Mungojerrie led the little tuxedo deep into an alley and pushed him down onto a pile of newspapers.

"Get comfortable," he said gruffly. "We're resting here tonight."

Mistoffelees said nothing as the striped tom laid down on an old sofa cushion across from him.

"Don't try to escape," he said, stretching his brawny limbs in an attempt to find a comfortable position. "Remember, those henchmen are still watching us. I won't be able to protect you from them if they catch you running."

With that, he rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes.
Mistoffelees stared blankly at the night sky.
They had been walking all that afternoon and into the evening. He wasn't sure what time it was now, but he felt like it had to be well past midnight. He was tired and hungry and thankful for the chance to rest and try to make sense of what was going on.
So far he had been kidnapped by one of his friends, beaten in a battle with that same friend, and attacked by Macavity's henchmen.

"Quite an eventful afternoon," he thought.

He laid down on the newspapers. It was next to impossible getting comfortable with his paws tied behind his back, but there was no helping that. He finally settled on a semi-comfortable position on his side and let his mind wander.
He knew that before the next day was over he would be in the clutches of the Napoleon of crime. There was no way he would get out of it. Those henchmen Mungojerrie referred to would never let him escape in one piece. And Mungojerrie himself would never release him unless he was sure that Rumpelteazer was safe. No one else knew where he was (they probably hadn't even realized he was missing) so the idea of rescue was out of the question.
He was stuck and there was nothing he could do about it.
Besides, this was all for Rumpelteazer.
Misto knew that if he escaped, Macavity would kill her.
How could he leave her to that fate?
He would never be able to live with himself knowing that he'd let his own fear lead to an innocent queen's death.
He had to let himself be a ransom. He had to let Mungojerrie give him to Macavity.

"But, I don't have to like it!" he muttered to himself.

After all, he hated Macavity. Not the way one would hate a criminal one has read about in the papers or seen on the television. No.
Mistoffelees had a personal hatred for the master criminal and he was not looking forward to meeting him face to face.

"I hate him," he thought to himself. "I hate him."

He closed his eyes and fell into a troubled sleep.

"Mistoffelees, stop jumping on those waste bins this instant!" commanded a white queen named Bianca.

"Yes, Mother," came the reluctant reply.

The tuxedo kitten leapt off the aluminum waste bin and looked around the alley for something else to do.
His Mother was sleeping on an old blanket someone had thrown out. Or at least that's what she had been doing until the little tom woke her up with all the noise he was making. Now, she simply laid on the blanket and closed her eyes hoping to fall asleep again.
Misto's sister, Victoria was sitting across from their Mother quietly grooming her fur. A smile came to the tuxedo's lips.

"Hey Viccy!" he said. "Don't move!"

"What?"

The white kitten looked up just in time to see her brother running toward her. She gasped and covered her head with her dainty paws. Mistoffelees leapt over his sister, turned a double somersault in the air and landed effortlessly on his feet behind her.

"That was fun!" he said. "Let's do it again."

Victoria was not nearly as amused.

"Don't scare me like that, Misto!" she said, straightening her fur.

Mistoffelees was about to retort when Bianca called to him again.

"Mistoffelees, leave your sister alone."

The tuxedo kicked the ground.

"But Mum, I'm bored!"

"Well find something quiet to do."

Misto rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Mother."

He sat down against the wall and began to scratch at the concrete ground with his claw.

"I wish Ageera'd come back," he thought.

His older sister always had something fun to do. She never told him to be quiet.
As if on cue, Mistoffelees heard a voice calling his name.
He looked up to see a white queen with a black paw and a black patch over one of her blue eyes coming toward them.
He smiled at his sister.

"Hi Ageera!" he said when she had reached the family. "Did you find any food?"

Ageera shook her head.

"Not this time, little bro," she said. "I think you might've scared all the mice away with your noise. Jumping on waste bins again?"

"Yeah, but Mum told me to stop."

Just then, Bianca raised her head.

"Is that you, Ageera?" she called.

"Yes, Mother," answered the black and white queen. "I'm here."

"Good, can you please take your brother out somewhere so Victoria and I can have some peace and quiet?"

Mistoffelees rolled his eyes. Ageera smiled.

"Oh Mother," she said. "You know magical cats have a lot of energy. He's just like I was at his age."

Bianca sat up and looked at her eldest daughter.

"I know," she said. "And between you and him, I'm surprised I'm still in my right mind. Raising two magical cats is enough to make a queen crazy!"

Ageera laughed.

"Well," she said. "I think he's old enough that I can start teaching him to use his powers."

The little tom nodded excitedly.

"Yeah!" he agreed. "I'm old enough. I know I am!"

The white queen smiled at her son.

"I think you may be right, Ageera," she said. "Go ahead, but be back before it gets dark."

"All right!" shouted the tuxedo excitedly.

He followed his sister out of the alley and they started down the sidewalk toward a nearby park.
They had almost reached their destination when a human queen crossed their path. Ageera knew this human, she worked at the deli down the street and sometimes gave the black and white queen bits of turkey and roast beef at the end of her shift. She smiled at the two cats.

"Well, if it isn't my little friend," she said pleasantly.

