In the car, little Lex's eyelids fluttered, and he moaned as he sat up groggily. He rubbed his aching head as he wondered what happened. He remembered hunting (or trying to hunt) in the woods with Daddy, and he couldn't catch anything, and it made him really mad, but he couldn't remember much more than that. So why did he ache and feel so empty?
"Mommy?" he cried weakly, unsure if she was in the car-den or not.
Mommy poked her head around the back of the driver's seat where she was sitting. "What is it, Lex?" she asked without coming any closer.
"Did ... did something bad happen?" Lex asked, his kitten eyes wide and innocent. Mommy accidentally grimaced. Lex saw that, and said, "It did, didn't it?"
She crawled back into the backseat with Lex. "Don't worry, Sweetie. Everything's going to be all right," she crooned as she rocked him back and forth.
Lex's lower lip quivered, and he continued, "But something bad happened, didn't it?"
"Don't worry about it," Mommy repeated.
The little kitten whimpered. Something bad happened. He just knew it. He couldn't really remember ... only that he did something really big, and it made him feel tired and empty. It –
Suddenly, Lex got a feeling he had never felt before. He couldn't say how, but he knew, he just knew, something was coming. Something important. And – he grimaced – something really bad.
"Mommy?" he whispered as he looked up at her with his big kitten eyes. "Mommy, something's coming!"
His mommy's face grew worried. "Something's coming? Like Daddy?" she asked softly.
Lex opened his mouth to say "no," but he suddenly reconsidered. Yes, there was something coming that felt like Daddy! But that wasn't all; in fact, the other something felt much bigger compared to Daddy. "Yeah, it feels like Daddy," he said. "But there's something else coming too! Something bad!"
Mommy grimaced, but still said, "Shh, honey. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Just go back to sleep." And she continued rocking and crooning to him.
Lex closed his eyes, but there was no way he could fall asleep! There was something coming! But it wasn't all bad. There was a little good there, too. But it wasn't the good of doing something right. It was the pleasure of doing something wrong.
It was still scary.
"Mommy, there's something coming!" he tried to tell her, growing more and more panicked. It was getting closer! It – no! It wasn't an it, he suddenly felt. It was a cat!
"Lexuther, calm down," Mommy whispered in his ears, but it was no good. He writhed in her arms, alarmed at the feeling that scared him. Finally, he wriggled out of her grasp and crawled over to the open window of the car.
As he peeped his head over the ledge, imagine his surprise to see a pair of startling black eyes staring back, only inches away from his own! He yeeped and backed away from the window, back toward the safety and shelter of Mommy. The other cat raised his head up so Lex could see his whole face. "Mommy, that's the bad cat!" he whispered.
"Mistoffelees!" Mommy breathed, seemingly petrified. Lex stared, unable to take his eyes off the black and white form.
The black and white form in question stared in the car with a horrified look on his face. He looked at Lex, then at Mommy, then horribly whispered, "Victoria? You – ?"
But he was cut off by the voice of Daddy calling from across the backyard. "Mistoffelees, no!" he cried. Daddy came running up to the lair, put his paws on the new cat's shoulders, as if to pull him away from the car, but he yreowled and leapt back, as if electrically shocked. He still managed to gasp, "Mistoffelees! It's not how it looks!"
The tuxedo turned to Daddy, and enraged look on his face, and cried. "Tell me it's not! Tell me it's not how it looks!"
"It's not!"
The newcomer looked like he was going to yell at Daddy again, but instead, he took a glimpse of Lex and Mommy, embracing inside the car. Instead, he forcibly grabbed Daddy's wrist, and in a puff of smoke, they disappeared!
"Mommy? How'd he do that?" little Lex whispered.
Mommy didn't answer.
When the smoke cleared, Alonzo found himself in a deserted alley, miles away from any familiar territory. Mistoffelees was there, too, fuming.
"You!" he cried, pacing, unable to keep still. "How could you? And you knew! You knew how I felt for her! I risked everything for her, to have her! I showed everyone what I am! I killed Plato! And I lost everything, including her! How could you? How could you mate with her?" He advanced on Alonzo, paws sparking and eyes flashing.
"You told me to take care of her," Alonzo responded flatly, trying to stay calm.
"I didn't tell you to mate with her!" Mistoffelees bellowed, his voice unearthly strong. "You had a kitten with her! How could you? How could you?" He lunged for Alonzo's throat, trying to strangle him with paws sparking with electricity.
