The Original Conjuring Cat

Chapter 3

aka tugger worries about his man for an entire chapter
Sitting where Mr. Mistoffelees had formerly been sitting, a small, scared looking black and gray cat. He wore a tophat and a jacket, with a large bow tie around his neck. He also stared directly into The Rum Tum Tuggers eyes without moving. This might be because The Rum Tum Tugger had started to slowly growl and bear his teeth- and no, not the sexy growl that was reserved for singing and in the den, but a threatening growl.
Tugger slowly moved closer to where this stranger sat, surrounded by Mistoffelees glitter. The strange cat continued to cower in fear.
Just as he was about to grab him by the nape of the neck to drag him back to the junkyard, where Old Dueteronomy could obviously solve the problem and bring back Mistoffelees, the cat shouted, "Wait!"
He stopped.
"You- Your Rum Tum Tugger, right?" He questioned. He had a strange accent, and you could hear the quavering in his voice.
The Rum Tum Tugger caught him in a strong grip at that moment, holding him down against the ground.
"How the hell do you know my name?" He growled. "And what did you do with Mr. Mistoffelees?"
The smaller cat gasped for breath under his hold. "P-please- Sir- Let me breathe-"
He loosened up on the grip, but only slightly, for the Great Rum Tum Tugger could tell that this cat was not to trust.
"I AM Mr. Mistoffelees. O-or, well, yeah. I-well, I just don't like the Mister part that much."
The Rum Tum Tugger frowned. "That's it, you're coming back with me to the junkyard. Old Dueteronomy will know exactly what to do with you."
"Deuteronomy? Oh, good! She knows who I am!" The cat exclaimed.
"Well, you obviously don't know him." He growled in reply, before starting to drag him back along the sidewalk by his neck. The sun was starting to rise, which meant they had to hurry before everyone returned back to their human homes for the day.
"Him? But Old Deuteronomy is a nice old queen! She's lived nearly 99 lives, you know."
With a sigh, The Rum Tum Tugger dropped the other cat to the ground again. "You must be deaf, Old Deuteronomy is a tom, and he has had 99 wives, all of which he has had to bury. Now come along now, dar-" He paused. This was a strange cat, not his Mr. Mistoffelees, although he claimed to be him. If this really was Mistoffelees, that would mean the other tom would know that he always called him darling, dear, and other affectionate names, while calling The Rum Tum Tugger names like bore, stupid, idiot, and kitten in return. It was quite cute, really, if you asked him.
So, here it was, the true test. How would this cat, who claims to be Mr. Mistoffelees, react to being called the pet names that the two always flirt around with?
"What was that?" The imposter questioned.
He turned towards the smaller tom. "We have to go find Old Deuteronomy, darling."
"E-excuse me?" He stuttered.
The Rum Tum Tugger smirked. "I knew there was something off about you."
"What?!?"
Tugger pulled him up to stare into his eyes. "Your. Not. Mistoffelees."
--
When Tugger walked in dragging a tuxedo cat behind him, Munkustrap knew that something was wrong. The only Jellicle- or cat in the area, really- that had that pattern was Mr. Mistoffelees, and The Rum Tum Tugger would never hurt a hair on that tom's body.
They had just been finishing up the last few tasks and were about to all either go to sleep or head home when the younger tom had marched in, his mane fluffed up to its fullest. His tail was held high, but not out of pride- it was pointed straight, as he was obviously at his highest sense.
"Tugger, what's going on?" Asked one of the queens. Most of them are here during the night, sleeping either with Jennyanydots and the kittens, or in the dens that they have made themselves. This is generally only if they have kits, are going to have kits, or are too old to make it home during the time around the ball. For example, Bombalurina always goes back to her home during the day, while Demeter, who is younger than her, stays in a den with the second in command.
The queens that were currently in the junkyard went over to see what was happening. The kittens were currently off somewhere, still playing. Demeter, Exotica, Jellylorum, and Jennyanydots were slowly closing in on the two cats.
Jellylorum let out a little gasp as she saw the black cat sitting on the ground. "Why, that's just Me. Mistoffelees!" She cried.
"No, no, no." Meowed Exotica. "That looks nothing like Mistoffelees. Have you ever seen that magician wearing such a silly looking hat?"
"Mr. Mistoffelees jacket doesn't look anything like that," Jennyanydots said in agreement. "His sparkles and turns many different colors, especially when he gets excited." She squinted at the imposter. "I've seen it turn red when he's scared. It's not turning red, which means that that is not Mr. Mistoffelees jacket!"
Munkustrap, who had just been fetched by Demeter, peaked around the crowd of queens. "That means that this is not Mistoffelees."
"But he claims that he is, and I knew he wasn't, so I brought him here because I will not bring him back to the home." Tugger said snootily.
"A completely understandable decision," started Munkustrap, "But what if he's working for Macavity?"
"I- What? I would- Would never work for Macavity!" cried the figure from the ground. "We had to fight him off last year, when he kidnaped cats! You- You must remember that, Munkustrap! You helped fight him and his henchmen off!"
Munkustrap frowned. "He tried to kidnap Demeter many times, but he only succeeded in taking Old Deuteronomy. We got him back when you performed your magic."
"Well, yes, but- well- that took ma-many tries, and, well, it was hard to do..." He trailed off.
The Rum Tum Tugger frowned. "It didn't take many tries. It took you one try, and you even told me after the ball how you did it. I remember you saying that it was easy but risky." He looked at the other cats, as if to prove his point. "You see, this isn't Mistoffelees! This is some imposter, or Macavity or one of his henchmen in disguise!"
"Well, brother, what happened?" The other tom asked calmly.
"We were walking back when it started storming, like it is now. Mistoffelees stopped, and said something was wrong, that something wasn't right, when suddenly, there was lightning and then thunder and all of the lights on the street went out! When they came back on, he was gone!"
Tugger took a deep breath, calming down from telling his tale. "And, in his place, was whoever this is."
"My name is Mistoffelees!" The black cat cried, angry that no one was listening to him.
The second in command took a deep breath as well. "Tugger, thank you for telling us immediately. We will talk with the rest of the tribe once night has fallen and everyone can get out of the house. For now, we will rest." He turned to the strange cat that claimed he was Mistoffelees. "You will have to be put somewhere you will not escape. I know there's a cage somewhere, because the actual Mr. Mistoffelees set it up so that it would catch Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer if they tried to crash another song this year. We will put you in there for the night." He turned again, this time in the direction of his brother. "I would suggest you stay here tonight as well. You're stressed, no need to lead an enemy back to your resting place."
Once everyone had nodded in agreement, they all parted ways. Munkustrap, Demeter, and The Rum Tum Tugger took the tuxedo cat to what seemed to be a dog kennel, but would certainly hold a cat for the day.
As they settled down for the night, Munkustrap turned toward his brother once again.
"Tugger. Mr. Mistoffelees are going to be just fine. He can take care of himself."
The tom sighed. "I know, but I still worry about him. You know what he means to me, right Munku?"
"I know Tugger. I know."