A huge gray tomcat strolled through some unknown part of the junkyard. Here cars in every state of disrepair were stacked one on top of the other, with stacks of four and five cars high. It was a nocat's land were few ventured and fewer returned. The tomcat walked through unafraid and apathetic of his surroundings. His coat was strewn with scars from countless battles, flights, and chases. He had tired-looking maroon eyes that saw everything with indifference. His paws were freakishly large for a cat, and his claws could not retract all the way. He was muscular, but skinny, and definitely very hungry.
Suddenly he heard something big rushing towards him followed by loud barking. Instead of running he turned around and faced the oncoming stray dog. His eyes now blazed red with anger at seeing the dirty mutt arrogantly barking at him. Just when the dog was about to bite him he swung a huge paw around and whacked the dog into the nearest pile of cars. The dog got up showing four new deep scratches on his side. The gray cat simply yawned showing his deadly jaws. At seeing this, the dog gave up and limped away.
The tomcat simply kept walking on until the sun set and the moon shown brightly. He gazed up at it while resting on an old car hood. The moon was painfully familiar that night. It was getting close to the third anniversary. He desperately tried to blink out growing tears. It a fit of rage he slammed his paw down on the windshield, leaving a small crack. With glowing red eyes he stalked off, not looking at the moon again that night.
The next day he came into a different part of the junkyard. It had an odd assortment of pipes and cars and just plain junk. It seemed oddly familiar to the tomcat.
He heard shouts up ahead and immediately tuned his ears towards the noise. An evil laugh, screaming, hissing; the sounds of battle. Against his better judgment, he decided to run towards the noises. He ran around a corner and almost ran into two horribly ugly cats dragging a young white cat with them. The white cat struggled with all her might, but stopped when she saw the gigantic gray tom. The two ugly cats looked up and stupidly pounced on the gray cat. He neatly batted one away in mid air, breaking it's spine, and easily shook off the one that landed on his back. One swipe, and the ugly cat's hind legs were broken. The young white cat watched in awe of the gray cat with fiery red eyes as he fought her captors. Then he looked down at her and without saying a word picked her up and climbed to the top of a junk pile to see what was going on. He ended up right next to an even uglier tomcat who was about to slit the throat of a small black cat with a white face and chest. The gray cat gently dropped the white cat and tapped the monster of depravity on the shoulder.
"Hi." The gray said calmly as the villain turned to see him.
"Hey, you're not a jellicle," the cat said.
"Jellicle?" The gray cat was caught off guard for a moment.
The cat let out a war screech and attacked the gray cat. The gray cats red eyes then lit up as he struck the other cat, again and again, face, stomach, front paw, shoulder. Each blow stronger and faster than the last. The blows stopped as all the evil cat's henchcats went to his defense and pounced on the gray tom. While the gray tom fought to get out from underneath the fierce hissing mass the evil cat limped away. At seeing that their master had left the henchcats also scrambled away. The gray cat, amazingly, got up. He had numerous scratches and he was bleeding from a deep gnash in the shoulder. He sat up silently and surveyed the situation through red eyes that were now fading back to maroon. The ugly cats were gone and about twenty smaller cats were staring up at him in awe. The young white cat walked down to them trembling. The small black cat laid where he was breathing heavily. After a few seconds the gray cat broke the silence.
"That ugly guy, he a friend of yours?" The gray asked.
A gray-stripped tomcat in the front spoke up. "No, our mortal enemy actually."
"That's good, I'm in no condition to take all of you on." The large gray cat replied. "You wouldn't happen to have an empty box or a pipe would you? I need to dress these wounds."
The cats seemed to snap out of their trance. "Oh, yes. Of course. Anything you need you can have." The stripped tom said. The others promptly agreed.
"Take my pipe." The black cat said. He got up and limped to an empty pipe.
"You're hurt, you take it." The gray cat replied.
"No please, I owe you." The black cat replied.
"Do you need some help with those wounds?" An older looking orange cat asked as she came up to him.
"No," the gray cat said quickly, "Just let me be."
