Okk, I haven't even started a chapter 4 yet but I'll try to have it up for next week :) This chapter kinda made me feel bad for Tugger :( But I figured that it was time to torture someone besides Quaxo, though Munkustrap is getting a lot of this angst :( Poor guy.

Ahahaaaa... You guy smake me laugh xD I was kidding about the whole "fight to the death..." and all that! I have something planned for Misto, trust me :} You honestly didn't think I was going to let him off that easily did you!

Also, our fellow CATS fan and friend of mine Pilali is very sick and is in the hospital :( She's not doing so great and I fear for her. Hopefully she makes it out alright and can come back to us. Please keep her in your prayers.


"Where are they?" Jennyanydots asked as she, Skimble, and Admetus marched into the buzzing clearing. Her answer was quickly answered when she saw the quiet, saddened mass of cats outside her and Skimble's den. She sped towards the crate that made up her home, bracing herself in the process. She was distracted when she saw Victoria sobbing on the ground beneath the cardboard covered window, Bombalurina, Demeter and the kittens were comforting her quietly with gentle, careful words.

"It's going to be OK, dear," Jenny put a paw on the queen as she tried to choke back sobs; they came out as ugly, chopped groans in her ungraceful attempt to stop the heavy flow of emotion, looking up at the wise queen with hopeful eyes. Jenny gave the others a quick nod, almost a uncontrolled jerk of the chin, before turning into the ominous door of her den.

She gasped when she saw Munkustrap and Jellylorum tending to a barely conscious Quaxo, their expressions grim as the sight before them. Just by looking at the crimsom soaked tom she could tell that Quaxo had lost a lot of blood and that his chances of survival were slipping out their hands like sand. A wave of apprehension passed over her when she saw Munkustrap huddled form by his head, whispering words of encouragement; she gave the tabby a quick pat on the back as she took a glance at the black kit's face. He was staring up wildly at his guardian, his dulled blue eyes concentrated with dedication solely on the older tom while Jellylorum tended to his major wounds as best she could.

Giving a small prayer to the Everlasting Cat, she knelt next to Munkustrap and began cleaning the deep gouges that allowed a continuous flow of blood to ooze out rapidly and flood his chest fur.

"Munkustrap," Jenny said after a few minutes. "I think we're going to have to take more drastic measures."

The Rum Tum Tugger sat outside of Jenny's den with the other cats, waiting for some word on his friend's condition. He and Quaxo were always pretty close after their rocky start when he was a tiny kitten; he had adopted an easygoing, laid back big brother approach while Munkustrap was more of a father to the little furball. He knew that Munkustrap didn't appeal to his method of helping to raise him but that was the only way Tugger knew how to connect withthe tiny tyrant, so they became close friends.

Alonzo sat next to the door, securing a perimeter around the entrance so no nosy cats could listen in or prevent the cats inside from getting out. He stareddown at the ground sadly, tossing glances at a distressed Victoria every now and again; needless to say she wasn't taking the pressure very well. Tugger got up and walked over to the black and white tom, Alonzo opened his mouth to tell Tugger to get back but was cut off when the mane coon spoke out first.

"Did you find him?" Alonzo blinked for a minute before shaking his head no, he didn't meet the golden eyes of the flirt. "Do you know where he found Quaxo?"he asked, hoping for a more complex answer than simple head movements.

"I'm not sure, Tugger. I think it was in the west end, I couldn't say really," he responded with slight agitation; he didn't have time to deal with Tugger's silly questions, it certainly wasn't appropriate.

Tugger's jaw tensed at the response. "You can't remember where Munkustrap found him? No idea?" Tugger pressed. Alonzo rolled his eyes as he went over where he met up with the two earlier.

"I think it was by the old trailer, not too far from there at least," he responded before stealing a glance at Victoria who sat near the window on the oppositeside of the door. His eyes snapped back to Tugger when an errand thought flickered in his mind. "Isn't that close to your den?" he asked, a slight tone of accusation laced his voice. Many of the nearby cats turned to face the leopard spotted tom who sported a look of shock and guilt. His better mind told him to say nothing and keep his mouth shut, locking his clenched jaw in place.

"Yeah." He finally said, his jaw releasing its vice grip on his tongue. "My den's near there," he muttered. Many in the group gasped slightly or bowed their heads in shame; glad they weren't in his shoes.

"And you didn't hear him?" Victoria cried out. Her voice was slightly shrill from trying not to sob or completely snap on the maine coon. Tugger shook his head no. "You were right there, Tugger!" she raged. He knew that she had every right to be upset right now and was probably just venting, but she still didn't need to rub it in. Beyond popular belief, Tugger did have a heart and cared about everyone in one way or another. Sure he slept with all the queens and used them for his personal gain, it didn't mean that he didn't care for them.

