Marceth bit his lip as he sat back down. He crumpled up the note given to him by the Hidden Paw. He liked his boss less after idolizing him for years, now the only thing he had was a seemingly harmless queen to watch. Marceth watched her quietly as she curled up in the corner of her cell with her forehead pressed against her knees…

~^..^~

Zela sat in the darkest corner of an empty cell that was now apparently hers. Her mind was simply focused on a few obscene thoughts of her father. She still was in a terrible shock on what he did to her; how he trapped her and somehow got to Teazer and Mungo also. She thought that they had it all so well planned. They had a perfect scheme to get in the Warehouse, avoid Macavity and the henchcats, and get back to the Junkyard before the night ended. Where did it go wrong though? The golden-red queen blinked around the cell and frowned, feeling overwhelmingly hopeless. She felt her eyes welling up, and tears coming down on her face. She couldn't help herself because now she, Teazer, and Jerrie were the prisoners of the hidden paw.

Zela was trying to keep her morale up somehow; she couldn't stay sad and weepy when the tribe was there, and sooner or later, they'd realize that none of their emissaries weren't back after dawn, they'd come to the Warehouse. But what if Macavity already had surprised attacks waiting for them? What if he planned to capture or kill any other Jellicle that came near hear? Suddenly, the gold-red female stopped herself. She couldn't think that way. If she did, hoping for rescue was pointless. Munkustrap wouldn't leave them there to rot, he'd find a way to get in and salvage them from the Hidden Paw. She was absolutely positive he'd help them.

With a sigh, she curled up in her corner. Zela knew that the whole space was hers, and she could have destroyed it if, but if that henchcat reported it to Macavity, Rumple and Jerrie were as good as gone. The gold-red queen looked around her cell quietly. A dim glow from the torch light came over the cement wall that separated the cell next to hers. It was a grey area. The floors were made from stone and mortar. In the left corner, there was a little wooden footstool that would commonly be used for human children. There was a cot lined up on the cement wall. The mattress looked thin and uncomfortable as it sat flatly on a metal spring frame. It looked worse than sleeping on the floor, so she ignored it. The gold-red queen thought seriously about making the 'bed' a little more expendable and getting some other use out of it, but she'd have to think about what that would be. Zela sighed quietly as pale moonlight glowed over bars that made a shadow from the small window above her. It would be too small to try and slip out of, and even if she did, she had no idea where Jerrie and Teazer were.

Suddenly, a thought hit Zela. She could just find them with a vision. She grinned, knowing that this would make a rescue a thousand times easier. She could contact Misto and he could save them! Yes! But she didn't want to make it too obvious. And the first matter was to make sure that Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer weren't harmed. The gold-red queen closed her eyes up at the window. She dug deep into the recesses of her mysticism and thought about Jerrie and Teazer…. After a pause… her mind went blank. All she saw was darkness. Her whole vision was blurred and twisted in an image that looked as bleak as night. Zela could see nothing in the vision, and was almost immediately sucked back into her conscious brain.

Zela blinked, and abruptly stood up. She hadn't expected anything like that to happen. Her whole vision made no sense. Why didn't she see anything? Zela blinked a few times thoughtfully, deciding to try again. When she focused in on Jerrie and Teazer, she got the same result. Her vision was blank. In a panic, the gold-red female thought to send a distress call to Mistoffelees. He would be awake if she called him. She knew he would. Zela waited a few moments, continually telling him where she was and that she and the tiger-tabby mates were in danger and captured by the Hidden Paw. She anticipated an answer from the tuxedo tom, but after a few minutes of shouting his name telepathically, the gold-red queen gave up. Why didn't he answer back?

Zelaphelia combed her claws through her head fur, feeling frustrated, confused, and afraid. Everything made her feel like there were eyes all around, watching her like she was insane. Suddenly, the gold-red female remembered that there was a henchcat right outside the bars. A Feeling of dreadful suspicion came over her as Zela's head twisted to the opening of her cell. The henchcat had been staring at her for Everlasting Cat knew how long. She gave him a cold scowl as her tail ruffled aggressively. The tom's sharp gold eyes grew wide with some surprise. He took a moment to react to her facial expression before quietly returning the glare. A pathetic glare; it looked like it was the first glare he had ever attempted. Zela rolled her eyes and glanced away, from him, just to see if he'd look away from her. His glare had moved down to the floor. Zela sighed silently, and studied the looked the tom up and down. He was a tortoiseshell. His body was a course ebony with golden and burnt-brown patches ridging in some places and auburn flecks faintly covering most of his body. The most distinct feature was a gold round-cornered diamond patched on his left ear and barely edged his cheekbone. He had a dark outline of black rounding his eye as it was being covered by the golden-brown patch.

