Experiment 621: Torch
By: knightcommander
The bright midday sun illuminated the colorful houses and shops of the tiny hamlet of Kokaua Town on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. The sapphire blue waters of the Kaua'i channel sparkled as the light of the sun touched them, giving it the appearance of a jeweled table. Brightly colored boats left their respective marinas and headed out into the waters of the channel, adding to the rainbow of color that was the island and it's surrounding waterways. A cool tropical breeze wafted across the island, bringing with it the sweet smell of native Hawaiian plumeria and orchid flowers from the rain forest that surrounded Kokaua Town, adding to the town's tropical atmosphere.
The sun also brought with it the merciless heat that Hawaiian summers were famous for. This heat drove many of the town's residents into their homes, where the cool breezes offered by their air conditioners gave a welcome respite from the beating heat. A few brave souls, however, left the cool confines of their air-conditioned homes and ventured out to Kaua'i's golden beaches, or to the many public pools that the town offered to those seeking refuge from the merciless heat of the midday sun, but did not want to spend the day trapped in their homes. It is at one of these pools that our story begins.
At the Birds of Paradise hotel in downtown Kokaua Town, the guests who stayed in the plush accommodations offered by the hotel found themselves heading to the hotel's private pool in droves, seeking refuge from the vicious summertime heat. Patrons set their towels out on their chairs and dove and splashed around in the hotel's pool, desperate to catch a break from the oppressive heat. Nearby the main pool was a smaller pool, specially designed to accommodate young children. At the moment, a small crowd of children laughed and splashed around, wonderfully oblivious to the discomfort of the rest of the island.
The children currently splashing away happily in the kiddie pool were oblivious to the bizarre event that was about to unfold. As they splashed around, some of the water splattered over the elegant pink and orange orchid flowers placed poolside to enhance the beauty of the hotel's tropical décor. Lying deep within the fronds of the orchid bushes was a small, marble-like object. The object was a fiery orange color with the numerals "621" stamped across it in bold, black letters. As the orchid bush was soaked in the water sent skyward by the children, some of it dripped onto the object. Almost immediately, a greenish yellow light consumed the orb, and it began to grow in size. The children playing nearby were so absorbed by their fun, that they were oblivious to the light emanating from the orchid bush. It all became apparent to them when a sudden explosion of light igniting from the bush. The children turned in the direction of the orchid bush, and were visibly shocked at what they saw.
Where they orb had been, the most unusual creature they ever saw sat. The creature resembled an ordinary Earth koala, but a few notable differences immediately stood out.
The creature had a coat of flame orange fur, and it's head was topped with an unruly mane of long, very light orange fur that covered his small ears and stood in stark contrast to it's body fur. A bright red and yellow patch of fur in the shape of a flame stood out on his chest, over his heart. Though it was not visible, another flame-shaped patch of fur, this time a simple dark orange, was on his back. His hands bore sharp claws, bright red with bright yellow tips. He gazed at the children through almond-shaped, obsidian colored eyes. Perhaps his most striking feature were the pair of black barbed-wire pattern tattoos he sported on his upper arms, and the spiked black leather wristbands he wore.
The creature lifted himself onto his feet and brushed the mulch out of his fur. He was scraping some of the chips out of his headfur when he noticed the kids staring at him.
"What's up, dudes!" He said with a smirk. The kids just stared with eyes as wide as half-dollar pieces. The creature's smirk disappeared when he noticed the kids' expressions. What's wrong with you guys? Haven't you seen a genetic experiment before?" He asked, only to get more gaping in return. The creature scratched his head for second, before getting an idea.
"Wanna see something cool?" He asked them. He then turned over to one of the bushes down by the edge of the pool and stared at it intently. His eyes flashed bright red, and instantly the bush burst into flames. As the kids watched, the creature waved his hands, and the flames twisted to form the shape of a heart. The children's shocked expressions were replaced with expressions of awe at the display. The creature then formed his hands into the "devil horns" sign, causing the flames to twist into the same shape. The kids began to laugh and clap at his flaming displays. The creature's smirk grew larger at their enthusiastic response.
"And now for the finale!" He said. He began to twist his hands around, and as the kids watched, the flames began to twist and form two little tornados of fire. The creature moved his hands around, directing the flames to dance around in circles, as the kids watched in astonishment. Then, he suddenly clapped his hands, and the flames collapsed in on each other and formed a little ball of fire, which shot into the sky and poofed out. The kids clapped and cheered at this display, and the creature smiled, pleased with himself. His good feeling was about to be cut short, however.
"AAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!" A scream echoed from over to their left. The creature wheeled around to see a woman in red one-piece bathing suit and purple sarong charging at him with a beach bag in hand. Before the creature could turn and run, the woman began to bash him on the head with the bag, screaming at him as she did so.
"Dude, what gives!?" He shouted between blows.
"Get away from my children, you beast!" The woman roared, before swinging the bag like a golf club into the creature's chest, sending him over the wall and crashing into a flowerbed on the other side with a thump. He spat the mulch that had gathered in his mouth before standing up and brushing himself off.
"Ow!" He yelped as he painfully yanked a piece of mulch out of his head fur. He growled before tossing the piece aside and yanking, painfully, the few remaining pieces that had stuck themselves in his head fur. He growled again before stepping out of the flowerbed, grumbling about crazy women as he made his way away from the hotel. He walked along the sidewalk grumbling for about five minutes before he was alerted to the sound of creeping footsteps coming up behind him. He whirled around to see a uniformed man, dark-haired with a goatee, trying to sneak up behind him with a net. As soon as the creature turned around, the man lunged at him and swung his net in an attempt to capture him. The creature nimbly dodged the man's net and peeled off across the road to escape him.
"Pardon me! Watch it, coming through!" The creature said as he made his way through a crowd returning from the beach, dodging and weaving around the tourists as the man crashed through them in a attempt to catch up with him. The two of them ran through the downtown area before the creature spotted a patch of jungle off to the side of the road. Just as the man was about to catch up to him, he cut and ran into the jungle, quickly disappearing into the foliage. The man cursed his bad luck before turning back and walking away.
---
"Warning! Experiment 621 activated. Primary function, pyrokinesis." Chimed the emotionless voice of the experiment tracker onboard Gantu's ship, waking up a very sleepy Experiment 625. He had a typical experiment's body shape, though his frame was squat and chubby. The exceptions on him were his small ears, which permanently hung at the sides of his head, his large nose, and buckteeth, which protruded out from under his upper lip. His fur was a sunny yellow color, his belly being slightly brighter, and his eyes were the same pupil-less, obsidian black as the rest of Jumba's creations.
625 climbed out of his bed and hobbled over to where his shipmate, Captain (former) of the Galactic Armada, Conqueror of the… well, you probably know the whole diatribe. 625 climbed up onto Gantu's desk, next to his bed, and shook him slightly.
"Hey, G, wake up! There's and experiment on the loose!" He said, trying to wake Gantu up. Gantu just grumbled and slept on. 625 scowled and attempted to wake him up again, louder this time. Still, Gantu refused to awaken. 625 finally shrugged and gave up his attempts to awaken his shipmate.
"Fine," he said, "Don't wake up. Just don't come crying to me when Hamster-jerk calls and bags on you about that experiment that got away." He then climbed down from the desk and hobbled out of the room and back to bed.
---
Exhausted, that's how Lilo Pelekai felt as she rode home from hula school with her elder sister, Nani Pelekai, in the driver's seat. She had had a long night, having been up late trying to catch the latest of Jumba's genetic experiments to have been activated, coupled with the extra practice sessions Moses, her hula instructor, had been working into their schedule in preparation for an upcoming recital. Now, practically every joint in her body ached and creaked from the extra work she had put in. She liked her teacher, but she thought he took it way overboard with these preparations. After all, she and the rest of the class had done several other recitals during her years in hula training, and they had performed spectacularly.
"I guess he's just one those people who likes perfection." She thought to herself as they drove into downtown Kokaua. As Nani stopped for a red light, she found her mind wandering to Stitch, who was waiting for them back at home. She wondered what her blue friend was up to.
---
Stitch lay slumped on the sofa, watching the typical mind-numbing Saturday afternoon cartoon reruns. With Lilo currently at hula class, he had absolutely nothing else to do. Normally, he would head over to Kiki's for a coffee, but the shop was closed for maintenance. He thought about calling one of his cousins and hanging out with them, but he had promised Lilo that he would wait for her to get home from hula class, and he intended to keep his promise.
But it was so boring!
Just as he was about to give in to his boredom and fall asleep, his sensitive ears picked up the sound of an approaching car. Finally, Lilo was home! He leapt off of the couch and bounded out the door and down the steps to the driveway. He had told Lilo that he would be right there waiting for her. He stood there for about five minutes before Nani's green jeep pulled up the driveway and parked.
"Lilo!" Stitch called. Lilo and Nani climbed out of the car, and Lilo ran over and embraced her friend.
"Mahalo for waiting for me, Stitch." She said. Stitch just hugged her. "Let me get changed out, and we'll go do something. You must be going crazy with boredom."
"Ih." Stitch said. "Stitch bored!" Lilo laughed and ran into the house to get out of her hula gear. Nani followed with a tired sigh, with Stitch bringing up the rear.
