A/N: This is the last chapter of Under the Mask. It's been great writing this story and I really couldn't have done it without you, my dear readers! Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy this last chapter.

Coricopat, Tantomile, and Mistofelees headed back to Jenny's den. It was near noon by now. The sunlight glinted off the trash piles and various tribe members were soaking it up wherever was most comfortable. The trio had no time for relaxing, unfortunately. They had a queen to save. As they were walking, Cori and Tanto noticed anxious waves emanating off of their tuxedoed friend.

"What's making you nervous, Mistofelees?"The twins chorused as they shot concerned looks at him.

Misto smiled slightly to reassure them, but it wasn't convincing in the least. He cleared his throat a bit. "The type of magic I going to use on 'Teazer is unfamiliar to me. I've never actually attempted using Dispell; not on this scale, anyway. I know it's very powerful and..."He trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"You're afraid it will get out-"Cori picked up.

"-of control. You're also afraid you won't be able to complete the process."

The tuxedoed tom nodded solemnly and his psychic friends gave him an encouraging nuzzle. "We'll lend our magic to you when you need it, don't worry. We'll be your back-up if you fail to perform the most daring magical procedure of your life...We'll also take care of putting 'Teazer to sleep."Cori said confidently.

Misto smirked at them and pinned his ears in mock-offense. "I like how you guys say when and not if. That was a real confidence-boosting pep talk. Makes me feel much better."He commented sarcastically as they entered Jenny's den.

Rumpleteazer and her whole family were in the den, sitting around her bed. They looked up with hope in their eyes as well as surprise. They didn't expect the magical cats to be back so soon.

"Did ya foind somethin'?"'Teazer asked. The rest of her family's faces grew expectant.

Coricopat started shifting from foot to foot uncomfortably. He couldn't bring himself to break the news of their discovery to his ex-queenfriend and her family. His expression grew grim as the tense silence wore on.

Mungojerrie was the first to catch on as he stated, "It's somethin' fatal, isn' it?"The atmosphere quickly changed to match Cori's current mood as the family took the magical cats' silence as a yes. Tanto seemed to have enough of the silence and gently took the ancient text from her brother's paws to bring it over to 'Teazer. She flipped to the page where Cori had previously been and handed it over to the calico queen. She pointed to the description they found and let the family read it. Cori and Tanto braced themselves for the onslaught of emotions that was sure to come next.

As Skimble and 'Jerrie read, the psychic twins gritted their teeth as the foul sensation of angry waves invaded their minds. 'Teazer's father was obviously having trouble holding himself back from striking Cori down as his paws shook threateningly. 'Jerrie wasn't much calmer, though his eyes flashed and he had his teeth bared by the time he finished reading. If Cori hadn't been instrumental in saving his sister, he probably wouldn't have any problem with wringing his neck right about then.

Jenny and 'Teazer were quite the opposite. As the psychic twins picked up the anxious and fearful waves of energy from the queens, Cori had to hold onto Tanto to keep himself from doubling over in agony. Tantomile swayed a bit as she rubbed her temples. It was only slightly easier for her because she wasn't as emotionally familiar with 'Teazer and her family as her brother was.

In that moment, Cori wanted nothing more than to walk over to 'Teazer, hug her and assure her that everything would be alright. As he observed 'Teazer's and her mother's eyes start to water, he thought he couldn't take the sorrow anymore. Cori hissed quietly as the guilt overwhelmed him to the point where he almost succumbed to it and carried out his desire.

Misto noticed the look in his friend's eyes immediately and mouthed "no" while clapping a paw on his shoulder to restrain him. The psychic tom glanced at his friend in relief as the overwhelming emotions slowly dissipated from his mind. His friend just performed a drain for him, and Tanto seemed to come back to normal, too.

After the family had somewhat come to terms with their daughter's predicament, 'Teazer closed the book and put it aside. She wiped her tears away and took a deep breath as she stood up. Turning to her family, she said softly, "If somethin' goes wrong, Oi wont ya ta know Oi love ya." She took another deep breath to ready herself.

Jenny smiled sadly as she embraced her daughter. "We love you too, 'Teazer. Please be safe."She replied as she let go and let her mate and son hug her as well. When they were finished, 'Teazer put a brave face on and walked out the den entrance with Misto and Tanto.

Mungojerrie, however, stopped Cori from following as he walked up behind him and clamped a paw on his shoulder to prevent him from going anywhere. He extended his claws just enough to cause the tri-coloured tom pain, but not to make him bleed. Cori tried hard not to show weakness to the threatening calico, but a pained hiss escaped his lips without his permission as he refused to make eye contact.

