[One of the new experiments I introduce in this episode ended up being a tad bit more aggressive then I originally intended to make him. No worries though. He'll lighten up as the story goes along.]

Episode 3

"Robots!? What the bloody 'ell do ya mean!?" Anthony shouted through the mouth piece of his cell phone. He earned himself some peculiar glances from people around him as he walked down the sidewalk in town, shouting into his phone, but he was too exasperated to care.

"I mean what I say." responded his boss over the phone. "You say you've got pictures of little gremlins selling ice cream cones and teaching kickboxing. Well that's just great, but the thing is, you're not the first. We've already had photographers and investigators out there, getting the full scoop on the situation. Turns out, they're all robots. Advanced machines created by a retired scientist who lives in the area, known as Jumba Jonas. It's all for the sake of drawing in tourists, for their economy I guess… but that's the story and it doesn't go any further then that."

Anthony rubbed his forehead and sat down on a bench. "No. No, that's not right. Listen to me sir, I saw these sodding things up close and personal. They were-"

"Pretty life-like, right? I know. I've been down there myself. So trust me, they're not gremlins, they're not native monsters, and their NOT aliens. They're just robots. Mascots. And that's the end of it. Call back if you find a real story." He hung up before Anthony could push the matter further.

Anthony sighed and folded his cell phone closed. Anthony Fissure. A man of 20 years of age with matted, medium-length dark brown hair, an olive complexion, a medium build, and light brown eyes. Born and raised in the UK and now residing in New York City. He was a photographer for a world famous news network. He was well known for his history of capturing photos of bizarre and unusual stories. So when he had heard about little monsters running loose in Hawaii, he booked a flight the first chance he got. It was shocking how easy it was to find these creatures. They were working side by side with the rest of the community, usually running or working at various shops. And now his boss was telling him that they weren't real? No way.

"Those were no robots…" he quietly tried to convince himself as he leaned forward and rubbed his chin. "But that's what everyone else seems to believe. I'm not going to get bloody anywhere by snapping more shots of them… but if creatures like that reside here, out in the open for the public eye to see, then there's no telling what else I could find if I did a little poking around."

Anthony stood up, camera in hand, and a new resolve in heart. There was a big story somewhere on this small island. He could feel it… and he'd be the first to discover it.

"Lilo! No!" Stitchs eyes gleamed with fear, anger, and helplessness all at once. This experiment had sure picked a lousy time to take Lilo hostage. Or perhaps in the said experiments case a very good time. Stitch was currently powerless, and knew there was nothing he could do. Even if he did have his abilities, it would still be a very sticky situation. This experiment had a plasma blaster held up to Lilo's head. Any wrong move on Stitch's part could result in his best friend's death.

Stitch took a scan of his surroundings. His eyes lingered to Gantu who had stopped fighting by this mystery experiments command. Were he and 625 working together with it? Stitch then glanced at Angel, Jumba, and Pleakely up on the patio. Jumba… that look in his eyes. It seemed he recognized this experiment.

"V'whaa! Yes, that's it! I am'v remembering now!" Jumba suddenly exclaimed, pointing a finger down at the experiment who held Lilo captive. "You are experiment 621! Oh, I v'would never forget you. You ruined my plans to transform 626 into ultimate experiment, by using collected DNA on yourself!"

621's sights peeled up away from 626 and landed on Jumba. "I'm flattered, that you remember. Yes, that's right. I ruined your plans to make the oh-so-superior 626 even more superior. But that's nothing compared to what the two of you did to me, Jumba Jookiba! I'm the victim here! And I'll have my justice!"

"6…2…1?" Stitch questioned, tilting his head. He vaguely remembered this guy. It had just been so soon after his creation, that it was like a human adult trying to recall their memories as a toddler. Not that his intelligence back then had been like that of a child's, but his earliest memories were always hard to recall. Stitch could just vaguely remember another experiment, one that looked a bit like himself. He was always helping Jumba out around the lab until one day he transformed himself into a deadly monster.

621 looked back at Stitch and grinned evilly. "And you remember me too, 626? Good. Then you know what I'm capable of. I won't hesitate to kill your little Earth friend."

"Don't listen Stitch!" Lilo suddenly shouted, attempting to break free of 621s grasp. "I'll be fine! I bet he's bluffing! Just take him down!"

