This here is the next-to-last chapter of the story and one of the biggest fights as Stitch finally goes head-to-head with Hunkahunka while everyone else deals with Hamsterviel's secret weapon. Will everything work out in the end?

Nukerjsr, Angel's job was just to shoot the arrow. The spell said there had to be a songstress, but nobody ever said she had to sing anything.

I'm sorry if anyone seems OOC. It's difficult to keep characters exactly as they are portrayed on television. More often than not they take on the personas the author perceives them as having. I never meant to portray Jumba as a psychopath. The reason he feels no remorse for the rape thing is because he knows it's not really his fault. He's too practical (and a little morally challenged) to get all upset over something he did while under a spell, he just hunkers down and works on a way to fix it. Pleakley wasn't upset about the rape because he partly wanted it anyway (being in love with Jumba and all) and because he was too distracted for a while what with falling in hate with the wallpaper and listening to Jumba's stories to really react to what happened. As for the other characters…I've never experienced real pain, so I have difficulty writing people going through angsty periods. I'm sorry if it makes it seem like they're acting like pain isn't real.

…

Once they returned to the ship after trouncing Karnax, they found that Pleakley had been the worst person possible to put in charge of Nani's health, and now her condition was even worse. After thoroughly berating Pleakley, Jumba immediately took the controls and started flying towards a hospital. En route, a light flashed on his dashboard. "What's that?" asked Lilo.

Jumba looked at the light. "Eh? Oh, that is my giant monster alert system. I wonder why it is being activated?"

"Giant monster alert system?" asked Pleakley.

"Yes, after watching various shoddy Japanese horror movies and the attacks of Experiments 297, 509 and 586 I realized we are needing warning system to let us know if another giant experiment or radioactively enhanced sea monster is attacking before it is doing too much property damage. I was also getting around to building a giant robot suit for 626 along with flashy spandex outfit, but I never got around to it." He pushed a button beneath the light, and a screen lit up. They gasped when they saw what was going on.

…

A few miles or so outside the town, where they had driven Hunkahunka before his ship self-destructed, the experiments stared in disbelief at what had come out of the warp gate.

It was Tank.

Hamsterviel had force-fed the experiment huge amounts of metal, causing him to swell to twice the size of Sprout or even Shortstuff. His body was encased in a flexible metal shell with spikes and huge numbers of cannons along his back, along with generators on his feet that allowed him to send out shockwaves whenever he stomped the ground. A horned helmet with a combat visor to protect his sensitive eyes covered his head, and his teeth had been refitted with metallic fangs to crunch his foes up more easily. The doctor had been spending the last few months working on Tank's new battle armor, and had only just completed it a few days ago, while Hunkahunka was still en route to Earth. And now that it was finished, Hamsterviel was more than eager to test out his weapon's new strength out in the field.

Tank roared and lifted a foot. As the experiments screamed and ran for their lives, a voice cried out in the giant's mind. "586, stop!" Tank froze, listening to his master's voice. "I cannot obtain their DNA if you mash them all into a bloody paste. Leave the experiments to my clone troops. I want you to go 626's town and raze it to the ground! Let no one escape! Then, proceed to smash this island flat. Destroy everything!" Hamsterviel commanded

Tank nodded and turned to head for Kokaua. As he did, Sprout's vines erupted from the ground and wrapped around his legs, trapping him. Then Shortstuff ran to his side and tried to cut off his armor with his claws. Tank grinned and fired a volley of missiles from his back at Sprout. The rockets exploded, dumping incendiary napalm and her and lighting her on fire. Shortstuff froze, hearing the screams of his mate. Tank broke free from the vines and curled up in a ball. A pair of huge cannons grew from his sides and pointed straight down. They fired, launching the experiment high into the air. He fell, slamming down hard on Shortstuff, shattering his exoskeleton and killing him instantly. Tank uncurled and started for town as clones fell from the warp gate by the thousands, ready to engage their 'cousins' in battle. And high above, the metal object that had opened the gate laughed.

…

Jumba was horrorstruck. "This is being unbelievable! How did 586 get here? What has happened to my precious experiment to make him so much bigger than I was ever intending? And what are those things falling from that swirling vortex in the sky?"

"Oh, uh…those are clones. Hamsterviel's been working on them, along with a kind of artificial wormhole called a warp gate. That's the vortex thing. Hunkahunka tested those things on us right after we got the dagger back. I guess Hamsterviel experimented on Tank as well to make him stronger," Angel said.

"Why were you not telling me this before?!"

"I sort of forgot," she said sheepishly.