---
Experiment 621 crashed through the underbrush until he was sure that no one was following him. He stopped for a moment to take a breather, and then hacked his way through the jungle until he came to a clearing, where he sat down on a tree root.
"Ooh, man!" He complained, grasping his sore feet, "That's the last time I run that distance." He rested for a little bit before getting up and walking through the clearing. He pushed his way through a bit more underbrush before he came upon a road, with fresh tire tracks in it. 621 decided that his best option was to follow the road and see where it went. He walked down the road, following the tire tracks until he came to the end of the track. Torch looked up and saw a comfortable looking house. It was painted blue with a red tile roof. A set of stairs led up the front door. What made the house unique was the metal dome attached to the roof.
"Maybe whoever lives here can help me." 621 though. He began to approach the house cautiously, when he heard a voice.
"Lilo, I have to go back to work. You and Stitch behave yourselves, okay?" A woman's voice called out.
"Okay, Nani." A softer voice, a child's, called back. Then 621 heard the door begin to open. 621 immediately ducked into some of the bushes surrounding the house as a woman, dressed in a blue tank top and tan Capri pants, stepped out of the house. She got into a green vehicle, which then backed up, turned around, and drove down the road and out of sight. Once he was sure the vehicle was out of sight, he cautiously made his way up the stairs and too the front door. Fighting nerves, 621 took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
---
Lilo was straightening out her mu'umu'u when she heard the knock on the door. A curious expression came across her face.
"I'll get it!" She called. She then ran down the stairs to the door. She opened the door, and got the shock of her life.
There was an experiment at the door!
The experiment was orange, with light orange head fur, a red and yellow flame pattern on his chest, typical experiment eyes, red claws with yellow tips and, most unusually, black barbed wire patterns on his upper arms and black, spiked leather wristbands on his wrists.
Lilo was shocked at the sudden appearance of an experiment on her doorstep. Not knowing what this experiment was capable of, she backed away from the door, nearly tripping over her own feet as she went.
"Hey, dude, you think you can give me hand?" The experiment asked in perfect English. The experiment then began to take a step forward, into the house. That did it for Lilo.
"Stitch! Help!" She cried out. The experiment stared at her with an expression of surprise on its face.
"Calm down, dude! I'm not gonna hurt you." The experiment tried to calm her down, but it was to know avail. She called out for "Stitch" again, and they both heard the sound of running feet coming down the stairs. To Lilo's surprise, Stitch appeared to recognize the experiment.
"Six, is that you dude?" The experiment asked, surprise evident in his voice. Lilo was furthered confused when Stitch smiled in obvious recognition.
"Achi-baba!" He called out, leaping down the stairs and running over to the experiment. The two of them high-fived each other like old friends.
"Uh, you two…know each other?" Lilo asked. Stitch turned to her with a huge grin on his face.
"Ih, achi-baba!" Stitch said, pointing to the experiment.
"So, which one are you?" She asked.
"Oh yeah, intro." He said. "I'm Experiment 621." Lilo nodded.
"I'm Lilo, and this is Stitch." She said, pointing to Stitch. "We don't call him by his number anymore. Uh, not to be rude or anything, but how come your not, like, running around town causing chaos?"
"I can be answering that question, little girl." A thickly accented voice said behind them. They all turned to see the large form of Dr. Jumba Jookiba appear from the hallway. "Ah, Experiment 621, good to see you. I see the little girl and 626 have managed to capture you, yes?"
"Actually, he kind of just showed up." Lilo replied. "So, you were saying?"
"Oh yes." Jumba said. "Experiment 621 has a very unique power. He is pyrokinetic." Lilo looked at him with confusion.
"Pyro what?" Lilo asked.
"Pyrokinesis, it means he can create and control fire with his mind." Jumba said.
"Oh, okay." Lilo said. Jumba sat down on the sofa, which sagged slightly under his weight, before continuing.
"Experiment 621's original function was to distract emergency workers during attacks by creating uncontrollable fires." He continued. "While emergency workers are occupied with fighting said fires, the more powerful experiments would conduct their attacks unhindered. However, when I finished him, he proved to be a failure. He was laid-back and non-violent, not something that an evil genius would want in one of his creations." He gave a chuckle. "I see you are still havingk your long hair, 621." He said, referring to the mop the sprouted from 621's head.
"He's cool looking." Lilo said, admiring him. "You did a good job on him." Jumba chuckled again. Torch blushed slightly, unable to help himself.
"Actually, you should be telling him that." He said. "When I first created him, he didn't look like this at all. He had short hair, no markings on arms, and no leather wristbands with spikes protruding from them." He sighed. "This did not happen until he began listening to that infernal music."