"I didn't hear him either," Cassandra spoke up, trying to cover for her evening companion. A snarl of disgust broke out from one of the angered Jellicles,others snorted as it was no surprise that he was with a queen.

"Maybe he didn't scream!" Tugger blurted out, a young child making up excuses for his parents, a roar of anger rung in the clearing and a 'We should beat the living daylights out of him and see if he screams' called out by an unknown speaker. The sentence contracted in his stomach violently, making him wince.

"Maybe he heard him but was too afraid to do anything, I know I would be," sweet, young Jemima offered.

"Scared or not, he should still have done something," Asparagus chimed in from his place next to a shaking Pouncival. "Quaxo would've at least tried to help if it were Tugger who was being attacked." The crowd nodded in agreement. By this time, most of the Jellicles were mainly venting out their fears and agitation over the situation. They needed someone to take the blame for this crime; someone that they could easily attack, Tugger fit the bill because he was the closest one to the scene. No one wanted to admit, though they all secretly knew, that the blame could not be placed on any one person but a series of unfortunate events that somehow got tangled into this one big mess of a disaster.

"Well I'm not Quaxo!" Tugger was furious; it wasn't his fault that Macavity had decided to come to the junkyard, it wasn't his fault that Quaxo was out alone, it wasn't his fault that he couldn't hear the little tux's screams... if he managed any. He knew that none of this was his fault, though he still couldn't help but feeling as though he held some responsibility.

"Now neither is Quaxo," Victoria muttered soberly. The crowd went silent at the queen's words; what she had said was probably true, their magician would never be the same. Tugger broke the silence with a loud sigh before shoving past Alonzo into Jenny's den.

Once inside, he was met with the sight of Jennyanydots taking an electric razor to Quaxo's stained chestfur, Munkustrap was supporting his chest as she buzzed along the border black and white fur. Jellylorum was bandaging his already shaven leg, she did a double take in Tugger's direction when she heard a light gasp.

"What are you doing?" he practically yelled. Quaxo had been so insane over keeping his coat nice and proper, he would never have imagined him letting Jenny shave it off without a fight. The other cats paused to steal a glance at him; their eyes revealed their remorse over the desecration of his esteemed coat.

"We had to, Tugger," Munkustrap croaked, he looked horrible as he watched Tugger's face cautiously. Tugger also took pride in his long coat, he was probably the one who taught Quaxo to be so obsessive with his hygenic habits, so naturally he would have a bigger issue over the insult this added to the young tux's injury.

"If he keeps his fur the wounds could become infected. Besides, his white fur was beyond repair, he would have to have it shaven off anyways," Jenny explained to the downed cat. Could he have prevented this too?

"What about winter?" Tugger spoke up, this was obviously not an issue before Jenny brought out the clippers. "He already has a hard time as it is with his short fur." She removed the razor for a moment as she pondered his question; her brow furrowed in thought for but a brief moment.

"I don't know, Tugger," she admitted. "What I do know is that this is safer for him; it's what's in his best interest." She offered a somewhat, though obviously feigned, reassuring smile before bringing the razor back to life and resumed with her task.

"So what exactly happened?" Tugger muttered as he watched the last of the cottony, snow white fur fall from the unconscious tux's body. No one answered, for they saw no need when he spotted the bloodied mess on the sheet near his tail. He inhaled deeply, holding back a very un-Tugger-like flow of emotion. Not knowing what else to do he walked over to Munkustrap's side.

He knelt beside him and stroked the black head fur gently as Jenny started to disinfect and bandage the deep gouges on Quaxo's chest and back, the scratches on his back were shallow and bening so it went unscathed by Jenny's cutters. Tugger stared sadly at the tux's sleep-like features, his eyes were moist from all the crying and pain, his face was caked with sweat and dirt and light blue and purple spots started to leak through his thin, white face fur.

Tugger glanced at Munkustrap, whose eyes were downcast as he watched his adoptive son lay oblivious to the damage brought upon his tiny, fragile body. He swiped at his cheeks when fat tears crept down his face, he had to be strong for Quaxo.

"He's just a kitten," Munkustrap whispered to no one in particular. This caused a small pang in the company's hearts, the young tux probably had no clue what sex was; neither Munkustrap nor Tugger ever really saw the need to speak to him about it, he showed no interest in the subject so they saw no real reason to explain it to him. They could only imagine the confusion and fear that Quaxo endured, and had yet to suffer.

Jenny gave a huge sigh as she straightened up from her work. "He should be good for now. We'll need to change his bandages every now and again but the worst is over."

