~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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."