Disclaimer/Warning: I do not own Cats. However, all of the personalities and plots I developed on my own. Steal it and you're my next meal.

Careless Duplicity

Chapter 2: The Jellicle Junkyard

By: Suzu

Under the cover of darkness, Pandora made her way towards her destination; the Jellicle Junkyard. This was usually her preferred prequel to any great mission. Unlike other kittens her age, she was never afraid of the dark. She actually felt some kind of comfort in being in peaceful silence and having the moon above her. Something had always enchanted her about the moon yet with little time to find the source of those feelings, she never knew what it was about it.

As she walked dazedly, she realized the entrance was just across the street. She sucked in her breath at the sight of it. Though it was not anything overly extraordinary than a pile of rubbish, the thought of seeing the mystical Jellicles gave her an odd sensation. She realized that, for some reason, she was now afraid of getting any closer.

Allowing her eyes to cautiously scan the area, she found no real danger. Condemning herself kitten-ish, she slowly made her way across the street. Stopping at the entrance, she took another deep breath and reminded herself of what she was to say when greeted. It was then that she took her first steps into the junkyard.

"Stop!" A voice shouted almost immediatly. Though she knew this was coming, she became very frightened again. Out from the shadows emerged a tall figure. However, Pandora didn't see him as she hid behind her paws, her body shaking in fear.

Munkustrap, a bit confused at the stranger's actions, slowed his pace. His handsome face softened and he smiled when he realized she was merely a kitten. Assuming she was scared of the tone he had used with her, he lowered his voice into a soothing voice. "Hey, kit," He said calmly as he walked over to her. "I'm sorry for scaring you like that. I thought you were an intruder."

Pandora slowly moved her paws and glanced at the tomcat standing before her. He was a gray and black cat who had to be her elder by at least two years. His face was comforting and soft towards her. He smiled down at her in sincerity. Pandora was shocked. How is it possible the Jellicles could be nice cats who looked no different from her friends in Macavity's fortress?

Quickly righting herself, she stood up and looked the cat in his eyes. "I'm here to visit my aunt Exotica," she said shyly, her fear of the Jellicle cat disappearing.

Munkustrap smiled, "well, kit, Exotica happens to live right over there. I'll accompany you to her."

In silence, the two cats made it over towards a large box beside a trunk of an old car. Right when Pandora thought her shock had winded down a bit, Munkustrap asked, "So, what is your name?"

"umm," Pandora stalled feverishly looking around for an alias of some kind. Her eyes fell upon an old pancake box. Aunt Jemima's buttermilk pancakes, it read. "Jemima," she answered quickly.

"Pleasure to meet you, miss Jemima," Munkustrap smiled. "My name is Munkustrap. I'm the second in command here. Let me know if you ever need anything."

"Thank you, I will," She answered, smiling politely.

Munkustrap lightly tapped on the box, "Exotica, your niece is here to visit you."

Pandora' eyes widened at the door, hoping Exotica would know of Macavity's plan. "Thank you, Munkustrap," sounded a queen's voice from inside. "Come in my dear."

"Thank you for walking me," Pandora said before opening the door.

"See you in the morning, Jemima," Munkustrap said, then turned and continued patrolling.

Pandora turned and saw a chocolate colored cat laying in a cat bed in the corner of the box. She scanned Pandora then lifted her gaze to look her in the eyes. " Who are you and what do you want," she asked, glaring at Pandora.

"I was sent here by Macavity on a mission to retrieve a sword of rare power. Have you any information that could assist me?"

Exotica relaxed, relieved her mission had not been revealed. She tilted her head at the cat, her eyes squinted. "Have you a name?"

"Jemima," Pandora answered, trusting no one with her true identity.

"Well, Jemima, You are in luck," she said, stretching. "The one with the sword you seek is Plato and he is well known among the Jellicles. But you will find no information about the sword's whereabouts at this hour. You can sleep there." She pointed at a bed by Pandora's feet.

"Thank you for your kindness," Pandora said before pulling the covers up to her neck.

"You are the strangest spy I have ever met," Exotica mused, impressed at Pandora's politeness. "but, you are welcome."

Not a moment later, Pandora was asleep.

Light shone brightly into Pandora's eye, causing her to end her blissful sleep. Startled, she looked around wondering where she was, throwing her head around frantically. As she remembered where she was she eased back into bed, allowing her eyes to close. Yet, that spot of light reminded her of her mission and she disdainfully pushed herself from her bed. Seeing that Exotica was no longer in her bed, she realized she'd have to find out who this Plato was the hard way.

