Thankyou HopelessRomantic and Shegorulz I'm very glad you liked the first chapters.
And I've said it before but it bears repeating. I own cats. Two of them to be precise and one nearly worn out copy of the DVD.
Oh and I changed it to Mistoffollees from Quaxo as he is the "Magical Mr. Mistoffollees" after all.
Anyway. On with the story.
…..
"It's Macavity!"
Munk looked at the hissing Tanto, confused. "What? You mean that Mac did this?"
"NO you idiot. THAT IS MACAVITY!" Tanto pointed a paw at the motionless figure on the bed.
Munkunstrap immediately took charge and herded Tantomile, Jennyanydots and Jellylorum over to the door of the den, closely watching the wounded cat. He knew that even Macavity shouldn't be able to do anything in his state, but his estranged brother had surprised them in the past.
"Don't be silly, Munkunstrap" said Jelly, shrugging off Munks retraining paws. "I've doped him up so much he's practically comatose. He's no threat to anyone at the moment."
"Good" said the grey tabby and called out the door to the black and white bi-colour Tom who was his second in command. "Alonzo. Get in here." The bi-colour tom entered the den.
"Alonzo, grab the sheet. We'll dump him back where we found him. With luck he'll wake up in time to die the miserable death he deserves" was the order from Munk.
"You can't do that" protested Jenny and Jelly.
"Oh can't we" hissed Munkunstrap. "Just watch me."
Jenny pled with Alonzo while Jelly tried to reason with Munk, "Alonzo, you can't let him do this."
"Munkunstrap. Don't sink to this. I know you hate him but don't let him do this to you. If you leave him out there to die then it's no better than murder" Remonstrated the older queen.
At the word, Murder, Munkunstrap flinched, it was a murder that revealed exactly how insane his brother had become, leading the tribe to the actions they had to take.
"Fine" he snarled. "Keep it until it dies, but no one goes near it until it then. There's going to be guards in here every second and nobody is to be in here alone.
"Alonzo!" the tom looked over still confused about what just happened. "You stay here and watch, it. I will send you some magical help shortly."
"Tanto. You come with me" Munkunstrap stormed out of the medical den with the mystic queen at his heels. "Get your brother and Misto here now. I want some sort of shield over the den while that thing is in there. Cut him off from his magic if you can."
"They're already on their way" she replied.
Back in the medical den, Alonzo was still staring at the door his normally calm and controlled boss had stormed through. He shook himself lightly and turned back to Jennyanydots.
"What the hell just happened in here?"
…..
An hour later Cori, Tanto and Misto had set up a psychic shield over the medical den and Cori and Tanto were inside watching the Jenny fussing with her patient.
"You know that Munk doesn't want anyone touching him, Jenny" said Cori.
"I don't really care what Munk said dear" she replied absently. "I was the one to wipe his nose and chang his diapers when he was a kitten. I'm not going to listen to him now, when he's not making sense."
"Not making sense Jenny? Don't forget, that thing your caring for" Cori pointed at the cat on the bed "is Macavity! Who knows what twisted plan he's hatched up this time?"
"Well. Why don't you find out then?" was the reply from the medical cat. "Tanto can read minds, we all know that, and you can keep her grounded."
The twins looked at each other, "we can do that - What if he takes over - but we need to know."
Tanto looked back at the figure on the bed."I'm willing to try. But we need to get Munk to say yes."
"Are you going to be ok here for a minute? I'll go get him" and the queen ducked out at a nod from her brother.
"Munk, Munkunstrap!" she called as she approached the TSE-1 wreck.
"I'm here Tantomile." A voice said from behind her.
She jumped in fright, still a bit twitchy from the events of the night. "Don't do that" she complained to the protector. "You scared the hell out of me."
Munkunstrap chuckled briefly as he exited the pipe he shared with Demeter and their kittens, Jemima and Rumpleteaser. (A/N.Yes I decided that Teaser and Jem were sisters last night after watching the dvd. The facial and fur patterns around the head and movements are just too similar between the three of them not to be related.) "It's not often that I can sneak up on you or your brother Tanto." Before he remembered where all the twins mystic power was currently directed, which sobered him up quickly.
"We need to talk to you Munk. Cori and myself, together I mean" explained the queen.
"Fine" grumped Munk. He clearly didn't want to re-enter the medical den with its current occupant. "Lead on."
The two of them entered the den.
"Jenny I told you to not to touch him" was the first thing out of Munkunstrap's mouth when they walked into the treatment room.
"Phish" said Jenny. "You didn't seriously expect me to listen to that rubbish. I know you better than that" and she continued changing the bandages.
Munkunstrap growled under his breath, but had to admit that she did actually know him better than that, he was already regretting his reactions to the news that the mortally wounded cat on the bed was his insane brother. He'd been remembering their kithood and how much they'd loved each other before Macavities insanity manifested and he'd escaped the Asylum they'd been forced to put him in.
"We need to find out what happened, Munk" said Coriphant, "but with him in a coma we can't ask him in the traditional way. What we want to try is for Tantomile to read his mind again."
"No. It's too dangerous" the protector butted in.
"We must do this Munkunstrap" assured Tanto. "For something to be able to do, this" she pointed to Macavity, "we need to know who, when and how. It could be a danger to the tribe and we need to know. With Cori here to link and ground me I will be in no danger."
