Chapter 13
In Disguise
They were everywhere. The sheer number of them was overwhelming. Hundreds of different languages filled the room, echoing and bouncing off the walls. Every color you could see was plastered over at least one of the aliens, making the building look more like a rainbow. Stitch stood stunned, staring at all the different aliens. Lilo's eyes widened in awe. A small smile broke out of her face. The aliens ranged from looking killer vicious, to looking to cute to hurt a fly.
A giant screen hung overhead with unreadable words scrolling across it. To the left of them was a large desk with several Marcoprus wearing cute outfits, smiling, and helping other aliens. To Lilo's surprise, she even saw a couple of humans. A few aliens were giving them peculiar looks, which made them all anxious.
Stitch noticed one alien in particular that was watching them. It sent shivers done his spine. The alien was a shade of light blue, with a few lighter blue spots on his hands. A black fedora covered all of his face, but his lips, which were curled into a cool, calculated smirk. He wore all black and had a similar body shape to a human, besides his extra set of extremities. 3 of his arms were tucked inside his pockets, while the other one was raised and waving at them.
"Maybe we should ask those guys for help," Lilo said pointing towards the friendly Marcoprus.
"Ih," Stitch agreed.
The marcoprus turned and gave them a friendly smile when she saw them.
"Gtehald," She greeted them.
"Uh, English?" Lilo asked, standing up on her tip-toes.
"Oh," She fiddled with a device on her neck, "Plant Earth?"
"I think you mean Planet," Lilo pointed out.
"Oh, ci. So what do you help with?" Her words came out slightly jumbled.
"Could we have a map?" Lilo asked.
"What would Earth girl like with a cleaning weapon?" She asked confused.
"Not mop, map. We need to know how to get around," She explained, quickly getting annoyed.
The Alien's face lite up, and she scrambled for something under her desk. Lilo let out a sigh. She returned a moment later with a small electronic device.
"Here is map. Also campus, guide, and many more. I welcome you," The marcoprus handed Lilo the device.
"Uh, thanks," She toke it and walked away.
"Stitch see," The blue alien snatched it from Lilo.
Stitch pressed a button on the side and suddenly a map of the city was projected in the air over the device. He double tapped an area and it enlarged, showing the names of streets and buildings. Sparky awed at it and enlarged a funky looking building even more. Lilo appeared next to them a moment later, her arms filled with various goods, some of which seemed to have no purpose.
"That alien was giving me a headache," Lilo complained.
"Ih," Stitch agreed a bag from her hand and shoveling things inside it.
Sparky glanced around them, making sure that no authorities were taking special notice of them. Lilo shoved the remaining items into the back pack and handed it to Stitch.
"I have to go to the bathroom," Lilo admitted after a moment.
"Meega look for one," Stitch offered.
The three walked away from the desk looking for a bathroom. Sparky zoomed around all the aliens, getting some annoyed looks. Stitch scratched at his fake ears, then at the paint covering parts of his body. Lilo pointed at two signs, and rushed over to them. She struggled for a moment to decide which side to go into, before going to the left. Sparky landed next to Stitch.
What do we do now? Sparky asked, twiddling his thumbs.
We need to investigate this company. Patch must have some connection to them. Stitch replied, glancing around.
Something caught Stitch's eye. He turned and spotted what had caught his eye. A badge. Walking around with his a little group of officers was non-the-less, Starp. Murmurs broke out through the crowd and aliens parted for the officers. Panic unfurled inside Stitch, making him take a small step back, so his back was against the wall. Sparky seemed to see them too.
Stay calm, and don't do anything to attract attention. Stitch warned Sparky.
Just then, Lilo walked out, looking at the Stitch and Sparky, than opening her mouth to say something. Stitch slammed a paw over her mouth, put a finger to his lip and pointed. Lilo's eyes followed his finger, and then they widened into the size of donuts. The blue alien beckoned for them to follow him and they calmly walked towards the exit, every nerve in their body on edge.
"Stop right there," A steely voice announced.
They froze immediately, ever muscle in their body tensed. Slowly, they all turned to look at Starp. To their surprise, he wasn't looking at them, in fact his back was to them and his guards were running towards some terrified looking aliens that slightly resembled them. Stitch toke ahold of each of their hands and pulled them towards the exit with a power walk.
"That was close," Lilo's voice was shaky, and her eyes were beginning to fill with tears.
"Lilo," Stitch's voice drifted off.
"I'm fine," She muttered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, "just a little scared."
"Goobaja," Sparky encouraged.
