One night ago

Admetus licked the last bit of catnip from his paws. Then he just sniffed the traces of it and frowned, muttering angrily to himself "Damn it. That crap didn't last as long as I hoped it would."

"Well, well, well; disappointed, aren't we, Admetus?" a dark voice pierced the silence from the shadows.

Admetus jumped and looked around the area. He squinted his eyes to make out who had spoken to him. As he looked in all directions, he demanded "Who's there?"

Joker stepped out of the shadows so that Admetus could get a good look at him.

"You!" Admetus hissed, unsheathing his claws. He tried hard to focus on the cat in front of him, but his intoxicated state made this action somewhat difficult. He just glared at the ginger cat and snarled "What are you doing here, Macavity?"

Joker chuckled at the younger tom's reaction and said "Easy there, big boy…I'm not who you think I am."

Admetus took a step back and said "What the hell are you talking about? I know you are Macavity. I may be inebriated, but I'm not stupid… Now leave this place at once!"

Joker smirked and told him "I'm not Macavity… although, unfortunately, I share similarities in appearance with him. I'm his older and, I might add, much more talented half-brother Joker… I am the true 'Hidden Paw.'"

"Macavity didn't have a brother named Joker; his only half-brothers are Rum Tum Tugger and Munkustrap!" Admetus said, still not taking his eyes off of Macavity…..or Joker as he called himself.

"That is true; Tugger and Munkustrap are related to Macavity. They share the same father, but not the same mother," the ginger cat enlightened him, "Old D had a little fling outside the Junkyard a few times with a cat known as Griddlebone, which resulted in both me and Macavity. There, now that we've clarified that, I have a proposition for you."

"And what would that be?" Admetus glared at him, still keeping his guard up.

Joker took out a huge bag full of pure catnip. Admetus' eyes expanded widely and he lunged for the bag, but Joker jumped out of the way and levitated into the air. He smiled and said "Easy, big boy; the only way you're going to get this is if you help me with something"

Admetus kept on jumping, trying to get to the catnip. He asked frantically "What? What do you want?"

Joker enlightened him "My little brother helped two prisoners of mine escape. You would know them as Blaire and Jade. He plans to bring them back in hopes of getting accepted back into the Jellicle Tribe. You see, I am not sure where he's hiding them, but I do know that Munkustrap came to you to ask for your assistance in his endeavor to rescue them. I also know that he doesn't know that I no longer have them, and I want it to stay that way. You bring them to me, I'll give you this."

Joker tossed the bag to Admetus who gladly took it and opened it, giving its contents a deep sniff. Joker smiled at the pathetic tom and said "And so much more."

Admetus licked his paws and said "So you want me to betray Munkustrap and my tribe… for, what a few pounds of catnip? …I can go elsewhere to get it."

Joker returned to the ground and told him "Catnip isn't the only thing you'll get for helping me. A cat that's addicted to catnip isn't so popular among the queens right?"

Admetus frowned and looked away as Joker went on "Ha! I struck a chord I see. Well, I have queens ready to throw themselves at a tom with your…umm…stature"

Admetus thought for a few moments, and then he asked "All I have to do is bring Munkustrap to you?" Joker nodded, holding out his paw. Finally, Admetus shook it and told him "Fine, I'll do it"

The Next Day…

Munkustrap was pacing back and forth in front of the tire. Admetus had instructed him to gather the toms, and he was long ready to move out. Munkustrap gazed at the toms he had selected for this mission, and he desperately hoped he had made the right choice in picking Admetus to help him get the kittens back.

"So Munks, you dragged me out of bed and for what, to sit under the stars?" Tugger mumbled, sitting with Plato and Alonzo, Munkustrap's right-hand man.

"No, Tugger, you're going to help us retrieve Jade and Blaire," Alonzo enlightened him.

"Ok, then what are we sitting around for?" inquired the Maine Coon impatiently.

Munkustrap sighed; sometimes his brother could be very cynical. He told him "Not everyone is here yet. We're just waiting on one more to join our party."

Alonzo stood up and walked over to Munkustrap. He asked him "Well, who is it? We already have the best of the best gathered here." Giving Tugger a look, he added "Well…with one exception"

Tugger sneered in return.

"Umm…It's Admetus," Munkustrap said under his breath.

