Chapter Nine

Running from the Truth

(Jemima's POV)

I stood in front of what was left of Munkustrap's and Demeter's den. A smoking crater was right in the middle of the dresser. Staring at my claws in horror, I cried out and and held my paws close to my chest. I panted and looked around at all the cats gathering around the den.

I had only been playing around with my new powers. I didn't even know I had them until just that day! And now... I had already destroyed somebody's den by using them.

Demeter raced out of Tugger's den. She covered her mouth with her hands and a tear rolled down her cheek. She sank down to her knees and looked like she was going to cry even harder than her sister had the night before.

"NO!" She shouted in agony. Electra and Sillabub ran over and put their paws on their mother's shoulders. Munkustrap did the same.

The den was where Demeter grew up. She had inherited it when her parents went to the Heavenside lair. She and Bombalurina (who I could hear crying in the background, again) played there as children. She loved it so much. She was upset if a pigeon so much as pooped on it.

And I had wrecked it.

What have I done? I thought, terrified of myself.

Victoria raced up to me and grabbed my shoulders. "Jemima, watch out! That lightning could've hit you!" She said, pulling me away from the shattered den. Suddenly, out of the blue, she shrieked when she grasped my paws. That caught the attention of everyone.

My paws! They were still smoking and smoldering from the lightning! Vicky pulled her own paws away. They had scorched, black burn marks on them, clearly visible on the bright white fur. Smoke drifted off of her arms. She cried out in pain and looked at her paws.

Mommy ran over. She looked at Vicky's paws and gasped. "What happened, dear?" She asked.

Vicky stuttered something neither me or mother could make out. She did do one thing as an answer though-she pointed at me. I looked at my own paws. They were red hot, like fire blazing. Everybody in the junkyard started turning and staring.

"Jemima?" Sillabub asked. She walked over to talk to me. But before she could get close, her mother, Demeter, pulled her away, the same way Mother did when I reached out to Grizabella at the last Jellicle Ball.

I suddenly felt like a complete outcast. I looked around at the circle of Jellicles around me. They stared at their youngest kitten, me, who had just injured her older sister-like a monster.

I felt like crying. No. I did cry. Tears rolled down my cheeks, cascading out of my eyes like a waterfall. Demeter realized by pulling Sillabub away, she had accidentally crossed the line. She tried saying something, but I didn't listen.

I had already made it out of the junkyard by then.

oOoOoOo

(Tumblebrutus POV)

I watched as Jemima dash away from the rest of the junkyard. I tried running after her, but whatever she had done to make her hands like that, it also gave her enhanced speed as well. She was as fast as the lightning that had struck.

Oh, forget that! I thought. We need to find Jemima! I tried running in that direction, but something was holding me back. It was my siblings! Pouncival and Etcetera were struggling to hold me back. I was the oldest out of us, so I was bigger than both of them.

"Let me go!" I shouted, salty tears springing to my eyes. I fought against them, but they held me in place.

"Bro, stop!" Pounce shouted. "She wants to be alone!" He screamed.

"Big brother, if you don't stop right now, I'll tell everyone your full name!" Etcetera yelled into my ear. That made me pause, but I kept fighting afterwards.

"Fine." Etcetera said. "You brought this upon yourself-BILL-BAILEY TUMBLEBRUTUS, YOU STOP FIGHTING RIGHT NOW!" Etcetera did a perfect impression of mother when she was angry.

Yet I still tried to go after her.

Victoria came up. She placed her paws on my shoulders. They had charcoal black burn marks on them. She smiled sadly. "Oh Pouncival. Etcetera. He-he's not just best friends with my little sibling." Then, she revealed a secret nobody in the junkyard ever knew. "You love her, don't you?" I froze. I swear my heart stopped.

Everybody gasped when I nodded, lonely tears falling onto the dirt below.

oOoOoOo

(Tantomile' POV)

"Father?" Mistoffelees asked. He was in some sort of throne room. Macavity sat on top of his throne. For some odd reason, Misto wasn't hostile at all. He usually talked about how much he hated Macavity. He told me once that if he ever met Macavity, that he would scratch him into the next week.

"Yes, Misto?" Macavity asked.