Suddenly, the henchcat's eyes flashed back to her, and his glare intensified. Zela's loose frown quickly tightened into a dark scowl as she looked back out the small opening fashioned as a window. He was obviously a stupid guard that Macavity assigned to her. He didn't look happy at all, which didn't surprise her. He was working for the Napoleon of Crime, after all. The gold-red queen curled up into the corner, now feeling like she was losing all of her hope in being found. However, she still was positive that the tribe would realize they were gone by morning and come looking.…

~^..^~

Macavity sat in his den, gently edging one of his vials. The black liquid swished in out of a wave, and the cold felt good under his paws. The concoction had been a long term of experimenting; and exploring every poisonous herb, liquid, and basic substance to get the correct concentration. It had been something he had been masterly planning for the Jellicles, and it made him smile, knowing that it wouldn't be long until that weakling Jellicle tom's toxic blood would spread. It made him smile maliciously. As he carefully placed the vial back into its case, a knock on his door had been produced abruptly. The ginger tom grimaced, "Come in." he called flatly as he stood up and put the case back inside the closet.

The door creaked open as a black figure entered into his den, "Good Morning, Sir." The voice of Macavity's irksome assistant greeted, though it was less than cheerful.

The ginger tom rolled his eyes as he leaned up and shut his closet from behind him, "It's barely past four, Barnabas, it's not that much of a morning." His voice was empty and cold to the henchcat.

The scarred tom slightly grinned out of the corner of the Hidden Paw's eye, "I know it, Sir. But perhaps that's not such a bad thing. I just heard about your recent success with the capturing of a few Jellicles; including Zelaphelia."

Macavity rolled his eyes again, "Does news honestly travel that fast around here?" he asked, dropping into his black chair.

"The rumors spread rather quickly, around here, don't they?" The black tom asked casually, as if this was polite conversation with a friend.

To be sure that the henchcat knew his place, the ginger tom growled and hunched over in his chair. He put on a dark look as his claws drummed, "Sadly." He commented, "But I'm surprised, Barnabas, that it was I who had to catch her and those two traitors and not any of your defenses. Why is that?" he frowned with a look of pure mockery and bitterness.

Barnabas raised an eyebrow and blinked at his less-than-pleased boss. "Sir, pardon me for speaking out of line, but our defenses had nothing to do with-"

"The sentries at the borders should have caught them!" Macavity growled angrily. He tried to at least appear calm, but making his anger and frustration perfectly visible for the black tom.

Barnabas had a look of shock, like he had no idea what to say next. "The sentries are... very capable, Sir, but that can't be everywhere at once."

"Well then," the ginger tom stood up and glared disappointedly at his assistant, "As head of our defenses, I expect you to have all of my workers surpassing their capabilities! That better be fixed before morning, or so help me, you'll be the one spending time at the borders! Do I make myself clear?"

Barnabas cleared his throat and looked down at the floor with a glare, "Yes, Sir."

The ginger tom blinked, slightly grinning to himself that the black tom was so submissive. "Good. Now, you'll tell the tom down in the cells to bring my daughter here. Be sure she's not bound. Once you've done this, be sure to fix your pathetic arrangement of defenses!"

The black tom quietly nodded, still looking at the floor with a dark frown, "Yes, Sir." He grumbled. The henchcat quietly left the den, leaving Macavity in a particularly good mood. He loved seeing any tom degraded and in some sort of pain. Though he preferred it being physical, emotionally crippling a henchcat was just as good…

~^..^~

Etcetera sat with Plato quietly. Jelly had been working late with Misto, and had just taken a blood sample from the bi-colored tom's arm to test with the blood from the kittens'. Misto wanted to study it, just to see if they were matched and how different they were. The young light tabby queen was beginning to clean his wounds with a bloody cloth. Don't worry Plato… she whispered to him mentally, Zela and Jerrie and Teazer will come back with something to make you better … Etcy threw the cloth on the ground lazily, and couldn't help but smile at the sleeping tom. She stood up, and went to the medical cabinet to get some gauze. She'd use it to rewrap Plato's wounds. Suddenly, Jellyorum strutted out of the next room of her den, carrying several textbooks in her paws, "Oh, Etcy… you wouldn't believe what we found!" she exclaimed, putting her medical books back on their shelves.

