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Jack in all Tags... But Master in All?

This puzzle is part of the "Piece de Resistance" series. Go back to Part 1 (Ace) for the story.
Ace Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Queen King... Jack

You finally flipped to your last card, and... a bunch of animals??? Tis' not Animal Farm, right?

nothing here...

OP's Words

This has been a fun series, seeing you guys solving a variety of puzzles, awing at how you guys can all [literally] read my mind. This puzzle may not be as majestic as @jafe's Gladys series, nor may it be as themed as @athin's Pyramid series. Yet I hope y'all have fun in this, and feel free to give me some feedback for my puzzle-creating skills. Thank you all for solving my puzzles, because it's no use making puzzles while no one is solving it. As a final word, as I've always said, "Happy Puzzling"!

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  • $\begingroup$ Can you confirm the answers to Three and Nine? Three's answer seems like it should be ADE with the data I have so far, but you accepted AGE. And I haven't been able to get the answer to Nine to work. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Oct 14, 2019 at 15:21
  • $\begingroup$ (And can you check the placement of the emoji near the upper left?) $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Oct 14, 2019 at 16:15
  • $\begingroup$ @Deusovi 3 is AGE. 9 is PRAGUE. the emojis should be alright $\endgroup$
    – Omega Krypton
    Commented Oct 14, 2019 at 16:19
  • $\begingroup$ Ah, that fixes it! I think I see how the rest of the puzzle works - writing it up now. $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    Commented Oct 14, 2019 at 16:23
  • $\begingroup$ @Deus oh no... you're just so gaddam quick... $\endgroup$
    – Omega Krypton
    Commented Oct 14, 2019 at 16:35

1 Answer 1

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First, the numbers:

The given grid can be solved as a colored nonogram. (The X marks an unshaded cell.)

enter image description here

Next, we use the emoji:

The twelve emoji are the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. These have a canonical order, so we can match them up with our twelve answers.
Then, the twelve answers can be entered into the grid crossword-style: each one goes across or down, starting from its square. There's only one way to do this.
enter image description here

And finally, we use both parts of the data we've gathered so far.

The given squares are always in groups of 2 or 3, either horizontally or vertically. And there's a single red piece, in the same row as the arrow on the right... Turns out that these form a Rush Hour puzzle. In Rush Hour, there are several cars of length 2 or 3 in a grid - they can only move forwards or backwards. One of the cars is red, and the goal is to get it out.

Solving that puzzle, and getting a final answer:

Here's the solution to the Rush Hour puzzle:
enter image description here
Each of the cars was filled with letters. In the solved position, these spell out the final answer:
enter image description here
And with that, we've SOLVED THE LAST PIECE!

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    $\begingroup$ Well, that's my evening freed up! Nice solve +1 And nice finale @OmegaKrypton - sweet meta-mechanism ("metanism"?!) :) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented Oct 14, 2019 at 16:50

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