avatar: Woo! The action has landed! This is the chapter that had the scene preview in it, so you'll recognize part of the chapter already. You may want to reread it anyway, now that you have context.

Morpolomew (as George Washington): I cannot tell a lie. avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns the H-series Experiments, and Maverick. And the contents of this story.

avatar: Washington, Washington.

Chapter 11

Knocked Down

"And that's about it. Leroy's still locked up, but Hamsterviel and 627 are still on the loose," Lilo finished explaining.

"Do you think you can stop them?" Sword asked. "Non-threatening as you make Hamsterviel out to be, he can't be a total incompetent if he can escape so often, and 627 was designed to be the strongest… to be unbeatable."

"No, I don't think we can stop them," Lilo said, looking away. Sword was surprised, but Lilo looked back at him with determination in her eyes. "I know we can."

"Good answer. You both have the hearts of warriors."

"Speaking of Hamsterviel," Stitch cut in, "did he design you? I mean, we told you our story, so it's only right you tell us yours."

"You're absolutely right. It's the polite thing to do. Yes, I was created by Hamsterviel," Sword began uncomfortably, but was cut off by a beeping from Lilo's watch.

"Warning: Experiment H5 activated. Primary Function: Unknown. Uploading data…"

"H5?" Lilo said.

"Ahh, my brother is out!" Sword grinned. "The time for politeness and stalling is over, my friends. The time for the mission has begun!"

"Stalling…" Lilo said, realization dominating her face. But before she could react, Sword's form began to shift and shrink, down from a tall, thin teenager to a tall, thin Experiment. Sword was now a head taller than Stitch, but no broader. His fur was grey, but interrupted by silver plates all over his body, enough to protect much of him from light attacks, but still not enough to hinder movement. Unlike most Experiments, not even a small tail was visible on him. He had glowing yellow eyes, a flat face, small, erect ears, and a long, thin pair of antennae with no knobs on the end. The 'scars' that had shown on his human face were actually the borders of a pair of armor plates, one over each cheek.

However, the most striking feature on Sword's body had to be the array of blades. A pair of short, silver knife-like blades extended from the back of his ankles, and was folded against his calves. A longer pair of blades resembling short swords grew from the outside of his wrists, folded back against his forearms and elbows. The largest blades on his body, however, were scythe-like and grew from his shoulder blades. They rested on his back folded like wings.

"Ah, my brother's this way!" Sword snapped his right arm forward, and the blade swung forward, now pointing forward parallel to his forearm. "Time to go!" He turned to a brick wall they had been walking along the side of, and made a few quick slashes, cutting a roughly rectangular piece from the wall. Sword kicked out the piece and jumped through the new hole, leaving Stitch and Lilo staring at his retreat. "Be seeing you!"

"Stitch, we can't just let him leave!" Lilo yelled as she jumped through the hole.

"Right!" Stitch took off after Sword. That jerk played us both for fools…

"Be careful!" Lilo yelled. Although she was running as fast as she could, until her powers kicked in, there was no way Lilo could keep up with Stitch and Sword, who were leaping away thru the trees. She checked her watch as she ran; they were definitely going in the direction of H5. Also, she noticed data had been successfully uploaded about H4 – Sword. She pressed the button for description.

"Experiment H4. Primary function: Perfect Offense. Secondary Functions: Scouting, Tiamat Formation." It now showed a picture of Sword in his Experiment form as a distant yell rent the air.

Perfect Offense? Secondary Functions? Tiamat Formation? Lilo's head was awhirl with questions. Suddenly, all those questions vanished when Lilo saw Stitch's bloody, prone figure in front of her.

"Get back here!" Stitch yelled as he leapt after Sword.

Sword spared a glance over his shoulder before jumping from the tree he was perched in and running down a picket fence. "Now why would I do that? If you want to face me, Stitch, you'll have to catch me first."

"Done," Stitch growled. Sword was agile, and his balance was excellent, but he wasn't quite as good as Stitch. After another half-minute of leaping from fences to rocks to trees to whatever else they passed by in the Hawaiian suburb, Stitch was practically breathing down Sword's neck. "I have you now!"

