Janus

by Waiting for my Munkustrap


"Where the fuck is Mistoffelees?"

He always did this. He always fucking disappeared, as soon as Macavity showed up. Sure, that was probably best, but the least he could do was let Tugger know where he was or send some magical signal that he was okay. A rainbow, maybe, or perhaps remotely setting Tugger's mane on fire. Anything would do.

Almost every fight with Macavity left Tugger in the same state: Bloodied, bruised, and worried about his mate. This was usually the part when Mistoffelees would appear and save the day. Where could he be?

Tugger stormed up to Munkustrap. "Where the fuck is he?"

Munkustrap just sighed. "He'll be back, Tugger. You know he will be. He always is."

"He should be here, by now."

"It's only been ten minutes."

"He's usually back in two."

Munkustrap sighed, then smirked as his eyes locked on something behind his brother. "Speak of the devil."

Tugger turned around to see Mistoffelees not three feet behind him, smiling innocently.

"Did you miss me?"

"Where were you?" Tugger hissed. "I was worried sick about you."

Mistoffelees frowned. "Forget about that; you're bleeding! We need to go back to the den and get you cleaned up." He took his mate's paw and quickly pulled him back to the den they shared, not far from the main clearing in the junkyard.

"I'm fine, really," Tugger protested.

"No, you're not." Mistoffelees shoved Tugger into a chair that was once meant for a doll, but happened to be the perfect size for a cat. Slowly, his paws began to glow with an array of cool colors – blues, greens, purples. "What does Macavity hate you so much?"

Tugger blinked, as he was caught off guard. He often forgot that Mistoffelees was not yet a part of the tribe, when Macavity. He sighed, less than thrilled about having to recollect the story, much less recount it. He and Macavity, his brother, used to be close. Macavity was his best friend. It took him years to get over what happened with him.

As Mistoffelees began healing his wounds with magic, Tugger took a deep breath and began, "It was a long time ago, Misto. Macavity was in love with Bombalurina, but she was playing hard-to-get, so he started courting Demeter to make her jealous. This went on for over a year. Demeter was in love with him. She was so in love with him. She was infatuated. Unfortunately, his plan worked, and when Demeter found out that he had been with Bomba, she was…well, she was heartbroken."

"Poor Dem," Mistoffelees murmured.

"Yeah," Tugger agreed. "Poor Dem. But then, you see, Bomba left Mac because…because she had a crush on me."

Mistoffelees frowned. "Oh."

"Yeah, well, why do you think I never got with her? I mean, even before you and I were a thing. Mac was my best friend. I loved him. I really did. Even after…everything he did…I couldn't do that to him."

"What happened?"

Tugger bit back a snarl. This part of the story was the turning point, when everyone realized the Macavity they knew was gone and had given way to a monster. "Dem found out she was pregnant, and Macavity didn't like that, so he tried to kill her. He-"

He faltered. He could never get that image out of his head. No one could ever get that image out of their head. "He beat her until she could hardly move, and he raped her, and…Everlasting Cat, it was awful. He ripped open her stomach with his own claws, and-"

"I get it," Mistoffelees cut him off, looking sick. "Everlasting Cat…"

Tugger nodded. "Yeah. Bomba and Munk found her. We didn't think she was going to make it. We didn't think she could."

"That's terrible… What does it have to do with you, though?"

Tugger sighed heavily, "When Macavity was exiled, he blamed me for Bomba leaving him. He swore that I would pay. He swore that, one day, I would suffer like he did." He forced a smile. "He obviously wasn't counting on me meeting you."

Mistoffelees smiled. "Obviously not." He dropped his paws. "Well, you're all healed."

Tugger looked down to find his wounds cleaned and his fur immaculately clean. He grinned at his mate. "You really are the cleverest cat. You know that?"

"Of course," Mistoffelees giggled. "I'm gonna go out for a while. Take a walk. You should rest."

"Be careful," Tugger said, cupping Mistoffelees' cheek in his hand. "I love you."

"I love you more." Mistoffelees leaned forward and placed a kiss on Tugger's lips. "I'll see you later."

Mistoffelees left the den, then the junkyard. It was a nice day outside: Bright, but not too hot. The perfect day for a stroll around the city.

He got three blocks away from the junkyard before turning around to make sure no one was following him. He was relieved to find that he was alone. He continued on his way. He smiled as his fur began to glow. In seconds, it was burning bright red.

Oh, Tugger would pay. That bastard would suffer, just like he did.