The cats were gathered in the junkyard as always. They gleamed at the new litter. Frisky and Etcetera's kittens had just recieved their sight and were looking at everything with interest. " Unca Tumble!" mewed Zebra. The kitten pointed to the magical tire. "
What dat?" Tumblebrutus was considered Frisky's brother so the kittens assumed him to be their uncle. Tumblebrutus grinned. " That is the tire that is used once a year by Old Deuteronomy. Every Jellicle Ball, one cat is chosen to go to the Heaviside Layer. The tire lifts into the air and takes the cat to the Heaviside Layer," explained Tumblebrutus.
The kittens began to scatter and explore. Zebra was considered the leader of the group. He felt like he was responsible for his brother and sister. He grabbed Angel by her tail and pulled her back. " No go Angel! You get lost!" he snapped.
Alonzo burst out laughing. " He reminds me of you Munkustrap!" laughed Alonzo.
Munkustrap let out a smile. Etcetera snatched all of her kittens and brought them back over to Frisky. She began to wash her kittens. " I never thought I would be a mother," purred Etcetera. " I've never been happier in my life."
The ground began to shake and a faint rumble was heard. The cats jumped up. " No! It couldn't be! Not this early!" cried Munkustrap.
Frisky turned to the cats. " What? What is it?!" asked Frisky.
" DUMP TRUCKS!" screamed Demeter.
The cats scattered as the ground shook like an earthquake and new garbage was being piled in and crashing onto the ground. The kittens paniced and rushed off towards a pipe. It had been baricaded by wood, but there was a big enough opening for them to crawl through. Etcetera saw them crawl through and she let out a gasp of horror. " KITTENS! NO!" she shrieked.
She rushed forward to the pipe but a large armchair came crashing down and she leaped away just before it could fall onto her. Soon the rumbling stopped and the cats gathered again Etcetera turned to Munkustrap. " Munkustrap! They were able to get through the east pipe," she whimpered. Munkustrap gasped.
" Oh no! JELLICLES! GATHER!" he screamed. All of the Jellicles formed a circle around the gray tabby. " The kitten were able to get through the east pipe," he said gravely.
There were gasps and murmers around the cats. Frisky was confused and was relunctent to ask his question. " Where....Where does the east pipe lead to?" he asked. Alonzo was shocked. He spun to Skimbleshanks.
" You mean you never told him?!" he snarled. Skimbleshanks shrugged innocentley.
" I thought it was blocked enough so that nothing could enter!" cried Skimbleshanks. Frisky was now more confused than ever.
" Where does the East Pipe lead to?" asked Frisky sterny. Munkustrap stepped forward.
" I'm going to be honest with you Frisky. It leads to Macavity territory. Not only that, but Pollicles, stray catchers, speeding cars..." Munkustrap then stopped. He shook his head. " It's a very dangerous area of the town."
" WE HAVE TO FIND THEM!" shouted Frisky. Munkustrap nodded.
" Indeed! Although you and Etcetera stay here. It won't be safe for you to be in Macavity territory, especially after what happened last time." Frisky was upset, but he followed Munkustrap's directions. " The rest of you go off in pairs of twos! Report back if you find anything! Meet back here in two hours!" The cats hurried off in pairs of twos. Frisky held Etcetera close to him.
" Don't worry Etcetera. They'll find them. Our kittens will be alright," said Frisky.
************************************************************************
The four kitens wandered about the streets. Zebra of course was leading them. " Zeebwa, where are we?" asked Skimble. Zebra stopped and stared at him.
" Me not know. Need to find Jellygulls," stated Zebra. Angel and Muffeler huddle close to each other as they moved on.
" Me scared. Want Mommy," Angel mewed softely. Zebra turned to Skimble and rolled his eyes.
" Girls," muttered Zebra. " Come on Angel! We have to find Jellygulls!"
Angel and Muffeler quickened their pace and were beside Skimble and Zebra. They continued along the streets. " Me hungwee!" meowed Muffeler. Skimble turned to Zebra and nodded.
" We have no bwakfist yet," said Skimble. Zebra licked his lips and began to sniff. He followed a scent all the way to a house. There was a bowl of sliced steak. The four kittens moved towards it. Angel grinned. " Zeebwa! You find brakfist!" exclaimed Angel.
" Correction!" a voice growled. The kittens spun around. A large German Shepard stalked towards the kitten. He bared his teeth. " You found my breakfast." He then grinned. " Then again, I haven't had kitten for a while," snickered the dog.
The kittens screamed and ran out of the yard with the dog in pursuit and snarling. The kittens rushed over and saw a large fence. Zebra spotted a hole in it. " Follow!" he hissed.
The four kittens rushed into the hole and there was a loud smack as the dog crashed into the fence.
***********************************************************************
Plato and Quaxo were one group. They sniffed around the pollicle area. Plato prayed that the kitten's scent wouldn't turn up. Quaxo turned to his companion. " Man, they just got their sight. They're helpless out here!" cried Quaxo.