Lazily, she pushed open the box only to jump back inside, her eyes darting from one side to the other. The large area which had been lifeless last night was now crowded with Jellicle cats of every age and color. The younger ones were playing with an old basketball with the exception of two who were jubilantly standing by an older tom. The other cats stood in random groups talking with others. The new faces were a bit of an overload for Pandora and she quickly looked for at least one familiar face. She found Munkustrap standing by the maned tom and his small fankitties. Feeling somewhat comforted by his presence, she strode down from Exotica's box.

No one took notice to her as she took her first few steps outside and she smiled. The more unnoticed she was, the easier it would be to pick up gossip that they wouldn't generally tell a newcomer.

After catching a conversation between to elderly cats, a foreign object hit her hard in the head, causing her to topple over. The shock of the sudden incident came faster than the pain so it was several moments before Pandora noticed the four cats towering over her.

"Oh good going, Admetus," A white cat accusingly said, glaring at a patchy brown and gray cat.

"Is she dead?" A kitten with a slash of brown across his face asked, eyes widening.

Ignoring the kitten, Admetus reached his hand down for Pandora, " Terribly sorry for knocking you over." He hoisted her to her feet. " I was trying to teach these two how to hit that sign over there but, uhh," he rubbed the back of his neck, "My aim was off."

"Hey Tumble," The kitten tugged at his brother, "Who is that?"

Realizing that none of them knew who she was, she said, "Oh, my name is Jemima."

"Well," the white queen said, clapping her hands together. "My name is Victoria, that's Pouncival," She pointed at the kitten, "That's his brother, Tumblebrutus," Tumblebrutus smiled, "And the one that hit you is Admetus." She glared at him again with her lips pursed.

"I said sorry," he muttered, turning to Pandora. "I'll make it up to you. There's this great place down the road which always has really good fish. How about I take you there for lunch?"

Pandora smiled, "I would like that." Maybe she could get him to tell her about Plato and his sword.

"ooh," squealed Pouncival, "Admetus has a girlfriend!"

Pandora's eyes widened in embarassment and she quickly looked away.

"Hey Tumble," she heard Admetus say, "Let's do target practice again."

After she heard them leave, she looked at Victoria who merely rolled her eyes. " They're all such troublemakers. Anyways, do you want to go meet the other cats? I can introduce you if you like."

"That would be nice," She smiled. Victoria led Pandora to the two elderly cats.

The two queens were so busy with their knitting and gossiping that they hadn't noticed the cats standing before them. Victoria sighed, "mum.." she said quietly. When she recieved no answer, she tried a little louder. "Mum."

"And I told him, 'you better-"

"Mum!"

The skinnier of the two looked up at Victoria, "Oh, Victoria dear, what is it?"

Clearing her throat, Victoria gestured over to Pandora. "This is Jemima. She's new to the junkyard."

"Oh hello, Jemima," Victoria's mum smiled, "I'm Jellylorum and this is Jennyanydots."

"Such a beautiful kit," Jennyanydots mused. "It's a pleasure to meet you, dear."

"What brings you here, dear?" Jellylorum asked.

"I'm visiting my aunt Exotica."

"Well, it's nice to have a friendly visitor for once." Jellylorum huffed.

"I agree. That Macavity comes often but only to cause trouble." Jennyanydots sighed.

Pandora sucked in her breath, feeling slightly uneasy.

"Come to think of it, he hasn't come in a while," Jellylorum pointed out.

"He's probably planning something. I don't know where we went wrong with that kit," Jennyanydats said sadly.

"Come on, let's go," Victoria said, much to Pandora's relief. Once out of earshot, Victoria smiled at Pandora, " Those two never stop talking. If we would've stayed there, they wouldn't have even noticed us."

Pandora laughed nervously, the shock of mentioning Macavity's name wearing down. Yet something they said stuck with her. I don't know where we went wrong with that kit. Could that make Macavity a jellicle?

"oh!" Victoria gasped, causing Pandora to snap out of her thoughts. "You must meet Old Dueteronomy. He is our leader. He's really a nice-"

Pandora stopped listening to Victoria as she saw Old Deuteronomy walking about the crowd of cats. Why does he talk to everyone? Her leader rarely left his throne room and if he ever did, there would be rats and cats guarding his every stride. And Macavity never spoke to anyone. She came to observe the friendliness the Jellicles showed her without even fully knowing her. On her terrain, intruders would be killed. She sucked in her breath, feeling sick to her stomach. Remembering all the tales her mother had told her, what if the Jellicles were the good cats and Macavity was the bad cat?

