((again, many thanks to my lovely beta, el Penguin! and i also own none of this. except merry! she's definitely mine.))
For the following two days, Mistoffelees and Merrytus camped out outside of the tribe, watching it all carefully. So far, there had been no disturbances, and everything had gone by normally. On the second day, Mistoffelees found himself sitting behind the old car that sat near his old home. As Merrytus played behind him with a bit of yarn, tossing it about, he watched Victoria stroll across his line of sight. He watched her closely, longingly, wanting nothing more than to just hop out of his hiding place and be with her. He always heard the humans saying that no one knew what they had until they lost it, but he never thought it was as true as he did now.
She looked…lonely. Lost. The way he felt. He felt a small meow coming out of his mouth as he watched her sit, looking dejected and incurably unhappy. Mistoffelees found himself pushing himself forward to go to her, but he heard Merrytus' little voice asking a question.
"Why didn't you fight off Macavity?"
Mistoffelees closed his eyes and turned around, almost thankful that she had interrupted him. He climbed down from the car, looking down and nuzzling her. His nuzzles were selfish, however; he tried to make himself feel better, but it was to no avail. He sighed and considered her question, looking down at his paws idly.
"I wouldn't have stood a chance." He admitted this quietly, this being the first time expressing the fact that he was not a very strong cat. He never had been.
"Then why didn't you use your magic? You're a very strong magician," Merrytus said to him with a grin, nuzzling him back.
Mistoffelees groaned. "Have the other kittens told you about Macavity? About how…about how he's never found at the scene of the crime?" he asked, and she nodded furiously. "And…how he always seems to show up out of nowhere, without any warning at all?" She continued to nod. "He's…he's like us."
"He's magical?" she asked, gaping up at him with her wide blue eyes. As if offended that Macavity was in the same leagues as her, her black tail whipped behind her.
Mistoffelees' tail seemed to do the same. He nodded to her. "He doesn't use his magic as much as he does…he told me it just wasn't a challenge. But if he were to go against another magical cat…well." He frowned. "He wouldn't let off. He'd probably end up killing, because his powers would be so out of control…"
Merrytus frowned. "Then you mustn't fight him. You can't, Mr. Mistoffelees." She paused, taking herself in a little bit. "If you were to fight…you're not bad, you're great, but…he's better, isn't he?"
"Possibly," he replied, with a labored sigh, nuzzling her a little bit, to calm her. "But if he attacks, I won't have any choice. You know I couldn't just let him go after the Rum Tum Tugger…he's my friend," he mumbled, and he looked down at her. She was frowning, obviously upset.
Mistoffelees understood why. It was the same reason he was so adamant in bringing her to the tribe…the two of them connected on a whole other level, and now especially, they needed the other one to stay alive just so they would have the other one. He knew he loved Merrytus, though not in the same way he loved his tribe or Victoria, and he was sure it was reciprocated.
He nudged her a little. "I know you don't want me taking this risk--"
"And how could I?" she asked, and she looked up to him. "You're the only one who understands. I couldn't lose you."
"You'd have the other cats."
"The other cats aren't like you and me, though," she said to him, getting impatient. "But you have to."
Mistoffelees nodded, and offered a wide smile down at her, though it wasn't really returned. Instead, Merrytus walked off, though not out of earshot. He knew this would be quite difficult for her, but he also knew it would be a necessity for the tribe. Especially if he were to prove both his and her innocence.
--
Merrytus snoozed comfortably next to Mistoffelees' paws, though the piercing scream woke her up immediately. The hair of Mistoffelees' back rose as he saw Macavity enter the junkyard from the opposite end of where he was standing, and the other cats scattered. Rumpleteazer, curiously without Mungojerrie, was huddled with Bombalurina, Demeter, and his own Victoria, all of them scared out of their minds.
Macavity was not subtle about who he was going after. He attacked Tugger immediately, his long claws slashing across one of his shoulders. Munkustrap followed up by attacking with such intensity, it made most of the other cats nervous. The two of them went at it for what seemed like hours before Munkustrap was thrown off of him. He snarled at the other cats, and began over to the area where the four queens were huddled.
Knowing in the back of his mind Macavity was probably going for Bomba (though the tuxedo cat's main concern was Victoria), Mistoffelees leapt forward, his tail whipping behind him as he rose up in his stance. Even Macavity stopped what he was doing, before chuckling to himself.
"Why, if it isn't little Mistoffelees," he mumbled. The other cats stared as they saw the banished member of their tribe fighting for them. Mistoffelees subtly led Macavity away from the queens, eyeing him closely. Macavity moved, as if humoring him. "Come to teach me a lesson, have you?"