"Shut up, you annoying little creature!" 621 spat. Lilo nearly escaped his grip, but he kneed her hard in the stomach to stop her. Lilo was rendered unconscious and went limp.

"Lilo!!" In a rage, Stitch attempted to sprout out his extra arms. He ended up with a strange result of his left arm shrinking back into his body and two extra ones growing out underneath his right. "Ohhh... achi-ga poota."

As 621 hoisted Lilo back up, his gaze fell back upon Gantu. "Blubber Butt! What's the meaning of this!? You killing 626 is not part of the plan." 621 said haughtily to the shark-like alien.

"Well maybe I've decided to change the plan." Gantu responded. "This fight has taught me a valuable lesson about how much I truly despise 626. I just can't get enough of pummeling him. So I've decided that I'm going to be the one to finish him… and don't call me Blubber Butt!"

"Eh? Why not? I thought that was your name." retorted 621 with a raised brow.

"No it's not!" snapped Gantu. "Where would you ever get an idea like…? …625!" He beamed furiously at 625, realizing without a doubt that he had to be responsible.

"Whaat? I never actually told him it was your name." argued 625 with a snicker.

"Argh, enough of this!" shouted 621. "Whatever your name is… you do not want to cross me. You have both already seen my full strength, and I will not hesitate to use it against either one of you! The plan stays the same! Agreed!?"

Gantus new defiant determination wavered a bit. "…Alright. Alright, fine!" he finally agreed. He put away his plasma blaster.

"Good good. Now then, listen carefully 626." 621 said, looking back at his "sworn enemy". "This girl is important to you, right? You will do as I say, or I will kill her. Tomorrow we will meet at the shores, South of this spot. That's where you and I will go face to face and settle the score. We'll have a rematch. One final bout on my terms. All you have to do is show up and fight me, and I'll release the girl right away. All I want is to best you 626. I want to humiliate you and show both you and Jumba who the truly superior one is! And I will."

Stitch said nothing. He shook with anger at both 621 and his own inability to save Lilo. If he wasn't able to retrain himself by tomorrow, then…

"The message has been delivered. We're leaving." Announced 621. He headed off through the trees, dragging the unconscious Lilo along with him.

"Well, I suppose it will be a pleasure to see you get annihilated." were Gantus parting words to Stitch. "Even if I'm not the one doing it." He headed off after 621.

"See you tomorrow, losers!" called 625 to Stitch and his group, saluting them off before running after Gantu and 621.

Once they had left, Stitch dropped down to his knees, looking defeated. "My fault…" he said to himself. If he hadn't had exposed himself to Experiment 526's ability, then he wouldn't be in this condition. And then maybe he could have…

Stitch felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back to see Angel looking at him with concern. "It will be alright." She promised him in Tantalog. "All you have to do is get retrained by tomorrow. We can get some of the other cousins to help. It will be easy. And I'm sure Jumba will be willing to coach you since Lilo… can't. Right Jumba?" She and Stitch looked up to the plump, four-eyed alien walking over to them.

"Hm? V'what v'was that?" he questioned.

"You'll train Stitch, since Lilo won't be able to." Angel repeated, turning to him and folding her arms.

"Ahem! Yes v'well… I v'would v'be liking to, v'but as I ha've said v'before, training exercises are quite hard on me…" Jumba began to explain. He put his hands up defensively as he caught a heated glare from Angel. "Ahh, v'but do not v'be misunderstanding. I v'would train 626 if I had to. V'but I don't. I have a maaach v'better and efficient idea in mind."

Anthony hiked his way across trails, and pushed his way through thick bushes as he headed deeper and deeper into the exotic forest of the island. He had no idea what he'd find at the end of this trek, if anything at all. One thing he had learned as a camera man, however, was that the greatest shots were usually where you wouldn't expect them to be. If there was some incredible secret in Kauai, it only made sense that it would be in a hidden, secluded location.

"Then again…" He stopped once he came to a clearing and dropped down onto his behind, staring up at the sky. "What the bloody 'ell am I thinking? This is all crazy. Sure I've seen some weird things in my line of work, but real monsters? Aliens? That's rubbish. Stuff like that don't exist."

