Things would only get worse, which was proven through both the twins and Macavity. She had to blame herself for everything; because that way, she could find some way to make things right. And the only way to do that was to take any opportunity at hand. The golden-red female sighed, as she knew what she was going to do. She was going to confront Macavity, whatever the cost would be…

~^..^~

When Munkustrap got back to his den, he found Demeter inside, and quickly explained his entire plan to her. The whole concept of three former Warehouse cats spying and stealing from Macavity seemed brilliant to the silver tabby, but Deme didn't seem to share the same opinion. The gold queen stared at her mate in the midst of lashing out on him. She didn't look happy by the suggestion that Zela would be put into harm's way; or maybe it was the fact that the young queen would be driven straight to Macavity.; "Munk, you've finally cracked, haven't you?" The gold queen said harshly with a look of astonishment, "After everything that's happened, how can you possibly think of putting Zela's life on the line? Did you even stop once to think that maybe I wouldn't want to take the same risk?"

Munkustrap rolled his eyes as he leaned back against a wooden plank, "You're overreacting, Deme." He informed her nonchalantly, "I know what the dangers are, but the three of them are highly trained, and the risk is extremely low if the plan goes right, which it will with all of them together."

Demeter gave him a dark look, "That's not the point. She'll be basically handing herself over to Macavity!"

Munkustrap frowned, "But she knows what she's doing! It hasn't been that long since she was in the Warehouse; you know that! As soon as she gets in, she can simply spy on Macavity, and Rumple and Jerrie can take whatever we need." the silver tabby paused and sighed, "Look, the worst case scenario is that they're caught by a few Warehouse guards, and even then, you know Zela's an unnaturally good fighter. They'll elude him, get the information back into the Junkyard, and foil Macavity. It's perfect!"

"It's insane!" Demeter rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him, "And what exactly will they be looking for? Anything that Macavity is hiding?"

He nodded, as if this was to be common knowledge, "Yes. That's what Zela's part will be; she'll probably have the least difficult part of getting in and looking at what Macavity has planned. Whatever she finds out can be told to Teazer and Jerrie; they'll steal anything useful, and come back."

The plan was now thoroughly explained, and yet the gold queen didn't look the least bit impressed, "I don't like this. I don't want her to go."

"It's her choice." He said simply with a shrug, "You asked me to make her an official adult in the Junkyard, which means she's free to make her own decisions without your council."

Demeter gave him a weak scowl, "But you're forgetting, Munk. She's my daughter! I can trust that she can understand her options, but that doesn't mean I can't let her know what I think."

"I know Deme, but if you would listen to reason instead of making this insatiable presumptions, then she'll know that-"

Suddenly, a voice came from behind, "Um… sorry if I'm interrupting…" The silver tabby turned and sighed when Zelaphelia entered the den.

"No, It's fine" he said quietly.

Zela bit her lip and looked between the two of them, "I…uh…I just wanted to tell you, Munk that I want to accept the job with Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer."

Munkustrap gave a satisfactory smile to her, but he noticed Demeter's grimace in the corner of his eye. He was about to say that he was happy to hear her say this, but with his mate standing close to him, he didn't want to. The gold queen talked before him, "Now wait, Zela. You're not obligated to do anything..."

Zela nodded, "I know." She said quietly, "I thought about it, and I want to do it. If it helps the tribe, then I'll go."

Even with this confirming decision, Demeter persisted in convincing her otherwise: "But Zela, you really want to take that kind of risk?"

"My mind's made up, Mum." The gold-red queen stated tenaciously. Demeter looked disappointed and not exactly willing to surrender..

"But Zela-"

Munkustrap quickly stepped forward, "Demeter," he interrupted in a low tone, "She made her choice. She's going." The silver tabby knew this was horrible decision to try and push her, but he wanted the message to register through her head. Sometimes Deme just never got things. The gold queen stared at her mate, with a sore look of defeat and a flash of anger. She walked up to him and leaned against his ear. She whispered quietly enough out of Zela's earshot "You're responsible if anything happens."

