After The Ball
A/N- OK first I would like to reply to all those lovely people who took the time to review this story. I am glad you all did, as you've pointed out many things I can improve on and actually many mistakes too embarrassed! Please keep the constructive criticism coming! But I also do rather LOVE the nice comments people make too :D! Chimalmaht- Well all I can tell you about the story coming up- wait, you could just read the chapter…ah well I could use some ideas for the chapter after this so if you have any please feel free to contribute, and enjoy! lozzypop- Yeah The Rum Tum Tugger's reputation is holding him back somewhat and that's why Munkustrap wasn't too bothered (he thought it was a joke). I hope that makes sense to you . Roman de la Croix- Oh YEY! I'm glad you like how I have portrayed the characters. I know some people think that they are not like how they would imagine, but I really wanted to put across my version. Furrowcat is meant to have a w; I made a tiiiiny slip up but shhh! I'll try not to do it again. Krissy4- I thought it was a bit of a gamble making Munkustrap act like that (it was vital to the story though- its gonna get a lot more tense because of it!) Your review has actually given me a brainwave! Thank You! Mistoffelees' portrayal is not (that I am aware) based on anything but my own views of him, though it could be very similar to other people's. Jemima-luvah- Yeah I read back through the chapter and found a few mistakes and glitches here and there, so I'm going to be more careful this time to keep my mistakes to a minimum! You'll find out about Misto during this chapter. Be warned it may not be pretty! Muahahahaha!
Secondly I would just like to patch a few things up as I have realised that my scrambled writings don't make as much sense as I had hoped, so I will try and explain it:
Munkustrap is portrayed as quite ignorant in chapter 2. I did this mainly because The Rum Tum Tugger is at the moment battling with his reputation and his friendship with Mistoffelees, and all of the others don't seem to realise/believe it. In later chapters I think Munkustrap may realise this and switch back into protector mode.
I wrote that Mistoffelees is a stray. In the Mistoffelees song, it talks about a family (I know but I chose to ignore-sorry!). I thought that if he was a stray it would make things much more interesting. It also means that there are more cats at the junkyard-yey!
Mistoffelees I decided was to be affected by how much magic he uses. One because I like to think that he's not perfect, and two because its just so damn hard letting him get captured by Macavity if he could merely transport himself away at anytime. Also he seems quite, well, negative/ sorry for himself. Well that's just for the angsty effect, I hope it doesn't annoy people!
The Rum Tum Tugger is currently trying to help his friend and so his character may change a little as this is life-changing stuff people! Again hope you all like it
Well without further ado, onto the next chapter. ENJOY!
xxx
His breathing increased, his muscles tensed and he found it hard to swallow. The rain that was now pouring relentlessly on his shiny black coat caused him to shiver miserably. He should of never of left the junkyard. He should have stayed in his pipe, where it was semi-warm and mostly out of the rain. Mistoffelees had started off at a quick trot when the raindrops had begun to fall, but found himself swiftly loosing his nerve and increasing his pace. A boom of thunder shook the sky and caused Mistoffelees to brake into a full on run. He hated the rain, but he hated thunder and lightning more, which was strange as he was able to produce little bolts of energy from his fingers. Panting with exertion Mistoffelees ran blindly through the worsening storm, now not knowing where he was going or even which direction he was running in.
xx
The 7 henchcats of Macavity sauntered towards the junkyard. Vincent had ran ahead to pick up any trace of their prey. Macavity had told them that Mistoffelees would most likely be found outside the junkyard, though how he knew, no one dared ask. The sleek black tom was not bothered by this dramatic sort of weather, apart from the fact that it meant that the icy cold wind bit into his skin. It did, however give him an advantage against the cat he was stalking, the other cat couldn't smell him and now because of the storm clouds and the fact that it was night, the other cat couldn't see him either. His talents for tracking were useful to Macavity and so Vincent was held in high regard, after all it wasn't just any cat that was said to be able to track anything at anytime.
