Author's Note:
WOOPS! The web site that inspired me, that I tried to talk about last chapter is at Deviant Art and unfortunately I can't post the title here in my fanfic. The other site that helped me is unfortunately a Freewebs site that's frozen at the moment. Dang! So I can't tell you what they are OR show you them! I'll try and see if I can put them up on my profile, though. Don't lose hope:)
I would have also updated sooner, trust me, but unfortunately I accidentally left my flash drive in a computer at my school. My flash drive which had the second part of "The Haunted Mansion" on it. Not to mention other work, like the rest of the story! Luckily I'm not the kind that gives up that easily, nor am I the kind who COMPLETELY forgets to make a backup of some kind, and now I'm starting up again! But to tell the complete truth, I kinda forget to make a copy of the part of the story that THIS part belongs to. Anyway, moving right along, time to enjoy the story!
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
THE HAUNTED MANSION, PT. 2
ABOUT HALF AN HOUR OUR HEROES WENT INTO THE MANSION…
It was a very special day for 621, but…well, not in a good way. It was the anniversary of his break up with Angel. He'd announced it earlier in the day, and that he didn't want ANYONE giving him grief. Or presents for that matter.
Now he just looked out one of the windows of the ship, two hands barely holding his head up by the chin, the other two just hanging down limply. He sighed as his black eyes gazed out. It was a beautiful day, but all he could do was think about her.
561 and 625 were in the kitchen area, hiding behind the counter. Gantu walked by and noticed this, and his eyebrow went up. "What exactly are you doing?" "Waiting." "For what?" "When we say duck, duck underneath with us." 561 nodded. "You will NOT want to be in the line of fire." "Huh?"
627 suddenly appeared from the doorway, a red ribboned present in his hand. It was small, and its wrapping job was poor. He walked over to 621. "Hey there, greeny! I know you're feeling down, so I got you a present!"
"…go away."
"Aw, don't get sand up your butt! Here."
627 handed 621 the present. 621 rolled his eyes and opened it up.
"Okay, duck." 625 said. Gantu shrugged and ducked underneath he kitchen counter with them.
621 looked at the present in his hands.
"The Beach Boys Greatest Hits".
"You…bought me a gift that would…that…that would remind me of all the good times I had you ROTTEN JERK! I'LL KILL YOU!"
627 bounded away as 621 tried to grab his throat. He was both laughing and stuttering at the same time. "I d-didn't m-mean to…PFFT! I honest-uh, honestly wasn't t-trying to…HA-HA…hu-hurt-heh-heh…"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
621 tossed the CD away and jumped on 621. Soon they were rolling around on the floor, and 621 was snarling madly, growling angrily and viciously. 627 was screaming at the top of his lungs, desperately trying to escape and failing.
"How much longer?" Gantu asked. 561 listened intently, putting one of his clawed hands to his ears. "Judging by the screams, I would say…fifteen more seconds."
Sure enough, fifteen seconds later…
THUMP!
621 walked over to the CD case and tossed it in the trash. Then he walked to his room, wailing "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so looooong!" as he walked off.
627 had been rudely shoved into a vent, and his arms were stuck in as well, pinned against his sides. Only his lower half stuck out, and his legs were flailing madly in the air as he growled and shouted "Lemme out". Gantu looked at 625. "Um…625, maybe we should go get some air. Maybe go to that Karaoke competition?" "Good idea." 625 said, jumping up. "I saw they're serving great sandwiches." They quickly left.
561 looked at 627 and sighed, walking out of the kitchen area. "I suppose it falls on ME to pull him out. I hate this day already."
TWENTY MINUTES LATER…
Heartwing and Page were standing by the instruments that Retro 4Ever was going to use after the Karaoke competition. The winner would get to sing with them, as an added incentive. Both Page and Heartwing were honored to be entrusted with looking after the instruments. The band had brought two extra regular and bass guitars, just in case.
Heartwing almost couldn't resist plucking one of the strings, but Page gently touched his shoulder.
"Lead us not into temptation." He said calmly. "Remember my cousin the lessons He taught us." Heartwing put a claw to his lip, thinking. "…no covet neighbor's goods?" "Yes, thou shall not covet they neighbor's goods."
Heartwing plopped down on the ground and sighed. He was bored…
Then he saw Nick and the others, which cheered him up. He was glad they were here-
Wait…what was that?
