Mistoffelees was so completely absorbed in his thoughts about his magic when he crept into the junkyard that he did not notice that Munkustrap was waiting for him. Munkustrap was sitting on a large pile of rubbish, not immediately visible to Mistoffelees. He got about three steps away before Munkustrap called out, "Mistoffelees!" Mistoffelees jumped and scanned the area to see what was calling him. Here was another instance of his magic not working: it normally would have warned him that there was something undetectable that might be dangerous. And right now, Munkustrap was definitely dangerous.

When he finally saw what was yelling at him, Mistoffelees wished he had stayed with Alonzo. Munkustrap fumed as he strode towards his son, his eyes blazing. This was not going to be pretty.

"Mistoffelees, you have been using magic again," Munkustrap declared. "The hole Jellylorum sleeps in is completely trashed. It looks like there was a thunderstorm in there. You are the only cat who could have done it. Don't tell me it wasn't you."

Mistoffelees grimaced. Oops. He had forgotten about that. He didn't think anyone actually used that cave he had taken shelter from the rain in (it seemed pretty trashed to begin with). Moreover, he didn't have any defense. Wrecking the hole had felt so good, he forgot to even try to cover up his tracks.

"Okay, maybe I went a little overboard ... I was having a bad day, and I needed to blow off some steam ..." he tried to tiptoe through the explanation.

"Blow off some steam!" Munkustrap shouted. "That hole is completely ruined! It's still smoking from what you did in there! What could have made you do something like that?"

"Hey, I already told you, I was having a bad day!" Mistoffelees retorted, getting angrier.

Munkustrap scowled. "You are not to use magic. You could have hurt someone! What if Jellylorum had come back while you were doing that? Did you think of that?"

Mistoffelees blew off the last statement and complained, "Well, why can't I use my power? I didn't hurt anyone! It's not like everything I can do is dangerous! Why can't I just play around with the simple stuff? You won't even let me practice!"

The black and white striped cat was suddenly quiet. "Mistoffelees, there is a good reason for you to not use magic. If you knew what it was-"

"What reason can there be for you to stop me from doing harmless stuff?" Mistoffelees was really bristling now. He toyed with the idea of singing the fur off of Munkustrap's back, or trapping him inside a dishwasher, or throwing him off the pier. Nothing would be more rewarding than to get rid of Munkustrap right now. Wait a minute! How could he think of that? His shoulders suddenly sank. Munkustrap was, after all, Mistoffelees' father. He really couldn't use his magic like that! (Actually, he couldn't use his magic at all right now.)

Still though, most of the time Mistoffelees couldn't help but use his magic. Sometimes it was just automatic, like when it warned him of danger. And what should he have done when Macavity came, if he wasn't to use power? Hide in fear? Munkustrap could not restrict Mistoffelees from using magic all of the time, but he was a royal pain when it came to what he could limit. Mistoffelees couldn't think of any reason why Munkustrap should restrict him from using magic as he pleased.

Munkustrap was still going to be stubborn. He sighed and said, "Mistoffelees, you shouldn't need a reason. The fact that I'm telling you should be good enough. Suffice it to say that you won't like what would happen to you if I let you use magic as you pleased. Now don't let me catch you doing it again." He turned around and headed back into the rubbish dump.

Mistoffelees watched his father walk away, then started to follow him home. How would you know?, he thought to himself. As if this day couldn't get any worse. At least he had had fun last night. He smiled as he remembered swooping and soaring with his beloved little kitten. She didn't mind if he used magic. Quite the contrary, she loved it.

As he passed an old beat up car, Mistoffelees thought that maybe it would be better not to tell Munkustrap that he could fly, even if it would circumvent his ideas of showing off. If Munkustrap knew, he would be falling over himself to prevent Mistoffelees from performing this new little trick. He would still tell Alonzo, and maybe Tumblebrutus and Pouncival, but not too many cats, because word would get around. Pouncival by himself might spoil it within hours.

But Mistoffelees had a bigger problem on his paws than whom to tell about flying. What good was it to tell cats he could fly if his powers were failing him! (It was a good thing he had already flown with Victoria, so at least one cat could back him up.) His lack of power was starting to irk him, and Munkustrap hadn't helped. Sitting down on an old tire, Mistoffelees tried to think. Maybe he had just run out of magic for a little while, and it would come back later. After all, he hadn't used it before as much as he had been in the past few days. That was an odd explanation, though. He could still feel it burning in him, he just wasn't able to harness it.

Well, maybe he just had to try harder. Mistoffelees focused on his power. He pooled it into his paw, trying to bring sparks to his fingers, but the magic resisted his command. Standing up, he noticed an aluminum can and tried to make it levitate, but to no avail. In frustration, he took off running and leapt off a heap of rubbish trying to feel light and floaty, but it was no use. He tumbled down and luckily crashed into a mattress.

Feeling more discouraged than ever, Mistoffelees trudged back toward his area of the rubbish dump, but a quick flash of red and black between two junky cars caught his eye. It seemed as startled as he did, and what (or who) ever it was rapidly retreated into shadows. That was the last straw for Mistoffelees. He should have known someone was there, if only he could feel his magic!

more review Q&A:

Krissy4: Yeah, I think Mistoffelees will always be small and undoubtedly cute!

Jemima-luvah: SIGN ME UP! (and mutate me into a mostly black cat with brown points (ears, paws, tip of tail), because that's what my costume work-in-progress looks like). Good prediction by the way, but you're one chapter too early. But you're close!

Chimalmaht: Well, um, to put it bluntly, don't hold your breath. The little matter of who Misto's mom is seriously won't come for a while.

And if it seems like these are the only three whose review questions I answer, you're right! They are the only ones reviewing!