'No! Don't call him that!' I shouted inside my head.

"Calypso wants to see you." Misto said.

Macavity smiled, pleased with himself. "Thank you for telling me that." Misto bowed deeply and nodded at his father. "You're welcome."

Macavity left the throne room. Mistoffelees followed him, which made me want to follow him. "Why are you coming with me?" Macavity asked.

"I want to make sure she doesn't try anything." Mistoffelees said.

Macavity smirked. "See? This is why you're my favorite son!" He called out.

"I heard that!" said a voice from another room. The tom that looked exactly like Skimble poked his head out. He and Macavity were both beaming-Macavity especially. I decided to dare look into Macavity's dark, twisted mind. Preparing myself to see, and taking a deep breath, I entered.

'I'm so happy my children are actually starting to like me! They've been acting more obedient than ever lately! And Calypso, who didn't even want to look at me before, actually wants to talk to me!' Macavity thought.

'More obedient?' I thought. My heart sank to the center of the earth. I felt like I had just put a lot of work into building something, and some random cat came and destroyed it.

'I think Macavity is that random cat.' I thought angrily.

I followed the toms down a creaking staircase into a dark basement. Misto lit up the room so we could see. Inside there was an abyssinian queen. She looked like Cassandra and Exotica, though she had multicolored stripes all over her brown coat. She perked up when Macavity and Misto entered the room.

"My daughter. What is it?" Macavity asked.

'This must be Calypso.' I thought.

Calypso took a deep breath. "I want to join you." She said, clear as day.

Macavity froze. He looked shocked, but that surprise suddenly turned into happiness.

"That's wonderful, my dear!" He yelled. He walked over to the queen. "What made you decide to join?"

"Well first of all, I want to leave this basement." She admitted. "Second of all, I always hear the other cats up there. They seem to be having fun, to be honest. Also, I'm not fully trained in magic. I want to be trained with my brothers and sisters." Calypso said. Macavity smiled.

"Of course!" He shouted gleefully. I looked to the back of the room, where Misto was waiting for them. He looked...different. A strange transformation had happened since he left. He looked a bit more...wicked and evil, like Macavity.

oOoOoOo

I screamed when I woke up. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the feeling that I was just in Macavity's lair.

My brother came rushing from his room, and dashing into mine. "What's wrong?" He shouted. I panted.

"It's nothing. Just a nightmare. Go back to bed." I ordered.

My brother looked skeptical. He knew that my dreams were always visions of the near future, the near past, or the present. If one of them was bad, he knew that something bad was going to happen.

I rested my head down again. When I did that, I saw Alonzo and Munkustrap through my open window. I looked at the old alarm clock I used as an end table. Misto used his magic to make it work once.

3: 27, I thought. I looked out again. I could hear what Alonzo and Munkustrap were saying out there.

"Alonzo," I heard Munk say. "You need to get some sleep, it's three thirty."

"No. I'm not stopping for any rest until Misto is found." Alonzo stumbled from drowsiness. Munkustrap patted him on the shoulder.

"Go get some sleep." Munkustrap said. Alonzo nodded sleepily, and headed off towards Tugger's den.

I felt tempted to get out of bed and go talk to him. But I remembered the look on Misto's face. He looked eviler. More likely to attack someone. More likely...to follow Macavity.

Soon. I thought. I'll tell him soon.

If only I had known that another disaster would delay the news. Maybe it would have been best… if I had just fessed up.

A/N

Well, I wonder how Tantomile's going to react when she finds out Misto was only faking it (LOL). Tumblebrutus's POV was my sister Baylee's idea. She also came up with the idea of incorporating Bill-Bailey into it. I was the one who thought it was funny though.

Also, another fun fact: We didn't think about adding Sillabub as a separate character before this. Baylee went back and added her into the fanfiction. I thought she looked like Demeter, so we added her in as Electra's sister. And no, I do not ship Alonzo and Tantomile. Tantomile will be shipped with an OC later on;).

Critique as much as you like, just don't swear or say anything inappropriate. This fanfic is the opposite of gas station bathrooms-clean!

That's it for now, see you next time!

Sayonara (Goodbye)!

-Luna