xx
Mistoffelees made a sharp turn into a dreary looking alley and skidded to a halt in front of a large dustbin. It had been tipped over and now lay, mostly empty on its side- the lid had rolled a short distance away. Quickly the magical feline took shelter within the metal cylinder and peered out at the torrents of rain. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to take his mind off the constant drumming of the water on the bin. 'It was a mistake to have left the Junkyard,' Mistoffelees repeated. Now he no longer knew where he was, or how he had gotten there. These thoughts sat in Mistoffelees' mind, pulling him deeper into contemplation. He regularly fell into these states, which (to his experience) usually were terminated with some sort of impression in his head. It had happened at the Jellicle Ball the night before-he had sensed Macavity's approach. This time however, the feeling was different, it was somewhat familiar and yet reeked of danger. Mistoffelees concentrated determinedly on the fuzzy image implanting itself in his mind, a tall form could be made out, surrounded by darkness. The figure was dark coloured itself but had brown tufts sprouting out of its shoulders. Mentally, he was able to approach closer and found that he knew the cat. It was The Rum Tum Tugger. This confused him greatly, why would he be warned of him? Then suddenly, as if being answered, many pairs of eyes blended out of the shadow and engulfed the curious cat and with the yell of his friend being pulled away from him, Mistoffelees opened his eyes. No longer focused on the rain or even the booming thunder, his thoughts were set on reaching the Junkyard. He crawled out of his hiding place and ran out of the alley and surveyed where he was.
Every Jellicle was born with many gifts that indicated that they were of that tribe. One of these traits was being able to find their way home through even the toughest of times. This was what Mistoffelees was very grateful for. Ignoring the weather, he pushed himself on, hoping beyond hope that he was not too late for his own prediction.
xx
They had reached the area surrounding Jellicle territory. The street lamps stood in neat little lines on some of the main roads, they provided very little light, but Grumbuskin and the others were careful not to move into the circles of light. The rain had subsided slightly, allowing the strays to move and see easier. In the distance they could all see the metal rustic gates that stood at the entrance of the Jellicle Junkyard- they would go no further than that.
"What do we do now?" the gruff voice of Wiskucat pierced the midnight air.
"We wait for that magician of course," his brother Furrocat hissed in reply.
"No need," growled one of the others, "one of 'them' have just turned the corner over there." Grumbuskin assessed the fast approaching cat, it was not Mistoffelees. "It is not the magic one, what do we do?" a voice asked.
"We attack of course," Wiskucat growled hastily. Grumbuskin agreed, Macavity had said bring back Mistoffelees, but have fun at the same time, why not with the infamous Rum Tum Tugger? He motioned for the strays to advance…
xx
Sure enough the sleek body of The Rum Tum Tugger could be seen from their hidden view point as he rounded the corner swiftly. He had been running for a short while, but found that this sort of movement wasn't his speciality; he just didn't have the build. The road came to many crossings. Any of them could well have been the route Mistoffelees had taken.
"Damn," he thought to himself as he could detect no scent of Mistoffelees. The next few seconds went by in a blur for The Rum Tum Tugger. One moment he was upright and steady on his feet, the next something large had connected with his side and he found himself falling backwards and rolling in the murky puddles lying on the pavement. He managed to push the weight off of himself and gain his feet. He took a shaky breath, he could now see that a cat had tackled him to the floor and it had hurt. This was no play fight game that Pouncival and Tumblebrutus loved to partake in. Other cats advanced toward him from all sides and the thought that he rarely fought at all let alone about 5 at once, flitted through his mind before one of the young strays leapt at him, claws extended. He did the first thing that came into his head, he actually performed one of his hip thrusts, but he executed it so his body lunged forward and he fell into a roll, out of the way of the oncoming attack. Next thing he knew he was being faced by another cat. It was time to fight head on.