Etcetera smiled as she grabbed rubbing alcohol and gauze, "What is it Mum? Something good?"

Jellyorum turned around with a wide grin, "Oh, trust me, whatever it is that Misto's finding, it's taking a step forward to stop this bloody virus." She chuckled, and then glanced over at the sleeping patient, "How is he, dear?"

"His fever's been coming and going every day, and he's talking… I've tried to see if he can walk, but…" She sighed quietly, clutching herself. A sudden chill came over her.

Jellyorum hugged her daughter quietly, "Don't worry, Etcy. This will all be dealt with soon enough. We'll make sure he gets his rest and is taken care of. Heavyside willing, he'll pull through."

Feeling quite comfortable, the light tabby queen hugged her mother back, and sighed contently, "I know…" Giving the Medical queen a squeeze, Etcy let go and moved away. Jellyorum gave an impressionable smile before swiftly turning back into the room that she and Misto currently inhabited for their research.

Etcetera quietly smiled at nothing, suddenly feeling grungy as she rubbed her paws together. The light tabby queen turned around and sat next to Plato, unwinding the old gauze used to cover his stitched wounds. He was looking better from before, but then again, this was one of his good days. The bi-color tom still felt extremely cold throughout his limbs, and burning like fire on his forehead. His eyes were groggy and glazed over, as if he was slowly losing himself in the insanity's rage. Etcy sighed quietly as she wrapped the new gauze around his arm, legs, and torso, which took some doing, considering how heavy he actually was.

She tossed the old gauze tape where she had left the cloth, and suddenly felt quite tired. She thought about going to nap on the TSE 1 car's hood, or inside a red convertible's cushions. The light tabby yawned, stepping away from Plato, and making her way to the other side of the den. Her head felt light, and she figured she should take some sleeping medication from her mother's cabinet so she got more rest. Etcetera quietly turned around, and was about to go to the medical supplies, but only made it about a quarter of the way.

A sharp pain reached the side of her head, and then a solid aching settled itself so deeply that it would have made her faint over. Etcy gripped the side of her head, practically collapsing to her knees. Her blood was rushing through her veins, and throbbing pulse on her neck pounded against her nerves. Etcetera curled up, slightly murmuring; "aaah… Mum…" As the pain took a turn for the worst, the light tabby couldn't help but cringe, feeling her limbs twitching. It didn't take long until a dark presence filled her mind, and a loud screeching voice could be heard echoing through the Junkyard…

~^..^~

It didn't take long later that evening until a henchcat knocked on the bolted wooden door. Zela could still feel the moonlight glowing over the cells as the Guardstom unlocked the door Macavity's prison. Out of boredom, the golden-red female looked up to see who was entering, and then her heart stopped. She recognized the black tom with faint scar resting on his left cheekbone. It was the only disgusting, vile henchcat that she would have personally wanted to kill. Zelaphelia scowled, resting her head calmly on her arms.

"Good Evening, Barnabas." The guarding henchcat greeted casually as the door swiftly shut, "What brings you to the cells?"

The scarred tom swiftly pointed to Zela inside her prison, "The boss wants to speak to his guest." He answered gruffly, with a small hint of sarcasm by the end of his sentence, "He wants you to leave her unbound, and taken up here quietly." Barnabas looked swiftly down at the gold-red female, "And that means you have to keep your pretty little mouth shut, Missy."

The Guardstom cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Thank you, Barnabas, I'll get her there."

Barnabas nodded quietly as he opened the door of the underground prison, but not before looking back at Zela once more, "Oh and it's good to see you've come home, Zelaphelia."

Zelaphelia growled, and felt like throwing something at the cell, but she restrained herself. She hated that tom almost as much as she hated her father. Barnabas had ruined her life after him and a few henchcats attacked her and left her in an alley, as if she was dead. But then, she would have never been rescued by Old Deuteronomy and brought to the tribe of Jellicles. The gold-red queen sighed quietly as she stood up. She heard the Guardstom fiddle with a ring of keys. It didn't take long until the tumblers were activated and the cell door slid open.

Zela turned around, staring at her feet as she walked forward. She felt his paw touch her shoulder gently, but to her, it felt like ice. She nudged her shoulder out of his grasp, and looked up at him sharply. The Guardstom seemed nervous somehow, which amused the gold-red queen slightly. Still, she wasn't so prone to the idiocy of henchcats when she was in a hostage situation. Zela quietly walked out of the cell, with the tom close behind her. She swiftly turned, feeling quite annoyed, "Can you not breathe down my neck?" she asked rhetorically. Zela was sleep deprived, and was very cranky because of it.

