Disclaimer: Lilo and Stitch and all related characters and settings belong to Disney and Chris Sanders.

Note: This is a sequel to Five Years. Although I do hope you have already or will read it, you should still be able to figure things out.

Please Review and Please Enjoy

Chapter 1: A Rising Challenge

A thick fog crept along the ground outside of their house, not a common occurrence in this part of the world. But whether it was common or not, the blinding cloud was keeping everyone inside, holed up in the house with nothing to do. Never a good thing in this household. So it wasn't too long until a loud crash sounded from inside the home, followed by a shout from a very upset older sister.

"Lilo!" Nani shouted, "Stitch!" The two culprits came back into the kitchen, their heads hung low. A pile of pots and pans littered the floor beneath a recently opened cabinet. Maybe it had been an accident, maybe it had been a prank, either way, "Pick this up!" Nani commanded, pointing at the pile of cooking-ware. There was much mumbling, but the two miscreants completed the task, quickly running off to find something more interesting to do. They ran down the hall and into the room at the end. Over a year before, this room had been Lilo's room, but now it belonged to a pair of aliens that had become a large part of the crazy ohana.

"Little Girl!" called a deep voice, thick with an alien accent, "626!"

"Hey, Jumba," Lilo said, closing the door behind her. The huge alien sat in his customary spot at his desk, his laptop open before him.

"And what are you to be doing here?" Jumba asked, his sentence structure still off, even after a year on Earth.

"Nothing," Lilo said with a shrug, "Just board."

"Ih," Stitch chimed in, his voice gravely, "Board."

"Then you are being in best of luck!" Jumba exclaimed, turning his bulk around in the chair. "Because Jumba is finding out what is making uncanny fog!"

"Is it an experiment?" Lilo asked, suddenly excited. Jumba nodded, causing her to rush over to his desk and look at the computer. Sure enough, the experiment files were open, a blueprint-like picture of one of Jumba's 627 evil genius experiments displayed on the screen.

"Experiment 562. Purpose is to create a thick fog to conceal friendly troops and confuse enemies," Jumba stated, handing her the laptop so she could examine it better.

"Any idea where it would go once released?" Lilo asked, flipping into experiment catcher mode.

"562 will most likely be going to largest source of water. Is needing water source to make fog," he explained.

"We're on an island, Jumba," Lilo replied, "We're surrounded by water."

"Sorry, Little Girl," Jumba said, "Is nothing more I can do."

"At least we'll have something to do," she said, handing him back the computer. "Come on, Stitch." The two turned to leave.

"Wait," Jumba called, an idea dawning on him, "Be taking 003 with you. You won't be able to see, so maybe he could be hearing experiment's thoughts?"

"Okay, thanks Jumba," Lilo called back before she shut the door. The two exited the house, passing by an exasperated Pleakley, who was getting a little bit too invested in the soap opera he was watching. As soon as they stepped out of the door, the thick fog effectively blinded them, causing Lilo to trip on the last step and fall flat on her face into the sand. "Any idea where Jason is?" Lilo asked once she spit all the sand out of her mouth. Stitch nodded, and then spoke once he remembered that she couldn't see him. He filtered through his different vision settings, trying to find one that worked. Thermal was no good due to the fog's cool temperature; x-ray didn't work because the fog didn't count as a layer, causing him to see through everything else. But, despite the obvious drawback, the one that worked best was his normal vision, since there was still an area around himself that he could see. Grabbing Lilo by the hand, he led her around to the back of the house.

Sure enough, after stumbling around for a little bit, they found the newest addition to their ohana. Jason sat on the back porch, looking out into the fog. As they approached, he turned his head and smiled. "Hey there," he called out, letting them follow the sound of his voice. He sounded a little like Jumba, only a little higher and without the accent.

"I should have known," Lilo said as she and Stitch stumbled out of the haze. Jason's only reply was a toothy smile that nearly took his ears. Ears, Lilo now noticed, that he kept tied back like a ponytail. Like almost all of the experiments, his ears were similar to Stitch's, only without the chunks taken out. Short, green fur covered his entire body, lighter around the chin and belly. A major difference was that he had a full head of hair separate from his fur. When he had first come to them, that hair had been jet black, but since then, it had faded to a dark gray. Another difference was his eyes. Unlike nearly all of the other experiment's, whose eyes were totally black, 003's were broken by a the white sliver of his pupil. That, and he had a third eye, set vertically in his forehead. Though, it hadn't opened since the day that he had both tried to kill them all, and saved all of their lives.

"Not a good day to practice," Jason admitted, patting the two sticks lying next to him. Every day since they had been declared a part of the family, he had gone into the backyard in the morning and practiced sword fighting with a pair of sticks he had found. 'A useful skill,' he would say if anyone asked, 'Especially for someone without any powers.' Stitch would practice with him sometimes, the two having a dual for no better reason than to have fun.

"You shouldn't be practicing anyway," Lilo said, pointing at the bandages wrapped around his torso. "What did Jumba tell you?"