He sighed and pulled his gaze back down to the view before him. He seemed to have arrived to some spot near the center of the island. There was a small waterfall, pouring into a shallow stream, and beside that was… "N-n-no way. What the 'ell am I looking at 'ere?" He pulled himself back to his feet, his eyes wide with amazement and wonder. It took a few moments for him to find the right words to describe it. "It's a… space ship."

A large, oddly designed, rocket/jet-like vehicle sat near the waterfall. Now, Anthony was no expert on spacecrafts, but he was pretty sure that what he was looking at wasn't just some kind of plane… and he had a hunch it wasn't created by humankind either. "This is too bloody fantastic." He said, as he whipped out his camera and began snapping shots of the spaceship. He started to move in closer to get some better angles, when he felt the ground begin to tremble.

"Wha...?" Anthony turned around and his eyes grew wide in shock when he saw a gigantic shark-man crashing his way through the trees. Not allowing himself to freeze with fear, he hastily leapt off into the side, finding cover behind some bushes. He peeked through the bush to see the shark man heading over to the ship. He was being followed by two small, mutant koala-looking creatures. One was dragging a little girl with them.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man. I can't believe what I'm seeing 'ere. They… they must be aliens! They're abducting someone!" He peeked out around the corner of the bush and began snapping a few pictures of them. He got about three good ones before the aliens disappeared into the ship.

Anthony lowered the camera and looked down at it with a wide smile plastered on his face. "Let's see them try to pass this off as a tourist attraction." He said, before setting down the camera and pulling out his cell phone. He wasn't a fool. He knew there was a possibility that these things were more "machines" created by that Jumba Jonas guy. It truly didn't matter if that was the case. What really mattered was whether or not these guys in particular had been discovered yet, by any other reporters or photographers… and Anthony was about to find out.

Anthony began dialing his boss' number when he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. He spun around, half expecting to see the giant shark alien looming down over him. Instead, a human sized, glowing, bald, green creature stepped out into view. It looked like the typical stereotype of what an alien was supposed to be like. "Huh! …You're kidding me." Anthony breathed. He set down his phone and slowly reached for his camera, but the alien suddenly bolted off back through the bushes before he could touch it.

"Damn!" Anthony grunted. He scooped up his camera and went crashing through the bushes after the alien. He hadn't taken, but a few steps however, when the ground beneath him gave way. Anthony went plummeting downwards, coming to a hard landing at the bottom of a deep pit. "Aw, what the bloody 'ell is something like this doing here?" Stunned, but not injured, he pulled himself to his feet and looked up to the high, upper edge of the deep pit. "'Ello!?" he called. "Somebody help!"

Within seconds, the green alien that he had been chasing after came into view. It peered down over the edge of the pit. Could he ask it for help? Would it help? How could Anthony be sure it even spoke English? Before he came up with even a vague idea of what to do, yet another creature appeared, hovering over the pit with tiny wings. It was a small red, alien-like creature with protruding, sabertooth-like fangs and a long tail with an orb at the end.

It snickered cruelly at Anthony's predicament, then pointed the end of its tail at the other alien. There was a flash of white light, and the green alien was suddenly gone.

"…You. You set up a trap for me." Anthony realized. "You little, sodding monster! Just wait till I get out of 'ere! I'll turn in those pictures and government agents will be scouting all over this island! The next thing you'll know, you'll be stretched out on an autopsy table!"

The creature just snickered again and flew off out of sight.

Anthony let out a breath of exasperation. "Bloody little freak." He murmured. He started feeling around in his pockets for his phone. If he could just call someone for help then… "Wait. Wait, where is it?" he questioned, unable to find his phone anywhere on him. He thought back and remembered leaving it on the ground, back up top. "Argh! No!" he exclaimed, slapping his hand onto his forward. "What now? Gotta find a way outta 'ere."

Back up top, 526 zoomed around above the trees, scanning the area for someone else to use his ability on. That last guy had just been far too easy of a target. His weakness was his own obsessive need to find a legit story on aliens. Conjuring that fake alien had been a perfect way to lure him into a trap. A trap in which 526 also created with his power.

"Oooh, heheheh." 526 spotted a spaceship nearby. Surely he'd find someone fun to mess with, there.

"You know, Blubber Butt, I gotta hand it to you. You actually looked pretty impressive out there." 625 remarked as he pulled out some condiments from the fridge to make a sandwich. He walked back out to the front of the ship where Gantu was sealing Lilo away inside one of the experiment containers. It was an extreme measure to take for a little Earth girl, but Lilo had proven to be a tricky little pest time and time again.

