Chapter10

Some Goodbyes are for the Best

Stitch let out a groan. He had been hard at work devising a plan. Not alone though, Kixx and Richter were more than happy to assist him. If they could help it, Patch would never control another experiment. Sparky also had occasionally given his opinion when he wasn't busy lighting the light house. Stitch had invited Angel, but she couldn't come. He had at least gone over the scene in his mind at least a thousand times.

"You're positive that you can't remember anything?" Stitch asked in their native language.

"Don't you think I would have told you," Kixx growled.

"Just making sure," He said defensively.

"I think we should just call it a day, we can start again tomorrow," Richter suggested

"I could use some sleep," Sparky agreed.

Stitch sighed deeply. His body needed sleep, but he knew he couldn't sleep until he figured this out. But, that didn't mean the others didn't. Patch needed to get out of their home before he actually hurt Lilo, or anybody else.

"Fine," He muttered, throwing a rough sketch of the scene to the side.

Everyone ran out, leaving only Stitch and Sparky alone. Stitch gave a small wave to Sparky before following them out. The night air felt cool and refreshing against his fur. He had been cooped up in that lighthouse for a couple of hours. Slowly, He made his way back home.

Stitch, now comfily lying in his bed glanced over at Lilo. She had pulled Scrump close to her. Patch was nowhere to be seen, good. He stared at a picture of his whole Ohana he kept under his pillow, before dozing off to bed.

Stitch woke up in a cold sweat. He hadn't slept well since Patch had arrived. It was just about 7:00 A.M. Lilo wouldn't be up for a little bit, so he'd have time to go through things in his head. The sun had already risen, and it was kind enough to shed its golden rays of warmth on the world below. He closed the door silently, as to not disturb anyone. Maybe he could pay Jumba a visit. Guilt crashed down on the small blue alien. He hadn't seen Jumba for a few days now, and he still probably wasn't 100%

After some though, Stitch decided he could go for a quick visit and be back before Lilo woke-WHAM! Something had smashed Stitch to the ground and pinned him from behind. A searing pain filled his body. His vision blurred and he struggled to remain conscious. An electric current like that could have only come from him…

Before he could be shocked again, Stitch threw the purple demon off his back. The two rivals stood across from each other, electricity practically sizzling between them. Patch flung himself at Stitch mercilessly. The two wrestled on the ground, each getting good hits on each other. Stitch dealt a strong punch to Patch's face when something inside him snapped. This was his last resort, to take the horrid creature away from Lilo. Lately he hadn't like Lilo as much, though. He didn't know how he could have even liked her that much. She was just his shield, but he wouldn't need her anymore. Stitch pinned Patch to the ground roughly.

Someone could have opened up his head and been poking at his brain and it wouldn't have hurt more. Maybe that was what was really happening. He couldn't help but loosen his grip. They pain made him scuttle away from Patch. Patch seemed to be enjoying this though. The pain in Stitch's mind increased until it was almost unbearable.

"You filthy rat, it's time to put you in your place," He laughed.

The door behind them suddenly burst wide open. Lilo was running out with a broom held tightly in her hand. She didn't even glance at Stitch being tortured. The sudden surprise had lessened Patch's focus, making the pain dull a bit. She swung hard at Patch, the wooden end hitting him in the side. He fell backwards in pure shock.

"WE LET YOU INTO OUR O'HANA! WE WERE KIND TO YOU!" Lilo was screaming at Patch.

Stitch watched the pain now a faint ache in the back of his mind. He had never seen Lilo angry like this, never. How had she known? She was supposed to be asleep. Whatever the reason she had awoken, he was thankful.

"I-"Patch stuttered, perplexed

"NO, GET OUT! O'HANA NEVER HURTS EACH OTHER, NEVER!" Lilo smacked him again.

Patch turned and hesitated. He begged Lilo to forgive him, but it was too late. Lilo hurled the whole broomstick at him. He ran off into the dark and lonely forest. Stitch just stood dumbfounded behind Lilo. Her slumped back was faced towards him. It shock slightly and her breathing sounded harder and labored. It toke a moment for Stitch to put 2 and 2 together. She was crying. He wanted to comfort her, but was too scared that he'd just anger her instead.

Lilo turned and ran straight into Stitch's arms. She buried her face in his shoulder and began to sob uncontrollably. Stitch comfortingly patted her on the back. He could feel her tears soaking his fur. Lilo lifted her head off his shoulder and wiped her tearstained check dry.

"I'm so, so, sorry, Stitch. This was all my fault, If I-" She sniffed a bit.

"Lilo, meega sorry too" He apologized as well.

"But-But, you didn't even do anything wrong! I was the one who-who said he could stay," Lilo stuttered pulling away from her best friend.

"Nagga, Stitch was mean to Patch," He confessed.

"Well, that was just 'cause he made you do bad things against your will," Lilo whimpered.

"We both did things wrong," Stitch assured her, "Now let's go eat breakfast,"

They exchanged a small smile and went back inside. Stitch held the door open for his saddened friend. Inside Nani was running down the stairs. Her hair was messy and full of static. Dark circles encased her eyes. She looked over the two, and then her gaze rested on Lilo. Her mouth slightly parted and her she let out a small sigh.

"Lilo, baby, what happened," Nani sympathized holding Lilo close to her.

Tears began to stream down the small girls face once more. Stitch ran through the scene in his mind over, and over again. Patch was gone. He didn't need to worry about that nuisance anymore. Stitch hated to see Lilo so sad. He almost wanted Patch back just to make her happy. They were best friends, and best friends looked out for each other.

