Chronicles of the Elusive Angel:
Ganazu (Volume 6)
C/By: Kenjaje
Edited/Revised by: raVen
Chapter 1: Aloha Anxiety
"It's obvious we should never have entrusted 599 with such technology." Gantu growled as he looked at Hamsterveil through the monitor. The feed fuzzed as he smacked the console. "I hope you made more of those."
"Gantu let me ask one question." Hamsterveil said with a slight annoyance. "Do you honestly believe that I would make such a mistake?" He yelled, leaning over and pointing at Gantu through the monitor.
"And here we go." 625 commented.
"Quiet." Gantu snapped. "What do you mean?" He asked to Hamsterveil. "If you didn't give 599 the latest model…then, what did you give her?"
"The defects that were used on 626, of course. Do you not remember me saying we were not to be using any more living life forms for our project, hm?"
"I…uh…no. It must've…slipped my mind." He replied, scratching his brow.
"With a head as smooth as yours I'm surprised your eyes don't slip out." 625 chimed in again.
"I said quiet!" Gantu ordered, glaring at him threateningly. He only shrugged in response to the intimidation.
"Why don't you both shut up for a change?" Hamsterveil yelled, darting his eyes from one to the other while trying to calm his temper. "Gantu, if any more experiments are activated see to it that 626 and that little earth-child do not get them as usual. Except this time…notify me. I have different plans for an experiment this time."
"Yes-" Gantu began to say, as the monitor blipped out and faded to black. "…Sir."
"Come on Angel!" Lilo yelled, waving back at her from across the street.
"I…I'm coming!" She shouted. She took the pendant around her neck and gently bit it to keep it from dragging as she ran on all fours to catch up with Lilo, who was far in front of her.
"You don't want to be late do you?" Lilo asked rhetorically, shifting her duffel bag to the other shoulder.
"I'd rather not be going at all," she replied letting the pendant drop, "are you sure I'm ready for this?" She looked up at Lilo, a lack of confidence in her four-legged stride. Lilo stopped and knelt down, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"You'll do fine." She said, lightly shaking Angel as she spoke. She stood, and latched onto the leash on her way up, to keep Angel from getting behind again. She started to walk, but Angel stood still, and only moved when the slack was depleted, and the leash forced her to walk or be dragged; either way, she was going.
"But what if I mess up or something?" She said, as she kept up to stride with Lilo. "I mean, what if I end up blowing my own cover? I only spent this morning practicing, I don't know if I've got everything down pact. Why couldn't Stitch come again?" She was beginning to overreact a little, getting flustered over the situation she was put in, which Lilo found a bit funny rather than frustrating. They approached the steps of the Aloha hut, and Lilo stopped again.
"Stitch can't be here because he has to get his shots taken care of." She said, reminding Angel. "I don't think you'll do bad at all." She continued, her tone changing to honesty, "Do you still remember the rules?" She asked quizzically.
"Um…I think so. Dogs do not talk, dogs walk on all fours at all times, dogs scratch themselves constantly but only with their back legs, dogs pant and drool, dogs get fleas, and dogs always stay close to their masters."
"And the golden rule?" Angel sat upright and placed her hand on her chin, thinking.
"…Oh yeah! Dogs are not genetically-altered extraterrestrials from outer space bent on destroying societies and civilizations." Lilo patted her on the head proudly.
"If you remember that much, you'll do perfect." She said. She was still getting used to Angel disguised as a dog; her cranial antennae were pretty much the only things that changed, but their absence sort of irritated Lilo. She didn't know why it bothered her. "Maybe I'm just not used to it." She thought as she continued walking.
Despite the reassurance, Angel was still a bit queasy. But she couldn't stay behind; it would be shameful of her to back out, especially because of what happened that morning. She just wished she had a bit more time to prepare. But, if Lilo thought she was ready…
The wooden steps leading up to the porch creaked as they ascended to the door. Angel was a bit disoriented; climbing up stairs on four legs wasn't an instinctive behavior. Lilo smiled as she reached for the doorknob, upon arriving at the top of the stairs, and Angel took a deep breath as she turned it with a click,and slowly opened the door.
It was much quieter than Angel expected; aside from a large man and five other girls, the room was completely empty. This made her feel slightly better—the smaller the audience the easier her performance. Lilo stepped in briskly, holding tightly onto Angel's leash.
"Good morning Lilo." Called Moses as she entered the room. Immediately all eyes fell on Angel. The curious glances were piercing; making her lower her ears and back up behind Lilo to buffer their sights. "Who's that hiding behind you? A new pet?" He asked, standing up to approach them.
"Uh-huh," Lilo replied, "this is my new dog, her name is Angel."
"I see." He reached out a hand and put it on Angel's head, she flattened herself down to the ground in response. "A bit scared, isn't she?"
"You have no idea." Angel thought, easing up as Moses' hand receded.
"Why don't you introduce Angel to the others while I get things ready?"
"Alright." Lilo happily replied. "Come on, let's go meet the others."
"Must we?" Angel whispered. Lilo didn't respond.
"Hey guys, what's up?" She asked, coming closer to the circle. Myrtle's eyes were the first to glare, followed by the others. They had pretended not to pay attention to them in case it would keep her from coming over.
"Nothing." Myrtle replied with a raised eyebrow.
"I got a new dog," she said, "her name's Angel." She moved aside so they could see her. The other girls seemed to like her, Angel observed, but the red-haired one stared down at her almost disapprovingly.
"She looks like she just came from off the street." Myrtle commented, crossing her arms.
"That's because I haven't given her a bath yet. She only showed up late last night."
