Chapter 6: The Test

"Come on furball, wake up," a gruff voice rumbled.

Misto was roused from his sleep, if you could call it sleep; he'd been wandering through his memories all night searching for anything that might help him break Magnus's hypnosis. He looked through all the times he had seen cats hypnotized by Macavity hoping to find some clue that could help him now but in his desperate state, he found nothing. He groaned in frustration as he felt his eyes open, his body stretch tiredly and heard himself yawn before rising to his feet. The voice that had called him belonged to one of the Mastiffs; the smaller of two, Rohl. The dog turned and walked out of the room without another word and Misto's body automatically followed him. How humiliating; following a dog around like it was his master. It sickened him; if he could actually feel sick.

The hypnotized tux followed Rohl into Magnus's room where the Wolfhound was waiting patiently for him. He smiled as the two entered; Misto wishing for the hundredth time that he had control over his body again so he could wipe that smile off that bastard's face. Magnus motioned for him to sit which he did.

"Excuse us Rohl," Magnus said and the Mastiff bowed exiting the room. The Wolfhound looked at Mistoffelees like a big game hunter admiring one of his favorite trophies. Misto guessed that's what he was really to Magnus; nothing more than a trophy, a symbol of his so called greatness.

"Now my friend," Magnus said with an air of dignity, "The time has come for your test. Can you still hear me?"

"Yes," Misto's monotonous voice answered.

"Good. Now for your test," Magnus said a touch of glee adorning his face, "I want you to return to your Jellicle Junkyard; everyone there probably believes you're dead by now. Once you arrive, you will attack the first Jellicle you encounter; it doesn't matter whom or how, just remember this; do not kill them. This is simply, as the humans say, making a statement." He chuckled quietly; he was truly enjoying this. "Once you have done this, return here as quickly as possible before they discover what has happened to you. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Misto's voice answered, "And it will be done."

Magnus let out a small laugh. "Then off you go."

In the junkyard, the tribe was on edge now more than ever. The news of Misto's capture was bad enough but now that they knew what the Pollicles were planning to do with him made it even worse. Victoria had returned from her humans but had stayed away from the rest of the tribe still blaming herself for letting her close friend get captured. Plato's injuries were starting to heal although it would take a while for him to get the strength back in his arm; the Pollicles bite had bruised the bone and stretched a couple of ligaments in his elbow. But the biggest news spreading through the yard now was the confrontation between Wisp and Munkustrap that day; most of the tribe believed this whole mess was the Ghost Cat's fault in a way. No one however had the courage to say it to his face.

Wisp watched the activity in the yard from his new vantage point, a small ledge on a junk pile near the western fence. From here he could see almost everything; the clearing, the northern fence and the street outside the main gate. He frowned at the numerous harsh looks he got from the tribe; he knew some, if not all, were blaming him for what happened to Mistoffelees. The fact was however, the tribe needed him now more than ever. With the tux in the Pollicles paws, he was the only magical advantage they had left. Without him, they probably didn't stand a chance.

His frown deepened as he noticed Munkustrap going through the clearing on one of his patrols. Seeing the silver tabby brought back what he had said that day: Swansea died two months ago Wisp. Let her go already. Let her go? Is that what he thought this was about? He had let her go; he'd accepted the fact that she was gone a month ago. It was like he'd told Munk, he'd changed is all.

He doesn't understand, Wisp thought angrily, He thinks I'm still mourning her, that I'm only acting this way because I can't accept the fact she's gone. A growl stirred in his throat as he watched the Protector disappear toward the eastern side of the yard. And Munk had the nerve to tell him he was acting like Macavity? Where had that come from? He was not like Macavity; he wasn't sadistic or insane. Sure he might be a little colder now and crueler than he used to be but so what? If they can't accept that this was the way he was now then he may as well just leave and let the Pollicles do what they wanted. He shook his head; no, he can't do that. Despite all of this, he knew deep down he had to stay.

"Are you sure Munk or someone won't catch us?" Jemima asked as she followed Etcetera out through the yard's secret exit.

"No," Etcetera said almost giggling with delight, "He's way over on the other side of the yard. We won't be too long."

The two queenkits hurried down the street heading for Etcetera's humans' house. The hyper kitten had wanted to go there to get something to try and make Victoria feel better but Munk wouldn't allow her to go unless she went with a group. She'd asked Tugger to go, surprisingly without fainting at the sight of him, and he'd said yes. The only problem, Tugger had conviently forgotten that he was supposed to help out with patrols today and Munk had caught them just before they reached the gate. So she'd gotten Jemima and they'd snuck out the secret exit.

Half an hour later, they rushed back along the sidewalk, Etcetera carrying a small bundle in her paws. It was actually a small catnip mouse she'd always played with when she was feeling down; the catnip smell had long since faded away but she still liked the soft feeling of the fake fur. She hoped that it would start to cheer Victoria up.

