~*Author's note: I feel I must warn you, this is the first fanfic I ever
wrote, and it's totally crap. No I'm not just saying that, I really think
this is bad, I mean come on I haven't even thought of a title. So um you
have been warned. *~
"Oh they're lovely Gem, that one looks just like his father!"
Gem smiled sadly at the mention of the kittens' father, just days ago he had fought to the death to protect the tribe from pollicles. He had looked forward to the birth of the kittens so much. Tears began to well up in Gemini's eyes. Jenny saw this and quickly asked,
"Well what are you going to call them?"
Gemini looked at the two little bundles of fur closely,
"Jenny was right," she thought whilst staring at the gray tabby kitten, "This one is the image of his father."
The other kitten had a large fuzzy mane,
"And this one is definitely going to be a heart breaker," she thought fondly.
"I'll call this one Rum Tum Tugger," she finally said looking at the kitten with the large mane, "And the tabby shall be called Munkustrap, after his father."
Over the next few days the kittens had lots of visitors, including the jellicle leader, Old Deuteronomy. He had been devastated by the loss of his son Munkustrap, and only a year ago he had to banish his only other son, Mackinley for betraying the tribe. So the birth of these kittens brought joy to his old heart.
There was of course one cat that wasn't pleased about the birth of the kittens. This cat was Macavity. He stayed out of the way and never once went to see the kittens while they were with their mother. Macavity was also Gemini's son, born about a year ago. His father was no mystery to him either it was Mackinley but Macavity never knew him because he was banished just before he was born.
Just after Macavity was born Gemini and the rest of the jellicles decided that she was too young to be able to raise this kitten, she wasn't even a year old herself. So Jenny had raised Macavity and she had always been honest to him about his upbringing.
But still seeing the mother who couldn't raise him or give him any affection, fussing over his two little brothers hurt.
Over the next few months the kittens grew up before everyone's eyes. They loved playing with all the other kittens and play fighting. But most of all they loved it when their mother took them on long walks around the junkyard. The two kittens were now 4 months old. Macavity was still upset about the kittens, but he had more important things to worry about, he had been appointed second in command as Deuteronomy's eldest grandson. Still he couldn't help but be jealous of the little family as they went on their regular walks, and it was on one of these walks that tragedy struck.
The little family had reached the far side of the junkyard and was about to turn back, when Gemini smelled danger in the air. She looked around fearfully and saw that a gang of alley cats surrounded them. She recognized one,
"Adolphus what is the meaning of this?" she demanded.
"Don't get your pretty little fur in a twist, Mackinley wants to see you, is all," he sneered getting the gang of alley cats to creep in closer.
"Look, I'll go with you without a fight," Gemini sighed, "But you must let my kittens go back to the tribe now!"
"No deal sweetheart, let these kittens go back to the tribe so they can tell everyone what's happened?! I don't think so! Besides I'll bet Mackinley's got plans for these two," Adolphus grinned evilly at the two kittens.
"Get away from them!" she hissed and went in for the kill.
As she stood over Adolphus' dead body the other alley cats closed in ready for a fight.
"Run!" Gemini shouted to the two kittens "Get help!"
Tugger grabbed Munk's paw and pulled him away.
"No!" shouted Munk, "You can run faster than me Tug, you go and get the others. I'll help Mum."
And with that Munkustrap turned back to fight the alley cats. Tugger ran as fast as his feet would carry him, he knew Munkustrap and his mum was depending on him.
"Help! Help!" he shouted as he neared were he knew the cats would be. Quickly a group of jellicles gathered around him.
"What's wrong?" asked Skimbleshanks in an urgent tone
"Alley cats!" gasped Tugger, "Mum and Munk are fighting them!"
"Oh my goodness!" mumbled Jellyorum.
"Quickly!" said Skimble, "Can you show us where they are?"
Tugger nodded so hard he thought his head would fall off and took off back to where his mum and brother were fighting for their lives. Skimble followed with a few other toms and queens.
"Wait!" shouted Jellyorum. "Shouldn't we get Macavity?"
"There's no time!" Skimble shouted back barely pausing in his run.
What a sight it was that greeted their eyes, Munkustrap lay unconscious on the ground bleeding heavily while Gemini stood over him, protecting him with her last ounce of strength. There was heavy casualties on the other side too and only two alley cats were left standing, one fled as soon as he saw the jellicles while the other took one last swipe at Gemini and she fell to the ground. Skimble reached her first. He quickly checked her for a pulse and then stood up slowly shaking his head. Tugger let out a sob and his eyes filled with tears. Skimble then walked over to Munkustrap. "Please, please!" Tugger prayed silently to the Everlasting Cat "Not my brother too."
The Everlasting Cat must have been shining down on Tugger that day because Skimble picked up his brother and said, "He's alive!"
"Let's get him back to the others then." said Jenny nodding sadly to the other toms who gently picked up Gemini's body to carry her on her final journey.
They buried her body that day, Tugger was there and also everyone who loved Gemini. Munkustraps' wounds had been cleaned but he was not yet awake, never the less he was there. Only one cat was not there. Macavity, he refused to go to the funeral of the mother he never really knew.
In the days that followed everyone was still mourning over the loss of Gemini. Munkustrap had gotten an infection in one of his many cuts, and lay delirious in Jenny's den while Tugger and Deuteronomy willed him to live. One day he got so bad they all prepared for the worst, even the optimistic Jenny was heard to mumble,
"Poor little mite wants to go to his mother."
But Munkustrap surprised them all by pulling through to make a full recovery. Old Deuteronomy happy now that his grandson was over the worst began an investigation into the events that lead to Gemini's death. The trail kept leading back to one cat, Mackinley. But to get his henchcats into the junkyard, Deuteronomy knew that Mackinley had to have a jellicle accomplice. There was a traitor among them and it didn't take long to find out whom.
Macavity stood at the edge of the junkyard waiting; he was beginning to feel guilty,
"They weren't meant to kill her," he thought sadly, "Mackinley wanted her and the kittens alive, that was the only reason I went along with it, nobody was meant to get hurt."
He hung his head,
"I'm meant to be second in command, and all I'm doing is hurting the tribe."
That's when he decided. Tonight he'd tell Mackinley, his father that he wouldn't help him anymore. A large shadow over him made him look up suddenly, Mackinley was there. He was a large ginger tom, very much like Macavity. He spoke almost in a chatty conversational tone,
"So what's been going on here then?"
Macavity couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You know very well what!" Macavity hissed, "Your henchcats killed that queen and nearly killed that kitten!"
"Don't you mean your mother and your brother?" corrected Mackinley with a sly grin.
"Look, you told me that they wouldn't get hurt, that you just wanted her back." Macavity said ignoring his fathers comment.
"Well they had no choice she wouldn't go with them and then more of those jellicles showed up."
"I'm not going to do your dirty work anymore, it was my fault she got killed. I shouldn't have trusted you!" Macavity then stalked off leaving Mackinley to wander back to his lair.
But unfortunately for Macavity someone had seen him meet with Mackinley.
Gus was out for his usual twilight walk when he saw Macavity sitting on a pile of rubbish.
"Must be upset about his mother dying," he thought and went to go and cheer him up.
But someone else reached Macavity first.
"Mackinley! He's meeting with Mackinley!" Gus was shocked. He couldn't hear their conversation and knew if he moved closer they'd sense him.
"I guess there's only one thing to do," he said to himself reluctantly as he walked to Old Deuteronomy's.
Old Deuteronomy was shocked, his own grandson and second in command, a traitor! He was upset and disappointed. He knew what had to be done,
"Like father, like son." he whispered sadly before going to see Jenny.
Jenny was sitting with Munkustrap and Tugger, Tugger had fallen asleep already, but Munkustrap was restless after so long asleep.
"Jenny can I have a word with you, in private?"
Jenny looked up at the sound of Deuteronomy's voice. She nodded and stood up.
"You try to get to sleep now Munkustrap," she said firmly but fondly before she stepped out of the den.
"Its no use," thought Munkustrap he'd been trying to get to sleep for the last hour. He kept replaying what had happened over and over in his head, except in each of these playbacks he did something different, something different to save his mother. But he knew that as much as he wanted to live in this dream world he couldn't and that his mother was really gone. He was on the verge of tears until he heard Deuteronomy and Jenny talking outside.
"What?! That can't be true!" he heard Jenny whisper loudly. Munkustrap was curious and wanted to hear more. He sat up slowly and winced in pain, he was still very sore from the fight. He got up and limped shakily to the door.
"It is true, I got it from a very reliable source." he heard Deuteronomy whisper back.
"Ok so Macavity may have met up with Mackinley but Mackinley is his father, it doesn't mean that Macavity is the one who...the one who," she dropped her voice even quieter, "Betrayed us."
"I know, we are working on a way to find out for sure, but it doesn't look good."
"But he'd never hurt anyone especially not Gemini,"
Munkustrap's ears pricked up at the mention of his mother's name
"Remember," Jenny continued. "She was his mother."
Munkustrap gasped and then quickly put his hand over his mouth. Deuteronomy and Jenny didn't seem to hear.
"Look I'd appreciate it if you kept this quiet for a bit, just until we can sort what's going on."
