping an arm around the chief. "Still don't believe me?"

"Well . . . I guess you all did the best you could." Gordon shrugged, scratching his head. "Something about it still doesn't seem right . . ."

"Don't worry, officer; we're almost done here. We'll make sure the mess gets sorted out." White Noise smiled. "We just need you and your friends out of the way so we can get to our own vehicles. My apologies for the inconvenience, of course."

"I suppose . . . good night, then. Make sure those two don't get in any more trouble." Gordon replied, before backing off and stepping back into his squad car. The police slowly but surely left in short order, and once the lights were off them, several of the contestants relaxed, putting their arms back down and letting out a sigh of relief. Daisy collapsed to sit on the gravel, letting go of her captain and lieutenant, while White Noise wiped his forehead.

"That was close." Ace remarked, glancing over at Adari'a. "How are we getting this many Kine out of here, though? I'm pretty sure leaving them behind means they're going to get corralled up again."

Adari'a shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"The ships should be here soon . . ." Jigsaw chuckled, pulling out her battleaxe as she sat down on the gravel, with relief written into her face as she propped it up on a knee. "Cypress, mind telling me right now if I'm still in trouble for 'deviating'?"

"Nope." Cypress chuckled, before adding on, "Congratulations; you're no longer dead meat."

Dallas picked up his cue, launching into his trademark chipper tone. "And with that, folks, it looks like our new contestants have made it through their first team challenges! Will they be so lucky next time? Not if we have anything to say about it! We'll be back to give you more mayhem, more misbehavior and more missions next week, only on DreadZone!"

The camera view quickly started to pull out, with credits beginning to roll as Jigsaw quickly started hammering out a now-familiar guitar riff, the music going on as the show went into darkness.

-zloop!-

The group on the couch sat in silence for a moment as the entertainment stopped, almost looking at each other for guidance on how to react to that; instantly afterwards, however, the couch erupted into a loud cheer as nearly everyone on it leapt up in loud appreciation.

"Damn!" Ratchet spoke up, looking over at Jigsaw. "Okay, general opinions on DreadZone aside, that last episode was amazing!"

"We told you DreadZone was a different beast back then . . ." Jigsaw chuckled, smiling.

Adari'a laughed, draping a foreleg over Jigsaw's lap. "And so were we!"

"That entire episode couldn't have gone better if we'd planned it that way." Cypress smirked, smiling down at everyone else.

In the midst of all this, though, Clank jumped over to the coffee table, standing up. "One thing bothers me, though . . . For all of the effort that Gleeman went into while we were at DreadZone, how did an important a detail as 'what species the slaughterhouse was for' slip by in that episode?"

"Well . . ." Cypress winced. "I wasn't the one who organized that mission, so it's possible that Damien or Nate knew and just chose not to mention that detail. Still . . . even if I'd known, it wouldn't have changed how the show went. We got a hell of a response out of that episode when it first aired."

"Either way, I'd say that's the perfect spot to leave off on, because by tomorrow morning we'll be back on Veldin, and we'll finally be able to get back to the business at hand; and by that, I mean figuring out what the hell is with our good friend's invention." Jigsaw smiled. "And we'll be just in time, too."

Al blinked, sitting up. "For what?"

"Liberty Day. You're going to love Elysium tomorrow, rest assured on that." She replied, before stretching her arms. "With any luck, the Vox Fleet isn't going to try anything stupid . . . but we'll deal with that as it happens. Until then, I'm heading for the bridge."

"Hang on, let me help you with that!" Ratchet spoke up, vaulting over the back of the couch to beat Jigsaw to the door, which earned a snide chuckle from a couple of the others. He turned, glaring at them, before sticking his tongue out, and following through the doorway right after her.

Adari'a rolled her eyes. "Heading to the bridge, maybe. Working there, no."

"Lay off it. Jigsaw getting attention from him means less tsuris for the rest of us." Cypress shrugged. "Besides, I'm reasonably sure she'll be in for a rude awakening soon — She may have forgotten in the midst of all the other things, but the premiere of Cirque du Mortis is coming up. And I'm certain that they're doing something with Veldin for it." She sighed. "I just wish I knew what."