Back in the little dryer that currently housed Alonzo and Victoria, the crying session was still going on. Alonzo was completely devoid of ideas for how to either cheer her up or get her to stop crying. Nothing he had tried had worked! Getting her to laugh didn't work, getting her to purr didn't work; heck, getting her to stand up didn't work! Alonzo was drained, and completely baffled as for what to do. For such a ladies' tom, he sure wasn't having very good luck with this one!

Finally, Victoria herself answered the question for him; she got up out of his embrace, stood in the dryer looking down at him still sitting, dried her tears, and muttered, "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go tell Munkustrap."

"Are you sure?" Alonzo asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, and Alonzo stood and followed her out into the 'yard to go look for Munkustrap.

A little while later, while they were still scouring piles of junk looking for the grey-striped tabby, Victoria stopped dead in her tracks at the base of a particularly large junk pile, her face an expression of confusion and wonder. Alonzo, taken aback, stopped as well, and asked, "Vicks? Are you all right?"

She didn't say anything for a moment, only stood there holding herself, so Alonzo repeated his query. Finally she muttered, "'Lonzo...I...feel...something."

The expression of confusion spread to Alonzo's face, and he masculinely ventured, "You feel something? What? Do you have to use the litter box?"

Victoria rolled her eyes and started rubbing her arms like her fur made her itch. "No, it's not that kind of feeling," she said. "It's more like...like...oh, I don't even know how to describe it. But it feels like...like there's someone here!"

"I'm here," Alonzo said.

"No, not you! Someone else! Someone...someone...someone I know..." she uttered, and kept rubbing her arms. "It' kinda itches, too, and it's giving me goosebumps!"

For the second time that day, Alonzo was baffled. He had no idea what this 'feeling' could possibly be, let alone whether or not it was something tangible and not just a figment of Victoria's imagination. He was about to try to talk her into just forgetting about it and pressing on to find Munkustrap when she uttered, "Everlasting Cat, I know what it is!"

"Then tell me!"

"It's...it's...it's up there!" she cried, pointing to the top of the junk pile they stood next to. "It's coming from up there."

Alonzo looked up to where she was pointing, and drew in a breath sharply. "Misto's up there," he muttered. "Let's not talk to him, okay? Let's just go find Munkustrap." He did NOT want to talk to Misto while he was feeling so ... out of sorts. But his plans were soon foiled as Victoria grabbed a pawhold and began climbing up towards the top of the pile. "Vicks, what are you doing?!" he whispered, since Mistoffelees was so close by.

"I'm have to go up there!" she whispered back.

"Why?"

"He's doing something bad!"

"How do you know?!"

"I feel it!"

Alonzo couldn't argue with that, and instead said, "Fine. But be careful. And I'm going to go get Munkustrap." He turned and continued on the search for the striped tabby. "I don't care what Victoria feels," he muttered to himself as he strode away. "Misto's been acting too weird for his own good..."

Victoria was nervous as she ascended to the top of the junkpile where Mistoffelees motionless sat with his back to her. The feeling intensified as she climbed ever closer. Something was wrong with him. Something had to be wrong with him! That was the only explanation for what he'd been doing. The sweet, caring tom she'd fallen in love with wouldn't do all the things that Misto had been doing lately!

Would he?

Shoving this mental argument aside for the moment, Victoria finally reached the top of the pile and poked her head over. Mistoffelees still sat there, with his back to her, staring down at the ground far below him. The feeling she was getting became stronger as she saw the fire dancing in the depths Misto's eyes. On the ground she saw the Jellicle Infirmary (still just on old car with no front seats), and Jellylorum and Jennanydots wildly dashing around, seemingly for no reason. They looked terrified, though, as if something were chasing them. Something must have been making them do that (they weren't the type to just run around randomly), but whatever it was, it was not apparent to Victoria.

Taking courage in paw, she hoisted herself up to sit next to the tuxedo and whispered in his ear, "Mistoffelees?" Immediately Misto panicked and began frantically searching around for the source of the whisper in his ear. When he finally realized that the little white kitten was sitting right next to him, he rolled his eyes and looked her in the eye. What did you do that for? came a thought into Victoria's head.

Now it was Victoria's turn to panic, startled as she was by the voice in her head. When she finally found the nerve, she managed to squeak out, "Misto, was that you?"

Annoyedly, Mistoffelees shushed her from saying anything further by covering her mouth with his paw, and put a claw to his lips to say "Shh!" When it seemed that he was confident that she wouldn't say anything else, he took his paw off her and leaned over the edge of the junk pile, searching down below for something. Finally, another voice penetrated Victoria's head: If you have something to say, just think it, he thought to her without even looking up.