"I agree." Gantu responded in a thankless manner. "And I would have been able to finish the trog if someone hadn't stopped me." He glared at 621.

621 hardly seemed to notice, or perhaps just didn't care. He appeared to be lost in his own thoughts, sitting at the pilot's seat of the ship and staring out the front window, scratching his chin.

"What'cha thinking about, there?" 625 questioned, as he proceeded to construct himself a sandwich over the control panel. "Coming up with a strategy on how to throttle Stitch?"

621 seemed to snap out of it and he stared at 625 blankly. "…Stitch?" he repeated.

"Well you know. 626." 625 clarified.

"Oh. Right. Well, not exactly…" 621 responded turning his gaze back out the front window. "I just found 626s performance in that fight against your fish friend very strange. 626 shouldn't be that weak. If he was, I wouldn't have to prove my superiority over him! Something's wrong."

"Excuse me." Gantu interrupted. "Did it ever occur to you, that maybe I'm more then capable of beating 626 at his fullest? Why I bet, after all the beatings I've sustained from him, I've… grown some sort of immunity. Yes, I bet that's the case."

621 and 625 stared at Gantu for moment before looking at each other. They both burst out laughing.

"You gotta be kidding me! He's grown an immunity to getting his patooki kicked, he says!" 625 exclaimed through his fit of laughter.

"Heheh, yeah, do us a favor and spare us from your jokes, fish-boy." 621 requested wiping a tear from his eye. "No… something's indeed wrong with 626. The question is, what?"

At that exact moment, as if in an answer to his pondering, a small red experiment came fluttering into view. It landed on the front window and peered inside. 621s eyes shot wide open and he leapt out of his seat. "Could that be…!? 625, do you two have a database on Jumbas experiments somewhere on this ship!?"

"Uhh, yeah sure we do. What about it?" 625 responded, before taking a large bite of his sandwich.

621 growled in irritation. "Go get it! Hurry up!" he demanded, shoving 625 off.

"Alright alright, no need to get physical." muttered 625 as he slunk off into the other room.

"621? What is it? You know that experiment out there?" Gantu questioned as he walked over to the front control panel.

"Yes. From Jumbas files. If I'm not mistaken, that is." 621 responded.

625 quickly returned with a laptop-like computer system in his hands. "So uh, I'm guessing you want to figure out which experiment that is? Shouldn't we be trying to catch it first?"

"Forget that!" snapped 621. He snatched the computer away from 625 and hastily inputted the number 526. The experiment's picture and info appeared on the screen. "I knew it. It's 526." He set the computer down and pointed at the window at 526. Seeming to determine that there was no way into the ship, 526 let out a bored huff and took off.

"It's that thing that's responsible for 626s current state of weakness. I'm sure of it." 621 lowered his hand.

Gantu frowned and folded his arms. "Why is it so hard to believe that I'm capable of handling 626 without something being wrong with him? After all, you yourself chose me to fight him rather then 62…5. Wait a minute! Why did I have to fight 626!? How did that help the plan at all? Couldn't you have just shown up with the little Earth girl as your hostage, and that would have been that?"

A smirk appeared on 621's face. "So you've finally figured it out, huh? That's right. You facing 626 didn't effect the plan at all. I had you do it for a selfish reason. I wanted to see if 626 was as strong now as he was the last time I saw him. I wanted to see if becoming good, had effected his combat ability."

"So… so you used me!?" Gantu exclaimed, his fists shaking with rage.

"Yes." 621 replied, flatly.

625 chuckled. "Ouch. That's gotta hurt the pride."

Gantu wheeled on his lazy partner. "You, be quiet!" he snapped at him, before turning back to 621. "So you were willing to put me in danger for your own selfish desires… Well that's just fine! After we get rid of 626, our alliance is finished!"

621 turned fully around to face Gantu. "No." he said. "We're not carrying through with the plan. There's no point in destroying 626 is he's only a pathetic shell of his true self. We'll wait until he's at one hundred percent again."

"You must be joking!" Gantu shouted. "What does it matter if he's weakened? That's a good thing for us. The only thing that matters is taking him out of the picture. That's what we both want!"

