“Aunty Jelly! Have you seen Uncle Gus?” Etcetera said as she ran past.
“No dear, I haven’t seen him for some time, and I’m a little worried.” Jellylorum answered.
Just then, Bombalurina let out a wolf whistle, which made Ecty look up in hopes of seeing the Tugger, and Jelly rolled her eyes and looked up as well.
“Oh… That’s not Tugger” Ecty said a little sadly “But he sure is CUTE!” and she wandered over to talk to him, leaving Jellylorum standing gaping at what she thought was a ghost
“My…my…my…my...G... G...G…”
Mistoffelees noticed her jaw hanging out and looked at his mate, Starflower “I wonder what’s wrong with Jelly.” He said
“Why don’t we go and ask her Misto” Starflower answered with a little laugh, as she’d seen the new stud swagger in, and had a pretty good idea that Jelly was dumbfounded by the sight of him.
The two wandered over to where Jelly was and Misto plonked himself down on the grass in front of Jelly “So, Jelly, what’s the matter?”
Jelly snapped out of her trance, took one look at Misto and mumbled “Nothing. Stay here.” And she hurried over to the new stud in the junkyard.
“My diabolical plan is working. The Queens will be mine, and I will be rid of these Jellicles once and for all”
Jelly grabbed the arm of the new stud cat and dragged him away to a chorus of cries.
“Awww! Jelly! Why won’t you let us look at him?”
“Yeah Jelly, you’ve got a mate, let us have a go at the new cat!”
Jelly looked sternly at the queens “You go and find that fluff ball you like to fawn over. I’m pretty sure he could use some feminine balm at the moment. He hasn’t recovered from Teaser telling him she wanted nothing to do with him,” She stated flatly, which sent all the queens running looking for Tugger.
Jelly looked at the stud cat and hissed at him “Who are you? Did my Gus fool around when he was younger and not tell me about it? Why do you look just like my Asparagus when I first met him?” she fired at the stud cat.
“Hmmm… I hadn’t thought of this problem. I didn’t know that the old codger had a mate, I shall have to think fast”
Jelly tapped her foot furiously, “Well? I’m waiting for an answer.”
The stud cat opened his mouth and purred at Jelly “You don’t recognise me my love? I found the fountain of Youth, and I am young and virile again” he purred as he looked deep into her eyes, hypnotising her.
Jelly started to sway on her feet “You’re my Gus?”
“Cori! We need to go to Mum… Right now!” Tantomile gasped. “She’s in grave danger. Call Mistoffelees, and I’ll call Maruman and Starflower and see if they are nearer than we are” she threw over her shoulder at her bewildered brother as she ran towards the proper, searching with her mind
**Starflower! Maruman! Can you two hear me? Either of you???**
Starflower sat up straight “Misto! Tant’s calling me, see if Cori’s calling you as well,” she said to her mate before calling back to Tantomile.
**I can hear you Tant. What’s up? **
**Star! Thank the Goddess you heard me. I’ve had a premonition. Mum’s in danger, great danger, but I don’t know what from, but it’s there NOW. How close are you to her? **
**I can see her Tant. She’s talking to the new tomcat that came in. She looks pretty happy actually**
**Go over to her and take her away from him. The try and keep him occupied until Cori and I get to you. Get Maruman as well. We’re going to need all five of us for this one**
Starflower broke off the contact and looked in puzzlement at her mate. “I wonder what that’s about” she said
Mistoffelees opened his eyes “Cori said that Tant told him to call me and get me to Jellylorum, but she didn’t tell him why, did she tell you?” he asked, puzzled.
Starflower gasped as the importance of the message hit her “Come on Misto, Jelly’s in trouble, and somehow, that new tom is the cause!” Grabbing her mate’s paw, she ran to Jellylorum and sent to her mate **Get her out of here. Transport her to Jenny and come right back**
Mistoffelees nodded and took Jelly’s paw. Closing his eyes, the two disappeared in front of the new tom’s eyes.
“Interesting development. I wonder where she went, and who this delightful creature is.”
Starflower looked at the tom closely, as she called her brother to her in her mind **Mar! I need you in body, here now! Misto’s going to Jenny’s via teleport, go there and grab a lift back with him now! Don’t ask questions okay** and she flashed an image of the tom in front of her to his mind. Star had the satisfaction of seeing, in her mind, her brother jump up from his vantagepoint of watching Misto’s sister and race towards Jenny’s house at the image.
“Who are you?” she said to the tom in front of her, conscious that Tant and Cori were still on the other side of the proper, and Misto and Maruman hadn’t arrived back yet
“I? I am Asparagus, the Theatre cat” the stud said.
Star frowned “No you’re not. Gus is a lot older than you are, and his son Asparagus looks nothing like you, and isn’t interested in the theatre. Try again!” she said flatly as Mistoffelees and Maruman appeared behind the tom and Tantomile and Coricopat stopped dead beside them
“Oh but my child, I am Asparagus, I was Growltiger, and I created Firefrofiddle and I found the fountain of Youth!”
Star nodded thoughtfully, which Tant took as a signal and moved in front of the stud cat, gesturing to the toms to form the other three points of the star.
“You may have taken My father’s body, but you are not he” Tant said grimly
“Curses! A mystic!”
Starflower held her hand out to Tant and Misto. Soon the two mystic cats and the three magickal ones had formed a circle. Tantomile and Starflower began chanting in unison, as the toms chanted a counterpart chant, led by Coricopat.
“Now what? Uh oh… there are three toms behind me, and I’m feeling great magick here. I think I’m in trouble now”
“Begone foul denizen. Take your leave. Leave this tom alone. Restore to him his true memory, and his soul” The toms chanted.
“Come back Gus. Love you we do. Come back to us” Star and Tant chanted.
The five cats chanted each of these lines repeatedly, and as they did, a strange separation could be seen.
“Curses! Who could have known that the Jellicles could have grown this strong”
Macavity, who was in another part of the junkyard, looked up suddenly and hissed.
“Mac? What’s the matter?” Munkustrap asked in concern
“An old enemy is back” Macavity hissed “I must go and help them” and he rose and almost flew out of the door of the old car
Starflower looked at Tant and Misto, and in a slow gesture, the five cats swept their arms in, forming corner points of a star, with their bodies at the apex of each point, all the while chanting.
Macavity appeared suddenly behind the queens and hissed “So… Mephisto, you have come back to try and wipe out the Jellicles again”
Coricopat recognised the name and changed the chant slightly, the other toms quickly followed suit and soon they were chanting “Mephisto begone! Our Gus is not for you. Begone!”
Macavity threw a stone statue into the center of the star, and the hazy being that was leaving Gus started flowing into the statue. Soon, a scream could be heard.
“Macavity! I thought he was banished!”
A strange thing was happening to Gus as well as the mist left his body, he aged. And as more of the mist left, he soon became recognizable as the same Gus they all knew and loved so well.
Soon Gus was back to his normal self, and the statue that Macavity had thrown into the star was glowing silver.
A voice was heard, coming from the statue “You may have beaten me this time Jellicles, but there will be others. I will never die, for you do not know my secrets.”
Macavity laughed, a maniacal laugh that had not been heard from him in quite some time. “Mephisto! You fool. When you tried to get me to join you, you told me how to stop you.” And Macavity started a deep chant of his own, which was soon taken up by the five magickal cats as well
“Mephisto your power is weak that’s true
For now we understand you
We know how to make you grow stone cold
We encase you in this statue of GOLD!”
At the final word, the statue changed from stone to solid gold, and a scream that faded was all that was left of the entity that was once, a Jellicle as powerful as Old Deuteronomy himself.
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