Stitch nodded and began to run away from the tourism center, away from the cops, and away from danger. They stopped near a dark alley. It cast shadows over them, and made the place have an eerie air. Aliens walked slowly by, most of their faces covered. Lilo hugged her arms close to herself, trying to keep from being cold.
"Let's look into this company. Angel is bound to be there somewhere." Lilo suggested.
She pulled out the map and blew up the picture of the company. It looked like any other ordinary building, besides a giant logo that appeared next to it. It was blue, boxy S inside of a hexagon. Stitch doubled taped the company logo and tons of information was displayed in front of them.
"What's it say?" Lilo asked, being a very inexperienced reader.
"Company started 100 years ago. They are big, and study biology," Stitch explained as best he could.
"Biology?" Lilo tilted her head.
"Study of life," He replied shortly, averting his attention back to the device.
"Why would this company want with Angel?" Lilo thought out loud.
"Stitch, it says they give tours," Sparky pointed at the screen.
"Tours," Stitch translated to Lilo.
Tours? Wait, could we sign up for one?" Her voice rose, finally glad for some good news.
"Ih," Sparky smiled.
Lilo grabbed both of their hands in excitement, than did a little dance. Stitch smiled and did the dance along with her. She shoved the device in her backpack and then ran down the alley, which didn't seem as dark anymore. Right before she could run onto the sidewalk, Stitch grabbed the backpack, holding her in place.
"Disguise," Stitch explained.
Lilo flushed a little, embarrassed, and nodded. Stitch wasn't the only wanted criminal now. From the way Starp was behaving, she guessed that all of their faces were in the news now. Sparky retracted his antenna and extra arms, and began to dig through Lilo's bag. He was searching through it for a while before he found anything useful. Triumphantly he held up a rubber band.
"What's that gonna do?" Lilo asked confused.
He grabbed all of her hair and then pulled it back in smooth motion. Stitch glanced at Sparky, impressed by his hair skills. He then pulled out something that resembled a black pen. Turning Lilo around, he drew on her eyes as though it was eyeliner, then he pushed a button, changing the color to red. Carefully he changed her lips from light pink to bright red. He then grabbed the device, so she could look at her reflection.
"Wow," Lilo whispered, poking her check.
"Yooga look pretty," Stitch said kindly.
"Thanks, too bad Keoni isn't here," She joked, "Where'd you learn to do this?"
"Angel," He frowned.
Stitch watched as Sparky drew on himself, succeeding in making his eyes look huge. Multicolored markings cover his entire body. He truly looked like a different animal. He put on a baseball cap, and put one on Lilo too. Compared to them, Stitch felt fake. None of them was completely unrecognizable, but it was the best they could do.
"Hopefully nobody will recognize us," Lilo said, still looking at her reflection.
Stitch pulled the device from her hand, and brought up the building. It wasn't far from them, maybe a ten minute walk.
"I wonder if we'll have to pay," Lilo said.
Stitch suddenly felt numb. Money. The one thing they'd forgotten. How were they going to get any money? The obvious
answer was to steal, but would they be able to do that without attracting attention? He rubbed his forehead, cursing under his breath. Money, how could he be so stupid? He would never get to see Angel again if he didn't get some money soon.
"Don't worry, we'll find some," Lilo reassured him, wishing she'd kept her mouth shut.
"Ih," Sparky agreed, walking out of the alley.
Stitch glanced at Lilo, and then followed Sparky. He was walking hurriedly down the sidewalk. Stitch and Lilo struggled to keep up with him. Suddenly, Sparky bumped into a nicely dressed alien. Sparky looked horrified as the man's wallet fell along with a few other important looking objects. He hurried to pick them up, and then return them to the owner. The alien shot Sparky a mean look and then walked away, grumbling.
Sparky turned to them, smiling as he held up a wad of cash.
"Nice work," Lilo complemented him.
"Goobaja," Stitch hurried them, walking off towards the company.
After about 10 minutes the building loomed in front of them. Stitch rushed towards it, a group of aliens already outside the door. Lilo and Sparky ran after him.
"Is it too late to join the tour?" Lilo asked, out of breath.
"Do you have money," He asked after adjusting a machine on his chest.
She thrust the cash towards him. He took it, fingering through the bills. He glanced up at her and then nodded. Stitch sighed in relief, as they mingled in with all the other aliens. The guide suddenly grabbed their shoulders, and every vein in Stitch's body froze.
"Wear these, it'll translate to your language," He explained, handing them each one.
They took them and put them on. Stitch felt his body relax. They were in. Pretty soon he would be reunited with Angel.