"That's fine Deuteronomy, I hope you realize Macavity wouldn't do anything to hurt this tribe," Jenny whispered stubbornly.
It took Munkustrap a couple of seconds to realize that Jenny would be coming back in, he hobbled as quickly as he could across the room and lay down next to Tugger. When Jenny came in again Munk pretended to be asleep. Jenny smiled at the two kittens and went to the space next door where she was staying for the moment.
Munkustrap had too much to think about to sleep.
"If mum was Macavity's mother then that means Macavity's my brother."
Thoughts whizzed through Munk's mind,
"Why didn't I know before? Why did my mother keep it from me? Was he involved in Mums death?"
All these thoughts were making Munk dizzy, he decided that he would ask Deuteronomy, he tried to stand but his legs gave way. Tomorrow, he would ask him tomorrow.
Meanwhile Deuteronomy puzzled over how to solve this problem. He knew a traitor wouldn't openly admit it, or would they? Deuteronomy smiled as he thought a solution.
"Come on Jenny, please!" pleaded Munkustrap. It was the next day and Munkustrap wanted to go outside, but Jenny wasn't sure whether to let him.
"Look Jenny I'm fine." he reassured her and stood up trying not to let the pain he was feeling show on his face, "What do I have to do to show you that I'm fine?" he asked with an angelic look on his face.
"Ok, ok, but stay close to your brother and the other kittens." Jenny sighed.
Munkustrap grinned at her and rushed out, once he was out of her sight he winced in pain. As soon as it had passed he walked over to the other kittens.
"Hi Munk!"
"Good to see you up and about."
"Jenny finally let you out then?"
All the kittens surrounded Munk,
"Ok, ok move back a bit, give him a bit of room," Tugger was moving the kittens away from his brother. The rest of the kittens giggled.
"You're turning into Jenny!" Alonzo teased.
"Am not!" Tugger growled back
"Ooooooh, fight!" said the rest of the kittens.
Munkustrap wandered slowly away from the kittens in search of Old Deuteronomy, he didn't have to go far. Deuteronomy was sitting on the tire in the middle of the junkyard and he seemed to be asleep. Munk limped over to him and said quietly,
"Can I talk to you a minute, Deuteronomy?"
Old D looked up, startled slightly by being woken up from his nap.
"Erm yes," he said with a yawn, "Surprised to see you up and about so soon. So what did you want to ask me?"
Munkustrap seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment then quickly blurted out,
"Is Macavity my brother?"
Deuteronomy looked shocked, then asked quietly,
"Who told you that?"
Munkustrap stared down at the floor and started fidgeting,
"Well," he said quietly, "I kind of heard you and Jenny talking last night."
"Ahh, so I gather you know everything then."
Munkustrap nodded silently.
"I need you to keep quiet about what you heard last night. Have you told anyone else?"
Munkustrap shook his head.
"Good that's one problem sorted out, right the only thing you need to know Munkustrap is that Macavity is your brother, but still don't tell anybody! The rest of what we talked about is speculation. It isn't true, got that?"
Munkustrap again nodded.
"Ok you can go now" said the leader, and watched him leave.
"I only wish I was so sure about that." The leader muttered under his breath.
The event of the next few days went by like a blur for all the jellicles. It was revealed through a truth potion brewed by Coricopat and Tantomile that Macavity was working for Mackinley. The twins were still young but already had near perfect control over their powers, so their potion could be trusted. Macavity was put on trial and like his father before him was banished by the jellicles.
Outside the gates of the junkyard, his father met Macavity.
"This is all your fault!" Macavity hissed, "If you had just kept out of my life then I would still be with the jellicles, and Gemini would still be alive!"
"You can't blame me Macavity it was going to happen sooner or later with or without my help," his next words sent a shiver down Macavity's spine, "Remember, like father like son."
"No!" Macavity stepped away from Mackinley, "I am not like you!"
"Well you seem to be going in the right direction. The jellicles won't take you back now, come with me and become part of my tribe."
Macavity sighed; he knew it was hopeless. It was either die alone in the street or follow in his father's footsteps. He looked up at Mackinley.
"Come on son. Lets go home."
Munkustrap felt even worse than before! A jellicle, his brother had helped to cause his mothers death! He wanted justice. Tugger felt the same way, after Macavity was banished Deuteronomy let Munkustrap tell Tugger about what he heard that night. The two brothers lent on each other for support throughout this hard time.
Deuteronomy had another decision to make. Now that Macavity was banished, Munkustrap was now next in line to become the jellicle leader. But even though he had done a lot of growing up, whilst accepting his mothers death he was still only a kitten.
"A kitten shouldn't have to handle all that responsibility," he thought, "I'll have to think of something." And then he had a great idea.
Munkustrap's wounds had nearly healed completely now, and Jenny felt better about him going out to play with the other kittens. The kittens themselves were much happier to have Munkustrap back to play with, especially Tugger. He had missed his brother while he had been injured. Tugger looked after his older brother while he was playing with the other kittens. He could always tell when Munk's injuries were hurting (him even though Munk tried not to show it). Tug was always there to suggest something a little less painful to do.
"Munkustrap," Jenny called, "Deuteronomy wants to see you."
"What have you done now Munk?" said Tug in a mock disapproving tone.
Munk giggled as he ran after Jenny to the vicarage wall. When Munk arrived Deuteronomy and Skimble were already there.
"Hello Munkustrap," said Deuteronomy fondly, "Did Jenny tell you why we wanted to speak to you?"
Munk shook his head
"What is it with that kid?" Deuteronomy thought, "Every time I talk to him he seems to lose the ability to speak."
Deuteronomy then spoke,
"Well now that Macavity has been banished you are next in line to become jellicle leader."
Munkustrap's eyes grew wide,
"Me?" he whispered.
"Yes but I've decided that as you are a kitten we won't start your training yet, and Skimble will take on the role of protector until you are old enough. We don't want you missing out on your kittenhood."
Munkustrap still looked shocked,
"Me?" he asked again.
Deuteronomy chuckled. He could remember when he was told that he would be the next jellicle leader. He couldn't believe it either at the time.
"Yes." Deuteronomy replied, "Now run along, I think you might need a while for this to sink in."
Word got out fast about Munkustrap being the next jellicle leader. It seemed that wherever he went there were cats congratulating him, but he was still in a bit of a daze.
His training began when he was 6 months old, a little early but he was willing to learn. His mother's death had made him grow up a lot and he was extremely protective of those around him especially the kittens. Deuteronomy saw these characteristics and knew that Munk would make a good leader.
At their first jellicle ball a few months later Munk, Tugger and the other kittens became full jellicles. Even though there were a lot of rumours going around that Mackinley and Macavity may attack, all went smoothly.
A year later was the next jellicle ball. But this one was going to be different, it was the first ball that Munk would be in charge of and he wanted it to go smoothly. A lot of things had happened in this year, with all his training Munk had grown apart from Tugger (who had discovered that he was quite attractive and loved flirting with all the queens). Also the jellicles had gotten word that Mackinley had died in combat and Macavity had taken over his fathers' tribe.
The jellicles had acquired some new members as well, two queens Demeter and Bombalurina. They were escaping from Macavity and Mackinley when they ran into the jellicles who gladly took them in. Tugger had taken quite a fancy to the red queen, Bomb. But unfortunately for him she was the female equivalent of himself. She liked to flirt a lot and soon had her own little fan club just like Tugger's. The golden coloured queen, Demeter wasn't as outgoing as her sister and didn't like to flirt. She and Munkustrap soon became good friends.
The jellicle ball came and went, Grizabella was sent up to the Heavyside layer, Demeter and Bombalurina sang about Macavity, Munkustrap had a hard time directing the cats in the Pekes and the Pollicles and the Rum Tum Tugger had a special solo. After a couple of false alarms Macavity had shown up, kidnapped Old Deuteronomy, and tried to kidnap Demeter. During his time away from the tribe Mackinley had convinced him to turn on the jellicles. Munkustrap fought him, but he wasn't as strong as his older brother, the other jellicles grouped together and Macavity made his exit. Tugger called upon the power of his friend the magical Mr Mistofolees to bring Deuteronomy back, it worked and the ball was a hit.
The day after the ball Demeter was walking on air, she had been so frightened when Macavity attacked and tried to drag her off. But Munkustrap had stopped him; he had saved her and fought for her. She only ever told Bomb this but she really liked, possibly even loved him.
Meanwhile Bomb was quite annoyed, she had flirted quite obviously with Tugger during his solo and he just dropped her like yesterdays news.
"Alright!" she fumed, "He can keep his little kitten fan club, he is never getting the chance to be with me again!"
Munkustrap wandered around the junkyard slowly, his head full of last night's events. The ball had worn him out, he was tired from the fight and he could still feel all that stress and worry that he felt when Old Deuteronomy and the tribe was in trouble. Being second in command seemed to be a lot of trouble.
He slowly let his mind drift back to the present and the things going on around him. Mistofolees was impressing Victoria with a few of his magic tricks, Tugger had his usual fan club surrounding him but didn't seem too impressed. Munkustrap realized why when he saw Bomb flirting with Alonzo and giving Tugger the cold shoulder.
