Sora and Namine had gone off in their own direction, letting Roxas and Axel head their own. They were still wandering through the island town and finally stopped to rest outside of a wooden building. The building was a greenish blue with white posts and a black shingled roof. The building served as a Hula studio.
"This is getting tiresome." Sora sighed as he sat down on the steps of the building.
"I dunno it's kinda refreshing to me." Namine said with a shrug.
"Huh?" Sora asked.
"This is the first time I've ever been on the front lines of any real adventure. I've always worked behind the scenes, never getting to do anything really useful until it was almost over." Namine said as Sora thought hard. He didn't know she was referring to Castle Oblivion and her work in restoring his memories.
"Well, I know Roxas is glad to have you along. And I'm glad to have some moral support through all this. Say, you're Kairi's nobody right? Do ya think that you could find her using your powers somehow? You know, try and read the evil me's memories?" Sora asked as Namine sighed and turned away slightly.
"I can't. I mean I've tried sure, but I just can't get through. It's like she's got some sort of shield around her memories that keeps me from accessing them." Namine said before turning back towards him.
"Oh, I didn't mean to-…" "…Don't worry about it Sora. You just want to find Kairi. So do I. If she ceases to exist, then I cease to exist too. Roxas wants to find her because you do and that keeping her alive means keeping me alive too. Axel wants to find her because he and Roxas are friends, and he wants to try and make it up to Kairi for having kidnapped her during your last adventure. We're all in this together Sora, be it for ourselves or our friends." Namine explained as Sora smiled and nodded.
"Then let's continue searching." Sora said as he stood up but Namine quickly summoned her rod.
"Sora, don't make any sudden movements." Namine said warningly as Sora froze.
"Why, what is it?" He asked, keeping as still as possible per Namine's instruction.
"There's a big fat four eyed monster and a thin lanky one eyed and three legged monster right behind you.
"Bah! Monster? Please! We are not monster, we are alien!" the big one said.
"Who are you two?" Sora asked as he turned around. The two froze the second they saw his expression.
"AH! It is you! Little boy with girl's voice who is after Experiment 626!" the big one yelped.
"What are you-…wait! You mean you've seen someone who looks like me but sounds like a girl?" Sora asked as the two looked at each other.
"Well of course! You are same person right?" the big one asked back.
"Sora, they're after Stitch!" Namine exclaimed as Sora whirled around to her in surprise.
"What? They are? How do you know?" Sora asked.
"I looked at their memories. That's all." Namine replied.
"Oh yeah." Sora said sheepishly.
"Forgive my confusion but are you not the person who wants 626, or Stitch as you call him, captured for evil experimentation?" Jumba asked as Sora looked at him in horror.
"Evil experimentation? I would never do that to Stitch! Stitch is my friend and I'm trying to find him. Do you know where he is?" Sora asked. The two aliens looked thoroughly confused now.
"Jumba, this is really weird. Why is the Sora guy all friendly and such? He was all mean and evil and had a girly voice last time." Pleakley said as Sora grimaced.
"This might sound weird but I have what you might call, an evil twin. She's kidnapped a friend of mine and she knows where my friend is." Sora said as Jumba and Pleakley scratched their chins.
"Well, 626 had escaped and was on the loose. He is probably looking for little girl right now." Jumba said as Sora and Namine looked at each other in surprise.
"Lilo!" They said in unison. They then started running off back towards where they split off from the other two.
"HEY WAIT FOR US!" Pleakley exclaimed as he and Jumba ran off after the two.
…
Axel and Roxas were walking along down the street with no sign of the wayward Stitch.
"Hey Roxas, tell me why we're looking for some kid's dog?" Axel asked. He was obviously losing patience.
"Because Stitch helped Sora out on his last adventure, and I think Sora believes that it's Stitch's dream that's been hijacked." Roxas replied.
"Now see that makes more sense. Here I was wondering why we were looking for some girl's dog and then you-THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! A dog's dreams being this complex! I'm surprised the sidewalks aren't paved with kibble and fire hydrants!" Axel complained.
"Axel, get a grip! These are Dream worlds, and from what I can gather, dreams don't necessarily make sense all the time!" Roxas said as Axel sighed and nodded.
"Alright fine. You win. I get' cha. Boy you still know how to calm me down don't ya buddy?" Axel said as Roxas shrugged.
"It's become a force of habit now." Roxas said as they continued on down the sidewalk. They then saw Lilo ahead of them at the curb. She noticed them and waved with a small smile.
