The first sensations Mack became aware of as he regained consciousness were an eerie silence and the scent of singed fur. He saw nothing as yet, for his eyes were still closed and for the moment he was terrified of opening them. At first, he thought himself back in the flat…what flat…the flat which Griddlebone had sent him to set ablaze…but why in Heaviside had he listened…? No, he had refused…but she had hurt them… He could still hear their screams as he dashed off to do the Lady's bidding, anything to stop those awful screams… What was a humans' flat when up next to his friends…? Only the flat wasn't empty… She'd known it wouldn't be… Now Munk and the others were burning, he could smell it, it was all his fault— But no, that wasn't right, he realized with a jolt. That had been ages ago. They had escaped, if just barely. But no matter, Griddlebone would find other ways, she would see to it the Jellicles' existence was never free of pain and suffering and death… But Griddle was gone, he at last recalled. It was someone else now, someone else would harm his friends and family unless he stopped them—But who—TB!
At last his eyes unclosed. Slowly, MacVitie sat up, blinking, trying to discern where he was. Last he remembered, TB had been approaching him…he'd thought himself a goner…
Perhaps he was, he thought for a brief, wild moment. Perhaps he was dead, and that was why everyone seemed to have vanished… But no, that wasn't it either, he realized, beginning to recognize his surroundings. Had TB beaten him, but decided to let him live after all? But that would mean— "Demeter!" he tried to call, though his voice only came out as a hoarse whisper, as if he'd recently been screaming or breathing foul air. "Carbuckety!"
Why could he still smell fire? Why did he feel as if he'd just been in a fire? Gingerly, he stood up to his footpaws. He tried walking. He seemed unhurt, except for the feeling that he'd just escaped another burning house. This made no sense.
At last, he spotted a still, crumpled feline form lying nearby. He caught his breath and hurried over, willing it not to be Demeter or Carbuckety… Almost instantly, he recoiled with an involuntary cry of horror. In the face, he had recognized TB. But the rest of his corpse—for a corpse it was—was burnt and discolored beyond recognition. At least, Mack gathered that's what had happened, judging by the awful smell. He'd never actually seen a burnt cat before… And though he'd intended to fight TB to the death, it hadn't occurred to him until now what it would really be like, staring into the lifeless eyes of his adversary. With Jezza, the horror had come later, with the memories; at the time, he'd been too intent on escape and his friends to spend time dwelling on what he'd just done. Now, alone with this corpse, which had only moments ago (or had it been hours?) been as much a living, breathing creature as himself, the remorse washed over MacVitie in relentless accusing waves.
Remorse and bewilderment. How had this happened? How had he done it? Had he done it? He knelt down by the corpse and held up his own paws to his face, staring at them intently. There was no trace of anything on them—no blood, no indication of some mysterious flame that had leapt out of them to devour his enemy… But whatever had happened, his doing or not, it had been enough to frighten everyone away… Or had they simply moved off the moment TB was dead, ignoring the terms of the fight and taking Demeter and Carbuckety with them? Had they got Old D back as well? Or, he again considered the frightening possibility, were the living irrelevant now? Was Mack dead after all, and this was his punishment—sitting forever beside the corpse of one he had meant to kill…
"Vitie…"
"Stay back!" MacVitie snapped automatically, leaping up to his feet once more. He saw Demeter and Carbuckety emerge from behind an old abandoned car. Demeter stopped, gazing over at Mack in hurt and bewilderment, while Carbuckety ignored the ginger tom's words and marched right up to him.
"Your fur's standing up all over. You look awful," the tomkit said bluntly.
"Don't come any closer," Mack repeated, "and don't touch me. I don't know how this happened, or what's…" He shook his head. "Demeter. Did you see? Tell me." Only, he hoped she hadn't seen. Not him once again intent on killing a living creature, and this time succeeding…
"You don't…" The gold queen hesitated. "Tell me what you remember."
"Nothing. TB coming towards me. Then I thought I passed out. Next thing I knew…" He gestured wordlessly at the body of the once-powerful henchtom.
Before either MacVitie or Demeter could stop him, Carbuckety went over to the corpse and kicked it. "Good riddance," he spat.
"Carbuckety," Demeter gasped.
"Don't pretend you're not glad too…mum." Carbuckety frowned. "I don't think I'm used to saying that yet. At the warehouse it was always 'Lady this,' 'Lady that,' 'pull your weight or no food for a week…'" He glared down at what had once been TB. "All thanks to the likes of him. And I'm not supposed to be glad about it? He hurt you too!"
