A Human World

*Author's note: This story has a rating of PG-13 due to some language and violence. It's not as bad as others that I have read, but I figured I'd better put a warning on it for the kittens reading it. Other than that, enjoy!*

PART 1: CHANGED
Chapter One: The Battle

Battle waged in the junkyard that fateful night. It was not your typical battle of Peke and Pollicle dogs, but that of two groups of cats. The Jellicles and a tightly knit band of strays led by the Jellicles' most hated enemy. The Hidden Paw himself directed his henchcats into a battle that would be spoken of for many years to come. Macavity was in the junkyard.

At that moment, Macavity was fighting his own, personal enemy. Munkustrap, a strong, gray tabby, was growing more exhausted by the minute was was letting more and more blows past him. Any onlooker could see that Macavity was at an advantage and would win if help didn't come soon.

With a strong backhand, Macavity struck Munkustrap across the head. Dazed and injuried, the tabby staggered back. He tried to steady himself, but Macavity kicked him firmly in the stomach, sending him to the ground. He stood over Munkustrap, a contemptous look on his face.

"Get up, Jellicle," he hissed. "Fight like a tom!"

Munkustrap shook his head to clear it and stumbled to his feet. Around him, individual fights had ceased and their participants had turned to watch. A heavy silence settled on the junkyard and all that could be heard were Munkustrap's gasping breaths and a distant sound of a kitten crying. Macavity narrowed his eyes and began to circle the tabby.

"C'mon, Munkustrap," he growled.

Munkustrap croached into an attack position. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his mate, Demeter, looking on in horror. If for no other reason, he'd win this for her. At least he'd try to.

With a weak cry, he lunged at the Hidden Paw. Macavity held out his paws, clawed Munkustrap across the chest and stomach, and flung him to the ground. The tabby hit hard enough for the wind to be knocked out of him and he rolled onto his back.

It's hopeless, he thought. I'm just too tired.

He watched helplessly as Macavity knelt beside him and pressed a claw into his throat. Macavity scowled and shook his head.

"You're pathetic, Munkustrap. I really ought to kill you now and put you out of your misery," he growled. Then he paused and a slow smile spread over his face. He leaned closer to Munkustrap.

"And after I kill you, I'll keep your mate as my personal plaything. Hell, I might even take some of the tribe's kittens for a little education. What do you think?" Munkustrap hissed.

"You bastard!"

"I thought so," Macavity said. He raised his paw to club Munkustrap over the head and end his pitiful life.

"STOP!"

Macavity's paw froze in midair and he looked up. Mistoffelees stood in front of him, his paws glowing a brilliant blue. The much younger tom glared at Macavity in a challenging way. Macavity couldn't help but laugh.

This is typical, he thought. Of course the magician would want to try and save the day. He always did. Well, that's your first mistake.

"What're you going to do if I don't?" Macavity taunted. He flicked his tail, giving a hidden signal to his own, private weapon.

"Something you won't like," Mistoffelees replied, shifting his weight.

Macavity rolled his eyes. Ah, he thought. A poet. Waiting for the right moment, Macavity slowly backed away. He watched in amusement as Demeter rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Munkustrap.

"Leave now or I'll do something we'll both regret," Mistoffelees said quietly.

"Now, why do I doubt that?" Macavity asked. Munkustrap got to his feet, Demeter clinging desparately to him. He tossed his head back.

"You're outnumbered, Macavity," Munkustrap said.

Beginning to get annoyed, Macavity clapped his paws together. There was only so much he could take from this sniveling ball of fur. He noted, with satisfaction, that Demeter's eyes grew larger when a small, black tom slipped up beside Macavity. The Hidden Paw glanced at him quickly, then returned his gaze to the three Jellicles in front of him. "Let me introduce you to Merle, my dear Jellicles," he said. Mistoffelees looked a little nervous.

The small, black cat, Merle, was about the size of Mistoffelees, if not smaller. He looked younger as well. Munkustrap figured that he might not even be considered a tom yet. Merle appeared to still be a kitten.

Althought he obviously had Macavity's confidence in him, he looked a little scared himself. He twisted his paws nervously in front of him.

"You're going to have a kitten defend you, Macavity?" Munkustrap scoffed.

"What could he possibly do to us?"

Macavity gently pushed the kittenish cat in front of him. Merle blinked nervously, then met Mistoffelees' eyes. To the magician's astonishment, they were the exact shade of his own. Before he could study them further, Merle dropped his eyes to the ground. Macavity clapped him on the back.

"Go ahead, Merle. Show them what you can do."