Merrytus watched with wide eyes, everything in her body telling her to help him. She casually stepped down, and sat in front of the queens. Victoria knew what she was planning, so she put her paw on Merrytus' tail, only to have it shaken off quickly.
Mistoffelees glared, and made the first move. Lightning, which was now quite harmful, shot out of his paws, but he missed Macavity by only a whisker. Macavity cackled loudly, causing Mistoffelees to wince.
"Is that all, Mistoffelees? After all I taught you…" He tsk-tsked, and very quickly he retaliated with some lightning of his own, hitting Mistoffelees in his middle.
The tuxedo cat fell back, but soon rose up, hissing as he did. He crawled around Macavity, his footsteps lighter than they usually were. Quickly Mistoffelees attacked once more, this time disappearing and reappearing behind him, tackling him quickly and attempting to claw at his skin. Macavity's fur was thicker than any other cat's he'd ever touched, so it was proving to be difficult. Before he knew it, Macavity had disappeared right from under him. Mistoffelees landed on his stomach, feeling a paw on his back. He looked up to see Macavity, laughing still.
"You're such a disappointment, Mistoffelees! Boring, too…" he said, and pressed into his back dangerously, causing him to cough and sputter for air. "You should have known your flashy tricks would be nothing against my wit and--" Before he could finish, he felt little scratches on his paw. He looked down to see Merrytus, and he raised his eyebrow. "Honestly?"
He went to kick her away, but she let out a bit of lightning, which managed to strike him. He stumbled back but didn't fall. He stared at her, awed, having never seen another magical cat besides Mistoffelees. After a moment, however, he snickered. His snicker turned into another cackle.
"How adorable! Like a miniature Mistoffelees, but with the same amount of talent!" he nudged her around with his foot a bit while Mistoffelees gathered himself up to attack, still catching his breath. Merrytus rose up after a moment, and lunged forward, attacking him at his feet. Macavity now did kick her off, and she landed, hitting her head against the edge of the car's hubcaps.
Mistoffelees walked forward. "She's just a kitten," he said, and he let go of more lightning, which grazed Macavity's shoulder. "I'm the one you want to fight with anyway," he continued, and he raised his head. The two stayed sitting there for a moment before Mistoffelees raced forward, headbutting him. It seemed to be unexpected, because Macavity was pushed back, stumbling against the wall.
As Macavity stood there, though, glaring, the lights around the junkyard flickered and disappeared. There was a scream, and a flash of lightning. The lights flickered back on, showing Mistoffelees and Macavity tangled up in a fight. Hisses and spits could be heard, and even though the fight went on, both competitors became stronger and stronger.
The two pushed each other into stoves, slammed each other into the ground, and even tossed each other into the air. Mistoffelees pulled away, conjuring up some sparkles into his hand before blowing them into the unaware Macavity's eyes. The ginger tom clawed at them and pulled back, soon running away altogether. Mistoffelees stood there and closed his eyes, glad that it was a flashy trick that had defeated Macavity.
After a moment Munkustrap walked up to Mistoffelees, nuzzling him and thanking him. Even Tugger bowed respectfully at what he had done for the tribe. Mistoffelees nodded to the two of them before turning around and seeing Merrytus, who was awake but hurt. He walked over, and looked over to Jennyanydots.
"Will she be alright?" he asked gently, noticing a few cuts here and there.
"She'll be fine, I promise," Jenny said softly, a smile on his face. "She just needs rest, is all. Thank you, Mistoffelees." She kissed his head softly before carrying Merrytus off, and into Mistoffelees and Victoria's shared den to tend to her wounds.
At once Mistoffelees went over to Victoria, and the two embraced as all of the other cats crowded around them, thanking him over and over again for what he'd done. After a moment Munkustrap cleared through, looking at Mistoffelees with a small smile.
"I'm sorry," Munkustrap mumbled.
Mistoffelees grinned, and embraced him as well, not caring how uncomfortable it made poor Munkustrap. Mistoffelees knew it took a lot for him to apologize, and he couldn't appreciate it any more than he did.
The following morning, Merrytus woke up to see Mistoffelees' wide grin looking down at her. "Good morning!" he exclaimed, and he nuzzled her. He was just thrilled she was all right.
Merrytus rose, and stretched. "You did great," she mumbled to him, smiling. "I just wish I could have been more help."
"Merry, you turned that fight around," he reminded her, and grinned. "He'll come back. But…I think we can take him again." He paused, nuzzling her gently. "But you and I…we make an ineffable team, hm?"
Merrytus nodded, not thinking about the next time Macavity came. She was living in the present for now, just so glad she had found someone to be in a team with.