Sooty Notes (Publisher Notes):I know Tumble wanted me to change all the names so RUG can't come and whine at her so I take FULL responsability for the use of the names of the characters. So whine at ME not Tumble! Besides it would have sounded funny if Jacob Brent changed to Jake Rent! ~L~
Jacob Brent, after seeing the success of the CATS Video, decided to throw a party in celabration. He invited all of the cast members to his house to celabrate. To make it more interesting, Jacob told everyone to come in their make-up and costumes. There were a few members of the cast who couldn't make it. Sir John Mills and Elaine Paige were both busy people. Ken Page came upon a migrain and had to stay home. James Barron simply declined the invitation. other then that, everyone came. Fergus Logan rested himself on the couch next to Joe Bingham and Karl Morgan. Fergus preferred to keep away from Jason Gardiner because the two just couldn't get along. Bryn Walters had come in his Plato costume rather than his Macavity costume. The bodysuit for the Hidden Paw was just too hairy for Bryn. Jacob busied himself by surfing on the internet looking up sites on him. Michael Gruber joined Jacob for the surfing. The actors were enjoying themselves when a loud crash was heard from the basement. Jacob leaped out of his chair and clung onto Michael. The house fell silent save for the sound of deep breathing coming from the cast members. Footsteps were then heard coming up the basement steps. Everyone got down on the floor as Jacob turned off the lights. The doorknob to the basement turned and a man jumped out. Only, when everyone's eyes ajusted, they saw it looked like a member of their cast. Except he was really part cat. Smooth dark brown and tan fur covered the cat. His whiskers twitched as he sniffed around. He spotted the light switch and turned it on. The cast members crawled back in fright. The cat creature stared at them.
" There you are! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the junkyard!" the cat hissed. The cast now saw that this was a siamese. Michael got up and stared back at the siamese.
" What are you talking about?" asked Michael. The cat's ears fell flat.
" The meeting Munkustrap! Come now! Quickly!" The cat then dashed back down the basement steps. Everyone stared at each other wondering if they had just imagined it. Fergus, always the curious one, started down the steps after the cat. No one but Veerle Casteleyn dared to follow him. Ever since the making of the movie, Veerle had started to get a crush on him. After a minute or so, Fergus began screaming for the others to come down. Jacob leading the way, the cast flew down the stairs to find a large hole in the wall. Fergus was kneeling down on his knees looking through the hole.
" This is incredible!" exclaimed Fergus. " There's a tunnel!" Before anyone could stop him, Fergus crawled through the hole.
" Fergus you idiot!" shouted Jason. Jason rushed forward and crawled into the hole after him. The others soon followed and were breathtaken when they exited the tunnel. It looked like they were on a normal street, except everything was large than them. They found Jason and Fergus fighting as usual.
" Fergus! Jason!" Michael shouted. The two turned to him. " C'mon, let's get out of here." Evrryone turned to go back the way they came, but to their horror, the tunnel was gone. This brought panic among the actors, but they were quickly silenced when the cat that they had met before returned.
" Hurry up!" he hissed. " This is not the time to be standing about!" The actors had no choice but to follow the cat to where they needed to go. They were all struck with amazment when they enetered what looked like the junkyard they used on the set. Once over the shock of the junkyard, the cast took notice to the other cats that looked like the one that led them to the junkyard. One gray cat, a female with dark stripes, hurried over.
" Oh good King-Falla! You found them!" she purred.
" Of course I did Gypsy," said King-Falla. Gypsy quickly made her way over to Geoffry Garratt and nuzzled his face.
" I'm so glad you're safe Skimble," she purred. Geoffry was shocked at the nuzzle. There were never any cats like this in the play. There were a few other cat creatures around who were introduced. There was a black and white maned cat called Fallon. Two sisters with moons on their heads named Trella and Luna and a small black and red kitten named Nefret. Nefret reminded Bryn a lot of his Macavity costume. Once everyone was gathered. King-Falla got up and cleared his throat.
" As you all know, we have not been disturbed by either Macavity or his henchcats for a full week now. As Jellicle Cats, I know we need to take this matter seriously and..." Rebecca Parker interupted here.
" Excuse me, but we're not cats," she said. This sent the cat creatures into hysterics. King-Falla did not laugh however, he merely scowled. Gypsy giggled as she rubbed her head under Geoffry's chin.
" My dear Cassandra," Gypsy purred. " We are all cats. every single one of us here." Jason leaped up from his seat between Aeva May and Rosemarie Ford.
" You're crazy!" shouted Jason. " We're human beings!" Jason then tugged on his headpeice to prove his point. His head filled with pain as he tried to pull off the black and white wig. It wouldn't come off. Jason then noticed that the belt that had held on his tail was no longer there, the tail was attached to him. " I'm a cat! Sweet God! I'm a cat!" John Partridge was shocked when he noticed that everyone now looked like the cat creatures. He saw Jason going nuts and got up to help.
" Hey Jason! Get ahold of yourself!" cried John. Jason pulled away from him and glared at Fergus.