"Typical," thought Munk with a giggle, "Tug has all those queens surrounding him and yet he wants the one he can't have."
He looked up then to see Demeter walking over to him.
"Hi Munk," she said shyly, "I just want to say thanks...you know for..."
"It's alright," Munk interrupted, "Think nothing of it."
He always felt slightly embarrassed when people thanked him for doing what he felt was his duty.
"Dem could you come here a minute?" called Bomb.
Dem smiled at Munk then ran over to where Bomb was standing.
"Well Munk, you certainly have a way with them," The sound of Tugger's voice behind him made Munk jump slightly.
"What are you talking about?" Munk asked.
"Oh come on, I'm talking about Demeter! You must be blind not to see that she likes you!"
"What? Really? No she doesn't, does she?"
Tugger laughed at his brother's reaction.
"Yes she does, believe me I know queens. Oh yeah and Bomb told me in confidence once, thought you two would make a cute couple."
Munkustrap was speechless and started to blush slightly.
"I'll take it by that reaction that you like her too." Tugger stated. He found it very amusing to see his brother, the future leader of the jellicles at a loss for words. Munkustrap composed himself and changed the subject.
"Well whets going on with you and Bomb?"
"Trying to change the subject eh? Ok fine, she's annoyed about the way I treated her at the ball apparently."
"Ahh, that explains it then, don't you think you'd better apologize?"
"Well, I dunno. I think it's best to wait a bit, you know until she's cooled down." Tugger looked a bit sheepish.
Etcetera, Tugger's number 1 fan strolled up then and said pouting slightly, "'You left us Tugger, please come back."
"Ok Etcetera, I'll see you later Munk."
"Ahh, he said my name!" Etcetera gasped.
Munk decided to go for a walk. He couldn't believe it. Demeter liked him! He'd liked her since she arrived in the junkyard, but he assumed she'd fall for Tugger like the majority of the other queens. It wasn't often that a queen preferred him over Tugger it made him feel quite special.
"Hey Munk, wait a minute!" Demeter was trying to catch up. Munk stopped and waited for her, he hoped he wasn't blushing.
"Do you mind if I come with you?" she asked once she had caught up.
"No, that's fine."
An awkward silence descended on them, they had been friends but now neither of them knew what to say.
A loud crash made them jump; Munk was alert now checking for danger.
"Macavity!" Demeter whispered in fear.
Munkustrap stood in front of her prepared for danger.
"'Well, well brother we meet again." Macavity drawled in a sinister tone.
"You'd better get out of here now Macavity!" Munkustrap hissed looking fierce.
"Ok, if that cute little queen who ruined my plans last night comes back with me I'll get out of your fur forever," Macavity said pointing at Demeter. Her eyes opened widely in fear.
"She's not going anywhere." Munkstrap glared at his brother.
"Aww quite sweet really," said Macavity in that same sinister tone, "But if you couldn't save your own mother what makes you think you can save her?"
Munkustrap felt like he'd been punched in the stomach, the pain of his mother's death as fresh as if it were yesterday. He saw red and lunged at Macavity who batted him away easily.
"What's the matter Munk? A little tired from last night?" Macavity asked cruelly.
Munkustrap was back on his feet nearly straight away.
"Demeter, run now get help!" Munkustrap's tone was urgent. She didn't want to leave him but there was no one else around, she ran to the tribe. She found the kittens first and told them to get the other toms quickly. Dem rushed back to where she left Munk and Macavity
"You think that's going to do you any good?" asked Macavity, "You'll be dead before she even gets back!"
"We'll see about that!" retorted Munkustrap.
With that started a fight that sent fur flying. But Munkustrap eventually got the upper hand and pinned Macavity to the floor. Munk's claws were poised over Macavity's throat. Both stayed still for a minute breathing heavily.
"Come on then," gasped Macavity, "Kill me! You know there's nothing you want more than me out of the way!"
Munkustrap lifted his claws as he prepared to kill Macavity, then he suddenly relaxed. He couldn't do it; he couldn't kill his own brother. He brought his claws down hard across Macavity's face as a warning and stood up.
"Get up!"
Macavity slowly stood up in pain from his injuries.
"Get out!" hissed Munkustrap, "This is your lucky day, but if you dare come back again I'll feed you to the pollicles!"
Demeter had just reached where she had left the two toms.
"Munkustrap are you ok?" she shouted.
Munkustrap looked up and let his guard down for a minute. Macavity took this chance and knocked Munkustrap down to the ground. Macavity then picked him up and held him off the ground by his throat.
"Seems like the tables have turned, maybe you should have killed me while you had the chance," whispered Macavity whilst Munkustrap struggled to breathe. Macavity raised his claw and said,
"It's a good job that one of us has a killer's instinct."
"Let him go Macavity!" shrieked Demeter.
"And why should I?"
"Because I love him!"
"Now isn't this a touching moment," said Macavity while wiping a mock tear from his eye, "Ok now I'm done!"
He raised his claws again.
"Let him go Macavity, or you'll have us to deal with," Tugger had just appeared with a group of jellicles. Bombalurina ran to Demeter to make sure she was all right.
"It's like a family reunion isn't it little brother." Macavity said to Tug.
"I was never your little brother! Now let Munk go or we attack."
"You really think you have the upper hand don't you? If you come a step closer Munkustrap will be dead before he hits the ground."
Munkustrap had now passed out due to lack of oxygen, so Macavity loosened the grip on his throat.
"What do you want?" demanded Tug looking worriedly at Munk.
Macavity let out a laugh that chilled them to the bone, "You're willing to bargain with me?" there was a small pause, "Ok, give me those two queens, Demeter and Bombalurina and then you can have Munkustrap back alive."
Tugger was torn, he didn't want Munk to die, but he didn't want Macavity to take away Bomb and Dem.
Macavity was aware of Tug's dilemma, and decided to speed the process up.
"Not worth that much then?" he said as he prepared to snap Munk's neck.
"Wait!" shouted Dem, "I'll go with you, but leave Bomb here."
"If you're going, then I'm going too!" said Bomb.
Tug looked like he was about to stop them.
"It's our decision, Tug," said Bomb and with that Macavity and the two queens disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Alonzo ran to Munk and checked his pulse, "He's fine."
"Oh Everlasting Cat! He's gonna kill me when he wakes up." groaned Tug as what had just happened sunk in.
They all walked back to the junkyard apart from Munk who was being carried by Tug and Alonzo. The kittens had gotten word around fast as almost all the jellicles were there waiting for them to return.
"Is..is he..?" Mistofolees asked.
"No," replied Tug.
"Where's Demeter?" asked Victoria
"And Bomb," added Electra.
"Don't crowd round," shouted Tugger he added in a whisper to Jenny, "He's got Bomb and Dem. Get all the toms together so we can work out a plan."
Jenny nodded and scurried off.
They took Munk to his den, he was starting to stir.
"Dem, where's Dem?" he sat up looking around.
"Lie down," Tugger said softly
"Where's Dem, is she ok?"
"He's gonna flip," thought Tugger. Out loud he said, "She and Bomb went with Macavity."
"What?!" Munk was now sitting up bolt upright.
"Lie back down."
"No I will not lie back down, why did they go with him?"
"Macavity said unless they went with him he would kill you, so they went with him."
"Why didn't you stop them?!"
"I don't know, maybe I thought that it would be easier to rescue them than to bring you back from the dead!" Tugger paused as he saw the full effect of those words hit his brother, "It's not easy for me either, he's got Bomb." Tugger then realized how worried he was about Bomb, "I love her!" he thought.
Munkustrap had his head in his hands,
"It's all my fault! I should have killed him when I had the chance! I let her down, Tug, she said she loved me!"
"Don't blame yourself!" said Tugger gently.
"No you don't understand, I could have killed him, but instead I let him go then as soon as my guard was down he attacked again! Why couldn't I kill him?"
"Munk, you can either sit here and blame yourself or you can help us find a way to rescue them."
Munk was back on his feet straight away,
"We'll need Mungojerry, he used to have some dealings with Macavity, he'll know his way around his lair. Alonzo, Skimble, you, me, Pouncival's too young yet and so is Tumblebrutus and Mistoffelees, but we could do with his magic if we got into trouble. Has he improved that thing where he can move himself about?"
"You mean teleporting himself? Yeah he's got that down to a tee."
"Good, he can come then. We've got to get the rest of the tribe to somewhere safe in case Macavity plans to attack."
"Electra's human loves cats, she's let quite a lot of jellicles in for the night before."
"Perfect."
So Munkustrap gathered all the jellicles together to tell them what had to be done.
"Your human won't mind will she Electra?" he asked.
"No she'll be fine, she likes the company I think."
"Ok so go there now and don't come back till, one of us tells you its safe."
The jellicles scampered away, until the only ones left were Munk, Tug, Alonzo, Skimble, Mistofolees, Mungojerry and Rumpleteaser.
"Teaser what are you still doing here?" demanded Munk.
"Well, oi couldn't let Jerry go without me, we're a team!"
"Fine you're in. But just be careful!"
Once they got the plan sorted out they were on their way to rescue Bomb and Dem.
Munkustrap was worried, Macavity knew that the jellicles would attempt a rescue sooner or later because they always did. But were they walking into a trap?