This cat actually stood taller than The Rum Tum Tugger (much to his surprise and disappointment) and he had just enough time to notice that he was also living with an injured ear. The ferocious attacker made his assault, clawing at The Rum Tum Tugger's chest. Luckily, the cat had misjudged the distance between them, and had succeeded in only skimming his skin. He countered the attack but the cat known at Furrowcat merely blocked him and gave him a massive cuff around the face. The Rum Tum Tugger was sent backwards onto the floor but was otherwise ok. He rolled to gain his feet but was met by a similar looking cat to the one he had just fought. Wiskucat smirked and gave his victim a vicious kick to the side. The force of the kick caused the The Rum Tum Tugger to choke for air; he glanced up, finding the stray about to repeat the action, so he used his energy to kick the legs out from under him. Wiskucat fell with a grunt and then hissed when the lion cat regained his footing and took a guarded stance.
Tugger could hear the cats yowling aggressively behind him and could see the equally violent faces of those in front of him; he gave them a mouthy insult, even though his ribs protested annoyingly. Everyone knew he was a lover, not a fighter. At the ball he was no where to be seen when Macavity had made an entrance. It wasn't that he couldn't fight, it was just the fact that he never saw a reason to, and unlike his brothers Alonzo and Munkustrap, he was quite selfish. From past experiences, he had concluded that fighting meant pain, and that was something he would avoid at all costs.
His big mouth had proved yet again to dig himself into a deeper hole. A tabby cat came forward clearly growing bored with the resistance of his victim. The Rum Tum Tugger thought he must be the leader. He spoke and his voice was strong and confident, with a slight twinge of restlessness and urgency,
"You are The Rum Tum Tugger, a Jellicle" he stated as if he was introducing an acquaintance to his gang. There was a murmur around him and The Rum Tum Tugger felt extremely exposed. Stupidly he nodded affirming that fact. Why would they want to know that? It occurred to him at that moment that a group of strays such as this lot would have to be Macavity's henchcats, a deadly force.
"Yeah and who are you? One of those fleabags who work for Macavity?" His voice was strained from the bruising blow to his ribs, but it still managed to come across as if he couldn't care less. 'Can you say of your bite, that it's worse than your bark?' Tugger mused, well certainly for him this was not the case at this point in time.
The leader snorted with laughter in reply but didn't answer, "Where is your magician?"
Red lights flashed in The Rum Tum Tugger's mind; "Like I would tell you!" he spat angrily, his calm exterior cracking at the mention of his friend.
"You could tell us willingly or we could use other 'methods' to extract the information," said Grumbuskin snidely. The Rum Tum Tugger rose his eyebrow.
"Over my dead body."
There was a long awful silence and then a full attack was triggered by four simple words, "That can be arranged."
xx
Blow after blow rained down upon the Tugger's body. At first, he had tried to retaliate, but had succeeded in only pushing back a cat or two and turning his back to another onslaught of pain. Wiskucat was taking a particular interest in the fight. He was bitter that the 'ladies cat' had gotten the better of him earlier on. So he was making it up to himself now. He dealt the other cat a stinging slash to the chest and then a punch to the face. The Rum Tum Tugger stumbled backwards, appearing quite shocked at the blood that now trickled from his mouth and leopard patterned chest. His arm was wrapped round his stomach which was also cut open from the relentless claws of Macavity's henchcats. The rain had started to pour harder again, making him feel heavy and weak. A black cat jumped forward and struck the side of his head, he fell into a muddy puddle and found it hard to get back up. Slowly, he placed his two front paws underneath him and began the agonising task of pushing himself up. A swift kick to the ribs and he collapsed into the water again, then there was a weight of someone treading on him and he could not rise again. He groaned, feeling the blood from his face mix with the dirty water lapping at his cheek. Never in his life had he been in so much pain. He felt like sleeping, just going to sleep and never waking up. The pain however was too significant, preventing him to commit to unconsciousness. A voice above him caused him to shiver.
"Where is your magician?" the leader growled.
"I…wouldn't tell you…if you…offered me…all the catnip in the...world," replied The Rum Tum Tugger through clenched teeth. He expected more pain to follow but none did, instead he heard a familiar voice, almost lost through the storm, and his heart broke. Mistoffelees was there.
xx
"Leave him alone!" yelled Mistoffelees, shaking with anger. He had reached the scene in time to witness the Rum Tum Tugger fall into a broken heap and not get up again. Many cats were looming over him, just like his vision had showed him. His magic boiled beneath his skin and he encouraged it to surface. His paws started to glow a strange colour and his eyes shone with emotion.
