By the time the signal was given, Rest had wedged himself between two sign waving protesters and pushed up against the red cables. The far corner of the stadium had less people in it considering it was virtually hidden behind the massive speakers, winding cables, and even worse the heavy canopy that stretched for several feet all around the stage, but this was the exact position Rest wanted to be in. It didn't really matter if Gordon was still speaking now or just looking, well, beastly for the cameras. Rest whipped out a pen and a notepad and shouted as loud as he could.

"Sir! What is your opinion on recent policies regarding the rising immigration rates of Wessite?"

His voice seemed minuscule compared to the booming and further amplified voice of Gordon and the screaming crowds around him. But, despite how small his voice was, the frantic waving of him pen was enough to at least draw the attention of the few body guards up front. Their expressions were all but friendly. Through all the noise, Rest was able to hear the nearest guard mutter, "I thought we filtered out all the damned journalists..."

Rest pressed on, making smiting motions with his pen as he shouted. "Rumor has it that you have no thoughts on the issue, but the immigration rates are at an all time high, even from bordering cities of Yagitrough Heights!"

Now Rest could see one of the guards, the one Rest figured was the head of the group, gesture towards the two closest to where Rest was standing. They were already moving towards him before Gordon gave a brisk wave of his hand. Rest restrained from cracking a smile. Gordon, being the attention pig he was, wouldn't resist taking questions from the press, even if his bodyguards had gone through all the trouble of filtering out the media. If Gordon was looking at him, then the entire crowd was looking at him. The dimming silence of the crowd attested to that. The fat man leaned over on the podium, both in an effort to get closer to the microphone and to see Rest from where he was standing.

"Move closer, son, and repeat the question for the nice crowd."

Rest weaved his way through the crowd, but didn't go far from his initial position. He was still making a banner out of his pen. "Your thoughts on the rising immigration rates, sir!"

Gordon made a face, one that twisted the fatty pouches on his face into wrinkled and quite distasteful flaps. "Immigration?" He tossed his glance around to his cabinet behind him. "This city has no immigration rates, boy! Our borders are tightly secured!" His words earned him nods from the people behind him, even from the crowd in front of him.

"I ask about the immigrants that are crossing from the north!"

A slight pause and then Gordon leaned back with a quizzical expression that was quickly covered up by three or four of his politicians crowding around him. They exchanged a short conversation before parting quickly. Gordon leaned forward on the podium again, opening his mouth for a moment before speaking. "Last I checked, there are only mountains from the north. Treacherous foot paths that haven't been used in ages." He looked behind him again and was welcomed with a wave of nods from his cabinet.

Rest's eyes were scanning the front of the crowd for Sharp now. He was standing on the other end of the stage, the exact opposite direction from all the gazes. Right, he had too keep it that way for at least a while longer. "There actually have been reports, numerous ones, of immigrants crossing the border in flocks!"

"In flocks?"

"Air trafficking is not monitored in Wessite, especially in the northern region and they have been moving into our fair city for over twenty years now!"

"Air trafficking?" Gordon cast another look to his members behind him, his face the perfect rendition of the thoughts running through his mind. "Are you talking about geese?" Just as he said that, a flock of geese approached the open area, bathing the stage in a multitude of faint honks.

Rest had to keep himself from laughing. This, after all, was a serious matter. "These geese do not aid in our economy, only pollute our quiet mornings with their silly sounds and leave refuse on our property!" Several people in the crowd absentmindedly moved their signs to cover their heads as the geese moved by. "This has been a cause of concern for decades! Your opinion, please!"

Gordon waved his hand, the crowd beginning to grow in noise. "Son, is that all you have to ask? This is an important congregation! For us grown-ups!"

Rest's eyes immediately dropped down to the front line of the crowd, moving along the red cables until he came across the red head he was looking for. Sharp met Rest's eyes for a brief second, then waved his hand in a circular motion before dropping down below the rim of the stage. They needed a little more time. "What about the Gefelta Fish that have been plaguing the eastern watershed?"

"Okay, that's enough..." Gordon gestured to the guards on front who began moving towards where Rest was standing.

"But they really smell!"

Sharp's head popped up over the rim of the stage again, his hands a flurry of compressed movement. He was mouthing something that Rest couldn't comprehend. One of the guards eclipsed Sharp's figure. The ox of a man waved his mitt of a hand, his other shouldering the rifle. "Time to make your exit."