" YOU!" snarled Jason. Fergus gave a 'Who me?' look. " This is all your fault!" Jason charged at Fergus. The young actor cursed under his breath. Being more agile than Jason though, he was able to jump out of the way before Jason could grab him. Fergus got in a defensive position as Jason turned to charge again. " If you hadn't crawled through that stupid hole!" Jason rushed for Fergus again. The cat creatures ran off to hide, frightened from the violent actions. Fergus dodged a swing from Jason and dashed out though a pipe which served as a very handy escape. Karl and Drew Varley grabbed Jason trying to hold him back. Jacob got up and hurried over to help. Jason pulled himself out of the actors' grasps just as Jacob arrived. Jason swung without thinking and punched Jacob square in the jaw, knocking him over from the force. Bryn, being one of the strongest cats members, tackled Jason and held him down. Michael hurried over to Jacob and helped him up. The white fuzz that now covered Jacob's mouth was a little red from the bleeding. Bryn had no choice but to knock Jason unconsious. Once Jason was out of commision, the other cast members agtehred around Jacob to see if he was alright.
" Are you alright Jacob?" asked Jo Gibb. Jacob nodded but was still a little dizzy from the blow. Michael looked around.
" Did anyone see where Fergus went?"
Fergus stopped running after a while and rested behind an extraordinary large trashcan. He sucked in air trying to catch his breath.
" Stupid Jason," grumbled Fergus. He got to his feet again and turned to leave. He heard someting rustle behind him. Fergus spun around.....Nothing. The young actor turned around again to leave, but as soon as his back was turned, a hairy paw covered his mouth and others grabed his arms.
" Hello Tumblebrutus," a voice hissed. " He's perfect. Let's take him to the boss." That being said, Fergus was forced away.
In the junkyard, Jason was just coming to. His head was being cradeled in Aeva's lap.
" Huh? Aeva?" He rubbed his head as he leaned up. He saw that the cat creatures had returned. Gypsy was curled up in Geoffry's arms and King-Falla was looking over the cats scanning the area to see if there were any intruders. Aeva looked up at Jason as he rose to his feet. " Is Jacob alright?" he asked.
" He's fine," Aeva answered quickly. Michael was settled on the tire waiting for Fallon to return from his search for Fergus. The black maned cat returned and Veerle hurried over to him.
" Any sign of him?" she asked. Fallon shook his head.
" I didn't see him anywhere. Alonzo gave him quite a fright," explained Fallon. John ran his fingers through the mane that was now attached to his neck. He turned to Jason.
" What were you thinking?" asked John. Jason shrugged.
" I don't know. I just lost control....For crying out loud John! We've turned into cats!" shouted Jason. Rosemarie walked up to Jason.
" We've noticed, but that is no excuse for you to go for Fergus' throat," she hissed.
Fergus was half carried half dragged for what seemed like hours. The cat creature took him to an old mansion and forced the confused actor inside. Once there he was dragged up a number of stairs by his arms. By the time they reached the top, Fergus' arms were acheing horribly. The creatures dragged him into what looked like a library. There were book cases suroounding the room. They were covered in dust showing that they had not been used for quite some time. Fergus then took notice of what was in the center of the room. There was a large pile of silk pillows and blankets all bundled up. Settled ontop of it was a large ginger colored cat creature. Being brought closer, Fergus could see that this cat was obviously Macavity. His arms were then released and he fell to the floor. Two of his abductors went to the door to block his escape while the third one went over and stood by Macavity's side. Macavity stared down at Fergus, then leaped off his pile and walked towards him.
" Hello there Tumble," he growled. " Welcome to my new hideout." He then chuckled. " You're going to help me get Demeter back." Fergus forced himself to his feet and glared at Macavity.
" First of all, my name is not Tumble, it's Fergus. Secondly, you won't find Demeter, only Aeva. And thirdly, I'm leaving." Fergus then turned around to leave, but the two cat creatures blocked his exit. Macavity laughed and grabbed Fergus by the arm.
" Surely you don't think I'm stupid enough to believe that?" hissed Macavity. Fergus tried to pull away. Macavity just dig his claws deeper into the actor's arm. Fergus gritted his teeth trying to withstand the pain.
" You're making a mistake. I'm not who you think I am," hissed Fergus. Macavity snarled and grabbed Fergus' other arm.
" This is not a game boy," Macavity growled. " You are really starting to get on my bad side." Fergus suddenly remembered how between takes, he and Bryn would pretend to fight each other, but this was not the playful Bryn, this was the real Hidden Paw. Macavity released Fergus and snapped his claws. The actor was immidietly seized by the two cat creatures by the door. " Leper, Strike, take him to the Guest Room," Macavity ordered as he jumped back onto his pile of silk. Leper and Strike harshly dragged Fergus from the room and took him to the Guest Room.
Michael sighed as the time went by and Fergus still hadn't shown up. Fallon made his way over to Jacob.