Stitch immediately got up and started heading for the exit. Jumba stopped him. "No 626, you cannot defeat 586. He has become too big, and police cruiser is not having enough firepower to even scratch that monstrosity. You saw what he did to 297 and 509!"

"Well, something's got to be done about that monster. If it reaches an inhabited part of the island, hundreds of people could die!" Pleakley pointed out.

Jumba nodded. "This is being true. And we are also having to deal with those clones before they can overrun and defeat all my experiments."

"And don't forget, we also have to get Nani to the hospital because Pleakley couldn't tell the difference between a hypospray and a plasma torch," Lilo added.

"Hey, anyone could have made that mistake!" Pleakley protested.

"They were being clearly labeled. How could you be mixing them up?" Jumba asked.

"…Well, why don't you just use your evil science or cast a spell or something to heal Nani? You're a doctor, why should we go to the hospital?" asked Pleakley, quickly changing the subject.

"I am not knowing enough about human physiology to heal her on my own, just enough to keep her somewhat stabile, and you ruined that with your stupid mix-up! And you are still not answering my question!" Jumba bellowed.

"STOP!" Lilo yelled. "We don't have time for this. Jumba, how can we stop Tank from destroying the island, the clones from killing all our cousins, and Nani from dying?"

Jumba thought for a moment, then got up and went to a cabinet. He pulled out a handheld communicator and a small orb and turned to Stitch. "626, are you feeling up to saving the day again?"

"Ih!"

"Good." He handed both objects to Stitch. "Go to the battlefield and give this communicator to 601 or other experiment who is having natural fighting prowess. I will instruct them on how to defeat 586 while we are flying Big Girl to hospital." He then pointed to the orb. "This is a high-yield plasma explosive. You must be arming it and throwing it into the warp gate. When it is landing on the other side, the explosion should be taking out the generators powering the gate and causing it to collapse, cutting off reinforcements and allowing my experiments to take care of the remaining clones. Is that being clear?" Stitch nodded. "Good. Then go, 626! We are all counting on you!"

…

Kixx stood on top of a mound of dead clones. A group of living ones looked at him as he beat his chest, someone intimidated. "No clones are gonna hurt me or my family while the Kixx-man is on the job. Now get lost!" The clones trembled and ran away, immediately getting killed by crossfire between Splodyhead and a Felix clone. Kixx chuckled.

"Hey Kixx!"

Kixx looked up and saw Stitch overhead in his cruiser. "Yo cousin, I was wondering when you would show up! You gonna come down and help us out?"

Stitch shook his head. "Can't, I have to close that gate up there. But don't worry, I'll help out when I'm done." He tossed the communicator to Kixx. "Here, turn this on, Jumba needs to talk to you."

Kixx looked at the communicator in confusion as Stitch took off, then shrugged and turned it on. Jumba appeared in it. "601?"

"Yeah, whadaya want?"

"I am needing you to defeat 586."

Kixx looked at the doctor like he was nuts. (Which, technically, he was.) "What are you, crazy? Even I know when not to pick a fight. That guy's huge!"

"I know, but with my help you can be bringing him down. Round up the following experiments and chase after 586…"

…

Stitch swerved around the steady rain of clones falling from the warp gate, blasting several of them to make things easier for his cousins below. As he approached the warp gate, he strapped the plasma bomb into the seat next to him and prepared to arm it. He intended to eject the seat the bomb was in straight into the gate, so it would have enough momentum to get through the vortex and destroy the generator. But before he could, a ball of fire struck his ship unexpectedly. Stitch looked up and just missed another fireball aimed for his head. Flying towards his ship was what appeared to be some nightmarish phoenix made of metal, with four wings, three eyes, and a big H on its chest. "626! You're not going anywhere!" the phoenix crowed.

Stitch recognized the voice instantly. "Hunkahunka?"

The bird shook its head. "That was never my name, and I am no longer 323! Now…I am Mettalix!"

"What happened to you?" asked Stitch, horrified.

"Hamsterviel wasn't very happy with me when your cousins came to rescue you. He used a new invention called the Soul Vacuum to transfer my consciousness into this gruesome form so that I could better carry out his plans." He pointed a claw furiously at Stitch. "This is all your fault! If you had just been a good little playboy and kept screwing that bitch 411, I'd still have my old body and your cousins wouldn't be fighting a losing battle down there!"

"How is that my fault? Now you're blaming me for your own inability to do things properly!"

"You're one to talk! I wouldn't have had to do any of this if you hadn't abandoned me in the first place! I went through hell because of you, and now everyone down there will too…and it'll all be your fault!"

"My fault?! Last time I checked, you're the one who opened the gate and brought all these guys here!" protested Stitch.

