Munkustrap sighed and began walking after the Great Rumpus Cat, gesturing for Tumblebrutus, Skimbleshanks, Mr. Mistoffelees, Demeter, and the Rum Tum Tugger to come along. They did, hesitantly, and the Great Rumpus Cat led them to the exact spot as before. The box was gone, and Munkustrap could not help but notice several strings connected to various piles of garbage.

"What…is all this?" he asked, gazing up at them.

The Great Rumpus Cat beamed proudly. "This, Monkeywhatsit, is my plan Each of these strings his attached to a prop, hidden on the tops of these piles. Each prop has been specifically designed, by me, to especially frightening-looking. When Macavity comes for the bait, the rest of you will release the strings and the props will come swinging down. He'll be scared witless and will never again return to your Junkyard."

"What's going to keep him from noticing the strings beforehand?" Demeter asked. "They're not exactly…hidden. At all."

"That will be your job, Bait," the Great Rumpus Cat told her. "You keep his attention on you and he'll never notice."

"May I remind you again," said Skimbleshanks. "Macavity's not an idiot."

"And only idiots aren't afraid of spooks!" the Great Rumpus Cat countered.

"Are you sure you don't have that backwards?" Mr. Mistoffelees inquired.

The Great Rumpus Cat turned on them angrily. "Look, you wanted me to help you and that's what I'm doing. Now go to your places and get ready. You stay here, Bait."

"My name is Demeter!" she shouted after him and he and the other Toms began climbing their respective piles of garbage. Once they were in position, the Great Rumpus Cat called down to her.

"Now, do something bait-ful!"

"What?" she shouted back. "What does that mean? Like what?"

"Hush! Not so loud!" the Great Rumpus Cat hissed. "Do whatever it is you do to attract attention! Dance or something!"

Demeter sighed, but began dancing regardless. She danced the equivalent of two Jellicle Balls and evening was setting in when Macavity finally showed up. He sauntered around the corner and paused, looking curiously at the conspicuous white strings hanging above him. The Great Rumpus Cat frowned, as Macavity had stopped just outside the reach of the props. Demeter froze, regarding him with frightened eyes.

"Macavity!" she exclaimed, and the Mystery Cat narrowed his eyes at her.

"Demeter," he said. "What the heck are you doing? And what are those?" He gestured to the strings.

"What are what?" Demeter asked innocently. "Oh, those? Um, I—I don't know. What are they?"

Macavity frowned. "They're strings, I can see that. What're they for?"

"Strings, really?" Demeter inquired. "Oh, so they are! How very strange!" Her eye caught the Great Rumpus Cat's, and he gestured frantically that she try and lure Macavity closer. Demeter looked back at Macavity, who seemed to still be pondering the purpose of the strings. She furrowed her brow as she debated, then she suddenly screamed, "Munkustrap! Come quick! Macavity's in the Junkyard!"

Macavity jumped in surprise, then bolted forward. The Great Rumpus Cat waved his paws wildly to grab the attention of the other Toms. Munkustrap and Skimbleshanks let go of their strings first, and two stuffed white sheets flew over Demeter and Macavity's heads. Macavity leapt backwards in surprise, and Tumblebrutus, Mr. Mistoffelees, and the Rum Tum Tugger released their strings. Three more sheets whisked by, and one knocked into Demeter, who screamed as she was picked up and thrown into the pile of garbage on which the Rum Tum Tugger was perched. The pile swayed, then came tumbling down. Munkustrap moved quickly and in a flash was there to pull Demeter out of harm's way. Macavity stood and watched the chaos with an unimpressed look of pity. Tumblebrutus, Mr. Mistoffelees, and Skimbleshanks all bounded down their own piles, but by the time they reached the ground, Macavity wasn't there.

"What happened?" the Great Rumpus Cat demanded as he angrily stomped out from behind a pile of garbage. "What the heck went wrong there? Are you all stupid or just incompetent?"

"Hush yourself!" Munkustrap snapped. "Demeter was almost hurt! What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" the Great Rumpus Cat countered. "You can't do anything right! I can't work like this!" He made a dramatic sweep around Munkustrap and huffed loudly. "I need a break! I'll be back later after I've recovered from your idiocy!" And with that, he stormed out of the Junkyard.

Munkustrap looked at the others, but they seemed to be at a loss just as he was. He sighed and gestured for them to follow him back to the Center of the Junkyard. When they arrived, Jennyanydots inquired again if they had gotten rid of Macavity, and they had to again reply that no, they had failed.

"That Mystery Cat must be even trickier than we thought," Asparagus said.

"Yes, that's it," Munkustrap replied.

"Where's the Great Rumpus Cat gone off to now?" Jennyanydots inquired.

"There's no telling," Skimbleshanks answered. "He stormed off after his plan failed to work, but he said he'd be back with a new one."

The Jellicles nodded and settled in to wait again. Munkustrap climbed up on the Tire and sat next to Old Deuteronomy.

"Old Deuteronomy," he said quietly. "I'm beginning to have doubts about my original plan. The Great Rumpus Cat is turning out to be less great than I had imagined he'd be."

"Are you certain?" Old Deuteronomy asked. "This is disheartening news indeed. You mean to say that you don't think that the Great Rumpus Cat can rid us of Macavity? Whatever will we do?"

Munkustrap shook his head. "I'm not entirely confident in him, no. But I suppose we can continue trying his plans. They are the only ones we have, after all."

Old Deuteronomy nodded. "Yes, this is true. Well, we can only wait then. By the way, where is the Rum Tum Tugger?"

"The Rum Tum—" Munkustrap said as he turned to look, but found that the Rum Tum Tugger was indeed not among the group of Jellicles. "Oh no, we forgot to get him out of the pile of garbage that fell on him!"

