Chapter 7: Fury of the Ghost Cat

Chapter 7: Fury of the Ghost Cat

He'd been set up. Played for a fool; nothing more than a pawn in Macavity's twisted game. His entire body trembled as lightning crackled and even spat out from around his clenched paws. His mind whirled with confusion and rage and he found himself beginning to fidget and finally turned away from Munkustrap and began walking toward the main gate. Macavity was as good as dead; he would tear him apart piece by piece and anyone that got in his way would die as well. The Jellicles were of no consequence now; they meant nothing to him. All he cared about was getting his claws on Swansea's true murderer.

"Wait!" Munkustrap called but Wisp ignored him. As he neared the gate, five or six Jellicles, albeit a bit reluctantly, came down off the piles of junk and stood in his way. He glared at the cat directly in front of him, the Maine Coon they called Tugger and snarled, "Get out of my way."

"Look bro," Tugger said, holding his paws out in a non threatening manner, "We know what you're thinkin' and there's no way you can take Mac out by yourself."

"Get…out…of my way," Wisp repeated and he could see the fear growing in Tugger's eyes as well as the other Jellicles. "Sorry man," Tugger said, "It ain't gonna happen."

"Really," Wisp said and flung his arms out like he was throwing open a set of curtains; the six Jellicles in front of him all flew off to the sides landing in two heaps. He resumed walking toward the now clear gates when he vaguely heard footsteps behind him and a paw gripped his left shoulder. He shrugged off the paw and whirled around furious that they were trying to stop him and was face to face with Munkustrap again.

"Tugger is right," he said, keeping his voice firm but calm, "If you go after Macavity alone, it'll be suicide."

"I don't care," Wisp snapped, "If you were in my paws, you'd be doing the exact same thing."

Munkustrap sighed. The Ghost Cat had a point; he remembered how angry he'd been when he first found out what Macavity had done to Demeter; he wasn't as bad as this tom was but he was pretty close. Still, he would not allow him to go after the ginger tom alone.

"Look, um…"

"Wisp," came the half growled response.

"Wisp," Munk began again, "I know Macavity better than you do. I can tell you from experience getting into his lair and actually finding him is impossible. You'd be dead before you got all four paws inside."

The anger in his eyes seemed to fade a little and he glanced away from Munkustrap and took a breath to steady himself. "Then what should I do?" he asked.

"Tell me what Macavity told you when you were in the shelter," Munk said. Wisp thought for a moment then answered, "He said he saw you kill Swansea. And that Mungojerrie and Skimbleshanks were with you. Mistoffolees had changed their appearance and their voices so they wouldn't be recognized."

The tabby down at the train station. That was why Wisp had attacked him along with Jerrie and Teazer so brutally; Macavity had told him they were responsible for Swansea's murder. And now, he had been sent to kill Munk himself. It all made sense; this was Macavity's grand scheme for what happened at the Ball. Murder Wisp's mate, tell him lies to get him angry enough to kill then send him after the one he despised the most. And with the power that he had been told Wisp possessed, Munk was actually glad that Mistoffolees didn't have to go paw to paw with him. But that was beside the point. He had a feeling that Macavity was going to be on his way there once the sun set; he usually preferred to strike at night which meant that he had to get the junkyard ready.

The day wore on and slowly the sun began to descend for the night. As the cover of darkness fell, a group of alley toms and henchcats moved out from the Hidden Paw's lair and started to make their way across town to the Jellicle's junkyard. Macavity, at their head, couldn't help smiling to himself. This plan was so brilliant he should've thought of it on the night of the Ball; come to think of it, it would've been perfect. The Ghost Cat's powers were truly remarkable and coupled with the frenzy he'd been worked into from his mate's death made him even more dangerous. He could've killed two birds with one stone as the humans say. Or more specifically, he would've gotten rid of the Jellicles and taken the junkyard for himself all in one fell swoop. Ah well, it didn't matter now; Munkustrap was probably dead and the junkyard would be in total disarray by the time they got there. All they would have to do is just walk right in and take over.