"To just take it easy until I'm fully healed. If I don't I'll have to wear the wraps for another week," Jason replied, sounding like he was just repeating something he'd heard a hundred times. A little over a month ago, they had fought with Hamsterviel and some of his own experiments and 003 had gotten hurt bad. First he had gotten impaled with spines to save Lilo's own life, then he got shot with a laser to save Jumba's life. In the end, he had survived, but how was something that they were all still trying to figure out. "So why did you come to find me?" Jason asked, sliding off of the porch to join them.

"Jumba says that it's an experiment that's making the fog, and you're going to help us find it," she answered. Jason just cocked his head to the side, allowing his gesture to ask his question. "Just read it's mind."

"That'll only work if I'm close," 003 replied, "Within a quarter of a mile is the max range."

"Then we should get going," Lilo said, gesturing for him to follow as she and Stitch walked away. They stumbled through the mist for nearly a half hour before they even got to the beach, and then they spent another hour walking around the coast. Every so often, 003 would stop and try to listen to any ambient thoughts for the experiment. Whenever he did, Lilo would watch him as he stood there with his eyes close, waiting for the third eye on his forehead to open. That eye was the focus of his powers, but since it wouldn't open, he had been rendered powerless. All he could muster now was some unpredictable mind reading, and a few simple illusions that faded with time. Although it wasn't any of her business, Lilo couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. Jason always said that his full powers would come back, but sometimes she didn't believe him.

"I've got something," Jason muttered after stopping for his fifth time. "Definitely not human. It seems to be in distress, like it's being attacked. All it can think about is that whatever is fighting with it is keeping it from its job." Falling silent for a moment, 003 placed his fingers against his temples. "It's the experiment, and Gantu is the one attacking it." Stitch didn't need any more information; he just bolted off in the direction that Jason pointed. "Should we follow him?" Jason asked.

"We can't miss him whooping on Gantu," Lilo said with a chuckle, grabbing him by the wrist and leading him in the direction that Stitch had run off in. Already, the mist was beginning to thin due to the experiment's ceased production. By the time they arrived behind Stitch, he had already confronted Gantu and disarmed him of the experiment canister. Stitch growled as he reverted to his alien form, spines growing from his back, antenna sprouting from his head, and an extra set of arms pushing out under his normal pair.

"You'll back off trog, if you know what's good for you," Gantu commanded, just another of his empty threats. Or maybe not, Lilo noted as Gantu reached into his holster for his plasma blaster. Instead of the normal red and yellow, standard issue plasma cannon, a set of silver tentacles snaked across his wrist when his hand got close. As he pulled the squirming mass out of his holster, the tentacles took more of a shape, forming into a symmetrical hand blaster, its tapered tip glowing red. Stitch took a step forward, not caring if the big stupid head had a new blaster or not. Without Gantu even pulling a trigger, the device shot out a deep red laser beam, its aim perfect. 626 didn't even have time to dodge before he was plowed into the sand by the ray.

"Jason," Lilo whispered as Stitch got up and shook himself off, "Help me get this experiment out of here." 003 nodded, and the two slowly moved over to the experiment canister lying in the sand a few feet away. Meanwhile, Stitch charged in as quickly as he could, hoping to rush Gantu before he could get another shot off. But it appeared that it wasn't Gantu who was firing the weapon, rather, the devise itself was doing all of the work. Quicker than Gantu's reflexes would normally allow, the gun re-aimed itself and fired before Stitch was even halfway there. The beam hit him square in the chest, throwing him back into the sand.

"See trog?" Gantu asked with a cocky laugh, "All I needed to kick your butt was a better gun." The weapon fired again, driving Stitch deeper into the sand. Stitch roared, bursting forth from the ground and charging ahead once more. This time, he kept his eye on the strange blaster, waiting for it to fire on its own. When it did, he dodged immediately, missing the ray by a fraction of an inch. Apparently caught off guard, Gantu had no defense as Stitch jumped up and slugged him in the face. The blow sent the twenty-foot tall alien tall alien off of his feet and onto his back. Barely touching down, Stitch jumped into the air again, hoping to come down on Gantu with the force of a freight train. But as he positioned himself over the prone alien, Gantu's weapon arm shot strait up by itself and took an immediate beat on him. It fired, sending Stitch away in an arc that landed him through a lifeguard's chair.

Prying her fingers beneath the edge of the plastic, Lilo popped open the experiment container and loosed the creature inside. Fear making its eyes wild, the experiment bolted, attempting a brash escape. Before it got more than four steps, 003 lashed out with his foot, sweeping the creature off of its feet. It had barely touched the ground before Jason grabbed its arm and held it fast. "We need to get the heck out of here," Jason suggested as Stitch crashed through the lifeguard chair. Lilo nodded her agreement and grabbed the dazed experiment's other arm. Together, they began to drag the experiment across the beach.

"Stitch, come on!" Lilo shouted, "We're leaving!" Stitch climbed out of the wooden wreckage, smoke rolling off of his person. Somehow, that laser had burnt him, 626, the experiment who was supposed to be fireproof. Giving one last look at Gantu's unconscious form, Stitch rushed after them, patting out the smoking spots on his fur. It didn't take his supercomputer mind to figure out that something strange was happening here.

Sorry about the short chapter, but I've been busy and I still wanted to make good on my promise.