Alter Ego

Alter-Ego


By: Xhalioverra

A small warning: There is one part in this story that gets a little gruesome, but I tried not to elaborate on it too much so don't worry. Oh--- Jemima and Mistoffelees are going together in this story, just to let you know. Enjoy! ^..^

"I know I can do this! I've done it before." For some reason he just couldn't get it right. He tried again. Turn, turn, turn... Zhapang! "Why can't I hit my mark??"

Mistoffelees was practicing a certain manuever that he was planning to do at the Ball. He had been successful with it at least twice before, but after various other attempts he firmly believed that it was just a fluke, that he didn't really know how he had done it at the time. He was getting a bit frustrated.

"Ok. One more time and I quit." He got into his starting position, eyed the target (a hole-filled dart board) and... Turn, turn, turn... Zhapang! This time he burned his fingers since he was trying harder than was necessary. He also missed his mark again but the worst of it was that he had hit a piece of a mirror that was propped up next to the dart board. His lightening bolt reflected off of it and struck him, knocking him off his feet so that he landed hard on his rump.

"Ooooh, that stings!" he thought to himself, not having been hit by one of his own lightening bolts before. Rather upset with his decomplishments, he stood up, dusted himself off and went to look for the other cats. He didn't get very far before he thought he heard a chuckle behind him.

He whirled around, surprised because he hadn't sensed anyone there while he was practicing. He shrugged it off and warily turned to walk away, still listening.

"Hey! Aren't you going to help me out of here?"

Misto turned quickly, ears erect. "Where are you?" he demanded, but he saw no movement besides his own reflection in the mirror. He stood still, eyes darting back and forth. Seeing nothing but still wondering, he sat down pondering the situation and flicked his tail in confusion. Then a strange revelation came over him. He looked at the mirror again and flicked his tail in an exaggerated motion. His reflection did not move. "Hey, what is this????" he said, backing up in startled disbelief.

"What are you staring at? You've seen yourself a million times before haven't you?" his reflection mocked.

Misto didn't know what to do. "How did..."

"Would you mind giving me a paw?" The image waited with his paw protruding from the mirror.

"Um, ok.." Dumbfounded, Misto took hold of the paw and pulled as hard as he could.

"Oh, come on! You can do better than that, can't you?" the image teased. He stuck his other paw out of the mirror and somehow pulled himself out. They stood face to face for a moment. "Of all cats to be a reflection of... " the image mumbled. "Well, anyway, I gotta go live. See ya later." He started to walk away.

"Hey, wait a minute..." Misto started after him. His reflection turned around with a smirk on his face.

"Do me a favor, kit. Don't follow me around. Now, go somewhere. I have to find... Jemima," he said in a malicious tone, and he continued to walk away. Misto wasn't sure what to make of this. He tried to think through it logically.

"This cat is not my reflection as far as personality. And why does he need to find Jemima?" Then, with a gasp, "He probably knows everything I know!"

"Yes, Misto. Everything!!" the image suddenly thought back to him. That scared Misto, to have this... reflection reading his thoughts. He momentarily looked back at the mirror of which he was standing right in front of, seeing no one there. Then he went after his reflection again.

"Would you stop for a minute!?" Misto waited while his double swaggered back over to him. "Ok. You seem to be my alter ego..."

"Look. I know you're slow so I'll explain it myself. Yes, I am your alter ego. Yes, I know everything you know. No, I am no longer your reflection. I am my own cat now so you can call me Seeleffotsim... need I explain that?"

Mistoffelees didn't like Seeleffotsim at all now. He needed to find Munkustrap. This... cat could probably ruin his life.

"And I will if you don't stay away from me. Munkustrap?? Really, Misto, can't you take care of anything by yourself?" That little remark came a little too close to home.

"Fine then! You're going back in the mirror, right now!!" Misto pounced, not thinking. Seel easily dodged him, knowing that he would do that.

"Listen, I'll make a deal with you," Seel said, quietly. "If you stay hidden from view at all times, I won't ruin your so-called life. It's my life now, got it? If you do anything to stop me, just remember that I know things about you that they don't. Certain tidbits of information from before you became a Jellicle cat..."

"OK, ok, I will stay out of view and I won't do anything," Misto quickly answered, defeatedly. His alter ego laughed at this. Before running off, he stared at Misto for a moment.

"Ya know, you are sickeningly innocent," he said in a nasty voice, and took off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seel was ready for some fun. He had absolutely no intention of keeping his word to Mistoffelees. He wanted to ruin whatever he could, not for any particular reason, it just had to be done. He decided that his first line of mischief would involve Jemima. He smiled at this and went to look for the bright-eyed kitten.

