Chapter 9: Final Questions
"There's one thing I don't quite understand," Jazz said.
"Oh?" Bageera asked.
They were on their way back to Mistoffelees' new den. It was quicker this time, since they knew where it was.
"Why have Mistoffelees reveal himself?" Jazz asked. "Why not just keep him as Quaxo? It's a perfect second identity. Let Mistoffelees rack up the charges and crimes; then return to Quaxo to live in peace? It would be a convenient arrangement."
"Very convenient," Bageera said. "If no one knew Quaxo was Mistoffelees, when Mistoffelees did strike, it wouldn't fall on anyone in the tribe. Quaxo and Mistoffelees. The same Jellicle, yet not. It would have been a perfect cover."
"So why do it?"
"That's what we're going to find out."
They come up to Mistoffelees' new den. Bageera went up to the door and began pounding on it. After several minutes, Mistoffelees answered the door.
"What is it?" he demanded.
Bageera pushed Mistoffelees back into the den and entered after him. Jazz followed, closing the door behind her. Bageera pushed Mistoffelees down onto one of the cushions and glared down at him.
"Okay," Bageera said. "I have some questions that you had better answer."
Mistoffelees didn't look afraid. This same routine had scared Mungojerrie half to death. It didn't even seem to faze the magician.
"Then ask," Mistoffelees said. "I haven't got all day, you know. Thing to do."
Bageera sat across from Mistoffelees.
"First," he said, "You're not full Jellicle, are you?"
Mistoffelees seemed to freeze despite the fact that he wasn't moving.
"What do you mean?" There was an edge of worry in his voice.
"You're part Grimalkin," Bageera said. "At least half, if I had to take a guess."
Mistoffelees was silent for a while before nodding. "Yes. I'm a little over half Grimalkin. My father was from a long line of pure Grimalkins. But he fell in love with a Jellicle. The only reason his family approved at all was because she was a small part Grimalkin as well."
"That was convenient," Jazz said.
Mistoffelees shot her a glance of contempt.
"And that's why Old Deuteronomy rejected you, yes?" Bageera asked.
"Yes," Mistoffelees said. "He said he didn't trust me. He practically said I would destroy the tribe."
"Really?" Bageera said. "So then you staged that whole Quaxo façade?"
"Illusion," Mistoffelees said. "It was an illusion. Not a façade. But yes. After I was rejected, I came up with the idea to try again under the disguise of a normal Jellicle."
"And you got the Rum Tum to sponsor you," Bageera said.
Mistoffelees nodded. "It took some doing, but I finally managed to get him to take me to Old Deuteronomy."
"And you lived happily ever after until two nights ago, when Macavity stormed the junkyard and took the Jellicle Leader." Another nod. "And then we know the story from there."
"I would assume so," Mistoffelees said. "You've asked nearly everyone here about it."
Bageera smiled. "Yes. And we keep getting the same story." Bageera let out a laugh. "Unfortunately, there are a few parts that we think are missing a few details."
"What details?"
"First," Bageera said, "when did you learn that Mungojerrie was working for Macavity?"
Mistoffelees looked calm. His voice was steady, and his body was relaxed. He wasn't giving off any scent of fear or angst. His tail rested behind him. His whiskers didn't even so much twitch. There was absolutely nothing about his appearance to say he was worried. But there was something in his eyes. Something deep down that Bageera could see through the illusion. Bageera knew that he had Mistoffelees in a corner.
"I don't know what you mean," Mistoffelees said. "I know he used to work for Macavity once, but I had thought he was finished with him."
"Oh come on," Bageera said, getting up. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"No I don't," Mistoffelees said, angst creeping into his voice.
"The Rum Tum let you into the tribe. Then Mungojerrie finds you and tells you who he works for, and you three-"
"No he didn't!"
"You three orchestrate the events of the Jellicle Ball-"
"You're wrong!"
"So you could join the tribe rightfully as you, leaving Quaxo behind."
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
"What I want to know is why?"
"Quiet!"
"Why ruin such a perfect cover?"
"Shut Up!"
Why?"
"ENOUGH!"
Mistoffelees' voice rumbled like thunder and shook the dishwasher they were in, rattling the trays overhead. The two had locked eyes. And Bageera could see the terror in Mistoffelees' mind. The burden and guilt of what he had done was too much for his illusions to bear.
