Disclaimer: CATS still doesn't belong to me, it belongs to ALW, TSE, and The RUG.
Chapter 3: The Rescue
Jemmi led Bomb to the entrance, just as Plato had asked, and for good measure she and Bomb hid behind a stack of tires. "Why did you bring us here?" Bomb asked Jemmi, "Because Plato said he and the guys would meet us here." "What if they can't get away from Macavity's henchcats?" Bomb asked. "Then we'll have to go rescue them and the girls," Jemmi stated. Bomb remained silent, and the two waited and waited, and waited. It had been half-an-hour when Jemmi spoke, "I think they've been captured, Bomb!" "What are we going to do!" Bomb replied in panic. "Go and rescue them, of course." Bomb stared at Jemmi in shock, "And how do you plan on doing that," but Jemmi had already began walking back to the docks, and grudgingly Bomb went after her. "Jemmi, you need to go back to the junkyard and get back-up, I'll stay here and locate everyone," Bomb said, knowing that Munkustrap and Demeter would kill her if she let their daughter go into a battle. "No," Jemmi whispered back, defiantly, "We've already wasted enough time and I'm not going to leave you here on your own." "But your p—" Bomb stopped herself in time. She had nearly said "your parents." Jemmi wasn't supposed to know that Munkustrap and Demeter were her parents. If anyone blabbed Macavity might find out and use Jemmi to get to her parents. Jemmi stared at her for a second and then perked her ears and whispered, "Be quiet and listen, I think I hear voices." Jemmi and Bomb headed towards the sounds. The two girls peered over a crate and gasped. There in the middle of a circle of stray cats was a pole, and tied to it was Demeter, Vicki, Etcy, and Electra. Around them were four crates and an iron box. Jemmi and Bomb assumed that Munkustrap, Tugger, Plato, and Alonzo were in the wooden crates, and, judging from the loud bangs issuing from the iron box, Misto was in it. Macavity was also in the middle of the circle of strays, although he wasn't in a crate or tied to a pole. "You may as well save you energy Mistoffelees," Macavity said with glee, "That iron in magic proof." There was and extra loud bang and a yelp from the box, it sounded as though one of Misto's lightning bolts had ricocheted off the iron and hit him. Macavity and the other strays laughed harshly, "I told you to stop," Macavity said gloatingly, still laughing. Suddenly the girls heard a muffled, but firm, voice coming from one of the wooden crates, "Let us go Macavity!" Jemmi could tell that it was Munkustrap who had spoken. Macavity stopped laughing and his voice became very dark, "Come now, Munkustrap, do you really think I would just let all of you go?" Macavity said in a menacingly quiet voice. "After all the planning and waiting for the perfect night, I finally have my two brothers, and my girl," at this he walked to Demeter and stroked her chin, she attempted to bite him but missed, he ignored this and continued his speech, "in my clutches. I also have Mister Mistoffolees, the cat who always ruins my plans with that magic of his, and as a bonus I got other victims as well." He gestured at the kittens and the other crates just as Griddlebone came up to him. She whispered something in his ear, he signed, smiled, and said, "If you would excuse me, I have to go take care of some naughty henchrats. Griddlebone and these two," he gestured at two of his largest henchcats, "will be staying with you. I will be back later to take care of you." And on the note Macavity and the other strays he hadn't assigned guard duty walked off. Jemmi picked up a piece of wood that had fallen off an old crate, she motioned for Bomb to do the same. Then the two made their way quietly to where their friends were being held. When Vicki saw her friend she opened her mouth to say something, but Jemmi motioned for her to stay quiet. Together Jemmi and Bomb quietly snuck up on the three guard cats, Bomb looked at Jemmi and they both raised their boards. Then Jemmi nodded her head and the two brought their boards down directly on top of the two large tom guard cats, they fell to the ground unconscious. Jemmi swung around, to knock out Griddlebone but was met with Griddlebone's sharp paw. Jemmi let out a small yelp and heard a "WHACK!" and a "THUD!" When she opened her eyes Griddlebone was unconscious n the ground, Bomb standing over her. "Are you alright?" Bomb asked, "I'm fine," Jemmi replied, wiping blood off her face, "Thanks." "No problem. Now let's get the girls untied and put these henchcats in their place," Bomb said. The two girls headed over to the pole and began to untie the knots.
