Omg! This chapter is over 5,600 words long! That's madness! I've tried to include a lot in this chapter to develop the story. Bad stuff happens but I promise it will work out. Have faith!
Bombalurina puts her plan into action with dire consequences for some.
Side note: I don't hate Bomba but I needed someone to be mean.
Disclaimer: Despite what you may believe, I do not own Cats.
Chapter 7
Taking a turn for the worst
It was three weeks after their first date. Tugger and Misto had spent a lot of time together alone much to the dismay of the Maine Coon's fan club. They went on long walks outside the junkyard just talking and stopping here and there for a quick kiss when they were sure no one was looking. They felt like kittens again, not that Misto was that far out of kittenhood. They afforded themselves the luxury of being playful and ran around laughing in the sun. The summer days were drawing closer to their demise now and the leaves were beginning to turn their beautiful shade of red. Misto often marvelled at the swirling, dancing patterns they made as they fell from above. It was the natural magic he had loved ever since he could remember. Tugger loved to watch the tom mesmerized by what he saw and relished in slowly being able to see the world the way Misto did. He often stood in awe when Misto seemed to say something incredibly beautiful yet deeply profound about the smallest of details Tugger would never have cared about before he'd started talking to Misto in this way. He could see the cat was clever. Really clever and deeply insightful. He felt closer to the cat because of this and found it increasingly harder to part from him at the end of the day. They always said goodbye in the same way. Tugger would pull him into a caress and say something like "I had a great time with you today" and Misto would reply with something like "yeah I guess it was okay." He liked teasing the bigger cat like that and watch him slowly realise it. This evening was no exception. Tugger walked Misto to his door and put his arms around him. They muttered a few words, kissed and parted. Anybody might have thought it was a lovely sight watching the two toms explore their infatuation with each other, all except one queen in particular, the rather irate Bombalurina.
She sat watching them do their nightly routine as they had done for a while and got angry. It should have been her Tugger was whispering sweet nothings to. She decided she couldn't wait any longer, she needed Tugger now and that meant tearing the two apart. She wasn't one to use brute force though for she had a sly streak and realised cunning was needed. She picked herself up and sauntered over to a gaggle of queens just chatting in the night air.
"It doesn't seem quite right, does it?" she said announcing herself. The other queens all turned to look at her as she joined their group.
"What doesn't?" enquired Jellyorum, a yellow tabby queen.
"That Tugger has been hijacked by that little runt, Mistoffelees."
"Hijacked? What do you mean hijacked?" asked Jennyanydots
"Don't tell me you all don't see?" Bomba said darkly
The other queens just started blankly.
"Haven't you noticed how Tugger is acting so differently lately? He doesn't revel in the leers of his fan club anymore, he walks around looking like he's gone to Heaviside and he's suddenly tied down to just one cat. And that cat just happens to be a conjurer."
"What are you getting at?" asked Jelly
"I'm saying I think it's a little more than a coincidence"
"What is?"
"Do I have to spell it out? I think that conjurer has put a spell on Tugger. Why else would he be hanging around him so much and making like he's the only one in the whole world?"
"Oh I'm sure it's not like that" said Jenny in a very motherly tone. "Mistoffelees has never been one to use his magic to control others, it's not his nature"
"Well perhaps now he's a tom he's realised what he likes the look of and how he can use his magic to get it. I think we all might be in trouble if he decides to pull a few more tricks" said Bomba acting very authoritatively.
"Bomba, Misto would never do anything like that" said Deme finally piping up from her kept silence. She knew what Bomba was doing but out of friendship had stayed quiet until now. "You're daft if you think he'd think about controlling any of our minds"
"You seem awfully keen on those two hitting it off, Deme."
"As I told you earlier, I think if Tugger is making a change for the better then who are we to think it's something bad."
"Oh yes." Jenny chimed in, "I'd certainly love to see that tom stop flirting with the kittens like he does."
"I'm not listening to this anymore, goodbye ladies" said Deme getting up and stalking off.
"Strange to think she's so in favour of those two, isn't it?" said Bomba manipulating the situation to her advantage.
"What do you mean?" asked Jenny
"Well, do you think it's possible that Misto has already started to manipulate the minds of more than one cat?"
"You're not suggesting that she's had a spell put on her are you?"
Bomba just crossed her arms and gave them all a knowing look.
