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The tube was active, as it was every night. Underground trains rumbled along noisily on their tracks, disturbing the sleeping night. While the more feeble-hearing humans were used to the routine roar as the trains came and went, two individuals at that moment couldn't have been more miserable.

The deafening rumble came from directly above them, vibrating the dusty gray rocks that made up the walls of their underground trap. A trickle of tiny pebbles loosened by the vibrations above tumbled down the collapsed piles of rock and wooden beams, landing among the thick mane of one of them. Macavity snarled and swiped it away.

"How long have we been down here?" he snapped.

"Hours," Munkustrap growled in reply, equally as irritated. "And none for the worse." From where he sat opposite Macavity in their small prison, he flexed a claw and flicked a small pebble. The clang as it hit the same hard stone echoed up through the shaft, lost in the dimness.

Macavity seemed oblivious to all as he leaned against a long wooden beam, eyeing Munkustrap with the cold detachment that develops when one is shoved into a small space with the one other soul they loathe more than anything. "I suppose we could save ourselves the trouble of starving to death and just kill each other."

Munkustrap mournfully cast a glance at his arm, on which a long, red gash stood prominent: result of their previous brawling. "Tried it," he growled. "Besides, what would the winner do?"

Macavity laughed deep in his throat. "I'm not beyond suicide."

"Or thieving, or kidnapping, or murder..." the silver tabby replied coldly.

"It was you who followed me down here."

"It was you who laid the trap!"

Both toms were silent, their biting voices cutting the still air of the underground shaft like a knife through butter. Their words were true, but held little significance in reducing the severity of their situation. In this underground pit where the two had fallen under the collapsing ceiling, space was scarce, and if they survived each other long enough, starvation, dehydration, or simply lack of oxygen would claim them both sooner or later. The anticipation was enough to drive them mad, hence all their bloodlusting energy having been spent hours earlier when they fought. Neither had succeeding in destroying the other. Now a strange calm had settled over the two half-brothers, a calm of impending death.

"What shall we do in our time left?" Macavity said at length, a malevolent grin spreading under his bent whiskers. "Repent all our sins? Waste away on hope that someone will find us? Cry for mother?"

Munkustrap shot him a hard glare of ice. "What would you care about our mother?"

"Nothing," he answered smartly. "Why should I? What did she care for me?"

"Our mother was a wonderful cat," the Jellicle tabby said stiffly. "She found the strength in herself to repent and ask forgiveness from those she'd hurt. That strength earned her one of the greatest honors possible."

"Our mother, Munkustrap," Macavity returned in a snarl, "was a prostitute. Ah, yes, you were the lucky one. You came from Deuteronomy. Imagine how many other kittens came from her affairs. How many toms gave her children that she abandoned in the streets like me? She hurt them, but only asked forgiveness from the Jellicles. We may not share the same father, Munkustrap, but our mother is a disgrace. How could you think to defend her after what she's done? To forgive her of all things!"

"Because I'm not you," the tabby returned coldly. "I believe in redemption and forgiveness." Then, as though catching his own contradiction, he eyed the fire-colored tom up and down. "The likes of you, however, are an exception in my opinion."

"I live in reality, and do what I must. You Jellicles live in your happy little junkyard, away from the real world. You carry on your fantasies and spit on the ones who aren't afraid to look real life in the face."

"It's not like that, Macavity. Jellicles believe in life, not death. Live and let live." He scoffed, rubbing his eyes wearily. "I don't expect you to understand that, and I'm not going to waste my breath explaining it to you. The air is thin as it is."

Any further attempt at conversation was killed as a train rumbled overhead, vibrating the ground beneath them. Both toms looked up, Munkustrap rising to his feet in alarm as one enormous boulder shifted from its resting place. For a moment it teetered, seeming certain to plunge downward, but it caught and lodged itself again. The roar of the train passed, leaving the two in a cold arena of silence. Munkustrap paced the small area restlessly, eyes roving the high, steep rock-smooth walls of the shaft. Macavity watched him keenly waste his energy, his golden eyes glowing strangely in the dim light. When Munkustrap could take the silence no more, he approached his brother.

"I know a way to get out of here," Munkustrap said quietly. "I don't like it, and neither will you."

Macavity's eyes slitted dangerously. He'd come across a similar solution hours ago, but would never lower himself to the standards it required. "Work together?" he snorted. "With a Jellicle? I'd rather be killed."

A loud crack resounded from above as a beam splintered. Munkustrap grabbed Macavity roughly by the shoulder and drew him forward, their noses almost touching. "That's what we'll both be if we don't get out of here! You may not have anything but yourself to live for, but I have an entire tribe and mate to go back to! I'm not giving up. I'll find someway out of here, but as much as I hate to say it: it'd be much easier if we cooperated." He paused a moment, matching his golden eyes with Macavity's. "At least until we're out of here, then we can go our separate ways."