"Ere it is," said Mungojerry pushing away some boxes away from the secret entrance.
"Ok everyone you know what to do, be careful!" said Munk.
They had decided it would be better to split up, Mungojerry and Teaser would go together, to distract any guards and pretend that they wanted work. Alonzo and Skimble were together, that left Munk and Tug. Misto was watching over them all with his magical powers and would tell them if anything happened to anyone.
"Why did you come Munk?" asked Tug. The question came out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" whispered Munk.
"You don't have to pretend around me Munk, you're injured and we could have come without you."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Tugger sighed and left it at that. He knew that it was no good arguing with him now. They had been wandering around Macavity's lair for some time and there hadn't been any sign of guards or Dem and Bomb. Munkustrap tried to shake off the feeling that they were walking into a trap.
"You feel it too don't you?" asked Tugger, "That there's danger somewhere near."
Munk nodded and checked round a corner, "Well if we stay together nothing can..." he broke off as he realized that Tugger wasn't there.
"Where is he?" Munk took a few steps towards where Tugger had just been. He was so worried by Tug's sudden disappearance that he didn't sense anyone creep up behind him. Munk felt something hard come crashing down on his head and he slumped to the ground seeing only darkness.
As Munk started to come to he found that he couldn't move, he'd been tied up! He had a splitting headache too. When his eyes adjusted to the light in the room he could see other motionless figures; Tugger, Alonzo, Skimble.
"At least Jerry, Teaser, and Misto aren't here, we still have a fighting chance." Munk thought.
He tried to free himself but the ropes were too tight. His only choice was to lay there and wait for help to come.
Macavity was fuming, the jellicles had attempted to rescue Dem and Bomb as he expected leaving the rest of the tribe unprotected. Macavity had captured the intruders then went to finish off the rest of the tribe. But when he got to the junkyard there wasn't a single jellicle there! All that planning wasted!
"Bring me Munkustrap now!" Macavity hissed at his guards.
"I'm going to go mad if no one shows up soon," thought Munk.
The other toms hadn't come to yet, so Munkustrap only had himself to talk to. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and Mistoffelees appeared coughing.
"Misto, I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!" exclaimed Munk.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, have you found Bomb and Dem?"
"Yeah they're safe Jerry and Teaser are taking them to Electra's human."
Misto was about to check to see if the others were fine when they both heard voices from outside the room.
"Why's the boss so wound up about this Munkustrap?" one asked
"Dunno who cares? As long as it's not us the boss has it in for," replied another.
"Misto get out of here now! You can come back after they've gone." Munk ordered. So Misto disappeared in a puff of smoke just in time too as then the door was pushed open. Two henchcats came in, pulled Munk to his feet and undid the rope around his legs.
"Come on, Macavity wants to see you!"
After walking a short distance, the three cats entered a large room and Munkustrap was flung to the ground.
"Where are they?" demanded Macavity.
"Who?"
"You know very well who, the rest of the jellicles."
"Somewhere safe, where you can't get them."
Macavity stood up and walked slowly towards Munkustrap, "You're going to tell me or else!"
"Or else what?"
Macavity turned to his guards, "Bring the others in."
The guards went out of the room but quickly returned,
"They're gone!"
Munkustrap sighed in relief,
"Good old Misto!" he thought.
"What about the queens?" demanded Macavity.
"Gone too." the guards said cowering.
"Looks like you're the only one left," Macavity said to Munk with an evil grin that chilled him to the bone. This was a dangerous situation.
All the other jellicles were gathered at Electra's human's house. Jerry and Teaser had just arrived with Bomb and Dem. Misto also appeared with Alonzo, the last of the captured cats. None of the captured cats had woken up yet.
"They seem to be drugged," said Misto.
"I think you're right," said Tantomile. She came closer holding a leaf. She chanted over it then put the leaf into Tugger's mouth. Tugger immediately sat up and spat out the leaf.
"Where am I? Where's Munk? Is he here?"
"We're at Electra's. Munk's not here."
"Where is he then?" demanded Dem, "Don't tell me he's still at...at..." She couldn't bring herself to say Macavity's name.
Misto looked down at the floor.
"I found him and the others, but we heard guards coming and he told me to go and come back when the guards had gone. They took him to Macavity."
Demeter gasped.
"Right we're going to have to go back for him," said Tug, "He'd do the same for any of us."
"Yeah," said Misto, "I've got a plan.
Munkustrap was thrown to the ground for what felt like the millionth time. He was already bleeding badly and was starting to feel dizzy. He had stopped even trying to fight back as that just made Macavity angrier. There was only one thing left to do, try to reason with him.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Munk.
Macavity stopped and looked shocked for a second, "because you're a jellicle."
"So were you."
"Yeah I WAS a jellicle, as in not any more. I was banished remember, for helping to kill your mother."
"And did you?"
"Well," Macavity stumbled over his words, "No, I didn't mean to. They said no one would get hurt and I believed them. I...I shouldn't have done, should have saw them for what they were," the next words were almost whispered as he realized, "What I am now, I'm no better than they were."
He then became aware of Munkustrap on the floor and what he had done.
"Oh Everlasting Cat! What have I done? I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Munkustrap was shocked by this sudden change, he was only trying to stall Macavity not trying to cause a nervous breakdown. Macavity was now by Munkustrap's side trying to stop the bleeding of some of the deeper cuts.
Macavity had been suppressing the guilt of Gemini's death since the day he left the tribe. From then on he had only felt anger towards the jellicles. His father, Mackinley had practically brainwashed Macavity into hating the jellicles and wanting revenge on them. He had never wanted to hurt anyone but he only did what was expected of him until he was like a robot. The feeling of power he now had over other cats was overwhelming, and he repressed all emotions apart from hate and anger. Over this time nobody had questioned him, nobody had cared. But Munkustrap's sudden question had shook him out of his robotic state. He didn't know why he was even doing what he was doing anymore. All the guilt he had pushed away came flooding back. Munkustrap was his brother and he had nearly killed him twice in the space of a day. He looked at his brother's injuries, they seemed quite bad, Munk had already lost a lot of blood.
"Oh Everlasting Cat, I'm sorry."
Munkustrap had witnessed the change in Macavity and saw that all he needed was to be forgiven.
"It's ok brother."
Munk saw Macavity look at him in surprise and then smile.
"Get away from him!" shouted Tug who had just burst into the room with Dem, Misto, Bomb and Alonzo. Macavity stood up in surprise. Tug and Alonzo pulled Mac away from Munk.
"No!" shouted Munk, "Leave him alone. He's not a bad guy!"
"Ok, he must be delirious." said Tug.
"No I'm not, listen to me. He's sorry for the things he's done."
Tug looked at Macavity suspiciously and let go of him.
"Try anything and you'll be dead faster than you can say jellicle." Tugger whispered to him menacingly. Dem was now by Munk's side trying to clean his wounds and stop his bleeding but it was no use the blood kept coming. Munkustrap was very pale now.
"Demie," he said with a smile, "I didn't get to say it before, but I love you too."
"I've said it, I've finally said it!" he thought happily.
"I thought I'd best say it just in case, you know, I don't get another chance." he said with a pained smile.
"Don't talk like that." Dem said her eyes filling up with tears, "I've only just found you, I can't lose you already!"
"You'll never lose me." said Munk.
They kissed and then for Munkustrap the world disappeared into darkness.
"No," sobbed Dem, "Don't go!"
Tug, Bomb, Misto and Alonzo stood watching tearfully, and even Macavity looked like he was about to burst into tears. He stepped forward and said, "There's something I can do."
"You've killed him, isn't that enough?" hissed Tugger.
"Seriously I can help."
Macavity walked over to Munkustrap, he was going to right his wrongs. He chanted in a strange language and then collapsed to the ground.
"He's dead," said Tugger after checking his pulse.
Suddenly Munkustrap coughed violently and began breathing again.
"Thank the Everlasting Cat." said Tug.
"It was a life-for-a-life spell." said Misto, "He gave his life so Munkustrap could come back to life. It's a very rare spell not many people know it."
"He's alive," Dem said happily, she was now crying tears of relief.
They carried Munk back to the junkyard. Alonzo and Misto went to tell the others that it was safe to come back. Tug and Bomb went to Tugger's den to talk. That left Dem and Munk. They had a lot to talk about.
"I was so scared," said Dem, "I thought you'd gone."
"I didn't want to leave you. We shouldn't be talking about this you know, we should be talking about the future."
"So you think we have a future?" grinned Dem.
"Of course," Munk appeared to be slightly embarrassed, "Dem, I don't want to rush this but I don't want to leave it until it's too late."
"It nearly was," she whispered.
"Dem...would y...would you be my mate?"
"Yes Munk," she replied grinning happily.
Meanwhile Tug and Bomb were sitting in silence. Tug spoke first.
"Strange day huh?"
"Yeah,"
"This is silly, we both want to say how we feel but we're too afraid to." his voice softened, "I just don't want to end up how Munk and Dem nearly did. I love you Bomb.
"I love you too. So when do I move in?"
Tugger was startled
"Move in?"
"Well you are going to ask me to be your mate aren't you?"
"You bet!"
They smiled and curled up together.