"Nothing's going tohappen." he whispered back. Deme gave him a hurt look, and he knew he deserved it. The gold queen looked up at her daughter once, then turned to the exit and quickly headed out. Munkustrap sighed, wishing he had a better way to comfort his mate, and convincing her that Zela would be alright, but he had no idea how else he could phrase it in words. Zela spoke softly as her mother left, "Is she alright?"

The silver tabby tom turned towards her and raised an eyebrow, "Don't worry about her, she'll be fine. So, you, Mungojerrie, and Rumpleteazer will leave later tomorrow, or is that too soon for you?"

The gold-red queen blinked and shook her head, "No. In fact, sooner would be better. Tonight, how 'bout?"

Munkustrap gave a look of mild surprise as he dug his claws in the dirt floor of his den, "Are you sure? I don't know if…"

"No, the sooner we can get Macavity's plans, the better." The seriousness in her tone was chilling.

At that moment, Munkustrap felt his daughter was grandly prepossessing, which made him feel a bit proud of her, "Alright, Zela. You can tell Mungo and Teazer, and leave as soon as you're ready. They have the instructions and plans, but Zela; I want you to be as careful as possible. This is a dangerous mission, and your mother will have my head if you come out of it damaged."

The gold-red queen shook her head and gave a breathy sigh, "I know she's worried and all, but I'll be alright. We'll get back in the morning, or earlier, maybe. Thank you, Munkus. I'll do my best." Zela nodded her head appreciatively and quickly headed in the egress.

The Jellicle Guardian smiled as he watched her leave. He thought about how brave she actually was, leaving the tribe; risking her life for them. She and Mungo and Rumple were going to help them, or risk pain of death by Macavity by doing so. But when Munkustrap reassessed this in his head, the words made his plan sound more unpredictable than he had convinced himself it was. Munkustrap sat down and twiddled his thumbs, having second thoughts on his whole plot. He may as well have sent three young Jellicles to their deaths…

~^..^~

Rumpleteazer and Zelaphelia sat on the roof of a crashed Jalopy. The windshield had shattered, which allowed the two queens to sit on the edge and let their legs dangle off the end. The tiger tabby queen wasn't sure why Zela would do this, after her traumatizing past with the Hidden Paw, but then again, so did Jerrie and herself. She sighed as the sky turned to a dark indigo. Night hung over them while the heavy air pressure filled Teazer's lungs. They had decided to leave when it was completely dark.

The tiger-striped thief side-glanced at Zelaphelia; she looked completely normal in her facial expression, but her eyes told a different story. In her eyes, she looked hurt or troubled at least. "So, you really wanna go on this trip, Zel?" she asked quietly.

The golden-red female turned her head sharply and grinned, "Yeah. If the tribe's in trouble, I want to help. It shouldn't be that tough anyway."

"Oh, Oi know, iz just… well… maybe you shouldn't be goin'. Oi mean, if it's fo' more than just tha' purpose…"

Zela raised an eyebrow, "There's no other reason, Teazer. I want to help the tribe, that's all!" Teazer thought that her words seemed a little too defensive.

"Oilright, don' ge' in a fit!" The tiger tabby queen stood up, and helped Zelaphelia to her feet. She quickly decided not to push the subject, "It's well pas' sunset. Now, whear the heck is Jerrie?"

And before the two queens realized it, the devil appeared, "'Ey Teaze! Zela!" Jerrie shouted from behind, "You gals ready ta go?"

Zelaphelia nodded, "Yes, let's go."

As the three of them climbed under the loose fence, Mungojerrie began explaining the whole layout of his plan to Zela. Munkustrap had talked to him and Rumpleteazer with ideas in mind, and though Teazer knew they weren't looking for something specific, it appeared that the plan was fool proof, and the only obstacles now were the henchcats and Macavity….