Before anyone could move or react, Merle shot out his paws in fonrt of him. A brilliant red light shot out of his paws and struck Mistoffelees square in the chest. Shocked, the magician was thrown off his feet and he fell to the ground. He desparetely began to gather his magic.

Merle turned to Munkustrap and Demeter. With a quick flick of his wrist, he had them move to where he wanted them. Together with Mistoffelees. Things would be much easier for him if they were all in one place.

A blue lightening blot shot past him, missing his head by inches.

"Hey!" he cried. Mistoffelees was thrown off by the other cat's shock that anyone would retaliate.

Recovering quickly, Mistoffelees shot another bolt. It would've hit him, but Merle held up his paws in a protective gesture. The lightening sruck a red light sheild and bounced away. Not wanting to give him another opportunity, Merle croached down and quickly summoned his most powerful magic.

Realizing what he was doing, Mistoffelees gathered his own magic. There was no way this side of the Heavyside Layer that he'd let Merle blow him away without a fight. Even though he had no idea what would happen, he flung his paws out in front of him. At the exact same moment, both cats fired out rays of intense blue and red light.

The twin lights colliaded with each other with a deafening boom. Jellicles and strays alike fled to hide underneath garbage. The light engulfed Mistoffelees, Merle, and Munkustrap and Demeter, who were immediately behind Mistoffelees. For a moment, one could see their silouettes against the bright light. Then all was dark and silent.

Macavity, who had been blown backwards off his feet, sat up. He blinked, trying to make his eyes adjust to the sudden darkness. His mouth fell agape as he stared at the spot where the four cats had been.

Of the four, only Merle remained. He was standing shakily, staring straight ahead. His bright blue eyes were now dull and lifeless. He murmured something too soft for anyone to hear and took a step back. To his benefit, Macavity leaped to his feet and caught the small cat as he swayed, then fainted.

Macavity shifted Merle to the ground. He examined him quickly, deciding that he would be all right for a moment. The Hidden Paw looked around the junkyard, waiting for some sign of life.

He breathed a faint sigh of relief as he saw one Jellicle tom, Alonzo, he belived, crawl out cautiously from behind a broken washing machine. At least Merle didn't kill everyone, Macavity thought.

He watched as the Jellicle stared in disbelief at where his friends had been. Alonzo's paws clenched and unclenched in angry confusion, then he spun to face Macavity.

"Where in Heavyside are they?" he shouted.

Macavity decided to ignore his question and turned his head to look at the beautiful red queen who had slipped out of the junk. He smiled and gestured to the general area behind him.

"Impressive, eh, Bomby?" he asked. Bombalurina hissed.

"You... you..." She cut short as Merle groaned.

Alonzo grabbed her paw and jerked her away from the small cat. They glanced at Macavity, then back down at the tiny magician. Bombalurina took a step back as he groaned again.

Deciding that he didn't want to have anything to do with such a powerful tom, Alonzo grabbed Bombalurina around the waist and dragged her back. Frightened, she would've never let him otherwise, she allowed herself to be tucked back into the garbage.

Tucked against Alonzo on one side and Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer on the other, she watched warily as the strays emerged from their hiding spots. They cast tired looks at one another and their leader before slowly drifting out of the junkyard. Macavity knelt, scooped Merle into his arms, and followed them.

Nobody spoke or moved for a long time afterwards.

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Chapter Two: Awakening

Munkustrap groaned and rolled onto his belly. His whole body ached painfully. He felt as though his head were floating a mile above his body and his legs felt like Jello. Even his fur hurt.

Drawing himself out of the swimming darkness that surrounded him, he groaned again and opened his eyes. He swept his arms out to his sides, wanting to see if they'd stretch, and brushed against something soft.

Turning his head, he saw a dark haired human child laying beside him. Well, maybe not a child. A teenager. A small one at that. Suddenly startled, Munkustrap jerked into a sitting position.

Wait a minute, he thought. Since when are humans of any kind small? They're all huge. How come this one actually looks smaller than me?

Gingerly, he reached out to touch the boy. To his horror, his paw he did not see. Instead, two human "paws" (what WERE they called again?) were at the ends of his arms. Not his arms. Human arms.

Munkustrap patted them in disbelief. Seeing that they were indeed real, he brought his "paws" to his face and felt that, too. Human nose and mouth.

Drawing his "paws" over his head, he discovered his thick gray striped fur was gone and replaced by human hair.

Munkustrap gasped and crawled over to a puddle that he had seen when first waking up. Praying it wouldn't be there, he cautiously peered into the mucky water. Oh, no, he thought.