"Bomba, that's ludicrous!" Jenny said getting into a huff, "to actually think you'd suggest that, its just madness"
"Is it though. Think about it. Misto puts Tugger under his spell and he takes Deme too to spread the good word. It's the perfect plan, don't you think?"
"I…I can't believe…ooh!" Jenny said getting even more flustered that she couldn't think of how to reply.
"Think about it ladies. I have to go, but think about it." She said as she went off to find the toms.
The group of queens just sat, not saying anything. Some of the things Bomba had said started to make sense in their minds.
Bomba was unhappy the toms were not in one convenient group like the queens. No matter though, perhaps this was even better. If she could get one tom to believe her then the other toms might trust her target's word more than her own. But who to choose? She looked around at whom she could see. Certainly not Munk, she'd have to be stupid to try and get him to believe it, not Coricopat either, he'd see right through her. He probably already knew what she was up to anyway being a mystic. Not Pouncival, he was still too young to be taken seriously. Not Skimleshanks, the cats might think he'd overdone the drop of scotch in his tea. How about Victor? He'd never tell a lie as far as she could tell. She decided on him and started to make her way over. She found him enjoying a nice fat rat and slunk down beside him.
"Hey" he said as she sat.
"Hey. I guess you've heard by now, huh?"
"Heard what?"
"About Misto?"
"What about him?"
"You mean you haven't heard" she said faking surprise
"No, what?"
"Shh! Keep it quiet. It seems Misto has been placing spells on some of us."
"What? Are you sure?"
"Yes. You've seen how Tugger hangs around him totally ga ga. Why would Tugger of all cats behave like that?"
"I suppose you have a point, but seriously, Misto? He's not the type to do something like that."
"Isn't he. He's always been rather quiet and vague. Who's to say he isn't coming out of his shell?"
"Well, maybe. It still seems wrong that he'd be capable of that though"
"Don't tell me he's put a spell on you too" Bomba said scooting away and pretending to be cautious.
"No! No. He couldn't have."
"I'd say keep your eyes peeled. And don't trust him, I bet that's how he gets into your head"
"Okay Bomba, I'll stay wary. You think I should tell the other toms?"
"I'd say so, but make sure they haven't been taken by that nasty cat already"
"Okay, thanks Bomba."
"Stay safe" she said getting up and hurrying away, an evil grin on her face. Toms were so easy to manipulate. It wouldn't take long for Misto to be rejected by everyone.
The magic cat was sat on top of the large tyre with his beau. He was showing the bigger tom some of his tricks.
"Take a card but don't tell me what it is" he said offering the pack to Tugger. The tom took one, looked at it and replaced it. It was the ace of hearts. The tux shuffled the pack and fanned it out to reveal the entire deck which looked just as any normal deck would with thirteen cards for each suit. He proceeded to throw it into the air and let the cards float down left, right and centre. He let them all settle before saying,
"Was that your card?"
Tugger looked around and to his amazement all of the cards from the pack had turned into the ace of hearts. He laughed and applauded the clever little tom.
"Brilliant!" he said, "show me another!"
The tux grinned. He snapped his fingers and with a little sparkle emitted from them a house of cards stood before the two. Tugger jumped back and laughed at what he saw. The tom had talent, that was for sure.
"Misto, you're awesome!" Tugger said with joy. He saw some of the kittens scamper by and called to them, "Hey guys! Come watch Misto, he's doing some magic"
The kittens stopped and stared at the two. They remained where they were and didn't budge an inch.
"What's wrong?" Tugger asked when they didn't bound up right away. They stayed silent. "Cat got your tongue?" he said with a smirk. They seemed to stifle their giggles and remain where they were.
"Hang on" Tugger said to Misto as he got up and made his way over to where the kittens were. Something was wrong with them, 'Kitten business I suppose' he thought and smiled as he got close. "What's got you all acting so strangely?" the big tom asked.
"That's Misto" Pouncvial said when none of the others piped up.
"Yes, and?" Tugger said confusedly.
"He's evil, Tug. You should sty away from him"
Tugger was taken aback at that. Had the little cat actually said Mistoffelees - the cat that had entertained them all from time to time – was evil?
"What?" he asked. Perhaps he'd misheard the kitten.
