Chapter 3! This story I've already fallen in love with! Enjoy!
"Blast this confounded book of relics!" Reman said, "There should be something on what relics to find!"
"Stitch sure we'll be able to find something!" Stitch said.
"Yeah," Lilo said, "we-" Before Lilo could finish her sentence, the roof of the workshop exploded and everyone could make out the figure of the Black General towering over them.
"Come quietly, and I won't have to hurt you…" the Black General said. Stitch reacted quickly by grabbing the biggest object near them and threw it at the Black General, who didn't even flinch. This caused the Black General to chuckle.
"Do you really think something like that could hurt a being like me?" the Black General said.
"You two," Reman said, "run!" He blasted a beam of white energy at the Black General, who blocked it with his Black Blade.
"Pitiful sorcerer!" the Black General said.
"I will not let you harm those two!" Reman said.
"You don't want me to harm those two," the Black General said as he pushed forward toward Reman, "but I will." The Black General finally reached Reman and knocked him unconscious.
"Time for the girl and creature," the Black General said.
"Did… did we lose him?" Lilo asked.
"Stitch think so…!" Stitch said. Before the two could expect it, a sword came hurtling out of nowhere, nearly hitting the two.
"I warned you to come along quietly, and you didn't," the Black General said as he made his way toward Lilo and Stitch, "and now, you'll regret it." He charged at Stitch, who leapt out of the way.
"Lilo, run!" Stitch said. Lilo shook her head.
"No, Stitch!" Lilo said.
"Stitch promises that he'll find you! Now go!" Stitch said. Reluctantly but quickly, Lilo ran as fast as she could away from the Black General. After what seemed like hours of running, Lilo stopped and collapsed in a vast field of grass, completely out of breath. She looked back, hoping to see Stitch somewhere near her, but didn't see him.
"Stitch…?" Lilo said worriedly. She took a deep breath in and out. For the first time in a long time, she felt alone.
"What do I do…?" she asked herself. Suddenly, a black net appeared out of nowhere and trapped Lilo. She then heard a familiar chuckle.
"My best and most loyal servant managed to capture the creature you call 'Stitch," the voice said, "and now I've managed to capture you.
"Stryon!" Lilo said.
"You will be coming with me…!" Stryon said.
In Stryon's tower, Stitch was locked in a cage. Soon, he heard the sound of someone grunting and saw Lilo being thrown to the ground.
"I do sincerely apologize for failing to capture the girl, my master," the Black General said.
"You are my most trusted and loyal servant, and do your best to appease me," Stryon said, "I'll let this one slide…!" Stryon said. Lilo groaned and got to her feet. Using magic, Stryon lifted Lilo up and mercilessly threw her in another cage opposite of Stitch.
"That takes care of those two," Stryon said.
"The creature put-"
"He has a name, you know!" Lilo said, interrupting the Black General and sticking up for Stitch.
"One more snap like that, girl," Stryon said, "and you'll regret it! Now, you were saying?"
"The creature put up quite a fight," the Black General said. Lilo so desperately wanted to tell them again that Stitch had a name, but didn't because of Stryon's threat. Instead, she tried a more 'tame' and 'cooperative' path.
"Um," Lilo said, "excuse me Mr. Stryon…?" Stryon gritted his teeth angrily and turned to face Lilo.
"What?" Stryon said angrily.
"Could- could you please refer to Stitch as his real name instead of 'the creature?' Please?" Lilo said.
"Well…" the Black General said, "she didn't snap. And she clearly also knows her place as a prisoner."
"Fine," Stryon said, "Snotch will…" For Lilo, his voice just faded.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Lilo said to herself, remembering her encounter with Kim Possible. She, again, wanted to correct him, but knew she shouldn't push her luck. Unlike Kim Possible, Stryon wouldn't have patience with her correcting him every time he got Stitch's name right.
Reman was finally regaining consciousness. He quickly glanced around his workshop and immediately knew that the first thing he had to do was make sure Lilo and Stitch escaped safely. He scrambled to his feet and started rummaging around his destroyed workshop for his crystal ball. After several minutes of searching, he finally found it under a bookshelf.
"Show me the girl and Stitch," Reman said, gazing into his crystal ball. The sight he saw greatly distressed him.
"Blast that confounded sorcerer and his servant!" Remand said. He put his crystal ball down and started looking for his scepter.
"It's time for a rescue mission," Reman said as he left.
Lilo was lying on her back humming to herself Aloha Oe when she heard Stitch loudly whispering her name.
"Lilo…!" Stitch said. Lilo got to her knees. Stitch pointed down beneath their cages. Lilo saw that both of them were gone, giving them an opportunity to escape.