Heartwing had sensed something. Something very…chilling, creepy…it had sent a chill up his spine. He turned his head toward the mansion and looked into a window…
Oh, Spooky was at the window! Heartwing beamed and waved to his cousin. "Aloha!" He called out.
Spooky simply blinked. Then he backed away from the window. Heartwing raised an eyebrow. How…odd. His cousins were usually a lot more cheerful than…wait…something had been wrong with Spooky's appearance…didn't he normally have YELLOW eyes? And…why had Spooky felt so cold looking at him?
Heartwing decided to go to the door. He walked up the steps that led to the front door and grabbed the handle…
He was violently expelled from the door, and he went flying high…higher…higher…
He spun around in the air, but finally righted himself and flapped his wings. He'd been thrown 200 yards away! Wow! He looked at the mansion, growling. No, something was not right at all. And he knew exactly what…
That house…
It had been haunted for real not that long ago. When Heartwing had first entered the mansion, weeks ago, he had smelled the scent of dark, sad things lurking within, or rather, what was left of those dark things. Spooky's presence had caused them to essentially lie dormant.
As Page might put it, the things had "Gotten thee behind Spooky". He was holding them back. Or rather…he'd BEEN holding them back. Now the dark things were freed, though it wasn't all Spooky's fault. Something had triggered it…but what?
Didn't matter. Gotta stop it, the dragon thought. Have to!
Uh oh.
Nick and the other contestants in the contest were going in!
Heartwing dove, trying to stop them…too late! The door slammed shut. He landed hard on the porch and grabbed the handle. With all of his might he tugged and tugged, ignoring the harsh stabbing pains that the dark energy-ridden house was giving him, it's aura threatening to swallow his. But he couldn't break into it. He jumped away, growling angrily.
"Hey draggy boy. What's wrong?"
Heartwing looked behind him. 625 and Gantu were standing there. 625 was eating the last bit of a triple-decker meat sandwich with mayo and onions, and Gantu was sipping a cola. Page was standing next to them, looking concerned with Heartwing's distressed appearance.
"Something troubles you, my cousin?"
Heartwing pointed at the mansion. "It! It's in there! All dark, all bad! The bad stuff…EVIL in there!"
625 gulped. "Uh…yeah, about that, uh…turns out the doc kinda left a booby trap for your little cousin Spooky. It was a package that had a dark energy sample in it that the doctor had saved from some earlier experiments. Apparently this old house was supposed to be the "focal point of negative readings" and since Spooky lived here, well…"
Heartwing, Gantu and Page all blinked. "Huh?" "What?" "???" 625 sighed. "I don't understand it too well, but I'll try to explain…"
MEANWHILE, INSIDE THE HOUSE…
Myrtle and her posse scream. Pleakley screams. Jumba blinks. Victoria and Lilo look at Nick and Keoni. Keoni grabbed Victoria's hand. And Stitch has his mouth slightly open, his eyebrows down slightly, confused.
"Huh? Cousin? What's…what's wrong?"
Nani is furious. "This isn't Halloween, Spooky. Quit playing jokes! It's not funny."
"Lilo, get your…your freaky green blob under control!" Myrtle shouted.
"Yeaaah!" Her posse exclaimed.
Lilo nodded, putting her hands on her hips. "They're right, Spooky. I can't believe you'd threaten to hurt us! That's not funny!"
The thing that looked like Spooky laughed, black eyes glimmering. "I'm sorry, Spooky's not here right now. He's just a tenant, and I'M the landlord."
"Spooky, quit it!" Lilo said angrily.
"Stop deluding yourself." The thing said. "Do not cling to a lie."
Stitch suddenly growled. "Naga cousin!" He said. Nick, who had been stupefied, finally spoke. "Guys, this…this isn't Spooky! He's got yellow eyes, not black, and…he feels wrong. His, like…his aura is off. I don't know what this thing is, but it's NOT Spooky!"
Not-Spooky cackled. "Nya-ha-ha-ha-ha! About time you figured it out. By the way, I owe 626 and the girl some thanks for allowing Spooky here. His abilities will be useful. As thanks, I'll be sure to give him a nice clean death when I take the life I need from all of you, starting…"
He looked at Lilo, sneering, slowly advancing. "With you, dear girl."
Stitch suddenly rushed forward, grabbing Not-Spooky and throwing him with all of his might. "RUN!" Nick shouted. Suddenly fog swept in, blinding, choking, making it almost impossible to see. "Run?" Not-Spooky asked, mocking. "Where are you going to go?" Myrtle was sobbing hysterically, and Pleakley was screaming over and over. Jumba looked around, his quadocular vision not helping him one bit.