Macavity stood rigid a moment, wrestling the options over in his mind. Belligerently, he shoved Munkustrap's hand from his shoulder. "I won't make any promises, Jellicle," he growled, but seemed to agree. "What's your proposition?"

Munkustrap stepped back, crossing his arms satisfactorily. "Well, first off--"

He never had the chance to finish. It started as the usual low rumble in the distance, steadily growing louder and louder as it neared. The roar of it as it passed overhead drowned out even the sound of their thoughts. The few beams remaining were old and weak, and the vibrations were great. With a crack like that of a gunshot, yet another beam collapsed, bringing with it a downpour of rock boulders, splintered wood, and metal rails.

"Look out!" Macavity screamed. In a flash of red and black he darted forward in what Munkustrap thought at first was a deliberate attack. His long claws gouged Munkustrap's chest, sending the tabby stumbling backwards to land against the enormous sheet of concrete that made up one wall of the shaft. Dust stung his eyes as the boulders crashed to the ground where he'd been unwittingly standing only a second before. He raised his paw against it, reeling as a falling metal spike nearly gouged his side. Coughing, the dust cleared, leaving a dreadful sight to bear.

"Macavity..." Munkustrap rushed to his half-brother's side, kneeling down to his level. Macavity lay crushed under the series of boulders and beams, having taken the place of Munkustrap in the avalanche. He lay on his stomach, anything below his waist pinioned by rock and wood. Munkustrap at first thought he was dead. He grabbed his shoulder, gently shaking him. "Macavity?"

"Rargh!" the fiery tom shook with a snarl of agony, pushing his torso up with a grimace of pain coating his battle-scarred face. "Arg! D--n yer Heaviside, Munkustrap! D--n it!" He grabbed Munkustrap's shoulder, claws sinking in deep. Munkustrap supported his shoulders, disbelief written across his striped face. When Macavity's cursing and spitting had died down he wiped dust from the Mystery Cat's face and spoke.

"Cav...why'd you do that?" If there was one thing he couldn't understand...

"Who cares?!" Macavity snarled, holding back another volley of curses as a terrible pain tore through his lower back at every movement. "Get me out of here!"

Munkustrap hastily stood to his paws, examining with a hint of expertise the rubble pinning Macavity down. Instantly he knew it was hopeless. The boulders and beams were huge, far too big for Munkustrap to move on his own.

"Cav, I--"

"Don't say it," Macavity snapped, the voice of someone who was completely fed up with the world, and even more irritated at himself for living in it. "Just don't say it." Macavity was smart enough to read Munkustrap's expression. There was no hope for him. With a sigh of what he knew was final defeat, he let his chin fall back onto his crossed arms on the ground. He closed his eyes.

"Macavity," the soft sigh of Munkustrap was heard as he slid down to sit beside him. "I'm sorry."

The Hidden Paw was outright disgusted. "Dogfilth! Don't put that sentimental brotherly love on me. It was my hate that put us here. I don't deny it, and I don't regret it." His eyes opened, seeming to spark with some kind of horrible irony. "However, if you still feel the need to be noble and gallant, do one favor for a dying cat..." He raised his eyes. Under the ruffle of his scruffy mane he could barely see Munkustrap's regal face. It was in that expression that he finally acknowledged and realized just how much he envied his brother. "Tell no one of how I died. Don't even tell them I'm gone. Save me at least that much dignity when you get out of here."

Munkustrap paid no heed to Macavity's request...that had been his frame of mine all along. "Get out? We're trapped in here, Macavity. I can't get out."

"Look up, you fool."

Munkustrap's golden eyes roved up to the collapsing ceiling of their underground cell. Sure enough, what had once been rotting beams and loose stones, a ray of hope shone through. "Moonlight," he breathed in awe. Macavity nodded gravely, not looking up.

"Those beams and rocks are unstable. Be careful where you put your feet." He expected Munkustrap to make his way off immediately, to save his own pelt. When the tabby remained, Macavity looked up. "Well?"

"Listen..."

Macavity hadn't been aware of it. Straining his ragged ears, it took him a moment to pick up the low rumble in the distance and identify it. His body sagged in hopelessness. "Ironic to the end..."

"A train," Munkustrap confirmed gravely. There was no need to point out the obvious. "Those beams won't be able to stand another vibration like that..."

As if on their own, two black paws sought each other out and closed in a warrior-like grip, silent and ready as the vibrations of the train grew louder and closer.

The end