"Can we at least know your name?" She asked, looking hurt at being refused. "Call me Ulysses." He said before disappearing into the pipe.
Hours later after he had dressed his wound he was sleeping fitfully when he felt a presence near. In one lightning quick fluid motion he rolled over and put his claws a mere inch away from the throat of the intruder. Then he saw that it was just the young white cat he had saved earlier, now standing frozen in shock at his sudden move. Ulysses retracted his claws as far as they would go and put his paw down.
"Sorry, old habit." He said to her. She stared dumbly at his oversized paws for a moment and then looked up embarrassed. "Heh, big paws run in my family. What's your name kid?"
"Victoria." She said shyly. "I wanted to thank you for saving me."
"No problem. Say if you see that guy who owns this pipe, tell him thanks for me." Ulysses replied.
"Your welcome." The voice seemed to come from nowhere. It was hauntingly familiar to Ulysses.
"Jeeter!?" Ulysses said, getting up.
The black cat whom he had also sved walked in through an unseen crack in the pipe. "No, Mistoffelees. Who's Jeeter?"
"No one. No one." Ulysses said with a far away look in his eye. His eyes teared up and glowed red for an instant.
"Are you ok?" Misto asked.
Ulysses looked up, eyes turning back to maroon. "Yeah. Just an old memory."
"Anyway, we wanted to thank you on behalf of the Jellicles-" Misto started to say.
"Jellicles!" Ulysses got up and ran out of the pipe, scaring two gray cats that were playing. "No it can't be! Oh my Everlasting Cat it is!" He spun around looking at everything. "No, I can't believe it. Oh Cat it's true!" He spun around taking in every detail. The jellicles gathered around his as he frantically looked around.
The gray-stripped tom came running up. "What's wrong?" He asked urgently.
"We don't know." Misto replied watching Ulysses.
Ulysses stopped spinning and looked at the gray-stripped cat. "Where's the second in command here?" He asked frantically.
"I am him." The gray-stripped tom replied. "No you're not." Ulysses replied.
"Yes I am, I have been for three years. My name is Munkustrap."
"Three years..." Ulysses thought and then looked up suddenly. "Munkustrap! Is it really you?" Munku stared at him with a confused expression. "Don't you remember me? Don't you remember your uncle Ulysses?"
"My uncle Ulysses. But he's, you're dead. They said my uncle died!" Munku said.
"Me, dead? Not on your life boy." Then before anyone could act, Ulysses picked Munku up and tossed him in the air like he was a kitten and then caught him again. Ulysses put him down and he sat their bewildered. "Remember that?" Munku recovered from his shock and looked at Ulysses again.
"Uncle Uly?" He said timidly.
"Ha, ha. Now you remember." Ulysses said as they embraced. "Look at you! You're so big! A second in command! Gosh, my little nephew all grown up and running the Jellicles."
"I knew I recognized you!" The orange cat said as she pushed her way through the crowd.
"Oh great. Hello Jennyanydots." Ulysses muttered, facing her.
"Oh how long has it been! You look healthy as ever. Where's Zimba. Where's Jeeter?" Jenny asked.
The smile faded from Ulysses' face. "Gone. All gone." He went back into the pipe. As soon as he was gone all the younger cats surrounded Jenny and Munku asking questions about the mysterious stranger.
"I must contact Old Deuteronomy immediately." Munku said leaving.
"Shoo, shoo. All of our questions will be answered tonight." Jenny said.
Later that night all of the jellicles were assembled except for Skimble who was in Scotland and Gus who was no longer with them. Old Deuteronomy sat on the tire beside Ulysses. All the other cats sat waiting patiently save for one.
"Well if it isn't the Great Rum! Welcome back me boy!" Bustopher called from the second row.
Old Deuteronomy spoke. "Ahem. If everyone will settle down I will tell you the story. Four years ago I was the second in command of the jellicles. The Junkyard was getting crowded, so we decided that a party of settlers would go claim another portion of the junkyard for the jellicles. Ulysses here was chosen to lead them. We lost contact with them when the Pollicles moved in between us. They were all presumed lost."
