Unrecognizable

~(The Real) Chapter Twenty-Three~

A week and a half earlier

⋮ᒷꖎꖎ╎ᒷ's POV-

She blinked her eyes open.

She happily mewed up at Scar, brushing her tail against his leg. It had taken him long enough to wake up! The sun had nearly fully risen! The cat dashed out of the quite literal treehouse and leaped off the side of the bridge into the lake. Quickly looking back to ensure Scar was following her, she dashed into the forest of bamboo. She had found a whole family of parrots over the night and couldn't wait to show Scar!

She was in a cell.

A sound of rockets filled the air, and she peeked out from behind a clump of bamboo. That wasn't Scar. No, it was Xisuma. The bee person stopped in front of her and crouched down. "Hey, Jellie," he said. She cocked her head. "I need you for a second. Okay?"

It was a small cell; one might be able to fit another one of her in it. It had a glass door.

She was being picked up by Xisuma. No, no, no! She had to show Scar the parrot family! One of them even looked like Grian's little bird! The cat struggled in Xisuma's arms, but he held tight and began to fly off, away from the village.

Two people stood outside of the cell, one in a black suit, and one in yellow armor.

Where was he going? This wasn't the way to his base, right? Surely not. In fact, this seemed to look like Mumbo's base. Why was Xisuma bringing her here?

She flicked her tail. She felt so terribly wrong, but so right at the same time.

What was this? A button? Xisuma placed her on a shelf and pressed a stone button, opening a door on the floor. There were stairs here? They weren't there before. She had to show Scar this when she got back home! Xisuma picked her back up and the two began to descend the staircase.

One of the people outside crouched down to meet her eye level. It was the one in the suit.

Soon enough, Xisuma arrived at the bottom. She glanced around. Huh. A laboratory? There was one-- no, two-- more people here. There was Mumbo, in some kind of... box, and... Mumbo? There were two Mumbos, and one had orange eyes. She mewed in confusion.

She knew this person, yet had only seen him once before. His orange eyes met her own. She blinked.

What was the green-eyed Mumbo doing in a box? He looked upset. Was he scared? She turned up to look at Xisuma. She meowed loudly. Hey, Xisuma! Mumbo's not happy in there. Can't you let him out? Apparently, Xisuma didn't understand her, because he just looked at the other Mumbo.

Something clicked. She smiled a bit.

She mewed again, pawing in the direction of the box normal Mumbo was in. The orange-eyed Mumbo turned to her and smiled. She didn't like that smile. Her tail fluffed up, and her eyes narrowed. She didn't like him. A low growl resonated in her throat. The other didn't frown though. He kept smiling. And Xisuma turned around. There was another box. A smaller box.

She stepped forward. The person outside smiled too, beckoning to the other.

What was that?

The suited person opened the glass cell door.

Xisuma opened up the top. He whispered something she couldn't quite make out, and then he began to lower her in the box. No. She didn't want to go in there. The cat struggled, her dull claws desperately clawing at Xisuma's armor. But they just bounced off, not leaving a scratch. Xisuma's eyes widened slightly, but she kept struggling. She kept fighting. But it didn't work. Xisuma dropped her into the box, shutting the lid quickly. Jellie was trapped.