Chapter Four

Family Traits

"Misto. Misto! Yo, Mr. Mistoffelees! Wakey, wakey! Oh, come on, get up!"

Mistoffelees opened his eyes wearily. He blinked several times to clear his vision, and found the disturber of his sleep standing over him.

"Finally, you're awake!" Tugger grinned. "You're harder to wake than ol' Skimbleshanks! Anyway, we need to get going."

Misto groaned. "Tugger, I think you've done enough helping," he stated as he stretched.

"Stop being such a downer," Tugger scoffed. "We can't stop now. Besides, Bandy's waiting, and-"

Mistoffelees froze mid-stretch. "Wait, did you just say that Bandy was waiting?"

Tugger nodded. "Yes, and making her wait's just going to make her angrier."

"I thought she never wanted to see me again," Misto explained.

"Where did you get that idea?" Tugger asked quizically.

Misto rolled his eyes, and stood up. "Alright, where is she?"

"At the junkyard gate. I tried to bring her in, but she refused. She said it would only waste time," Tugger began walking in the direction of the gate.

"Time for what?" Misto questioned as he followed Tugger.

"To find your daddy-o, of course!" Tugger answered.

"She's helping me now?" Misto was surprised.

"Again, I don't know where you got the idea that little Bandy hates you," Tugger stated, swishing his tail to and fro.

Bandy was in sight, and to Mistoffolees it seemed that she was still angry with him. The she-cat glared at him the moment he and Tugger approached her. He thought about turning the other way, but Tugger would never let him do that.

"All right, we remember each other right? Good." Tugger looked smug. "Now you two can go run off and find Macavity together."

Bandy beat Misto to the same question he was about to ask. "What do you mean, just us two?" She questioned.

Misto nodded in agreement and looked at Tugger, who simply answered, "I've got stuff to do, people to see. Besides, I don't really want to make a friendly visit, if you know what I mean."

"Tugger, I did not agree to this," Bandy fumed.

"Well, doll, you'll just have to deal with it. Besides, you're a great adapter. So run along and adapt."

"Tugger," both Misto and Bandy growled in unison.

"Well, there's nothing to be done now, because I am gone!" Tugger sprinted off rather quickly.

Banderin groaned, looking quite angry. Suddenly she started taking off. Mistoffelees had to jog to keep up with her pace.

"So, you are taking me to Macavity?" he asked, to be sure.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm taking you to my Aunt Clara," she snorted. "Of course I'm taking you to Mac! What were you thinking?"

That you might rip me to shreds, he thought to himself.

"Just because I threaten you once doesn't mean you're dead yet," Bandy added. "It takes quite a bit more than smashing my tail to get on my bad side."

"I am sorry about that," Mistoffelees apologized gently.

She shrugged. "What's done is done. Nothing I can do now."

"That's good." Misto smiled. This wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

The pair traveled quite a long distance before they reached their destination. A long, narrow, deserted street stretched out before them, bearing skeletal ruins of buildings and warehouses. Everything seemed to be covered in a fine layer of dust, and the moon seemed sickly and dull against the dark sky. Not a sound could be heard throughout the area, not even the pawsteps of the travelers.

Banderin came to a halt, and sniffed the air. Mistoffelees stopped beside her. She closed her eyes as though listening for some sort of movement in the barren wasteland.

"He knows we're here," she stated finally, opening her eyes.

Misto became nervous. "Where will we find him?"

"We can't," she answered. "He must find us."

She was silent for several moments before she said, "Keep walking up the street. You should only have to go about a block before he reveals himself to you."

"Aren't you coming with me?" Misto inquired, his nervousness growing.

Unfortunately, Bandy shook her head. "We'll both be in deep dirt if I come with you. You must go alone. I'll be waiting."

"Waiting where?"

"Anywhere you need me to be," she answered slyly. "Now go, before you lose your courage." She padded away into the shadows, not looking back.

Too late, Misto thought. It took him a few minutes before he could stop quivering and start walking.

The silence seemed more disturbing as the cat walked along. He would do anything for some company. He never really thought what meeting Macavity would be like in the heat of the moment.

Maybe I'll turn back and try to find him another day. His movements slowed to a stop.

Hiss!

Mistoffelees was on his back, and standing on his belly with his claws at Misto's throat was a wild, crazed tom.

"M-macavity!" Mistoffelees choked. He struggled underneath the cat.

Macavity raised one of his paws. He was about to make the final blow, and Mistoffelees saw it coming. Using all of his strength and a tiny bit of magic, Mistoffelees was able to fling the opposer off of him. Macavity hissed in anger and Misto crouched into what he hoped was a threatening fighting pose. Macavity slashed at him, and Misto dodged, aiming a strike at him in turn. It barely phased the Hidden Paw as he scratched Misto's face. The blow hit home and Misto wiped a paw against his new wound. But the magic cat did not give up as he attempted to strike Macavity again.

"Haven't you had enough?" Macavity snapped, his breathing becoming more rapid as he and Mistoffelees circled each other.