"Hey Lilo, any luck finding Stitch?" Roxas asked as Lilo shook her head.
"Nope I'm afraid not. Stitch is still missing." Lilo said as Axel shrugged.
"He's bound to show up eventually." Axel said as Roxas nodded.
"Yeah, just give him a while, he'll come back soon." Roxas comforted as Lilo nodded. She was about to say something else when she was suddenly ensnared by a large gray net.
"HA! Got ya little girl! You'll make fine bait to catch that little trog!" A large shark like creature said with a grin as it emerged from the nearby bushes. He headed straight for Lilo but found his path blocked by Axel and Roxas. (Battle Music Cue: Makaukau? – Birth By Sleep OST)
"Hey ugly! What's your malfunction?" Roxas asked angrily.
"Get out of my way you pesky little runt! I'm trying to catch a highly dangerous experiment known as 626!" Gantu said as Lilo gasped.
"Stitch? You're trying to capture Stitch?" she asked in shock.
"That's right little girl, or else my name isn't Captain Gantu!" Gantu said as he started reaching for her. Before he could though, a fireball hit his wrist, causing him to recoil in pain.
"You might want to rethink that plan of yours! See, Stitch happens to be the friend of a friend of ours, and we're not letting you or anyone take him away without a fight!" Axel said as he and Roxas summoned their weapons.
"I'd like to see you try!" Gantu said as he drew a large yellow pistol and aimed it at the two. He fired a green glob of plasma energy at the two who quickly leapt in opposite directions. Axel hurled his chakrams at Gantu who ducked and fired two more shots.
"Roxas! Get the girl out of here! I'll take care of short fry!" Axel yelled with a grin as he reformed his chakrams. Roxas started running towards Lilo but something unexpected happened. Several pillars of water erupted up from around her, creating a makeshift cage. Roxas skid to a halt at the sight. He then heard distinct sitar music coming from behind him.
"I think my memory's coming back to me." Demyx said as Roxas spun back around to face the Melodious Nocturne.
"Demyx! Think hard! We were friends once! Don't you remember?" Roxas asked as Demyx wagged his finger at him.
"Silence, traitor." Demyx said before he started playing his sitar, creating several of his water forms around him. Roxas realized he had no choice but quickly spun his Keyblades together like a fan, creating a circle of light beneath him for a moment before a pillar of light formed within the circle and shot up into the air. Roxas staggered back a bit from using the ability.
"Alright Sora, I hope you saw that, 'cause I don't think I can do it again." Roxas grimaced as he raised his weapons. He then started defending himself from Demyx's water forms while Axel fought off Gantu. Axel was managing to overwhelm the hulking warrior, narrowly dodging globs of green plasma being fired from Gantu's weapon.
"Heh. Is that all you GOT?" Axel asked before charging forward and hitting Gantu in the forehead with a fireball knocking him out cold as well as knocking him backwards. Gantu landed with a ground shaking thud. Axel turned back towards Roxas to see his friend wearily fighting Demyx's water forms off. Before he knew it Roxas was batted away by Demyx himself with his Sitar.
"ROXAS!" Axel shouted as Roxas collided into the brick wall of a nearby building, falling unconscious.
"Alright Demyx, you asked for a fight well I'm bringing the HEAT!" Axel shouted angrily as he charged forward towards his former comrade, leaving a trail of fire where he ran. Demyx adopted the dear in the headlights look before Axel hurled the largest fireball he had ever conjured up at him. Demyx quickly shielded himself with all of his water forms compacted into a single large form. When the fireball hit, it created a large cloud of mist that quickly dispersed. Demyx stood unharmed as did Axel.
"Is that it?" Demyx asked as Axel grinned.
"Is that it," He asks. I'm just getting WARMED UP!" Axel replied as he leapt up with his chakrams raised but when he tried to create a fireball, it fizzled out.
"What?" he asked in shock. Demyx instinctively swung the large end of his sitar around and bashed Axel in the head, sending him to the ground. Demyx looked at the unconscious Axel curiously before turning back towards Lilo who was still trapped in a net.
"Stitch! HELP!" Lilo cried.
"Hmm, now what was I supposed to do again?" Demyx asked before reaching in his pocket and pulling out a note card.
"Hmm, use girl as bait for Experiment 626, then use powers to incapacitate subject. Sounds easy enough." Demyx said with a shrug as he pocketed the card. Just then he heard a rustling from the bushes nearby. He turned and saw the little blue furred alien appear from the bushes.
"Lilo!" Stitch exclaimed as Demyx walked in between them.