"Yes, he was our enemy," Demeter answered softly, joining Carbuckety but keeping her eye fixed on her son rather than the pitiful bundle beside them. "Since he was a danger to so many, I'm even glad he's gone. But I wish it weren't like this. I wish he could have changed his ways and begun over again somehow. And, my son, I never want you to rejoice over death, never mind whose. Rejoice in life."
Carbuckety's ears flattened and he lowered his head—but in shame, not in his usual defiance. "I'll try, mum."
MacVitie felt like an intruder on a private family moment. And Demeter seemed so wise all of a sudden—well, not all of a sudden, she'd always been a rather precocious creature, even as a kit—but now she sounded so much like Old Deuteronomy it made Mack want to weep for homesickness. Thinking of his father reminded him—
"We'd best be getting back," he told the other two. "Wherever they've gone, I don't assume for a moment that they'll not be back to make another attempt on dad. We've got to warn everyone. You can tell me what happened on the way…"
"MacVitie! Demeter!"
Mack looked up, startled, to see a rather motley-looking group of felines hurrying towards them—well, 'hurrying' as much as it was possible for them to hurry. Quaxo shuffled along, barely able to walk, supported on either side by Mungojerrie, Rumpelteazer, Tantomile, and Sillabub—well, he wasn't leaning on Sillabub, but she trailed along clinging to his paw. If Mack hadn't been so worried, he might have laughed at the picture they presented.
Carbuckety did laugh, the seriousness of the conversation with his mother forgotten or pushed aside for the moment. "What's this, a parade of invalids?" Abruptly, he sobered up as something seemed to occur to him. "Hi, Silla," he called, pulling strange faces at the adults and running directly up to Sillabub. "How did you like the Ball?"
"Fun," answered the queenkit, "till people started getting hurt and sick and we had to stop the dancing early. But lookie! Quaxy's getting better now!"
"That's great! I bet you were a big help…" As the two kits carried on conversing carelessly about nothing in particular, Mack realized that Bucky was trying in his own way to be helpful: he was trying to keep Sillabub from noticing the nearby corpse.
Mack shot Tantomile a meaningful look, thinking that if anyone could explain what had happened, she could. Understanding, the mystic queen asked Demeter to take her place supporting Quaxo—much as he hated it, the tuxedo tom was still weak as a newborn kit—and joined MacVitie.
"Everyone should get back to the 'yard," murmured the ginger tom. "I don't know when the henches will be back or what they'll do."
"They are still deciding," Tantomile told him. "But yes, we must go back."
"First…" He gestured toward TB's body, willing himself not to look directly at it. "Can you tell me…what happened?"
"So it is true," Tantomile gasped in a mixture of horror and fascination.
"What's true?" MacVitie chewed his bottom lip, waiting for Tanto to inform him that he was some sort of demented fire monster. That he had some evil, twisted form of Quaxo's magic powers.
"Quaxo," she answered as if reading his thoughts—as perhaps she had. "Quaxo somehow—though he was unconscious after sending Griddlebone away and bringing back Deuteronomy—he somehow saw that you were in mortal danger. And he…defended you in the only way he could. I…am uncertain just how. I see you surrounded by a great blue light, almost a flame…"
"That blue lightning stuff," MacVitie breathed. Tantomile nodded. "Then somehow he—I—we—electrocuted TB. Enough to…to kill him. Tantomile," he rushed on, "please don't tell Quaxo. Let me take responsibility…"
"I'm sorry…once he has his strength back, there's no real way I can stop him knowing…perhaps even now he already knows."
"Well, then, at least don't let him see…this…with his own two eyes. If he thinks of it only as coming in defense of a friend, he'll be all right—and even if he knows what his powers can do, it will teach him caution, but—let him once see the actual body…Tanto, it would destroy him, I know it would."
"It would," Tantomile agreed at once. As it nearly did you.
Nearly?
Never give into despair. You will be well again, MacVitie.
Aloud, she concluded, "We should go back…" She paused. "Vitie…they are preparing to return. They have come to an accord of some sort—I can't quite see what. But what I do see for certain is that they are terrified and awestruck by you…by your… 'powers.' Hurting you, or even attempting it, is the furthest thing from their minds."
"I can stall them," Mack cut in, catching her drift. "You get the others out of here.
Be careful. Don't treat your life recklessly. Follow us as soon as you can. We will warn the others there may be another fight—get the injured out of the way, prepare all the abled.
No need. I'll not let them near our home again.
Tantomile touched MacVitie's paw briefly before returning to the others. He heard loud protests, but at last they all moved off, back towards the Junkyard. Mack turned, again assuming a confidence he didn't feel, to wait the return of the henchcats. Just what he'd say to them, he wasn't sure.
You can do this. They'll do whatever you say. Remember, you…just fried their leader like a piece of bacon.