Ulysses now spoke. "When the pollicles moved in we knew we could not reconnect with the jellicles. So we started the Atticle tribe. We were doing well for a while on our own. But, almost three years ago to the day, pollicles attacked. Our small party could not hold up against them. I, I..." Ulysses eyes burned red again. He tensed up at the memory. He started shaking uncontrollably. "I was the only survivor. I just, I couldn't save them. I couldn't, just couldn't. Jeeter and me tried to run, but we were surrounded. They got him. He gave his life for me. He tried to stop them, but his lightning wasn't enough, and..." Ulysses looked at Misto who was listening solemnly. He looked away and continued. "I wandered around the junkyard. I knew I couldn't come back the way I had come. Three years, I wandered around, and I always wondered, why did I survive?" Ulysses went silent and Old Deuteronomy spoke for him.
"Does anyone have any questions?"
"What happened to Zimba?" Jellyorum asked.
Ulysses did not answer but simply kept whispering, "Why did I survive? Why me?" The jellicles all assumed the answer to Jelly's question.
Misto spoke. "Who was Jeeter?"
Ulysses answered without looking up. "Jeeterstein was my best friend. He was a magician, in fact, he looked just like you. He was brother to Demasfret and Quaxen."
"Quaxen was my father!" Misto said.
Ulysses had known it inside the moment he had seen Misto. "Your uncle was a great cat. I guess I finally repaid him by saving his nephew." Ulysses said brightening up.
"Any other questions?" Old Deuteronomy asked.
A queen with a spiked collar spoke up. "Why was Ôe chosen Ôo lead de other jellicles Ôho went?"
"Hah! I completely forgot to tell you." Old Deuteronomy laughed. Ulysses shook his head no at him, but Deuteronomy ignored him. Before Ulysses could say anything, he said, "Ulysses here, has four names instead of three. His forth name is The Great Rumpus Cat." The younger jellicles all gasped at seeing the living legend, which was smiling sheepishly and twitching with discomfort.
"Yup, that's me." Ulysses said.
The jellicles all enthusiastically welcomed him back afterwards. Then for the rest of the night the older cats watched him tell his stories as the other jellicles listened in awe. The next morning the other cats left leaving only Ulysses, Misto, and Munku.
"So where are you going to stay? You're welcome to stay with my family." Munku said.
"That's ok. Nobody wants to adopt a big, scarred tom with claws that don't even fit in his paws anyway." Ulysses replied.
"Stay in my pipe." Misto said.
"Thanks kid. Are you sure, because I can go find a box or something-"
"No, it's fine." Misto said. "Besides, how many cats can say that the Great Rumpus Cat lives in their junkyard home?"
Barking. More barking. The barking was incessant, bottomless, infinitely loud and piercing. But nowhere near as terrible as the screams.
"Uly!!!" The white cat screamed as she was attacked by three dogs at once.
"Zimba!!!" Ulysses shouted as he slashed his way through the pollicles towards her. But he was too late. He heard a terrible scream of agony, and he knew he was too late. Then the screaming stopped. Zimba's sudden and eternal silence pierced his heart, and he stood paralyzed for a moment. He was brought back to reality by a bolt of lightning that hit a pollicle who was about to strike him. He heard Jeeter behind him.
"Come on Ulysses! We have to run!"
Ulysses turned around and followed Jeeter as he dashed out of their home of one year. Dogs soon closed in front of them, and they began to fight their way through. The dogs soon realized that Jeeter was more dangerous and all tackled him. Ulysses had a broken leg, and looked on helplessly as his best friend was slayed. Ulysses limped away into hiding until dark when all was finally silent. He limped back to the battleground and was walking toward the body of his beloved when he heard a moan. He went to Jeeter who was barely alive. Jeeter managed to give him a wink, and then spoke.
"I knew you would survive."
Ulysses was speechless as he watched Jeeter's life force ebb away.
"Don't worry Uly, you will remember me, forever."
Ulysses woke with a start. He was in Misto's pipe, and it seemed to be near dawn. It was fours days after he had returned. Misto was sitting outside the entryway to the pipe, looking frightened.