When the others returned, they found there were two more couples in the tribe and once they had heard the story they decided that Macavity should be remembered always as a hero.
"Oh they're lovely Gem, that one looks just like his father!"
Gem smiled sadly at the mention of the kittens' father, just days ago he had fought to the death to protect the tribe from pollicles. He had looked forward to the birth of the kittens so much. Tears began to well up in Gemini's eyes. Jenny saw this and quickly asked,
"Well what are you going to call them?"
Gemini looked at the two little bundles of fur closely,
"Jenny was right," she thought whilst staring at the gray tabby kitten, "This one is the image of his father."
The other kitten had a large fuzzy mane,
"And this one is definitely going to be a heart breaker," she thought fondly.
"I'll call this one Rum Tum Tugger," she finally said looking at the kitten with the large mane, "And the tabby shall be called Munkustrap, after his father."
Over the next few days the kittens had lots of visitors, including the jellicle leader, Old Deuteronomy. He had been devastated by the loss of his son Munkustrap, and only a year ago he had to banish his only other son, Mackinley for betraying the tribe. So the birth of these kittens brought joy to his old heart.
There was of course one cat that wasn't pleased about the birth of the kittens. This cat was Macavity. He stayed out of the way and never once went to see the kittens while they were with their mother. Macavity was also Gemini's son, born about a year ago. His father was no mystery to him either it was Mackinley but Macavity never knew him because he was banished just before he was born.
Just after Macavity was born Gemini and the rest of the jellicles decided that she was too young to be able to raise this kitten, she wasn't even a year old herself. So Jenny had raised Macavity and she had always been honest to him about his upbringing.
But still seeing the mother who couldn't raise him or give him any affection, fussing over his two little brothers hurt.
Over the next few months the kittens grew up before everyone's eyes. They loved playing with all the other kittens and play fighting. But most of all they loved it when their mother took them on long walks around the junkyard. The two kittens were now 4 months old. Macavity was still upset about the kittens, but he had more important things to worry about, he had been appointed second in command as Deuteronomy's eldest grandson. Still he couldn't help but be jealous of the little family as they went on their regular walks, and it was on one of these walks that tragedy struck.
The little family had reached the far side of the junkyard and was about to turn back, when Gemini smelled danger in the air. She looked around fearfully and saw that a gang of alley cats surrounded them. She recognized one,
"Adolphus what is the meaning of this?" she demanded.
"Don't get your pretty little fur in a twist, Mackinley wants to see you, is all," he sneered getting the gang of alley cats to creep in closer.
"Look, I'll go with you without a fight," Gemini sighed, "But you must let my kittens go back to the tribe now!"
"No deal sweetheart, let these kittens go back to the tribe so they can tell everyone what's happened?! I don't think so! Besides I'll bet Mackinley's got plans for these two," Adolphus grinned evilly at the two kittens.
"Get away from them!" she hissed and went in for the kill.
As she stood over Adolphus' dead body the other alley cats closed in ready for a fight.
"Run!" Gemini shouted to the two kittens "Get help!"
Tugger grabbed Munk's paw and pulled him away.
"No!" shouted Munk, "You can run faster than me Tug, you go and get the others. I'll help Mum."
And with that Munkustrap turned back to fight the alley cats. Tugger ran as fast as his feet would carry him, he knew Munkustrap and his mum was depending on him.
"Help! Help!" he shouted as he neared were he knew the cats would be. Quickly a group of jellicles gathered around him.
"What's wrong?" asked Skimbleshanks in an urgent tone
"Alley cats!" gasped Tugger, "Mum and Munk are fighting them!"
"Oh my goodness!" mumbled Jellyorum.
"Quickly!" said Skimble, "Can you show us where they are?"
Tugger nodded so hard he thought his head would fall off and took off back to where his mum and brother were fighting for their lives. Skimble followed with a few other toms and queens.
"Wait!" shouted Jellyorum. "Shouldn't we get Macavity?"
"There's no time!" Skimble shouted back barely pausing in his run.
What a sight it was that greeted their eyes, Munkustrap lay unconscious on the ground bleeding heavily while Gemini stood over him, protecting him with her last ounce of strength. There was heavy casualties on the other side too and only two alley cats were left standing, one fled as soon as he saw the jellicles while the other took one last swipe at Gemini and she fell to the ground. Skimble reached her first. He quickly checked her for a pulse and then stood up slowly shaking his head. Tugger let out a sob and his eyes filled with tears. Skimble then walked over to Munkustrap. "Please, please!" Tugger prayed silently to the Everlasting Cat "Not my brother too."
The Everlasting Cat must have been shining down on Tugger that day because Skimble picked up his brother and said, "He's alive!"
"Let's get him back to the others then." said Jenny nodding sadly to the other toms who gently picked up Gemini's body to carry her on her final journey.
They buried her body that day, Tugger was there and also everyone who loved Gemini. Munkustraps' wounds had been cleaned but he was not yet awake, never the less he was there. Only one cat was not there. Macavity, he refused to go to the funeral of the mother he never really knew.
In the days that followed everyone was still mourning over the loss of Gemini. Munkustrap had gotten an infection in one of his many cuts, and lay delirious in Jenny's den while Tugger and Deuteronomy willed him to live. One day he got so bad they all prepared for the worst, even the optimistic Jenny was heard to mumble,
"Poor little mite wants to go to his mother."
But Munkustrap surprised them all by pulling through to make a full recovery. Old Deuteronomy happy now that his grandson was over the worst began an investigation into the events that lead to Gemini's death. The trail kept leading back to one cat, Mackinley. But to get his henchcats into the junkyard, Deuteronomy knew that Mackinley had to have a jellicle accomplice. There was a traitor among them and it didn't take long to find out whom.
Macavity stood at the edge of the junkyard waiting; he was beginning to feel guilty,
"They weren't meant to kill her," he thought sadly, "Mackinley wanted her and the kittens alive, that was the only reason I went along with it, nobody was meant to get hurt."
He hung his head,
"I'm meant to be second in command, and all I'm doing is hurting the tribe."
That's when he decided. Tonight he'd tell Mackinley, his father that he wouldn't help him anymore. A large shadow over him made him look up suddenly, Mackinley was there. He was a large ginger tom, very much like Macavity. He spoke almost in a chatty conversational tone,
"So what's been going on here then?"
Macavity couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You know very well what!" Macavity hissed, "Your henchcats killed that queen and nearly killed that kitten!"
"Don't you mean your mother and your brother?" corrected Mackinley with a sly grin.
"Look, you told me that they wouldn't get hurt, that you just wanted her back." Macavity said ignoring his fathers comment.
"Well they had no choice she wouldn't go with them and then more of those jellicles showed up."
"I'm not going to do your dirty work anymore, it was my fault she got killed. I shouldn't have trusted you!" Macavity then stalked off leaving Mackinley to wander back to his lair.
But unfortunately for Macavity someone had seen him meet with Mackinley.
Gus was out for his usual twilight walk when he saw Macavity sitting on a pile of rubbish.
"Must be upset about his mother dying," he thought and went to go and cheer him up.
But someone else reached Macavity first.
"Mackinley! He's meeting with Mackinley!" Gus was shocked. He couldn't hear their conversation and knew if he moved closer they'd sense him.
"I guess there's only one thing to do," he said to himself reluctantly as he walked to Old Deuteronomy's.
Old Deuteronomy was shocked, his own grandson and second in command, a traitor! He was upset and disappointed. He knew what had to be done,
"Like father, like son." he whispered sadly before going to see Jenny.
Jenny was sitting with Munkustrap and Tugger, Tugger had fallen asleep already, but Munkustrap was restless after so long asleep.
"Jenny can I have a word with you, in private?"
Jenny looked up at the sound of Deuteronomy's voice. She nodded and stood up.
"You try to get to sleep now Munkustrap," she said firmly but fondly before she stepped out of the den.
"Its no use," thought Munkustrap he'd been trying to get to sleep for the last hour. He kept replaying what had happened over and over in his head, except in each of these playbacks he did something different, something different to save his mother. But he knew that as much as he wanted to live in this dream world he couldn't and that his mother was really gone. He was on the verge of tears until he heard Deuteronomy and Jenny talking outside.
"What?! That can't be true!" he heard Jenny whisper loudly. Munkustrap was curious and wanted to hear more. He sat up slowly and winced in pain, he was still very sore from the fight. He got up and limped shakily to the door.
"It is true, I got it from a very reliable source." he heard Deuteronomy whisper back.
"Ok so Macavity may have met up with Mackinley but Mackinley is his father, it doesn't mean that Macavity is the one who...the one who," she dropped her voice even quieter, "Betrayed us."
"I know, we are working on a way to find out for sure, but it doesn't look good."
"But he'd never hurt anyone especially not Gemini,"
Munkustrap's ears pricked up at the mention of his mother's name
"Remember," Jenny continued. "She was his mother."
Munkustrap gasped and then quickly put his hand over his mouth. Deuteronomy and Jenny didn't seem to hear.
"Look I'd appreciate it if you kept this quiet for a bit, just until we can sort what's going on."
"That's fine Deuteronomy, I hope you realize Macavity wouldn't do anything to hurt this tribe," Jenny whispered stubbornly.