She was confused for a moment, but finally thought, Like this? Mistoffelees nodded, still without looking up.

Yeah, like that. I can hear you.

Ignoring how odd it felt to be telepathically communicating with the tom she'd known practically all her life, she asked, Misto, what are you doing?

To her surprise, he actually smirked. I'm doing something I've always wanted to do, he thought to her, and pointed down at the Infirmary clearing. Victoria looked: all she could see was the same thing she saw before: Jennyanydots and Jellylorum, running around as if they were being harrassed by some unseen being. Although now some other cats were starting to notice, and gathered around, trying to ascertain what was going on. They were as ignorant of what was happening as Victoria was.

I don't get it.

Mistoffelees looked at her confusedly. Then a look of realization passed over his face, and he thought, Oh, I guess you wouldn't. Here. And he put his paw on her shoulder and closed his eyes.

The feeling Victoria had been having this entire time had been growing stronger and stronger, the longer she sat there with Mistoffelees. Instantly, as he came in contact with her, it blossomed into a tangible reality, and she knew at once what it was: his magic. Victoria had been feeling Misto's proximity, because it was his magic that was making her itch. Now, he fed it slowly through her veins, making her yelp and squirm as it slithered through her. It circulated through her entire being, and it felt like there was something in her that tempted her to do things she would never have otherwise done. When it finally streamed up to her eyes, Victoria finally saw the reason it looked like Jenny and Jelly were running from unseen beings: they were running from unseen beings. With Misto's magic in her to reveal them, Victoria finally saw that they were being chased around by colorful pollicle puppies, of all things. They weren't real, just illusions created by magic to scare the heck out of Jenny and Jelly. Though young, the pollicles were still of a size to be a danger to the two stately old queens, and so they were running for their dear lives from the clownish dogs. It was actually rather amusing, if you took a step back to think about it. Really, after all the pain and suffering they had inflicted on poor kittens (what with cough medicines and baths and such), it was only fair that they should endure a little teasing! It was really–

Then her inner voice kicked in: Hold the phone, Victoria! Are you kidding?! This isn't funny!!

All of a sudden Victoria snapped out of the amusement she had momentarily felt and realized just how mean Mistoffelees was being. They thought they were going to be killed! And here Misto was, sitting up on his junk pile perch, causing the whole problem, and laughing at how scared they were! That was just plain cruel! (Not to mention very out of character for Mistoffelees as Victoria knew him.) Why, Victoria wondered how she even thought it was funny in the first place!

"Misto!" she said out loud, shaking off his paw from her shoulder. He looked at her confused, and the magic ran back out of her, making her feel more like herself. She sighed, and continued, "Misto, why are you doing that?!"

He looked around furtively to see if anyone had heard her (because he didn't to ruin the trick on Jenny and Jelly), and seeing that still no one noticed that they were up there, thought back, Shh! Don't talk! I can hear your thoughts just fine!

"I don't care! Why are you being so mean to Jenny and Jelly?! They didn't do anything to you!" Misto looked at her funny. "Well, nothing really mean, like this!" she finished.

Chill out Victoria! he thought. It's just a little harmless fun! There's no reason not to. And please, just think what you want to say. It's so much easier!

"No!" she responded. "I won't. It feels too weird. And I wish you would stop, too."

He gave her a look that said "Oh, come off it."

"I'm serious! It feels like you're scratching my mind when you do that! It kinda hurts!"

"Oh, fine," he said, agreeing not because it was hurting her, but because he wanted her to stop complaining.

"Mistoffelees," she said, pausing, "Why are you being so mean to Jenny and Jelly?"

He didn't say anything for a minute, but he did wave a paw and make the illusions disappear. Jenny and Jelly could finally stop running around, though they were egged on by the other cats who had gathered around them. They tried to explain that they had been chased by rainbow pollicles, but no one believed them. Misto still didn't say anything.

"Misto? Is something wrong?" Victoria asked as sweetly as she could.

It took a moment, but he finally burst out with, "Why'd you have to ruin it like that?!"

Victoria was completely taken aback! She was just trying to help him, and now he was yelling at her? "Misto, there's something wrong with you! Why have you been acting so mean lately?"

"Hey, I'm not the mean one here! You're the one who's being mean!"

"Me?!"

"Yes, you!" he said, standing up. (The other cats were dispersing, so no one took notice of the little row on top of the junk pile.) "You're the one who just ruined my fun! It was so perfect, too!" - he began pacing - "I just wanted a little revenge for all the stuff they've done to me, and then you came and made me stop!"