"What do you mean?" Lilo asked.
"621 like metal!" Stitch said, doing an impersonation of a guitarist, which elicited a laugh from Lilo.
"Yes. Sometime after his creation, he began to associate with a style of Earth music humans refer to as 'heavy metal'. I remember he gave me many a headache with the racket that came from his quarters." Jumba said.
"Yeah, I remember that." 621 said. "I remember my Mötley Crüe tracks drove you nuts." Jumba rolled his eyes.
"You know," Lilo said, "we still haven't given you a name." Torch cocked his head.
"What did you have in mind?" He asked. Lilo put her finger to her lip as she though about it.
"I know!" She said. "Your power is to create fire, right?" Torch nodded. "Then I'm going to name you… Torch, because you're like a living torch." Torch smiled at this.
"Dude, that sounds totally metal!" He said, flashing a Devil horns sign.
"I suppose that means he accepts his new name." Jumba said. "Speaking of metal, I managed to retrieve some of the things from my old lab recently, which includes your things." He said. "Follow me." They both followed Jumba out the back door and over to his ship. Jumba pressed a button on the side, which opened the side hatch, and they all stepped into the ship. Jumba then led them to the back of the ship, to where cargo was stored. He pressed another button that opened the hatch to the cargo compartment. He reached down and sifted a few things around before pulling out two boxes marked "621's items" on them. "Well, here you are, 621, all of your things I managed to retrieve." The newly christened Torch, looking as giddy as a schoolgirl, immediately tore into the first box, and pulled out a small guitar, made for an experiment to handle. The guitar's body was based on the venerable Gibson Flying V, and was colored black with a red pickguard. The neck was crafted from the wood of the Arcas tree, which grew only on Turo, and had 22 frets and six strings. The guitar sported three knobs, one volume, one tone, and a three-way switch. It also sported a bent metal rod that extended from the bottom of the guitar's body.
Torch looped the guitar strap around his body and then reached back into the box. This time, he pulled out a box-like object that resembled a speaker. The top of the object was covered in numerous knobs and buttons.
"Whats that, Torch?" Lilo asked.
"This," Torch replied, "is my amp." He reached back into the box and pulled out a cord. He plugged one end of the cord into the amp and the other into the guitar. He then reached into the box one last time, this time pulling out a small, triangular case. He pressed a button on the top of the case, causing the lid to pop open and reveal four triangular shaped objects. One appeared to be made of light blue plastic, another of tortoise shell, and the last two of black plastic. "And these," Torch said, "are my picks." He selected the tortoise shell one and closed the case, placing it to rest on his amp. He then began to strum on the guitar, producing a heavy sound. "Excellent, still in tune." Torch said, more to himself than the others in the room. He then began to play a rousing tune, his fingers elegantly sweeping along the strings. Lilo and Stitch clapped as he played.
"Wow!" Lilo said in surprise. "You're good!" Torch smiled.
"Thanks." He said. "I'm rather proud of my playing. I taught myself." Lilo awed at this. Torch smirked.
---
"GAAANTUUUU!!!!" A shrill accented voice pierced the silence of the ship, startling 625 out of his sleep. Grumbling at the loud intrusion, 625 sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
What do you want?" He growled. The shrill voice of Dr. Jacques van Hamsterviel responded.
"625! Where is Gantu? I must speak with him immediately!" Hamsterviel shouted. 625 rolled his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Gantu can't come to phone right now," 625 responded sarcastically, "please leave a message after the beep. BEEEEEEP!" Hamsterviel snarled.
"I will not be spoken to like that!" He roared. "Get Gantu now!" 625 grumbled. Better to just do what he says than chance a tongue-lashing. He hopped out of bed and went over to a box near his bed, where he kept most of his things, from which he pulled out an air horn like the ones blown at basketball games. He then walked into Gantu's quarters and blew the horn right next to his head. Gantu leapt out of bed with a yelp and crashed to the floor in a heap. Fuming, he freed himself from his covers and glared at 625.
"What is the meaning of this?" He shouted.
"Hamsterviel wants you." 625 said. Grumbling, Gantu left his quarters and entered the control room, where Hamsterviel waited to speak with him.
"Yes sir." Gantu said. Hamsterviel scowled.
"Why, pray tell, are you wasting your time with the catching of the forty winks, when you should be catching my experiments!" Hamsterviel shouted.
"There haven't been any experiments activated recently." Gantu said. Right then, the experiment tracker activated.
"Warning, Experiment 621 activated. Primary function, telekinesis." Gantu, surprised, looked at Hamsterviel with a sheepish look.