It took Munkustrap a couple of seconds to realize that Jenny would be coming back in, he hobbled as quickly as he could across the room and lay down next to Tugger. When Jenny came in again Munk pretended to be asleep. Jenny smiled at the two kittens and went to the space next door where she was staying for the moment.
Munkustrap had too much to think about to sleep.
"If mum was Macavity's mother then that means Macavity's my brother."
Thoughts whizzed through Munk's mind,
"Why didn't I know before? Why did my mother keep it from me? Was he involved in Mums death?"
All these thoughts were making Munk dizzy, he decided that he would ask Deuteronomy, he tried to stand but his legs gave way. Tomorrow, he would ask him tomorrow.
Meanwhile Deuteronomy puzzled over how to solve this problem. He knew a traitor wouldn't openly admit it, or would they? Deuteronomy smiled as he thought a solution.
"Come on Jenny, please!" pleaded Munkustrap. It was the next day and Munkustrap wanted to go outside, but Jenny wasn't sure whether to let him.
"Look Jenny I'm fine." he reassured her and stood up trying not to let the pain he was feeling show on his face, "What do I have to do to show you that I'm fine?" he asked with an angelic look on his face.
"Ok, ok, but stay close to your brother and the other kittens." Jenny sighed.
Munkustrap grinned at her and rushed out, once he was out of her sight he winced in pain. As soon as it had passed he walked over to the other kittens.
"Hi Munk!"
"Good to see you up and about."
"Jenny finally let you out then?"
All the kittens surrounded Munk,
"Ok, ok move back a bit, give him a bit of room," Tugger was moving the kittens away from his brother. The rest of the kittens giggled.
"You're turning into Jenny!" Alonzo teased.
"Am not!" Tugger growled back
"Ooooooh, fight!" said the rest of the kittens.
Munkustrap wandered slowly away from the kittens in search of Old Deuteronomy, he didn't have to go far. Deuteronomy was sitting on the tire in the middle of the junkyard and he seemed to be asleep. Munk limped over to him and said quietly,
"Can I talk to you a minute, Deuteronomy?"
Old D looked up, startled slightly by being woken up from his nap.
"Erm yes," he said with a yawn, "Surprised to see you up and about so soon. So what did you want to ask me?"
Munkustrap seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment then quickly blurted out,
"Is Macavity my brother?"
Deuteronomy looked shocked, then asked quietly,
"Who told you that?"
Munkustrap stared down at the floor and started fidgeting,
"Well," he said quietly, "I kind of heard you and Jenny talking last night."
"Ahh, so I gather you know everything then."
Munkustrap nodded silently.
"I need you to keep quiet about what you heard last night. Have you told anyone else?"
Munkustrap shook his head.
"Good that's one problem sorted out, right the only thing you need to know Munkustrap is that Macavity is your brother, but still don't tell anybody! The rest of what we talked about is speculation. It isn't true, got that?"
Munkustrap again nodded.
"Ok you can go now" said the leader, and watched him leave.
"I only wish I was so sure about that." The leader muttered under his breath.
The event of the next few days went by like a blur for all the jellicles. It was revealed through a truth potion brewed by Coricopat and Tantomile that Macavity was working for Mackinley. The twins were still young but already had near perfect control over their powers, so their potion could be trusted. Macavity was put on trial and like his father before him was banished by the jellicles.
Outside the gates of the junkyard, his father met Macavity.
"This is all your fault!" Macavity hissed, "If you had just kept out of my life then I would still be with the jellicles, and Gemini would still be alive!"
"You can't blame me Macavity it was going to happen sooner or later with or without my help," his next words sent a shiver down Macavity's spine, "Remember, like father like son."
"No!" Macavity stepped away from Mackinley, "I am not like you!"
"Well you seem to be going in the right direction. The jellicles won't take you back now, come with me and become part of my tribe."
Macavity sighed; he knew it was hopeless. It was either die alone in the street or follow in his father's footsteps. He looked up at Mackinley.
"Come on son. Lets go home."
Munkustrap felt even worse than before! A jellicle, his brother had helped to cause his mothers death! He wanted justice. Tugger felt the same way, after Macavity was banished Deuteronomy let Munkustrap tell Tugger about what he heard that night. The two brothers lent on each other for support throughout this hard time.
Deuteronomy had another decision to make. Now that Macavity was banished, Munkustrap was now next in line to become the jellicle leader. But even though he had done a lot of growing up, whilst accepting his mothers death he was still only a kitten.
"A kitten shouldn't have to handle all that responsibility," he thought, "I'll have to think of something." And then he had a great idea.
Munkustrap's wounds had nearly healed completely now, and Jenny felt better about him going out to play with the other kittens. The kittens themselves were much happier to have Munkustrap back to play with, especially Tugger. He had missed his brother while he had been injured. Tugger looked after his older brother while he was playing with the other kittens. He could always tell when Munk's injuries were hurting (him even though Munk tried not to show it). Tug was always there to suggest something a little less painful to do.
"Munkustrap," Jenny called, "Deuteronomy wants to see you."
"What have you done now Munk?" said Tug in a mock disapproving tone.
Munk giggled as he ran after Jenny to the vicarage wall. When Munk arrived Deuteronomy and Skimble were already there.
"Hello Munkustrap," said Deuteronomy fondly, "Did Jenny tell you why we wanted to speak to you?"
Munk shook his head
"What is it with that kid?" Deuteronomy thought, "Every time I talk to him he seems to lose the ability to speak."
Deuteronomy then spoke,
"Well now that Macavity has been banished you are next in line to become jellicle leader."
Munkustrap's eyes grew wide,
"Me?" he whispered.
"Yes but I've decided that as you are a kitten we won't start your training yet, and Skimble will take on the role of protector until you are old enough. We don't want you missing out on your kittenhood."
Munkustrap still looked shocked,
"Me?" he asked again.
Deuteronomy chuckled. He could remember when he was told that he would be the next jellicle leader. He couldn't believe it either at the time.
"Yes." Deuteronomy replied, "Now run along, I think you might need a while for this to sink in."
Word got out fast about Munkustrap being the next jellicle leader. It seemed that wherever he went there were cats congratulating him, but he was still in a bit of a daze.
His training began when he was 6 months old, a little early but he was willing to learn. His mother's death had made him grow up a lot and he was extremely protective of those around him especially the kittens. Deuteronomy saw these characteristics and knew that Munk would make a good leader.
At their first jellicle ball a few months later Munk, Tugger and the other kittens became full jellicles. Even though there were a lot of rumours going around that Mackinley and Macavity may attack, all went smoothly.
A year later was the next jellicle ball. But this one was going to be different, it was the first ball that Munk would be in charge of and he wanted it to go smoothly. A lot of things had happened in this year, with all his training Munk had grown apart from Tugger (who had discovered that he was quite attractive and loved flirting with all the queens). Also the jellicles had gotten word that Mackinley had died in combat and Macavity had taken over his fathers' tribe.
The jellicles had acquired some new members as well, two queens Demeter and Bombalurina. They were escaping from Macavity and Mackinley when they ran into the jellicles who gladly took them in. Tugger had taken quite a fancy to the red queen, Bomb. But unfortunately for him she was the female equivalent of himself. She liked to flirt a lot and soon had her own little fan club just like Tugger's. The golden coloured queen, Demeter wasn't as outgoing as her sister and didn't like to flirt. She and Munkustrap soon became good friends.
The jellicle ball came and went, Grizabella was sent up to the Heavyside layer, Demeter and Bombalurina sang about Macavity, Munkustrap had a hard time directing the cats in the Pekes and the Pollicles and the Rum Tum Tugger had a special solo. After a couple of false alarms Macavity had shown up, kidnapped Old Deuteronomy, and tried to kidnap Demeter. During his time away from the tribe Mackinley had convinced him to turn on the jellicles. Munkustrap fought him, but he wasn't as strong as his older brother, the other jellicles grouped together and Macavity made his exit. Tugger called upon the power of his friend the magical Mr Mistofolees to bring Deuteronomy back, it worked and the ball was a hit.
The day after the ball Demeter was walking on air, she had been so frightened when Macavity attacked and tried to drag her off. But Munkustrap had stopped him; he had saved her and fought for her. She only ever told Bomb this but she really liked, possibly even loved him.
Meanwhile Bomb was quite annoyed, she had flirted quite obviously with Tugger during his solo and he just dropped her like yesterdays news.
"Alright!" she fumed, "He can keep his little kitten fan club, he is never getting the chance to be with me again!"
Munkustrap wandered around the junkyard slowly, his head full of last night's events. The ball had worn him out, he was tired from the fight and he could still feel all that stress and worry that he felt when Old Deuteronomy and the tribe was in trouble. Being second in command seemed to be a lot of trouble.
He slowly let his mind drift back to the present and the things going on around him. Mistofolees was impressing Victoria with a few of his magic tricks, Tugger had his usual fan club surrounding him but didn't seem too impressed. Munkustrap realized why when he saw Bomb flirting with Alonzo and giving Tugger the cold shoulder.
"Typical," thought Munk with a giggle, "Tug has all those queens surrounding him and yet he wants the one he can't have."
He looked up then to see Demeter walking over to him.