Alonzo deftly caught his wrists; skilled at fighting as he was, he was able to hold the small tom easily (though that wouldn't be true if Mistoffelees started using more magic on him). "Mistoffelees," he whispered, "Don't do this. It would crush her."
He thrashed for a minute more, then stilled. Alonzo slowly let go of his wrists when he was sure he wouldn't be electrocuted. Mistoffelees stood there for another moment before he said coldly, "Fine."
In the blink of an eye and a puff of smoke, they were both whisked back to the junkyard.
Back in the junkyard, something about the way Daddy and the new cat had disappeared fascinated Lexuther to no end. "Mommy, how'd he do that?" he kept asking, but Mommy would only hush him and make him try to go to sleep. But Lex couldn't possibly go to sleep! Daddy had just disppeared, and he might be in trouble! And there was something about the new cat that made him the center of Lex's admittedly short attention span.
"Lexuther!" Mommy cried when she could take his inquisitiveness no more. "Be quiet and go to sleep!"
"But Mommy!" he cried, "What did he do? How'd he do that? I gotta know!"
Suddenly, Mommy's expression changed. She looked almost afraid. "Why?" she whispered. "Why do you have to know?"
"Because I just do!" the little kitten cried.
Mommy's face softened, and she drew him very close into her arms. When he touched her face, he could have sworn he felt wetness there. "Just forget about it," she sobbed quietly. "Just forget about it and don't think about it. Don't think about it ever again. Just forget this day, okay Sweetie?"
But for little Lexuther, that would be very much impossible.
Alonzo and Mistoffelees reappeared in Alonzo's backyard, out of sight of the den. As Mistoffelees started to stroll over to the car calmly, Alonzo caught him by the arm. Mistoffelees turned around to see what the problem was.
"Mistoffelees, please, just tell me what you're going to do to him."
Mistoffelees shrugged nonchalantly, his earlier outrage seemingly forgotten. "I'm not going to hurt him, if that's what you mean. I'm not even really going to do anything to him. I'll just introduce myself, and sort of ... get him used to the idea of magic." He then turned around and headed toward the den. Alonzo hesitated. He wasn't sure if this was what he really wanted, but he didn't really have a choice now, did he? Besides, what if Lex lost control of himself, like he had this morning? He could be dangerous if he didn't know what he was doing.
As Mistoffelees walked to the side of the car Lex was situated in, Alonzo crept toward the other. Victoria was going to need some convincing if this was going to go smoothly.
Lex still sat in the arms of his mother, saying, "I don't know what you're talking 'bout! And I gotta know how he did that!" when all of a sudden, the black and white face popped into his view through the window again. But this time, Lex felt, it was somehow different. He stopped struggling with Mommy and focused his attention on the face. It was definitely the same cat that had alarmed him before, but now he was different somehow. Now he couldn't believe this cat was bad! He certainly didn't seem bad now. He seemed really warm and friendly, and his smile appeared knowing and sincere. Lex actually felt drawn to him; he had to meet this cat!
Mommy apparently felt none of this. "Mistoffelees!" she cried, alarmed and enraged. "Get out! Get out of here! I never want to see you again!"
But she was suddenly stopped by the sudden appearance of Daddy in the car window behind her. "Vicks, sweetie, just let him talk to Lex –"
"No! That tom ruined my life! I won't have him talking to my kitten! He – !"
"Victoria, just come out here and talk to me!" Daddy reached in through the open window and forcibly pulled Mommy out, leaving Lex alone in the den.
"That's better," the mysterious tuxedo said as he climbed into the recently vacated car seat.
Lex looked out the window after his mother. Daddy was taking her by the paw out into the backyard, out of earshot. "Mommy," he started, but he was interrupted by the soft voice of the other cat with him.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," he said as he forced Lex to look up at him.
Why or how he did not know, but suddenly, all thoughts of concern for Mommy simply flew out of his head, and he was filled only with curiosity about this new cat.
"How'd – how'd you do that?" Lex asked him, stuttering.
He smiled knowingly, friendly as family. "Do what?"
Lex pointed out the window where he'd seen the tuxedo and his father disappear. "That. When you made you and Daddy disappear."
The smile grew even broader. In a tiny whisper, he uttered, "Magic."
It was as though the simple word had caused a blossoming feeling inside him. It triggered a wonderful, ecstatic feeling, but also insatiable curiosity, and moreover, a need to know how to do that ...
Mistoffelees watched in wonder as his words touched the kitten in ways he'd known they would. In watching him, he was in a way reliving his own monumental discovery of his powers. Of course, this would be far different.
Lexuther still sat dumbstruck. Mistoffelees broke the silence: "I heard you did something big today."
