The Original Conjuring Cat

Chapter 12

The thing about Mistoffelees is that he is a little bit of a perfectionist. Or maybe he just wants something to go right in his life for once? Maybe he's picking up all that stress that Munkustrap carts around every day.
Either way, Mistoffelees hates it when things get messed up, or no one listens to him, or the kits cause trouble, or Macavity appears; the list could go on.
During the tuxes first Ball as an official adult Tom, it had not gone how he had wanted it to. First, he hadn't gotten a song right away. Then, the kittens had continued causing trouble during Jennys song. Afterwards, Rum Tum Tugger had just had to arrive late and interrupt, and sure Mistoffelees loved him, but really? Just when he thought everything was going to go perfect?
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer had messed up the Pekes and Pollicles, Tugger had fucked up with the bagpipes that Skimbleshanks had taught him to play, and at that point Mistoffelees had almost been ready to blast the tom away with magic.
Getting away from all the minor interruptions, there was Macavity! He had completely ruined Mistoffelees first ball as an adult, and it hadn't been fun.
He guessed, really, that he had gotten his hopes up. This was supposed to be the ball that he opened the dance with his soon-to-be-mate, and maybe this was a bit self centered, but it seems that whenever Mistoffelees is supposed to get nice things, then they don't happen.
So here he is, stuck in some alternate universe, relying on some stranger who claims to have the same magic as him.
Speaking of that guy, he had turned off the 'hole', 'portal', whatever you want to call it, a while ago. The sun was now nearing the peak of the sky, shooting down through the dens entrance.
Honestly, Mistoffelees could leave the den. Get away from what was probabily sex happening behind him and hunt for breakfast, run around to wake himself up. A while ago, back in his own junkyard, Mistoffelees human had left out a mug of some kind of drink. It was still a little warm when she had left, and he had taken a few licks of it. Despite tasting bitter, it had woken him up almost immediately, and he would die just for a lick of it right now.
But the magic cat was too scared to leave the den. What if the portal to communicate with the other Mr. Mistoffelees only shows up in this one place?
How was he even supposed to trust the other magic cat? How did he even know that this cat is magic? What if the whole tribe was just playing some big prank on him?
What if he never got back at all? The other cat never did the magic, and he's stuck in this strange junkyard. He never gets to dance at the ball with Tugger, possibly never gets to see Tugger again. Or, you know, any of the other members of the tribe, from Old Deuteronomy to his young sister Victoria.
So, yes. Mistoffelees were worried. He was stressed. He was concerned. He wanted this to go perfect but he knew it wouldn't. He thought that Tugger might drop him during the ball. He was watching as a small black hole in the wall started to form and slowly grew by the second-oh. Finally!
Seconds before the 'black hole' completely opened up, Mistoffelees made sure to move just slightly. He didn't want anyone he knew to see some strangers behind him doing... that.
The quiet, nervous cat on the other side of the hole was finally in full view. When they had talked before, he had not even said a word.
Now, he looked even more scared. You could almost see him shaking, and he was holding his hat in his paws.
Before Mistoffelees could even say anything, the other Mistoffelees spoke up.
"Oh, I'm really not sure I can do this. I'm really sorry, but it took so much time for me to figure out how to make this part of the magic work!"
A voice from somewhere behind the stranger rang out, and Mr. Mistoffelees recognized the annoying cockney accent.
"It's true!" Rumpleteazer squeaked. "'E spent most o' his time sittin' 'ere an' mutterin' to 'imself!"
There was more muttering in the background. Mistoffelees couldnt see who was talking, as the position Mistoffelees 2.0  was in blocked most of the background, but he heard a bit of commotion. By commotion, he meant a small crash followed by some yelling.
Mistoffelees just sighed.
"Listen, I thought the same thing when I first had to use my magic. I've never done this trick either, but I've also never teleported the Jellicle Leader out of the hidden paws of Macavity."
Two-point-oh looked confused for a minute, before nodding slightly to himself.
"Ah, it took a lot of tries for me to do that magic. I think the difference is... I know my leader. Plus I had encouragement from, you know, my mate. The cats I consider friends. I don't know you at all. I can barely remember the names of the cats around me!" The magic cat took a deep breath. "I don't think this is going to work. It might be better for you to just... stay there, and for me to stay here."
It took all of Mistoffelees' willpower to not scream at this cat. Honestly, it was so frustrating to see, but that was mostly because, if he was being honest, this was exactly how he had felt last Jellicle Ball.
All that had been going through his mind had been, what if I can't do it? What if he doesn't reappear when I take the blanket off? What if everyone hates me? Would it be better if I just don't come down when Tugger sings for me? Somehow, he had avoided saying all those things out loud, mostly due to his pride. Sure, everyone thought that Tugger was the one with the ego, but Mistoffelees was nearly the same way.
At this point in time, Mistoffelees wasn't really thinking about his pride. Right now, he wanted to get home. He wanted to be in the loving arms of his tribe, practicing for the Jellicle Ball, which was only a day away. But most of all, he pitied this cat. Well, not really pitied, just wanted to help him.
This other cat reminded him of himself, and maybe that's because he was him. They were both magic, they had both performed the same 'trick', they were both Jellicles, but it was obvious that this other cat didnt have as much support as he did.
"Mr. Mistoffelees, if you can bring the Jellicle leader back, then I am sure you can bring yourself back," He started off with.
"I was scared when I had to do it as well. I thought that I was just going to be putting on a simple magic show, not saving the entire Jellicle Ball!"
Mistoffelees 2.0 laughed nervously. "Ah, I didn't think I was going to have a performance at all. I didn't really interact much with the other Jellicles at that time."
This elicited a shrug from the other cat. "Well, I'm sure you must talk to most of them now. And look right behind you, you've got The Rum Tum Tugger, Rumpleteazer, and Mungojerrie!"