"Misto, I –"

"Victoria, when I think about how nice I've been to you, I –" but he stopped suddenly. "Victoria," he started again, his eyes taking on a completely different expression. "Let's just forget about this, shall we?" he said, and lied down on the relatively flat junk, holding her down next to him. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't stand up. "Let's just forget about what just happened and be friends again. All right?" he asked, with an errotic look on his face.

If Victoria was taken aback before, she was freaked out now! Mistoffelees looked like he was about to – well, she didn't want to think about what he might be about to do. Instead, with an fearful expression, she said slowly, "Misto, I think you'd better go now."

He still smirked, and his paws drifted to places where she did NOT want him to be just then. "Oh, come on," he said sweetly, and yet threateningly, "Just one little –"

Getting scared, she cried, "MISTO, LEAVE NOW!"

Mistoffelees calmly took his paws off her, stood up, whispered, "Fine," and winked out of sight.

Panting, Victoria stayed on top of the junk pile until she could collect her thoughts. There was no doubt about it now. Something had caused Mistoffelees to go off the deep end. When she could finally think straight, she slowly climbed down. She stopped at the bottom, sat down, and thought about what had just happened. The tom she was in love with, was this close to becoming mates with, had simultaneously yelled at her and come very close to raping her. She didn't know what to do! Then she thought about the feeling that had led her up to all of this. Why in the world should she feel Misto's magic, anyway? It was enough to make her cry out "Mis" – Oh, no! she thought to herself, and began weeping.

Lucky for her, Munkustrap chose that exact moment to come running with Alonzo close behind. He had known that something was wrong with Jenny and Jelly, and when he heard that Mistoffelees was doing something bad in the general vicinity of the Jellicle Infirmary (you know by now: still an old car with no front seats), he'd put two and two together set out at a sprint to stop whatever the magical cat might have been doing. When he got there, he found nothing wrong except that Victoria was crying softly to herself. He went over to her and asked, "Victoria, what's wrong? What happened here?"

Between sobs, Victoria stammered, "Misto was here ... he ... he was making illusions and he ... he ... was trying to sc ... scare Jenny and Jelly. I tried to get him to stop but he – OH!" she cried, and burst into tears again.

Alonzo took pity on her (she'd been having one heck of a crappy day as it was), and sat down next to her, and held her, just trying to make her feel better. But the contact was unwelcome, and she shied away from him. He shrugged to Munkustrap, and stood up, scratching his head. "I don't know," he muttered.

"I think I understand," Munkustrap said. (And it's a good thing he's not going to be the next Protector... he thought to himself.)

"You do?" was Alonzo's reply.

"Yes. And I think I really need to talk to you about something, Victoria," Munkustrap said as he started to take a seat next to her. He began his speech in a fatherly fashion: "You see, I know you don't want to hear this right now, but there's something about magical cats that –"

But Victoria couldn't handle it just then. "I'm really sorry, Munkustrap," she interrupted as she stood up to get away from him, "But I really have to go..." She started walking away from the two toms, looking for the one cat she knew who might know what she was going through.

"Is it something I did?" Alonzo asked to her back.

"No," Victoria called over her shoulder. The two black-and-whites watched on as she strode away from them, silently sobbing to herself.

All was quiet as Mistoffelees made his way through the damp and dirty back alleys of London. He wasn't sure where he was going exactly, but he had a good feeling, even if the directions he'd gotten in his dream last night were a bit fuzzy. "Go to the alley behind the pub on First Street, climb under the large pile of crates, and there you'll find my lair..."
A/N: Oh, don't you love how this is going! Me too! (and when I say something so egomaniacal like that, please stop me! all your praise is going right to my head!) (Not that I want you to stop, mind you...) Also note: in my own publishings, Vick's inner voice font is larger than the rest,

JL: Now who's sorry they told me to slow down! No, I'm sorry, I'm kidding! I'm not trying to be mean or anything. But I'm glad you rely on my frequent updates.

Chimalmaht: One of the best things about the story (or I think anyway) is that you're never quite sure who the protagonist is...

R de la C: Woo-hoo! You reviewed my story! I'm so touched ::tear:: But really, I'm not sure what you mean by "Why was Macavity surprised/amazed?" If you're talking about how he acted surprised in one of Misto's dreams when Misto told him that Munkus wouldn't let him use his powers, it's because he was trying to be as friendly and paternal as he possibly could, and that entailed taking Misto's side in the whole "you can't use your powers" thing. But if you're referring to another time, I don't know which one you mean...

Krissy: Poltergeist? No, I was thinking more along the lines of an almost sexual experience that only magical cats can share (which may even be one of the reasons that Mac tries to recruit Misto...::makes mental note to put that thought on back burner::)