Victoria suddenly called out from behind them. "I've got the door handle that leads outside! Let's run!" "That's not me!" Victoria shouted from the side. "That's Spooky imitating me! I'm over here!" "No, I'm over here!" "HERE!" "HERE!"
Nick did the only thing he could think of. "BRING THE HEAT!" Nick shouted, holding a palm high. A fireball sprung up from the palm, and flared in his hand. Now he could see the faint outline of a door in front of him. "Follow me, guys! Quick!" He ran to the door, still holding the flame high, and pulled the door open. "Everyone into this door! NOW!"
All of them rushed past Nick, and when Victoria (who was the last one) passed him by Nick rushed in, slamming the door shut and locking it.
The fireball fizzled into nothing in his palm and he sighed, wiping his brow on his t-shirt sleeve. "Phew! Safe…"
"Yeah, like a locked door's gonna stop that thing!" Myrtle said, shaking madly. She and her posse were holding tightly onto each other.
Lilo shivered slightly. Even though she was a very brave girl, she was scared as well. Stitch looked at the door, not blinking once.
"What's wrong with Spooky?" Victoria asked Lilo. "He's acting really weird."
"Naga Spooky." Stitch said, though it was almost impossible to hear. He was practically whispering it. "Naga cousin. Thing…thing was naga cousin. Felt wrong…felt bad near him. Spooky naga like that. Thing back there…naga cousin. Was something else. Something…really bad."
Nick nodded. "Yeah, that thing felt really…well, WRONG. Not like Spooky at all! He gave me the willies when I simply looked at him!" Lilo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and Spooky just likes scaring people, not threatening them." Jumba nodded as well, brushing back his three hairs. "Is true. Did not design experiment to physically harm populace but to psychologically do so. To, shall we say, scare pants off of people."
"Well what's going on now then?" Nick asked. "Why is all that fog appearing? And why is it so fracking COLD in here? I mean, gee whiz, it's like the inside of an igloo!"
Jumba closed his eyes and concentrated, thinking hard. He "hmmed" over and over. Finally his eyes snapped open. "Is only one way to be testing what is truly happening. Stitch, if you would be so kind as to attempt to break down kitchen door?"
Stitch eagerly bounded over. He raised a fist and thrust it towards the door.
BOOM!
Stitch flew back, violently repelled by some strange black shield that had popped up from the door. Suddenly everyone saw that the same shield, this dark aura almost, was covering all of the walls and the only window in the room, not just simply the door.
"Knew it. House is infested with dark energy, probably as a result of dark catalyst. Hamsterveil's work, no doubt. House was already housing dark energy in fairly large amounts, but this new threat has not only reawakened them, but strengthened them."
"Huh?"
"When Experiment 300 first came here, house really was, as you put it, haunted. But because you managed to stop him in time, the dark energy present in this house that Spooky was affecting did not truly awaken, and Spooky was not nearly dark enough to be a catalyst on his own in any case."
"So when we first came in here, it was all scary and stuff because the house really WAS haunted? And dark energy caused it?"
"Yes. Dark energy is not necessarily always pertaining to hatred or angry emotions…or perverted sex urges." He added, face darkening at the memory of 561. "Is also associated with sadness as well, and unhappiness…and this house has seen much of that. Emotional residue left trace amounts of dark energy that caused house to become haunted."
"Okay, so the place was already filled with bad feelings, but they didn't really affect the house or us because Spooky wasn't evil enough to get them really riled up?"
"Basically, little girl." Jumba said, nodding at Lilo. "But Hamsterviel has no doubt introduced a powerful catalyst, a trigger that overpowered Spooky and enabled the dark energy present already in this house to be awakened from its sleep. Now the dark energy that fills this house, the spirits of this house…they can affect us. But if intrusive dark energy within Spooky was exorcised, then things would return to normal, since house is primarily relying on it, drawing power from that catalyst. It's sort of a battery AND a, what is word?"
"Uh, jumper cable?" Nick suggested.
"Right. Is battery and jumper cable in one."
"We're trapped inside a haunted house filled with angry spirits and a little monster that's even more of one than he was before!" Pleakley shouted. He grabbed onto Nani. "Hold me!" "Pleakley, get a grip!" She said. "Calm down."
