A/N: Hey readers! This is another Cats story. I had to put my other story "Lovestruck" on hold to get this plot bunny out of the way. Still mostly Jemima-centric, since she is my favorite character. Btw, this chapter is just a prologue with no dialogue. I'm saving dialogue for the actual later chapters… You know the standard rap: I don't own any characters other than the originals…Enjoy!

~Prologue~

The master criminal amongst cats, the Hidden Paw, the Napoleon of Crime. These were just a few of Macavity's nicknames. And he loved them all. He ran a successful feline crime ring in the underground of London, he lived quite comfortably for his taste, and almost every cat, dog, and human in the U.K. was wary of him. He had it all. Well, not quite. There was one particular bane of his existence:

The Jellicle tribe.

Yes, the goody two-shoes gang that he himself used to belong to. He was born a Jellicle, being one of the sons of the tribe leader Old Deuteronomy. He was second born, but last loved. Even before his exile, hardly anybody gave him the time of day. He wasn't even picked to be his eldest half-brother's second-hand-man. That title was instead given to Munkustrap's best friend, Alonzo, the cocky black and white tom. Macavity's youngest half-brother, the Rum Tum Tugger, always stole everyone's attention, especially the queens. Macavity was sure that he would never have a mate, much less a spot in the tribe, as long as his two perfect brothers were around. Not that he actually liked any of the queens of the tribe anyway; they were always so cold to him.

However, there was one queen who actually had the decency to conversate with him civilly. Whenever he approached her, she never scampered away or laughed in his face. And she disliked the Rum Tum Tugger almost as much as he did. Her name was Demeter, a black and gold beauty, a queen that he wanted to be his. He was sure when he asked her to the upcoming Jellicle Ball that she would go with him and even agree to be his mate.

But he was crushed when Demeter revealed that she already agreed to go to the Ball with Munkustrap, the brother he most despised. Macavity became blinded with jealousy. The magical abilities he had developed since kittenhood started to go haywire, frightening all, even his own father. The night before the Jellicle Ball, Macavity's pent up hate spilled out of control when he spied Demeter and Munkustrap getting cozy atop of the TSE1. He attacked his half-brother and almost succeeded in killing him. It took Tugger, Skimbleshanks, Admetus, and Alonzo all to restrain the feral ginger tom, while Demeter, her sister Bombalurina, and several other queens aided the wounded silver tabby.

It pained Old Deuteronomy to have to punish his own son, but he had no other option. Macavity had broken one of the most precious Jellicle Codes and tried to harm another, his own brother and the penalty was life-long banishment from the junkyard. Before Macavity reached the exit to the Jellicles' sanctuary, he turned to the entire tribe, and swore that he would get his revenge if it was the last thing he ever did, especially against his father, his eldest brother, and Demeter. He would make them all pay for his pain and humiliation.

And he did. Almost a year after his exile, Macavity and his newly formed gang of hench-cats, who were primarily strays and alley cats, made their first attack on the Jellicles. During the attack Macavity disabled his hated half-brother and made off with Demeter. When Macavity hauled Demeter back to his lair, he informed her that she was going to be his mate and bear his heirs, whether she liked it or not. It wasn't until after they had returned that Griddlebone, a haughty white Persian who recently joined Macavity's gang, pointed out that Demeter looked rather round in the stomach. Demeter confessed that she and Munkustrap had already mated and were expecting a litter of kittens.

Macavity flew into a rage and proceeded to beat the golden queen senseless. As a result, poor Demeter lost her kittens from the stress and the trauma. Macavity was glad. He could care less about the horrid little beasts that Demeter and Munkustrap would have produced. He vowed that even worse would happen to the traumatized queen the very next night as a result of her supposed "betrayal". But a hench-cat named Samael took pity on the distressed queen and helped her escape later that night. Demeter knew she was too far away from the junkyard and that would be the first place Macavity would look when he found out she was missing.

Instead, Demeter ran to her humans' home. They took one look at the battered feline and immediately took her on an emergency trip to the veterinarian. The vet informed them that although Demeter had lost most of her kittens, one had survived the trauma because of its small stature and its placement in the womb. Even though Demeter grieved over her lost kittens, she was overjoyed that one had pulled through. The next morning, Munkustrap had turned up outside of the human house and was elated to see his mate but was horrified and angered at the condition that Macavity had put her in. She then informed him of their loss, but offered some hope as they still had one surviving kitten. Munkustrap vowed that if he ever saw his evil half-brother ever again that he would kill him. He also swore that extra care would be taken of his mate and their kitten.

Meanwhile, Macavity had discovered his prisoner had escaped and was livid. He tried to sneak back to the junkyard to find Demeter but she wasn't there and all of the Jellicles were on high alert. Instead of merely attacking the Jellicles again, Macavity had a hench-cat spy on the Jellicles and give Macavity periodic reports. A few weeks later, the hench-cat informed Macavity that Demeter was back at the junkyard but she also brought a kitten with her. A black, scarlet and white female kitten whom she named Jemima. Macavity flew into another of his famous rages as he realized that the beating he administered hadn't taken care of all Munkustrap's little brats. Just then, he realized that the Jellicles wouldn't have their guard up forever and the next Jellicle Ball would be coming up in just a couple of months. Exiled or not, he would be attending the ball to make his next move and possibly observe the kitten who had inadvertently survived his wrath. Oh, this would be fun…

A/N: Okay, that was just the prologue explaining some of the background leading up to the Jellicle Ball seen in the show/movie. I know there's no dialogue but again, it's just a prologue…After I finish this story, I will continue with "Lovestruck."