"Mistoffelees!" he hissed, "he's put a spell on you, that's why you're acting so strange recently"
"Guys, you shouldn't make up things like that. It's not nice and it could cause a whole lot of-"
"We didn't make it up! Everyone's saying it!" he blurted, trying to keep his voice low.
"I'm pretty sure that's not right? Who would say something so mean?"
"The grown-ups! Run away, Tug!" the kitten said as he and the others scarpered.
Tugger was a little blown away by the revelation for a moment but brushed it off. The kittens must have let their imagination run away with them. He'd sort them out later to make sure everything was right. But hadn't Pounce said that everyone was saying it? Surely that was wrong too.
"Hey Misto," he said looking to the tom, "I'll be right back, okay?"
"Take your time" the little cat smiled wondering where the tom was going. He lay back and closed his eyes quite content that Tugger was finding his tricks so cool. He hopped up again remembering a really awesome trick he could do with a spoon. He climbed down from the tyre to try and find one in the junk. He had little success and decided to try further away. He thought Tugger would really love this one when get got back. As he was digging through mounds of junk he noticed some of the other cats. He smiled at them but quickly let it diminish as he realised they weren't smiling back. They seemed to just stare and stay away. 'Is there something wrong with my fur?' he thought looking himself over and finding nothing but his sleek, black coat looking lovely as always. 'Then what's wrong?' he thought. He decided to approach them and greet them properly, but as soon as he began advancing the cats turned and hurried away. Misto felt very confused and a little hurt at the blatant avoidance of the passing cats. Were they angry with him? What had he done to make them stay away?
"Hey, Munk!" Tugger called as he approached his brother on his perch.
"Oh hey Tug." Munk said looking down, "what's up?"
"Nothing much, just one little thing though. Is there a rumour going around about Misto?"
"What kind of rumour?" Munk said with a look of concern crossing his face.
"Well I was talking to the kittens a moment ago and they said people had been saying he's evil if you can believe that. I just wondered if you'd heard anything?"
"Kittens' minds run away with the sometimes, Tug. They'll be back on the right track in an hour or two" Munk said relaxing.
"But they said the toms and queens had been saying it, I don't know why they'd lie about that."
"Really?" Munk said, the concern returning, "Leave it with me, Tug. I'll see what's going on."
"Cheers, bro." said Tugger turning to leave. Munk jumped down from his perch and went to find Alonzo, a black and white patched tom and also his best friend. Surely the kittens had been mistaken.
"'Lonz?" Munk said as he entered the patched tom's den finding him peeking out of a window.
"Hi, Munk" said the tom turning around to face his friend
"What are you doing?" the tabby said puzzled.
"Just keeping an eye out for Misto" he said warily.
"What do you mean 'keeping an eye out'?" Munk asked feeling the cat was about to make his day a whole lot more difficult.
"Just making sure he's not trying to creep up on me. I don't wanna go the same way as Tugger."
Munk tilted his head in confusion, "You're gonna have to help me out here, 'Lonz."
"You know Misto's put a spell on Tugger, right?"
"A spell? What do you mean a spell?"
"To make him all lovey-dovey over him. Why else would Tugger be spending so much time with one cat?"
"Well they are dating. I think they're allowed to spend lots of time together"
"Tugger doesn't date, Munk. He's Tugger."
"Even so, I think he's making a change. He seems to really like Misto."
"Don't you wonder why?"
"I assume he finds him incredibly attractive and interesting. Or haven't you noticed?"
"I've noticed. A little more than I reckon that little tom would want me to notice."
Munk was getting annoyed that his best friend would be spewing this nonsense.
"You're being absurd, you know that?"
"I am not, Munk! I'm worried for the kits. What if he manages to get into their minds as well? It wouldn't be hard, they're only kittens."
"Stop it 'Lonz! This is Misto you're talking about. Misto! Remember? The cat that used his magic to help you put your den up?"
"If I'd known at the time I-"
"Alonzo, come on! You cannot be seriously saying this. I thought you were level headed! Where did you hear all this?"
"Not sure. I just heard it on the grapevine."
"Can you remember anything else?"
"I just heard he was putting cats under his spell one by one."
"Okay 'Lonz, will you do something for me?"
"Sure, anything."
"Would you stop believing these silly rumours? I can promise you they're lies and I really need to find the source to stop whoever's spouting them."