Staring back him was a human face. Dark brown hair with gray streaks running through it instead of his gray fur. Pale human face instead of his striped one. Human lips and teeth, too. At least his eyes were the same. That was a plus, he guessed.

"Everlasting Cat," he murmured. "I'm a human!"

A groan beside him snapped him out of his shock. Munkustrap turned his head curiously.

The boy beside him had stirred and rolled over. He still had his eyes shut and a look of fear was on his face. Immediately, Munkustrap knew who he was. He leaned over and brushed his hand against the boy's cheek. Munkustrap sighed when the boy's face relaxed into a calm look and he moved his arms out towards Munkustrap's direction.

"Misto?" Munkustrap said softly. "Wake up."

The boy opened his eyes slowly. He looked around, hunting for the speaker. Being careful not to frighten him, Munkustrap lightly touched his shoulder. Mistoffelees looked at him for a second, then jerked up and away.

"Get away!" he hissed.

Not realizing that he was in a human body, Mistoffelees staggered away from the man that was staring at him. He hated human strangers.

"Misto, stop! It's me! Munk!" Munkustrap called, reaching towards the boy.

Mistoffelees froze. Munkustrap, he thought. How could that be Munkustrap?

Suddenly, it hit him like a train. He knew what had happened, at least to some extent. Letting out a cry of confusion, Mistoffelees dove at Munkustrap. He buried his face into the older man's shirt, whimpering.

"Everlasting Cat! We're... we're..." he struggled to say what he knew was correct, but couldn't.

"Humans," a feminaine voice finshed for him.

Holding a trembling Mistoffelees close, Munkustrap turned his head. He looked at the pretty red haired woman in front of them in awe. She tilted her head to the side and ran her fingers through her hair.

"It's true, Misto. We're humans," she said.

"Demi," Munkustrap murmured.

She hurried to him and wrapped her arms around the both of them. Mistoffelees moved his head enough to tuck it into the crook of Demeter's arm. He whimpered softly.

"Want my body back," he whispered, resorting to a kittenish voice and manner. He looked up at Demeter with huge, blue eyes. "Don't wanna be a human."

"I know," she soothed.

Concerned that he was so upset, Demeter brushed a hand down his cheek. She moved a bit, then slid Mistoffelees over so that he was closer to her. She cradled him in her arms as best she could, murmuring soothing words. Jennyanydots would be very handy right now, she thought.

Waiting until Mistoffelees had stopped whimpering and had cried himself to sleep, Demeter turned to her mate.

"What can we do? I don't even know what to do with Misto," she said.

Munkustrap stared at the sleeping boy thoughtfully. Black hair, same blue eyes, and dressed in a black sweater and jeans. Hard to believe that this was the same black tom that he knew. He patted Mistoffelees' head gently and returned his gaze to Demeter.

"Let's let him sleep," he suggested. "This is affecting him worse than either of us." Demeter nodded.

"I know. It's breaking my heart to see him like this." Munkustrap cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her on the lips. "When he wakes, we'll find somewhere to sleep the night."

Exhausted, Demeter nodded, leaned against Munkustrap, and shut her eyes. This was all a bad dream. When she woke up, they'd be back in the junkyard, in their own bodies and curled up in Munkustrap's box. Safe and sound with no human bodies.

At least, she hoped so.

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Chapter Three: Finding a Place to Sleep

Mistoffelees awoke a little while later, calmer now. He still insisted on staying in Demeter's arms, but he had ceased crying and was offering bits of conversation every now and then. Once he was sure that Mistoffelees wouldn't go into hysterics at the idea, Munustrap suggested that they look for shelter.

To everyone's surprise, Demeter dug a wad of bills out of jeans' pocket. It baffled Munkustrap where the money had come from and Mistoffelees looked at it suspiously. Demeter pointed out that they shouldn't be humans either, so why were they letting something good like this worry them? Neither male was really in the mood to argue, so they reluctantly agreed to let it be.

Tucking the money away, the trio started out. Feeling an unexplainable urge to scold Munkustrap and Demeter for embarrassing him by holding hands, Mistoffelees strode ahead of them. In his cat body, he never would've felt this way, but he figured that his new, human body had smething to do with it.

After nearly an hour of wandering the city, they happened across a dingy hotel. After a quick conferance, they decided that they had enough money (Demeter's humans talked about it all the time, so she knew what the different slips of paper meant) to spend the night there. Maybe even two.

They slipped quietly into the front lobby and paid for one room (all they could afford). The manager eyed Demeter's shapely, human body with obvious attraction, but Munkustrap glared at him and slipped the other two away from his gaze.

