Tugger's face immediately screwed up in pain, howling at the burning of Mungojerrie's sharp claws ripping cavernous crevasses into the muscles of his back. The agony was instantaneous, and Tugger's animal instinct kicked in at full force. He whirled around to tackle Mungojerrie to the ground, clamping sharp teeth over the Tom's right ear and ripping the thin, soft tissue as hard as he could; the slick, metallic taste of blood quickly filling his mouth.

The Jellicles reacted in chaos. Bombalurina spun around in panic only to shriek in absolute horror at the scene. Rumpleteazer broke from Exotica's grasp, screaming her brother's name as she ran towards the fight. Pouncival and Tumblebrutus rushed to join the sudden action, but also found themselves restrained by their slightly older, wiser companion Plato. Mistoffelees unwittingly sprang over the hood of the TSE1, eyes growing wide as he watched the two tom's wrestling violently on the ground.

They weren't just fighting.
They were fighting dirty.

Tugger had used the quick hold of Mungojerrie's now torn right ear as a means of restraint, enabling him to kick the calico a few times, his back hind claws sinking into the flesh of Mungojerrie's sides. The calico cried out shrilly at the sudden sting of the sharp knives digging into him. Tugger however, weakened when Jerrie clamped his claws back into the wounds on his back, ensuring he slid them deeper into the already sliced muscle. The gashes quickly covered both cats in rivers of the sticky, rusty coloured blood. Tugger jumped off of his opposition in reflex, landing a few feet away clumsily on his side. Dirt clouded around him, tears pulling at the corners of his deep gold-speckled-brown eyes as the dust made its way into the open gashes; the foreign bodies sticking messily into.

By now, the queens were screaming, the Tom's desperately trying to keep control of Mungojerrie as he attempted to pounce on Tugger a second time. The main coon had tried to lift himself off the ground, but found himself staggering in pure agony; horrifically slipping on his own pool of blood. Like a tranquilized elephant, he swayed as he attempted to stumble forward; his handsome features the epitome of torture. A few raspy inhalations of breath, and he painfully fell on his side once more, letting out a yowl that was a cross between frustration and complete anguish.

Mungojerrie struggled viciously against Plato, Mistoffelees, and now Coricopat who had joined the scrummage to separate the toms. The calico was being forcibly pinned to the ground, Rumpleteazer desperately yelling at him to stop it from his side, tears pouring out of her wide, innocent eyes. The calico ignored the burning of his ear and the throbbing of his side as he glared at the bloodied lump that was The Rum Tum Tugger.

•••••

"Sweet Heavyside!" The distinct accent of Skimbleshanks rung through the air as he and some fellow tribe members bolted after the two male kittens. Tumblebrutus and Pouncival bounded in front, having been sent by Plato for help from the elder Jellicles. Jellyorum paled as she met the scene; Alonzo skidding to a halt, the squeamish tom about to be sick from the sheer amount of lubricious blood.
"What happened?" Jennyanydots screamed in complete disgust; her tone thick with worry and terror. She rushed over to Tugger first, unable to fully comprehend the sickening state of the Main Coon. The curious cat was now taking long laboured breaths, roaring every time he tried to struggle to his feet. Adrenaline was still rushing through his system, the pace of blood flow from his long spinal slashes mimicking the fast beating of his heart. He was growling darkly at his own body's feeling of suffering and quickly growing weakness.

Bombalurina was hysterical, fighting against Exotica who had come to hold her back. Electra and Victoria had seen at least half of the fight, and Victoria, who was in shock herself, was comforting Electra, who appeared to be having a complete mental breakdown. Tantomile had been ushered over to Tugger's savage, but increasingly deteriorating form by Jennyanydots, who was having a hard time trying to look at the extent of his injuries.
"I'm going to kill him!" Tugger snarled ferociously, fire in his eyes as he made another attempt to stand. Jenny was becoming teary eyed from sheer aggravation at the Main Coon's obvious disregard for anything but the death of his rival. She was trying to calm him down and get him to stop moving around. He was losing a lot of blood. Bombalurina kept whimpering as she was held back by Exotica, desperate to clamber out of her grip to be closer to Tugger.

Mungojerrie was now beginning to calm down somewhat. The Tom's had finally pinned him down, facing away from the Rum Tum Tugger, Plato holding down his back legs as Coricopat sat on his torso. Mungojerrie let an uncharacteristic smirk envelop his features, ignoring his own injuries. In a twisted way, he felt victorious at the sound of Tugger's agonized groans. He caught his sister's eye and felt his mind go blank. His calico twin was gaping at him in shock…shame…disappointment. Rumpleteazer locked eyes with her brother, giving him a stern gaze of anger. Mungojerrie didn't feel as triumphant as before, suddenly becoming aware of the sniffs and wails of fellow Jellicles echoing around him.

