NOTE: I do not own CATS or Felidae
Chapter thirteen: Final Fight
A car door slammed as Tugger and I approached the house. Zeibold's car zoomed past us as we crept along the sidewalk. I sniffed cautiously, but could not detect anything out of the ordinary.
"You go in here," I instructed Tugger as we arrived at the pet door. "I'll go directly into the study via the skylight."
"Gotcha," Tugger nodded, squeezing his way through the door.
I, meanwhile, scrambled up a nearby tree until I was high enough to be level with the skylight. I jumped, feeling the wind through my fur and landed on the narrow ledge by the window. Pushing it open, I hopped into the study and walked over to the computer.
My new skills paid off, for I knew how to use the mouse and the keyboard. But then came the roadblock; I didn't know the password.
"Maybe 'Mendel'?" I thought, typing it in.
INCORECT.
"Damn it!" I inwardly cursed. "What about Preterius?" Click, click, click.
DING!
"Yes!" I started scrolling through the list of names and quickly found one of the recently deceased toms.
#287— Munkustrap
June 18, 1986
Four attempts to mate with Exotica.
Four attempts to dissuade were in vain.
Another entry, for the deceased queen I'd discovered read,
#355— Demeter
August 4, 1987
Impregnated by Macavity
If owners have any sense, they will dispose of her and the kittens.
If not, something must be done.
Now I understood. The murderer had to be sure that the queens chosen to reestablish Felidae mated only with racially acceptable toms. Any tom that fell outside this category-
"Have you solved the puzzle yet?"
Sharply turning my head, I saw Skimbleshanks entering the room.
"Yes Jellicle," I responded as calmly as I could. "There are only a few gaps in the story, but I'm sure you can fill them in for me."
He smiled darkly.
"I'll tell you a story Mistofelees," Skimbleshanks began. "A story of men and animals."
I figured I should just be quiet and listen.
"Yes," he nodded, coming in to sit in the center of the carpet. "I am Jellicle, you guessed it right. I was in the laboratory. I did survive the unimaginable tortures of Dr. Preterius and when he eventually went mad, I spoke to him."
"You spoke to a human?" I exclaimed, outraged.
"Yes," Skimbleshanks growled. "Fascinated, he opened the door to my cage. I sprang up and sunk my fangs into his throat! Later, Zeibold took me in. It was through him that I began learning Mendel's theory of genetics. It occurred to me that could turn back history, to a time of wonder for our race. My only ally was Old Deuteronomy. He spread the word that a new age was dawning, while I handled the scientific aspects of the project. I started with a single pair, but soon the project grew."
He stared me directly in the eye as he continued, "I was forced to kill, Mistofelees, I had no choice, to maintain the purity this new generation of Felidae required."
He gave a huge sigh.
"I don't have much longer," Skimbleshanks moaned. "And that's why I involved you. You will be my successor, the leader of the wonderful Felidae."
"Yes," I blurted out. "But Old Deuteronomy, why did you kill him?"
"He would have told you everything and thus ruined my plan," Skimbleshanks explained. "And he agreed to it."
I shuddered, turning to glare at the glowing computer screen.
"So now I know it all," I murmured. "And what I know disgusts me!"
"Oh Mistofelees," Skimbleshanks sighed. "You go through your ordinary little days, living your ordinary little life and going home to dream your ordinary little dreams. But then I sent nightmares to you. Do you deny it?"
I didn't respond. Only my twitching tail conveyed my feelings.
"The world is an evil place," he smiled icily, "and the root of this evil is man. And the funny thing is that, now we are no different then him. "
"You've become like man!" I turned back to face him with a hiss. "You think like man, you act like man. So tell me, what is the role of lesser animals species in your oh-so-perfect world?"
"None at all," was the answer. "They're stupid. They are born victims to their fate."
"And what about the good people?" I went on with reckless abandon. "Skimbleshanks or Jellicle or whoever the hell you are-"
"No, no, no!" Skimbleshanks yelled hysterically, spit flying from his mouth. "There are no good people! They're all bad! Animals are the good human beings and human beings are bad animals!"
My anger rose even more at this fountain of nonsense spewing from his mouth. I was starting to breath heavily, but I fought to keep myself under control.