The calico tom leaned forward so he could speak into Cori's ear. "If this doesn' work, ya're a dead tom, Coricopat."He hissed quietly as he let go.

As he walked out of the den, the psychic tom chuckled mirthlessly before retorting, "I'd expect nothing less, Mungojerrie."

When he stepped outside, he noticed Tanto was off a little ways with 'Teazer. Misto was fidgeting with his paws as he paced a bit a few feet away from them. The tuxedoed tom glanced up and came over when he noticed Cori was finally out.

"Where are we going to carry this out? You and I both know I can't do this without complete silence."Misto fretted as he looked nervously between 'Teazer and Tanto. They were talking quietly to each other so the toms wouldn't hear. Cori read his sister's mind and smiled as it consisted of empowering and encouraging thoughts. She was giving her friend a pep talk.

The psychic tom withdrew from Tanto's mind to focus on Misto again. "I know the perfect place."He said optimistically. He smirked then added, "But before we go, you have to do something for us."

"What's that?" Misto asked as he cocked his head at his tall friend.

"Please perform a drain. You're more jittery than a jitterbug, and Tanto and I are about to go nuts."Cori's tone was serious, but Misto detected a hint of sarcasm in it.

The tuxedoed tom shook his head. "I can't. I need my magic, remember?"He answered simply.

Cori furrowed his brow as he growled, "Do it." Of course he knew Misto would lose some magic, but as much as he tried to deny it, he knew his black and white friend couldn't perform a spell if he was distracted like this.

With a quiet groan, Misto complied and knelt down. He put his paws on the ground and Cori felt his anxious mind calm down considerably. Misto released a reluctant sigh of relief as he stood up again.

Satisfied, the psychic tom mentally alerted his sister and started walking. Tanto immediately started following with 'Teazer while Misto walked beside Cori. As they passed the center clearing they got inquisitive glances from fellow tribe members, but no one actually had an idea of what they were planning. It didn't look like anyone overheard their conversation in Jenny's den, but Cori discovered that everyone was curious to know what his skirmish with Skimble that morning was about. It appeared that was the highlight of the day so far.

They wasted no time admiring the scenery as the group of four cats arrived at the clearing where Cori had kissed 'Teazer and started this whole mess. They sat down in a circle in the middle and Misto started explaining the process to 'Teazer.

"Cori and Tanto are going to put a spell on you to make you go to sleep. It's sort of like anesthetic. If you were awake, well...I think you read about that. Then I'm going to use Dispell, which is kind of like a cancellation of magic, to remove that growing clone from inside you. After that, everything should be fine."The Conjuring Cat said confidently.

Rumpleteazer raised an eyebrow, obviously cautious. "Whot if somethin' goes wrong? Loike, it's too much fo' ya. Whot if ya faint, Misto?"She asked worriedly as she glanced from him to his psychic friends.

Tanto carried on for her magical friend. "Then we'll combine our magic and finish the spell. We're his back-up."She giggled as Misto pinned his ears again. When it came to magic, he was very proud of his powers and didn't like the idea of getting help. It was a small blow to an ego almost everyone else didn't know he had.

The calico queen nodded in understanding. She laid herself down and waited for her friends to start the procedure. Tanto took the liberty of putting her to sleep. She held her paw lightly and focused her magic. Cori felt a slight drain as his sister performed the spell and kept her magic flowing. If she stopped, 'Teazer would wake up. Soon he could feel from Tanto that 'Teazer's mind was dark and dormant. He nodded to Misto, who took a cleansing breath.

The tuxedoed tom placed a paw on the calico queen's abdomen. He closed his eyes and focused himself. If he remembered correctly from reading about Dispell, he had to force his magic into the being, in this case the clone, and try to disintegrate it. That part took the most energy and was the most difficult. When that was done, he had to force all that magic out of 'Teazer's body and back into Cori's. Much easier said than done.

Misto let his magic slowly seep into 'Teazer. He felt no resistance at first. He let the magic expand as he searched for the clone. Suddenly, he felt a strong resistance from inside her body. He found it. The clone didn't have a chance now. Misto concentrated his magic on that one area, but quickly found out that this wasn't going to be easy. Since Cori's powers were stronger than his, he had to work twice as hard to break his magic apart.

The black and white tom clenched his fist as he put more effort into his magic. It felt like he had been attacking the clone for hours when he finally felt it begin to decompose into smaller parts. By now he was panting and he had barely started. Misto pried Cori's magic apart further as he felt it start to weaken. It was becoming slightly easier now. When the clone was half-disintegrated he felt like fainting. His body shook and beads of sweat were dripping down his forehead.