"It's-It's Patc-Patch. He left," She whimpered

"Oh, Lilo, I'm so so sorry," Nani tried to soothe her younger sister.

"It's okay, he was a bad experiment anyways," Lilo looked up at her sister.

Nani chuckled a bit, "Let's eat some breakfast,"

Lilo pulled out a chair next to Stitch. She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. Stitch gave her a weak grin. She returned it. Nani sifted through the fridge. She pulled out two slices of pure heaven.

"Oh! Coconut cake!" Stitch exclaimed.

"Yeah, I figured you need something to help cheer your spirits up," Nani explained handing each a small sliver of the masterpiece.

Lilo grabbed a fork from Nani's hand and picked at their breakfast. Stitch devoured the cake within seconds. He tossed the plate into his mouth with a crunch. She giggled a bit and then ate the rest of her cake as well.

"Stitch, I'm done crying over losing such a terrible friend. He's the bad one. Let's go talk to Jumba," Lilo declared.

"Goobaja," He agreed.

"Now be back home before dinner," Nani instructed.

"Deal," Lilo yelled, already halfway out the door.

Stitch ran after her. The way she acted, he could just tell she was hurt by sudden betrayal of her supposed friend Patch. He didn't know what to say. It could be a touchy subject to talk about Patch just yet, but he longed to talk about him. They needed a plan to catch him and probably dehydrate him. After creating 627 so evil, Stitch knew there was no possible way to turn Patch to good.

The two soon arrived at the large, bright red spaceship, also known as the Bed-and-not-Breakfast. Stitch looked inside of the space ship for any signs of Jumba, but strangely enough, there were none. Maybe he was just laying it low so Patch wouldn't come looking for him. Stitch ran into ship, closely followed by Lilo.

"Jumba!" Stitch called.

The voice seemed to echo through the air and bounce off all the walls. There was a pause, but still no reply. Lilo gave him a questioning look.

"Stitch, I thought Jumba was unconscious?" Lilo accused him.

"Okay, okay," Stich gave in.

He hesitated before talking. Stitch explained everything to her, from when he really woke up to the whole upgrade. Lilo sat quietly and listened to his story. Stitch finished with a sigh, and collapsed onto a coach, as though he had just run a marathon.

"So where is he?" Lilo finally asked.

"Wha?" Stitch perked up immediately.

"Well, you called and he didn't come," She sounded worried.

Lilo and Stitch rushed into the run were Jumba was. Empty. Fear encased Stitch's mind and heart. No, Jumba couldn't be gone. Lilo peeked into the other room, and shook her head.

"He's gone," A voice behind them growled.

Stitch whirled around and his heart just about jumped out of his chest. Standing behind him was none other than Patch. His fur was ruffled and his eyes had a crazy glint in them. It wasn't the sight of him the scared Stitch, but his parent. Compared to last time, he seemed too poised and still. Those black soulless eyes just stared into nothingness, like he was dead. He could be even more lethal than last time too.

"627!" Lilo's voice cut through the air like a knife.

"Oh, you already know my friend?" Patch pretended to act surprised.

"But we dehydrated him," Lilo seemed more shocked to see him than Patch.

"Well, I rehydrated him. Now he has no weakness, just if you were wondering," Patch chuckled

"Stitch can still beat him, Patch" Lilo exclaimed glaring at Patch.

Stitch growled. He eyed the seemingly lifeless experiment. Patch had yet again turned another experiment into his play toy. Even 627 didn't deserve to be treated like this. Anger suddenly flared in Patch's eyes. He tensed and looked about ready to explode.

"My name is Death," He said surprisingly calmly.

"I don't care what your name is, give us back Jumba!" Lilo demanded.

"Get them," Death's voice sounded so lifeless and cruel.

627 hurled himself at Stitch. Stitch jumped out of the way just before he could be pinned to the ground. He glanced back at Lilo. She looked worried and a bit frightened. 626 and 627 stood across from each other, both growling and anxious to fight the other. 627 toke a deep breath and blew freezing air at Stitch. He jumped to the ceiling just before it could turn him into a popsicle.

"Lilo," Stitch yelled.

He wanted her to get away from here. She could get killed if he wasn't careful. Stitch jumped and landed on 627's back. He struggled to keep on as 627 turned and shook. Stitch reeled back and slammed his fist into the shoulder. He was suddenly thrown off by the other experiment. He flew into the wall. He recovered just in time to avoid a lightning bolt. Stitch narrowed his eyes in anger. He grabbed the nearest large thing, which happened to be a bookshelf, and hurled it at 627.

"Enough of this," Death growled.

He joined the fight, both of them sending various attacks at Stitch. He did his best, but he couldn't dodge everything. Stitch could feel himself weakening. He willed Lilo to leave, for her to get away from them. He put up his force field in an attempt to defend himself, but he found it weakened as he did. Finally his force field was just too much work, and it fell. 628 delivered a hard blow to Stitch's face. Stitch could almost see stars. He stumbled and then collapsed on the ground.

A sudden scream rang out from behind him. He let a faint, weak cry for Lilo. A sharp pain seared in his side when 628 kicked him. He watched helplessly as she struggled to be freed from the green web she was encased in. It must have been one of 627's abilities, to create that kind of web.

"Stitch! Let me go!" Lilo struggled and screamed from inside of the web.

"Lilo," His voice was barely audible.

The two walked away casually, dragging Lilo behind them. Stitch weakly lifted his hand towards them. Everything began to blur and Stitch passed out cold.