Jemi and Electra were playing with a ball of yarn that Jennyanydots had given to them, giggling and laughing the way they always did. Seel stood behind the car watching the display and wondering how he could foul up Misto's relationship. He quickly put together a plan and began his mission.

"Hi, Jemi, Electra." The two kittens were resting for a minute as he walked up to them.

"Hi, Misto," Jemi greeted him. She started to walk to him, but he passed right by her and laid down next to Electra.

"Um, Hello... Misto," Electra said uncertainly, looking at Jemi. Seel looked deep into Electra's eyes, googly-eyed and grinning. "Hello, Electra."

Jemi, thinking that he was just being silly, sat down next to "Misto". Meanwhile, Mistoffelees himself was seated high atop a junkpile watching his deceptive reflection angrily. He thought about jumping down and pouncing on him...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Seel thought to him, still grinning at the unsuspecting Electra. He was between the two kittens with Jemi snuggling up against him for attention. He rolled over onto his side so that his back was to Jemi and he faced Electra. "Would you like to go with me later for dinner?"

Jemi thought for sure that he was joking around and poked him in the back. "Very funny."

"Not now Jemima, I'm busy," he said rather curtly. His seriousness startled Jemi and upset Misto from the junkpile over head. He started to stand up...

"No, Misto. You do remember what I know, right?" the alter ego thought, threateningly. Misto immediately sat back down, feeling a bit cowardly. "Come on, Electra. We'll have a good time." Then, he put his paws around her neck and kissed her wholeheartedly. Jemima gasped, as did Mistoffelees, silently. Electra pulled away, smacking "Misto", then stomped away with Jemi following, "I can't believe he did that...!!"

When they had walked far enough away, Misto made his way down the pile, making sure no one else was around. He plopped down on the ground, hissing at Seel.

"Why did you do that!? We made a deal!!"

"Aww, Misto. You really are slow," Seel drawled in a mockingly apologetic tone. "Misto, like I said, you are disgustingly innocent... and I..." with a devilish grin, "am your alter ego." He bounded away just in time as Electra came back alone to confront the magician.

"Misto, why did you do that? Jemi... not to mention, myself... is really mad at you now."

"Electra, I know you won't believe me, but that wasn't me, I promise, I didn't..."

"Oh, I suppose it was your evil twin!"

"YES!! I mean..." then, starting at the beginning to try to convince her, "Ya see, I was practicing my magic and I accidently..." Misto was interrupted by Seel ---- in his thoughts again.

"Misto, I wouldn't do that if I were you. I remember a long time ago..."

"OK!!!" Misto thought back, furiously. Then back to Electra, "Electra, I'm very sorry for what I did, " he mumbled, searching for words. "I don't know what came over me. It was a really stupid joke."

"You're telling me."

Misto felt awful. "Where's Jemima? I've got to apologize to her."

"You're darn right you do. She's under the big tire... crying." Electra stomped away. Misto cringed at her remark and slowly began to walk towards the tire... but Seel stopped him. "Ackk. Go away."

"No. You go away," Seel retorted. Misto felt an "or else" in the back of his mind and walked away, feeling totally threatened. Seel walked over to Jemima. She sensed him but didn't look up. He sat down next to her and she started to scoot away.

"Jemima, I want you to know that I... I meant what I did over there. You're a nice kitten... really, you are. But, to tell you the truth, I would much rather be with Electra." Then, almost too simply, "You were starting to get boring." Jemima, wide-eyed, looked up at him on the last comment. He walked away nonchalantly, leaving her in tears, and Misto, mad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misto had run far enough away to avoid having his thoughts overheard. "This is not fair!! Why is he doing this???" He was not only outsmarted by his own reflection, but now IT was in complete control. It didn't help that he was arrogant and wallowing in triumph in Misto's face. But there was no way that Misto would do anything to trigger any intentions involving his past. It was all he had, as bad as it was, and he wasn't about to let his own reflection give it away. Besides,.there was too much back there for others to know, too much that would... No. He couldn't think about those times. Right now, he had to figure up a way to outsmart his alter ego. He was going to prove to him (and himself) that he could solve problems on his own.

"Well, I can't actually do anything to him because he'll know what I'm doing from my thoughts." He started to pace back and forth. Spring was in full bloom and many flowers had opened with bees buzzing about. As he paced back the other way he noticed a catnip plant. "Hmmm..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Seel was creating more sinkholes in Misto's "so-called life". He found the Tugger sleeping soundly on the car trunk. Perfect. He quietly crept onto the car and sat down. An object appeared in his paws and shined in the sunlight. Then quickly, he began cutting away.