Alonzo looked at Munk with trepidation.
"Please 'Lonz, I need you to do this for me."
"…Alright. For you, I'll do it" the tom said anxiously
"Thank you" Munk said hugging his friend "I gotta go deal with this but if anyone talks to you about it please set them straight."
"Okay, I will" said Alonzo using all his willpower to go against his mind telling him not to trust Misto
"Thanks, mate" said Munk departing. He was in for a long night for sure.
Munk made for the clearing. As leader he was tasked with sorting these problems out, the question was though: How was he meant to fix this? He decided to find his mate for advice. He wanted to get this sorted before Old Deuteronomy might show up. The last thing he needed was the Jellicle Leader finding out that Misto was suddenly public enemy number one and even less for his father to be disappointed in him for not handling it.
He found his mate alone in their den going about her everyday life.
"Hey, sweetie" she said nuzzling him as he entered.
"Hello, darling. How's your night going?"
"Ups and downs but otherwise normal" she said, "you?"
"It was going well until I heard these rumours about Misto"
"Rumours?" she said raising an eyebrow like Munk was prone to do when presented with similar information. They had become very alike in the time they had been together.
"Yes. Apparently Misto has put a spell on Tugger to make him fall in love with him and that now he's starting to branch out and control the minds of others."
'Oh, Bomba!' said Deme internally knowing exactly where something like that had come from. "What are you gonna do, Munk?"
"I'm not sure. I guess I'll have to find out where the rumour started and start there. I don't suppose you'd have any idea who might make up something like this?"
Deme hesitated for a moment. She wondered if she should tell her mate who her prime suspect was but decided to approach Bomba alone. "No, sorry. I can't believe someone would say something so horrible about Misto. They should know he'd never hurt a fly."
"I know, darling, but sometimes cats get ideas in their heads and then they snowball."
"Good luck with the hunt" she said as Munk began to leave to deduce the situation. Meanwhile, she set off to find Bomba and see what part she had to play in this ordeal.
Jemima and Victoria sat flabbergasted at what they were hearing. The kittens were relating to them the whole story they had heard and exaggerated upon. They simply couldn't believe what they heard and chastised the kittens for being so silly. The kittens seemed to listen but still blabbered on in confusion as to what they were meant to believe. The two queens simply told them that Misto was the kindest, sweetest cat they had ever met and that to think of him in any other way was just madness. They crept away after they hoped they had changed the kittens' minds to discuss the audacity of their claims.
"Can you believe that?" Jemima said angrily
"I know! What on earth put that kind of slander into those kitten's heads?"
" I don't know but we can't let them or anyone believe it"
"What can we do, Jems?"
"I guess we should find Misto and make sure he's alright. I really hope he hasn't heard yet."
"Good idea" said Victoria as they began to search for the tux.
"Knock, knock" said Demeter without her usual perkiness as she entered Bomba's den. Bomba herself was sitting alone enjoying the knowledge that her plan to snag Tugger was working nicely.
"Why hello, Deme. What brings you here?"
"Not much" she said pretending to be calm, "just a little issue I'm having with something I heard out in the junkyard."
"Oh?" said Bomba. She knew Deme had figured her out. She was fast. Sometimes being so in tune with each other had it's down sides.
"Yes. Cats are saying that poor, sweet little Misto has an evil streak and has Tugger under his spell."
"Well I guess sometimes a cat reveals his true colours" said Bomba waiting for the accusation. It didn't take long.
"Bomba, I know it was you."
"You're quick" she said simply.
"You think it's okay just to spew lies like that? You should know how damaging something like this could be."
"Oh it's not completely my fault!" the red queen said getting up and pacing. "You suggest a simple explanation to cats and all of a sudden it escalates into something huge"
"Of course it's your fault" Deme said getting annoyed with Bomba's attempts to avoid the blame, "you can't say something like you did and expect it to just be ignored. There are some impressionable young cats out there and they would believe anything you'd say if you're not careful."
"I'm only want back what's mine! Is that such a crime?" Bomba said exasperated
"Tugger isn't yours, Bomba!" He wasn't anybodies until Misto came along, and now finally Tugger has someone that might steer him in the right direction and you want to ruin it to help yourself?"