They approached the junkyard from the northern fence and spread out to surround it from all sides. Moving quietly, Macavity slunk forward and began to climb the piles of junk. Odd; there was no sound coming from the junkyard; he would've expected to hear shouts and screams and maybe see a flash or two of lightning here and there but there was nothing. He started to think that maybe something went wrong; maybe the Ghost Cat had had a change of heart, or maybe he had figured out the truth. Or perhaps the Jellicles had killed him. No, he chided himself, there's nothing wrong here. He's had all day to do his damage. He's probably wiped them all out already and moved on.

He reached the top of the junk pile and looked out over the top. He felt the smile cross his face and his heart leapt for joy at the sight he was greeted with; the Jellicles lying all over the place, some twisted in amongst piles of junk, the rest strewn about the clearing, all of them dead. Macavity scanned the bodies from his vantage point and laughed when he saw Munkustrap's crumpled form, lying face down almost in the center of the clearing. The clearing itself was quite torn up as well; the Ghost Cat had definitely been busy but the result was amazing. He signaled his group and they emerged from hiding all climbing onto the junk piles and looking in awe at the carnage below. They slid down into the clearing and started moving around the bodies, still amazed at what they saw.

"The junkyard is ours," Macavity cried out and a cheer went up from the group. He walked over to the body of his brother and casually kicked it over onto its back. "Did you actually think you could win," he asked the corpse as he crouched down next to it, "Ah you Jellicles are pathetic. It's a pity though; I wish I could've seen the look on your face just before that dupe finished you off."

Clink

A loud noise startled everyone; it sounded like something falling off of one of the junk piles but nothing had moved.

Clink, Clank

There it was again; louder this time. Macavity rose to his feet and looked around while some of his alley toms shivered. All was quiet and suddenly a piece of metal flew up from the ground and smacked a tom in the back.

"What the…" the tom cried when a second tom was hit then a third. "This place is haunted!" the third tom said fearfully and some of them began to climb the piles again.

"Get down here," Macavity shouted and the cowards slid down with a fearful and guilty look on their faces. "It is not haunted. There must be a Jellicle still alive somewhere. Spread out and find it!"

The group reluctantly began to grope through the junk piles and inside the Jellicle's dens searching for the supposed cat that was still alive. The search took them an hour but they came back to Macavity empty pawed. The ginger tom growled and shouted, "Whoever is out there, show yourself!" There was no movement and one tom glanced down at a body, which happened to be Pouncival, which was lying near him and said quietly, "All we need now is for these dead Jellicles to come back to life." As if in response, Pounce's eyes snapped open and he looked up at the startled alley tom, smiled and said, "Boo,"

The tom screamed and as the rest of the group turned, all of the seemingly dead Jellicles got back to their feet and attacked Macavity's group. Some were taken down before they even knew what hit them and to Macavity's own shock, Munkustrap got to his feet and said, "Hello brother," before belting him in the face and sending him sprawling. The ginger tom quickly recovered however and hissed viciously; this was all an elaborate trap and he had fallen right into it. No matter; at least now he had the pleasure of killing his brother himself.

The kittens who were amongst the "bodies" before the trap was sprung quickly got out of harms way but Jemima found herself grabbed by the tail by the grey tom and yanked back before she got to the safety of Jenny's den. The Gumbie Cat wanted to come out and save her but there was no way she could get to her in time; add to that the fact that she had to help Jelly keep the other kittens from rushing out to help their friend. He smiled as he saw the terror in her eyes and raised his paw to slash her throat. Seconds later, he knocked back by…something…and when Jemima turned and looked up, Wisp had appeared right behind her. She scampered between his legs and the Ghost Cat shoved her with his back foot sending her sliding and tumbling into Jenny's den before he charged the stunned grey tom.

The grey tom got to his feet just in time to be punched in the jaw with such force it sent him spinning in the air before he crashed to the ground. Relentless, the Ghost Cat seized him by his headfur and hauled him up only to smash his face back down into the ground, breaking his nose. Again he was pulled up and he desperately swiped out at the silver tom. Wisp easily ducked underneath his blow and unleashed a series and swipes and punches that knocked him down again then knelt over top of him and pounded him as hard as he could. Finally, with the grey's blood covering his paws, Wisp pulled him into a sitting position and snapped his neck then shoved his limp form aside.