" Mistoffelees, why don't you just make him reappear like you did with Old Deuteronomy?" suggested Fallon. Jacob glanced at him and shook his head.
" It won't work. I'm not a magician," hissed Jacob. Fallon's fur stood up.
" What are you talking about? You're the Magical Mistoffelees!" shouted Fallon. Jacob turned his back to him and folded his arms. This was one of the worst days of his life.
" Four years," growled Jacob. The small black and red kitten Nefret then rushed into the junkyard.
" Bad cats!" she screamed. " Bad cats!" Nefret then crouched down trembling. Her black tail whipping back and forth. Trella and Luna rushed over to the kitten.
" Nefret! What did you see?" asked Trella.
" Bad cats! Bad cats take Tumble!" wailed Nefret. Both Trella and Luna's moons began to glow red. Michael and the cast members also rushed over.
" What bad cats? what is she talking about?" asked Michael. Veerle grabbed onto King-Falla's arm.
" What does she mean? What happened to Fergus?" cried Veerle. King-Falla did not know of this 'Fergus', but did know that Tumblebrutus was in great danger. The siamese escaped Veerle's grasp and hurried over to Fallon.
" He has made his first move! We must plan quickly!" shouted King-Falla.
" Who is 'he'?" asked John.
" Macavity of course Rum Tum Tugger!" growled King-Falla. " By the God Allah! Who else has been giving us trouble?!" Bryn froze. 'Macavity?'. It made Bryn wonder what would have happened if he came to the party as the Hidden Paw rather than Plato. Gypsy looked over at Aeva.
" I'll bet he's going to try and make a trade for Demeter!" hissed Gyspy. Unlike the real Demeter, Aeva was not afraid of Macavity. In fact, she laughed the first time she saw Bryn in his costume. Michael hopped onto the tire to get everyone's attention.
" We have to get him back! Where is MAcavity's hideout?" asked Michael. Gypsy shook her head.
" We don't know. We haven't seen him since we destroyed his last lair," said Gypsy as she took ahold of Geoffry's arm.
" We have to help him!" shouted Jason. King-Falla stalked over to Jason's side.
" Indeed! Who knows what Macavity will do to him!" declared the siamese. " Gather close! We plan now!" Everyone gathered close to plan on rescueing the captured actor.. While the others got together, Veerle decided to take matters into her own hands...Or paws rather. She pulled Jacob away from their friends and the two left the junkyard by themselves. Veerle thought it best to have someone come along with her. Jacob had waited until they had left the junkyard to question Veerle.
" Veerle, where are we going?" asked Jacob.
" To find Fergus," she answered strenly.
" Oh God Veerle," Jacob muttered as he placed his face into his hands. "You know it would be better to wait for the others." Veerle glared as she continued forward.
" We can't waste any time Jacob!" she hissed. " Fergus' life is in danger!"
" But what are you planning to do? Go up, knock on Macavity's door and ask him to give Fergus back? This isn't the play Veerle! This is real life! If we mess up, we can't just say 'Cut' and do it over. You're putting both of our lives at risk Veerle!" Veerle spun around angrilly.
" Fine! If you're so much of a coward then go back!" snarled Veerle. Jacob stared at her silently. His tuxedo glittering in the lamplight. Veerle turned her back to Jacob and began to walk off. She heard a blunt thud and a groan. She looked over her shoulder. Jacob was gone. He couldn't have left that fast. " Jacob?" she whispered, hardly able to speak. A chill ran down her spine and she began to feel completely helpless. Suddenly, something was pulled over her. She felt herself lose balence as she was tilted to her back and lifted up. She realized that she was in a bag. She had been captured.
Fergus was settled in a corner of the cell...The Guest Room. He hugged his legs close to his chest trying to keep warm. The fur that now covered his body didn't seem to help much as far as keeping him warm went. His head perked up as he heard a slam in the distance. Shouts of resistence became louder and more clear. Suddenley, the two hecnhcats, Leper and Strike, opened the cell and threw two new prisoners in with him. The cell was closed and locked up again. The henchcats left. It only took Fergus a few minutes to recognize the prisoners as Veerle and Jacob. Fegus rushed forward and hugged veerle.
" Oh God! It is so good to see you guys!" exclaimed Fergus. Veerle hugged him back and just as tight. Jacob brushed the dirt off his suit and tail.
" Well, we didn't exactely come here frist class," growled Jacob. There was another slam in the distance. Soon a figure appeared infront of the cell, the figure of Macavity. He grinned wickedly at his captives.
" Well, if it isn't the Magical Mistoffelees," purred Macavity. Jacob tensed, his ears falling flat against his head. " You caused me a lot of trouble the last Jellicle ball," he hissed. Jacob placed a hand on his forehead and began shaking his head. This day was getting too weird for his taste. Macavity sneered at him. " I don't think your little magic tricks will do you any good this time," he hissed. Macavity then grinned. " And don't worry about your friends. My men and I will be there to take care of them." With an evil cackle, Macavity left the three.
