I ran into the front of the shrine, yelling as loud as I could. "Orange Jell-o!" Everyone looked up, realized it was only me, and turned back to their moaning and moping. I growled and pushed through the crowd towards the left closet door as Sam had instructed. So, of course, Zack had to intercept me and question the fact that I was on a not-so-sacred mission to save our company.

"What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously, planting himself directly in my path.

"Getting Orange Jell-o." I said simply, thrusting past him and opening the door.

"So I’ve gathered. The question is why exactly are you going into a closet to get Orange Jell-o?"

"So we can defeat the evil giant chickens." I said as if it were obvious, looking around the small closet. I blinked when I saw crate upon crate of Orange Jell-o stacked all along the walls. ‘Why does Sam need a storehouse of Orange Jell-o? On the other hand, do I really want to know?’ I shook my head and ripped off the top of the nearest crate, checking the number of packets in each carton. Surprisingly enough, I found them already made and perfectly preserved in small grenade-like bundles. ‘Again, why does Sam have all this Jell-o, and why does he have them already made? Was he going to eat it or something?’

"This is never gonna work. Orange Jell-o has no chance against those things out there." Zack mumbled as I packed some crates in his arms.

"Sam and Ashnunima told me that Orange Jell-o would work, and so it has to. Besides," I looked up and gave him a small smile as I put the last crate in his arms, "what do we have to loose?"

He sighed and nodded. “You always did have a way of convincing me to do crazy things.”

I rolled my eyes. “Reminisce later, get others to help now.”

He grinned. “Aye aye, mon Capitan.” And we walked up the main steps close to the front door.

"Excuse me!" Everyone turned to face us as I cleared my throat. "After seeking professional council with the mighty gods, I have found the only weapon that has a chance to defeat the giant chickens that are plaguing our building."

There was a moment of silence, then a few snorts of incredulous laughter. "She's pulling our legs."

”We’re doomed.”

"Nothing can stop those things."

"Not true." I said, smirking confidently. "You see, the giant chickens have an irrational fear of Orange Jell-o. Using these Orange Jell-o grenades," I reached into the top crate and pulled out a bomb, holding it high over my head, "we shall defeat those monstrosities!"

Suddenly, everyone was on my side and rushing up to the crates. "Of course!"

"Orange jell-o."

"It's so obvious!"

Turning, I grinned at Zack who was fending off hordes of workers, all trying to get Jell-o. This could work to my advantage. One, save my only source of income; and two, possibly get a raise for my good work. Oh yeah, I was going to be living on easy street. "Ok, we need a plan. Here's what we're gonna do -"

After securing all the workers with Jell-o weaponry, we crept out of the shrine sanctuary in search of our feathered victims. Rounding the corner, we came face to face with my worst nightmare. Beady black eyes stared at us and I felt my knees go weak. "Ch-ch-ch-chicken." I heard myself stutter, taking a tentative step back and gracefully falling flat on my butt.

Suddenly, Zack was standing in front of me, holding his orange jell-o in the chicken's face. "Back off! I got Jell-o!" He yelled, pushing it farther and farther in its face. Squawking madly, it ran off and called for its compatriots. Smiling, Zack turned to me and offered his free hand. "Need some help?"

I reached for him and hauled myself up. "Stupid phobia." I muttered, dusting myself off and grabbing my previously forgotten Jell-o bomb, holding it ready in my palm. I glanced over at Zack. "Ready?" He nodded and set a serious scowl on his face. "Line up!" I shouted behind me and the group formed nine not-so-neat lines, each ten across. I turned back to where the chicken had gone before and watched in growing horror as an army of chicken stalked up to us; clucking, pecking, scratching, and just being evil all around.

"On my count." Zack barked by my side, getting into a throwing position. "1, 2, 3! Front!" The first line behind us chucked their Jell-o as we ducked out of the way. "Reload! Second!" Zack yelled as he stood and prepared his Jell- o. "Now!"

The battle raged on and I watched in horrific fascination as Jell-o collided with feathers and the chickens squawked and blew up into hundreds of fleshy pieces. So that was why they feared the Orange Jell-o. It was actually a deathly allergy. My breath caught in my throat at every screech that sounded while they were fighting and running. Yes indeed, life sucks when you are afraid of chickens.

Finally, the last cluck sounded and an explosion followed immediately after. I felt a hand on my arm and a gently opened my eyes. I looked up at Zack, who was beaming down at me. "We did it Laura." He said smiling while the other workers celebrated around us. "We actually did it!" He laughed, picking me up and giving me a huge bear hug. I smiled and held to him tightly.

"I'm never standing up to a chicken again!" I declared. He smiled at me and I smiled at him. Standing on my tiptoes, I gave him a light kiss. I started to back down, but he grabbed me and pressed his lips against mine. The rest of the workers stared at us, but we didn't care; and I thought I almost heard those two crazy gods talking above us.

"See, I told you everything would work out."

A dulled whapping sound rang through the air. "Shut up Sam."

"Yes ma'am."