~^..^~

Tugger felt vacantly like an ass. He still thought that Zela was wrong, and she had overreacted, but it was a hollow victory to get her to run off. Maybe she would realize that assuming he was doing something with Bomba was a little irrational, and then they'd make up. But then…maybe it wasn't all her fault. He had yelled at her, and questioned her reactions, and her lifestyle. That wasn't exactly charming. The Maine Coon tom sighed and quietly walked around the Junkyard. He peered through the dens just to see if he could find her, and maybe give her a look, or see if she was willing to talk, though it seemed doubtful. He quietly peeked in Munkustrap and Demeter's den. "Hello?" he called. Okay, so maybe he didn't just want to see her, he was actually considering apologizing, which was highly out of his character.

When he was about to give up, a voice spoke up, "Tugger?" but it was sadly his brother, rather than the queen he had interest in.

Munkustrap didn't look the least bit friendly, which made Tugger want to leave even more, except he had no idea where Zelaphelia was. "Hey Munkus." He greeted quietly, "Have you seen Zela?"

Munkustrap frowned and let his head fall, "Yes, I have." He quickly looked back up at the Maine Coon and looked almost remorseful, "She agreed to go on a mission with Jerrie and Teazer."

Tugger's eyes narrowed on his brother, "What? What mission?" His look quickly turned to worry, "Well… never mind. When will they be back?"

The silver tabby exhaled sharply and sulked deeper into his den in a shlumped position, "They should be back by tomorrow morning, if not sooner. They went down to the Warehouse, so-"

Tugger stepped closer, "The Warehouse? Why?"

Munkustrap stared at the leopard-spotted tom with a dark frown, "Zela's spying to find out what Macavity is hiding, and the thieves will do what they do best and steal whatever he's hiding that will help the tribe."

When hearing this, Tugger's eyes widened in disbelief, "What? Munk, that's nuts! All three of them were with Macavity. You really think it's safe exposing them to him again?"

Munkustrap wiped his face with his paw, "I know! But I thought since they were all there once they'd have the easiest job. And… Everlasting Cat, I don't even know what we're getting!" Munkus buried his face in his paws and growled, "I might as well have sent them to die…"

"So…" Tugger wasn't even sure what to say. He was in awe of everything his brother had said. He sighed, finally being able to come up with something to say, "We just have to wait for them, then?"

The Jellicle Protector nodded, and it became his only response. Tugger felt worried for Zela, and the burglar cats, and hoped they came back as soon as possible… Still, why was he so scared that they wouldn't? The Maine Coon groaned and sat next to his brother in a nervous fit…

~^..^~

Zelaphelia stared anxiously at the abandoned buildings that filled Macavity's property. A cold wind blew through shattered windows, and composed a cluster of dust circles that soon fell as the chill could not be felt in the gold-red queen's fur. The darkness created from dusk gave the Warehouse an illusionary ghostliness that made Zela's skin crawl. In every direction she looked, she saw a pair of delusive yellow eyes. She kept reminding herself that they weren't real, and forced her paws to move forward. Though she wouldn't admit it, she was frightened of what was ahead, and the plan that was so fragile and thin that it could easily snap, and fall into disaster. She felt like one misstep could risk all of their necks; however the tiger-striped cat burglars reassured her that things would go directly as planned. Why was she so doubtful then?