The Guardstom didn't answer her, but did give her a cold glare, as if threatening her. The gold-red queen decided not to fight him, as it was, whatever the tom said to Macavity could easily put Jerrie and Teazer into even more danger. Zela sighed, walking up the dark steps that led up into the Warehouse's first level…

~^..^~

Macavity waited patiently, sitting on his black chair for his daughter to arrive. He couldn't help but grin when he pictured her dejected, spiritless face. Oh, how he had plans for her! For now, he wanted to explain to her how this was going to work. If she was going to follow his rules, which she would if she didn't want to see Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer tortured to death, he would have to invent some out of the top of his head. But the ginger tom felt that the little details could be dealt with soon enough. For now, he had his daughter, and that's what the important thing was. Suddenly, the there was a light knocking on the door, and a voice was muffled behind it; "Sir, the-…um… prisoner is here?" the confused tone of the henchcat made Macavity assume it was the guardtom he assigned to the cells.

He rolled his eyes. The Hidden Paw felt a little annoyed on how this tom acted. "Come in!" he called impatiently.

A tentative creak from his door made his ears perked as the henchcat he had yet to remember the name of entered. A dark tortoiseshell tom stopped a few feet from the door, and Zela followed him. She was looking straight into his eyes with a dark shadow over hers. A look of white hate flashed across her face. All the ginger tom could do was grin at her smugly. He looked over at the henchcat and blinked, "Leave us." He ordered flatly.

The dark tom nodded quietly and exited the room. Zelaphelia hadn't moved from her place on the floor. The fact that she seemed nervous now that she was finally in his grasped almost tickled the ginger tom, but only slightly. "Well, I hope you've enjoyed the first few hours of your stay here." He said in a sarcastically polite tone.

The gold-red queen didn't answer her question, "Where are Jerrie and Teazer?" she asked flatly.

Macavity frowned, "Nowhere that you're concerned with. And don't think I'll tell you anytime soon." Zela glared at him, which in turn, only made him chuckle. "You don't seem happy to see me." He said, still being very sarcastic again.

Her glare intensified, "Why am I here?" she asked. Macavity thought it was an extremely stupid question.

"You know why you're here, Zela." He said seriously as he jumped down from his chair to meet her. "I need you for my scheme, of course. And I feel I'm being quite generous for not torturing those two idiot thieves for everything they found out. I would, but I'm afraid that they being in that kind of condition would be…" he smirked, "impractical for the use I have of them."

She raised an eyebrow quietly at him, "What is that use, then?" she asked suspiciously.

The smirk rose higher on his face, "Keeping you here, of course." He chuckled as he circled the golden-red female slowly, "Honestly, my offspring is not so naïve as to think I wouldn't find a way to have her stay?"

Zela blinked at the floor, "So you'll kill them if I attempt an escape?" she asked quietly.

When this question came up, Macavity cackled, "Oh how I longed for you to ask that question, darling Zelaphelia. Of course I would kill them." He leaned next to her ear, "Would you like to know how?"

Zela winced and quickly turned away from him. Macavity chuckled to himself, "Well, perhaps I'll save that conversation piece when your training begins…" he mused.

She looked back at him out of the corner of her eye, "Training?"

"Yes…" he answered, "It's obvious from your lack of abilities that you've lost the prior knowledge that I taught you before, and need to be reminded. You'll be like trainees, with me as a mentor of course, but I'm sure you'll be caught up in no time. Who knows? Maybe soon, you'll accept your proper place with me, and actually begin enjoying it."

He saw her shoulders tense in disgust. She swiftly turned around with a repulsed scowl; "Never!" She quickly unsheathed her claws and jumped at him. Macavity had already seen this coming though. As soon as he was close to his face, he caught both of her small wrists and dug is claws into them.

"You're slower now too." He growled quietly. The ginger tom was not happy at all that he would have to reteach her everything, but still, she had the energy, and she would be willing if she didn't want to see her friends die. "But that doesn't matter." He said smoothly, pushing her back. "You're technique is still good," he stared down at her, "Not perfect, but good. I can change that, Zela. I can give you more power than the Jellicles ever could."