"Think so?" Sword's eyes gleamed maliciously, and he turned in midair on his next jump, bringing his blade out as he did so. Stitch was caught completely off-guard by the attack, but as the blade slashed toward his chest, he thought, good thing I'm so durable. As that thought passed through his head, the blade flashed silver and bit into Stitch's skin. Stitch was more surprised than any other emotion when the blade passed through his abdomen as if he were made of water, spraying pink blood in a long line off to his side.

Sword landed gracefully on his feet, despite facing backwards. Stitch, on the other hand, rolled in the dirt and came to a stop face-up on his back. Then he immediately screamed toward the sky as the pain hit him. Horrible, sizzling agony flashed outward from the wound across his body. Sword stared down emotionlessly at Stitch's writing form. "So sad. I was looking for more of a challenge than a fool who lets himself be surprised enough to receive a mortal wound right off the bat. I was only using one blade! The great 626?" He laughed sarcastically, but still remained expressionless. "Hardly." Sword casually cleaned his blade on the fur on Stitch's forehead (apparently careful not to cut him again), and jumped off.

Stitch lay there, groaning in pain for what seemed like an eternity before hearing Lilo cry out and rush to his side. "Stitch, what happened? You're cut so badly!"

"He surprised me," Stitch muttered, his face contorted. It hurt so much to talk, and his vision was starting to blur at the edges. "Those blades are…" he stopped for a second and waited for the pain to subside. "…really sharp."

Lilo bit her lip and showed him her watch. "I sent Jumba a distress beacon, Stitch. He'll come and patch you up. You'll be okay."

"Okie-taka," Stitch said. He was beginning to feel a bit light-headed. Is this how it feels to really get hurt? I don't like it...

"Stitch, stay awake," Lilo said firmly, tears sparkling in her eyes. "Don't leave me, alright?"

"Ih," Stitch said.

"So, where are we going?" Maverick asked, cocking his head.

"Little Girl was sending out distress call. She would not be doing that without extremely good reason. Perhaps she or, somehow, 626 was being hurt, or worse. It likely is having to do with new Experiment activation." Jumba accelerated the buggy. The concert taking place across town was massive, and a huge draw for tourists. A good 85 percent of the town was attending the concert; most of the stores were even closed for the afternoon. The streets were like a ghost town, and there were certainly no police to ticket Jumba for driving at 95 miles per hour; they were all at the concert acting as security. Jumba turned, nearly flipping the buggy as he made what could generously be called a rolling stop. He suddenly spoke again. "Why are you coming with me?"

"I have nothing better to do. I'm still trying to figure everything out. I may as well try and gain your trust while I'm at it."

Jumba smiled. "Surely it is easier for you to see where you need to be going than for most people."

Maverick sighed and scratched his furry white head. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? But sometimes – like now, obviously – my powers only make it worse." His head snapped up, and he quickly extended his arm. A bolt of glowing energy shot from his metallic finger, striking a small missile that had been silently approaching from their left. The missile detonated, and a wave of heat washed over the speeding buggy and its occupants. Maverick backflipped out of his seat, snapping the restraints, and landed on top of his headrest. "Jumba, in a few seconds," he said calmly but quickly, "I will be knocked from the buggy. KEEP DRIVING."

"What?" Jumba asked incredulously, but it was too late. A bolt of lightning struck Maverick in the chest, similar to the one he himself had just generated. Maverick was launched from the car, just as he said he would be, and rolled to a stop on the dirt road, crackling with electricity. He said for to continue driving, I will continue to be driving. I am sure he can be handling… whatever that was. Besides, Little Girl and 626 are needing my help! He sped on through the afternoon sun.

A furry red figure landed from a jump on a nearby rooftop, cracking it. It was not 627's weight cracking the roof, but the weight of the massive weapon strapped to his back. It was a missile rack with sixteen slots in four rows of four. All of the slots were filled with imposing red missiles, except for one on the top row, which was empty and smoking. A targeting device was strapped to 627's head, its transparent lens covering his eyes. The device looked like it was designed to be strapped to a hovertank instead of a person: it must have been, at minimum, 1,000 times 627's weight when loaded. The straps sticking out from the bottom, and the poor welding job attaching them, showed that the thing was modified for use by an incredibly strong creature. 627 looked down at the crackling, white, prone figure on the ground in front of him. "Get up," he sneered, casually scratching his orange belly fur. "I know Experiment 628 doesn't go down that easily."

End of Chapter

Next chapter: an epic battle of post-626 Experiments!