Jester felt that whoever took the nutcase who built the do-it-yourself manchine and dressed it up as Santa Claws out of the gene pool was doing everyone a favor. Megan was exactly the sort of person to do just that, which meant that the robot was now operating on its own. That could be taken as either good or bad, depending upon how one looked at it. He decided to be an optimist, even with the row of nails embedded in his shoulder and hip. What kind of a moron gives industrial tools like nailguns and sanders to a manchine anyway?
Dropping her in the floor with as much care as he could afford, he locked the door and propped a heavy metal cabinet against it. The manchine was immediately working on the lock and from the way it was equipped, he knew they wouldn't have long. Getter was so scared that he was ready to drop the proverbial brick in his pants and the Xeno regretted that he didn't have the time to terrorize him. It was a shame to lose an opportunity like this, but keeping the humans alive was a higher priority.
"Megan," he said to his partner, gently shaking her. She didn't have any serious wounds but was nevertheless in some sort of shock. Being as gentle as possible, he shook her again. "Megan, you have to snap out of this."
"Lemmetry," Getter said, slurring his words together. In the operatives' absence, the man had gotten fairly drunk and was far more amusing. "I've gotsumtheinthatulwakerup, HEH!"
BOOM. The cabinet shook as the manchine slammed into the door.
Ignoring him, the Xeno tried to pry the blocks of explosives out of her hands. That got a reaction and she nearly bit him. Her eyes locked onto his forward set as she started coming around.
"It's him! HE's here!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arms and shaking him. Jester cocked his head, not understanding and she shook him again, this time hard enough to hurt. "SANTA CLAWS! It's him! He's here!"
"Megan, there's no such thing as Santa Claws!" Jester pleaded. "It's a manchine and it's going to be in here any moment. I need to get you into the air duct with the other woman so-"
"It IS him! He's trying to kill me, because of the North Pole!" she rambled. "I thought it was over after he came after me in New Paris with Sour Blood and I killed him and and."
"LOOK, BARKER!" he snarled, showing all of his teeth. The shrinks could sort her delusions out later, but he needed her to be cognizant enough to hand over the blocks. "We have a manchine out there and you're going to give me the explosives and get out of the way!"
Another boom and this one was hard enough to knock a picture off the wall. A moment later, Jester caught the smell of melting metal and knew that the machine had decided to cut its way in.
"Whozat? C'monin thuhdorzopen!" Getter laughed, then waved in his direction. "Hey, hey buddy! Hey buddy-"
Ignoring him, the Xeno jerked Meg to her feet but nearly dropped her when she screamed. The pain seemed to have brought her around and she leaned onto the desk.
"My ankle," she said and he looked down, seeing that it was badly swollen. "Watch the ankle."
"It's just a manchine Megan, not a living sanctioned holiday icon," he said in a calmer voice and she nodded. The glazed look in her eyes had faded and she was almost herself again. "Now I'm going to boost you into the air duct so you'll be out of harm's way and-"
"No," she said looking over as something rattled to the floor behind the cabinet. "I've got a better idea."
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