Mungojerrie lead the two queens through the shadows of abandoned buildings and dirt roads before they followed a chain-length fence that hid well in the shadows. The Warehouse was filled with just as much miscellany as the Junkyard, only it seemed to be neater on the outside. Crates were piled up on each other like towers, tall lead pipes were stacked into triangular prisms, and old cars were symmetrically aligned in two rows as if they were in a small parking lot. Unknowingly to Macavity, this all became easy cover to hide in. They got close to a large tower of crates that sat right next to the Warehouse. It was a strange structure that the hidden paw manufactured. The main entrance wasn't really a warehouse, but more like an official entryway that lead into a large open space that was easy to move around in. That followed in the first floor with several rooms that were used as either private quarters or henchcats training classes. Connected to that building was the largest of rooms that was the official abandoned warehouse that Macavity kept mostly empty for his use or more intense training. Zela remembered when he explained all of this to her; every detail of the Warehouse function. And the gold-red queen began wondering why she never used this information to the tribe's advantage… well, obviously now it would be. As they peered through a broken window, they saw into a small empty room that seemed to be used for storage, or a meeting den. Zela couldn't help but shutter, as if she could feel Macavity's presence nearby. Rumpleteazer put a supportive paw on her shoulder and squeezed it gently, "It's alroight…" she assured, "Don' worry nun."

Jerrie had quickly checked to be sure they weren't tracked by any of the henchcats on guard of the boundaries. Luckily, the tiger-striped tabbies knew the Warehouses better than anyone else. Mungojerrie grinned at the two queens, "Everythin's all clear. No one saw're us go in er out. Now, Teaze an' Oi'll go through a secret entry we kep' ta ourselves. Should still be open. An' Zela, you'll go up through tha trap door on tha roof and sneak aroun' tha raftahs. We'll work our way up ta Macavi'y's private room, an' tha's where you can mee' us."

Zela nodded to most of the plan, but then raised an eyebrow to the last part, "But what if he's in the room?"

"We wait fo' 'im ta go out." He replied confidently, "Tha 'idden paw don' sleep much, an' if 'e does, 'e ain't sleepin' fo' long. Most loikly, 'e won't be in there anyways."

"What are we looking for when we get in?" she asked

"A private stash 'e stores in 'is room. We'll foind what Munk needs, we'll ge' out befo' dawn."

Teazer clapped her paws together once and rubbed them eagerly, "All roight. Lezz go then." Jerrie grinned at his mate's enthusiasm, and quickly lead her away to one of their secret entrances. Zela slightly smiled, mostly because even in this situation, the twins knew how to keep the mood light. With a small sigh, the gold-red queen leaped up onto a staircase of crates that reached up to the rooftop. The tiles on the roof were loose and unstable, but could still hold a sturdy weight. She walked around daintily and watched to be sure she didn't misstep. As she searched around, the gold-red female finally reached the trap door Jerrie had mentioned. It was merely flat iron doors that lead into the ceiling of the Warehouse. Most likely, it would work well. Before trying to realize that she knew what she was doing, Zela pulled the small door open and slipped into the rafters…

~^..^~

A pair of black henchcats had crawled into Macavity's private quarters, practically begging for clemency due to a failed job of larceny. They were meant to find and steal a package of new weapons… just different kinds of blades which they could have used for new training, but that failed. All they could dig their puny little claws in were silverware knives and forks, "What the hell do you expect me to do with that?" he growled at the two of them.

The first henchcats began trying to come up with a pathetic excuse, which simply resulted in him getting slashed in the face. The other one was so frightened he merely edged himself near the door, looking like he was about to urinate. The Hidden Paw scowled at the incompetence of his workers, and felt overly capable of killing both of them for their slip-up. But something dark filled his senses, which made his irritable mood less contained and more engrossed in the goings-on in his Warehouse. He looked at the two cowering henchcats that were aching to leave, and looking like feeble wild animals on a spoor, desperately wanting to escape a human trap, "Get out!" he snarled. They didn't hesitate to leave his presence.

The ginger tom combed his black claws through his mane and stormed towards a porcelain vase that was sitting on a table. He swiped it off just to watch it smash on the floor. He enjoyed his flow of power and strength, but there were so little things to use it on. Killing and injuring henchcats began to lose its luster when the Hidden Paw found that he'd knocked about a quarter of his workers from employment, which would not look good if he didn't have more contacts to commit crimes for him. So he began trying to find better leisure by visiting the queens, reviewing the current plan he had for the Jellicle tribe, or simply sitting in his room to give wallow in his own dark thoughts. None of them filled the void of violence. Henchcats were far too fragile, and though the queens annoyed him, he promised them protection. Absolutely nothing and no one was strong enough to survive him anymore. He growled and stepped over the shattered vase to sit in his leather black chair.