Bomba sat down and buried her face in her paws. She knew Deme was right. She might have hoped that Tugger would one day come around and see her for how wonderful she was but in her heart she knew that was never really going to happen. Tugger only used her for pleasure and she knew it, she just wanted to believe there might be something else there. She burst into tears as she slowly resigned to the fact that Tugger would never be hers.
"I just want somebody for my own, Deme. Is that so wrong?" she said between sobs.
Demeter realised she'd struck something deep rooted in Bomba when she saw her react. She knelt down beside the crying queen and pulled her into a hug, comforting her friend. "No, Bomba. It's not wrong, but you know destroying Misto's reputation won't make you happy, it'll just destroy an innocent little life."
Bomba felt incredibly guilty for what she'd managed to do. She felt even worse for not knowing how to stop what she'd done either. The two queens stayed there for a while, not knowing what to do.
Hours passed. Misto had been searching for a while now and still no spoon. He'd noticed the cats becoming even stranger around him, some even baring their teeth. He'd felt rather threatened by some and wondered what on earth was going on. He noticed a group of toms that seemed to be talking quietly and looking over at him. He wondered if he should try and join them to see if he could find out why everyone was acting so strangely all of a sudden but he felt intimidated. He was only recently a tom and didn't feel completely involved with the adults yet. He seemed to be in limbo, not quite a kitten but not quite a tom either. He decided to try and ignore them although the staring made that difficult.
He looked around as he saw shadows fall over him from behind as he was digging through some junk to find his spoon. Several of the toms were standing over him and looking quite serious. He felt really quite scared by their intimidating stance but plucked up the courage to speak,
"Hey guys, what's up?" he said with a nervous smile.
"We think you know very well what's up" one of them said
"I don't know what you mean" Misto said, his smile fading and becoming more anxious now.
"We thought your magic was nothing to be afraid of, Mistoffelees. It seems perhaps we might have made a mistake"
"What are you talking about?" asked Misto, becoming scared. His ears flattened and his tail flicked back and forth nervously.
"It's not okay to put spells on cats to manipulate them, you know?"
Misto was confused, he didn't know if he was even capable of doing what they were accusing him of, let alone whether or not he would ever dream of employing such power. He didn't have time to speak before one of the toms spoke again.
"If you think you can get away with this you've got another thing coming"
"What are you saying?" said Misto feeling very scared
"We're saying we think you ought to distance yourself from the Jellicles, Mistoffelees. If we can't trust you to be safe then we have to do what's best for the tribe"
"I…I…I've never put a spell on anybody" Misto stammered, panicking. "I don't even know what you're talking about! Please! You can't throw me out! I promise I'd never do anything to harm anyone!"
"And what about you and Tugger?"
"What do you mean?"
"You and he seem rather inseparable lately. That's very out of character for him, you might even say the work of another. Got any ideas, Misto? Hmm?"
"I…Me and Tugger…we're just dating. He asked me out and I said yes, it's as simple as that."
"Sounds like a likely story to me" the other toms agreed still standing over the cowering Misto.
"I swear it's the truth!" Misto said desperately, "You have to believe me!"
"Or what? You'll probably just use your magic to make us believe you, right?"
"No! I swear I'd never do anything to any of you! Please!" Misto begged
"How can we believe you?"
"You'll just have to take my word! I'm begging you!" tears began to stream down the frightened tom's face
"I've heard enough!" one of the tom's said advancing forward grabbing Misto. He screamed and thrashed, trying to get away.
"Leave him alone!" a voice from behind the group hollered. Tugger pushed his way through the mob and scooped up the tom into his arms. Munk, Alonzo and Demeter who stood in front of Tugger and bared their teeth at the other cats - who all had now gathered to see the spectacle - closely followed him. Jemima and Victoria joined them soon after.
"Did they hurt you?" Tugger whispered to the shaking tux. He just shook his head slightly and buried his face in Tugger's mane.
"What in Heaviside do you all think you're doing?" Munk yelled at the tribe. "The second you turn on one of your own all hell breaks loose! Do you really want that to happen?"
"That cat's dangerous" a voice called from the crowd, "We have to protect the kittens" came another.
"I swear, any of you touch him again I'll kill you!" yelled Tugger, filled with rage.
"Tugger, please!" Munk said trying to keep order
"No, Munk! I swear if any of you leave one scratch on this cat's body I'll rip you to shreds!"