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When they had the girls untied Vicki hugged Jemmi, crying and thanking her, while Demeter did the same thing to Bomb. When they were finished Demeter, to Jemmi's utter amazement came up to her and began inspecting the scratch on her face, "Let me take a look at that hon'" Demeter said to her. Jemmi pushed her away and said, "I'm fine Demeter!" "We have to get the guys loose before Macavity gets back!" Vicki said. "But first," Jemmi said heading over to where the guard cats lay, "We have to get these three tied up," she gestured at the unconscious cats. The other girls nodded and together they managed to get the henchcats bound and, for good measure, gagged to the same pole Demeter, Vicki, Electra, and Etcy had been tied to. Next they turned their attention to the four wooden crates and the iron box. Vicki immediately went to the iron box, which, every once in a while, still had issued loud bangs, and began speaking to Misto, who seemed to calm down at the sound of her voice. Jemmi first turned her attention to the box that she knew contained Munkustrap, she felt they may need him if Macavity came back. "Munkustrap, it's me, Jemmi," she said to the box, "We're going to get you out of there." "Jemmi!" came a surprised voice, as Jemmi jumped on top of the box and examined it. "You sound surprised," she said. "Well, we thought you ran off." "Bomb and I came back for everyone." Munkustrap stayed, apparently speechless at the two girls' bravery. In the quiet Jemmi examined the box for any means of escape for Munkustrap, finally she sound something. There was a small crack running along the right side of the box. "Munkustrap," she said as she jumped off the crate, "There is a possible escape route on the right side of the box. You're going to have to ram it a few times though. Okay?" Jemmi waited for an answer, but instead she got a loud bang as Munkustrap hit the side of the box. Jemmi looked at the crack, and it looked slightly bigger. Demeter, who had been listening and had not spoken a word, said, "Come on Munkustrap!" That did the trick, Munkustrap hit the box again, with greater force. The crack split more and you could hear the sound of splintering wood. Then Munkustrap hit it again and he came tumbling out the side of the box as the wood splintered and broke. Demeter rushed over to him and the two embraced, "Are you okay, Demeter?" Munkustrap asked, "I'm fine," Demeter answered, sobbing, "And you?" "I'm doing just fine." Now that he was out of that crate Jemmi could get a good look at Munkustrap, he was covered in scratches and his ear looked slightly mangled, but other than that he looked fine. Jemmi assumed his scratches were battle wounds from fighting with the strays. Munkustrap turned to Jemmi and spoke, "Thank you for coming back for us." Suddenly he caught sight of the scratch on her face and took on a fatherly mode, "What happened to your face?" he said kindly. Jemmi looked shocked for a second at the fatherly attitude and then said, "Griddlebone gave me a good scratch, but I'm fine," then she said hurriedly "but right now we have to get the rest of the guys loose." Munkustrap nodded and then there was a loud crash of wood. Jemmi whipped around to find that Bomb had managed to instruct Tugger out of his crate. Jemmi, Demeter, Munkustrap, Vicki, Electra, Etcy, and Bomb couldn't help but laugh at Tugger's disheveled appearance. The mane he usually kept so clean and smooth was covered in wood chips and matted while his black fur was dusty and sticking up in every direction. "What are you laughing at?" He asked, confused. Bomb pointed at him and he took a look at himself and laughed too. "Okay," Munkustrap said to get everyone's attention, "we have to get Alonzo, Plato, and Misto free before Macavity returns." Everyone nodded their head in agreement. Vicki, Tugger, and Bomb went to Misto's iron box, Demeter and Munkustrap went to Alonzo's crate, and Jemmi, Etcy, and Electra went to Plato's crate. After five minutes of examination there was another loud splintering of wood as Alonzo burst through his crate. Even though the only two cats left were Misto and Plato, Jemmi was getting worried. After all it had been a long time, Macavity could be back at any second, and she was having problems finding a weak spot in Plato's crate. "Hey Misto," Jemmi heard Vicki say, "I think if you fire a lightning bolt at a top corner the lid may come off." "Okay, I'll give it a try," came Misto's muffled voice, "Everyone back away!" Vicki, Tugger, and Bomb ran a little ways away from the box. There was a loud bang and the top of the box flew off and landed about ten feet away. Misto poked his head out of the box, coughing from the smoke his lightning bolt had caused, and jumped out. Vicki ran to Misto and hugged him, "Are you okay?" she asked. "I'm fine, and you?" "Fine," she answered. Now Jemmi was getting really worried, it had to have been at least an hour since Macavity had left and Plato was still trapped in his crate. Everyone began examining the crate even faster when they saw Demeter tense, "Macavity!" she whispered. The cats scattered. Munkustrap took Demeter, Vicki, Alonzo, and Misto and they hid behind three large stacks of tires. Jemmi ran behind Plato's crate while Etcy and Electra followed Tugger and Bomb behind a few large stacks of crates