Suddenly, a dainty beige foot stepped into his private quarter. Macavity scowled as Jezabella walked into his den, avoiding the shattered porcelain pieces and drops of spilled henchcats' blood, "Have a little spat, Macavity?" she asked smugly.

Jezabella was being annoying, as usual. But because the Tokinese queen was so useful for training new henchcat brats, he couldn't harm her severely. "What do you want Jezabella?" he asked, purposefully ignoring her question.

What Macavity hated most about her was that she never responded to his tempered moods anymore, even when his tone was genuinely threatening. He was about ready to kill her, but the sad thing was that she was useful. Damn. The Tokinese queen grinned and sauntered into the room, "Nothing in particular," she quipped, then she turned her head a little ways and mumbled something about getting a stick out his butt. He scowled, and if he wasn't so tired, he would have lashed out on her, or at least punished her back sass with a quick slash on the face or something of that nature.

His scowl deepened as he bellowed, "If you have nothing important to tell me then get out!"

Jezabella calmly frowned and shrugged, "If that's the way you want it. I just wanted to tell you that your trainees are going to need to be taken out on a training session soon. They need the experience."

The ginger tom rubbed his paw over his face and growled, "The henchcat trainees are idiots." He complained, "Why don't you teach them not to be so ignorant and I'll think about evaluating them outside of the Warehouse?" Any idiot could have heard the sarcasm in his voice. He grinned.

Jeza rolled her eyes, "Sir, please. Your new thieves, torturers, and assassins need a test course, and doing it with their boss will make them more loyal towards you."

"Just get their mentors to take them out." He ordered dismissively.

But the Tokinese queen's face proved relentless, "But…I think that-"

"I never gave you this position so I could hear your opinion, Jezabella." He barked impatiently, "Now, I'll give you a compromise, because I'm an understanding tom. I'll take one thief out on a job, but you have to come with."

Jezabella gave this a thoughtful pause before nodding agreeably, "Alright then, it's a deal, until then, Sir." The Tokinese queen stood up and quickly sauntered out of his room. The hidden paw gave a sigh of relief, but he still felt a deep impulse in the back of his head that told him to walk around for a few moments, just to check on his Warehouse. Macavity decided to listen to himself, because his instinct had never been wrong before. The ginger tom quickly stood up to leave the room, but made sure to take a long time of doing so, just to be sure he wouldn't be running into Jezabella again. The Hidden Paw smirked to himself as he fled to sneak around in the storage rooms…

~^..^~

Jerrie grinned as the Napoleon of Crime left his den, which gave him and Teazer an advantage to get in. They came out of the loose floor boards that hadn't been noticed, partly because they were in an old coat closet. The tiger-striped tom crawled out and helped his mate out as they entered into Macavity's den. He grinned as the familiar scent of henchcat blood filled his room, "The ol' bastard 'asn't changed a bit." He joked. Rumpleteazer quickly shushed him and began looking around. Jerrie hated when Teazer took things too seriously, but he understood that this was a life threatening situation. He needed to focus. "'Ey, where's Zela?" he suddenly asked.

"She'll be 'ere in a secon'." She whispered, "Give 'er some toime. You know 'ow tricky it is ta get off the raftahs."

"Oi know, bu' she's so fast, she shoulda been 'ere by now!"

Suddenly, the door opened, and before the thieves could react, they saw Zelaphelia speedily walk in and shut the door. "Sorry." She said, "I was waiting for a clear hallway. I didn't know his henchcats were so busy."

"He keep 'em on their toes." Jerrie sniggered, "'specially if 'e's plottin' somethin' fo' the troibe."