The sound of his voice brought Lex back to the present. He frowned and said, "I think so, but I dunno what happened. I can't remember. I think Mommy and Daddy know, but they won't tell me."
"They don't want you to know."
This brought Lex to full attention. His gaze snapped to Mistoffelees, and he asked with big kitten eyes, "Do you know? Can you tell me?"
As an answer, Mistoffelees only smiled that broad smile. He held his paws over the space between them, and when he brought them away, Lex gasped as he saw the bright green ball he'd conjured. "I'll bet," Mistoffelees whispered, "that if you tried really hard, just poured your whole self into it, you could make the ball float in the air."
He saw the kitten's breath hitch as his mind fumbled with this new trick. Mistoffelees could literally see the kit's fledging power. It appeared as a green vapor, and prodded the ball under Lexuther's unconscious control. Sweat came to his forehead, but after a few moments, his eyes widened as he saw the ball levitate first an inch, then two , then three, then six, and finally rested twelve inches in the air.
It dropped to the seat when he started thinking about it too much, but his eyes remained wide open with shock. "Did I – did I just - ?" he stuttered.
Mistoffelees, still smiling broadly, nodded amusedly. "You just did magic."
He watched smugly as Lex's mind boggled with the implications of magic. Suddenly, he looked up and asked, "What's your name?"
He answered with a wicked grin. "Mistoffelees."
Alonzo stopped forcing Victoria away from the car when he was reasonably sure that they were in a part of the junkyard where they could not be overheard.
"What do you think you're doing?" Victoria demanded when her mate stopped. "Alonzo! Lex is alone with Mistoffelees! I have to get back there!" She turned to run back to the den, but Alonzo deftly caught her wrist. "Let go!" she called, but he grabbed her by the shoulders now and forced her to look at him.
"Victoria! Victoria, listen to me!" She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to listen, but he spoke anyway. "Victoria, Lex has magic! We can't do anything about that. Mistoffelees can – "
Victoria's eyes flew open and she yelled, "No! We don't have to do anything about it! He doesn't have to use it!"
Alonzo frowned. "Victoria," he started in a softer voice. "Lex incinerated a mouse today, and he didn't even know he had powers. Imagine what he could do once he knows. Do you want him to be a danger to other cats?"
"But that's why he can't know! He doesn't have to – "
"You want him to go without knowing his greatest gift?"
Alonzo looked around abrubtly. He had not said that, he knew Victoria hadn't, and there was certainly no one in the small clearing around them. That left one cat ...
"Mistoffelees?" Alonzo called questioningly.
"Yes?" the answer came, sounding so innocent. Again, the voice seemed to come from nowhere.
Alonzo sighed in frustration. "Mistoffelees, have you been listening to our whole conversation?"
"Why shouldn't I? You're talking about me. I'm just projecting my thoughts about your conversation to you at the same time as I talk with Lexuther."
"Leave my kitten alone!" Victoria shouted, but Alonzo shushed her.
"Mistoffelees," he started, "What do you mean, 'greatest gift'?"
"Magic is the greatest gift a cat can have. I won't even try to explain. You wouldn't understand. But I understand that you wouldn't want anyone to know about him, and I can help. I can teach him to use it safely."
Victoria, who had seemingly given up on yelling at Mistoffelees, and was now more filled with concern for her kitten, asked, "Can't he just not use it? Forget about it?"
Alonzo could have sworn he heard Mistoffelees snicker. "Are you kidding? No, there's no way he can just 'forget' about magic. If he doesn't use his power, it will find its own ways to get out, and you really don't want that."
Both parents sighed. They were thinking the same thought: there would be no getting around this. Their kitten had magic. In actuality, it posed two problems, the first being that if anyone else in the junkyard knew, Lex would be promptly banished, no matter how young he was. The second was that in addition to being a danger to themselves and others, magical cats tended to have ... less than moral habits.
"Mistoffelees!" Alonzo suddenly said with authority. "You'll teach him only to control it! Nothing else! Understand?"
"Your wish is my command."
There was a momentary lull as the voice faded away. Then Victoria burst into tears.
"Mistoffelees?" Lex questioned. The older cat nodded. Though Lex couldn't have explained why, the name sounded fitting, somehow.
