“Three… two… one… we’re live!”

“Welcome back viewers! That last round was a doozy! If you remember our last contestants decided to take their winnings and return to the audience, but this round will be even more dramatic!”

Lights flashed, revealing over a dozen people standing in a circle behind the announcer. One of those people was Jared, shifting nervously from side to side. He took a deep breath trying to calm his heart. When he had attended this show he knew he might be chosen to be a contestant. He hadn’t actually expected it to happen though!

“Yes! We have no less than fourteen contestants on stage here. This round’s theme is coordination! Two teams will have to work together to press this button." The announcer held up a shiny red button. "Any member of your team can press it to claim victory and the prize at the end. It's as simple as that."

It would not be that simple. It couldn't be.

"But there's a twist. Each team will be working together much more intimately than they expect. Let's choose your fate!"

The floor underneath Jared's feet flashed rapidly through symbols of various body parts, finally landing on an image of a torso. The other people on his team had gotten other body parts as well.

"Each contestant has an animal chosen by the crowd! On the right, we have team lizard, and on the left team cat! With that out of the way, the fun can begin!"

The announcer slapped the button.

Jarad looked down at himself. His legs wobbled, then he gasped as he felt them beginning to recede into his torso. His arms promptly began doing the same, rapidly sliding inwards. Rough brown scales covered his front, spreading around to his back and over his chest.

Jared looked around to see similar things happening to his teammates, their bodies vanishing, sinking away into nothing. Then he lost balance as his feet vanished, and rolled over onto his front.

Soon nothing remained of his arms as well, he was just a torso and a head. For a moment he thought that was going to be it, but then his head began sinking into his torso as well. He Let out a surprised yelp before his mouth disappeared, followed by his eyes and ears. His vision cut out, but surprisingly he could still hear, although everything was muffled, and his hearing was fading slowly but steadily.

"That's right folks! Seven contestants, one body! The ultimate test of teamwork. Now, can we have four volunteers from the crowd to help put them back together?"

"Come on up! Come on up! You're part of the team now as well. On my mark, the first team to be completely assembled and press the button wins! Assemblers, once your job is done there on their own. You can't press the button."

"Ready? Go!"

Immediately Jared felt a pair of hands spin him around. "Just put them together laying down! Make sure it's facing the right way!" The words sounded like they were coming down a long tunnel, just before his hearing cut out entirely.

Luckily he wasn't alone for too long. Something was attached to where one of his legs used to be.

Oh my god, this is crazy! I'm just a leg! I'm gonna faint. I would faint if I had a head. But I'm just a leg!

Who was that!? Jared thought, confused. Thinking was all he could do; he couldn't say anything.

What? Who was that!? The leg thought back.

Wait, you must be one of the other contestants, so you're a leg, and I'm a torso…

Jared didn't have time to finish that thought as an arm was pressed onto one of his shoulders.

Ah! They attached me to something! What the heck is this game!?

That something is me! I'm the torso! Jared exclaimed. Seven contestants, one body.

Another limb was attached, then another, and soon there were too many voices trying to talk over each other.

Everybody quiet! Jayson mentally exclaimed as a tail was pressed into his rump.

What do you mean? I'm the only one talking? Said several different voices at once.

That gave Jared a pause. I think I can hear all of you, but you guys can only hear me. The only thing we're missing right now is a head.

Several metal utterances of understanding were sent back.

For now, I think we should try and cut it to just the important communications. I can't talk to all five of you at once.

Just as he said that a sixth joined.

Yay, I have a body again! Wait… Why can't I feel anything?

Because you're only the head. The rest of us are the body. Jared realized what the announcer had meant by teamwork. They would all have to work together to get to the button.

We all need to work together to get to the button and change back! Head! Which direction is it?

Straight ahead, no pun intended, but we're just laying on the ground. I doubt we can walk like this.

No, but we can crawl. Let's go! Right arm forwards! Get ready to get up on all fours.