"Capture him!" Ordered Grumbuskin. Two of the nameless strays ran forward hissing. Mistoffelees sent a bolt towards them scoring a hit in. A yowl was heard and one of them fell, knocked clean out by the power of it. The magical cat repeated the trick and it had the same effect. The other strays hung back now wary of the new arrival. Mistoffelees was now too involved with his magic. As Vincent did what he did best and crept up from behind him, Mistoffelees felt his presence and disappeared in a puff of smoke only to appear a little way behind the black fiend and send him spiralling with another bolt. Then the waves of dizziness swept over him and he realised at once he had overused his magic too soon again. He could not show his weakness, he was at the moment counting on his magic to help The Rum Tum Tugger. Instead he let the magic dim and he relied more on his combat skills. They weren't at all near enough the level of his opponents, but they seemed not to be aiming to harm him. He wondered why.
"Conjurer!"Grumbuskin had The Rum Tum Tugger by the neck, an extremely sharp claw digging painfully into the curious cat's flesh. Mistoffelees' assault abruptly ceased. He lowered his paws and they grew dimmer.
"Stop or your pathetic friend won't live to see another day." As if to prove what he said was true, he gave The Rum Tum Tugger a sharp prod with his claw and he yelped in response. The Tugger's eyes which were usually so calm and mischievous now were only half open, full of pain, and barely focused. He was in bad shape. Mistoffelees cut of his magic and forced himself to stop swaying. Grumbuskin smiled toothily.
"Now listen freak," he spat, "I'll let go of your friend and he can scurry off to his junkyard if you come along with us willingly." Mistoffelees didn't move. Again Grumbuskin gave his captive a rough shake, the defiant glare on the small tom's face immediately cracked and Macavity's second knew that he had won.
Mistoffelees allowed Vincent to approach him and bind his arms, he even stood perfectly still when the others came to prod and mock him:
"Look at 'im, so small n' weak."
"Pathetic."
"It would be easier to jus' get rid o' him now"
Only when the stray leader started to drag The Rum Tum Tugger with them did he start to protest.
"You said you would let him go!" he screamed, struggling against his bonds. He saw them all laugh and felt very weak all of a sudden. He noticed that The Rum Tum Tugger had passed out and know lay limply between the brother cat's arms, and then he felt a massive pressure to his temple. As a lightning bolt lit up the street darkness overtook him.
xx
The storm had blown over well before the early hours of the morning. It had also blown over much of the junk in the Jellicle yard and so it was every cat's duty to clean up. Thankfully no one had been hurt by the falling objects, though Plato was not happy to find his residence flooded. Munkustrap, still tired by yesterday's travels, forced himself up and out of the warm embrace of Demeter. He began to assign tasks to the tribe members. It was not long into the day when he realised that he hadn't been annoyed or mocked by a certain brother of his. He scanned the clearing and noticed that the rum Tum Tugger was not there and neither was Mistoffelees. This worried him greatly. He thought back to last night and how he had wanted desperately to get back home and out of the storm. His brother had mentioned something about the disappearance of Mistoffelees. Come to think of it, he seemed extremely worried, which was not like the Tugger he had grown up with. As second to Old Deuteronomy, Munkustrap held his position as protector very highly. He also prided himself on trusting his instincts; at the moment he felt that there was something amiss and cursed himself for ignoring The Rum Tum Tugger's anxious thoughts that he had confided to him later last night. When he was sure that his brother was not merely hiding, trying to sleep through the renovation, he called for Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer. The two cons met him on the large tyre in the centre of the clearing and they sat in quiet conversation.
Munkustrap had decided to ask this particular pair because of two things. Firstly, they were highly skilled in finding their way round town, a useful trait when you needed to find somebody. Secondly, they knew nearly everything gossip wise. If a plan had been set against the Jellicles or The Rum Tum Tugger had disappeared with Mistoffelees for any other reason, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer would most certainly find out. On the tyre Mungojerrie had started off the conversation.