"Whatever," Myrtle sniffed, "even with a bath I bet she'd still look ugly. Not even half as pretty as Gigi."
"Yeah." Came the usual agreement from the other girls. Lilo squinted with disgust and walked away from the béte noire.
"Who's the pleasantly pessimistic one?" Angel asked with a dry tone after they were out of earshot.
"That's Myrtle, don't let her get to you." Lilo said, obviously not taking her own advice by the way her tone sounded.
"Oh don't worry, she's not…yet." Lilo leaned over and unhooked the leash.
"Just ignore her. Anyway, I'm going to have to start, you can sit here or do whatever you want, just remember not to-"
"Excuse me, Lilo?" Moses asked, stepping up to her.
"Uh, yeah?" She asked rhetorically.
"It's about the presentation that we're supposed to give." He said. "Do you remember?" She looked up at him, at a bit of a loss, but then the memory clicked in.
"Oh yeah, the one where we're going to perform on a stage. What about it?"
"Well, the girls have planned it all out while you were home sick, and I'm afraid that there's only one part left that hasn't been taken. I've reserved it especially for you, that is, if you don't mind."
"Sure, of course not, what is it?" She asked, her hands coming together behind her back, eager to know what her part in the performance was.
"You will be singing a solo." Her arms went down and her face snapped with surprise.
"A-a solo? Sing? M-me?" She stammered, pointing to herself.
"Yes, you." He said with a laugh. "What do you say?"
"I…uh…" Lilo's eyes rolled with worry as she tried to make her decision, and Myrtle spoke up in the mean time.
"You might as well, it'll be a perfect opportunity to show everyone that you can't sing. That is, unless you're too scared." Myrtle challenged, putting her hands on her hips and giving an intimidating glance. The other girls laughed.
"M-me? Scared of singing? No way, I'll do it!" She stated, with a smile on her face. Angel looked over at Myrtle as the girl walked forward.
"Alright then, before we begin I'll get your music sheets." Moses said, walking to the other side of the room.
"That's pretty courageous; humiliating yourself in front of a crowd." Myrtle jibed.
"I'm not embarrassed to sing." Lilo retorted, failing to sound supportive of her own statement.
"As if." Myrtle snapped. Angel felt a heavy anger rise up in her. She growled and stepped forward. "Pipe down, you." Myrtle commanded her, but she still stepped forward, growling louder, and bearing her teeth. "I said be quiet."
"Angel!" Lilo tried to stop her, but she was too slow. Angel leapt onto Myrtle, pinning her to the ground.
"Naga ji-gato." She barked.
"What?" Myrtle asked through a scream.
"Angel, what's gotten into you? Get off of her!" Lilo shouted, tugging on Angel while Myrtle squirmed underneath. Lilo finally got a good hold under Angel's armpits and lifted her up, while Myrtle struggled to get out. In her thrashing, her hand slipped into the pendant strap, and she took it with her as Angel was pried away. With a roll Myrtle escaped, and the pendant clattered on the ground next to her, and opened up.
"That dog is a threat to society!" Myrtle yelled, as she clambered to her feet. She kicked the open pendant, and noticed something fall out of it. "Huh? What's this?" She said as she bent over to pick it up.
"Angel, calm down!" Lilo said, tightening her hold. Angel finally submitted, and both of them relaxed. Her eyes wandered to Myrtle, and a surge of fear coursed through her.
"Oh no." She said with terror. Lilo's ears twitched.
"What?" She asked, looking to see what caught Angel's attention. Myrtle appeared to be reading something. She didn't understand what Angel was so terrified of until she saw the pendant in Myrtle's hand, which made her realize what she was reading.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no." Angel repeated.
"What the heck is this?" Myrtle asked perplexedly, turning the paper left and right. "Whatever it is, I can't read it, the handwriting is horrible." A wash of relief poured onto Lilo and Angel's shoulders. "I guess it doesn't really matter then." She said whimsically as she casually tore the paper into shreds.
Lilo saw the immediate look of utter disbelief fall upon Angel's face. She felt Angel shift in her grasp, and realized that she'd been restraining her the entire time. She was about to let her go, but the growl that came from her made Lilo brace for a struggle.
"Angel…calm down…" Lilo said therapeutically. Angel closed her mouth and breathed through her nose for a moment, but then squinted her eyes, bared her teeth, and broke free with a yell.
"Hey! What's gotten into her?" Myrtle shouted as she backed away. Angel dashed forward and bit onto the pendant in the girl's hand, which was easily let go with fright. "Take it, take it!"
"Angel no!" Lilo shouted, grabbing onto the collar around Angel's neck.
"Lilo?" Moses asked worriedly, running to the commotion. "What's going on?"
"Something's gotten into Angel." Lilo replied back, struggling and pulling back on her heels, trying to keep Angel from moving. "I think Myrtle made her mad."
"I did not!" Myrtle protested.
"Perhaps you should take Angel home." He interrupted with a yell, pushing the pink dog out of the way. Angel calmed down and merely glared at Myrtle. "Here are the music sheets," Moses sighed, handing them over, "take your dog home and practice the song. Next time you want to bring her, wait until she can control her behavior a little better before you bring her. Ok?" Lilo dropped the papers to her side and looked back at Angel, who was now looking at her with deep, apologetic eyes.
"Alright…" Lilo sighed, walking over and picking up the leash, which she strapped onto Angel's collar, and then to the duffel bag, which she shouldered. "Come on Angel, let's go."
"Forget when she's more behaved, don't ever bring her back!" Myrtle shouted, as Lilo shut the door. Angel squinted with disgust as she felt a large, heavy rock nestle itself down into a nice, quiet, comfortable corner, deep in the pit of her growling stomach.