Rest jerked his head to peek around the guard's shoulder, waving his pen some more. His voice was quickly dying in the crowd. "A recent insta-poll says your popularity dropped three point seven nine percent with the passing of your Peace Keeper Act!"

Rest caught a glimpse of Sharp once more, who was now at the far end of the stage, pointing violently towards something that was hidden by the rim of the platform. He made several flapping motions with his hands. What the hell?

"Hey!" The guard shoved Rest back, snapping Rest's attention back to him. "I said get a move on."

Rest darted a look to Gordon, who was peering down at him with disdain, and then back to Sharp who had commenced pointing frantically again. Rest pushed past a crowd member beside him and resumed waving his pen. "There hasn't been an update on the 'Hit the Damn button' Act instigated last spring!"

"What are you talking about? I don't remember passing..."

Sharp lifted up a small device, moving his hand out from being eclipsed by the podium or Gordon's massive figure. His thumb was flapping on the red button but that came from that action was a frantic shrug. And then the pointing again.

The guard moved in front of Rest again, giving him a stern frown. "I won't ask again--"

Rest pushed aside another protester on the other side now, earning him a shout from the guard before him. It didn't stop him from shouting still, not even to Gordon now even if it were shouted at his general direction. "Former Cabinet Member Georgio Sumthing 'Onother yesterday was said to have begged you to try crossing the red wire to match the circuit on the displacement board!"

"Okay, enough of this." Gordon didn't even bother keeping his mouth away from the microphone. "Someone get this joker off stage and outta sight!"

The guard lifted the red cable over his head this time, moving past the barrier to lay a heavy hand on Rest's shoulder. He wasn't alone either. Four other guards had moved towards Rest's corner of the stage. The guard that had taken hold of Rest spat out whatever he could've been chewing in his mouth in order to bear his teeth rather menacingly at Rest, which was wholly unnecessary considering that Rest was standing a full foot shorter than the man and didn't have half the muscles that he was showing through his jacket. "Let's take a long walk."

"Hold on a second, fellas--" Another guard crossed the red cables once more and the crowd that had been so tight around him began to part. One slipped his arm around Rest's elbow, another taking the other side. The other two stayed on the other side of the barrier, brandishing their rifles with equally deadly frowns on their face. "Let's not get violent! I've only got a few more questions, the governor doesnt' even have to answer them, honest!" Rest didn't resist, only kept his eyes glued on the rim where Sharp's head had yet to reappear.

When Rest did see the red head, the man was making a wild dash through the crowd, hands over his ears. It didn't take long for Rest to mimic his partner, even if his position make it hard for him to clap his hands over his ears. The guards darted a look down at him then to each other. "What the hell's he doin'?"

It took a moment for them to notice, but the noise had already been ringing for a full second now. A high pitched buzz that passed through the threshold of any older ears, but was there regardless. The noise of the crowd had dropped significantly, everyone trying to pinpoint the noise. Eyes were moving towards the stage, towards the platform itself, towards the other end of the stage opposite from where the wacky journalist was being apprehended. It was slowly increasing in volume. Even Gordon was swinging his head left to right, scrunching his face in annoyance. The noise rang for only a half more of a second before stopping completely.

"What's was that--"

A blast cut him short. The corner of the stage where all eyes had been drawn to burst into flames, a plume of dark ash, airborne soot and fire caught the corner of the canopy and expanded to cover the entire stage. A shockwave followed the split second afterwards, sweeping Gordon magically off of his feet and running it's life throughout the entire crowd who was now full of frenzied panic and screams. Those who were nearby the explosion were literally thrown back.

The guards holding Rest in check had ducked down, pulling Rest to the floor with them. Their shouts were completely covered by the screaming voices and the thundering feet, and one more sound. A loud snap and then the flapping of wind rushing around a large heavy fabric. The massive canopy, half of it engulfed in climbing flames, groaned loudly as it leaned back and collapsed, but not onto the stage. The explosion had pushed it in the other direction, exactly as planned. Gordon, still flat on his back was swinging his head from side to side, no doubt groaning from the unexpected shock. The other two guards on stage were rushing towards him.

The guards had released Rest, one of them shouting at the top of his lungs out at the dispersing crowd to the few that had moved towards the stage rather than away from it. "Search the perimeter! Check the buildings! They're around here somewhere!"