Lexuther smiled. Everything felt so good! He couldn't believe what he'd just done! If he could do that, maybe he could do some more magic! But how would he do that? Then he looked up at the tuxedo. He could do magic, too! Maybe he could -
"Lexuther?" Daddy asked as he climbed into the den. He sat down on the backseat, with Lex between him and Mistoffelees. "Lex, this is my old friend – "
"Daddy! Daddy! Look what I can do!" Lex called in excitement, cutting off Daddy's attempt at introductions. He crawled down to the floor of the car and came back up with the green ball in his mouth. Setting it down on the seat, he cried, "Watch this!" With that, he tried to recapture that feeling that had shot through him when he made the ball fly the first time. But, try as he might, the ball stayed firmly where it was. "I did it before!" Lex said when he gave up in frustration and pouted.
"You're just tired. You used a lot of magic today." Mistoffelees said. "Don't worry. Get some rest. You'll be able to do more tomorrow."
Daddy cringed. "What did you do?" he asked hesitantly.
"I made it fly!"
Daddy looked sharply at Mistoffelees, who nodded. Then he looked back at Lex. "Lexuther, you did magic? On purpose?"
Lex nodded proudly. "Uh-huh! Wait 'till I show - !"
"No!" Daddy suddenly interrupted him. He drew Lex into his lap and held him in his arms. "Listen Lex," he whispered. "If you can do magic, you can't tell anybody about it."
"I can't?"
"No, you can't."
"Not even Mommy?"
"You can tell Mommy. Mommy already knows you can."
"But why can't I tell anyone?"
"Well ..." Daddy started, but Mistoffelees interrupted him.
"Other cats are afraid of us," he said.
Lex looked up at him. "Afraid?" he asked.
Mistoffelees nodded. Daddy went on: "Lex, just listen. Mommy and Daddy know you better than anyone else. We know you're a really nice cat. But if some other cats knew you could make the ball fly, they might not like you. They might even make you go away forever."
"But ... why?" Lex asked, ever the inquisitive kitten.
"Because ... because there are some other cats with magic who aren't very nice." Daddy glared at Mistoffelees as he said this, but Mistoffelees only raised his eyebrows innocently. Daddy turned back to Lex. "Just ... please, Lex. You can't tell anybody."
Lex looked at the ground, dejected, but muttered, "Okay, fine."
Mistoffelees put his paw under Lex's chin and brought his gaze up to meet his own. "Listen to me," he whispered. "What the other cats think doesn't matter. You know you are great. And that's what counts."
With Lex comforted and his first lesson time arranged for a later date on neutral terretory outside the junkyard, Daddy and Lex went to go get Mommy, and Mistoffelees left to go ... well, Lex didn't really know where his new teacher went.
He hoped, with all kittenish innocence, that he would find out soon.
"HOW COULD HE?" Mistoffelees screamed in an unearthly voice when he reached his private chambers in Macavity's current building of operation. "HOW COULD HE?" In rage he reached with his power to a vase resting on a table and sent it flying across the room to shatter in pieces against the wall. "HE KNEW I LOVED HER!" A stack of papers burst into roaring blue flames. "I LOST EVERYTHING FOR HER!" The window shattered, and cold air whipped into the room, blowing like a whirlwind. "HOW COULD HE HAVE A KITTEN WITH HER?" A mirror bubbled and cracked, having been struck by lighting from Mistoffelees' paw. "I'LL MAKE HIM PAY! I'LL MAKE HIM PAY!"
Macavity, probably sensing the monumental outburst of magic in his offices, appeared in the corner, surveying the damage to the room. Upon seeing him, Mistoffelees let the wind die down, but he still visibly seethed. It took tremendous effort not to show his embarrassment at having been caught wasting his magic. Finally, with one eyebrow raised, Macavity inquired dryly, "Did you find the kitten?"
Mistoffelees sighed. "Yes," he muttered, trying to maintain professional dignity through his rage. "His name is Lexuther, three months old. We've arranged for him to take lessons from me, only so that he may control himself. His parents are against magic, though they have no fear of him."
Macavity looked around his son's room, his eyebrows raised, asking a silent question.
Mistoffelees continued. "His parents are Victoria and Alonzo."
Macavity's eyes widened slightly with surprise, though that was the only indication he felt any emotion whatsoever. He knew quite a bit about Victoria and Alonzo from what Mistoffelees had told him. "Well," he muttered, having considered the situation. "I hope I taught you well enough for you to know what to do. And try not to ruin my building. I'm still using it." And with that, he stalked out of the room.
Mistoffelees watched him go, then collapsed on the pile of cussions that served as his bed, taking no notice of the room's state of dissarray. He was being foolish. Why destroy his quarters when there were so many more ... productive ... ways of spending his time? An eerie smile crept over his face
And it could be ever so much more fun...