"Hi Munk," she said shyly, "I just want to say thanks...you know for..."
"It's alright," Munk interrupted, "Think nothing of it."
He always felt slightly embarrassed when people thanked him for doing what he felt was his duty.
"Dem could you come here a minute?" called Bomb.
Dem smiled at Munk then ran over to where Bomb was standing.
"Well Munk, you certainly have a way with them," The sound of Tugger's voice behind him made Munk jump slightly.
"What are you talking about?" Munk asked.
"Oh come on, I'm talking about Demeter! You must be blind not to see that she likes you!"
"What? Really? No she doesn't, does she?"
Tugger laughed at his brother's reaction.
"Yes she does, believe me I know queens. Oh yeah and Bomb told me in confidence once, thought you two would make a cute couple."
Munkustrap was speechless and started to blush slightly.
"I'll take it by that reaction that you like her too." Tugger stated. He found it very amusing to see his brother, the future leader of the jellicles at a loss for words. Munkustrap composed himself and changed the subject.
"Well whets going on with you and Bomb?"
"Trying to change the subject eh? Ok fine, she's annoyed about the way I treated her at the ball apparently."
"Ahh, that explains it then, don't you think you'd better apologize?"
"Well, I dunno. I think it's best to wait a bit, you know until she's cooled down." Tugger looked a bit sheepish.
Etcetera, Tugger's number 1 fan strolled up then and said pouting slightly, "'You left us Tugger, please come back."
"Ok Etcetera, I'll see you later Munk."
"Ahh, he said my name!" Etcetera gasped.
Munk decided to go for a walk. He couldn't believe it. Demeter liked him! He'd liked her since she arrived in the junkyard, but he assumed she'd fall for Tugger like the majority of the other queens. It wasn't often that a queen preferred him over Tugger it made him feel quite special.
"Hey Munk, wait a minute!" Demeter was trying to catch up. Munk stopped and waited for her, he hoped he wasn't blushing.
"Do you mind if I come with you?" she asked once she had caught up.
"No, that's fine."
An awkward silence descended on them, they had been friends but now neither of them knew what to say.
A loud crash made them jump; Munk was alert now checking for danger.
"Macavity!" Demeter whispered in fear.
Munkustrap stood in front of her prepared for danger.
"'Well, well brother we meet again." Macavity drawled in a sinister tone.
"You'd better get out of here now Macavity!" Munkustrap hissed looking fierce.
"Ok, if that cute little queen who ruined my plans last night comes back with me I'll get out of your fur forever," Macavity said pointing at Demeter. Her eyes opened widely in fear.
"She's not going anywhere." Munkstrap glared at his brother.
"Aww quite sweet really," said Macavity in that same sinister tone, "But if you couldn't save your own mother what makes you think you can save her?"
Munkustrap felt like he'd been punched in the stomach, the pain of his mother's death as fresh as if it were yesterday. He saw red and lunged at Macavity who batted him away easily.
"What's the matter Munk? A little tired from last night?" Macavity asked cruelly.
Munkustrap was back on his feet nearly straight away.
"Demeter, run now get help!" Munkustrap's tone was urgent. She didn't want to leave him but there was no one else around, she ran to the tribe. She found the kittens first and told them to get the other toms quickly. Dem rushed back to where she left Munk and Macavity
"You think that's going to do you any good?" asked Macavity, "You'll be dead before she even gets back!"
"We'll see about that!" retorted Munkustrap.
With that started a fight that sent fur flying. But Munkustrap eventually got the upper hand and pinned Macavity to the floor. Munk's claws were poised over Macavity's throat. Both stayed still for a minute breathing heavily.
"Come on then," gasped Macavity, "Kill me! You know there's nothing you want more than me out of the way!"
Munkustrap lifted his claws as he prepared to kill Macavity, then he suddenly relaxed. He couldn't do it; he couldn't kill his own brother. He brought his claws down hard across Macavity's face as a warning and stood up.
"Get up!"
Macavity slowly stood up in pain from his injuries.
"Get out!" hissed Munkustrap, "This is your lucky day, but if you dare come back again I'll feed you to the pollicles!"
Demeter had just reached where she had left the two toms.
"Munkustrap are you ok?" she shouted.
Munkustrap looked up and let his guard down for a minute. Macavity took this chance and knocked Munkustrap down to the ground. Macavity then picked him up and held him off the ground by his throat.
"Seems like the tables have turned, maybe you should have killed me while you had the chance," whispered Macavity whilst Munkustrap struggled to breathe. Macavity raised his claw and said,
"It's a good job that one of us has a killer's instinct."
"Let him go Macavity!" shrieked Demeter.
"And why should I?"
"Because I love him!"
"Now isn't this a touching moment," said Macavity while wiping a mock tear from his eye, "Ok now I'm done!"
He raised his claws again.
"Let him go Macavity, or you'll have us to deal with," Tugger had just appeared with a group of jellicles. Bombalurina ran to Demeter to make sure she was all right.
"It's like a family reunion isn't it little brother." Macavity said to Tug.
"I was never your little brother! Now let Munk go or we attack."
"You really think you have the upper hand don't you? If you come a step closer Munkustrap will be dead before he hits the ground."
Munkustrap had now passed out due to lack of oxygen, so Macavity loosened the grip on his throat.
"What do you want?" demanded Tug looking worriedly at Munk.
Macavity let out a laugh that chilled them to the bone, "You're willing to bargain with me?" there was a small pause, "Ok, give me those two queens, Demeter and Bombalurina and then you can have Munkustrap back alive."
Tugger was torn, he didn't want Munk to die, but he didn't want Macavity to take away Bomb and Dem.
Macavity was aware of Tug's dilemma, and decided to speed the process up.
"Not worth that much then?" he said as he prepared to snap Munk's neck.
"Wait!" shouted Dem, "I'll go with you, but leave Bomb here."
"If you're going, then I'm going too!" said Bomb.
Tug looked like he was about to stop them.
"It's our decision, Tug," said Bomb and with that Macavity and the two queens disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Alonzo ran to Munk and checked his pulse, "He's fine."
"Oh Everlasting Cat! He's gonna kill me when he wakes up." groaned Tug as what had just happened sunk in.
They all walked back to the junkyard apart from Munk who was being carried by Tug and Alonzo. The kittens had gotten word around fast as almost all the jellicles were there waiting for them to return.
"Is..is he..?" Mistofolees asked.
"No," replied Tug.
"Where's Demeter?" asked Victoria
"And Bomb," added Electra.
"Don't crowd round," shouted Tugger he added in a whisper to Jenny, "He's got Bomb and Dem. Get all the toms together so we can work out a plan."
Jenny nodded and scurried off.
They took Munk to his den, he was starting to stir.
"Dem, where's Dem?" he sat up looking around.
"Lie down," Tugger said softly
"Where's Dem, is she ok?"
"He's gonna flip," thought Tugger. Out loud he said, "She and Bomb went with Macavity."
"What?!" Munk was now sitting up bolt upright.
"Lie back down."
"No I will not lie back down, why did they go with him?"
"Macavity said unless they went with him he would kill you, so they went with him."
"Why didn't you stop them?!"
"I don't know, maybe I thought that it would be easier to rescue them than to bring you back from the dead!" Tugger paused as he saw the full effect of those words hit his brother, "It's not easy for me either, he's got Bomb." Tugger then realized how worried he was about Bomb, "I love her!" he thought.
Munkustrap had his head in his hands,
"It's all my fault! I should have killed him when I had the chance! I let her down, Tug, she said she loved me!"
"Don't blame yourself!" said Tugger gently.
"No you don't understand, I could have killed him, but instead I let him go then as soon as my guard was down he attacked again! Why couldn't I kill him?"
"Munk, you can either sit here and blame yourself or you can help us find a way to rescue them."
Munk was back on his feet straight away,
"We'll need Mungojerry, he used to have some dealings with Macavity, he'll know his way around his lair. Alonzo, Skimble, you, me, Pouncival's too young yet and so is Tumblebrutus and Mistoffelees, but we could do with his magic if we got into trouble. Has he improved that thing where he can move himself about?"
"You mean teleporting himself? Yeah he's got that down to a tee."
"Good, he can come then. We've got to get the rest of the tribe to somewhere safe in case Macavity plans to attack."
"Electra's human loves cats, she's let quite a lot of jellicles in for the night before."
"Perfect."
So Munkustrap gathered all the jellicles together to tell them what had to be done.
"Your human won't mind will she Electra?" he asked.
"No she'll be fine, she likes the company I think."
"Ok so go there now and don't come back till, one of us tells you its safe."
The jellicles scampered away, until the only ones left were Munk, Tug, Alonzo, Skimble, Mistofolees, Mungojerry and Rumpleteaser.
"Teaser what are you still doing here?" demanded Munk.
"Well, oi couldn't let Jerry go without me, we're a team!"
"Fine you're in. But just be careful!"
Once they got the plan sorted out they were on their way to rescue Bomb and Dem.
Munkustrap was worried, Macavity knew that the jellicles would attempt a rescue sooner or later because they always did. But were they walking into a trap?
"Ere it is," said Mungojerry pushing away some boxes away from the secret entrance.