Teazer grinned and nodded, "We'll then, lezz not keep 'em busy fer much longah! Lezz foind Mac's li'le secrets…"

Zelaphelia immediately began circling the room as Teazer rummaged through his desk, and Jerrie went through the furniture and shelves. "Wow," the tiger-striped queen said from behind her mate, "Why does 'e keep so much junk? All tha's in 'is desk is blueprints and old lettahs… waitta second…"

Jerrie looked back at her, "What is it, Teaze?"

"He's got blueprints o' the Junkyard!" she exclaimed. The tiger tabby tom jumped out of the black leather chair to see the papers she was looking at. He knew that the Hidden Paw was keeping quite a few tabs on the Junkyard. "It's loike 'e's obsessed!"

"Prolly is," she commented back, "but 'e circled a buncha the entryways, an' somm'a the main dens. Why'd 'e do that?"

Mungojerrie studied the white lines of the boundaries and the large red circles staining the paper. "Looks loike 'e's got somethin' big planned." He said while memorizing everything Macavity had marked.

"That's not all he's doing…" Zela said from behind two open, closet doors. The gold-red queen quickly lifted a large silver brief-case and dropped it on a large square table.

Jerrie raised an eyebrow, "What is that?"

Zela shook her head, "Not sure, but it was deep in that closet, and it's virtually dustless, which means he's taken it out not too long ago. Maybe something we're looking for?"

Rumpleteazer put all the papers back in the desk, except for the blueprint and some letters she found, "Well, there's only one way ta foind out."

The gold-red queen nodded as the three of them gathered around the table. She slowly opened the case and looked at it. They all gave a confused reaction when they studied several vials of still black liquid that were corked and partnered with small syringes. There was one large vial of clear liquid that was put to the side. Zelaphelia stared at it, "What the…"

"Maybe somethin' we should show ta Jelly an' Misto?" Teazer asked quietly.

Zela cleared her throat, "It couldn't hurt."

Jerrie smiled and reached for a vial, but the gold-red queen next to him suddenly gripped the side of her head and bent down. Both of the tiger-striped thieves paused and looked back down at her, "Zela…?" Teazer knelt down beside her, "What's is it? What's wrong?"

"M-M-aca-vity…he-he…c-coming b-back…"

Both of the burglars couldn't make out the message she was sending through her vision, and quickly tried to shake her. "Zela!" Jerrie shouted, "Snap out of it!"

Suddenly, the gold-red queen jerked herself up and stared between them, "Macavity's coming back, you guys. We've got less than a minute!"

She suddenly stood up and reached for the briefcase, shut it, and ran for the closet. The tiger-striped thieves headed back into the closet and shut the doors while Zela jumped up on the wall and clawed her way up into the rafters. The Hidden Paw's footsteps didn't take too long to enter into the room. Jerrie could hear him growl. He felt paralyzed, and didn't want to move around, afraid that Macavity would sense their presence. Teazer took his paw as they edged closer to the open floor boards. They were hoping that Zela would be able to get out before she was noticed. The tiger-striped queen was gripping the papers in her other paw as they both walked into the hole. But Mungojerrie's foot accidentally clawed the edge of the board and it shifted and made a scraping noise.

Both thieves paused. Jerrie could see an image of Macavity through the slots of the closet door. His ears were perked and his nose was wrinkled, "Hmm…" he mumbled and paced to the closet door. Mungojerrie was quickly thinking up a plan; he was going to push Teazer into the passageway with the information, and take whatever inferno the Hidden Paw had planned for him, but as Macavity's image grew to door, the ginger tom paused.

Teazer was slowly heading in the hole, and Jerrie was following her, but he was watching Macavity as he slowly turned around to gaze at his room. As Jerrie carefully put the floorboards back in their place, he heard the Hidden Paw's sly words echo past the walls, "Well, hello there, Zelaphelia…."

Before Mungojerrie could react, his mate was already dragging him through the dark passage way, and he was left to wonder what Zela had done…

~^..^~