The other Jellicles were having a fairly easy time dealing with Macavity's alley toms as most were still shocked at seeing dead cats come to life again. Skimble threw one tom into the side of a car when a second jumped on his back taking him down. The first one came back and they had started to double teamed the Railway Cat when Mistoffolees, who was staying back so he could use his magic, blasted the first tom aside with his own lightning allowing Skimble to handle the second. Demeter and Bomba were nearby doing their best to keep toms away from Misto and when a group of four came after him, Tugger jumped in and helped out. For his part, Misto managed to hit one tom from behind as he was sneaking up on Demeter and he went tumbling down the outer part of the junk pile slamming against the fence. Misto couldn't help but grimace slightly; that must've hurt.

Macavity and Munkustrap were locked in a stalemate; neither one could get the upper paw on the other no matter what they tried. That changed however as Demeter suddenly cried out as a tom grabbed her when she was distracted. He turned for a second to see if she was alright and was tackled by Macavity. The two rolled over and over scratching and clawing each other until Macavity finally banged his brother's head against the ground stunning him. He smiled; finally he could finish what he started at the Ball. Just then he was shoved away from his prey; he got to his feet enraged, and for the second time, laid eyes on the Ghost Cat.

Wisp stared at Macavity with anger blazing in his heart. Finally he had Swansea's murderer in front of him. He could feel his power building up inside and Macavity's as well. Thinking about it for a second, he realized that Macavity was his equal in power. Mistoffolees could probably stand up to either of them but he couldn't beat them.

"You killed her," he said accusingly to which Macavity just laughed. Wisp's blood boiled at the sound.

"And it took you this long to figure it out," he sneered, "You're stupider than I thought you were."

Growling, Wisp held out his paw and sent a bolt of lightning at the Hidden Paw who jumped aside, well more like flew aside, which told Wisp he was dealing with a cat the could levitate. He tried again, only this time, Macavity dodged it normally and sent one back at Wisp who instinctively ducked beneath it. The Hidden Paw chuckled as he backed away.

"It's too bad she had to die Wisp," he taunted, "She would've made an excellent whore."

Furious, Wisp threw himself at Macavity who simply levitated over top of him and laughed as Wisp again lunged at him and missed. "You were always weak kitten," he sneered, "I don't know what she saw in you." Wisp didn't lunge this time; instead he imagined anything and everything within range throwing itself at Macavity and the ginger tom was assaulted with a barrage of objects and even he could not evade them all. So he rushed toward the Ghost Cat, who disappeared just as Macavity reached him, the same as he had with Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer.

"Enough of this," Macavity roared angrily, "Come out and fight me tom to tom."

He didn't have to ask twice. Wisp appeared in front of him charged; but Macavity once again retreated. He dodged away from Wisp's swipes and climbed the piles of junk heading for the spot where he had knocked out the lights at the Ball. He turned and briefly glanced down to find that nearly his entire group was either dead or gone; once again they had left him alone. Growling, he climbed faster and eventually reached his destination. He quickly found the booster cables and touched them together. They sparked; there was still power running through them. He waited until Wisp came clambering up behind him and stuck the cables on the Ghost Cat's chest sending electricity rippling through him.

The Ghost Cat collapsed and Macavity stood tall with a smug look on his face. He knelt down beside the twitching tom and said, "Say hello to your girlfriend for me." He jabbed the cables down toward Wisp's chest again but the Ghost Cat still had some life left. He grabbed Macavity's wrists and held him back then head butted him in the face knocking him back and making him drop the cables. Slowly climbing to his feet, he made one final lunge and grabbed Macavity's head with both paws. He glanced up for a second and noticed the electrical wires then looked deep into the ginger tom's eyes. Macavity could only give him a look of recognition before Wisp focused every ounce of power down his arms into his paws and into Macavity's body. The junkyard lit up like daytime and some of the Jellicles turned away from the brightness. With the last of his strength, the Ghost Cat lifted Macavity up and held him against the wires sending even more power coursing through the ginger tom but also through Wisp himself. Wisp finally released Macavity whose charred body fell down the outer edge of the junkyard and the Ghost Cat tumbled down to the clearing below.