Misto had finished setting up his plan and made his way back to the center of the junkyard, still hidden from view. He saw Seel up on the car with Tugger and though he couldn't quite see what his reflection was doing, he could hear pieces of fur being cut...

Tugger opened his eyes to see "Misto" hovering over him. "What are you... AAAGHHH!!!!" Seel disappeared in a puff of smoke, but not without a snicker. "HOW DARE YOU!!! OOOH, WHERE DID HE GO, I'M GONNA KILL HIM!!!" Tugger frantically felt over his now drastically decreased mane. It was like he never had one! Very much humiliated, he ran straight home, not wanting to be seen by any other cats.

Now, that quite angered Mistoffelees, and he was sure that Seel had probably done something else while he was gone, but he had to go through with his plan and finish this charade before anything else could happen. No one else was around so he could talk to him for a minute. He had to be sure and clear his mind of any thoughts that might reveal his plan.

"Seel! I know you're here. Show yourself." A swirl of mist appeared in front of him and Seel came into view.

"Yes, Misto? Do you need something? More explanations? Or maybe a life?" Misto managed to ignore him. He had to concentrate on thinking and sounding sincere.

"Seel, why are you doing this?"

"Like I said, you are horribly innocent, and I am your alter ego."

"Aren't you afraid that somebody will figure you out?"

"Ah, but they never will, will they, Misto? Because there are too many memories, aren't there? Memories that would..."

Misto threw his arms up in the air. "I give up!! It's your life now, ok? I'm going home." He began to walk away.

"No. I'm going home." Swishing his tail arrogantly, he brushed by Misto and started walking home. Misto walked away in the other direction until he felt free of Seel's mind.

"He fell for it." Misto layed down, hidden behind the giant tire and waited for Seel to come back later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He couldn't believe how easy it was. Ever since he came to life when Misto zapped the mirror, his only agenda was to do away with Misto's innocent reputation so that he could live the way he wanted to. Eventually he would have to do away with Misto all together. If he had his choice in reflections, it would not have been Misto, but he realized that this was probably one of the easiest cats to get rid of.

He finally got to Misto's large top hat that would serve as his abode until he could find a better place. He stepped in and saw a catnip plant lying on the floor.

"Now why didn't I know about this?" He said to himself, searching his mind for any memory of catnip plants. It smelled so tempting that he couldn't help but nibble at it a little.

"No harm in just a little piece." But it was irresistible and he soon found himself taking large bites out of it until he had enough. He had become decreasingly less alert, and his common sense was not so common anymore. He left the stem on the floor and came out of the top hat, wavering a bit but he didn't notice.

"HICCUP!! Oh, excuse me..." he slurred to no one, tripping along with a drunken grin on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many cats were in the center of the junkyard now, most of them talking about Misto. He was still hidden from view under the tire, and he had held his scent in so that no one could sense him. He really wanted to just explain everything to them but he knew it wouldn't work, and he had to finish his plan anyway.

"He's never done anything like that before." Jemima was telling the other kittens about what had happened with her and Electra earlier that day. They were gossiping pretty harshly about him so he chose not to listen to that conversation. There was another group of cats on the car... including Etcetera... investigating the fur that Tugger had left behind. And there was yet another group talking about something Misto did not witness.

"But why would Misto do such a thing?" Jellylorum asked.

"Well, he does like to occasionally play with yarn, but why he would take my best spools and roll them in the mud... I don't know," Jennyanydots answered, shaking her head.

"HICCUP!!" All of the cats stopped and stared as Seel made his entrance known. He could walk without bumping into too many things, but he was drunk enough not to sense that Misto was there somewhere.

"Wha' s ever'body starin' at?" Seel tried to say.

"Misto, are you ok? You look a little... off," Munkustrap said as he approached him.

"I'm fine. You're a li'l off." Munkus glared at the drunken tom and sniffed him briefly.

"You've been eating catnip. Misto, what's wrong with you? Why have you been causing so much trouble lately?"

"Because he's not Misto. I am!!" Mistoffelees slipped out of his hiding place. His plan had worked. Seel was now in a state of mind where he probably couldn't remember any of Misto's past if he tried, therefore he didn't pose a threat to him.

"This, I regret to inform you, is my reflection, Seeleffotsim." Seel tried to lunge at him but he tripped over himself instead. The cats were amazed by the sight of two Mistoffeleeses. They didn't know which one to blame for all the incidents.

"Listen. I apologize for everything that my reflection did. He blackmailed me into letting him be me and then caused all of this trouble."

"Hey, Misto," Seel was regaining some of his memory, "Do you remember the time when..."

