"Well, well." Leaning on the tyre, Tony swung his curved sword casually in a graceful series of slashes and parries. "Look who finally decided to join us. What time do you call this, Grow…er…As…er...what the hell do you call yourself?"
Looking down at his partially-finished Growltiger costume, Andrew McFadgen shrugged helplessly. "The belly of my costume got torn in delivery. I've been told to just go on like this for the rehearsal. It should be ready tomorrow." Patting his padded legs, he forced a smile. "I think it's sexy. Ain't it? I'm SO sexy!"
"Why, darling," Sara flounced onto the stage in full Griddlebone regalia, tufts of white fluff floating in all directions. "What do you think you're doing? Appearing half-dressed? It's positively…indecent!"
"Shut it, fuzzy." Huffily turning his back on her and the other cast members, McFadgen tugged his long, ragged tail up between his swollen legs and shuffled his feet awkwardly. "S'not fair. Wasn't my fault."
"Sure it wasn't!" Sliding over the boot of the car, Ariadne rolled to a halt at the centre of the stage, giggling. Instead of the Etcetera costume she had been wearing for much of the rehearsal, she was clad in her Siamese robes. "I don't get why they want us taking a break between each song. Why don't we do a full run-through?"
"Costume changes for the slow people. This lets everyone get a feel for their costumes." Wandering onto the stage, Toni was barely recognisable in her henchcat costume. "Like it?" She did a little twirl.
"Aren't you a Siamese?" Queried Sara, running her long fluffy tail between her fingers, as she looked Toni's spiky wig and sleek costume over.
Shrugging, Toni replied. "I should be, but my costume hasn't arrived yet, so I decided to be different." She ran her hands down the scarlet lightening-streak on the front of her costume and grinned. "This seemed different enough."
"I can't walk! This thing weighs a bloody ton!" Came a wail from off-stage. Stumbling, his tail clutched between his 'paws', Nick shambled onto the stage in his pirate costume. "Grumbuskin at yer service, milady." He bowed shakily to Griddlebone. "And can I say yer lookin' remarkably foxy tonight."
"A-ha! Tony squealed, raising his voice at least an octave above his normal speaking voice. "You tly to steal Gliddlebone flom me!"
"Oh brother," Toni mumbled, burying her black-covered head in her hands. "Can't you lot ever stay out of character for more than two minutes?"
"Chalacta? What is chalacta?" Tony turned towards her, blinking innocently from behind the Genghis mask. "I no in chalacta, black cat."
"Shut it." Growled McFadgen, still sulking in the corner of the stage. "Yer bein' stupid, like all yer kind, Siamese."
"Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!" With an ear-splitting screech, Tony pirouetted swiftly across the stage, spinning to his knees and thrusting his sword between Andrew's legs before the Scot's actor had a clue what was going on. "You no even laise weapon!" Triumphant, Genghis rose to his feet, bowed to Growltiger's back and skipped back across the stage.
"My, my, Growly, baby." Sauntering over, draping her tail around McFadgen's shoulders, little Griddlebone shook her head with a naughty smirk. "You really showed him, didn't you? Didn't even raise your weapon."
"Only you can raise my weapon, hinny." He purred in deep, silky voice. "Hop on board and I'll show ye that the tide isn't the only thing that rises around here."
"Guys, can we get the rest of the required cast members onstage, so we don't have to deal with these spotlight hunters?" The director laughed, something that happened so rarely it was almost considered a true miracle, as the rest of the cast members who waited on the stage dissolved into laughter again.
"We want to test the lights again, sir. We've added some more gels and it should look better this time." A voice drifted down from the lighting booth. "Can we do it now? Before this storm gets much worse?"
Nodding, the director reluctantly gave his assent. "You lot stay put." He ordered the little group, who were lazing on various parts of the set. "This should just take a minute."
*
On the stage, McFadgen feigned looking at a watch and sighed with exasperation. "Hopefully we'll get out of here soon." He muttered in a disgruntled voice. "Why do our co-stars have to be so slow?"
"It's to shatter your horniness factor." Sara dropped to her rump on the floor, impatiently tossing her long, fluffy, white tail back and forth over her lap. "All we want is to stop you being such a randy bugger."
"All I want is for it to stop raining. Randiness I can deal with. Rain, nope." Ariadne perched on the bumper of the car, licking her hand and cleaning her fur lazily, as she stretched her legs out. "I don't want to be getting a cold or anything like that, for obvious reasons."
The others nodded in sympathy, all looking skyward – or ceiling-wards – as a crash of thunder shook the building. The storm had been raging since that morning, when they had left the hotel and had made it to the theatre just before the heavens opened.
"Wassup?" Creeping out of a pipe, a cheeky little face grinned up at them and Ariadne was hard-pressed to stifle a grin of pleasure.
"Hey, Dylan."
The little dancer played Bill Bailey and was the smallest youth that any of the men had ever seen. Barely the same height as Ariadne, he was a solid mass of ditsy, blond-haired, blue-eyed energy and at just sixteen years old, he was one of the youngest actors to ever appear in CATS.
Somersaulting out of the pipe, he looked around at them. "Dang! I wish my costume was ready." He looked down at his Bill Bailey costume and tugged on Sara's tail with a whine. "Please, mommy, I wanna be a Siamese!"
Pinching his cheek, Sara patted him on the head. "And if you're a good kitten," She cooed, "Old Deuteronomy will let you."
Above them, the spotlights abruptly burst to life, blinding light flooding the stage and simultaneously, there was a rumbling, earth-shaking crack of thunder, lightening flashing across the skies above the theatre, then everything went dark.
As the stage lit up, the director stared in confusion. With no sound whatsoever, the seven members of cast had vanished without trace. "Oh hell…"
*
"Hell's bells!" Toni yelled hoarsely, blinking to clear the flashing dots that danced in front of her vision. "What are you tryin' to do to us? Blind us?" Raising her hand, to shield her eyes as the lights brightened again, she felt her mouth go dry. Her hand…
Lowering her hand – or what had once been a hand – she stared at it in confusion. Black fur? Touching the back of her paw, she shook her head in disbelief, raising her fingertips to touch her face, brushing against whiskers. "Oh my gosh." She whispered weakly, looking around her, taking in the rolling, grass-covered hills and trees. "What the hell happened?"
"Exactly what I want to know." Turning, she came face to face with the face of the man she knew had been her twin, but was now a totally different breed: A sleek-furred Siamese.
In unison, they both chorused in astonishment and horror, "You're a cat!"