To tell the truth, Nani was afraid as well. But not for herself but for Lilo, Victoria Pleakley and the other girls. She didn't want them to be hurt. Nick, Stitch, Jumba, they could hold their own, but Lilo and the others couldn't. Neither could Nani really, but Nani was more worried about the kids who had their whole life ahead of them and Pleakley who had a hard enough time making dinner, let alone fend off an experiment.
"What are we gonna do?" Pleakley asked. Nick looked at a cupboard over in the corner. "Well, maybe we should try to eat something before we make any plans. Can't come up with a good escape on an empty stomach!" "Yeah, well Jumba here ate 6 hot dogs and drak 5 sodas before we came in." Pleakley said, poking Jumba in the stomach. Jumba glared at Pleakley and pointed at his eye. "Want I should be poking EYE out, noodle man?!?"
Myrtle walked over to the cupboard. "I haven't eaten anything yet, I'm STARVING." She opened the door.
And screamed…
OUTSIDE…
"Oh my…" Page said when 625 finished.
"That's a…that's a lot to swallow, trog." Gantu added, mouth wide open.
Heartwing said nothing. He simply blinked. Then he turned his large eyes to the instruments, eyes blinking very…very…slowly. "Let's go." He suddenly said, running over and picking up the guitar. "Ohana needs help!" He said, holding them high.
Page blinked. "Wait…what is your intent?" Heartwing grinned and ran up the stairs again with the guitars. He put one down and then strummed the other one's strings. "Oh…" He sang. The black aura that was shimmering around the door suddenly began to dim…
"You look like an angel…"
(Look like an angel…)
"Walk like an angel…"
(Walk like an angel…)
"Talk like an angel…but I got wiiiiise…" He began to really play, now moving his body to the song. "You're the devil, oh yes you are, the devil in disguise! You fooled me with your kisses, you cheated and you schemed!"
Page, 625 and Gantu suddenly noticed that the aura was fading away!
"Heaven knows how you lied to me…"
It vanished in a flash of light.
"You're not the way you seem!" With that, Heartwing stopped playing and turned around, bowing. 625 clapped. "Nice job, cuz! How'd you know that would work?" "Music eternal, infinite, unlimited…makes people happy, makes them feel…evil usually hates people feeling."
"Dark energy is destroyed when melodies are played? Why?" "Music is a thing of light and joy." Page said. "That is why you read about "harp playing" in the Bible, because music is associated with the infinite and unlimited. It is something that evil despises because it is often associated with good."
"Hatred by association? Is music really that important?"
"There's a story I was told by Father Joe. He got it from a Jewish man he met on the street. People were praying to God in a synagogue, but he wouldn't answer. Then a man entered who could not speak a word for he was mute, and all he knew how to do was whistle. And so he whistled as best he could. The people, the rabbi, his assistants, all of them inside the synagogue were horrified, but then they heard God speak, and he said "Now I shall accept the prayers of my people". Music saved the day."
625 scratched his head. "Well can it save those poor guys in there?" He asked. "Grab those Bass guitars and let's find out." Page said, grabbing a drum set. "At the very least, we can inspire our trapped friends with a rousing song!"
INSIDE…
Myrtle screamed and jumped back as the red eyes of…
A mouse…stared at her. Nick sighed. "It's just a mouse. At least there are no rats in here. I read that you don't get rats where you find mice, I think that was in a "Molly Moon" book."
Lilo looked around at everyone. "Come on, guys! We gotta think of a plan? Anyone got anything?"
"Hmm…nope, I got nothing." Nick said.
"Am afraid am having no idea of what to be doing."
"Don't look at ME, I'm just trying to survive! Here's a plan, Duck, Cover, Waa!"
"I thought that only worked on earthquakes."
"It'll work here too! Waa!"
"Myrtle? Teresa? Elena? Yuki?"
"Uh, do you have any ideas girls?"
"Noooo!"
"I'm sorry but I don't have any ideas either, Lilo."
"Ditto for me."
"It's okay Victoria, Keoni. Stitch?"
"Got naga."
"Does ANYONE have any idea-"
"Enough games. I tire of watching your lips move. I want to see screams!"
Suddenly a snaky form burst from the ceiling. It was Not-Spooky! He wrapped around Lilo and hauled her up with incredible speed. She barely had time to register what was happening. "You shall come with me." He said calmly. "Naga!" Stitch shouted, jumping up but Not-Spooky suddenly struck him down and then…both were gone. Stitch ran to the kitchen door and kicked it open.