Glad it had two beds and they wouldn't all have to try and cram all into one bed, Mistoffelees claimed his bed. He tore the covers off and made a nest on the top of the bed. After a couple of frustrating minutes, Munkustrap and Demeter were already in bed and ready to sleep, Mistoffelees found a comfortable position. He yawned hugely and stretched his legs, tucking them back afterwards. He murmured a good night and was finally still and silent.

"'night, Munk," Demeter whispered. Munkustrap sighed and drapped an arm around her waist. "'night."

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Chapter Four: What to do with Misto?

Demeter was the first to awake the next morning. She was amused to find that Mistoffelees, despite his obvious horror to sharing a bed with them, had abandoned his own bed and was curled up next to her. Successfully pushing Munkustrap to the far end of the bed and getting himself in the middle. She realized sadly that he hadn't been able to sleep soundly the last day unless he was in contact with either her or Munkustrap.

Careful not to wake the sleeping males, she slipped out of the bed.

Demeter walked to the bathroom and gazed at herself in the mirror. It wasn't what she expected, but it would have to do. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair a few times, attempting to make obey her commands. When it refused, she made a face at herself in the mirror and left the hotel room.

She walked down the pathway outside the rooms until she arrived at the main lobby. Careful to not attract the manager's attention, she slipped bagels, doughnuts, and milk into the ice container she had brought along. Maybe it looked a little stupid, but they were going to eat, so it didn't really matter.

Munching on one of the doughnuts she had taken, she had to admit it tasted better in this body, she returned to the room. Realizing how daft she would look, Demeter knocked on the door. She had, of course, forgotten the key.

"Everyone decent?" she called.

The door swung open to releave a distraut Munkustrap. His hair, she actually thought it looked good now, was mussed and hung into his eyes. A touch of sweat was on his brow. Demeter almost dropped her bucket.

"Where were you?" he demanded.

"Getting breakfast," she replied. From behind him, she could see Mistoffelees rocking nervously on the bed. "What's he doing?" The boy jerked his head up.

"DEMI!"

He practically shoved Munkustrap aside, throwing his arms around Demeter. She did drop the bucket this time. Hugging her tightly, he began to whimper. Demeter grabbed his shoulders and pushed him out to arms' length. She looked him in the eye.

"Misto, what's wrong?" He shook his head and frantically tried to get back into her embrace. Reluctantly, she let him. She looked up and caught Munkustrap's eye.

"We can't leave him without telling him," he said softly. "I was... uh, using the bathroom when he woke up and he totally flipped out. Guess he thought he was alone and we had abandoned him. Anyway, I could hear him start to scream for Vicki and Jenny and I had to run out of there." He paused a moment. "I had to grab him and pin him down before he would stop. Even then, he kept calling out for them, only not as loud."

Demeter clutched Mistoffelees close to her chest. She was horrified. She had never known Mistoffelees to be so skiddish. This whole human thing must terrifing him more than either her or Munkustrap had guessed.

"It's OK, Misto," she soothed. "I won't leave you again."

He relaxed a bit and looked up at her face. His own was streaked in tears.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He nodded thoughtfully and very reluctantly pulled away. She noticed that he made sure to stay within an arm's length of her. Bending over, he lifted the ice box that she had dropped off the floor. He opened the lid and peered inside. His blue eyes lite up for the first time since they had left the junkyard.

"Look, Munk!" he exclaimed, shoving the bucket under Munkustrap's nose. "Bagels! And they're fresh, too. Not like the ones in the junkyard."

He dug one out and eargerly bit into it. Shutting his eyes, he happily chewed the bagel. Then he motioned for Munkustrap to eat as well.

The three ate in silence. Mistoffelees polished off three before excusing himself to the bathroom. Munkustrap cocked his head when he heard a squeak of fright. Then he grinned.

"It's OK, Misto. That's suppossed to be there," he called.

"Are you sure?" Mistoffelees called back.

"Positive." Demeter blinked. "What is?"

"Nothing." He resumed eating, a knowing smile on his face. After a while, he turned to Demeter.

"Since we're humans, we have to fit in with them." She nodded. "I think that you and I should go out and look for... uh, jobs." Demeter tilted her head.

"What about Misto?" Munkustrap frowned.

"I know. He's too young, at least his human body is, to get a job during the day. My humans' children don't have jobs. I think he'll have to go to one of those places that they send them to. A... a..." He looked helplessly at Demeter.

"A school?"

"Yes. A school." He paused. "We'll have to break it to him gently. I don't want him going into hysterics again. That's the last thing my nerves need."

Demeter agreed. She ate her bagel slowly, waiting for the boy to come back out. She certainly was not looking forward to this.

END OF PART ONE

To be continued....