"You were dreaming again." Misto told him.
Ulysses got up and stretched, deciding that he did not want to sleep anymore. "So terrible." Misto muttered. "What?" Ulysses replied.
"I shared your dream. It's a magic trick I know. I wanted to see what happened... I never imagined how horrible it was for you." Misto said solemnly.
"Do yourself a favor and never share one of my dreams again." Ulysses said, understandingly.
"Do you dream about, that, every night?" Misto asked.
"Every night." Ulysses replied. He ended the conversation by walking out of the pipe to the tire. Jerrie and Teazer walked by and greeted him cheerfully, but he just sat staring foreword and not responding. The two looked at each other and shook their heads. They talked about him on the way out.
"Worried about that one I am."
"He's jus not the same proud Rumpus Cat Ôe was."
Munku came up with a sardine in his mouth. He gently touched Ulysses' tail. Ulysses looked up.
"Oh, hey Munku." Ulysses said, cheered at the sight of his grown nephew.
"I brought you an extra sardine from my breakfast." Munku said.
"Thanks Munku, I appreciate it." Ulysses said before wolfing down the fish. He looked towards Misto, who was chasing a laughing Victoria around the junkyard. He had the oddest feeling that Jeeter could see it too. The thought made him smile for a moment. Munku also watched the two young cats lustfully darting around with each other.
"Those two make such a great pair. Nothing could ever tear them apart." Munku said happily.
"The nephew of Jeeter and the granddaughter of Zimba, nothing will ever tear them apart." Ulysses vowed. He now realized his purpose. He was to watch over the descendants of his lost family. Now, having found a purpose, his disposition changed from misery to contentedness. Munkustrap keenly noticed the change and smiled.
"Looks like we have similar missions in life." Munku said.
"It's in the family boy, we were meant to protect." Ulysses replied.
Some hours later around noon most of the jellicles had gathered and were now conversing or playing with each other. Even Ulysses engaged the older tomcats in conversation, but always with an eye on Misto and Victoria, who'd been getting very close recently. While talking to Rum Tum Tugger and Munku, Rum Tum gestured behind Ulysses. Ulysses turned to find Bombalurina looking at him flirtatiously as she came near.
"I never got a chance to personally introduce myself. I've always adored the heroic Great Rumpus Cat." She said.
"Thanks, but no thanks." Ulysses replied giving her a friendly smile. "The Great Rumpus Cat is well old enough to be your father and is taken anyway." Bomb walked away defeated and disappointed.
"Way to turn her down." Rum Tum said. "So whom exactly, are you taken by?"
"A ghost, my merry mained mouser, an old ghost." Ulysses replied sighing. He looked around just in time to see Misto chase Victoria out of the jellicle junkyard. "If you'll excuse me." Ulysses said to the two tomcats as he walked away. He stealthily followed Misto and Victoria as they ran farther from the jellicle junkyard. Then after they turned a corner he heard shouts followed by muffled screams. His eyes turned fire red as he ran around the corner to see some of Macavity's henchcats dragging Misto and Victoria away. The henchcats looked at him, and recognizing who he was, hesitated. The hesitation cost Victoria's captors dearly. In a pounce followed by two strikes each of her captors ended up crumpled against an old trailer, unconscious. When Ulysses looked again, he could not see Misto or the other henchcats anywhere. Before searching he decided to take Victoria back. She seemed to be in a deep sleep, and he suspected that she and Misto had been drugged. He carried her back the same way he had carried her when he had first saved her. Every jellicle had de jah vu at seeing the large gray cat on top of a pile of junk with Victoria. Munku immediately knew something was wrong. Ulysses quickly related the ambush to him as they tried to get Victoria to wake up. A splash of water finally did the trick.
"Where's Misto?" She asked worriedly.
"They catnapped him." Ulysses told her. She immediately broke down crying.
"Don't worry, I'll get him back." Ulysses said seriously as he walked away.
"Wait, it's suicide!" Munku said following him.
"Maybe." Ulysses replied simply.
"I'm coming with you then." Munku said.
"No, they need you here."
"Misto needs me too."