"Come on!" He snarled. "Save Lilo!" "Right!" Nick shouted. "Let's go get her back!" He ran after Stitch, only turning around to call out to Jumba. "Look after everyone else and meet us back in the main hall!" He shouted. He and Stitch ran for main stairs and began jumping up them two at a time, ignoring the creaking sounds they made.
Jumba and the others piled out of the kitchen into the main hall. Jumba's brow was furrowed in worry. "Jumba?" Nani asked. "Will they be okay?" "I…am not knowing. And I HATE not knowing! What can we do? My poor experiment 300 is possessed by intense dark energy presence, there are few ways to combat it!"
"What DOES work?"
"Light energy for one, but experiment 421 is not here. Music also works very well, was playing Classical in lab while doing experiments, dark energy began to dissipate. But we have no instruments…"
"Did you just say you needed 421 AND music?"
They whipped their heads towards the direction where a familiar Brooklyn accented experiment had spoken. He was on the drums, grinning, and Heartwing was on the guitar. He tossed a guitar to Keoni, who caught it. Victoria ran over and grabbed another, and Jumba went to the drums. Pleakley took a bass, and fingered it. Gantu stood to the side, holding onto two loudspeakers that were connected to the instruments.
Myrtle and her posse stood there, stunned. Victoria smiled. She knew exactly what to do. She tugged at Nani's shirt and whispered in her ear. Then she turned to Myrtle.
"Hey, weren't you guys going to sing our song? "Can't Help Falling In Love", right?"
Myrtle blushed. "Yeah, but why are you…oh wait…" Suddenly Myrtle Emdonds "got it". She turned to her posse. "Teresa? Elena? Yuki? Want to do a little bit of practice?" They all eagerly nodded. "Yeaaah!"
Jumba "pinged" on of the cymbals on the drum set with his drumstick. "In the little girl's words…let's rock a hula!"
UPSTAIRS…
Lilo shivered in the corner of the room she'd been thrown at. She was facing Not-Spooky and was absolutely terrified. He gave off waves of evil from his body, and was looking at her, blinking slowly…eyelids not converging normally in a top and bottom fashion but left and right.
"So at last we truly get a chance to be acquainted. I have been waiting a very long time to see you, Lilo Pelekai. Spooky's mind has revealed much about you."
"What…what are you?" She whispered.
Spooky laughed, throwing his stolen head back. "You want to know what I am? I am everything people fear, despise…everything they hate, and everything they cannot eventually escape."
Suddenly Not-Spooky changed shape. Now he was a huge American grizzly bear, with green teeth and razor sharp claws. His eyes were sunken and he sneered.
"I am the God of the Lost…"
He changed shape to that of a boar's head on a pike, tusks gleaming, blood dripping down, every little "drip-drip" capturing Lilo's attention.
"I am the Lord of the Flies…"
Then he was a shadow being who seemed to be made up of black energy, with tiny red dots all around his body, a bloodlike aura dripping from his body as if it was rain slipping off of him.
"I am He Who Walks Among the Rows…"
Now he was a clawed, hunchbacked monster with large fangs and a tail that beat the floor anxiously, eyes bug-like in appearance and peering anxiously at her.
"I am the Boogeyman…"
He became one form after another.
"I am a demon, a specter of ultimate evil, a phantom of hatred and fear, the darkside to all things light…but you may refer to me as simply…"
Now he changed form for the last time.
"Cloak."
He was now a cloaked being. You could not see into the hooded cloak he wore, and it covered all of his body. You could just barely see his hands sticking out of his arm sleeves, but they had no features. They were completely black, the same as the inside of his hood. His black eyes were almost impossible to see, save for the eerie shine they had in the dim light of the room. The being called Cloak raised his hand and made a motion with it.
He smiled, revealing pearly white teeth.
Suddenly Lilo found herself floating towards this thing. She screamed and tried to struggle, but she was surrounded by a completely black orb of energy, and she couldn't move. She drifted through the air towards him, until suddenly it popped, and she fell…but only for a second. Suddenly his hand grabbed her by her neck and he lifted her up. Now Lilo's tearful brown eyes looked into Cloak's own black ones.
He suddenly stiffened, then smirked slightly. "Ah, if only you hear Spooky right now."
Lilo blinked. Spooky was still inside that…that thing?
