Meanwhile ... ['Lonzo's Team]

[Sonja [Alonzo]]

Alonzo came to a halt at Tumble's cry. "What is i-?" He stopped short as the eerie scent drifted by him...it smelled horribly like..."Monniks," He said darkly. His brain was screaming, oh no oh no oh no . It smelled heavily...there had to be a lot of them ... too many for the Jellicles that were a Protector and two Guardians short...

[Munkustrap Etc.]

"'Lonz..." Tumble was backing up, his fur puffed out. There were a lot of Monniks, and only four of them. "'Lonz... do we go in?"

[Sonja [Alonzo]]

"No," Alonzo said warningly, his tail raising in alarm. "No, we have to find some way of seeing what we're up against..." He placed the fish down in an old tire for protection, creeping towards the fence. He was filled with despair...they'd finally found a way to feed their tribe, and they'd left the trible defenseless! How could this have happened?

[Munkustrap Etc.]

Tumble followed Alonzo's lead, creeping close behind him. He could smell the invading cats everywhere, and Macavity's evil tang overlaying that. He couldn't smell Munkustrap, or Quaxo, or any of the other Jellicles... at least, nothing fresh.

[Sonja [Alonzo]]

Alonzo pressed himself against a box, looking around it to peer through the fence. From here, he had a decent veiw of the piano. He saw cats milling about, dark and evil-looking cats (in his opinion), none he recognized... "Tumble," He whispered. "Look here..." He squinted. Was that Macavity?

[Munkustrap Etc.]

Tumble looked and pulled back a little, nodding. He recognized that ginger cat. Macavity was busy licking his leg - it looked wounded - but the Monniks were still giving him a wide berth. "'Lonz... I can't sense any of the Jellicles!" he whispered.

[Sonja [Alonzo]]

Alonzo shivered, but not because of the cold. He felt his stomach drop, and had to close his eyes a moment. Macavity and all his henchcats...and they couldn't smell one Jellicle. "No." He whispered. "No..." He peered closer, almost dangerously so. "There's not a single Jellicle. Anywhere." He said miserably.

[Munkustrap Etc.]

Tumble stepped back, shaking his head. "They're gone," he whispered. "The whole tribe... gone." The Monniks had taken over. They had won.

[Sonja [Alonzo]]

"They've....they've gotta be somewhere. Macavity doesn't seem pleased," Alonzo said desperately. "They escaped! They....they had to...." His frame shook, and he collapsed behind the box. Their junkyard....their home... it was all gone. But he refused to believe his closest friends, the rest of his family...Cassandra...he refused to believe they had perished. But where could they have gone?

[Munkustrap Etc.]

Tumble moved to catch Alonzo before he fell, pulling him close. "'Lonz, don't do this," he said. "We need you now. I need you. Come on, come on... we'll... we'll... we'll go to the train station, right? Skimbleshanks never stays at the yard... he might be in town. We're not the last Jellicles. He's around too... and maybe Tugger and Rumpus... and sometimes Coricopat and Tantomile stay with their humans... we'll find the rest of them."

[Sonja [Alonzo]]

Alonzo leaned into his brother, nodding. He was right... plenty of the cats were housecats, or otherwise occupied...there were lots of places to look. They would find them. "Yeah," He said softly, regaining some stability. "Yeah, Skimble's a good one to go to... he'll be able to help us."

[Munkustrap Etc.]

"Come on," Tumble said again. "We'll get the fish and go wait for his train to come in. Everything will be just fine. You'll see."

[Sonja [Alonzo]]

"Okay." Alonzo stood up, moving towards the fish. "Thank you, Tumble." He said softly, then picked up the packets.

[Munkustrap Etc.]

Tumble nuzzled Alonzo's shoulder, picking up his own fish. Everything had to be just fine... or he'd fall apart. "Let's go," he said quietly, starting off for the train station.

[Sonja [Alonzo]]

Alonzo walked side by side with Tumble, gripping the fish tight in his mouth as if it were his lifeline. He couldn't think about it, right now...he just concentrated on moving his limbs, one by one, in the direction of Skimble's station.