"You're too important."
"I'm not going to let you get killed." Munku said firmly.
"Fine!" Ulysses said as they walked out of the jellicle junkyard. As soon as they were out of sight Ulysses batted Munku's head hard, knocking him unconscious. "It's for your own good." He said. He walked to where they were ambushed and quickly found the tunnel the henchcats had used to escape. Ulysses plunged in, eyes burning brighter with each footstep that brought him closer to Macavity's lair. He eventually walked into a large underground room with eight or so henchcats lined up with their leader behind them.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Great Rumpus Cat." Macavity spat. "Seize him."
Six of the henchcats quickly circled and pounced on Ulysses. He managed to shake off two, but after struggling unsuccessfully against the remaining four he subsided. Macavity laughed evilly as the remaining two henchcats brought Misto's unmoving body into view. Ulysses stared in disbelief at what looked like the dead body of Mistoffelees.
"You see, I knew you would come. Now I have the Magical Mr. Mistoffelees and the Great Rumpus Cat!" Macavity said. Ulysses thought of Jeeter, his vow, and how he had failed. His eyes burned brighter as his sadness turn to anger, and his anger turned to hate. Macavity felt a sudden pang of fear as Ulysses let out an enraged bellow. In a feat of strength he tore out of the henchcats' hold, and threw every one of them against the wall. In his rage he showed no mercy to the henchcats, and their leader sat paralyzed for a moment at seeing his private army crumble. When each henchcat was no more, Ulysses turned his blazing eyes to Macavity.
"If you're the Napoleon of crime, then just call me Waterloo." Ulysses said before launching himself into Macavity. Macavity stared dumbstruck as Ulysses' oversized claws plunged into his chest. The feared and hated monster let out his last gasping breath, and then went limp. Ulysses withdrew, and Macavity fell to the floor with the rest of his evil band. Ulysses then walked over to Misto's body, and wept over it profusely. "I'm Jeeter! I'm sorry!" He shouted to no one in particular.
Then a strange thing happened, Misto coughed and opened his eyes.
"Whoa, what happened Victoria?" He said dazed. Ulysses saw this and embraced Misto so hard he nearly crushed him. Misto looked around confused. Then his eyes found the lifeless body of Macavity. "Is he-" he started to ask.
"Let's just put it this way. Macavity's not there." Ulysses laughed and picked Misto up and carried him out of the hellish labyrinth. He had a sprained ankle, and was bleeding from many places. "I'm getting to old for this." He muttered. Upon returning he was given a hero's welcome from all but Munku, who merely rubbed his sore head. Misto and Victoria embraced, and then thanked Ulysses a thousand times over.
"All in a days work I guess." Ulysses told them. He happily walked back to Misto's pipe and went to sleep.
Three days later, he sat in the pipe alone, and watched the seemingly endless rain. The jellicles had been smothering him with care after he had killed Macavity, and now he was almost relieved to be alone. He was a little lonely though. He decided to take a walk. Rain didn't bother him anymore. In the three years that he'd been wandering in the junkyard he had trudged on through all sorts of rain. He went to the center of the jellicle junkyard, and looked up at the cloudy night sky. He sensed a presence behind him, and turned to find Misto coming out of the pipe.
"How do you magicians do that?" Ulysses asked.
Misto shrugged smiling. He walked out into the rain, but did not get wet. The rain seemed to curve around him.
"Now you're just showing off." Ulysses joked. "What brings you out into the storm?"
"I owe you so much, I just thought you might want some company." Misto replied timidly.
"I appreciate it. But you should know that you don't owe me anything kid." Ulysses said. Misto came near and laid a paw on Ulysses.
"I knew it." He muttered.
"What? What?" Ulysses said shying away from Misto's touch quickly.
"A part of you seems to be dead, or in some sort of sleep." Misto said.
"What do you mean? My legs and my tail are all ok. My-" Ulysses began.
"Not in your body, in your mind. I think I can, uh, reactivate it." Misto said coming towards him. Ulysses backed away. "Don't worry Ulysses, I want to help you." Ulysses closed his eyes and Misto put a paw on his head.