"He's sobbing. Begging me not to hurt you. Such foolish sentiment. How very sad."
The idea that Spooky was still trying to keep her unharmed made Lilo feel a tiny bit better, but not by much. Worse still this "Cloak" was pulling her closer to him. He suddenly reached up with his other hand and very gently wiped a tear off of her cheek.
"The world can be a cruel place." He said, voice as soft as satin. "One that cares little for the fate of a little girl, no matter how innocent she may be."
Lilo suddenly wanted to scream, but she couldn't. All she could do was stare. She had a terrible feeling what he was about to do, and she didn't want the kind of compassion he had for her. It may have been sympathy, but it was a terrible kind…
"Your friends are coming to aid you, little one. But…they will not be able to save you."
He brushed her cheek again. "Such a sweet little child…not long for this cruel, cruel world…"
The kind you show towards a dog you mean to have put to sleep.
BANG!
The door flew open.
"NAGA HURT LILO!" "PUT HER DOWN!!!"
Stitch and Nick stood there, fury in Stitch's eyes as he clenched and unclenched all four of his fists. Nick's fists were shaking, and his eyebrows were so furrowed down that they almost were closed, his face contorted with a mix of anger against this freak and concern for Lilo.
Cloak shook his head. "I, the physical manifestation of ultimate evil's soul, bow to the whim of a lost little space dog and a troubled youth? I think not."
Stitch growled "Then you DIE." "Let her go!" Nick shouted as they both rushed at Cloak, who smirked. "Let her go NOW! I luh-"
WHAM! A chair suddenly flew into him. He sprang back, face stinging. Stitch jumped at Cloak, who closed his eyes then snapped them open. Now they glowed utterly red. Stitch was suddenly flung back, red tentacles wrapping around him, springing from the wall and pulling him tight to it, not letting him go. More sprang around Nick's feet as he tried to rush at Cloak again. He collided with the floor, hitting his chin.
"YOW!" He shouted. He glared up at Cloak. "Let us all go or so help me, I'll…I'll…"
Cloak laughed. "You'll do WHAT? Swear at me? Spit at me? That would do little to help HER." He sneered, tightening his grip on her. "Now my dear, it's time. You will be a fine meal indeed."
Stitch was going nuts, squirming and snarling as he tried to break free, shouting in Tantalog, half begging and half demanding that Lilo be released. Nick began trying to crawl towards them, but he couldn't, the tentacles held him back. He raised a hand. "No! TOXIC BU-"
Cloak moved Lilo in front of him. "If you do that, she'll die." He said. Nick stopped. He couldn't bring himself to endanger Lilo, even though this freak might hurt her all the same. He started crying, sobbing into the floor. "No-no-noooooo! Leave her alooone!"
Cloak turned back to Lilo. "Now then, it is time. Your digestion won't really begin for about two weeks, but you'll be kept alive not only until then, but well beyond. Your conciouness will still live on as I digest you little by little over the centuries. It will be delicious to feed off of your bones, your meat…" He licked his lips, revealing a bright red tongue. "…And your heart your soul. Open wide my precious…" He moved Lilo towards the dark recesses of his hood. She screamed. Stitch howled. Nick wailed.
Suddenly Cloak stopped and blinked, thinking. "You know…a bigger audience would be so much more…satisfying to have around. I could feed of off THEIR misery as well!"
He raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly they were teleported out of the room, as darkness enveloped them all. And then…they were back in the main hall. Cloak had his back to the front door. He looked around. "Where are those-"
Then he, Stitch, Nick and Lilo saw them.
"Let's rock a hula!" Victoria shouted. Nick blinked. Wait…what were they doing?
BGM: Can't Help Falling In Love, by ATeens
Nani led the harmony, and then Myrtle and the girls began to sing.
"Do-doo-doooo! I-I just can't help falling in love with you!"
Victoria began to sing, her voice soft and gentle.
"Wise men say…only fooools rush innn…but I...can't…helllp…falling in looove with yooou! Should…I staaay? Would it beeee…a…siiiin?"
Suddenly Keoni sang out. "Be a siiiiin?"
"If I…can't…helllp…falling in looove with yooou?"
Nick suddenly understood what to do. HE began to sing, winking at Stitch and Lilo. "Like a river floows…to the sea…so it goooes…some things are meant to beee!"
Myrtle and her posse sang out the next line, posing as they sang out each word.
"Some things are meant-to-be!"