Munkunstrap considered the two psychic siblings. He really did need to know how this had happened to The Hidden Paw and what impact it may have on the tribes' security. He sighed, "Do it, but I want Misto, Tugger and Alonzo here as well in case anything, unexpected happens."
"Tugger?" questioned Tanto warily at the mention of her mate.
"Yes. Tugger. He's another link to you if something goes wrong and he'd kill me if he wasn't told what you are going to try" stated Munkunstrap, and then added in a quieter tone, "and Mac was his brother too."
Munkunstrap left to get the other three cats and tell them what was going on, returning shortly with the trio. Tugger immediately rushed to his mate, "are you sure of this Tanto?" he asked peering into her eyes.
"I'm sure. We need to know" replied the queen. "We need to know how this happened."
Tugger wrapped her up in his arms, "I won't let anything happen to you. I am here and I won't let you go" surprising everyone in the den with his attitude, so clearly different from his usual ways, everyone bar the twins who already know how much the Maine Coon loved his quiet little mate.
He let out a big sigh, "Ok let's do this" and released Tantomile.
Cori took Tantomiles paw in his and she placed her other paw on the forehead of Macavity.
"His barriers are still there, but lower than before. It must be the drugs" Tanto relayed.
"Ah here we are I can get in through here. Cori keep tight hold. I'm through. It's chaos in here but I'll see what I can find. Forgive me but I need to concentrate. I won't be long" Tantomile fell silent, a small frown creasing her brow the only sign of the difficulty of her task.
As the silence swept on through the den, Rum Tum Tugger became more and more agitated and worried about his mate. "She's been in there too long" he muttered and went to approach his mate.
"Tugger! No" warned Misto. "You can't touch her. If you get in her way we can lose her. Alonzo. Help me."
The two toms grabbed Tugger by the arms stopping him from approaching the three cats by the bed, "Let me go you little turds. She needs me."
Misto called out to Coriphant , "Cori. How's she going in there. Can you sense anything?"
The reply came in a vacant voice, "yes. She's on her way out now and she's, surprised at what she found."
Tantomile opened her eyes a shook herself briefly then looked over where her mate was struggling with the other two toms. "Tugger. Relax. I'm ok."
Tugger shook off the paws of the toms and swept his mate into his arms burying his face into her neck. "Don't ever do that to me again."
"I won't need to. I came to an 'accommodation' with Macavity's mind while I was in there." Cori and Misto looked up shocked.
"An accommodation?" asked her shocked brother.
"Yes. He is aware of what has been done to him and he is desperate to communicate with the outside world. After what I found in there I have decided to help him" replied the tired queen.
"Help him, how?" asked Munkunstrap.
"Once he wakes, I will link with his mind and allow him to speak through me and see through my eyes. I will maintain full control and will have Cori and Misto to help with that" said Tanto to the group.
"NO. I can't let you do that" responded Munk, shocked.
"It is not your decision to make" reproved the psychic and she looked to her mate. "After what I saw in his mind and what I found I truly believe that we need to do this."
"I don't like it" said Tugger, "but if you're sure you can handle it, then I guess I trust you, but I am here every time you do it."
"I love you" said Tanto and kissed him gently.
Alonzo coughed gently a little embarrassed at the scene in front of him (and it was Tugger of all things) "Umm. Sorry guys but we need to know what you saw Tanto."
"Oh. Umm. OK."
"I entered his mind and found it was complete chaos in there, I can only attribute that to the drugs and coma. I woke some of the centres of his mind and aided them to coalesce his thoughts back into some kind of structure. Nothing dangerous mind you, just enough to make him a little more aware of his mind. Once this was done I was able to locate his memories of the ball and everything afterwards."
"After the fight, he was desperate. You hurt him more than we believed; when he ran past the TSE-1 he tripped on the lighting cables and ripped them apart to cover his escape. He didn't expect to electrocute himself. He managed to drag himself out of the junkyard after that but had caused the burns that he's suffering with. He made it back to the warehouse he uses where he was found by his hench cats and rats. He's never been hurt anywhere near this badly and he ordered his minions to help him. He doesn't know who it was that landed the first blow but then they came from everywhere. He ruled through fear and when they lost that fear he became just another victim of their hate. He passed out during the mauling and when he woke, he was alone, they must have thought he was dead already. He somehow dragged his body back to the only place that he'd ever been loved, here, and only got as far as the outskirts of the yard. The rest we know."
"So there's no threat to the Jellicles from whatever did this to him then?" asked Munk.
"No. The only one there that really hated us was him. The others are just minor criminals and are no threat" replied Tantomile "but there's something else you need to know."
She looked at the three brothers and pulled Tuggers arms around herself, clearly uncomfortable with what she was about to reveal.
"Like I said before, he came to the only place he'd ever found love. He knew he was dying and he wanted to do it around friends."
"Munk. When, when he electrocuted himself, the shock broke something in his mind. When whatever it is that broke did so it also healed something" she pulled Tuggers arms tighter around herself.
"His insanity has been cured."
…..
That's it for this chapter.
In the next chapter we will see how the rest of the tribe reacts.
Read and review please.