Suddenly Ulysses was back at the Atticle Junkyard, watching Jeeter die. Again he heard those chilling last words. "Don't worry Uly, you will remember me, forever."
Then he opened his eyes and was back with Misto in the Jellicle Junkyard. Misto looked at him curiously. "Did anything happen?" Misto asked.
Ulysses looked back at him through fading red eyes. "Just an old memory. Well, thanks anyway Misto. I'm not really sure if anything happened either." Then before Mist could speak he walked back into the pipe and laid down. Misto walked away sadly.
Ulysses was about to drift into sleep when he heard a familiar voice. "Ulysses. Hello, Ulysses. Come on out big guy."
Ulysses rolled over and looked out of the pipe. It was near dawn, and a black and white cat was standing outside. "Not now Misto." Ulysses replied.
"Not Misto."
Ulysses rolled back over and took a longer look. The cat looked and sounded like Misto. Ulysses only knew one other cat like that. He got up and walked out into a light drizzle. He tried to get the other cat's scent but he couldn't, it just wasn't there. He also noticed that the other cat wasn't getting wet.
"Jeeter?" Ulysses asked.
"Who else?" Jeeter replied.
"But, you're dead." Ulysses said, stunned.
"Well, yes, technically." Jeeter said. "I am a memory. Before I died, I imprinted myself on your mind; it's the last trick a magician performs." Ulysses now realized that the raindrops were passing through Jeeter, and not around him. "You see, my nephew activated my memory just now, he really is a talented cat." Jeeter said smiling.
"Jeeter, I, I-" Ulysses began to say.
"Don't worry Uly. I am not here to haunt you. You must stop blaming yourself for Zimba and my death. You never needed to repay us Uly. You are a great cat, regardless of what has happened." Jeeter said. Ulysses felt like a great weight had been lifted off his chest.
"Thank you Jeeter." He said to the memory.
"Uh oh, someone's coming, I'll talk to you some other time." Jeeter said as he faded away into nothing.
"Goodbye." Ulysses said to nothing. Munku came into the jellicle junkyard with a piece of tuna. He dropped it by Ulysses and looked at him strangely.
"Were you talking to someone?" Munku asked.
"Nope." Ulysses said simply. "Thanks for the fish." He ate the fish while Munku looked around nervously. Munku gave up and went to the tire as more jellicles came into the junkyard as the morning sun rose. Jerrie and Teazer both greeted Ulysses cheerfully.
"Good moning. You'r looking better."
"Did you 'ave a good rest?"
"Good morning. I had the best night of my life in fact." Ulysses replied cheerfully. Jerrie and Teazer both exchanged curious glances and then walked away. As the morning wore on Ulysses joked with Rum Tum, a later showed Tumblebrutus and Pouncival his fighting techniques, which they immediately used on each other. Munkustrap came down worried.
"Was it a good idea to teach them that stuff?" Munkustrap asked Ulysses.
"I'll tell you a secret," Ulysses said smiling, "My techniques only work if you have these." He held up his gigantic paws. Munku laughed and went back to his tire.
Just after noon, Skimbleshanks strolled in to the jellicles' delight, with gifts for all the younger ones. Ulysses approached from behind while he was bragging about his trip to northern Scotland.
"Hey you old stowaway." Ulysses said in a gruff voice.
Skimble turned around curiously and recognized Ulysses immediately. "Uly! Your back!" The two spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the past four years. Both had frightening stories to tell, as Skimble had unluckily been in two train wrecks. Misto and Victoria approached the two and waited patiently for them to be done talking. Ulysses saw this and addressed them.
"Hey kids, need something?" He said to them cheerfully. Misto took out a large piece of cloth, and waved it over the ground for a moment. There on the ground now sat an entire fresh skinned salmon. "Wow!" Ulysses said to Misto who was beaming with pride. "That'll last you a few days."
"It's for you." Victoria said happily.
"Gosh, I really appreciate it you guys. Thanks." Ulysses said sincerely. Then to all the jellicles' amazement, he ate the whole thing then and there, taking no less than fifteen minutes.