"Well, what can we do ya for?" His voice was light and cheerful as he offered his services.
"Some nice jewellery for Demeter pa'aps?" Rumpleteazer jested, while only half paying attention to Munkustrap's stern visage. Munkustrap's tail flicked out of habit and he shook his head.
"I will get to the point. Last night I saw The Rum Tum Tugger leave the junkyard after Mistoffelees. They haven't come back; do you know anything about it?" It sounded terrible to the Jellicle leader now he had said it. He had seen his brother leave and didn't give it a second thought, now he hadn't returned and he would never forgive himself if anything had happened. The two calicos glanced at each other nervously- they obviously knew something.
"Well we dunno what 'appened to Tugger," Rumpleteazer began almost sounding guilty, "but Mistoffelees, well..." she trailed off, seemingly unable to finish her sentence. Alarmingly Munkustrap barked, "What? What about Mistoffelees?"
Mungojerrie took over from there.
"Would've thought ya would've figured it out." A small pause to collect his thoughts, "after the ball Macavity swore revenge on us Jellicles. Mistoffelees in particular. My guess is if he's missing Macavity has something to do with it." The worried faces of the two cats told Munkustrap that they told the truth.
'Of course! This is Macavity's doing,' Munkustrap mentally scolded himself. Now the fact that Mistoffelees was in danger fully hit him and he realised he must act quickly.
"Rumpleteazer, Mungojerrie, can you please find out where my brother has got to and if possible could you see if Macavity has Mistoffelees. If he has we will have to devise a plan to save him before he gets hurt." The two siblings nodded and nimbly ran off, leaving Munkustrap to pace about in a sombre mood.
xx
The first thing Mistoffelees was aware of was the throbbing dull sensation running through his head. It felt as if he had been hit with a hammer around the temples. He emitted a pitiful groan and tried to rub his bruised head, only to find that his hands were still crudely bound. The familiar feeling of exhaustion was making itself known as well and it made him laugh inwardly- his magic did him and people around him more harm than good. A quiet scuffle sounded behind him and he immediately tensed up, someone else was in the room with him. Not knowing what was behind him greatly scared Mistoffelees. In his mind he could imagine the intimidating bunch of cats that had attacked him and his friend, or even worse, the napoleon of crime himself-Macavity. Silently consuming a few gulps of air, he worriedly turned his head to glance at the figure lurking in the shadows at the back of him. There, lying very still was the unconscious form of his comrade, The Rum Tum Tugger. As Mistoffelees gasped and manoeuvred so he was now facing his fallen fellow Jellicle, he could further make out the extent of his wounds.
He was on his side, one arm draped over his still bleeding (albeit slowly) wound situated on his stomach, his other arm was stretched out towards Mistoffelees' direction and supported his bruised face. The rain still had not dried, clinging with the blood onto his mane and now shabby fur, it made his always perfectly groomed hair appear damp clotted and out of place. A bruise was forming around his eye and the blood from his mouth now settled around his nose and whiskers, dried and dirty looking. Finally, and what worried Mistoffelees worried about the most was the long distorted gashes running across his chest. They began at the base of his neck and ran diagonally to the right, where his ribs lay under his skin. The blood that had trickled from the wound left his fur caked in the sticky red substance so he no longer had the deep rich brown colour.
Mistoffelees could get up, though his vision swam and he was unsteady on his feet, the pounding did not cease its relentless beating as well. He collapsed shortly after by Tugger and checked his breathing. He looked to be stable and so Mistoffelees then turned his attention to his surroundings.
It was clear that he was being held captive in a human building, and an abandoned one at that. He was not totally oblivious to the structure of human homes. There were a few tiny windows way up high and away from his reach, but with his hands tied behind his back, Mistoffelees could not get to them or perform magic. He slumped in defeat and wondered how he could get out there when a low rumbling laugh seemed to echo throughout the whole building. His blood ran cold and his hair on the back of his neck stood up. There, right in front of him was Macavity himself.