"Well, hehe, that one must have just activated."
"Yes. And what are you waiting for?" Hamsterviel asked with sarcasm. "Go get it!" Gantu immediately ran back to his quarters, grabbed his gear, and ran out the door to go catch the experiment.
"Hey, can you pick up some mayo while you're out!" 625 called.
---
"Now that you have a name and we know what you do, we need to find your one true place." Lilo said as Torch unpacked some of his other things. The rest of his belongings consisted of various band t-shirts, denim vest with various band emblem patches on it, a black leather jacket, and a silver cross pendant on a thin silver chain.
"What's that mean?" Torch asked as he slipped his pendant on.
"It's simple. We try to find a place where your powers can be used for good." Lilo explained. "Like Stitch lives with me, helping me to catch the other experiments." Torch considered that for a second. "Jumba says you can make fire, can you control it?"
"Yeah! Check this out!" Torch said. He held his hand up, and his eyes flashed red, and a small flame appeared in his palm. He traced his finger in the air, and the flame twisted into the shape of a five-pointed star. He traced again, and the flame twisted from a star into the shape of a shamrock. He then made some hand movements with his free hand, and the flame formed into a waterfall, the "water" flowing from it like a river of lava. He then blew the flame out. Lilo was in awe.
"Wow!" Lilo oohed. "Hey, I just had an idea! They just built an amphitheater not far up the road from here. Maybe you could work for them!" She suggested. Torch considered that for a second.
"Sounds cool." Torch said. "But I'm not sure how fire powers are going to help me at that."
"Well, a lot of bands use fireworks, right?" Lilo replied. Torch nodded. "Well, you could do the fireworks during rock shows." Torch smiled.
"Dude, that's cool." Torch said. Lilo smiled.
"Alright! We'll talk to the guy who runs the amphitheater and see if we can build you a house there." Lilo said. Stitch nodded in agreement.
---
Gantu stood at a downtown crossing walk, attracting stares from the pedestrians, mostly due to his massive height (he was nearly twenty feet tall), and his fish-like features. He was stopping various pedestrians on their way downtown, inquiring about the experiment that he was supposed to capture.
"Pardon me, ma'am." He said to a passing woman on her way to the beach. "Have you seen any unusual creatures running about recently?"
"Just you." The woman replied. "Where exactly are you from, anyway?"
"I'm from the eight planet in the Krevlon sys… I mean… I'm from Samoa." He said, catching himself before he could totally give away his true origins.
"Yeah, whatever." The woman said before walking away. Gantu sighed. He had been standing there for nearly a half hour, and so far no one had seen anything. He decided to sit on a nearby bench and wait and see if he spotted them. The little girl would often troop through the downtown area with a captured experiment in search of their "one true place" as she put it. Maybe he would get lucky and spot them.
---
Gantu had in fact chosen the wrong place to wait. Lilo, Stitch and Torch had taken a backwoods trail to the downtown, completely bypassing him. Gantu was the last thing on their minds, however, as the trio made their way down the boardwalk. Lilo had decided to take Torch to meet some of the other cousins, something Torch had mixed feelings about. On the one hand, he was excited about meeting the other experiments, some he had never seen during his days in Jumba's lab. On the other hand, he remembered that he did not get along with some of the other experiments. One he particularly detested was Experiment 601, named Kixx by Lilo. Kixx often teased him about his looks, especially his hair, and also about his musical tastes. Torch pretty much just ignored it, though there were days where he just wanted to sock Kixx in the jaw.
The trio soon approached a basketball court where a group of experiments had gathered to play a game of pickup basketball. One of them, the yellow electric experiment known as Sparky, smiled when he saw them approach, and zipped over to greet them.
"Aloha." He said.
"Aloha, Sparky!" Lilo said. "We have someone for you to meet." She said, gesturing to where Torch stood.
"Cousin?" Sparky asked. Lilo nodded.
"Yep. This is Torch." She said, gesturing toward the orange experiment.
"Uh, what's up dude?" Torch said, waving to the experiment, whom he never met before. Sparky smirked and held his hand out to the experiment, eliciting a handshake from Torch.
"Torch, this is Experiment 221. We call him Sparky." Lilo said. "He's designed to make electrical surges." Sparky created a current of electricity across his body as a demonstration.
"Oh, cool." Torch said. "I make fire with my brain." He demonstrated this by creating a tiny, fiery thunderstorm in his hand.
"Show-off." Lilo muttered with a giggle. The conversation attracted the attention of the other experiments.
"Hey guys, check out the new guy." A slender, weasel-like experiment with a series of pits along his back said. This was Experiment 502, or Yang, an elemental experiment designed to produce magma in his body, which was the fired from the pits along his back as a weapon.