"That's me boy!" Bustopher said when Ulysses finished.
"Well, you look like your old huge self again." Skimble told him. It was true, Ulysses was no longer lean and skinny, but now buff and more intimidating than before, sitting almost four inches taller than all the other jellicles.
"Thanks again you two." Ulysses said graciously to Misto and Victoria. He went to Misto's pipe to take a long nap.
Hours later he was awoken by someone shaking him. "Uncle Uly, wake up!" He got up quickly and saw Alonzo with a grim expression. Alonzo gesture for him to follow and they went to the tire where Munku sat with other jellicles present in front of him. Ulysses quickly realized that the jelicles with Munku were all the one's who could fight, not a good sign. He and Alonzo sat down in the back row silently. Munku spoke.
"You've been called here because some of us have been noticing pollicles near the jellicle junkyard recently. We believe they may be scouts, because they have been seen circling the area, as if planning an attack. I think that-"
"I've seen this before." Ulysses interrupted grimly. The other jellicles were surprised that he had interrupted their leader, but Munku saw by Ulysses' expression that it was serious.
"Maybe Ulysses can lend us an insight from his experiences." He said, gesturing for Ulysses to come up. Ulysses went to the tire and began to speak.
"They are planning an attack. The same thing happened three years ago, on this day in fact. They aim to kill. They wish to dominate the junkyard. Their numbers have grown in the last few years. None will survive the attack if we sit here and wait." Ulysses finished and went back to the last row. All the warrior cats immediately started arguing over what to do. Ulysses, however, remained silent. He knew what had to be done. He crept away silently while the other cats debated.
Pollicles were usually unorganized and impulsive. But every so often, a very "charismatic" dog rises to the top of the ranks, and organizes a large-scale attack. That very thing had happened to the Atticles three years prior, which is how Ulysses knew about all this.
He crept out of the Jellicle junkyard and followed the distinct scent of pollicle, which got stronger the farther he went. He came upon a very young, overconfident pollicle who was no doubt patrolling the area. The dog issued a low growl at Ulysses, which was replaced by a yip as Ulysses beat it's head into the junkyard dirt, rendering it unconscious for at least the next eight hours. Luckily, no other pollicles came. The key element of Ulysses' mission was stealth. He crept to the top of a hill and looked around.
Down below him about twenty-five pollicle warriors slept, under the guard of five others. Ulysses crouched as low as he could go so as not to be seen. He quickly picked out the leader; it was a large black dog sleeping in the back behind the army. Ulysses crept as silent as the still night around the army to the back where his enemy slept. After fifteen painstaking minutes that seemed to crawl by like days he was finally within pouncing range of the large monstrous beast. The dog was scarred from numerous battles no doubt, and had all the attractiveness of a wild bore. Ulysses readied himself and then leaped towards the sleeping dog. His eyes glow fiery red, as time seemed to slow to a crawl. The sleeping dog, however, would not be attacked so easily. Awoken by Ulysses' eyes he jumped up and braced himself. Ulysses slammed into him with his claws out. The dog's maneuver had thrown his aim off though, and his claws sunk into the dog's thigh. The dog let out a vicious growl and snapped at Ulysses' neck. Too late did he see the oversized cat claws come toward his face. Ulysses' swipe struck home and the dog was blinded. The dog let out a horrible howl of agony. Ulysses finished the dog by striking it hard in the neck. Then he saw that the army was slowly getting up after being awaken by their leader's howl. Ulysses knew he only had one chance. Instead of running away from the army into the depths of the junkyard, he ran through the army towards the jellicle junkyard. He almost made it all the way through unscathed, but right before making it out two big dogs slammed into him. Ulysses struggled to get out as more dogs piled on top of him. He desperately fought his way towards ever shrinking sky. Then in a final burst of strength, he launched himself out of the dog pile and landed awkwardly on the other side of a pile of junk. His vision began to blur and darken as he felt his consciousness drifting away. He was on the brink of fainting when he was rudely awoken.
