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With one magnanimous twist of his wrist, Macavity turned attention from himself to the figure his henchcats were respectfully escorting into view on the other side of the clearing.
The tribe turned as one, fear and unease at their enemy's presence pushed aside if not completely forgotten at the sight of their beloved leader returning to them unharmed. It was impossibly positive ending to the recent events.
Demeter did not buy it for a second.
The gold queen's whiskers twitched and her lips slowly spread into a hiss, a fierce light entering her eyes. There was a prickle going down her spine that set off warning bells in her head. It was familiar in a terrible way.
It was Macavity's magic.
She'd know it anywhere. She looked anxiously towards where he had been standing. He was no longer there. But she could still feel his magic, an insidious miasma spreading through the junkyard. He was here. She knew he was here. He could not be having this great of an influence if he wasn't. But she couldn't see him. Macavity was no where to be seen. There was only Old Deuteronomy walking slowly across the clearing, a lingering film of the Hidden Paw's magic clinging to his fur.
Wait.
Demeter narrowed her eyes in suspicion, glaring down the large figure. Her lips peeled back slowly from her fangs in a vicious hiss, a fierce light entering her golden eyes.
“Deme?” Bombalurina moved towards her, the statuesque red queen reaching for her with a worried expression. Her sister's tone was slightly sleepy. “Deme, it's ok. Everything's ok.”
“No!” Demeter snarled, slapping her hands aside. The gold queen's back arched, feet tapping rapidly at the ground in aggravation. She lunged across the yard, the fur on her tail standing on end. She ran between Deuteromony and the kittens clinging to his back, sending the younger cats scattering in all directions.
She spun back around, bending over as she glared down the large cat who had stopped his advance uncertainly.
Demeter charged again, nearly shoulder checking Jennyanydots out of the way as she drove the cats in front of him away.
She spun around again, arms raised and claws extended as she hissed.
Munkustrap, who had drawn near in bemused concern, reared back sharply in surprise, blue eyes going wide. There was a slight sheen of bright green over his eyes.
The magic was effecting all of them, it must be. Dulling the tribe's senses and making them susceptible, slow to act.
Demeter growled in fury and charged forward, gold eyes locked on the figure in the center of the yard with deadly intent.
Electra had started started to drift back towards Deuteronomy, reaching up for the hand he held out to her. The young queen scuttled back with a cry as Demeter leaped upon him.
The gold queen jumped onto his back, snapping at him with her teeth and slashing with her claws. She wrapped her legs around his waist, gripping him tightly with her thighs. He doubled over under her unexpected weight but he didn't fall over. He began to spin, faster and faster. Then he jerked upright sharply, grabbing her knees as he did so and wrenching them apart. Demeter fell, grabbing a fistful of the his fur with one hand and one of his ears with the other.
Both came away, falling with her. Demeter's hit the ground hard and stared up in horror.
The heavy mottled gray fur coat, split down the middle, pooled in her lap, tangling around her legs. The chin of the heavy mask cracked as it hit the ground with a thunk.
A lithe red, black and white body had been revealed, tensed and ready for a fight.
It hadn't been Old Deuteronomy at all. It had only been a disguise, a deception. A very clever and diabolical impersonation.
It was actually -
“MACAVITY!”
The scream of terror came from the whole tribe with one voice, the whole yard suddenly bathed in a garish red light.
The red cat whipped around, long claws extended as he hissed in fury. His magic crackled and spat around him, electrifying the air and filling the air with the smell of ozone. Furious glowing green eyes swung around to glare down at her, going still and tense. The feeling of danger! in the air doubled.
Demeter tried to kick the heavy furs off of her legs, trying to back away, her moment of courage fading and leaving behind only fear. Her gold eyes widened in panic, unable to look away from his terrible green eyed stare.
“Traitorous little minx.” Macavity snarled and lunged at her.
Demeter's scream got lodged in her throat as he grabbed her by the upper arms. He dragged her free of the fur coat, across the ground towards the center of the main clearing of the Junkyard. His grip was bruising, his nearness overwhelming.
Demeter felt like she was drowning, helpless and unable to swim.