"Who is he?" Asked another experiment, a blue one that resembled an octopus or squid. This was Experiment 501, or Yin, another elemental experiment and Yang's counterpart. Her function was to store water in her body and utilize as a powerful weapon. She could spray water from her tentacles with such pressure that the stream could cause serious injury if it hit someone.
"He looks like one of the six hundred series." Said a small, green female experiment, Experiment 349, better known as Bonnie, after infamous bank robber and outlaw Bonnie Parker. She was so named because of her function, which was "theft and evasion".
"What makes you say that?" Said Yin.
"Well, look at him." Bonnie said. "He's almost a perfect clone of blue. I wonder what he does?"
"Well, lets ask." Yang suggested, and the three of them went over to see the new experiment. Torch spotted them.
"The rest of the welcoming committee?" He asked as the experiments approached.
"Oh, hey guys." Lilo called. "I want you to meet Torch. He's just been activated." Torch smiled and waved at his fellow experiments.
"Hello, Torch." Yin said. "I'm Experiment 501. You can call me Yin. This is my friend, Experiment 502, or Yang." She said, pointing to Yang. Yang just waved.
"I'm 349, but everyone calls me Bonnie." Bonnie said, before reaching over to shake Torch's hand. Torch blushed slightly. Bonnie was a rather attractive experiment, and for reasons he for the life of him could not explain, being around pretty girls always made him nervous. Not that he was attracted to her. In fact, he wasn't. Talking to girls just made him nervous. He nervously shook Bonnie's hand.
"Well… uh, hi." He replied, stammering slightly from nerves. He hated the way he was sounding at that moment. Bonnie just laughed at his apparent nervousness.
"Alright, intro." Torch said as he released Bonnie's hand. "Well, I'm experiment 621, but you all can call me Torch. I'm pyrokinetic."
"Say what?" Bonnie asked, confused.
"He makes fire with his mind." Lilo explained. Torch nodded. He held up his hand, flashed his eyes, and in his hand appeared a small flame. He waved his hands and the flame twisted into the shape of a basketball player, which leapt up and dunked the basketball before bursting. The other experiments clapped at the display, and Torch smiled at the applause. It was then that the gang heard another voice, one that Torch did not like.
"Yo, what's going on here?" An obnoxious voiced called out. Torch scowled when he recognized whom it belonged to.
"Oh God, help me." He said as Kixx waltzed up to the gang, looked incredibly pompous.
"I heard people clapping. So, what's going on?" He asked again. He then caught sight of Torch, and a strangely malicious smile appeared on his face. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? If it isn't Goldilocks." Torch scowled, suppressing the urge to punch Kixx for that insult.
"Hello, 601." Torch said with a growl. Kixx scoffed.
"I don't go by my number anymore, girly-boy." Kixx said. "I go by Kixx nowadays." Torch huffed.
"Fitting name," he said, "seeing as how I can imagine Stitch 'Kixxing' your patookie in order to capture you." He smirked. Kixx scowled.
"I'd watch your mouth, punk." Kixx said. "I'll kick your puny little butt!"
"How about I draw a line down the middle of your face so it looks like one." Torch said. The others burst out laughing. Kixx just snarled and moved in to punch Torch, but Lilo stopped him before he could do anything.
"Knock it off you two!" She said sternly. Kixx just scowled.
"This aint over yet, punk." Kixx said as he walked away. Torch just laughed.
"Smell ya later!" He called after him. Lilo sighed.
"Now that that's out of the way, what do you say we get going?" She said. "The stadium isn't much farther." Torch and Stitch nodded.
"Right." Torch said. "Well, gotta run. Nice meeting you guys."
"Likewise." Yin replied. "Feel free to visit anytime." Torch smiled.
"I will." He said, and the three of them left the group to their game.
---
What none of them realized was that Gantu had given up waiting for them and was headed in their direction. He ignored the group of experiments playing basketball. They had long since been rehabilitated, and were now useless to Hamsterviel. His thoughts were solely concentrated on capturing the recently activated experiment. It wasn't long before he came upon the group and spotted the experiment. He immediately ducked into a grove of trees and hid from them to devise a plan. He decided to do something different then his previous attempts at capture. He reached down to his equipment belt and pulled out a grappler cartridge, which he loaded into his blaster. The grappler cartridge was essentially a net cartridge that came with a cable attached. When the target was snagged in the grappler, it pulled the target in, much like a grappling hook.
Gantu took careful aim. His target was Lilo. He decided to capture the little girl and hold her hostage. In exchange, he would demand that 626 turn the experiment over to him. After he had lined up his sight picture, he fired the net, which snagged Lilo and dragged her over to Gantu.