"Aww, you're so cute. You're Experiment 626? You don't look real dangerous but if I have to catch you, I've gotta catch you." Demyx said as he started playing his sitar again, creating more water forms. Stitch hesitated at the sight of water, his density being too great for him to survive in it, but Lilo was in danger and he had to act.
"Lilo!" Stitch yelled as he popped his extra pair of arms out, extended the spikes on his back, plus the antennae and then growled at the Nocturne.
"Aww come on, I just need you to come with me. I don't want to hurt you." Demyx said as Stitch curled up into a ball and quickly bounced off the edge of the sidewalk near the bushes and rocketed towards Demyx, slamming into his face, and sending him to the ground, hitting his head, and knocking him out cold. Stitch unfurled himself with another growl. He then sniffed the air and growled again.
"Look! There's Stitch!" he heard a young girl's voice call. It was Sora, Namine, Jumba, and Pleakley.
"Hey Stitch! How've ya been buddy?" Sora asked as he hurried up to the alien. Stitch however growled and bounced off Sora's head like he did Demyx. Fortunately Namine caught him.
"Wha-? Stitch! It's me Sora? Don't you recognize me?" Sora asked as Stitch continued to growl.
"Naga Ohana." Stitch said as Sora looked at him hurt.
"Naga Ohana? What does that mean?" Namine asked.
"Naga is 626's way of saying no or not. Ohana on the other hand is word I am not familiar with." Jumba explained.
"Ohana means family! Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten!" Lilo shouted from within the net. Namine gasped as she saw Lilo trapped and Axel and Roxas both unconscious. They then noticed Demyx and Gantu's unconscious forms nearby.
"Lilo! What's going on?" Namine asked confused.
"I don't know!" Lilo replied. Stitch then unexpectedly lunged at Sora who quickly dodged.
"Stitch I don't want to hurt you! Please I'm your friend! Don't you remember? All those times you came to help me?" Sora asked as he started dodging Stitch's attacks.
"It would seem 626 has confused girly voice boy with real boy heh-heh, I would very much like to see this fight." Jumba chuckled like the mad scientist he was. He then got slapped across the face by a magical hand courtesy of Namine and her powers.
"Hey! Whose side are you on anyway?" Namine asked angrily as she tended to Roxas. Just then Sora realized something.
"Wait a minute! Back up! Did you say that Stitch is confusing me for the other me?" Sora asked, still evading Stitch to the best of his abilities. He wasn't trying to harm Stitch, just dodge him.
"That seems like it's the case!" Pleakley yelled.
"Stitch! You've gotta believe me! There's more than one of me! And the other me is evil!" Sora yelled but Stitch wouldn't listen.
"Naga!" Stitch replied angrily. Finally he caught Sora by the ankle and slammed him hard against the ground.
"SORA!" Namine exclaimed. Stitch then turned towards Lilo to let her loose but before he could, he was ensnared inside of a net like Lilo was. They then saw Gantu climbing up onto his feet.
"Abomination." Gantu grumbled.
"Stupid head." Stitch replied before tearing the net he was in to shreds. He then started leaping around on Gantu's back and shoulders.
"You're-vile-you're-fowl-you're-flawed!" Gantu yelled as he tried to rip Stitch off of him.
"Also cute and FLUFFY!" Stitch replied before grabbing the large glass capsule off Gantu's back and stuffing the alien's large head in it. Gantu however quickly snatched the capsule off his head and batted Stitch away with it, trapping him inside of the capsule in the process. The capsule bounced across the ground slightly before stopping by Demyx's unconscious form. Namine was too occupied with treating the other's injuries and had expended her magic power just casting Curaga on Roxas who was still unconscious.
"Now that I've got you trapped, I can deal with the girl." Gantu said as he aimed the pistol at Lilo who gasped in fear.
"LILO!" Stitch yelled just as Gantu pulled the trigger, firing a green plasma glob towards Lilo. Suddenly someone leapt in between Lilo and the glob, creating a reflega shield around the two of them. It was Sora.
"Oh blitznak." Gantu grimaced before getting hit by the outburst of white light orbs from the reflega shield, and getting knocked over again. This time however he vanished in a burst of black smoke and purple magic like the Night Terror Riku had. (End Battle Music) Stitch was stunned as Sora cut the net off from around Lilo then headed for Stitch's capsule. He quickly broke the glass on it with his Keyblade, releasing the little Alien.