Coricopat observed Misto and noticed he was having trouble. He sensed his friend couldn't hold out much longer. He didn't know how much he had left of the clone, but it looked like he wouldn't be done anytime soon. Misto slowly stretched his free paw out towards Cori. It was shaking quite violently. Cori knew he could faint at any moment.

He didn't hesitate to grab his paw. The psychic tom winced and groaned as he felt much of his energy being drained to help Misto. But he also felt something else. Magic was returning to him in small waves. It wasn't much at first, but the magic rapidly got stronger. Soon he felt it in every inch of his body, but it didn't seem to be usable. His energy was still being drained by Misto. Cori felt like someone was choking him to within an inch of his life. He had difficulty breathing. His body suddenly went numb as he felt the last reserves of his energy go to replenish Misto. The psychic tom plunged into the world of unconsciousness not a moment later.

Rumpleteazer awoke from her artificial slumber like she would from a rejuvenating cat-nap. She was staring up at the blue, cloudless sky. She didn't feel tired in the least. Sitting up, she gasped quietly at her friends around her. All three had fainted. 'Teazer took a closer look and noticed that all but one were breathing deeply just like she had been a minute ago.

Worry washed over her mind as she crawled over to Cori. She rubbed her eyes as if she were seeing things. Nope, Cori was definitely not breathing. She didn't care if the spell had been completed or not. Putting an ear to his chest, she listened for a heartbeat. She was surprised it didn't hurt when she touched him. Cori's heartbeat was almost non-existent, but it was there. He was still alive. She had no time to be relieved as she tilted his chin up, plugged his nose and breathed into his mouth. She repeated the same thing and then pumped his chest as hard as she could with the heel of her palm in an effort to get his heart beating regularly again. She repeated the process a few times, but Cori still wasn't breathing.

'Teazer wanted to give up; she felt like she might black out herself. "Damn it, Coricopat! Breathe!"She yelled desperately at the unconscious tom as if that would help.

It appeared that did the trick. After a few moments she heard Cori take a sharp intake of breath and saw his eyelids flutter open. He blinked a few times to focus his eyes. Shifting his head to look at 'Teazer, he smiled weakly at her. 'Teazer felt her heart swell as his eyes met hers.

"Thanks...Did...did it...work? Are you...okay?"Cori asked almost inaudibly. His voice was strained and hoarse.

The calico queen felt tears well up in her eyes. She gingerly wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed an ear to his chest again. She heard the sound she'd momentarily thought she'd never hear from him again. The simple rhythm of his heart beating sent waves of happiness and relief throughout her body.

When she thought she could trust her voice with a verbal response she straightened up to look Cori in the eye. "Says tha tom who was as good as dead a few seconds ago."She smirked as she whacked his arm as gently as she could. "Don' scare moi loike tha' again!"She added and managed to maintain a mock-angry face while Cori chuckled slightly.

Soon enough, the pair noticed Tanto stir. She sat up slowly as she held her head. She smiled when her eyes rested on 'Teazer and Cori who were together. It seemed like things were back to the way they used to be for them. She observed Misto as he awoke with a groan a few minutes later. He looked incredulously at Cori.

"I...didn't kill you? I'm so sorry, Cori. I completed the procedure just before you blacked out, though. I think that's pretty obvious. Can you read 'Teazer's mind?"The Conjuring Cat asked as he coughed a few times.

Cori nodded as he expanded his mind to 'Teazer's. It didn't take long to tap into her mind.

Oi love ya. The calico queen thought when she was sure Cori could read her mind.

The psychic tom smiled widely and sat up to embrace 'Teazer. "I love you, too. I'm sorry I ever tried to break up with you."He said loudly enough so everyone else could hear.

Tanto and Misto both gave soft "awws" as 'Teazer kissed Cori sweetly as a way to tell him that she forgave him.

Still too exhausted to stand up, Cori turned to Misto. "Can you tell everyone that 'Teazer's alright? And also that we're back together? I have some catching up to do."Cori smirked as he lovingly nuzzled his queenfriend.

Misto nodded and with the help of Tanto, stood up and began walking towards the center clearing. Tanto smiled back at her brother as she followed the tuxedoed tom to make sure he delivered his message.

Coricopat laid down again as he felt his eyelids start to droop shut. 'Teazer noticed he was about to fall asleep and rested her head on his chest. She never got tired of the soothing duet of Cori's breathing and heartbeat. It was better than even the most calming lullaby. The tri-colored tom had enough strength to wrap his arm loosely around 'Teazer's shoulders as they both fell into a blissful sleep, in each other's arms, just the way it should be.

The End.