"Aaaah! Stitch, help!" She cried. Stitch was horrified to see Lilo being captured.
"Lilo!" He cried out in horror. Torch was equally horrified to see this.
"Alright trogs! I have a proposition for you." Gantu said as he revealed himself. "I'm sure you want your little friend back, so, you bring me Experiment 621, and I'll give you the earthform back." Before they could react, Gantu pushed a button on his wristband, and he teleported away. Stitch roared in anger. He was stuck in a no-win situation. Either he turn Torch over to get Lilo back and have him sent to Hamsterviel, or he keep Torch and Lilo gets hurt, or worse. As he cursed his bad luck, Torch put his hand on his shoulder.
"Relax dude." Torch said. Stitch scowled.
"How miga supposed to relax!" He shouted. "Gantu take Lilo and say miga have to turn you over to get her back! Miga can't do that, but miga can't abando Lilo!"
"I'll tell you why." Torch said. "I have a plan." Stitch leaned in closer.
"Miga listening." He said. Torch then leaned in and explained his plan. Stitch smiled. Torch's plan sounded like a good one!
---
Gantu opened a pill-shaped holding container in his ship's holding bay and thrust Lilo in it. He then closed it and went into the control room to wait for Stitch to show up. He was quite certain that Stitch would consider the safety of his human companion over the experiment and gladly trade for her. As he contemplated his next move, the communicator buzzed, and Hamsterviel's rodent-like visage appeared on the screen.
"What are doing back without the experiment?" He shouted. "I ordered you to capture the experiment and you haven't! You had best have an explanation!" Gantu smirked.
"I've decided to go about this a different way." Gantu said. "I've managed to capture the abomination's earthform companion and am holding her. I've offered him a deal. He gives me the experiment, I give him the earthform." Hamsterviel huffed.
"And what makes you think that he will make this 'deal'?" Hamsterviel asked.
"No doubt he has grown quite close the earthform." Gantu said. "I'm quite certain that he will forsake this experiment in order to assure her safety." Hamsterviel cackled.
"Ooh, that is such a delightfully wicked plan. I'm quite surprised you managed to conjure it up in that fishy brain of yours." Gantu scowled at the thinly veiled insult. "I shall leave you to your business. Contact me when you have secured the experiment." With that, the communicator blinked out. Gantu growled at Hamsterviels insult before going back to waiting.
---
Not much later, Stitch and Torch were making there way over to Gantu's ship. Stitch had placed a pair of handcuffs on Torch's hands, making it look he had secured him to take to Gantu. However, it was all a ruse. The cuffs were in fact unsecured, and Torch was holding them onto his hands with his forearms. They planned for Torch to throw them off once they had gotten onboard and distract Gantu with his fire powers, whilst Stitch freed Lilo. They would all make their escape once Lilo was freed. Right now, Torch was making a good show of being captured.
"Dude, how could you do this to me!" He said, clearly faking it. "What happened to finding my one true place and all that fun stuff?" Stitch couldn't help but laugh.
"Naga have to do that." He said. Torch shrugged.
"Thought it would help." He said as they approached the front of the ship. Stitch rapped on the ship's hatch, which opened rather quickly to reveal Gantu's massive form, smirking at his apparent victory.
"I figured that you would come to your senses and hand over the experiment." Gantu said. "I'll be taking him off of your hands now." As he bent over to remove the handcuffs, Stitch stopped him.
"Miga see Lilo first." Stitch insisted. Gantu frowned, but nodded.
"Have it your way, trog." He said, and led them into the ship. Torch smirked before going back into his "betrayed-experiment" routine.
"Dude, this is so not metal!" He said, feigning outrage. "You are so getting bit in the butt by Karma! You hear me!" Stitch frowned, joining in on the charade.
"You know something?" Stitch said. "Lilo is way more important to me than you right now, so I would shut up if you want to keep your teeth!" Torch pretended to scowl, but flashed Stitch a tiny smirk.
"Good one dude." He whispered just loud enough for Stitch to hear. Gantu opened a door at the far end of the control room, revealing the cargo area where he stashed Lilo. Lilo leapt up and smiled upon seeing Stitch, but her smile was replaced with a look of shock when she saw Torch in handcuffs.
"Stitch!" She cried out in horror. "What are you doing?"
"He's handing me over to fishlips, what's it look like." Torch said. "By the way, thanks a lot, poser!" Stitch let loose a fake snarl. Torch returned the snarl, but then turned to Lilo and winked. Lilo, seeing this gesture, knew that the two had something up their sleeves, but continued to play her part. Stitch turned to Gantu.
