His Greatest Sacrifice

by Mystitat

Mistoffelees sat dejectedly on the top of a junk pile. He was lonely, but not for lack of interest in other cats. That, in fact, was the problem. For as he lay atop the junk pile, his eyes were fixed on the little white cat of his dreams. Nothing could be more exquisite, he thought as he watched her sun herself atop a warm car hood.

A moment later, Victoria looked around. She felt that feeling that you get when when you feel like you're being stared at. But when she looked around, she saw no one. Shrugging, she went back to continue her sunning.

Back upon the junk pile, Misto sighed. Victoria had almost seen him, but he'd hidden himself just in time. If she had seen him, it would have been embarrassing!

But he really did like her. Sometimes he wondered why he couldn't just tell her, but then he would realize why: Plato. Plato had already claimed Victoria as his mate. Anytom else who wanted her would have to fight him for her, unless she gave herself willingly. And there was nothing at all to indicate that she would do that! Quite the contrary. She was head-over-tail in love with Plato. But Misto was sure if he could just tell her, make her see, maybe, just maybe, he would have a chance.

So Misto still sat sighing from his perch atop the junkpile.

He had thought about challenging Plato, he really had! He had even discussed it with his only confidant, Alonzo. Alonzo had told him that he probably should go ahead and make the challenge, considering that with Misto's powers, he'd be sure to win! But Misto always said no, because that would entail revealing his powers. No other cat in the junkyard, (except Alonzo and Rum Tum Tugger) knew about Misto's powers. Tugger only knew because he'd raised Misto, and Alonzo knew because he'd once walked in on Misto when he was practicing lightning. When he had seen Alonzo, he panicked, but Alonzo said he wouldn't tell and a deep friendship grew between the two.

There was no way Misto would reveal his powers. Not even for Victoria. Then again, there wasn't really any other way to go about it. If he never challenged Plato, he would never ever be able to win Victoria. If that were the case, she would just burn on his mind until he forgot about her, left the junkyard, or exploded, whichever came first.

Of course, there was one other way. If Victoria fell for Misto, she could willingly detach herself from Plato and go out with our tuxedoed hero. But there was no way that would ever happen! Plato was the strongest, most attractive tom in the entire junkyard (short of the Tugger, he was too old for Victoria). Misto was just a puny little runt! Victoria would never fall for him.

Unless...

Victoria crawled into her little broken down clothes dryer in which she slept. Despite having lain out in the sun for most of the afternoon, she was pretty tired; probably because when she was done sunning, Plato found her and they had enjoyed an evening together. But something had been amiss. The entire time Victoria had lain out in the sun she had the feeling that someone was watching her. She couldn't have said why, only that she did. She felt like it was coming from the top of the junkpile -

There it was again! She had the distinct impression that someone was watching her! Quick as a wink she turned around to see who it was, but as it had before, whatever was staring at her disappeared. Victoria sighed. This was getting annoying. Her head told her to just give up: it was probably nothing, just her imagination. And yet, her heart told her there was something there, if only she could turn her head in time...

Another gasp!

Victoria had unknowingly found out who was watching her! There was a piece of a broken mirror in her dryer, which she kept there just so she could look at herself once in a while. As she lay down to fall asleep, out of the corner of her eye she saw the mirror, and the person who was staring at her! Apparently he hadn't noticed that she could see him in the mirror, as he silently crept toward her, ducking out of the way whenever she moved her head.

It was dark out, but the moon and stars shone in all their glory, and there was no mistaking the white face and chest of the one little tom cat that few other cats ever spoke to!

"Mistoffelees!" Victoria exclaimed as she sat up and finally got a good look at him.

The look was fleeting, however, for as soon as Victoria laid her eyes on the little black cat, he gasped in surprise and promptly disappeared!

"Mistoffelees?" she called out as she crept out of bed to look for him. That was certainly peculiar! She could have sworn she saw him. But then he disappeared! Now confused, she hunted around a little, trying to find the tom who must have been watching her all day.