" I know," muttered Plato. " We just have to hope for the best." Plato shook his head. " Just pray to the Heaviside that nothing has happened t them." Quaxo shut his eyes and let out a silent pray.
************************************************************************
When the kitten's were on the other side of the fence, they realized that they were in a junkyard. Not the Jellicle Junkyard, but a junkyard. Zebra lead his brother and sisters forward. They were all exhausted from their encounter with the pollicle. The black-striped kitten's nose then twitched. " Cweem! Me smell cweem!" mewed Zebra as he licked his lips.
" No tease!" groaned Angel. " Me alweady starving."
" No! Me willy smell cweem! Follow!"
Zebra hurried forward and his siblings were right behind him. When he stopped, his jaws dropped. There was a large bowl of cream settled in the middle of the junkyard. " Me never see so much cweem," stated Skimble. Muffeler crawled over Skimble.
" Let's eat!" she exclaimed. The four kittens hurried to the bowl and began lapping up the cream greedily. As the kittens continued to lap up the cream, they began to feel drowsy. Angel was the first to settle down and shut her eyes. Muffeler followed. Skimble flopped down and closed his eyes as well. Zebra yawned and struggled to stay awake. But he began to fall asleep. Just before he drifted off. He felt something grab his leg and yank him into a bag.
***********************************************************************
Tumblebrutus and Pouncivil entered the junkyard. Munkustrap, Frisky and Etcetera looked at them with hope. " Well?" asked Frisky. Tumble's ears fell down against his head. The brown-patched cat turned to Pouncivil.
" We came upon their scent. It lead to a large pollicle. It chased us of before we could tell if the scent left the yard or not," said Pouncivil.
Etcetera gapsed and clung onto Frisky. " We're not saying that the pollicle got the kittens Etcetera! They could have gotten away!" said Tumble trying to comfort the female jellicle.
Munkustrap motioned for the two cats to leave. Pouncivil and Tumblebrutus left the three Jellicles.
************************************************************************
When Zebra awoke he saw that he was inside a wooden crate. His brother and two sisters were there with him. He hurried over to them and began to lick their faces until they woke up. Muffeler jumoed when she relized that they were trapped. " Where are we?" she mewed. Her black tail whipped back and forth.
Skimble hurried over to Zebra. " What going on?" asked Skimble.
The kittens fell silent as voices outside the crate were heard. " Good evening boss! Oh my! Your coat has never looked dustier!" a voice squeaked.
" Your flattery will not do you any good this time," growled a voice tat sent shivers down the kittens spines. " Have you failed like the last four times? You do know the penelty."
" Oh no sir! This time we drugged the cream! And you'll be pleased to know, we got four!" the voice squeaked.
" Four? Well, well, that is an improvement," the other voice declared. " Let's have a look, shall we?"
The top of the crate opened and light poured in blinding the kittens. A huge paw reached in. It was hairy, red and had long black claws. It grabbed Angel by her waist and lifted her out of the crate. She screamed as she was seperated from her siblings. The kittens were too scared to do anything. Once Angel was out of the crate, she was staring right into the face of tee evilest cat she had ever seen. His fur shot out everywhere and was black, orange, white and red in color. He stared at her with his sunken red eyes. " Yes, and they're still very young I see. Good. They're easier to train then."
Angel started to cry. " Mommy! Mommy!" cried Angel. The cat glared at her.
" Tears are not allowed in Macavity's presence," he growled to her.
Macavity then put Angel back in the crate. He grabbed Skimble and lifted him out of the kittens' prison. Skimble squirmed and scrambled in Macavity's grip. Zebra hopped forward and fluffed out his fur. " Put Skimble down!" Zebra snarled.
" SKIMBLE?!" MAcavity began sniffing the trembling kitten he had in his grasp. He hissed. " Jellicles!" He threw Skimble back into the crate and turned to the rats furiously. " You morons! They're Jellicles! You can't train jellicles! Remember Tumblebrutus?! These kittens are USELESS!" he roared.
Macavity then calmed down. He began to think. A grin spread across his face. " No, they're not. These kittens shall come in handy." His evil grin widened. " The Jellicles would do anything to keep these little ones from getting hurt. And so would Demeter." He laughed manically. The kittens gathered close in a corner of the crate. " I shall get Demeter back, and this time I plan to keep her!"
Frisky held Etcetera close to him as the cats began to reassmble in the junkyard. Skimbleshanks and Mistoffelees entered the junkyard. " Mistoffelees, Skimble, any luck?" asked Munkustrap. Mistoffelees shook his head.
" We searched every meat and food store. Nothing," said Mistoffelees.
" Poor little kittens," whimpered Skimbleshanks.
Mistoffelees placed a paw on Skimbleshanks' shoulder. Bombalurina and Demeter then entered. Before Munkustrap could ask, Demeter spoke up. " We looked in all of the animal shelters to see if they had been picked up. They were't there," said Demeter sadly.
Alonzo and Cassandra then rushed into the junkyard. Frisky spun around to them. " Zebra.....I mean, Alonzo! Were you able to find them?"
