Deleted scenes for "It Does Funny Things to You"
What?! You thought it was over? (Bugs bunny voice: He don't know me vewy well, do he?) Yeah right! Actually, I don't think I could possibly resist putting up a little more to this story. Not to mention that deleted scenes are just so much fun to write! Okay, I'll admit, most of them are just little funny things I thought it would be cute to put in, but would be a little too ridiculous to actually have in the story. ::sigh:: It's fun, though! And okay, maybe I just wanted to push this story past the 40,000 word benchmark (whistles innocently...). But there were a couple things I just couldn't leave hanging, and I really couldn't resist. Not to mention I didn't get any review answers in last chapter...so enjoy! (and this one really is the last chapter! sorry...)
an alternate ending to the Misto in the Heavyside layer sequence
"Hey, wait a minute!" Mistoffelees cried before he was completely sucked out of the heavenly whiteness.
"What is it?" Ebony queried, bringing him out of his trance.
"Where are the wonders?"
"What wonders?"
"You know!" Misto threw up his arms. "It supposed to be 'Full of wonders one Jellicle only will see'! I don't see any wonders!" He put his paws on his hips defiantly. "Well, where are they?"
Ebony smiled. "Sorry. You have to die first. No wonders until you actually get chosen at the Ball or die."
Mistoffelees pouted. "No wonders?"
"No, not yet."
I did kind of leave the whole Alonzo/Jemima side-plot hanging, didn't I?
Alonzo smiled evilly as he crept through the suburban neighborhood. All the humans were asleep, and every home was dark, but he could see perfectly. He was making his way toward the cute little cottage where Jemima lived. He was going to make it up to her. Now that he finally got the darn bracelet from Mungojerrie (which had taken extensive bribing and wrenching from Rumpleteazer's thieving little paws), and armed with the knowledge Victoria had given him, he was going to have a very warm and cozy evening...
When he finally arrived at the cottage, he hopped up to a low windowsill and peered inside. There was Jemima, sleeping soundly. He almost hated to wake her. Common sense prevailed, however.
"Jemima?" he whispered as he tapped the glass softly. Her eyelids fluttered. "Jem? It's me, Alonzo!"
At the mention of his name, Jemima's eyes flew open and she immediately ran over to the window. "Alonzo! What are you doing here?" she inquired excitedly.
In his suavest voice, Alonzo replied, "I wanted to see you, kitten." Jemima visibly swooned at this remark, though she tried not to show it. Alonzo smiled, and whispered, "I have something for you. Do you think you could open this window?"
Faced with this new challenge, Jemima tried to lift the glass with her little paws, but it was no use: the window would not budge. "Sorry. I can't..." she muttered. But then her face lit up with a new idea. "You can come in through the kitty door, though! Come on, it's around back!" she called, and raced away from the window, apparently to await his entrance.
When Alonzo finally found the kitty door, he squeezed through, to find Jemima sitting seemingly patiently a foot away. However, her eagerness was quite apparent. Her tail swished about as if it were its own separate entity. "Well?" she asked, trying to sound calm. "What did you bring me?"
Alonzo smiled suavely again and brought out the bracelet. Her eyes grew to the size of quarters, and she squealed as he slipped it around her neck. "There," he said. "Beautiful."
Jemima could contain her excitement no longer. "Oh, Alonzo!" she cried as she threw her arms around his neck. "Yes, yes, YES!"
Yes? Alonzo abruptly frowned, and muttered, "Yes?"
Squealing, Jemima practically yelled, "Yes! Yes, of course I'll be your mate, Alonzo! Thank you!!"
"Wait! That's not quite what I meant -" Alonzo tried to stammer, but any further comment he tried to make was smothered by Jemima's undying love, embodied in rib-squishing squeezes.
This one is a genuine deleted scene: a snippet that I had to cut out because it didn't quite fit. It would have gone in early-ish in the story, in the part where Victoria is swooning over Mistoffelees just before they go out on the roof. It's not quite complete, because it was deleted before I finshed it...it was going to be foreshadowing to Misto's eventual turn toward the dark side, but it never quite went in that direction...