Hands suddenly grabbed her by the ankles and pulled her back sharply, her body lifting off the ground. Her eyes snapped up and met Munkustrap's ice blue eyes down the length of his body. The silver tabby's gaze still flickered with green but his features were fierce with determination.
Macavity growled and jerked her back towards him.
Munkustrap tugged her back, refusing to let her go. She was jerked back and forth, back and forth, in a nightmarish tug-of-war, neither of the toms willing to let go.
Demeter caught a blur of motion to the left out of the corner of her eye and Macavity suddenly cried out. His hands snapped open and gravity took hold. Demeter's shoulders slammed hard into the ground as he dropped her.
She was jerked forward sharply by her ankles and spun around, a dark shadow falling over her.
Demeter, sore and aching, forced herself to roll over and lift her head, tense with fear. Munkustrap was crouched protectively over her. His presence soothing even under the circumstances. He stood in front of her as unshakable as a brick wall, the silver tom's body a living shield between her and Macavity.
Macavity!
The gold queen's eyes snapped back towards the center of the clearing and her eyes widened. Alonzo and Macavity circled each other, growling low in the back of their throats as red and white lights flashed overhead, turning the junkyard into a scene out of a nightmare. The black and white harlequin cat bleed from a badly split lip that dripped gore down his chin. Macavity bleed from a long cut slashed horizontally across his calf. The injuries didn't seem to impede either of them, expressions furious and eyes locked intently upon each other, steps precise and considered, bodies tense with anticipation.
Alonzo suddenly shot forward, lips drawn back from his fangs as he lunged at the red cat.
Macavity spun aside and with a gesture that seemed almost lazy caught him in mid-air and flipped him. Alonzo hit the ground hard on his back.
Munkustrap jerked forward as if he wanted to run to his second in command's side but his feet remained firmly planted in place, letting out a frustrated hiss.
Macavity slashed his claws in a downward sweep aimed at Alonzo's neck. The black and white tom rolled out of the way mere seconds before the blow struck, rising back to his feet with a scowl of fury.
Munkustrap twitched again and Demeter looked up at him. The silver tabby's face was strained and conflicted. Clear he wanted to join the fight and help his friend and subordinate. But he couldn't, she realized. Not while he was protecting her.
“Go.” she urged, reaching up to give him a little push. “Help him.”
Munkustrap looked down at her sharply, expression startled. There was no green in his gaze anymore, his ice blue eyes were free of influence. “But you-” he started in protest.
“I'll be fine.” Demeter interrupted him to reassure. She was not fine but there was nothing more he could do for her. Alonzo was the one who needed his strength now. She gestured sharply towards the fight. “Go.”
He gave her a last long look then gave a sharp nod. Munkustrap turned and charged across the clearing at the red cat, timing a low strike of his claws with an uppercut of Alonzo's.
Demeter looked away, unable to watch any more. She tried the push herself to her feet, desperate to hide herself. A sharp pain shot down her arms and down her back and she fell back to the ground with a gasp.
“Deme!” she looked up as an arm wrapped carefully around her shoulders to find Bomba staring at her with anxious eyes and a pinched expression. The red queen helped her to her feet and hurried her towards the space between the pipe and oven, settling her carefully on the ground.
Demeter found her gaze drawn towards the fight, flinching as Macavity kicked Munkustrap's feet out from under him and sent him crashing to the ground.
Bomba shifted, blocking her view with one shoulder. “Don't look at him.” the red queen urged. “Don't. He's never going to touch you again. Never.” Her hands came up and brushed over Demeter's cheeks. The gold queen startled, surprised to see clear liquid wetting Bombalurina's fingertips.
She hadn't realized she was crying.
Demeter looked away quickly furious with herself. She had no reason to be crying. She wasn't even that hurt.
“Don't hide from me, Deme.” Bomba growled, worry making her voice hard, the tone low and pleading. “You don't need to pretend with me.”
Demeter stiffened, whether from the other queen's words or the sound of a body hitting the ground of the clearing behind the red queen she didn't know. She let Bomba pull her close, shielding her from the action taking place a few feet away. She turned her head away, expression turning flat, shutting everything and everyone out.
It seemed Macavity wasn't the only one wearing a disguise.
Unfortunately, Demeter's masks were not so easily removed.