Disclaimer: I own 188, 147, 024, and 189. The other experiments, i.e. the ones gossiping in the beginning of the chapter, are ones I found on the Disney Channel website. Disney owns them.
Babe, I'm leaving, I'll say it once again
Somehow try to smile
I know the feeling we're trying to forget
If only for a while
But I'll be lonely without you
And I'll need your love to see me through
Please believe me, my heart is in your hands
And I'll be missing you
Babe, I love you.
(Styx, Babe. God I love this song! I would have used it in the last chapter, but I just found out who sang it the other day.)
"This is an outrage! Jumba can't do this to us, it's just not fair!"
"Welcome to experiment life, 147," said 024 "Nothing's ever fair."
188 and 189's escape attempt was a complete secret.
So within a week, every experiment in the lab knew about it.
Normally, they wouldn't have cared much. Someone had almost escaped, but Jumba had captured them and as far as anyone cared, that was that.
But Experiment 188 wasn't one of the normal experiments branded "dangerous", the monsters that smacked their cages and roared unintelligibly. No one knew the extent of his powers as much as Jumba. With 188's mind clouded by grief and rage, he wasn't taking any chances.
So all of the experiments were implanted with tiny tracking microchips just under the skin. Some of them, like 002, didn't mind. But others, like 147, were furious. They stood around like inmates on death row, waiting for Jumba to find and chip them.
"But it's stupid! Just because 188 almost got out, all of us have to suffer?" 147 protested.
"He's just doing what he thinks is best. Better safe then sorry," 024 put in.
"024, you're my best friend and I respect you. But you're living in a magical happy world with gumdrop houses and make believe and little men in funny hats," 147 replied.
Just then, 228 (one of the newest experiments) approached with one paw on his shoulder*. "I don't know, this might be a good idea. 188's been acting crazy ever since they caught him. Listen."
All the experiments cocked their ears, hearing the howls of misery echoing distantly from the restricted ward.
"And none of you pity him even a little bit?" 024 asked incredulously.
187 gave a snort of contempt. "Pity 188? Are you blind? Look what that monster did to me!" Jagged scars ran down his face and chest, massive patches of his fur were ripped out, and he was missing an ear.
"But he might have changed since then! 189 always went in to talk to him, and--"
"And she's gone now! I talked to her a couple of times. She was way too trusting, a lot like you!" Experiment 149 warned.
"I am not too trusting! I'm just saying that if anything turned him bad, it was everybody treating him like this! And I still don't believe 189 is dead."
147 shrugged. "024, you think whatever you want. Just be careful."
****************
Unbeknownst to them, 188 was hearing every word.
024.
He'd seen her several times before, but only as 147's lackey. A little pink experiment with the power to unlock doors, she was sweet and trusting--almost too trusting.
She was the key to 188's escape.
Smirking, he leaned back against the glass of his cage to continue listening. 024 would come soon. All he had to do was be patient, and he'd see 189 again.
*******************
As predicted, 024 stuck to her theory that 188 wasn't really bad. And as also predicted, she let him out of the cage.
188 would never forget the feeling as he killed her. He knew he'd taken 147's best friend. This would make her pay for teasing him. And 024 hadn't been strong or fierce, but she was one of Jumba's favorite experiments; a combination of a daughter and a faithful dog. She'd always trusted whatever decision he made.
'I told him I'd take someone he loved. Now they'll both know how I felt!' 188 thought to himself with satisfaction.
When he'd driven his deadly tail spike into 024's vein, time had stopped. He felt everything about her. Her heartbeat pumping blood, then stopping as venom seized it; her muscles spasming in death; and most importantly, her final thoughts, flying out in a rush.
'What would I have become?' 'They warned me about this!' Why didn't I listen to 147' 'Strange, it doesn't hurt...' And finally, 'I'm so sorry, 132.'
The last thought puzzled 188. Who was 132? Possibly someone she'd cared about? Maybe loved like he loved 189? 188 shrugged the thought off, his instincts as an assassin gripping his mind. He put 024's dead body to one last use, ridding him of the hated shock collar forever.
He'd taken a life, not the fake kind in the training simulators, but a real life. Someone who'd trusted him so much.
And it felt fantastic.
As before, he used the air vents to escape. But this time he stayed on his guard, used passageways that he hoped weren't booby-trapped. After an agonizingly slow fifteen minutes, luck turned to his side and he found the way out.
The fresh night air hit him like a smack in the face, making him cough. It was cold and sharp, not like the climate-controlled air of the lab, and it almost burned.
But suddenly, with a strangled cry of delight, he threw himself onto the dirt, laughing like he was possessed. It was amazing just to feel something besides cold tiles and concrete beneath him, and the sheer novelty of it temporally overrode the fear of being caught. He buried his muzzle in the earth, inhaling the scent.
It was the smell of freedom.
***************************
Problem 1. Escape from the lab. Solved.
Problem 2. Get off the surface of the planet, fast.
188 rushed to beat the dawn. He'd been heavily sedated two days ago when the tracking chip was implanted in him, thus he had no idea where in his body it was. Jumba had apparently guessed that he would try and tear it out. 188 knew the chips were powerful, and could locate an experiment anywhere on the planet. His only solution was to get off Turo before Jumba awoke, found him gone, and started hunting him.
Once again luck was with him. As little as half a mile away, he found a single alien fixing a cruiser. The alien didn't know he stood in the way of 188's freedom. In a flash of black fur, his throat was slashed and he was dead before he knew what had happened.
Without so much as a glance at the dead alien, 188 set about stealing the cruiser. Relying on past training, he hot-wired it and drove it off into the night sky.
He'd done it! Jumba would never find him now. Nothing was holding him back. He felt no remorse for the two creatures he'd taken the lives of that night. The only guilt at all came from the nagging voice in the back of his head.
'189 didn't think you were a killer. You've just proved her wrong.'
188 shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind. He'd had to do it. Luckily, 189 would never know and he would never have to do it again.
As if he'd flown space cruisers all his life, he expertly tapped a few buttons on the control panel and spoke to the computer.
"Set coordinates for Planet Keehar."
To be continued...
Hopefully I'll have the last chapter up sooner. It's a lot longer, more detailed, and darker. You don't think I'd let 188 off that easy, do you?
*implying he's just been chipped.
A note to Danmat6288: Maybe I haven't implied this yet, but I hate the Lilo and Stitch TV series. Some of the experiments I like (namely Melty and Bonnie), which is why I used them in this chapter. And the episode with Yaarp was pretty funny. And Hamsterviel's adorable, so I might mention him in a story someday…ok, maybe I don't hate the series as much as I used to. But in my stories, there's no Gantu, no experiment pods, and nothing else like that. Sorry.