"Tugger! Stay still you bloody pollicle!" Jenny hissed dangerously; Tugger finally weak enough to be overpowered by Mistoffelees, Skimbleshanks and herself. The Main Coon was now merely moaning, pain had enveloped his entire being. Tugger winced and howled with every touch, making everyone else cringe with him. Jenny's face softened as she tentatively touched the long, jagged ridges of the open injuries.
"Bomba…where's Bomba?" He hissed as Jenny tried to touch him gently on the shoulder; one of the spots where Mungojerrie had re-entered his claws to dig deeper into his muscle. The wounds had stopped gushing torrents of blood, but the dark red, exposed meat of his back was still wet and bleeding in some places. Mistoffelees was the only one to respond to Tugger's request. He slowly moved away from the aching maned tom, careful not to touch him. He spotted the absolutely broken form of Bombalurina stop squirming in Exotica's comforting grip.

The tuxedoed conjurer approached the queens, catching Exotica's gaze before using his eyes to motion over to Alonzo, who had stayed where he was and was now throwing up in a pile of rags. She shot her mate a worried look, passing Bombalurina over to Mistoffelees as she rushed to attend to Alonzo. Mistoffelees stood quietly, merely holding the whimpering scarlet queen, not really knowing anything that could help. A flitting thought to the very truth of the collar, its owner's agenda and how it got to be in Tugger's den passed through his conscious, but he decided against telling her now. She'd suffered enough hadn't she? The last thing she needed was to be told Mungojerrie was wrong, Tugger was innocent, and all of this was in vain. He would tell her, but later.

•••••

Demeter crept from her den, finally pleased she had been able to coax Munkustrap into at least resting. He hadn't gotten any better since yesterday, but he hadn't gotten much worse. Her patience was beginning to wear rather thin with him lately, and she found herself stressed at the sudden overload of responsibilities. She wasn't a generally organised queen, and the sudden weight of the junkyard's safety (which she basically shared now, along with Alonzo and Admetus) was taking its toll. Demeter sat down outside the den that overlooked the junkyard, becoming frozen with fear at the scene before her. Blood splattered on the ground in the centre of the junkyard, the poignant smell starting to drift into the higher air. Snapping from her sudden paralysis, she sprinted down the precarious mountain of junk, praying to the Heavyside no one was dead. She was starting to blame herself; she was supposed to protect everyone while Munkustrap was sick, and yet instead she was Munkustrap, up in their den high above the junk where she couldn't hear what was happening below, when everyone obviously needed her more.

She skidded past Alonzo, who's sight merely angered her further. He was elected to take over his brother's duties, and yet he was throwing up instead of helping? Pushing back that nasty voice in her mind, she slowed down to arrive in front of the silent Mungojerrie held down against the dirt and nearly everyone weeping over the injured Tugger. Instinctively, she ran to Jennyanydots for details.
"Bloody boys…got into a huge argument. I have yet to find out what it was abo- TUGGER! STOP MOVING! YOU'LL MAKE IT WORSE!" Jenny shrieked at him, completely stressed out as some of the previously dry patches in his wounds began to bleed again. Demeter's fur bristled as she accidentally wet her foot with Tugger's blood. Repressing memories of that fateful ball, she gritted her teeth.

What had they been fighting over! They were ruining what Munkustrap, and now what she, had tried to enforce! The stupid bickering had gone far enough to seriously injure each other, something that would surely jeopardize everyone if Macavity happened to strike! Heavyside only knows if word had travelled to him that Munkustrap, the Jellicle protector had fallen ill, and his goofy brother had taken over his authorities.

"Tantomile! Fetch some water dear…someone go to my den and get…" Jenny's voice faded as Demeter's head began to spin in confusion. She began to only catch bits and pieces of all the chaos surrounding her. Jellicles hysterical, running and crying everywhere around her.
"It was all that Mongrel's fault! He was trying to get away with everything!"
"Hold still!"
"Stop fighting and calm down…"
"It was a cheap shot anyways! Getting me from behind when I wasn't watc-ARGH!"
"I didn't mean too! It was Etcetera! All of it!"
"Oh Rumpus Cat…someone get some more water for it!"
"Calm down…" She could identify that as Plato trying to restrain Mungojerrie as he began his struggles again.
"Calm down!" A second voice chided Electra, trying to stop the kitten's frenzy.
"…Calm down..." Another voice soothed, sounding like Mistoffelees from somewhere behind her, accompanied by some soft snivelling.