In Victoria's dream, she was in the junkyard, playing tag with some of the other younger cats. "Tag, you're it, Tumble!" Etcetera cried as she leapt off an ironing board to pounce on Tumblebrutus.
"No way!" he called back, and took off after her as they raced around a rubbish mound.
Watching them spin around and around, Jemima accidentally let her guard down, so it was easy for Tumblebrutus to sneak up behind her. Poking her on the shoulder, he whispered, "Tag, you're it," and watched her as she leapt ten feet in the air, she was so surprised. Victoria giggled; her best friend was prone to being snuck up on.
"What's so funny?" Jemima queried.
"You!" Victoria said. "You should have seen the look on your face when he poked you!"
"Oh, yeah?" Jemima threatened, and in a heartbeat she was racing after Victoria. They dashed around the junkyard, dodging boxes and hopping over garbage until they were both out of breath and miles away from everyone else. When they could run no more, the two queens collapsed on the ground together, giggling over how silly they were.
"Wow, that nuts," Victoria said. "So where did everybody go?"
"I think we ditched them," Jemima responded still giggling. "But hey, look, there's Misto and 'Lonzo! Let's go talk to them!"
"Okay!" Victoria said, and they made their way over to the two black-and-whites.
in the Heavyside Layer when Misto finally realizes how awful he was to Munkustrap and Alonzo
"Did I do that?" he asked softly. Ebony nodded. He moaned, "Oh, Everlasting Cat, I –"
Ebony quickly covered his mouth with her paw, her wide eyes revealing her alarm. "Shh! Don't say that! He might hear you!"
I couldn't resist...and don't say I didn't warn you!
Ebony sighed as she watched her little Quaxo with his new mate from above. They looked so happy together. Contrary to what Munkustrap believed, she was fine with his new name. It had been her second choice, after all.
Sighing again, she made her way over to her older brother, Ivoriam (or Ivory, for short). Ivory was an all white cat, who had been chosen to ascend to the Heavyside Layer some years ago. Looking over his shoulder, she found that he, too, was watching Victoria and Quaxo. She smiled crookedly at him, and muttered, "They're so cute together, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Ivory replied. "Black and white. It's perfect. It's like they were born for each other."
"I think they were."
"Maybe," he said, smirking. "After all, they are cousins."
Ebony smirked, too. "Do you think I should have told him that his girlfriend was my brother's daughter?" she asked.
"Nah. They'll never know. Besides, they're cats! They don't care."
"You really think they'll never find out?"
"No. Victoria never knew me. When my mate had her first litter, all her kittens were given up for adoption." He sighed. "No, she'll never know. But it's better this way. If they knew, they might think it's weird..."
"Yeah. Kittens these days have silly ideas about who they can mate with. They shouldn't know. Besides, they're in love."
"Are you sure this is the place?"
"Yes, Alonzo, I'm positive!"
Alonzo grumbled as he made his way through the back alleys of London with Quaxo. "Remind me why we're doing this again?" He chimed. "I'm getting wet..." He had stepped in a puddle accidentally.
"I told you, I have to come see if it's still here!"
"But Mis–" Quaxo sent him an arresting glance. Alonzo held up his paws in self-defense. "Quaxo, sorry! I'm not used to it yet."
"It's all right." He smirked. "To tell you the truth, I'm not either. But hey, look!" he said as he pointed. "There it is!"
Indeed, there it was: the pile of crates behind a pub that marked the entrance to Macavity's lair. Quaxo ran over to it and immediately started digging through. Alonzo hesitated, but soon followed suit. Pretty soon, they had uncovered the hole in the ground. Quaxo jumped in, and again Alonzo followed. They walked through the tunnel about four feet and found the familiar cat-sized door. Quaxo closed his eyes and muttered with conviction, "Retemed." The door swung open to reveal the small brick room. Quaxo smirked at Alonzo, remembering what happened next. "Watch this," he murmered, and passed through the brick wall.