With some effort, they pushed themselves up and started making their way forwards. Jared acted as a relay and coordinator of all of the limbs, telling each what to do. The other team was struggling it get their limbs to work together.

The other team's head is on backward! The head laughed.

As they began making their way across the stage commanding each limb began feeling more and more natural to Jared. The others had stopped talking. They set into a rhythm, the head telling Jared what it saw, and Jared telling the limbs what to do. It was a slow process, but the system worked. They were making progress, at least according to the head.

The other team is gaining! Exclaimed the head.

Jared picked up the pace, doing his best to get them across the floor as quickly as possible. All of his attention was consumed by playing the relay game between the head and their limbs.

The announcer said we need to stand to hit the button. We're nearly there! The head thought.

At this point, the motions were almost automatic. He could tell it was happening to each limb too as they responded faster and more accurately to his commands, sending back details about what they felt. Still, standing up would be a challenge. Maintaining balance required tiny muscle movements. He would have to do a lot of micromanaging. As they made their way to their feet Jared was lost in a haze of signals. He ended up just sending everything straight to the head, who began sending signals straight back down to be relayed by Jared.

Then a hand slapped down on the button.

We did it! The head exclaimed. Jared returned to his senses as all of the limbs cheered.

They did it! They had beaten the other team!

Jared tumbled to the floor as all of the limbs separated once again. Moments later, he was human once more. Luckily, his shirt and pants seemed to have stayed with him.

"Lizard team wins!"

The crowd cheered and clapped. Jared high fived the person next to him. He had no idea which part they had been, but it had been a team effort, and they had won.

"As per tradition, the losers are the prize."

Each of the losing team expanded, fully becoming whatever cat the crowd had chosen for them. There were lions, tigers, leopards, and even house cats. However they were all the same size (much larger than usual), and they were all missing a head. Each body stumbled around a little before standing still on all fours.

"Since you did so well as each other's limbs, your prize is an extra pair of limbs to get you around. If you'd like, you may choose a new lower half."

Then the announcer turned to the camera. "And that's the show! Tune in next time, we have a really special episode coming up for our season finale."

Already some of his teammates were choosing lower torsos. Even the people who had been chosen to assemble them got one. Jared decided to grab one before they were all taken. He had been a little apprehensive of the whole transforming thing at the start of the show, but after winning, how could he not try being a cat-taur thing out?

Jared walked over to the snow leopard torso and patted it's back. It shuffled nervously. He could empathize. But how was he supposed to do this? He had legs where he needed to connect.

Then suddenly his legs began to shrink away just as they had when he had become a torso. The vanishing stopped just below his belly button.

Then he saw his girlfriend running up to the stage. "That was awesome! I wish I had been chosen!"

"It was scary at first, but a lot more fun than I was expecting." Jared laughed. "But uh… can you give me a hand?"

She reached down and lifted him up by the armpits. "Wow, you're a lot lighter this way." She commented.

"Not for long!" Jared laughed as she placed him down in the correct spot. The First thing Jared noticed was that he was a fair bit shorter this way. He had been almost a head taller than his girlfriend, but now he was at about eye level.

With a similar sensation to when limbs were being attached his upper torso fused with the snow leopard. New sensations flooded into his brain, paws touching the cold floor, his girlfriend's hand brushing across the fur.

"You actually look pretty good like this." She commented.

"It feels really strange," he said, swishing his new tail back and forth.

"Well, you chose the right animal. It looks good on you." She complimented, hugging him.

"Contestants are free to return to the crowd, just be aware that your second halves will be gone at midnight tomorrow night."

They made their way back off the stage and into the crowd. Many hands reached out to touch his fur. That was going to get annoying fast. They ended up leaving the theatre in favor of a romantic dinner. He certainly got strange looks, but nobody tried to touch him. However, a short walk down the sidewalk Jared realized something strange about his lower torso. He stopped.

"Oh no. Uh…"

"What?"

"I think the one I chose was a girl."