"You're wrong," Mistoffelees said. "'Quaxo' was his idea in the first place. I didn't want anything to do with it. I… I just…"
Mistoffelees trailed off while Bageera stared at him triumphantly. Jazz got between the two, breaking the immediate tension of the room. Mistoffelees leaned back against the wall burying his face in his paws. Jazz knelt down beside him and put a paw on his shoulder.
"What happened?" she asked in her most soothing voice.
"I just wanted what was rightfully mine by birth," the magician said into his paws. "Grizabella was my mother. I had as much right to be in this tribe as she did. Even if I am Grimalkin." He looked up into Jazz's crystal blue eyes. "When they rejected me, I was devastated. I didn't know what to do."
"Until Macavity showed up," Jazz said.
Mistoffelees nodded. "He came to me and said that he could get me in. He said he would help me get to where I rightfully belonged. All I had to do in exchange was agree to work for him. To join his gang.
"I didn't know what to do. I was confused, angry. So I agreed. I said I would do whatever it took. But then he came up with Quaxo. I was appalled. I said I wanted to join the tribe as me, not some imposter. He said that the only way to join as me later was to join as Quaxo then. He told me how he was going to take Old Deuteronomy at the upcoming Ball. Then I would rescue him, putting Old Deuteronomy in my debt. He would then have to let me in."
"And you agreed to this?" Bageera asked.
"I didn't know what else I could do!" Mistoffelees said. "I didn't want things to happen the way they did. I wanted to join rightfully the first time. I even considered breaking my agreement. I thought that I had been good as Quaxo long enough to prove that I could be trusted.
"But then everyone found out Grizabella was part Grimalkin. She lived here for most of her life. She had the trust of every single Jellicle in the tribe. And yet they threw her out at the first hint of her true heritage."
"But she was made Jellicle Choice," Jazz said.
"It took months for her to convince them that she was the same Jellicle they always knew. They made her choice as a sign of forgiveness." Mistoffelees shook with grief. "I knew then that I would never be able to gain that kind of trust before the Ball."
"So you let him take Deuteronomy?" Bageera demanded.
"I didn't think he would hurt the old tom," Mistoffelees said. "He said he was just going to hold him until I could bring him back. I didn't think he would start assaulting all the other Jellicles."
"You have no idea what he's capable of doing," Bageera said. "What he has done. What he would ask you to do." Mistoffelees was silent. "What has he asked you to do? What blood do you have on your paws already?"
Mistoffelees gave him a hard stare. "I haven't done anything. I refused to so much as light a fire for him until I was allowed into the tribe as myself."
"That's the smartest decision I've heard you make yet," Bageera said.
He went over to the black and white and pulled him to his feet.
"Now," Bageera said. "You've consorted with Macavity. Normally, we reprimand rather heavily for that. But since you are the only one who will have profited from that transaction, I see no reason why we shouldn't let you slide this time around. Jazz?"
"That's fine with me," she said.
"Very well," Bageera said. "Of course, there will be one condition."
"What?" Mistoffelees asked.
"You're going to come with us and tell Munkustrap everything you just told us," Bageera said. "That way we have the proof we need to get Mungojerrie"
"What?" Mistoffelees said. "I can't do that! If Old Deuteronomy finds out-"
"He'll find out one way or another," Bageera said. "If he hears it from you, you might earn some points in your favor." Mistoffelees didn't look convinced. "Look, we need to get to Macavity. The only way to do that is to go through his flunky, Mungojerrie."
"Mungojerrie?"
The detectives spun around. Somehow, without alerting any within, a Jellicle had managed to enter the den. He had dark fur with golden brown fur to match what Bageera had found. His tail flicked back and forth in a curious manner.
"If you think it's Mungojerrie, I must have overestimated your cunning."
"You?" the detectives asked in unison.
"Of course," the tom said.
"I don't understand," Jazz said.
Before she could say more, Bageera launched himself at the Jellicle before him. The tom smiled wider and with one powerful swipe, he knocked Bageera to one side. He hit the wall with a loud crack of his skull and was out for the count.
Jazz rose to her paws, wanting to help. But before she could move, she felt a sudden force lift her up and fling her into the wall near Bageera. Briefly, before she passed out completely, she knew that Mistoffelees had done it. But before anger could well up, oblivion came and claimed her.
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