"Sora help Stitch? Sora help Lilo?" Stitch asked confused. About that time, Axel and Roxas both started coming around and slowly climbed onto their feet.
"We're friends Stitch. You had me confused with another me. I know you might think I look like the bad guy but I'm not. I'm still your friend Stitch." Sora said as Stitch looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he retracted his arms, antennae, and spines, before leaping onto Sora's chest and started licking him with his tongue.
"Sora Ohana!" Stitch declared happily before leaping off of the Keyblade master. Namine then thought of something.
"Hey, Stitch if you could have one thing. Anything you could ever wish for, what would it be?" Namine asked as she, Roxas, and Axel walked up next to Sora.
"Stitch wish for, Ohana." Stitch said as he grabbed Lilo by the hand, causing her to smile before he continued, "Ohana, means family. Family means no one get's left behind, or forgotten. It's little…and broken…but still good. Yeah. Still good." Stitch said as Sora figured out what Namine was saying.
"I was right. These are Stitch's dreams. His wish was to have a family." Sora said as Namine nodded and then moved over to check on the still unconscious Demyx.
"So that means you won't be needing this collar huh?" Lilo asked as she pulled out a small red leather dog collar with a gold tag that read "Stitch" on it.
"Naga." Stitch said stubbornly. Then the collar and tag twinkled with light, and Sora noticed. Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade and held it straight out in front of him with both hands and suddenly a gust of magical wind blew up from beneath him, creating a large magical version of his crown necklace insignia on the ground beneath him. The collar started to float into the air by magic and suddenly shot a beam of swirling white magic straight up into the air, and then stopped to create a keyhole in mid-air. Sora then aimed his Keyblade straight at the keyhole, causing a circle of blue magic to form around the tip before another blue beam shot forward and struck the keyhole which started to glow white. The sound of a mechanical lock echoed immediately as the keyhole disappeared.
"What was that?" Jumba asked surprised.
"Fancy light show!" Pleakley said in awe.
"Well Stitch I guess it's time for us to go. We've got to keep going from here." Sora said as Stitch nodded and quickly hugged his friend.
"You take good care of Lilo okay?" Sora asked as Stitch nodded after climbing down.
"Come on Sora, we've got to go now." Axel said as he and Roxas hoisted Demyx onto their shoulders.
"We're taking Demyx with us?" Sora asked confused.
"He doesn't belong here. Besides, there's something we need to talk about elsewhere." Namine said with a curious expression.
"Oh, okay. Well, goodbye everyone!" Sora called as he rejoined his group.
"Ach! Wait spiky boy!" Jumba called as he fished into his pocket and pulled out something wrapped in white paper.
"Evil twin gave me this before leaving. Told us to take 626 here when we captured him. It might help in finding friend of yours." Jumba said as Sora quickly took the object.
"Thank you. I'll put this to good use." Sora said as he pocketed the object Jumba nodded. Sora then turned and quickly rejoined the rest of the group.
…
Back in the Dream Port, the four emerged with the unconscious Demyx, taking the Dream Finder by surprise.
"Well now this is new." Dream Finder said as they laid Demyx down on a stretcher that Figment pushed out for them.
"What was it you wanted to talk to us about Namine?" Sora asked, closing the door behind him which magically disappeared.
"It's about Demyx." Namine said as Sora, Roxas, and Axel looked at her, expecting her to go on.
"What about him? Is he dead?" Sora asked.
"He's not the original Demyx." Namine said as they all looked at each other confused.
"What do you mean, "Not the original?" Axel asked.
"The original Demyx faded away after Sora beat him in Hollow Bastion. So how did this Demyx get here?" Roxas asked.
"Because this Demyx isn't a Nobody, it's a Replica." Namine said, gaining confused looks from Roxas and Sora, but Axel looked surprised.
"Wait! You mean that this Demyx is one of Vexen's little wind up toys?" Axel asked as Namine nodded.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"You don't remember it Sora, but when you were in Castle Oblivion, you encountered and defeated a Replica of Riku on several occasions. Vexen created the Replica but I brought it to life by putting Riku's memories inside of it. I know that the real Riku finally killed it but this Demyx, though flawed with a faulty memory, is also a Replica. What's strange is that it is powered by memories, but the memories seem to stop right before his being sent to Hollow Bastion to attack you Sora." Namine explained.
"So, what does this mean? Are there thirteen Replica's all hunting us down?" Sora asked.
"I don't know Sora. But the more Replica's we encounter, if any, the more I'll be able to figure out about them." Namine said as the others nodded.
End Chapter 11.