" Well, we came upon their scent. It lead to the Eastern Junkyard." Alonzo gulped. " Where...Macavity's rats live." Frisky rushed over to Alonzo.
" Did you find them?!" he cried. Cassandra shook her head.
" Their scent ended at a bowl of cream," said Cassandra. Bustopher Jones then strutted into the junkyard. He expected ' Hellos' and 'Good days', but recieved none. Skimbleshanks didn't even fetch the top hat so that he could sit. It shocked Bustopher that Mistoffelees didn't even yank his tail. He knew someting was wrong. " What happened?" asked the 25-lb cat. All the Jellicles turned to him.
" Oh Bustopher! We've just lost our litter!" cried Etcetera. " I'm afraid that the rats have gotten them!" Bustopher strutted over to Etcetera.
" There, there my dear." HE gave her his flower. " I'll get my club friends together and we'll help search for your litter." Munkustrap smiled.
" We really appreiciate the help Bustopher..."
" HELP!" cried Tumblebrutus. " Help me!"
All the cats rushed towards the sound. They found Snarl, one of Macavity's henchcats, with his claws to Tumblebrutus' throat. " Scream one more time and I'll..."
Snarl then noticed the Jellicles and grinned at them. The stub that used to be his tail wagged. He released the bown-patched cat and Tumble rushed over behind Alonzo who stood protectively in front of him. Munkustrap stepped forward. " What?" growled Munkustrap.
Snarl streched and yawned, taking his time to annoy the Jellicles. It was working. " We have the kittens," he purred. Etcetera gasped and hid her face on Frisky's shoulder. " Give Demeter to Macavity and they come to no harm." Snarl then had the nerve to rub up against the cats. " Otherwise..."
Frisky roared and tackled Snarl. He ripped his claws though the henchcat's fur and sunk his teeth into whatever he could. Snarl threw the cat off and rushed off hissing. The Jellicles had never seen Frisky attack anything before. The black cat snarled at the retreating stray, then turned back to the others. Demeter was embracing her sister and crying. " I won't go back to him! I won't!" she cried. " But, those poor kittens!" She began sobbing on her elder's coat. Bombalurina hugged her sister and looked up at Munkustrap.
" So, what do we do?" asked Bombalurina. Munkustrap frowned.
" It's a no win situation." He hurried over to his love Demeter and hugged Demeter. " Demeter! You know I would never let anything happen to you!" Bustopher Jones left the two cats and headed over to Tumblebrutus who was pawing a his throat.
" My, my Brutus. I thought you would have been able to handle that pipsqueak.
" Ah Shaddup! And my name isn't Brutus! It's Tumblebrutus!"
He glared at the heavy cat. " Brutus is my stray name. Tumble hated being called by his stray name, it brought back too many painful memories. Alonzo pulled Tumblebrutud away by his collar. He turned to Munkustrap. " What was once stolen can be stolen back! We just have to be quick about it. Tumblebrutus!" The brown-patched cat turned to him. " YOu're the fastest cat in the junkyard. We'll need you to get run up and get the kitten's from Macavity when we distract him with Demeter."
If Tumblebrutus wasn't already white in color, he would have turned white right then. " What?! Me face Macavity?! On no! No! No! I'm not going anywhere near that cat!" exclaimed Tumble.
" Are you sure...UNCLE Tumble?" sneered ALonzo. Tumblebrutus' head dropped.
" Alright....I'll do it...For the kittens," said Tumblebrutus. Bustopher Jones hurried over.
" I could help too! I'll get my friends together and...."
" No thank you Bustopher. It's a kind offer, but you're...Well..A little overweight for this type of thing," said Munkustrap. Bstopher frowned.
" Oh, well...Toodle pip then. Good luck." The Saint James Street Cat then left the Jellicles. Demeter looked up at Munkustrap.
" Munkustrap, I don't want to go back to him!" she cried.
" And you won't! As soon as Tumble gets the kittens. We'll get you out of there," said Munkustrap. Demeter looked up at Munkustrap and nodded.
" I trust you." She looked at the Jellicles. " I trust all of you. You are my friends, and I have the upmost faith that we will get those kittens back to Etcetera!" Etcetera looked up and smiled.
" Oh yes! Yes! Please get our litter back safely!" pleaded Etcetera. Munkustrap got up.
" We will. Demeter, Tumblebrutus, Alonzo..." He then called louder. " Coricopat! Tantomile!" The two mystical twins stalked into the junkyard. " We need your future predictions if we hope to get throught this." Mistoffelees then spoke up.
" Hey! What about me? What about my magic?! I can help too!"
" Those are my grandkittens! I have a responsibility!" added Skimbleshanks. Mukustrap shook his head.
" My sister is going to be at the risk of Macavity! I have to go with..." started Bombalurina.
" No! We only need a few Jellicles. The rest of you wait here for us. The rest of you, let's move!" Cassandra nuzzled Alonzo.
" Come back safe my darling," she purred.
" I will Cassy," said Alonzo.
" Zebra! C'mon!" shouted Tumblebrutus as he followed the other Jellicles. Alonzo rushed after him.
" Squirt!" shouted Alonzo.