That received some complaints from the group, such as: "He's nipped! He's not going to help us." "You can't trust him!" "He's going to be even more useless then Tugger."

Munkustrap raised his paws in attempt to silence the group. When that didn't work he put a paw in his mouth and gave a loud whistle, which did work. He told the others "Listen, I know he is far from the best, but he knows his way through the town and he's reliable enough. My decision is final on this matter."

"Aww Munkus, I didn't know you cared so much," Admetus said, coming around the corner with a smug grin on his face.

"Shut up, nip-face!" Tugger snapped at him.

"My, my… someone isn't an early bird," Admetus replied, chuckling "Now let's get moving. We're burning daylight."

He took off to the gate. But he quickly paused and turned back, as no one had moved.

"We don't take orders from you" Tugger said "We have a tribe leader for that."

Admetus shot a look at Munkus, who ran a paw through his head fur and told everyone "I put Admetus in charge of the party."

Before anyone could complain again Admetus clapped his paws together and announced "Ok, like I said, daylight is wasting away."

With a final few unhappy words the toms took off after Admetus.

A few hours later, it was nightfall. The Rescue party had decided to make camp and get some rest.

Admetus woke up with a jolt, and found himself looking into the face of Joker. He was about to open his mouth to shout something when Joker placed one of his sharpened claws at Admetus' neck. He threatened him "Say a word and I slit your throat."

Admetus remained silent. A smirk grew on Joker's face. He said "Good boy." He patted Admetus' head and walked around the clearing, inspecting the members of the rescue parties. "So this is the rescue party. Munkustrap is looking good, kept in shape I see."

Admetus wiped the dirt off of his fur and said "He IS the Jellicle leader you know, he has a whole tribe to look after."

"No matter; he won't be too much of a challenge for me," Joker dismissed this fact, "Now, remember our little arrangement: you bring them to me and I'll give you everything you want."

Admetus mumbled something under his breath, and Joker glared at him, demanding "What did you say?"

"Nothing, sir." Admetus recoiled.

"Good, now you guys are almost at the border of my territory," Joker explained, "I will have my henchcats ready to hold you off until you get close to my warehouse and then we'll strike… Until next time, my friend" Joker gave a little wave and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Munkustrap opened his eyes and stretched. He noticed that the group "leader" was awake and asked him "Admetus, what are you doing up?"

"Nothing, Munkus, I was just checking on the fire," Admetus lied, "the fumes were starting to emanate less heat, so I thought I would check on it."

"Ok," Munkustrap nodded, "but get some rest."

Admetus slowly lowered himself back to the ground and laid there. He felt many mixed emotions going through his mind at the same time. One part of him felt some guilt about going through with this plan. Another part made him focus on the reward he would receive if he went through with what the plan. Unfortunately, he was not good at making personal decisions. All he could do at the moment was rest.

At that same time, Macavity's group had just arrived outside the Jellicle Junkyard.

Macavity paced along the border of the Junkyard, waiting impatiently for a certain queen to arrive.

"Mac, Is that you?" he turned to see Trista walking hurriedly towards him.

"Hey, Trista," he replied, embracing her closely.

"I've missed you," she smiled, returning the hug, not wanting to let him go. "How was the journey? Did you get into my warehouse safely?"

"Yes, thank you," he replied gratefully, "I was able to let them rest without having to be on guard. But a couple of times, I had a peculiar sensation that we were being followed."

When he saw the worried expression across her face, he put his paw on her shoulder reassuringly and told her "Don't worry, I did a double-take and I saw nothing. But I did see Munkustrap, along with Tugger, Alonzo, Plato and Admetus in the forest."

Trista informed him "They were organizing a search party. What are you going to do now? They're out looking for you. They'll try to hunt you down."

Macavity told her more of his plan: "I still plan on bringing the kittens home, that way I can try and talk to my father. The rescue party will most likely return saddened when they can't find anything, but when they see the kittens have been safely returned home, I will explain everything. I'm hopeful that that will be enough for me to be welcomed back into the tribe."

He kissed her check and said "Now, go back. I don't want anyone noticing that you're not in the Yard."

She sighed "Fine, I'll see you, tom. Stay safe."

With that, she slipped through the gates and went back into the Yard.