Disclaimer: I do not own the musical Cats or any of its characters.
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It was a quiet day in the junkyard. Or, rather, it had been a quiet day in the junkyard, until Pouncival let slip something he really shouldn't have.
"He what!?" Electra shrieked, her tail lashing and fur standing out in all directions. The other four, sitting in a group on the big tire, winced and covered their ears as she ranted on, her voice reaching heights previously known only by Etcetera when the Tugger was around.
"How could he!? How could we fall for that!? I can't believe it! That lying, cheating, stupid, moronic, revenge-obsessed--"
"Electra!" Tumblebrutus shouted, groaning. "Stop it! Okay, we get it. You don't like Plato."
"Don't like? Don't like!? Oh, I more than don't like him, I hate him! That lying--"
"All right, all right! You hate him," Tumble conceded, rubbing his forehead as if trying to dispel a headache. Electra glared at him, crossing her arms. "So are you just going to sit here and yell about it, or are you going to get back at him?"
Now he had the attention of the other four. Pouncival was watching him curiously, not seeming even the slightest bit guilty over ratting out their friend. Well, in his defense, Tumblebrutus was doing much worse than that, and he didn't feel guilty at all either. Actually, to be honest, he was a little gleeful at this turn of events. He had been this close to getting Electra to like him, and then Plato snaps her away with one sentence. And he didn't even care. So now was his chance to get back at the tom, and Plato never even had to know he was involved...
The three queens were watching with varied expressions. Electra still looked angry beyond belief, her glare fierce. To an outsider, it would look as if she were contemplating murdering Tumblebrutus. Maybe she was. Jemima looked merely hurt, her eyes wide and shiny--she was obviously holding back tears at Plato's deceit. Etcetera had a decidedly blank look on her face, staring at Tumble and waiting for him to go on. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, or if indeed she was thinking at all.
"So, he thought he could get revenge on Victoria by winning you three over, right?" he said. Jemima gave a sniffle and a nod.
"But I bet you knew about it already, didn't you?" Electra asked him scathingly. Tumble widened his eyes, looking as innocent as he could, and shook his head in denial.
"No! Of course not, I would never let him do something like that to you!"
"But Tumble, you were there when Plato was telling us--" Pouncival started, cutting off with a yelp as Tumble aimed a kick at his stomach. The brown and white tom turned towards the three queens again, all of whom were now looking angry.
"All right, so I did know. But I'm helping you now, aren't I? So do you want to hear my plan or not?"
The queens glanced at each other and went into a huddle. The two toms couldn't make out much of their whispered conversation, but a few phrases got through.
"...gotta get back at that liar..."
"...don't want to be too mean..."
"...can always just go back to the real Tugger, Cettie, I'm sure he'll be glad to see you again..."
Finally the three separated. Each queen had a look of determination on her face. Electra, who seemed to have appointed herself spokescat of the group, gave a tiny smirk.
"All right, fine. What do you have in mind?"
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Plato sauntered through the junkyard, feeling better about himself than he had for a long time. How could he not? He had three pretty queens hanging onto his every word and following his every move, and another queen watching him jealously every time her friends ditched her to join him. He'd stolen away the Rum Tum Tugger's fanclub, and while the maned tom was walking around looking lost, Plato was the one with all the glory.
He grinned as he noticed his number-one fan trotting towards him with an enormous smile on her face. Etcetera latched herself onto him as soon as he was within reach, purring madly and nuzzling him happily. Plato was a little confused (she'd never done this before, after all--mostly she waited for him to put his arm around her and squealed), but not unhappy with the new development. Hey, if she wanted to be all over him, well, more fun for him.
"Hi, Plato!" she squealed, not even pausing in her nuzzling.
"Hey, Cettie," he replied in the most Tugger-like voice he could manage, rewarded by an increase in her purring and a tighter set of arms around him.
Wait...
Plato twisted as best as he could, catching sight of yet another queen hanging onto him, nuzzling happily. Now he was even more confused--while this wasn't too strange for Etcetera, it was definitely a little out of character for Electra.
"Eh...hi, Electra," he said, trying hard to keep it from sounding like a question. The dark tabby queen didn't appear to notice the strange tone of voice.
"Hi, Plato!" she said, squealing just like Etcetera and tightening her grip on him. "I've missed you!"
"Er...I've missed you too, Electra." Even though it's only been a few hours since I saw you last, he added in his mind.
"Did you miss me too, Plato?" Etcetera asked, pouting up at him.
"Yeah, Cettie, missed you too..." he mumbled, wondering what in the world was going on with his queens.
"Did you miss me more, Plato?" she asked now, her voice hopeful.
"Er...well, I...uh..." Plato stammered. Etcetera was still looking up at him hopefully, but Electra interrupted his attempt at an answer.
"Don't be silly, Cettie. Of course he didn't. I'm his favorite, after all," she said, purring and staring up at Plato. "Right, Plato?"
"No way!" Etcetera squeaked, letting go of the tom as she glared at her friend. "Why would you be his favorite? He loves me more! Tell her, Plato!"
"Yeah, tell her, Plato! Tell her you love me best!" Electra demanded, letting go of the tom as well. But neither of them were looking at him as he backed away warily, instead choosing to give each other murderous looks. He wondered how long it would take before...
It didn't take long. With identical snarls, the two queens launched at each other, going down in a big mass of fur, hissing and scratching and biting at each other. Plato watched with wide eyes, unsure of whether he should be excited or worried about his queens, until another set of arms latched around him.
"They're both so silly," a sweet, soft voice sounded from his side, and there was Jemima, clinging to him with all of her might. "You love me the best, don't you? Plato?"
With yowls, Electra and Etcetera separated, growling at Jemima. The petite queen growled right back at them, not letting up her hold on the tom.
"He's mine!" Electra snarled, stalking forward and latching onto the tom's right arm, yanking hard. Plato stumbled, surprised at her strength, and Jemima fell onto her stomach as he was tugged away from her. She pouted, but Etcetera was already moving, reaching for Plato's left arm before he could do anything at all.
"No, he's mine!" she countered, yanking him back towards her. Soon they were jerking the tom back and forth, and to his shock, Electra was even digging claws into his arm to keep hold of him!
It was when Jemima got in on the tug-of-war by grabbing his tail and yanking him backwards towards her that he decided he'd had enough.
Using every bit of his strength, he managed to pull away from the three queens, eyes wide and frightened as he backed away from them.
"Um, I have to--er, I've got to go--I'll see you--bye," he finished, and ignoring what scraps of his dignity were left, he turned tail and fled.
He didn't even notice the three queens collapsing into hysterical laughter behind him.
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Plato ran for as long as he could before falling to his knees, panting and exhausted. When the sound of feminine giggles reached his ears, he looked up.
The Rum Tum Tugger had apparently gotten a harem in exchange for his fanclub.
The maned tom smirked down at Plato, his arms draped over two of the beautiful queens while the others sat in a group around him.
"Queen troubles?" he asked smoothly, and the queens giggled again.
Plato just groaned.
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A/N: I never intended to write a sequel to "Plato's Revenge," but I really can't imagine the queens letting Plato get away with that for too long. And the Tugger really needed a replacement for his fanclub, too. Because he's just not the Rum Tum Tugger if he doesn't have a bunch of queens hanging off of him.