Now everyone sang out, save for Stitch and Lilo, who were still mystified. But then Lilo noticed that Cloak was uncomfortable, shivering in fear.
"Take myyyyy hand! Take my whooole life toooo!"
"Whole life too!"
"For I…can't…helllp…falling in looove…with yoooou!"
Suddenly Lilo got it. She began to sing.
"Wise men say…only fooooools…rush iiiiin!"
She smiled at Nick. "But I, I can't-I can't helllp…falling in looove…"
"Falling in love…"
"With you!"
"With you!"
Cloak snarled, grabbing his head and dropping Lilo. The tentacles burst into nothingness. Lilo ran to Nick, and the two hugged. Keoni sang, with Victoria looking admiringly at him as they stood side to side, playing.
"Like a river flooows…to the sea…so it goooes…some things are meant to be!"
Victoria grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Myrtle and her posse did their thing!
"Some things are meant to beee!"
Cloak screamed. "STOP IT! I CAN'T STAND THAT MUSIC!"
"Keep it up, guys!"
"Take myyyyy hand! Take my whooole life toooo!"
"Whole life too!"
"For I…can't…helllp…falling in looove…with yoooou!"
Nick looked into Lilo's eyes. "May I, uh…have this dance?" "I'd love to!" She said, smiling. The two began to waltz. Stitch began to dance with Myrtle and her friends, along with Page, who was wearing a hula skirt. Gantu bobbed his head to the music, smiling broadly, eyes shut as he listened.
"Take myyyyy hand! Take my whooole life toooo!"
"Whole life too!"
"For I…can't…helllp…falling in looove…with yoooou!"
Nick twirled Lilo around, and then they swung each other. "Ha-ha! This is how our grandparents did it! Come on, more kicking! Yeah, like that!"
Cloak was wailing, turning back into Spooky, who's eye colors kept chaning from black to yellow.
"For I…can't…helllp…falling in love…"
"Love…"
"Love…"
"Falling in love with yoooou!"
Nani sang out, grinning at Pleakley, who was jamming like a master, and Jumba, who drummed like mad, headbanging as he did so.
"Like a river flows, that's the way it goes, I just can't help falling in love with you!"
"Falling in love with you!" Lilo shouted out.
"Take…myyy haaaand…cuz I can't help…falling in love with you!" Keoni sang.
"I just can't help myself, can't help myself, I just keep falling, falling in love with yooou!" Myrtle and her posse sang, with Page and Stitch as harmony.
Cloak howled. "NOOOOO…"
"Take…my haaand…" Nick sang out happily, twirling Lilo around.
"For I…"
"Can't help…"
"Falling in love with you!" Everyone sang.
(End music.)
Cloak screamed, and suddenly…it was as if a black blanket was torn off of Spooky. It floated into the air, wailing…and then vanished in a puff of dark smoke and a blast of something that smelled awful, probably brimstone. Spooky collapsed on the floor, groaning.
Stitch bounded into the air over and over, cheering, with Page hugging him. A minute later Myrtle and her posse were hugging them too, and began throwing them into the air, cheering. "Yahoo! Yipee! All right! Woohoo!"
Jumba and Pleakley walked over to each other. "Jumba, would you join me in the Ancient Dance of Victory?" "I would be honored." Jumba said, bowing. They then grabbed each other's hands and rang around the rosy, singing "We did it, we did it, we did it" over and over.
Nick looked into Lilo's eyes again. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He said. "Uh…Nick?" "Yeah?" "You're a really nice dancer." She said, smiling. Nick's rosy cheeks turned redder than normal. "Aw, huh-huh…heh, shucks, it's nothing." She tickled him, making him laugh. "Don't be so humble!" She said, tickling him. He guffawed. "Stop it!" He laughed. "You're gonna make me smile!"
Nani ran over and hugged them both in mid tickle. "I'm so glad you're okay." She whispered. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you! If something happened I'd never forgive myself…I promised I'd take care of you, and when you just got taken, I was…I was just…"
Lilo hugged her older sister tightly. "It's okay, Nani." She said, smiling as a single tear went down her cheek. "We're okay, aren't we?" "Better than okay." Nick said. "Fantastic." "Even if you weren't up there with Stitch and Nick, I'd still think you're the best older sister I could ever had."
Nani cried gently onto Lilo's shoulder. "Oh, Lilo! You're the best younger sis I could ask for…"
Nick felt both warm and slightly fuzzy. "Awww." He immediately thought. "How do you feel, Stitch?" He asked.