Oh man, Misto mentally screamed at himself from atop her dryer. I'm such an idiot! How could I let her see me! Then he gazed down at her, still hunting for him. Well, she doesn't seem that mad. Maybe I could talk to her.

"Victoria?"

She spun around to finally see the peeping tom who had been watching her all day. "Mistoffelees, what -" she started, but then she saw the embarrassed look on his face and revised her thought: "Mistoffelees," she said a little more softly, "What are you doing here?"

He started off stuttering: "I was just here to – I just wanted to – I just wanted to tell you -" He sighed, took a breath, and asked, "Do you want to see something cool?"

Victoria, more confused than ever, acquiesced, and though somewhat hesitantly. Misto hopped off the top of the dryer and entered it, beckoning for her to follow and muttering, "It's a secret."

As they sat down on Victoria's bed across from each other, Misto explained, "Victoria, this is really hard for me to say, but there's something – I just – Oh, I'll just show you..."

With that, he held out one paw and closed his eyes. As Victoria gazed on, sparks began to materialize around it, twinkling in and out of sight, making small sizzling noises, but never singeing the dirty white fur. Cautiously, Misto opened his eyes, and to his horror saw that Victoria was shrinking away from him, terror on her face. Oh, Everlasting Cat, this was not what had had in mind! He stopped the lightning, pulled his paw in and said quickly, "I'm so sorry, Victoria. I'll go now."

With that, he called on his power, preparing to teleport out of the dryer and far, far away, when Victoria put a paw on his mouth and muttered, "Wait." He turned to her. Now on her face was an expression of surprise and intrigue. "How did you do that?'

With this new glimmer of hope, he turned to her and said, very softly, "Magic." When she said nothing, he went on: "Victoria, I've never been able to tell anyone else this before, but I want to tell you, because –" his breath hitched in his throat. He paused a moment, breathed deeply, and, taking courage in paw, said, "Because I love you."

Victoria was completely taken aback at that. But before she could utter a sound of exclamation, Misto softly put a paw over her mouth and whispered, "Don't say anything. Just ... watch." He then closed his eyes and began to quiver a little. Victoria squealed a little in fear, but he didn't hear her. He was too deep in concentration. She wanted to shut her eyes and not watch, but she felt compelled to do as he had requested and see the whole thing through. After a moment which felt like an eternity, steeped in anxiety as it was, Misto opened his eyes and held out his paw.

In it was a small diamond bracelet. However, to a cat, it was the proper size for an extravagant collar. As Misto gently fastened it around her graceful neck Victoria was puzzled. All the stories she had heard about magical cats were running through her mind; every story about magical cats depicted them as power-hungry, sadistic, demonic creatures. It was incomprehensible to her that there was a magical cat sitting right there next to her, not hurting her, but using his power to make her love him! It was completely incomprehensible!

As if he had read her mind (which he just may have, Victoria thought), Misto whispered, "I've always wanted to tell you, Victoria, but I was always afraid, because – because –" The stutter had come back. It always came when he was trying to say something really hard to say. He took a breath and continued: "Because, I know all the stories about us – about magical cats, I mean, and I just – I thought you might be, you know, afraid of me. And I thought, you know –" He paused again, then looked up to gaze into her eyes. "We're not all bad!" he muttered. "Really, we're not! I mean we're not – oh, just watch."

As she gazed on, Misto closed his eyes again and concentrated, but this time the efforts of his concentration were instant. Immediately, all the space her little clothes dryer not taken up by her or Misto was filled with brilliant specks of light, each one a veritable miniature star. In her interest in these new tiny suns filling her domicile, Victoria almost forgot her fears in Misto. How could an evil cat produce something so wonderful? Inspired by this confidence, she spent the rest of the night there with him, gazing on as he used his power to create wondrous illusions.