"Not even," Tugger muttered, still looking down at the unmoving kitten. Silence was all that followed, the room was still as death itself.

"Think we should let Victoria in now? She's probably been tearing out her fur this whole time," Munkustrap asked vacantly, not really caring about the white queen much.

"Think she can handle it?" Tugger asked in response as he raised his eyes to look at his silver brother. Munkustrap just shrugged in response; never taking his eyes off the victimized tom in his arms. They sat in silence as the older queens cleaned up and left to wash Quaxo's blood from their paws and fur, Tugger glanced at Munkustrap when he made several attempts to speak.

"Maybe, if I had decided to start at the west gate-" the tabby's voice was shaky and heavy with guilt. Cracking under the reservoir of emotions he blocked out to be strong for Quaxo.

"Munkustrap, don't you dare think for a minute that this was your fault!" Tugger scolded his older brother sternly, he could see the tears pooling in this deep brown eyes.

"But I was suppose to be taking care of him! I was suppose to be protecting him from that monster... I was trying so hard to be the father Macavity couldn't be, look what happened! Am I any better than he is for letting this happen?" Munustrap's rage was slowly seeping through his armor, his heroic bravado losing control over his emotions. This was personal, no one messed with Quaxo without having to deal with Munkustrap's wrath. Tugger could only stare at the defeated tabby as he held the only child he knew close to him.

"It wasn't only your fault, Munkus," Tugger spoke softly. "I was closest to him, I could have done something. If I wasn't with Cassie, then I could have heard him. If I-"

"There's nothing you could have done but got yourself killed, it wasn't your fault, Tug," Munkustrap stated. Oddly enough, this reassured the maine coon somewhat. He knew that none of this was his fault, he just needed someone else to see it too to justify his innocence. Another long silence fell between them; it seemed that, in silence, they could escape the heavy haze of guilt, fear, uncertainty, and ignore the loss of innocence, if only for a second. They searched for such release while they listened to Quaxo's deep and laboured breathing.

"You'll have to wait until Munkustrap speaks to you," they heard Jennyanydots' response to one of the tribe members. A small glance passed between Tugger and Munkustrap.

"What are you going to tell them?" his voice rested just above a whisper, what he decided to reveal to the Jellicles could quite possibly destroy Quaxo's future in the tribe.

"The truth," he responded simply, his light brown gaze following Tugger's motions as he absently pulled at his leg fur. "They need to know how dangerous Macavity is, they need to be aware of what he's capable of; and if them knowing could save a couple accidents with Quaxo along the way then maybe it's for the best."

"Bast, you think the whole tribe needs to know what he's been through? This isn't just getting in a scuffle with the wrong cat; this was..." he faultered at the word, rape. It felt unreal, like this was just something he heard of on the tele in his human's home; none of that was real... right?. None of this was real, he would get up in the morning and find Quaxo fishing by the pond. Nothing would have changed.

"They don't need to know all the details, not that we could really give them any, they just need to be aware. They have a right to know."

Tugger wanted to talk back, if it were he in Quaxo's place he surely wouldn't appreciate the whole tribe knowing about this; he would have everyone think that he was roughed up by a scraggly alley queen before having anyone think he was raped. The defeated look on the tabby's face and the pained glaze in his eyestold him that for once in his life he should keep his comments to himself.

Munkustrap heaved a great sigh before handing the tiny tux to the Rum Tum Tugger; reluctantly releasing his hold on the exposed youth and climbing to his feet.

"I should get this over with before it gets too hard," he muttered to himself, turning to the door as he gathered what was left of his courage to face the anxious mass waiting outside. The door groaned sadly as closed behind the silver cat. Tugger looked to the sleeping form in his arms, bending down to give his shoulder a soft nuzzle.

"I'm so sorry Quax," he whispered into his black headfur as he gingerly hugged the tux closer to himself, praying desperately that this was just one twisted nightmare. He listened to the diluted reactions of their peers as Munkustrap explained to them what happened, he covered the youth's ears in hopes of blocking out his sister's mournful sobs and cries.


Poor Quaxo :( Hopefully things'll turn around for him... Though I doubt it ;) JKS!

Also, I am to address the controversy of the Tugger and Misto/Quaxo being related. Them being related or not is completely up to your interpretation of the content. I suggested that they were related because in my interpretation they are nephew and uncle. I didn't fully acknowledge or make direct references between them, and I won't, because I understand that there are people who would find this uncomfortable... though you are reading a story where a teenager was raped by his father so the incest shock shouldn't be as huge with this little quirk.

Questions, comments, concerns are welcome :) Reviews are good too, *jigg*