"But how're we supposed to get out of these cages?" Lilo asked.
"Did Lilo forget?" Stitch said as he pulled the bars apart. He quietly leapt out of his prison and climbed up to Lilo's. He pulled apart the bars of Lilo's cage and cradled her before leaping down. He put her back onto her feet.
"Thanks, Stitch!" Lilo whispered. With that, the two friends slipped out of the room.
"You know your way around this place, Stitch?" Lilo asked quietly.
"Naga," Stitch said, "Stitch was unconscious." Lilo let out a quiet, annoyed growl. She looked around the room and saw a few windows. Lilo tapped on Stitch's shoulder and beckoned him to follow her. The two went to look outside to see how high up they were.
"That not good," Stitch said. The two then heard someone coming and ducked behind a wall. It was the Black General. He was headed directly for the room Lilo and Stitch had been imprisoned in.
"That's worse!" Lilo whispered loudly. After a few seconds of the Black General entering the room, Lilo and Stitch waited for a sound.
"WHAT?!" the voice of the Black General said. Lilo and Stitch saw him burst out of the room in a literal fiery rage.
"WHERE ARE YOU TWO?!" the Black General said.
"We've got to get out of here!" Lilo said. Stitch nodded and the two began to ran as quickly as they could, looking for the exit. Or ANY exit for that matter. They eventually made it to the first floor. Things were looking great until the Black General cut them off.
"THERE YOU ARE!" the Black General said as he reached down and grabbed Lilo. Her immediate reaction was to obviously struggle. He then reached down to grab Stitch, but Stitch immediately booked it and ran in the opposite direction. The Black General darted after him, but Stitch, while being smaller, was too fast for him. Stitch quickly climbed up to the ceiling, which was out of reach of the Black General.
"WHAT HAPPENED?! I RETURN TO THEIR CELLS AND SEE THEY'VE ESCAPED!" Stryon said, entering the scene.
"I apologize, my master," the Black General said, "I shall accept any punishment you give me after we recapture Snootch."
"It's Stitch!" Lilo said, without thinking.
"I've got him," Stryon said, "you take the girl back to her cell. And make sure you restrain her so she can't escape again." The Black General nodded and left the scene with Lilo in hand.
"Give up now and I'll go easy on you!" Stryon said.
"Naga!" Stitch said.
The Black General entered the prison room, Lilo still in his grip. He tossed her to the ground.
"I'll give you one chance; how'd you escape?" The Black General asked.
"Isn't it your master who should be asking that question?" Lilo asked.
"Wrong answer!" The Black General said. Lilo braced herself for the Black General hitting her, but instead she was thrown into the cage.
"You see this chart?" The Black General asked.
"I have two eyes. Of course I can," Lilo said.
"For every time you make me or my master angry, we'll make your imprisonment more miserable. You don't want to enter the red zone. You've already escaped, refused to answer my question, AND snapped at me, we have just entered the yellow zone. Tread carefully, girl. The next zone will enter the orange zone…!" the Black General said.
"Stitch can lift things 3,000 times his weight! He pulled open the bars!" Lilo said before she could stop herself. Realizing what she had just done, she covered her mouth with her hands.
"I guess we will have to greatly restrain Snutch then," the Black General said.
"It's Stitch," Lilo said.
"Shut it, girl," the Black General said.
"Just please get his name right," Lilo said.
"You and Stootch are already going to be tied up. Are you asking me to put a gag on you?" the Black General threatened. This immediately silenced Lilo. She had seen movies and shows where a hero is tied up and gagged. And the thought of her being like that made her retch. She huffed and sat down in her cell.
Stitch had escaped Stryon's sight, but not his tower. He wasn't going to leave without Lilo.
"Lilo's probably been taken back to the prison," Stitch said as he immediately began crawling back the way he came, evading Stryon's sight. He eventually arrived back at the room where he and Lilo had been locked in before. He quietly entered. He climbed up to the ceiling to avoid being seen. He looked into Lilo's cage, which was now fixed, and saw her tied up. He climbed down to her cage.
"Lilo?" Stitch said quietly as he poked his head inside her prison. She gasped happily.
"Stitch!" Lilo responded gleefully. She shifted over to the edge, allowing Stitch to cut her binds. He then pulled apart the bars, once again leaving a small gap big enough for Lilo to squeeze through.
"Now let's go before we're caught again!" Lilo said. With that, the two ran off and escaped the tower.
Oh. My. Gosh. This chapter… this chapter right here. Was so. Hard. To write! But I enjoyed it all the same. And I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