"Uly! Wake up! You have to run! Come on, come on!" Jeeter's memory screamed. Ulysses slowly regained his vision. "Run, Uly, run! In the name of the Everlasting Cat run!" Ulysses got up and half ran, half stumbled back to the jellicle junkyard. He climbed onto the pile over looking the jellicle junkyard. Then, having reached the limit of his strength, he fell off the pile. He blacked out before he even hit the ground.
Ulysses woke suddenly. He found him self in Misto's pipe. Victoria was dozing by his side. Then came the pain. Every part of him stung with soreness. He cringed and moaned as he laid back down. Victoria looked at him with a start and immediately started shouting. "Misto, Munku, he's awake!" Ulysses only half heard as he tried to ease the horrible soreness. Misto and Munku rushed in quickly.
"He's still hurt bad."
"Yeah I don't think he's-" Ulysses blacked out again before the second voice finished.
Some time later he woke up again. He was only half as sore as he was before, and his vision and hearing were both much clearer. This time he found Misto sitting next to him.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Misto asked.
"Like a mouse after its been eaten. How long was I out?" Ulysses said in a horse voice.
"A few days, we didn't think you would make it." Misto said.
"Hah! I've never died before and I'm not about to start now." Ulysses said laughing.
"I'll make sure of that." Munku said as he entered. "That was one crazy stunt you pulled back there."
"What else am I good for but surviving crazy stunts?" Ulysses joked. "So, how do I look?"
Misto and Munku looked grim. "Your right front paw has been mangled. You're also going to have a limp in you left hind leg."
Ulysses said nothing. He stood up slowly and tested his paw and his leg. "Well, I guess I can't fight anymore. You gotta say though, that was one heck of a final battle." He limped out into the light. He saw most of the jellicles lying around looking distraught. "You can all cut it out now, I'm not dead." Ulysses said loudly. The jellicles all came over and rejoiced at his recovery.
"You couldn't have woken up on a better day." Munku told him.
"Why's that?" Ulysses asked.
"Tonight's the Jellicle Ball." Munku replied happily.
"I haven't been to one of those in four years." Ulysses said, trying to recall the last one he'd been to. "Well, I'm afraid I can't dance."
"That's ok, you can still sing with us." Misto replied. Ulysses laughed and limped away. "What was that?" Misto asked Munku.
"One thing about the Great Rumpus Cat, he can't sing." Munku replied.
Later that night Ulysses watched happily with Old Deuteronomy on the tire. Then before the Jellicle Choice, Misto and Victoria came foreword and began singing a new song. It went something like this:
Ulysses is a big cat
But it's all muscle, not fat
He is famous for living through
Fights that were likely one to two
One to three, one to four,
One to five, and much more
He would charge into the biggest fight
And fight the battle into the night
No one ever put him in a catacomb
And he returned home
Ulysses is a leader
Forced into a seceder
When the pollicles cut them off
And his survival seemed far off
He lived and retreated
Alone but not defeated
He wandered through stray invested land
And no one ever gave him a hand
Three years isolated and sentenced to roam
And he returned home
Ulysses wasn't fearful
He seemed, in fact, quite cheerful
When this heroic passerby
Looked Macavity in the eye
And took him on right there
Without worry or care
He fought against six henchcats that day
As Macitvity scampered away
His fur seemed to be covered with red sea-foam
And he returned home
Ulysses never gave up
He walked into a setup
When Macavity's cats seized him
And his odds of escape seemed slim
He tore out of their hold
And knocked them all out cold
He charged Macavity, eyes bright red
And left the monster on the floor dead
He walked out of the evil cavern of loam
And he returned home
Ulysses saved all of us
He's, in fact, the Great Rumpus
He knew the dogs would kill us all
He knew our doom was to befall
So he went on his own
And faced the dogs alone
He snuck in at night, to the lead dog
The dog more horrible than a hog
He slew the dirty pollicle in the gloam
And he returned home
When they finished there was a tear in Ulysses' eye. Then, even more surprisingly, Old Deuteronomy chose him to go to Heaviside. On his way up he gazed lovingly at Munku, Misto, and Victoria. Then he looked up toward a bright light.