"I'll fight you with every ounce of strength I have!" I growled. "I'll start . . ." I swiveled back around, "by deleting this program listing your murders!" I began typing again.
"You can't imagine," Skimbleshanks spoke softly, "how deeply sorry I am for this Mistofelees."
I pressed the DELETE key just as I heard a soft thump behind me. I turned just in time to leap out of the way as Skimbleshanks flew through the air and struck the computer. It fell behind the desk with a crash and the sparks that flew from it set the curtains on fire.
Skimbleshanks and I faced each other on top of the desk, hissing and snarling. We both lashed out, claws and teeth slicing and tearing. I managed to take hold of his ear and pull hard. He yowled in pain, blood dripping from his torn ear. I leapt down from the desk, for I could feel the heat of the fire pressing on it, but Skimbleshanks scrambled after me and the fight continued on the floor.
I may have been younger and faster, but the old cat certainly had learned a lot during his lifetime. Skimbleshanks's claws dug deep into the white fur on my forehead as he attempted to bite my neck. But I had no intention of dying. I clawed him in the gut with my back paw, trying to get the upper hand. It was fairly clear, though, that we were evenly matched.
As we fought, the fire continued to spread, licking at the corners of the walls and devouring the books on the shelves. We were oblivious to it. My only concern was destroying this evil cat and in his mind, he was attempting to do the same.
I tore at him as though he was a freshly caught rat, clawing at his chest as I bit his cheeks and sensitive whiskers. Skimbleshanks managed to fasten around my front leg and pulled me down, tearing the tendon. I howled in pain, but tried to ignore it. Leaping up, I sprang on top of him and buried my claws into his orange fur, opening gashes on his back.
Eventually, we were both just circling each other, panting from exhaustion. The smoke, fatigue and our wounds were slowing us down. My forehead was bleeding, the red obscuring my sight and I was having difficulty putting weight on my injured front leg. Skimbleshanks's torn ear was flopping like a kite caught in the wind and his left side had a very deep cut sliced through it. In truth, we both had numerous scratches and bites all over and the heat was quite over bearing. I was drooling slightly, but Skimbleshanks was foaming at the mouth as he attempted to breath. But the fight was not over. I knew that and so did he.
Suddenly, Skimbleshanks let out another deep snarl. I froze in shock. And then, with a final roar, he leapt. It was a completely uncalculated leap. Just a desperate, last attempt to finish me off. So I leapt too. I leapt lower than him so I was directly beneath his chest. I stretched my blood stained paw out and tore my claws straight through his chest. My claws kept digging in deeper and farther as I soared through the air, shredding his body right down the middle. A flow of guts and blood poured out as he fell with a terrified yowl.
I landed as lightly as I could, trying not to put weight on my injured leg. Skimbleshanks fell behind me, cushioned by his own innards. He was somehow still breathing, sucking in the smoky air in weak shuddering gasps as he lay in the pool of blood and guts.
"Mistofelees," he gagged.
I looked at him blearily, the smoke really starting to effect me.
"There is so-so much darkness in this world," he moaned, his eyes weak and almost pitiful. "No light, only darkness. I have become evil, but c-could you believe, I was once . . . g-good . . ." The light in his eyes faded away and his twitching body became still.
I staggered out of the room and stumbled down the stairs, the fire singeing my fur as it chased after me. I coughed in a panic, my whole body searing with pain as I finally made it to the living room.
That's when I saw Tugger. He was sprawled out on his side, deep gashes dripping blood covering every part of his body. That was why he never arrived to help; Skimbleshanks had gotten to him first.
"Tugger," I moaned weakly. "No."
He moved slightly and moaned. Moving as quickly as my damaged body would allow, I grabbed Tugger's scruff and dragged him out of the burning house.
I only stopped when we were several yards away from the flame engulfed building. Tugger was shuddering and his body twitched feebly, his blood tinting the snow. I collapsed next to him, my lungs burning and my body searing with pain.
"He lost his innocence," I wheezed to Tugger, not knowing whether or not he could hear me. "Just as man-" I felt myself losing consciousness, "has lost his . . ."