Mistoffelees, Victoria, and Plato, were all sitting atop of a nearby Junkpile, and watching the scene below; Rumpus Cat had gone back to his perch. Jennyanydots was standing in front of the kittens, all of whom were looking scared and saddened. Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer sat behind them, making faces and whispering, causing each other to laugh.

"Tell me, one more time, just how this happened," Jennyanydots ordered.

"Pouncival threw mud at Mungojerrie. Mungo threw mud at Rumpelteazer. She attacked Mungo. We all attacked her and, then, you showed up," Jemima explained.

"That's it," Jennyanydots asked.

"In a bombshell," Etcetera nodded.

"Nutshell," Tumblebrutus whispered.

"In a nutshell," Etcetera nodded, correcting herself.

Jennyanydots sighed, obviously displeased, "Well, let's get you cleaned up" There was a collective groan from the kittens as they reluctantly agreed to get cleaned. Jennyanydots watched them as they cringed, tasting the mud on their paws as they tried to lick it off of themselves. "Take care to wash behind your ears, as well."

"Yes, Jennyanydots," they chorused sadly.

"I have to say," Misto said, watching the faces the kittens made, "that this is much more amusing then just hitting the kit sitters with water balloons. It last longer."

"Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer would probably agree with you, too," Plato noted, pointing at the calicos who were grooming each other, with the occasional nuzzle or nip to the ears. "They seem to be enjoying it."

"Perhaps a bit too much," Victoria commented, "It is sweet though. L'amour."

Misto looked over at her in surprise, "You never told me that you could speak French."

"I can't."

"But you just-"

"Oui. Non. Merci, Monsieur. Fromage," she said, throwing her arms up, "I can't speak French"

"But you were just-" he started again, Victoria cutting him off.

"Mon chéri," she crooned, placing her paws on his face, "Je ne peux pas parler Français."

"Yeah," Misto nodded slowly, "I suppose that you can't."

"Thank you," she said, nuzzling her cheek against his. Misto returned the nuzzle and decided to let it slide; if she thought that she couldn't speak French, who was he to prove her wrong? How could he anyways? It's not like he had any solid proof. He just had his word that she did so; Plato was too busy laughing at the kittens to pay attention to them.

"As for you two," Jennyanydots scolded; Misto and Victoria broke away from each other, turning their attention back to the others. Jenny was striding towards Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, paws on her hips and a scowl on her face. The two calicos stopped grooming at the sound of her voice and turned towards her, "You ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

"What did we do," Mungo asked, cocking a brow.

"You know very well what you did," Jenny snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

"With all do respect, Jenny," Rumpel retorted, "We obviously don't know what we did or else we wouldn't be asking you."

Jennyanydots glared at Rumpelteazer, who unflinchingly returned it as the three cats on the junk pile began to whisper.

"Did she just-?"

"Is she crazy?"

"I can't believe she did it."

"I always considered it-"

"-But never foolish enough to try it."

"That's suicide."

"That takes guts."

"That's incredible." Never in Mistoffelees' life has he ever seen, or heard of, someone back talking Jennyanydots. Judging by the stony look on Jennyanydots' face, she never had either.

"You did as you're doing now, setting a bad example for the kittens. They are impressionable young cats and they will do as they see others do," she replied in an even tone.

"Now, Jenny," Rumpelteazer started out. Mungo placed his paws on her shoulders, hoping to lead her away before it became ugly. Rumpel shrugged him off and took a step closer to the older queen, "We are not the ones at fault here. Firstly;" Rumpel held up a paw, seeing that the Gumbie Cat was about to speak again, "We did not throw the first mud ball. All the kittens can attest to that – it was Pouncival."

"And then Mungojerrie threw the mud at you showing that it was acceptable behavior," Jenny contradicted.

"Mungo was in the process of being punished."

"The kittens see it as play."

"Well the kittens are wrong."

"They don't know that."

"Then we'll teach them."

"When will that be, while you're rolling around in the filth?"

"Incase you failed to notice, it's a junkyard – everywhere is filthy."

"If they tread carefully though, they won't get messy."

"They're allowed to, they're kittens. It's their nature to play and get dirty."

"Not if they're taught properly."

"And whose fault is that, Jenny; their parent's or their babysitters'?"

Jennyanydots stopped for a moment, along with everyone else. The kitten's heads have been going back and forth, like they were watching tennis, as the queens argued. Everyone appeared to be tense, especially Mungojerrie, who was in the middle of the two queens; ready to interfere if it became violent, yet he looked too terrified to do so. Jenny looked down at the moist ground beneath her, "What I can't understand though, is how there even got to be mud. We haven't had rain in over a week and the heat dried everything up, aside for the big puddle over by the toolbox, and we're no where's near that."

"It was water balloons," Jemima offered kindly.

"Water balloons," Jennyanydots repeated, looking at the calicos accusingly.

"Yes. They were coming from over there but some fell right from the sky – as if it was magic," she grinned.

"Magic? I -" the queen stopped, turning sharply to face the three on the junkpile, her face contorted in anger.

Mistoffelees, Plato and Victoria looked between each other for a moment. "Run," Plato yelled, the three doing so, with Jennyanydots right on their tails.

A/N: I thought about putting this up earlier this week, but then I thought, "No, I'll let this be a present – to them." So, what you just read was a Birthday present from me to you. There's no receipt so you can't return it; you'll just have to sell it at your next garage sale. I, in the mean time, will be getting ready for the Granville Green. (Translation: I'll put on my Birthday sash and crown). Did anyone ever hear of the Jimmy Swift Band? Are they any good? Either way – Happy 17th to me!

Mima-Love – Patience. And yes, he will come. Maybe the next one... no, the one after that. Yeah, that sounds good to me. He won't be there long, but he will come. Heck, he won't even be seen, I'm sorry to tell you; but it's true. Later though, he will be seen.

Mystitat – Unless you consider 30 degrees (Celsius) cold, then I can sympathize. Okay, maybe it's not hot to some people, but compare it to our winters and it is.

Tiger Lily21 – Are you unstuck yet? As for Rumpus, he's just always trying hard not to grin in the movie, so he comes off as a joker to me. And happy belated Birthday

I think he should be reborn; he might come back as a nice cat... or at least someone should put him in the naughty corner.
(My mom, watching cats for the first time last night – her opinion of Macavity)