The gold-red queen's violet eyes narrowed on him, "They've given more than you ever will, Macavity." She spat from the ground. He had to admit, for one so small and soft-hearted, Zela had spite, and that alone could spark the hate he needed to make her powerful.

The ginger tom quickly stepped forward. He bent down and clutched her wrist, "I can feel everything that's happening in your body right now. Your heart rate is accelerating; the adrenaline is pumping through your veins; the energy pulsing through and around you... You may not want to admit it, Zela, but at some level, you love the fighting. You like throwing your claws out at anyone who opposes you, and you hate to lose. Face it, daughter, you and I think a lot alike."

She glared up at him as she sat under his tall shadow. "We are nothing alike." She retorted, "All you care about is destruction, your influence of London, and all the power you have to gain over the tribe. You don't know what love or friendship is, or anything that make a life fulfilling. You're a cold-hearted, self-absorbed, megalomaniac whose only talents are manipulation and mysticism. You're as hollow and dark as the devil himself, and you'll never be any better. We are nothing alike, because unlike you, I do know what love is."

Macavity quickly returned her glare. He never stood for when someone talked to him like that, not even his spawn. The ginger tom bent down quickly and made her stand by picking up her head fur. He gripped both her shoulders, squeezing them as electricity generated through him, and began pulsing through her. The gold-red queen seethed and sunk down to her knees. She was weaker. Strangely enough, her tongue was even sharper than before. "The first thing you need to learn when you're here," he began, tossing her back to the floor, "Is to learn how to respect your superiors. And you never speak to an elder, especially your mentor in that way. I'm taking it easy on you because you didn't fully understand everything, but now you're starting all the way back to the beginning. For now, you will not have my trust, and I will be monitoring you like a prisoner and a mentee" The Hidden Paw sighed at her, and tried to smirk at her, "While you're here, you'll be staying in the cells for quite some time. You will respect all of my henchcats and not harm them in anyway. You will not use your powers unless I will it. Oh, and you also won't be pursuing to find either of your friends in the Warehouse. Now, is that all perfectly clear to you?"

Zelaphelia was, of course, glaring at him intently, and still looking more miserable than ever. Macavity smirked at her even more widely, "You have no choice in this." He reminded her, with a cheeriness in his tone. "If you break any of my rules, Jerrie and Teazer will be at a very high risk, I promise you."

The gold-red female's eyes narrowed on him, "I understand…" she said cynically under her breath. But she quickly loosened her glare on him, "But this deal can't go on forever."

The Hidden Paw grinned in amusement, "It can, and it will." He told her assuredly. Zela scowled at the floor, looking as if she was in denial of what truly was going on. Macavity chuckled, padding her shoulder lightly, "It may seem like it's bad now, dear, but trust me. You'll grow used to your routine, and then you'll begin to like it, and though you may not admit it now, you're going to want more and more of that taste of power. I promise you, Zelaphelia, you're going to go the distance by my side…"

She growled and nudged his paw off her shoulder, "You're delusional… and despicable."

He grinned, "Soon, you'll see things my way, and you'll think differently." Macavity chuckled as he whistled at the door. The Guardstom, which he finally remembered was named Marcetheus, came gingerly into the room. He was still very jittery, which annoyed the Hidden Paw more than he could say. Why was it most of his henchcat were so spineless?

"Zela," he turned back to the gold-red female. She was still staring at her paws, having a face that wondered what she just agreed to. "This is going to be your personal guard. He'll be watching you in the cells from now on, and anywhere else I allow you to venture in the Warehouse. Isn't that right?"

He turned over to the henchcat with an expectant eyebrow raise. Marcetheus blinked and bit his lip quietly, "Uh… yes sir." He said, too hesitantly for Macavity's liking.

The ginger tom's eyes narrowed on him, "I assume that the last of the dead Siamese have been dragged out and disposed of?"

The dark tom nodded.

Macavity sighed churlishly, "Good. Now take her back down." The ginger tom turned back to the black leather chair just waiting for him to sit on. He caught the henchcat pushing open the door, but Zela had quickly turned back at him with a scowl.

"When the Junkyard realizes that we're not coming back, they'll come after us." She told him. Marcetheus seemed very nervous about this statement. The ginger tom could only grin at the both of them.

"We'll find out, daughter…"

With that, the two cats left the Hidden Paw's quarters. He was glad that he could finally rest, because for some reason, he felt a bit winded, but at the same time, Macavity was bubbling in enthusiasm. His daughter was finally in his grasp, and this time, he wasn't going to make any mistakes…

~^..^~