Unfortunately, his consoling words didn't seem to be working. "Ah, well. I don't really speak to those cats. Besides, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer aren't even part of the tribe. They're the enemy!"
The tux just frowned at this. The twins here had retrieved that book for him, and seemed pretty neutral on sides. Perhaps they were more hostile towards cats who actually belonged here?
This was harder than Mistoffelees had originally planned. He had been going by what he knew, and assuming and hoping that things were similar for both of the Mistoffelees. Certainly, their leaders were the same!
"Well, who else is around you?" he questioned.
The other Mistoffelees fiddled with a hat in his paws. "There's these quiet twins, they won't stop staring at me. And, well, Old Deuteronomy is here. It's strange, though, because where I am, or was, you know, our Jellicle Leader is still named Old Deuteronomy, but... she's a Queen."
Despite being a little confused, Mistoffelees automatically perked up at the othe magic cats answers.
"Ah, Coricopat and Tantomile! And you have Old Deuteronomy there! They all have magic, you know? Maybe teamwork can help?"
Before he could encourage anything more, Coricopat had frantically pushed Mistoffelees 2.0 out of the way. The hole faded a bit before going back to its full size.
"If any of us other than him says any of those words, then whoosh, we are off to who-knows-where. This is a two-man job, and unless you want to perform another miracle to save the Jellicle Leader, then I would not suggest that."
For what felt like the thousandth time, Mistoffelees sighed.
"Can you not all give him a bit of help here?"
Coricopat shook his head. "None of us can read the paper, the fact that he can read the whole thing means that his magic is powerful enough for it to happen!"
From off-portal, Mistoffelees heard a faint voice say, "It is?"
Back into view came the other Mistoffelees.
"Is... is that how it works? You can only see it if your magic is strong enough?"
Mistoffelees nodded enthusiastically, glad that the other cat was finally getting it.
"That's how the story was told to me, so I'm assuming it applies to both of us."
The other cat's face fell a bit.
"...You're just assuming that's how it works? What if it doesn't?"
Quickly, Mistoffelees replied with, "I've changed my mind, I know that it will work. And you know what, were going to try it!"
The panicked look returned to two-point-ohs face.
"Wait, right now? But, I'm not prepared! What if it doesn't work!"
But the cat didn't even respond to the other ridiculous question.
"On the count of three, we both start at the same time, okay? One... Two... Three..."
At relatively the same time, they both started chanting. Unfortunately, Mistoffeleees could feel that it wasn't working. There was no tug at his magic, and no glitter fell down around him.
The cat on the other end sighed, recognizing that the magic hasn't worked.
"You see? It doesn't work, I knew I couldn't do it!" He voiced.
"No, we are going to do this again. When I was trying to bring Old Deuteronomy back, I messed up a bit. My magic didn't work every single time I called on it."
The Mistoffelees on the other side nodded slowly, agreeing to his statement.
"It went the same for me, I guess..."
"Great. Then we start again, the same way."
So, on the count of three, both cats began chanting again. This time, a few bits of Mistoffelees glitter fell around him, as usually happened when there was magic.
Unfortunately, that was about all that did happen.
Once again, the other cat sighed. However, before he could even complain or degrade himself, a cat spoke from behind Mistoffelees.
"Third times the charm, boys," purred The Rum Tum Tugger from this place. It brought yet another sigh and an eyeroll out of Mistoffelees, but he still repeated the tom's words.
"Third times the charm. I'm going to count it off once more. One.... Two... Three"
Again, at relatively the same time, both the cats started chanting. This time, more glitter gathered in Mistoffelees paws and on the floor around him. That would be a pain to remove, but it wasn't his problem, because he could feel the tug of magic in his body. Soon, Mistoffelees wouldn't be here anymore, and the glitter in the den would be long forgotten!
Slowly, the magic hole in the wall grew larger, until it completely surrounded Mistoffelees. Every other cat seemed to vanish from his view, and he felt as though he were left floating in the air.
Still, he continued chanting, and suddenly, he heard another voice, doing the same thing.
Mistoffelees didn't stop the words, but he did give the other Mistoffelees a good, solid nod as they passed each other. For a good second, their movement seemed to freeze, and for a second, the magic cat got scared, before both the cats started moving again.
This time, everything seemed to zoom right on by. There were small flashes of glitter in some places, but he was sure not to become distracted, and at some point closed his eyes.
The air rushed in his ears, until finally, there was a small pop!
Everything was quiet, and slowly, scared, Mistoffelees opened his eyes, just a crack at first, before all the way.
Here he was, sitting in a human house, in a pile of glitter; and surrounding him were cats that he knew, cats whose scents he recognized!
Mistoffelees knew this Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, he knew who Tantomile and Coricopat were, and he was practically sitting in Old Deuteronomy's bed.
And, last but not least, was The Rum Tum Tugger, who looked like he just might cry, ego be damned.
The large manned tom rushed at him, tackling the magic cat and sending a puff of glitter up into the air. Old Deuteronomy laughed in his deep meow as he watched his son and his son's mate 'reunite'.
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer cheered, splashing a bit of some glitter up into the air, and even Tantomile and Coricopat, who were always so serious, smiled.
"We better get you back to the Junkyard," said one.
"Munkustrap might just have a heart attack when he sees you alive," Finished the other.
However, before any of them could move, a lock clicked, and the front door opened.
The small pile of Jellicle Cats was almost stomped on as two older ladies entered the house. One of them automatically spotted the cats and let out a gasp, making them all hold their breath.
"Oh, Helen! You left out the glitter again! That's going to be stuck in his bed forever!"

--
-
Hi! I could end it here but theres gonna be like one short little epilogue and then this story is over! thanks to all for reading!