"Bleh!" 621 turned his back to Gantu once again. "You have no idea what I want… but fine. Why don't you face 626 tomorrow, in my place? I'll have my final bout with him when he's strong again." He grinned. "I have confidence in 626s ability to overcome you, no matter what state he's in."

Gantu narrowed his eyes. "…You know what? I think I will take your place. And I'll prove you wrong."

"Whatever." Sighed 621, as he walked away from Gantu and headed towards the back. "I'm going to get some shut eye. You yourself better start training if you ever expect to beat 626." He stopped for a brief moment and glanced back the little Earth girl, who was still unconscious inside the container. Lilo. He still found it baffling how a pathetic creature like her could influence 626 in such a way. Not that it mattered. Good and evil were such artificial ideas. 621s beef with 626 went far beyond that meager concept.

Without another word, 621 continued on, out of the room and to the back of the ship.

"That little trog gets on my last nerves." Gantu said once 621 was out of earshot. "But he has a point. It's better not to take any chances. If I want to truly finish 626, I'll have to be meaner and leaner then ever before!"

"Leaner, huh?" repeated 625. "Gotcha. No more eggsalad sandwiches, for you big guy."

Gantu looked upon 625 a startled expression. "Wh-what!? Isn't that a little drastic!?"

"Hey don't worry, I've got your back." 625 assured him. "No matter how much you plead and beg me, it's nothing, but tasteless salads for you from now on."

Gantu grimaced. "Great. Lucky me."

"I'm here! Where is she!?" Nani came bursting into the house, looking as though she were on the verge of having a heart attack. She looked panicky. As she rounded into the living room, she spotted a certain one-eyed alien. "Pleakely! I just got a call from Lilos hula instructor. He said she-"

"Now Nani, there's no need to worry." Pleakely assured her. "The evil experiment that kidnapped Lilo didn't look all that bad."

Nanis face went pale. "Then its true…" she said. She looked like she was about to faint, but then suddenly reached out and grabbed Pleakely by the shoulders, violently shaking him. "Well then what are we doing just standing around!? We need to go save her! I… I need to call Mr. Bubbles!"

"Nani Nani Nani, stop worrying yourself. I'm sure Stitch is capable of saving Lilo on his own." Pleakely said.

Nani looked a bit relieved. "Oh thank goodness. So Stitch has gone to go rescue her?"

"Well uh… not exactly. He won't be able to do anything until he's retrained." Pleakely explained. "See, he kind of lost all of his super alien power know-how… again."

Nanis deathly pale expression returned. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jumba, Stitch, and Angel entering the room. Jumba had an experiment pod in hand. "I ha've found it!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "Pleakely. Please go v'be getting glass of water."

"Jumba! Please tell me you have a plan." Nani pleaded, walking over to the four eyed alien.

"But of course." Jumba responded. "All we must v'be doing is retraining Stitch. Then he can go v'be saving Lilo with no problems."

"So you're going to train him? Well how long will it take!?" Nani demanded.

"Ahh, it is not me who v'will be training 626. It is…" Jumba raised up the pod for her to see. "Experiment 623!"

"Well I've got the water!" Pleakely came walking back into the room with a shallow glass of water. He handed it to Jumba. "I still don't think this is a good idea. Won't this little monster be a little too… evil to want to bother with training Stitch?"

"Nnnot exactly." Jumba responded. "You see, all experiments v'were created for evil purposes, v'but that does not mean that all are pure evil. 623s function is to retrain experiments who have forgotten how to use their abilities, so that they can continue with their own evil purposes. V'what is v'being more evil then that, eh? V'but for 623, end result does not matter. He is not caring rather experiments he retrains are good or evil. He v'will only v'be doing v'what he has v'been created to do."

Nani was rubbing her temples by this point. "Jumba, please. Whatever you think needs to be done, just hurry up and do it."

She suddenly felt someone tugging at her pant leg. She glanced down to see Stitch. His ears were laid back and he was looking especially miserable. Even if something was wrong with him, Nani knew for sure that it was the current situation with Lilo that had him so down.

"Stitch… Stitch sorry." He said. "Stitch let Lilo get kidnapped. It… my fault."

Angel put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Naga. Not booji-boo's fault. Lilos sister not think that."

Stitch just sighed and looked down to the floor.

"….She …she's right Stitch. I don't blame you."

Surprised, Stitch looked back up at Nani. "Naga! It Stitch fault!" he insisted. "Stitch not spend enough time with Lilo. Stitch not be there. I… could have… protected her from 621!"

