Title: The Protector (9/14)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Character death
Summary: When some Jellicles are cat-napped, Munkustrap has to descend back into Monnik territory, back into his old life, and must confront his biggest fear - the truth escaping.

Roleplays:

If you're not into RPing, feel free to skip this part.

Ourjellicle (o u r j e l l i c l e s . p r o b o a r d s 5 1 . c o m ). is a normal Cats RP set after the Jellicle Ball. Currently, Macavity has taken over the junkyard, but the Jellicles escaped safely. They're enlisting the help of a crew of pirates, though, to reclaim their yard… but that decision may cause more pain than pleasure.

One of These Nights (w w w . s 8 . c r e a t e p h p b b . c o m / o n e o f t h e s e n I g h t / I n d e x . p h p ? m f o r u m (equal sign) o n e o f t h e s e n I g h t) is an AU RP where the Jellicles are human members of a band (named Jellicle). Tugger (taken) is the lead singer, with Bombalurina (taken), Alonzo, and Plato (taken) as other members, and the rest of the Jellicles helping out as friends, stage hands, special effects, etc. Munkustrap (taken by me) is the manager of the band, and his father, Deuteronomy, is a huge music mogul. Macavity (taken) leads the rival band, the Depraved. Most of the characters are still available, though. If you're interested, come on by!

The Protector

Shaking off any loose dust, Munkustrap affixed a haughty scowl on his face and looked at his reflection in a dented hubcap. Oh yes. He knew that cat.

With a swagger that was just this side of arrogant, Munkustrap stalked toward the guards that muttered to each other in boredom outside the prisoner pen, a small room where prisoners were kept when the Monniks had other things to do besides torture them. As long as the Monniks hadn't changed their routine too much (and which cat would agree to get rid of the afternoon nap?), Simbol should be in there.

Provided, of course, that he was both still alive and held prisoner by the Monniks.

As he approached, the guards slowly rose to attention and moved to block his entrance. "Sorry, cat, no one allowed in."

Munkustrap allowed his scowl to deepen as he glared at the pair. "I have permission."

The guards looked at each other and then shook their head. "Sorry, unless you got permission from Leviticus or Macavity, no one allowed in."

"It's from Macavity," Munkustrap said.

"Uh…" The guards looked at each other again. Clearly, they had never encountered this problem before. Munkustrap almost felt like cheering – he had a chance of success – except that his insides were all twisted up and cold and he felt like his heart was hammering in his chest. "We can't really… I mean… how do we know it's true…?"

Munkustrap made a disgusted sound and waved his paw. "Tch. Fine. I'll just go tell my brother that I wasn't allowed in because of incompetent guards."

"Who's your brother?" one of them asked, taking the bait perfectly.

Munkustrap arched an eyebrow at that guard. "Uh… Macavity? Who else?"

And that got the guards' attention. They laughed at him. "Macavity doesn't have a brother!"

"Yeah, yeah, he doesn't!"

Munkustrap rolled his eyes. "Ugh – are you deaf as well as dumb? Of course he does! Or have you never heard the stories of the Terror Twins?"

"Well, yeah," the first guard said. "But everyone knows Ritzkin's dead."

"Everyone "knows?"" Munkustrap laughed harshly, trying to mimic how Macavity used to laugh without directly imitating him. "Damn, but you are stupid!"

The guards looked at each other in confusion. "But... uh… we was there, when Leviticus announced… weren't you there?"

"Yeah, I was there… Leviticus said Ritzkin died."

While Munkustrap's plan had some thought put into it, his dialogue was coming mostly off the tip of his tail. He was eternally grateful that the average Monnik wasn't really all that bright… and that he had talked to the thieves a lot about the things that had happened since he had been gone. "If you were there, you must have seen Macavity, right?"

"Yeah…" Neither guard seemed to know where he was going with this.

"Think. Did he look scared or satisfied? Sad or pleased?" The thief siblings had claimed Macavity wasn't looking the least bit upset about the death of his brother – if they noticed, maybe others did too.

Of course, the thieves were more observant than most cats. If these guards hadn't noticed, Munkustrap's plan might not work out so well.