Demeter suddenly screamed in irritation. She would not calm down. Pouncival was behind her when she whipped around, glaring daggers at him. The poor kitten nearly crumbled under her intense stare, already trembling from witnessing all the blood and the fighting.
"Who started it!" Demeter raged, suddenly not the calm, patient queen she always was. Conveniently, Cassandra was behind the golden queen, who was merely watching the scene as it played out, heard her interrogation of the kitten and decided to make herself scarce, running back to her den to remove herself from any allegations. Pouncival continued to crumble under her piercing gaze. He found that the entire retelling of the fiasco just tumbled out of his mouth incoherently. Her eyes seemed to spark in anger as she picked up on certain points. Bombalurina! It was her fault! Her own sister!

"Mistoffelees! Let me go I have to see them…" Bombalurina had quit her whimpering, and had begun to struggle against the rather small tom, who was having trouble restraining her. Demeter's head snapped to the source of the cry. She stared angrily at her sister, stomping up to her just as she escaped from the conjurer's arms, meeting her halfway.

"Dear everlasting cat Bombi! Haven't you done enough!" Demeter's shrill cry shocked even herself, the bitterness seeming to rise up out of the usually passive queen. "If you weren't such a whore this wouldn't have happened in the first place!"

•••••

A hush fell over the Jellicles as Demeter quickly fell into herself again, clamping a paw over her mouth in shock. What had she just said? Had she really just said that to her sister? Mungojerrie quickly fought against the cats sitting on top of him, rolling just enough to see the damage he, Tugger, and now Demeter, had caused to the scarlet beauty. The sobs from Electra and Victoria had quietened. Coricopat and Tantomile were no longer humming to themselves in some sort of prayer. Even Jenny stopped dabbing Tugger's deep gashes with water in shock.

"Oh…" Bombalurina didn't even try to fight the tears. There was no use. "Is that what I am to everyone…just some floozy who prances around the Junkyard trying to cause hurt, just for fun?" Her voice quavered, Demeter's eyes wide as she remained in her position, hardly believing this was actually happening. "Cause I didn't mean to! I didn't want this to happen….I just…I just….I wanted to feel like someone loved me for once." Bombs hiccupped
"We do love you…" Demeter whispered to her sister, but it was muffled by the paw still clamped over her muzzle.
"…Like I wasn't just some queen who couldn't find a Tom…" Bombalurina continued, quivering slightly. She sniffed slightly as she gave her sister a final, lost look. "Like someone loved me the way that Munkustrap loves you." Bombs trailed off in a whisper, using her own sister as an example, not knowing how else to explain it. Demeter remained frozen, unable to even twitch a whisker. She knew her sister was hurting all these years, she knew what she longed for, she knew how she craved for a Tom to care…and Demeter realised she'd just thrown it all back in her sister's face.

Bombalurina felt her paws shaking as she stood there, everyone staring at her. The only sounds she could hear were of her own sharp, grief stricken breaths, and of Tugger's half-conscious moans in the background.
She couldn't take it anymore.
She couldn't stand the guilt she felt, thinking it was truly her fault Mungojerrie has lashed out at Tugger. Her fault that the Junkyard had become torn in their own loyalties, not knowing to believe Tugger or Mungojerrie. She felt her own guilt at perhaps she was the reason she was unable to find a mate. It was her fault.

And so she ran. She ran sprinting off as fast as she could, lungs burning from her crying. She ran, ignoring the shouts of her name from Mistoffelees as she ran past him. She ignored the pain in her head and her heart, and just ran aimlessly out of the Junkyard's front gates, out onto the busy city street.
She ran without thinking.
It hurt too much to think.

DRAMATIC IS IT NOT?

I am literally posting this JUST as I finished typing it. I did a quick skim over everything, but I didn't edit it properly because I was just SO excited to get this up. Sadly, it is the SECOND LAST CHAPTER OF THE SERIES!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

Honestly I can't. I just want to give an early thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers out there who have been so kind and supportive. I really have had only the most wonderful reviews, full of wonderful constructive feedback and many error point outs (you know who you are people, and thanks for the embarassment! Haha!)

Anyways, the last chapter will hopefully, be just as mind-numbing as this one. It should deal with:

- The aftermath of the fight.
- Something horrific...
- The division of the Junkyard (who's on who's side?)
- What happens to Bombs when she's running. (there have been little clues throughout the series, but they have been subtle.)

Anyways, I shouldn't give the game away. PLEASE REVIEW! It will motivate me to write the last chapter, and perhaps the first of the sequel. I will announce the name of the sequel in the last chapter.

Also, reviewer question: Should I post the last chapter as soon as it's done, or on my birthday since I made YSMMS exactly 21 chapters in length (yes, the beggining info is considered a chapter...) and my birthday is on the 21st? LET ME KNOW!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I hope you are positively quivering with antici...PATION for the final installment of this series/ the first installment of the sequel.

Maddy

(PS: I updated my profile - so please go read! I have also now offered my services in Beta-reading. Just putting it out there... )

Bombalurina wants YOU to join the reviewer army!

Enlist at a purple button near you!