"Let Lilo out." He said, moving closer to Torch. Get ready, Torch mouthed to Stitch. Gantu leaned over the container and removed the capsule, freeing Lilo. Just as he did, Torch roared and seemingly ripped the handcuffs off, pretending to hit Stitch in the face along the way. He then began lighting fires all over the cargo area. Alarms began to blare as the fires alerted the ships safety systems. In the commotion, Stitch rushed forward and grabbed Lilo, pulling her to safety.
"Stitch, what about Torch? We can't leave him!" Lilo said. Stitch continued to pull her away from the fray.
"Torch take care of himself!" He said. "Keep going!" The two of them ran out of the ship and stopped briefly to catch their breath. As they did, they saw Torch running out of the ship. As he tried to reach them, however, Gantu appeared and shot him with a grappling hook!
"What the!" He shouted in shock, desperately clawing at the cable to free himself. Stitch growled and grabbed the cable. Struggling against the cable, he deftly bit it in two, ripped the gun out of Gantu's hand, and slung it away.
"Trog!" Gantu roared. "How dare you interfere!" Stitch just snarled. Gantu made a move to grab Stitch, but before he could, a wall of fire erupted in front of him. "What is the meaning of this?" Gantu shouted.
"One of my favorite tricks." Torch said. "Trapping dweebs like you with a literal firewall." Gantu snarled, knowing he was beaten.
"See you later, stinky-head!" Lilo called. As they left, Torch turned back for a second.
"Oh, one more thing before we go!" He called. His eyes flashed, and he pointed at Gantu. As they watched, Gantu's pants burst into flame and burned off of his body, revealing a pair of blue boxer shorts with planet markings.
"Oh blitznak." He said with embarrassment. Stitch, Lilo, and Torch howled with laughter and ran off, leaving a thoroughly embarrassed Gantu to explain yet another failure to Hamsterviel.
---
Lilo and the gang continued their trip down to the amphitheatre, after pausing briefly to catch their breath.
"Thanks for saving me guys." Lilo said, enveloping the two in a hug. The two experiments grinned and returned it.
"His idea." Stitch said pointing to Torch, who raised his hand in a boy scout sign.
"Guilty as charged," he said, "but dangit, you know it's right." Lilo giggled.
---
"So, what do you think?" Lilo asked the man standing next to her. The man was the owner of the new amphitheatre, and they were watching Torch perform one of his pyrotechnic "routines" (after taking time to pretend to set up the pyrotechnics). Needless to say, the owner was impressed, watching as Torch formed all kinds of intricate displays of fire with his mind only (but what the owner thought was pyrotechnics).
"Amazing! I've never seen such things done with pyrotechnics before." The owner said in awe.
"Does that mean he's hired?" Lilo asked. Torch stopped his routine to hear the answer.
"That's a resounding yes." The owner replied. "Our shows will be the talk of the world with this kind of fireworks.
"Yeeeeeehaaaaawwww!" Torch yipped. Lilo laughed.
"Oh, one thing." She said. "You see, he doesn't have a place to stay. Do you know where he can stay?"
"As a matter of fact, I have a place." The owner said. "There's a room out behind the amphitheatre that was supposed to have been a VIP room, but the decorators refused to meet our price. We can turn the place into an apartment for him, if he doesn't mind paying rent." Torch grinned like the Cheshire Cat.
"You kidding! I'm psyched!" He said. The owner laughed.
"Well then, looks like everything's settled." He said. "I'll have some furniture brought in. You can move in at your leisure." The group cheered. Another experiment had found it's one true place.
---
"So, what exactly are we doing here?" David said as he took his seat next to Nani.
"We're going to see a concert." Lilo said matter-of-factly.
"Well, I figured that much. But why this one?" He said.
"Because the new experiment is doing the pyrotechnics." Lilo said. "Remember?" David rapped himself on the head.
"Oops, I forgot." He said. He stopped when the stage lights dimmed.
"Ladies and gentleman!" The announcer said. "Please put your hands together for the new kings of noise, Steel Griffon!" The band playing that night was glam metal tribute group. The guitar and bass kicked in, backed up by the thunderous beat of the drums. Then, to wild applause, and flash of flame erupted, from which the lead singer appeared, belting out classic 80s rock hits. Lilo and Stitch looked spotted movement on the roof of the stage. They spotted Torch standing on the roof, directing his flashy fire displays. The crowd went wild as the flames danced across the stage in nigh impossible patterns. Torch took a moment so look at Lilo and Stitch, and flashed them the devil horns sign. The two smiled and returned the gesture.
The perfect ending to another success.