The yelling began to turn into anarchy as the cats argued. A red queen watched from the sidelines along with many other queens and the kittens. Jenny and Jelly had run into the crowd as soon as tensions started to break. They were trying to keep order but the raucousness just seemed to escalate. Tugger was yelling, Deme was yelling, Munk was having no luck in calming the cats down Jemima and Victoria were arguing with some of the cats and in the middle of it all Misto clung to Tugger for dear life. He had been frightened when Tugger had taken him into the city, but this was different. This time he'd never felt more terrified. Something was nagging at him though trying to grab his attention. He'd felt it before. It was a warm feeling signalling the arrival of something or someone although at this moment in time it was dwarfed by his fear.
"STOP!" came a great booming voice. There was instant silence as a large, old cat made his way through the crowd. All the cats bowed to him as he walked through. He made his way slowly to the front to where his two sons, Munk and Tugger were standing. He noticed Tugger was looking maddened and holding Misto in his arms.
"What is all this commotion?" the Jellicle leader asked. Munk had a heavy heart as he reluctantly explained the situation to Old Deuteronomy. The old cat was silent as the story was unfurled for him. When Munk had finished he stood for a moment before taking his place on the large tyre. He stood before them and asked, "Who was it that started these rumours?". Bomba felt sick as she slowly made her way through the crowd to stand before her leader. She attempted to look up at him but felt great shame.
"Why did you stir up these lies? Old Deuteronomy asked.
The queen's eyes filled with tears and she began to shake as she attempted to speak. "I…I didn't mean for…I just wanted Tugger for myself…" she squeaked. "I never meant for this to get so out of hand, I was desperate" she said wiping her eyes.
Old Deuteronomy stood, contemplating the queen. He could see she was guilt-ridden and deeply remorseful. "You know what you've done is wrong, don't you my dear?"
"Yes" she said quietly, looking up at the wise old cat.
"You must never lie. Lying can destroy lives. How can we live in peace if we trust no one?" he asked the crowd generally.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry" Bomba managed to offer.
Old Deuteronomy saw her grief and he let her go. She had known right from the start that what she was doing was wrong.
"She was right though!" a voice emerged from the crowd
"Mistoffelees must have used some dark magic!" came another
"We can't let him stay!" another one cried.
Old Deuteronomy held up his paws for silence. He the extended one towards Misto, motioning him to join the cat on his tyre. Misto slowly got down from Tugger's arms and made his way up to the leader. The cat took his hand and presented him to the tribe.
"Do you see any evil here?" he asked "Do you think any evil could amount in such a special young cat?" The crowd murmured in resignation to Old Deuteronomy's words. If he was saying Misto was safe then he must be okay. Misto gazed down to the crowd, begging for acceptance with his eyes. He could think of nothing worse than being rejected by them.
"There will be no more of this ugliness" the old cat said, "Mistoffelees is a Jellicle cat, and Jellicle cats must stick together and know that they will never turn on each other." A sheepish look graced the faces of many of the cats in the crowd. They began to realise how their minds had run away with them.
It was then that perhaps the most unfortunate of things that could have happened to Misto, happened. As Old Deuteronomy turned some dust dislodged from his coat. It made it's way to Misto's nose and started a tickling, small at first but growing rapidly, far too quickly for him to do anything about it. He sneezed an almighty sneeze and the sheer force of the motion trigged a spark of magic to fly out of him with a bang. The sudden disturbance caused Old Deuteronomy to loose his balance and topple over the side of the tyre to land below, wondering what on earth had happened. Misto stood in shock as shouts began emanating from the crowd again.
"He attacked Old Deuteronomy!"
"He's wounded our leader!"
"Get him!"
Misto was shocked. How could this have happened. He looked to Tugger who was just as shocked as he was. He turned rapidly and sprinted off into the night for fear for his life. He ran out of the entrance of the junkyard and into the darkness not knowing where he was going, he only knew he needed to run.
He kept running, long into the night.
Tugger was beside himself with worry. He was scared for his tom. He had no idea where he was or if he was safe. Without a second thought he took off after his Misto, desperate to find him and comfort him.
Holy crap! It's all hit the fan now! What's going to happen to poor, frightened little Misto.
Your reviews are wonderful, I'd love to hear anything else you have to say.
More will be up soon.
xxx