"I thought it was suspiciously quiet," Cassandra said.

"Come on," Munkustrap gestured to some of the other Toms. "We have to go dig him out."

"Do we really have to?" Alonzo groaned.

"YES!" the Kittens snapped in unison, and the Toms complied. It took a great deal of effort to dig the Rum Tum Tugger out of the garbage and even more to shut him up about the mess that was no entangled in his mane. He outright refused to return to the Center without a proper bath and, ignoring Munkustrap's advice not to, strutted out of the Junkyard. The remaining Toms returned to the other Jellicles and assured the Kittens that the Rum Tum Tugger was fine and that he would most likely be returning later.

It was almost two hours before the Great Rumpus Cat returned and he walked confidently into the Junkyard with his head held high.

"Everything's ready for Plan C," he stated, nodding to himself. "I just need my bait and my backup." He looked around. "Hey, where's the Fluff-Monkey?"

"The Rum Tum Tugger hasn't returned yet," Munkustrap replied, frowning. "If you recall, he was almost crushed to death during your last ingenious plan."

"And that was somehow my fault?" the Great Rumpus Cat countered. "We'll just have to find a replacement." He looked around at the other Jellicles. "What about you?" he said, motioning to Mungojerrie.

"Hey, if Mungojerrie goes, then I go, too," Rumpleteazer stated firmly.

The Great Rumpus Cat rolled his eyes. "The only reason I'm letting her come along," he said, nodding toward Demeter. "is because she makes good bait. I don't need a bunch of Queens tagging along as hindering eye candy."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" roared all the Queens at once, and the Great Rumpus Cat almost dove for cover in the Pipe again.

"I said," he said quickly. "That it would be lovely to have you along, Rumpelstilskin."

"My name's Rumpleteazer," she frowned.

"Yes, of course," the Great Rumpus Cat nodded, flustered. "Now, let's get on our way. No time like the present." He led the way out of the Center and around the Car this time to a different area of the Junkyard. There were more boxes there, all closed with latches at the top.

"What's all this now?" Munkustrap sighed.

"These boxes contain what will drive Macavity away from your Junkyard forever," the Great Rumpus Cat answered. There were six boxes in total, three on one side of the Aisle and three on the other. "We'll each take a box, and when Macavity comes for the bait, unhook the latch and stand back."

A strange sound came from inside one of the boxes and Demeter gulped nervously. "What's in those things? Are you sure this is safe?"

"Of course it's safe!" the Great Rumpus Cat snapped, sounding insulted "You have absolutely nothing to worry about!"

"I've got the distinct feeling that you've said that before," Skimbleshanks said.

"Hush and take your places!" the Great Rumpus Cat hissed. They did, and Demeter, once again, began dancing. She danced for about twenty minutes before tiring and resorting to pacing around the empty space. The rest of the Jellicles watched, bored, from their hiding places. Rumpleteazer caught Mungojerrie's attention and the two of them made faces at each other, causing each other to giggle until Munkustrap waved at them to stop. Tumblebrutus fell asleep this time, and even Skimbleshanks started to nod off when Macavity happened by. He paused, looking at Demeter, who had not noticed him yet.

"There he is! Open your boxes!" the Great Rumpus Cat hissed. Immediately, five of the six latches were unhooked and out of each box came a pair of gangly Turkeys. Demeter shrieked and leapt to the side as the Turkeys gobbled and stampeded down the aisle and out of the Junkyard—opposite the direction in which Macavity stood. Macavity looked completely dumbfounded, as did Munkustrap, Skimbleshanks, and Mr. Mistoffelees. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer began laughing themselves silly and Tumblebrutus sleepily blinked open his eyes.

"That was your plan?" Munkustrap demanded angrily. "A flock of Turkeys? How is that supposed to help us get rid of Macavity? Really, what were your grounds for thinking that this was actually going to work?"

"Wait, what happened?" Tumblebrutus inquired. "What'd I miss?"

"Well, for one thing," Mr. Mistoffelees answered. "You failed to open your box when we were instructed to. Not that it would have mattered."

"Of course it mattered!" the Great Rumpus Cat snapped. "Turkeys work in a group, and because Tumbleweed there didn't adhere to the plan, two members of that group were missing, thereby insuring a panic within the rest of the flock, making them run in the opposite direction I instructed them to go!"

"You have an excuse for everything, don't you?" Munkustrap said angrily. "Can't you accept responsibility for your mistakes for once in your life?"

Macavity watched the flustered argument for only a moment before losing interest and making off with Demeter. It took a while for the other Jellicles to realize it, and when they finally did, Macavity wasn't there.

"Now look what's happened!" Munkustrap exclaimed at the Great Rumpus Cat. "I hope you're please with yourself! Demeter is gone, and it's all because of you!"

"Munkustrap, please calm down," Skimbleshanks said. "This is not helping to get Demeter back."

Munkustrap took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're right. I apologize, Great Rumpus Cat. Now is not the time to be arguing. We need to return to the Center and seek advice from Old Deuteronomy."

"Um, hello?" the Great Rumpus Cat said. "I'm the one with the plans, remember? I'll think of a way to get the bait back."

Munkustrap looked like a covered pot ready to boil over. But intead, he said through clenched teeth, "No, I really think we should council Old Deuteronomy before we do anything." He gestured to the others. "Come, hurry. There's no time to lose." Skimbleshanks, Mr. Mistoffelees, and Tumblebrutus trotted after him. When Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer finally stopped laughing, they followed. The Great Rumpus Cat remained, fuming.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it!" he huffed. "I'll get Whatshername back myself before you have a chance to do anything!" He kicked the side of the remaining closed box, loosening the latch just enough fro the two Turkeys inside to push open the door and escape. They turned angrily to the Great Rumpus Cat and, gobbling their displeasure, chased him into Town.