"I don't want to fight," Misto panted. "I'm here to talk to you."

The cat let out a barkish laugh. "Talk is foolish. Why would I waste my time talking to a little Jellicle?" He lunged at Misto, who narrowly escaped.

"I might be a holder of interesting conversation," Misto stated, trying to get Macavity interested.

"Who said I liked conversation?" Macavity growled. He rushed at Misto again, but this time he anticipated where Mistoffelees was going to step and he took him down.

"Now you can finally shut up!" The evil cat hissed as he raised his paw.

"Wait!" Misto exclaimed. "Don't be so hasty!"

"Your time is up, chatty."

As Macavity brought down his paw Mistoffelees shouted out, "I'm your son!"

Macavity's paw stopped right above Mistoffelees' throat. He looked quite stunned. The cat leaned in and stared into Misto's eyes. Slowly he raised himself off of the poor cat and studied him more closely. Misto hesitantly stood as Macavity scrutinized him.

"Quaxo?" Macavity finally asked after he was done studying.

Mistoffelees nodded.

"But you're suppose to be dead!" The wild cat exclaimed.

"Dead?"

"I guess that's what I get for not finishing the job," he sighed.

"What job?" Misto questioned.

Macavity groaned, "Boy, you ask way to many questions."

Misto shrunk back a little. He didn't want to sacrifice the calmness that Macavity had fallen into. A few moments of silence past before Macavity began to pad away.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Misto shouted as he chased after Macavity.

"Away from you," he answered simply, not looking back at him.

"But you just discovered me! Aren't you as eager as I am?"

The cat stopped and gave Mistoffelees as disapproving look. "Seriously? Why do you even have to ask that?"

Misto felt embarrased. "You're right. Sorry."

"Why don't you just run along now before I decide to kill you like I should have?" Macavity sneered.

Misto took a deep breath and stated, "Because I have questions to ask you."

"Please, don't make me laugh! What makes you so worthy as to interrogate me?"

This was a good point, but it wasn't going to stop Mr. Mistoffelees now. "I'm a magic cat, like you."

"Oh, great."

"And the magic is starting to whither away."

"Well, that should be obvious," Macavity replied saucily.

"Why?"

"Family traits," Macavity answered. "You see, I stole this magician's book once. I don't need to say who, though."

Mistoffelees had a feeling that it was from Tantomile and Coricopat.

"Anyway, it talked about cats like us. Apparently if there's one bad apple, it spoils the whole bunch."

"So..."

The Hidden Paw rolled his eyes. "So," he scoffed. "It means anyone in succession to the bad one starts to lose their powers."

"Why?" Misto questioned, curious.

"I don't remember. Something about 'not being worthy.' "

Misto nodded, intrigued. "So how do you get it back?"

Macavity replied with a twisted grin, "You've gotta do something bad."

"Bad?"

"Mhm. You can't have 'good' magic anymore so you've got to earn your 'bad' magic." He started sauntering around Mistoffelees. "And it's gotta be a major crime."

Misto gulped. He was not liking the sound of this. "Like what?"

"Oh, the usual you know. Stealing every possession of some human's houses. Destroying human houses. Robbing a child from its mother. Just to name a few," he stopped in front of Misto. "Oh, and taking the life of a Jellicle."

"I can't do any of that! That's wrong!" Misto objected.

Macavity laughed, which was quite terrifying. It sent shivers up Mistoffelees' spine.

"If you ever want your magic back, you'll have to commit a crime. Otherwise, you might as well be dead." Macavity's eyes flashed with horrible glee.

"I suppose I can live without it," Misto reasoned with himself aloud.

Macavity barked, "For someone who was brave enough to steal Deuteronomy from me, you sure are pathetic."

Mistoffelees hissed. "I'm not pathetic. I'm just not a cold-blooded killer."

"It's what makes you stronger," Macavity laughed.

Misto groaned. "I wish I never found out," he muttered to himself.

"Excuse me?" Macavity took a sudden interest in Misto's words. "Are you saying that you never knew who I was?"

Mistoffelees shook his head. "I was just told recently by my fraud father."

"You mean your mother didn't tell you?" The other cat seemed surprised.

Mistoffelees realized something. "Actually, I don't know who my mother is," he admitted.

"That's sad," Macavity frowned.

"Will you tell me?" Misto meowed.

"Why don't you ask my brother, Mr. Perfect?" Macavity snapped. "He can tell you who your damn mother is."

Misto was taken aback by the ferocity in his last words. He stared at Macavity, studying his features. His brow was deeply lined, and his red, black, and white fur was tangled and filthy. But beneath the wiry fur Mistoffelees could make out the same bone structure that he himself had. As he finished studying him, Macavity's bright eyes met Misto's.

Suddenly Macavity spat in disgust and wrinkled his nose at the tom.

"Why don't you beat it?" he growled. "Your presence irritates me."

Misto didn't move fast enough and it took a threatening yowl from Macavity to get Misto to start sprinting. As he ran, his brain tried to process what just happened.

A major crime...isn't there any other way?