"Uh… I think he was scared?" the first one said. "I mean, his brother did just get killed and all…"

"No… wait a minute…" The second guard was frowning, his brow furrowed. He was thinking hard. "He was smirkin'. I remember that, because I thought, 'Wow, he's not afraid of nothing, not even some cat killing his brother…'"

Munkustrap almost sighed in relief – thank the Everlasting Cat that one of them noticed! "He wasn't smirking because he wasn't scared – he was smirking because he knew the truth. I wasn't dead."

"But… why would Leviticus say you was dead if you wasn't?"

Munkustrap sighed heavily and ran his paw down his face. "Ugh. Do I have to explain everything to you?" The guards nodded. Munkustrap resisted the urge to laugh – that wasn't something they were supposed to answer. With another heavy sigh, he launched into his story, the one he had thought up while pacing. "Macavity and I want to run this tribe-"

"But Leviticus-"

"Will you shut up? How do you expect to learn anything if you can't keep your mouths shut?" It was surprisingly easy, injecting venom and spite into his voice. Munkustrap was cringing at how quickly he had fallen back into Ritzkin, the Monnik brat. "We want to run this tribe when Leviticus is gone."

"Ohh…" He had the undivided attention of the guards now. If Admetus were here, this was where he'd sneak inside… but Munkustrap was doing this on his own. He'd need to get the guards to let him walk in… and to let him walk out, with Simbol. Now, to keep their attention, to keep them believing…

"We came up with this idea, see. Mac's the magic cat, and I'm the strong one, right?" The guards nodded – that part they knew. That part was in all the stories. "We pretended that I died, so that Mac could be the favorite son, the one cat Leviticus holds above all others – one cat, not two. Not me and him, just him." Another nod – this was a concept Monnik guards knew. One cat could be defended against if he tried to stab you in the back a lot more easily than two. "Now, this way, Mac gets to be Leviticus' little pet, and I go do all his dirty work. Mac never gets in trouble for killing a cat he shouldn't, but people who piss him off… they just 'happen' to go missing, or die…"

The second guard gasped loudly. "Like Tarsson? Did you make Tarsson disappear?"

Munkustrap blinked – had Macavity been doing this all along, having a "ghost" cat assassin? Silently, he sent his brother a thought of thanks – You're making this too easy for me! "Tarsson? Tarsson… Tarsson…" He let a slow, evil grin creep across his face. "Oh yes… That one…" Two gulps from the guards let him know that his charade was working. He felt a twinge of pain at being so evil, so wicked, so Monnik… but it had to be done. Just… why was it so easy?

"Wh-what do you want with us?" the first guard asked. There was a tremble to his paws now, a tremble Munkustrap had put there with words and expressions alone. No need for threats or violence… he was scary enough, apparently, without it.

"I already told you that," Munkustrap snapped back at the guard. "I need in. Mac's asked me to kill the Jellicle Protector."

The guards looked at each other. "But we was gonna have more fun with him after the nap…"

Bingo. Simbol was in there… and he was still alive! Munkustrap felt his heart pounding in his throat as he carefully laid out the next phase in his plan – the reason for why the guards should let him take Simbol. "We don't have time. Word on the street is that the Jellicles are preparing for a rush – they want their Protector back."

The guards scoffed. "We can take 'em," the second guard said.

Munkustrap shook his head. "Not this time. This time, they've called in a favor with the police dog. They've got a pack of Pollicles on their side. Not one or two… they've got twenty." This caused the guards to look at each other again. Pollicles were laughable to the Monniks – a handful of Monniks could easily bring down a lone Pollicle, or even a pair… but if you got a whole pack together…

Well, everyone knew that Pollicles worked best in large groups.

"Mac thinks we should let the Jellicles in just far enough to 'find' their Protector… already dead. So I'm gonna take him to the dumpster and slit his throat over that son of his. Won't it be a perfect ending for him, to see what he failed to protect?" Even as Munkustrap's stomach turned with the thought of Simbol dying on top of Cattivo, he forced a sneer on his face.

The guards chortled and nudged each other, grinning. Apparently, they liked the idea. "Yeah, yeah, c'mon!" They led Munkustrap in, tails waving happily.