Ageera smiled and started toward her outstretched hand. But, before she could reach it, Mistoffelees leapt in front of her and hissed. The human queen pulled back in surprise.

"Your friend seems a little skittish," she said.

She rose to her feet.

"That's okay, we can visit later."

And she continued on her way.
Ageera glared at her younger brother.

"Misto, you have got to start being nicer to humans," she said. "They can come in quite handy sometimes, if you let them!"

Mistoffelees scoffed.

"I don't care about humans!" he said firmly. "It's because of humans that Dad was killed!"

"Our father was killed by a pollicle, Mistoffelees" said the older queen.

Misto kicked the ground.

"Because his humans declawed him," he muttered. "He couldn't defend himself. If they'd left him alone he'd still be alive."

"That's enough," replied Ageera. "No more about it or we'll just go right back to the alley, understand?"

The young tuxedo nodded and the two cats continued in silence.
It didn't take them long to get to the park.
Once they were there, Ageera asked her brother what he would like to learn. The first thing he said of course was to shoot lightning. Ageera was reluctant to begin the lesson with something so dangerous. But in the end, she consented.

"First you have to focus your mind on whatever it is you're aiming for. Then, you wave your paws in this pattern."

The queen slowly and gracefully waved her black and white paws through the air.

"And fire!"

A bolt of white lightning shot from her paws and hit a large rock nearby. Mistoffelees watched in amazement. Ageera smiled.

"Once you get the hang of the pattern, you can go faster. Eventually, it'll be second nature. With enough practice you won't even have to look at your target. Go ahead, give it a try."

Mistoffelees carefully imitated his sister's movements. It took a few tries. Sometimes he'd manage a little spark or two, sometimes nothing would happen at all. But finally he managed to produce a bright blue lightning bolt. Ageera cheered for her brother.
Mistoffelees was ready to try it again, when suddenly a black scruffy cat ran up behind him and grabbed him. The little tuxedo cried out in surprise.

"Now!" shouted the scruffy tom.

The area was swarmed with several other large black toms. Two of them grabbed Ageera by the arms. The queen hissed fiercely but she was unable to free herself.

"Ageera!" shouted the little tuxedo struggling as hard as he could. "Let her go!"

The scruffy toms laughed at the demands of the black kitten. The one holding on to him decided that nothing would be more amusing than to swing him around by his arms as fast as he could. Another scruffy tom also thought this looked amusing and grabbed the kitten by the ankles so that he could try it himself. But the first one would not be robbed of his prize so easily. The result was a tug of war match between the two toms. Over the laughter of the other toms, Mistoffelees heard his sister ordering them to put him down. But that only amused their attackers more.

Suddenly, the laughter stopped. The tom who held Misto by the ankles released him and backed away. The kitten looked up to see the tallest cat he had ever seen.
His wild fur was the color of fire and his movements were smooth and frightening and reminded the tuxedo of a snake.

"Well, well," he said. "What have we here?"

He smiled at Mistoffelees, his fangs glistening in the sun.

"Do you know who I am?"

The little tuxedo stared at him in horror.

"Macavity," he gasped.

Macavity chuckled.

"Clever boy," he said.

He turned to Ageera.

"He is too young," he said to his henchmen. "All I want is the girl."

"No!" shouted Mistoffelees.

He tried as hard as he could to get free.

"Let her go! Don't you dare touch her!"

Ageera hissed at the ginger tom who only smiled in return. One of the scruffy cats stepped forward.

"What should we do with the runt?" he asked.

Macavity looked at the struggling kitten and shrugged.

"Kill him," he said.

Ageera gasped as the henchmen started toward her little brother. Mistoffelees kicked and struggled desperately to free himself and help his sister.

"Let her go!" he shouted as loud as he could. "You leave her alone!"

The henchmen closed in on him with extended claws and evil grins on their faces.

"No!" he cried out as he realized what was about to happen.

"Noooo!"

"Misto, wake up!"

The tuxedo's eyes flew opened and he sat up, fighting hard against his bonds.

"No!" he shouted. "No! No!"

Mungojerrie grabbed his friend by the arms and held him still.

"Misto calm down. It's all right."

After nearly a minute of frantic struggling, the magician seemed to settle down. He stared at the space in front of him with wide eyes.

"He killed her," he panted.

Mungo gently placed his paws on the tuxedo's shoulders.

"It was only a dream," he said in a reassuring tone.

Mistoffelees continued as if he hadn't heard.

"I should've saved her," he said. "I should've tried harder. He killed her, I know he did. I hate him. I hate him!"

The striped tom stayed beside his friend and waited for him to calm down. Finally, the little tom raised his head and took a deep breath.

"You okay?"

Misto nodded.

"What happened? You were screaming so loud you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Mistoffelees took another deep breath.

"It's nothing," he said.

Mungo was skeptical.

"You sure?"

The tuxedo nodded.

"I'm sure. It was nothing; just a nightmare."

Mungojerrie was not entirely convinced, but he knew from Misto's silence that he was not going to get a better explanation than that. He returned to the sofa cushion and within minutes had dosed off.

Mistoffelees stared up at the sky. He hadn't thought about that day in years. He wondered if Macavity remembered him; if he knew that he was the little black kitten he had tried to kill so long ago.

"Guess I'll find out," he thought.