Stitch grinned as the girls heaved him into the air again. "I'm okay! I'm fluffy!"
Nick nodded. "Well, we've got to get back to the Karaoke competition! So let's get going everyone! How about we all do an encore performance? Goldilocks, Old Buddy-Big Dummy, whaddya say?"
625 and Gantu shook their heads. "Uh-uh! Look, we really just came for the festivities. We were only helping you out because it wouldn't have been right to just leave my cousin here to die, along with those other kids. Besides, Page said he'd put in a good word to Father Joe."
"Drop in on Sunday." Page said, nodding. "I'll try and see if Father Joe will allow you and Gantu to join the Catholic faith. I am however, worried that Gantu won't fit into the confessional…"
"Hey Keoni, that was…uh…really great guitar playing." Victoria said, nervously drawing an imaginary circle on the floor with her foot, her hands behind her back. Keoni's face was as red as his hair.
"Well, uh…it's nothing, I practice a lot and stuff, you know, after school and all…um…you uh, have a nice voice. A really nice one."
Victoria turned red as HER hair. "Gee, I just uh…I practice a lot after school too, and uh…you know, stuff…" "Yeah, I know stuff." "Who doesn't?"
Spooky stood up, rubbing his head. "Ohhh…what happened?" He asked in Tantalog. 625 walked over to him. "It's a long story, cuz." He said in Tantalog. "But we'll tell you it outside, okay?"
MUCH LATER…
BGM: PM's Love Theme, by Craig Armstrong
The fireworks exploded in the night sky, eliciting "oohs" and "ahhs" and "ohhs" from everyone watching. Nick and Lilo sat on the grass, watching them intently. Nick smiled happily as one exploded in a circular burst of green, blue and white, followed up by a large "shotgun-style" blast of gold and red.
"Beautiful. I just LOVE fireworks! I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing them. Too bad the Karaoke machine broke down. I hope they fix it soon."
Lilo looked over at him. She seemed preoccupied with something. Finally she said something.
"Nick, uh, back in that room with that…that Cloak guy…you were about to say something."
Nick looked to Lilo. "Huh?" He asked, turning a bit red.
"You were saying "Let her go! I luh-" and then you got hit by that chair."
"Yeah, I still feel a bit sore from it."
"So, uh…what were uh…" Lilo was red in the face too. "Um, what were you going to say."
The fireworks began to grow larger…booming like thunder.
"Well, uh, Lilo…I've been meaning to tell you this for, well…for a while. You see, I've been kinda wanting to say this for like, a month, and…well, I…Lilo…I…"
BOOM! POW! KAFWOOOSH!
"Yeah?"
"Lilo, I…"
He gulped. "I like you. I really, REALLY like you. I like-like you."
Lilo blinked, looking taken aback.
"Lilo, I think I…well…"
Suddenly she hugged him. "I really really like you too." She said happily, joyfully, hugging him tightly.
Nick blinked for a moment, and then an utterly wonderful feeling came over him. He hugged Lilo tightly, and the two sat together, locked in that deep embrace as fireworks exploded overhead to the admiration of the crowd. A tear flowed down his cheek as he looked up at the heavens, a smile spread all over his face, over both his and Lilo's. Lilo broke the embrace and looked into Nick's eye and gently kissed him on the cheek.
He blushed and kissed her back.
And later, when the finale came, Nick and Lilo still were sitting, holding onto each other's shoulders as they watched the fireworks, not saying anything.
Because sometimes…
You don't have to say anything at all.
And sometimes…not saying it, but just…just KNOWING in your heart…feels even better than saying it.
(Music ends.)
Author's Note:
And so Season Two ends, dramatically, romantically, and in a very Lilo and Stitch fashion too! Now begins Season Three, which will not be so much more of the same as it will be "bigger, better and newly improved". It's ever the same, and yet not, for the plotlines will not simply be driven by what only Nick, Lilo and Stitch do. No, it's going to be more complex than that…and the effect is sweeeet.
So what did you think of this chapter? Liked it? Thought it was corny? Thought I should have added this or changed that? Read and review, tell me what you think of my story! I really do enjoy seeing that I have reviews and hits on my story. And once again, I want to say I don't own Lilo and Stitch, though I wish I did, or anything by Disney.
I'll update in about a week or so, with the next chapter, the opening of Season Three…a big opening at that! So until next time, aloha for now!