Feeling uncomforted by this thought, she shoved it aside. There was no way everything she had known had been a lie. Following Victoria towards the large cat, she noticed Munkustrap standing beside Old Deuteronomy.

"Well, good morning, Jemima," Munkustrap greeted politely. "Father, this is Jemima. She's visiting her aunt, Exotica."

Deuteronomy smiled at Pandora, "It's nice to meet you Jemima. I hope your stay has been pleasant so far."

"Yes it has. Everyone has treated me so kindly," Pandora smiled.

"Yes, I'm sure you will find the Jellicles much more polite." With that said, Old Deuteronomy smiled and walked away with Munkustrap.

"Had he just said more polite in comparison to..? Does he know..?" Pandora thought.

"Jemima?"

Snapping out of her thought again, Pandora looked up at Victoria.

"You sure are a spacey kitty, aren't you?" Victoria laughed. "Come on, let's go meet some other cats."

Victoria lead Pandora to a group of laughing toms. She immediately noticed the tom with the fankitties. The two kittens laughed along with everyone else but looked as if they hadn't the faintest idea why they were laughing. Their laughter winded down as they saw Victoria and Pandora. Pandora grew uneasy as she noticed them all watching her and Victoria, but Victoria seemed to not care as she strode over to the tallest cat and rubbed her head against him. Turning back to Pandora, she smiled.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Jemima."

"I'm Mistoffellees. It's nice to meet you, Jemima," A tuxedo looking cat said with a kitten-ish smile.

"Pleasure to meet ya, my name's Mungojerrie," said an orange tom. "If there's anything you need, tell me. Get it to ya in thirty minutes or less."

"My name is Rum Tum Tugger," said the maned tom with the two kittens at his side."I can help you with anything else you might need." He flirted, his eyes racking her body. The kittens at his side meowed jealously.

Pandora eyes widened innocently at Victoria. Victoria stifled a laugh.

I'm Etcetera and this is Electra," One of the kittens announced with a toothy grin. Pandora smiled back, loving the attention the introductions were giving her.

"My name is Alonzo. I'm sorry you've had to walk around with my sister this whole time," A black and white cat said with a smirk.

"Oh be quiet, you." Victoria snapped at her brother. She looked back at Pandora, "Jemima, I'd like you to meet my Plato." She and the tom she was clinging to smiled lavishly at eachother.

'So this was Plato,' Pandora thought to herself, feeling rather victorious about finding him. As soon as that feeling came, another appeared; guilt. Victoria had come to be her first friend ever since she had been here and she could tell Victoria loved Plato. Anything that would disturb Plato would probably disturb Victoria too. How would it be possible to hurt Plato and still be friends with Victoria? Suddenly, a harsh reality hit her. Once she had retrieved the sword, she would not come back to the Jellicles. Nor would she want to; she would be so ashamed.

"Hey, Jemima!" A voice called from behind her. Pandora turned to see Admetus. "Would you like to go to lunch now?"

"Umm, Victoria, can you tell Exotica where I went?" Pandora asked the white queen.

"Don't worry about it. Have fun, you two," Victoria smiled, not leaving Plato's side for a second. Once they were out of earshot, she sighed, "I like Jemima. I hope she chooses to stay."

There were quiet murmurs and nods from the group as they watched Pandora and Admetus leave the yard.

Once they could no longer see Admetus and Pandora, Alonzo broke the silence. " Are you really going to let them go?"

Victoria looked at her brother, confused, "Sure, why not?"

"I dunno, just-"

"You want her for yourself," Tugger interrupted with a knowing grin. Victoria's eyes widened with an amused smile on her face.

"I thought you and Admetus were friends," she said. "Why would you want to take her away from him?"

"He's always taken Admetus' queens," Mistoffellees laughed.

"Can I talk now?" Alonzo interjected sharply. The group grew quiet. "It has nothing to do with Admetus. It's just that I want to be sure she stays. I know what it's like to not have an owner and I think the junkyard would be a good place for her."

"And this affects them going to lunch how?" Mistofellees smiled at his brother. Alonzo just grinned in response.

"So you are gonna take her," Plato laughed.

Alonzo lifted his head arrogantly, "I hope to."

I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing.

Thank you for reading and please review with any comments.

Oh and I may need some help with remaining pairings or on who is thought to be Victoria's dad. Bustopher?