"NO!! I am not going to let you control me with my past any longer!" Misto, having the upper paw now, lept at Seel. They tumbled about on the ground, yowling and clawing at each other. Munkus wanted to break them up, but they were so into it that he really didn't want to get between them. Then Seel managed to get loose and took off away from everyone, but Misto wasn't going to let him get away. He chased him up a junkpile and he would have nabbed him if Seel had not fallen off of his perch. Misto jumped off the pile and Seel moved away just in time before Misto landed on the ground.

Seel ran and ran, knowing how mad Misto was at the moment, and since he was not very alert, he didn't want to have to fight him. His sense of direction had also evaded him for the time being so he was running unaware of what was coming up ahead. They were going pretty fast now.

"SEEL!!! You'd better hope I don't catch up with you..." Misto yelled furiously. Then, at a sudden change of heart, "Seel, stop!" They were coming to the edge of the junkyard. "Stop now, Seel! It's dangerous over there!!"

Seel had completely shut out Misto's voice as he was running scared. Still somewhat drunk, he knew his surroundings were changing but he wasn't paying attention. He jumped over a small pile of junk and was suddenly in open air. He landed on a sidewalk much to his surprise.

"SEEEEEEL!!!!!!!!!!" But it was too late. Poor Misto did not need to see what happened next; he would never forget it. His reflection had sprinted into the road and was immediately run over by a car. Other cars unmercifully followed, mashing his body into the asphalt. Misto could not handle it. Sinking to the ground for support, he vomited unyieldingly.

Munkustrap had followed them to the sidewalk. When he caught up with Misto, whose face couldn't have gotten any whiter, he glanced across the street. The sight of Mistoffelees' reflection lying on the ground, twisted at such a gruesome angle, was terribly eerie. He looked away, feeling a little sick himself. Misto was crying now, still gagging a bit as Munkustrap helped him to his feet.

"I tried to.. to get him to stop but he didn't hear... he didn't hear me... shouldn't have chased him this far.. I didn't mean for this to happen, I just..." Misto felt his esophagus begin to flood again as the pungent odor of drying blood began to seep across the road. When he finished, Munkustrap, who was covering his own nose, put Misto's arm around his shoulders to steady him, and led him back into the junkyard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The others were still chattering when Munkus and Misto came back, both looking a little ill. When Jelly saw Misto, all scratched up and one paw holding his stomach, she rushed over to help him. Jenny went to make sure Munkus was alright.

"My goodness, Mistoffelees, what happened??" Jelly asked, putting a paw on his shoulder.

"My-- my reflection..." was all he could manage. The cats came closer to listen. Munkus picked up for Misto.

"His reflection ran into the road and... and was hit by a car." Misto inhaled deeply as he tried not to remember what that looked like.

"Oh, my..." Jelly gasped. The initial reaction of most of the cats was shock. Then a lot of them slowly began to wonder if this was not the alter ego, but when he finally fainted they decided that it was Misto. Munkus and Alonzo carried him to Jelly's place so that she could clean his scratches. He slept until nightfall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, he's awake now. Hello, Misto," Jemima greeted the blurry-eyed tom. She soothingly licked the fur between his ears, "How are you feeling?" He looked around first. Jelly's place. Night time. What happened? Oh. Yeah...

"Queasy."

Jelly felt his forehead for a temperature, "I thought so. Well, you can stay here for the night if you need to."

"I think I will."

"Alright. I'll leave you two alone then. Please try to get some sleep," she winked, and she went to bed. It was quiet for a few minutes as Jemima stroked Misto's fur. He wanted to sleep, but he was obviously wide awake.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Jemi offered. Misto closed his eyes only to open them again.

"I can't get the picture out of my mind. When I close my eyes, it's even more visible." What picture, Jemi thought before Mistoffelees continued. "It was like... it was like seeing myself getting killed..." he tapered off. Jemima shuddered at the thought of seeing herself getting killed like that. She changed the subject for his sake.

"How did he come about, anyway?"

"Oh. Well, I was practicing this morning, and I... Hey. I have to check something." He jumped up, regretting it for a second since he was still a little queasy, and snuck out with Jemima behind him. He half-walked, half-trotted across the junkyard to the area where he was working on his maneuver.

"What is so urgent that you have to check right this minute?" Jemi asked as they stopped in front of the mirror. Misto stood there, flicking his tail emphatically and staring at himself for what Jemi thought to be an obsessive amount of time. He just wanted to be sure...

"Jemima, do you see my reflection?"

"Well, of course I do. What's wrong?"

Misto smiled. "Nothing, thank goodness."

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