Alonzo's eyes were wide as he saw his friend seemingly disappear into nothingness, and went wider when he saw Quaxo's head stick back through to ask, "Are you coming or not?" He gulped, and nodded. Shutting his eyes as tightly as felinely possible, Alonzo followed Quaxo through the brick. When he opened them, he found nothing but a completely bare large room, nothing like the lavish cazbaa Quaxo had described to him! No silks, no pillows, and most of all, no Hidden Paw.
The two black-and-whites had no choice but to look at each other and say in unison, "Macavity's not there."
Author's note on magic:
It's hard not to say magic plays a central role in this story. But I don't think I realized quite how much until I found Ebony saying, "Magic is inherently evil." I think I cringed when I wrote that. Not because it wasn't something she would say (it was actually perfect), but because of the corner I had written myself into. In this story, Power is an evil force with a mind of its own. It fits the story perfectly, and I wouldn't change a thing in it. But I must say: I don't want this to hold true in all my stories! Let's face it: at least half of all my fanfiction is about magic, or at least Mistoffelees. And Power was right about one thing: "You are nothing without me!" Without magic, Misto is a little more boring to read about.
Now, this has big implications for "Enter the Catrix." In Catrix, there are a good five characters with magic. If I were to make them all evil, or trying not to succumb to evil, the story would be a lot less interesting, partially because that would be following the plotline of IDFTtY, and partially because they would never use their powers!
So my point (and I do have one) is this: don't let the definitions of magic in this story define magic in the rest of my stories. As far as Power is concerned, this story is self-contained. I don't want magic the way it is here to bleed into other stories. Unless I mention that something is directly connected to IDFTtY, any magic in it can be thought of as completely safe. Thanx
Review answers (and thanks!)
Scrawler: Yeah, the length was kind of my gift and my curse...but still fun to write. But long to write! Ick... Actually, I'm rather honored that you reviewed my story at all. I think I already told you how AOAM was the first good fanfiction I ever read (not to mention what really got me hooked on Misto/magic stories!) Thankies!
Jemima-Luvah: (Yes, I'll use your whole name, cuz this is the last chapter! (for reals!)) YOUR REVIEWS ARE SO NICE! You must be the most flattering person I've ever met. The whole thing with the thesaurus...I think I died laughing. No one's ever called me a genius so many times in one month (and please ignore the egomaniac getting out again). By the way, it's spelled supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Sorry, I just had to say that. And the only reason I know is because I have it on a soundtrack. But I digress...thanks for being such a great and loyal reviewer (and no, that doesn't even begin to say what I want, does it...).
Chimalmaht: Thanks for all the very concise and helpful reviews. There have been a few times when you distinctly shaped the outcome of a chapter. Thanks so much! And a sequel? Well, we'll have to see... but you have the uncanny ability of predicting what the next thing I write is about (cites many reviews that correctly predicted what would happen in the next chapter). You did it with the Alonzo/Jemima thing, too! I commend you!
Lozzypop: You know, the best thing about you is your name. I love it. "Lozzypop." That said, let me say that your reviews were very fun to read, and I greatly appreciate the thought you put into them. Thankies!
Krissy4: You're another one who shaped many chapters (most notably the Heavyside Layer/Misto meets his mom chapter). And though you said I might not, I understand completely what you meant when you said, "I can't explain how much I love this story." Oh, darn, that sounded egomaniacal again...darn. But thanks so much for being such a great and loyal reviewer!
Roman De La Croix: You're another person I'm honored to have had review my story at all! You're like, one of the greats in Cats fanfics! Your reviews were always very honest, and I wholeheartedly appreciate it. Thanks so much!
Nabooru: I think you know me well enough that I don't have to write a big glowin thank-you review, but let me say this: Yes! You HAVE to post it on JM! (::gives Nabooru the Jemima-eyes:: pwetty pwease?)
Oh!!! I almost forgot! Did anyone figure out what "retemed" was (back in chapter 20)? It was the password to open Macavity's lair. I thought a lot of people would think it's obvious, but no one said anything in the reviews of that chapter ... did anyone figure it out? I had to tell my beta outright, because she couldn't figure it out right away; but then again you have to explain a lot of things to her...(sorry, Jessedandle!). Did anyone get it, or did I make it too weird? If no one figured it out, I'll put up the answer on my website, but I would have thought that someone would get it...