"Ok everyone you know what to do, be careful!" said Munk.
They had decided it would be better to split up, Mungojerry and Teaser would go together, to distract any guards and pretend that they wanted work. Alonzo and Skimble were together, that left Munk and Tug. Misto was watching over them all with his magical powers and would tell them if anything happened to anyone.
"Why did you come Munk?" asked Tug. The question came out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" whispered Munk.
"You don't have to pretend around me Munk, you're injured and we could have come without you."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Tugger sighed and left it at that. He knew that it was no good arguing with him now. They had been wandering around Macavity's lair for some time and there hadn't been any sign of guards or Dem and Bomb. Munkustrap tried to shake off the feeling that they were walking into a trap.
"You feel it too don't you?" asked Tugger, "That there's danger somewhere near."
Munk nodded and checked round a corner, "Well if we stay together nothing can..." he broke off as he realized that Tugger wasn't there.
"Where is he?" Munk took a few steps towards where Tugger had just been. He was so worried by Tug's sudden disappearance that he didn't sense anyone creep up behind him. Munk felt something hard come crashing down on his head and he slumped to the ground seeing only darkness.
As Munk started to come to he found that he couldn't move, he'd been tied up! He had a splitting headache too. When his eyes adjusted to the light in the room he could see other motionless figures; Tugger, Alonzo, Skimble.
"At least Jerry, Teaser, and Misto aren't here, we still have a fighting chance." Munk thought.
He tried to free himself but the ropes were too tight. His only choice was to lay there and wait for help to come.
Macavity was fuming, the jellicles had attempted to rescue Dem and Bomb as he expected leaving the rest of the tribe unprotected. Macavity had captured the intruders then went to finish off the rest of the tribe. But when he got to the junkyard there wasn't a single jellicle there! All that planning wasted!
"Bring me Munkustrap now!" Macavity hissed at his guards.
"I'm going to go mad if no one shows up soon," thought Munk.
The other toms hadn't come to yet, so Munkustrap only had himself to talk to. Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and Mistoffelees appeared coughing.
"Misto, I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!" exclaimed Munk.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, have you found Bomb and Dem?"
"Yeah they're safe Jerry and Teaser are taking them to Electra's human."
Misto was about to check to see if the others were fine when they both heard voices from outside the room.
"Why's the boss so wound up about this Munkustrap?" one asked
"Dunno who cares? As long as it's not us the boss has it in for," replied another.
"Misto get out of here now! You can come back after they've gone." Munk ordered. So Misto disappeared in a puff of smoke just in time too as then the door was pushed open. Two henchcats came in, pulled Munk to his feet and undid the rope around his legs.
"Come on, Macavity wants to see you!"
After walking a short distance, the three cats entered a large room and Munkustrap was flung to the ground.
"Where are they?" demanded Macavity.
"Who?"
"You know very well who, the rest of the jellicles."
"Somewhere safe, where you can't get them."
Macavity stood up and walked slowly towards Munkustrap, "You're going to tell me or else!"
"Or else what?"
Macavity turned to his guards, "Bring the others in."
The guards went out of the room but quickly returned,
"They're gone!"
Munkustrap sighed in relief,
"Good old Misto!" he thought.
"What about the queens?" demanded Macavity.
"Gone too." the guards said cowering.
"Looks like you're the only one left," Macavity said to Munk with an evil grin that chilled him to the bone. This was a dangerous situation.
All the other jellicles were gathered at Electra's human's house. Jerry and Teaser had just arrived with Bomb and Dem. Misto also appeared with Alonzo, the last of the captured cats. None of the captured cats had woken up yet.
"They seem to be drugged," said Misto.
"I think you're right," said Tantomile. She came closer holding a leaf. She chanted over it then put the leaf into Tugger's mouth. Tugger immediately sat up and spat out the leaf.
"Where am I? Where's Munk? Is he here?"
"We're at Electra's. Munk's not here."
"Where is he then?" demanded Dem, "Don't tell me he's still at...at..." She couldn't bring herself to say Macavity's name.
Misto looked down at the floor.
"I found him and the others, but we heard guards coming and he told me to go and come back when the guards had gone. They took him to Macavity."
Demeter gasped.
"Right we're going to have to go back for him," said Tug, "He'd do the same for any of us."
"Yeah," said Misto, "I've got a plan.
Munkustrap was thrown to the ground for what felt like the millionth time. He was already bleeding badly and was starting to feel dizzy. He had stopped even trying to fight back as that just made Macavity angrier. There was only one thing left to do, try to reason with him.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Munk.
Macavity stopped and looked shocked for a second, "because you're a jellicle."
"So were you."
"Yeah I WAS a jellicle, as in not any more. I was banished remember, for helping to kill your mother."
"And did you?"
"Well," Macavity stumbled over his words, "No, I didn't mean to. They said no one would get hurt and I believed them. I...I shouldn't have done, should have saw them for what they were," the next words were almost whispered as he realized, "What I am now, I'm no better than they were."
He then became aware of Munkustrap on the floor and what he had done.
"Oh Everlasting Cat! What have I done? I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Munkustrap was shocked by this sudden change, he was only trying to stall Macavity not trying to cause a nervous breakdown. Macavity was now by Munkustrap's side trying to stop the bleeding of some of the deeper cuts.
Macavity had been suppressing the guilt of Gemini's death since the day he left the tribe. From then on he had only felt anger towards the jellicles. His father, Mackinley had practically brainwashed Macavity into hating the jellicles and wanting revenge on them. He had never wanted to hurt anyone but he only did what was expected of him until he was like a robot. The feeling of power he now had over other cats was overwhelming, and he repressed all emotions apart from hate and anger. Over this time nobody had questioned him, nobody had cared. But Munkustrap's sudden question had shook him out of his robotic state. He didn't know why he was even doing what he was doing anymore. All the guilt he had pushed away came flooding back. Munkustrap was his brother and he had nearly killed him twice in the space of a day. He looked at his brother's injuries, they seemed quite bad, Munk had already lost a lot of blood.
"Oh Everlasting Cat, I'm sorry."
Munkustrap had witnessed the change in Macavity and saw that all he needed was to be forgiven.
"It's ok brother."
Munk saw Macavity look at him in surprise and then smile.
"Get away from him!" shouted Tug who had just burst into the room with Dem, Misto, Bomb and Alonzo. Macavity stood up in surprise. Tug and Alonzo pulled Mac away from Munk.
"No!" shouted Munk, "Leave him alone. He's not a bad guy!"
"Ok, he must be delirious." said Tug.
"No I'm not, listen to me. He's sorry for the things he's done."
Tug looked at Macavity suspiciously and let go of him.
"Try anything and you'll be dead faster than you can say jellicle." Tugger whispered to him menacingly. Dem was now by Munk's side trying to clean his wounds and stop his bleeding but it was no use the blood kept coming. Munkustrap was very pale now.
"Demie," he said with a smile, "I didn't get to say it before, but I love you too."
"I've said it, I've finally said it!" he thought happily.
"I thought I'd best say it just in case, you know, I don't get another chance." he said with a pained smile.
"Don't talk like that." Dem said her eyes filling up with tears, "I've only just found you, I can't lose you already!"
"You'll never lose me." said Munk.
They kissed and then for Munkustrap the world disappeared into darkness.
"No," sobbed Dem, "Don't go!"
Tug, Bomb, Misto and Alonzo stood watching tearfully, and even Macavity looked like he was about to burst into tears. He stepped forward and said, "There's something I can do."
"You've killed him, isn't that enough?" hissed Tugger.
"Seriously I can help."
Macavity walked over to Munkustrap, he was going to right his wrongs. He chanted in a strange language and then collapsed to the ground.
"He's dead," said Tugger after checking his pulse.
Suddenly Munkustrap coughed violently and began breathing again.
"Thank the Everlasting Cat." said Tug.
"It was a life-for-a-life spell." said Misto, "He gave his life so Munkustrap could come back to life. It's a very rare spell not many people know it."
"He's alive," Dem said happily, she was now crying tears of relief.
They carried Munk back to the junkyard. Alonzo and Misto went to tell the others that it was safe to come back. Tug and Bomb went to Tugger's den to talk. That left Dem and Munk. They had a lot to talk about.
"I was so scared," said Dem, "I thought you'd gone."
"I didn't want to leave you. We shouldn't be talking about this you know, we should be talking about the future."
"So you think we have a future?" grinned Dem.
"Of course," Munk appeared to be slightly embarrassed, "Dem, I don't want to rush this but I don't want to leave it until it's too late."
"It nearly was," she whispered.
"Dem...would y...would you be my mate?"
"Yes Munk," she replied grinning happily.
Meanwhile Tug and Bomb were sitting in silence. Tug spoke first.
"Strange day huh?"
"Yeah,"
"This is silly, we both want to say how we feel but we're too afraid to." his voice softened, "I just don't want to end up how Munk and Dem nearly did. I love you Bomb.
"I love you too. So when do I move in?"
Tugger was startled
"Move in?"
"Well you are going to ask me to be your mate aren't you?"
"You bet!"
They smiled and curled up together.
When the others returned, they found there were two more couples in the tribe and once they had heard the story they decided that Macavity should be remembered always as a hero.