"Hey, that's enough." Nani said, kneeling down in front of Stitch. "I don't know exactly what's happened, but I do know that you're a good friend to Lilo, and I know you did everything you could to protect her. I also know that standing here blaming yourself isn't going to help anything. You need to do what you need to do to save her."

Stitch tilted his head a bit, taking in Nanis words. She was right. Of course she was right.

"Please Stitch, I need you to pull it together." Nani continued. "You might be the only one that can save Lilo right now. Promise me that you'll do everything you can."

The look in Stitchs eyes, which just minutes ago had seemed void of any strength or certainty, changed greatly. He now seemed more confident. More determined. He had found his resolve. "Ih!" He finally said. "Stitch promise!"

"V'well then, on that note…" Jumba suddenly spoke up "Let us v'be activating Experiment 623." Without further hesitation he set the glass of water down on the floor and dropped the pod into it.

Everyone took a step back as the orb began to glow and expand. There was a bright flash, and when it subsided, an experiment stood above the overturned glass of water. It seemed hippo-like in appearance due to its eyes, ears, nose, and fur color. Lighter splotches of fur adorned the top of its head, shoulders, and knees. Other then that it looked very much like Stitch in terms of body-build. Perhaps it was a bit taller then Stitch. Upon further inspection, one could see the tie-shaped marking covering its chest and belly.

"Ahh, you are looking very good 623!" Jumba proclaimed. "Are you remembering me? I am Jumba Jookiba. Your creator. Do you know why I have reactivated you?"

623 raised a brow at Jumba, before taking a glance around at all the others in the room. Everyone was on edge. Jumba had said that 623 wasn't exactly evil, but that didn't really mean a whole lot coming from a guy who had use to be an evil mad scientist… and technically still was.

Experiment 623 suddenly closed his eyes and folded his arms with a calm smirk. "Hmph. Of course I do." He responded in Tantalog to Jumbas question. "So go ahead. Tell me. Which one of these two slackers am I training?" he asked, opening his eyes and looking at Stitch and Angel.

"That v'would v'be v'being the one on the right. Experiment 626." Jumba replied.

"Like I thought." muttered 623. He walked over to Stitch and looked him in the eye, as if searching for something specific in his gaze. He was definitely breaching Stitchs personal space as he brought his face inches away from his. Stitch felt very uncomfortable. "…Huh! You weren't kidding, Jumba." 623 finally said, drawing away from Stitch. "This kid seriously needs to be whipped back into shape. Now from what I can tell off the bat, his abilities are very much like mine, except more… advanced."

"That is correct. 626 is the final result of my Ultimate Experiment project." Jumba confirmed.

"I see. Well that will make things easier for me." 623 concluded. He looked back at 626 and began to circling around him. "Okay then, listen up, boy! Within the next few hours you will learn to hate my guts."

"Um… why?" Stitch questioned in Tantalog, seeming baffled.

623 halted and looked him in the eye again. "BECAUSE I'M GOING TO MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL, THAT'S WHY!" he spat. "I will be your trainer! Your coach! Your drill sergeant! And I will put you through the ringer! Do I make myself clear!? …And quit eyeballing me, boy!"

"Huh? But… I didn't mean to-" Stitch started to say.

"Don't talk back to me!!" 623 spat.

"But I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" Stitch insisted.

"Thaat is it! I've had enough of you already. Drop and give me fifty! …NOW!" 623 demanded.

Feeling completely overwhelmed by 623's personality, Stitch cooperated. He dropped to floor and began doing push-ups. 623 sighed and turned to face Jumba. "Oh yeah. I can tell I'm going to have a tough time with this slacker. This is going to take a while. Half a day maybe."

"Hm, that is cutting it quite close. Try to make it sooner if you can v'be doing so." Jumba requested.

"I can try, but it really all depends on how hard this slacker works." 623 responded, looking back down at Stitch. "Oh, and Jumba. I don't suppose you still have my..." he began to question.

"Eheheh, I am v'being waaay ahead of you." Jumba responded. He pulled out a whistle from his pocket and tossed it to 623.

The coach-like experiment caught it without looking. "Thank you. Hmhm, I think I'm going to enjoy breaking in this slacker… Alright, enough push-ups!" he suddenly shouted at Stitch. "Get your lazy butt off the floor! You're running some laps!"

