It was the date of the competition. Feline magicians from around the world came to London to show off their stuff. Most of the younger magicians wanted to beat the current champion, The Magical Mr. Mistoffelees. Others just wanted to show that they could perform in public, without their mommies rooting them on.
Pretty soon, the audience filed in. There were all types of cats. Tabbies, Persians, Siamese, the list goes on.
There was also a murderer. Munkustrap had always come there before, to root his friend on. But this time, it was different. He had accidentally killed Mistoffelees's sister, Victoria. Mistoffelees had forgiven him, but he could not forgive himself.
The competition then started off with Mistoffelees's disappearing act, a goldfish bowl. (Ironically, the fish was not in Misto's stomach.) Then, announcing that he would not compete, but announce the acts, the show went on. The acts went on. The acts went off.
The audience yawned. Then Mistoffelees's eyebrows rose. "Oh my...... Folks, may I proudly present, from the U.S. of A, my former assistant! Miss Angelesque! The youngest performer here and the only female," Mistoffelees said. As soon as he was finished, music started. It was "Magic to Do..." from Pippin.
"Is everybody ready for some real magic?" the queen onstage yelled. One could tell she was a shorthair. Maybe part Siamese. Her coat was jet-black and sparkled. Her hair was curly and medium brown and her face was white. She had small white stars on her coat and wide dark brown eyes. Munkustrap fell in love instantly.
"Well, if you are..... I need a volunteer from the audience!" Munkustrap immediately put his hand up. "We have a winner. You come on up. Yeah, you. The handsome silver tiger in the back. Come on up. What's your name?"
"Uhhhh....." Munkustrap thought. "Rum Tum Tugger."
"Hi, Rum Tum Tugger. Mind if I call you 'Tug'?"
"No."
"Okay, Tug. Will you please get inside the box?" Munkustrap did as he was told. "Okay. Now I'm going to cut you in half." She brought out the big knife-blade and brought it down in the middle of the box. "Tug. Are you all right?"
"Yes. I think I am."
"Think again!" she said and brought the two sections apart. The audience booed.
"Yeah. This is pretty pathetic. I mean any old hack can do that. But can any old hack do this:" she brought the halves together, and Munkustrap sat up unharmed. Angel then made him lay down again and brought not one, not two, but six knife-blades down into Munkustrap. she separated the seven sections and rearranged them, in the wrong order. "You okay, Tug?"
"I can't feel below my hips," he said (which was laughable because his hips were just below his head). Angel laughed and rearranged him in the proper order. She and Munkustrap then took a bow. "Everyone give a round of applause for Rum Tum Tugger!"
"Well. We have a new champion! Angelesque!" Misto said and gave Angel the trophy. He then looked at Munkustrap. "We need to talk."
"What for?"
"'Gee, miss. I'm the Rum Tum Tugger...' that's what!"
"What was I supposed to say? 'Gee Miss Angelesque. My name's Munkustrap. I accidentally killed my best friend.' I mean... come ON!"
"Good point. But that doesn't give you the right to lie to her. She's had bad experiences with men." "She used to be your girlfriend, right?"
"No. Her father............... Why do you want to know?"
"I just was curious!"
"WELL DON'T BE!!" Misto hissed in a whisper. "I believe we have nothing more to discuss. What if she finds out who Tugger is?"
"She's not going to......."
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"Hi. I'm Angelesque. I'm looking for the Jellicles."
"Hi. I'm The Rum Tum Tugger. I'm the Jellicle leader."
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