Taking a quick glance up at the junk piles to see if anyone was there, which no one was, she quickly darted through the pipe into the yard. Looking back however, she noticed Jemima was standing near the opening of the pipe but she was facing down the way they'd come.

"Jem, come on," she called quietly, "Get in here before Munk catches us."

Jemima didn't hear her friend; she was too surprised at the figure that was walking up the street toward her. Her heart leaped as she recognized Mistoffelees and, forgetting the fact that she was in danger of being caught sneaking out, called out her friend's name excitedly and rushed to meet him.

Mistoffelees had been walking at a casual pace through the city heading for the junkyard. His body had been anyway; he'd been searching his memories again for a clue to break Magnus's hold on him. There had to be something; wait, what's this? It was a memory of something he had heard about how humans hypnotize each other. A good way to do it was when the subject was asleep or at rest. Hm, made sense. When the subject is like that, their mental defenses go down and they're easier to control. Thinking about it, he remembered the previous night while he'd been hunting through his memories, he'd noticed the feeling of being in a box decreased a little. That was it! If he was out for long enough, say if he were knocked unconscious, he could probably break the spell.

"Misto!"

The tux's heart clenched as he broke away from his thoughts to find he was nearly at the junkyard. Worse, he recognized the voice as Jemima's and here she came hurrying toward him with a huge smile on her face.

Oh no, he thought panic rising in him, no, not her. Not Jemima.

His fear doubled when she got to him throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He cringed as he felt his arms wrap around her as well.

"Oh Misto I'm so glad you're ok," Jemima cried, her voice nearly cracking, "We all thought you were dead." She released him for a moment looking at him, her eyes starting to fill with tears of joy. "How did you get away?"

"I have my ways," Misto heard himself answer, feeling a light smirk tug at the corner of his mouth.

Jem, get away from me, Misto cried inside his own head, I don't want to hurt you. Please just get away! He felt a surge of hope as he saw the slight confusion flash across her face at his response. Yes! You know something's wrong Jem. That isn't the way I talk! Get away! The hope vanished a moment later along with Jemima's confusion.

"Come on," she said happily taking his paw and leading him toward the pipe, "Everyone's going to be so happy you're back."

When they got to the pipe however, she noticed the other end of it had been sealed off; Munkustrap must've gone by and sealed it or he had caught Etcetera and was waiting for her to come in the main gate. Her heart thudded in her chest as she realized how much trouble she was going to be in but shook it off as another idea came to her. Pouncival had showed her an easy way to get in when the pipe was sealed; he had discovered a hole in the fence near to where they were; all you had to do was slip in through there, climb over the junk pile and you're in. The piles weren't that hard to climb anyway; you just had to be careful for any loose stuff.

"Over here," she said leading the hypnotized tux a little way to the right, "Pounce showed me this a couple days ago." Sure enough the hole was there and they both slipped inside. Finding footholds on the piles of junk, they began to climb. It was fairly easy; there weren't many loose things and they quickly reached the top. Looking around, Jemima breathed a sigh of relief as she saw there was no one nearby. She knew she was going to get it from Munk when he found her but right then she didn't care. She started to cross the pile to climb down on the other side when she realized Misto wasn't following.

"Misto are you coming?" she asked, a light smile playing on her face.

Misto's body moved forward just enough that he could see the clearing below then stopped. He knew what was coming and threw all his might against the spell trying desperately to stop it.

Jemima run, he screamed, Run! I can't stop myself!

Bast, why wasn't she moving?! He felt his power building up as Jemima took a step toward him. Oh Bast no! No, don't make me do this! Don't make me do this!

His paw raised a moment later and a bolt of lightning shot out striking Jemima full in the chest. The force of the blast knocked her back over the edge of the pile and Misto screamed in agony and despair as he was forced to watch her body tumble limply through the air and land with a dull thud in the clearing.

"Jemima!"

Munkustrap's voice; seconds later the silver tabby appeared racing toward his fallen daughter other cats, including Wisp, appearing from other directions. He knelt beside her gently lifting her head, calling her name and staring in disbelief at the burn marks on her chest. From the top of the pile Misto, trapped inside his own head, moaned his agony; she was still alive, thank Bast, but barely. Magnus had said not to kill her just make a statement. And he had. Munkustap looked up a moment later and locked eyes with him. Misto felt himself smile at the Protector before the scene vanished in a flash of light and he was standing, once again, before Magnus the Great.

"It is done," he heard himself say and Magnus gave him a satisfied smile.

"Well done my friend," he said gallantly, "Well done. You may go and rest now. I have no further need for you."

Misto bowed and left the room. He walked past the dogs still gathered at the lair, ignoring their growls and vicious glances and made his way to his own room. It was a small storage room that Macavity had kept his prisoners in. It was fitting in a way. He lay down on a thin layer of newspapers and his eyes closed. As they did, a single tear slowly slipped down his cheek.