Stitch groaned.

For the next few hours, 623 forced Stitch to partake in rigorous, over-the-top training exercises. They ranged from obstacle courses composed of fatal contraptions to upside down sit-ups on a tree branch over a metal trash bin full of burning waste. Stitch pushed himself to the limit, which wasn't extremely far given his current condition. It seemed 623 didn't believe in positive motivation as he continuously insulted Stitch despite his hard work. Like he had claimed would happen, Stitch was really beginning to hate 623.

"He seems a little… high strung doesn't he?" questioned Nani. She, Jumba, Pleakely and Angel stood out on the patio, watching Stitch and 623 in the back yard.

"Noo no, you are misinterpreting." Jumba assured her. "623 is just motivating Stitch. In his own, er… special way."

"He's chasing Stitch with the chainsaw!" Pleakely suddenly exclaimed.

Jumba just shrugged indifferently. "It is, er… how he gets experiments to v'be running faster." He explained.

Angel didn't find Jumbas words too reassuring. She was feeling a strong dislike towards 623, and what he was putting her booji-boo through. So much to the point where she began growling unconsciously, with a hateful glare locked onto 623. Jumba was quick to notice this. "Eaasy 624." He said to her. "You must v'be trusting me. 623's methods are quite… unique, v'but extremely effective. This is v'what I created him for. By tomorrow, 626 v'will v'be v'back to normal, strong self."

Down in the backyard, Stitch was desperately trying to outrun 623, circling around the set track course over and over again. It was getting to be too much. His energy was failing him. Soon Stitch, collapsed onto the ground, completely tuckered out.

623 slowed to a halt and cut the power to the chainsaw. "What's the matter, kid!? Giving up already!?" he shouted at Stitch's prone body. "Just as I thought, you're too weak-willed for this kind of training. You're a wimp! But don't worry. Maybe we can just do some jumping jacks. Why, at that rate, you'll be strong enough to save your little Earthling friend in a matter of… five years?"

Stitch's eyes slid open. He growled hatefully at 623, and forced himself back up to his feet. "Naga!" he snarled "Stitch… not… give up! Stitch… save Lilo!"

623 shook his head. "All I hear is talk. You're doing a poor job of proving your dedication, kid. So much so, I'm starting to think I can't help you at all."

To this Stitchs eye ignited with a burning rage. He snarled viciously at 623 and without much more warning, leapt out and attacked his cousin. 623 wasn't especially surprised. In fact this was just the kind of passion he had been trying to bring out of Stitch. So he was ready. He raised the chainsaw to fend off the raving mad, blue experiment.

Stitch's fangs sunk into the saw, shredding through metal. He tore the chainsaw apart with the mere power of his jaws. 623 backed away a few paces, raising a brow as he watched Stitch turn it into scrap metal before suddenly collapsing on the ground. This time Stitch really did seem completely tapped out of energy. He was out like a light.

"Jumba really has… outdone himself with this kid." 623 said to himself, staring at Stitch's unconscious form. "It's been six hours and the boy's already made this much progress. This Stitch really is something special." He looked away from Stitch and over to the others, watching from the patio. "We're taking a break!" he called up to them. Of course only the aliens among the small group could understand what he was saying. "We'll continue in an hour! …Oh and does anyone have some Earth currency I can borrow!? …We're going to need a lot of salt tablets."

[To be continued]

[Okay, so I'm just going to put this out there right here and now. The salt tablet thing… I'm looking to make it into a running shtick with Experiment 623. Yup, and I'll be shoving it down your throats whether you enjoy it or not, BWAHAHAHA!!! And I'll be rewarding 20 points to anyone who can figure out where I got the idea from and what I probably plan to do with this whole salt tablet affair.

Now, moving onto a non-salt tablet related topic(THE MaDnEzz!!!), I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed my story so far. I appreciate the praise and criticisms more then you could ever know. To all of my readers so far, I must insist that you find more things wrong with my writing and L&S knowledge and bash me relentlessly with these issues! I lose interest in things too easily and considering how much I'm enjoying this fic and the endless sea of things I have planned for it, I really don't want that to happen here. It may help if I always have incentive to improve.

So! Next chapter's almost ready. Hopefully I'll get it uploaded as quickly as I did this one.]