close to the tires everyone else but Jemmi were hidden behind. Tugger's tail had just whipped out of sight when Macavity and his henchcats appeared, laughing, "Well," Macavity said, "We took care of those henchrats!" He froze at the sight of the three crates that were smashed, the iron box that was open, and his three henchcats tied to the pole, who were just beginning to come to. "What happened!" He screamed at them, as he took their gags off. "Those two girls that escaped came back and hit us on the head," Griddlebone said, groggily. "All of my prisoners have escaped!" Macavity yelled at her as other henchcats untied the three. "Not all of them. Look there's still one crate left," said a cat, hoping to get on Macavity's good side. Macavity walked to the crate and said, "It's only Plato, but the other Jellicles will more than likely come back for him." He tensed and sniffed the air, "In fact, I believe we have one in our presence right now," and with that he ran around the crate and snatched Jemmi up by the nip of her neck. "Hey!" Jemmi screamed, nearly paralyzed with fear, "Put me down!" "Well, well, well," Macavity said evilly, "If it isn't the pretty little kitten Jemima. Welcome." Jemmi gave him an extremely dirty look and Macavity gave her a swipe with his free paw, leaving a long scratch down her nose. Jemmi gave a small yelp and the other strays and Macavity laughed at her. Munkustrap made a move to go help her, but Demeter held him back, "If you go he'll suspect something," she whispered in his ear, "He mustn't find out that she is our daughter!" Munkustrap stayed put, knowing she was right. "We know not to give me dirty looks now, don't we?" Macavity said quietly. Jemmi, knowing she shouldn't but did anyways, stuck her tongue out at him. "That was very rude Jemima," Macavity said, dangerously, "You must be punished. Now this will hurt me more than it will hurt you," and he through her at Plato's crate. Jemmi hit it dead on, splintering it a little, and fell to the ground motionless. Again Demeter had to hold Munkustrap back, she knew he needed to think of a plan, not just go barging in. "Well what do you know," Macavity said, jeeringly, looking at himself, "That didn't hurt me one bit." He laughed and all of the other strays joined in, Munkustrap looked at Tugger and gave the signal for them to rescue Jemmi, now that the cats were distracted, but before they could even take one step there was a loud splintering of wood as Plato burst through his crate hissing. Macavity and his henchcats stopped laughing and stared at Plato, who looked behind him and saw Jemmi lying motionless on the ground, he looked back at Macavity and pounced. Macavity, who had not been suspecting Plato to make such a sudden move, fell over onto his back under Plato's weight. His henchcats moved forward, Griddlebone at the head, but stopped when Griddlebone was hit by lightning fired by Misto. After a few seconds she got up and turned around to find Bomb, Electra, Etcy, Vicki, Tugger, Misto, Demeter, Alonzo, and Munkustrap fighting with the henchcats, and winning. "Retreat!" she yelled. The strays didn't need to be told twice, all of them ran ducking their heads trying to avoid Misto's lightning bolts. Now the only two cats left fighting were Macavity and Plato. They wee both beat up pretty badly, but it looked as though Macavity was winning. Plato was still putting up a good fight but he was beginning to slow down a little bit. Suddenly Plato was thrown to the side and laid motionless on the ground. Macavity began to advance slowly, and that's when Misto decided to intervene. He shot a lightning bolt at the ground directly in front of Macavity, knowing that his magic usually bounced off the ginger cat himself. The force of the lightning on the gro9und blew Macavity into the air and he landed some twenty feet away, got up and ran leaving no trace of evidence that he had ever been there.
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Plato slowly dragged himself to where Jemmi lay and put his arm around her, "Jemmi?" He said weakly, "are you alright?" He shook her gently, "Plato?" she whispered just as weakly. The two looked at each other, smiled and fell unconscious, Jemmi falling into Plato's arm and Plato's head falling on top of hers. "Awwwww!" Bomb, Demeter, Electra, Etcy, and Victoria cooed. "Oh Puhlease!" Tugger said in disgust, Bomb smacked him in the back of the head, "Ow!" "How are we going to get these two back to the junkyard?" Munkustrap asked. "I can take care of that," Misto said and he waved his hand muttered, "Presto!" Plato and Jemmi vanished.
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Two hours later Jemmi was having a wonderful dream. She was laying in her true loves arms, she looked up to see who this tom was when she woke up. She opened her eyes and found herself looking into Plato's sleeping face. Jemmi smiled and snuggled closer to him. His masculine arms wrapped protectively around her. She listened to his soft, steady breathing and, just before it lulled her into sleep, heard him say in his sleep, "I love you, Jemima," and she found herself replying, "I love you too, Plato." And with that she fell asleep into his arms.
A/N: That's it for this story! So, what did you think? Please Review!
Bombalurinasara: You're welcome! Thanks for reviewing! You are such a sweetheart!