"I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't-"

Stitch growled impatiently. "Shut up!"

Mettalix looked surprised. "Huh?"

"We could play the blame game until the fluff-trogs come home and it won't change a thing! You'll still hate me, and I'll still have the guilt of abandoning you over my head!" Stitch's expression softened somewhat. "Look, I'm sorry for ruining your life. I did the wrong thing by abandoning you, and it's too late to change that. But if you think you can guilt trip me into letting you get away with destroying my family, you're dead wrong. Too many people have already been hurt today because I let you get captured. I'm not going to let anymore of my friends get killed because of my mistake. So if you won't move and let me get to that warp gate so I can try to stop this madness, I'll have to make you move…even if it means killing you."

"Death would be a blessing compared to being trapped in this machine," said Mettalix. "But I won't go down without a fight! If I'm going to die, I want it to be with your blood on my talons!" He screeched and swooped down to attack.

…

Down on the ground, Yin and Yang were fighting off a bunch of clones back to back. Yang covered them with lava, and Yin used bursts of water to harden the magma just in case it didn't kill the clones. Yin spotted a Nosey clone about to toss its shield at Yang and knocked it off its feet with a water blast, causing it to impale itself on its shield. He aimed at an unwary Felix and fired. Nothing happened. "Yang, I'm out of water!" he said, worried.

Yang scooted up closer to his boyfriend. "Stick with me, I won't let anything happen to you!" Yang didn't have to worry about running out of power like Yin, because he drew his strength from the earth he stood on. He fired a bunch of lava rocks at a charging Tank clone and didn't see the Felix clone Yin had missed fire its laser, piercing the water experiment's head. Yang's molten blood went cold when he heard the thud of Yin falling to the ground. "Yin?" He turned around and saw his friend's body. "YIN!"

Sensing victory, the clones started pushing closer to him. Yang glared at them hatefully and held Yin to his chest, hot tears running down his face. He started to increase his body temperature, causing the ground beneath him to melt and be absorbed into special glands in his body. He continued getting hotter and hotter until the air around him sizzled and his body started to glow. The clones were unsure what to do. A few fired plasma shots, but even when Yang got hit by one of the Nosey's bazookas he remained standing, holding Yin to his chest as he continued to get hotter. His body was screaming at him to stop, telling him his lava glands were filled to capacity and couldn't take anymore. Yang didn't care. He had just lost his reason for existing. He and Yin had been essentially two halves of a single whole, existing only for each other. With Yin dead, what reason did Yang have to live? What was a Yang without its Yin? And so he continued heating up, even as he caught on fire and his eyes went blind, absorbing more and more molten rock. At least, he reached his limit. With a scream, Yang exploded.

The blast was no less spectacular than that of a small-scale volcanic eruption, hurling lava and fire across the battlefield. All the clones closest to Yang were vaporized, and any further out were destroyed by the ensuing magma. Many clones and even a few experiments were killed by the blast, carving out a huge crater in the battlefield. But that crater was soon filled as more clones dropped from the skies, replacing the ones that had fallen.

…

Kixx had followed Jumba's instructions and rounded up Sparky, Melty, Richter, Finder and Digger for the assault on Tank. Finder had led them down a series of shortcuts that allowed them to get in front of Tank and set up an ambush in a mountain pass that opened right onto Kokaua. If they failed to stop Tank here, he would completely destroy their home. Melty trained his melting breath on the floor of the pass for several minutes, reducing it to a huge swampy mass. After finishing this task, he moaned and collapsed. "Melty! Are you all right?" asked Finder in concern.

Melty struggled to get up. "Yeah…it's nothing, I just overexerted myself a little. Too much focused melting in too little an amount of time. I'll be okay."

They could hear and feel the titanic footfalls of the approaching Tank. Kixx turned on the communicator. "Doc, he's almost here."

"Have you finished your preparations?"

"You bet!"

"Good. Get everyone off the pass floor immediately."

Kixx turned off the communicator. "Okay boys, its ShowTime! Everybody up the hill!" They all quickly climbed to the top of the pass, where Richter was waiting. The earth shook as Tank came into view, entering the pass. He was so big his sides scraped against the sides of the pass, barely fitting. The mutated experiment's face registered surprise as he found no purchase on the ground beneath his feet and began sinking into it like quicksand. He struggled, which only caused him to sink deeper, rendering him immobile.

"Now?" asked Richter.

"Now!"

Richter slammed his tail into the ground, triggering an earthquake. The slope of the pass trembled, dislodging rocks and triggering an avalanche. The rocks fell down the slope of the pass, striking Tank and half-burying him. He was too big to be completely covered by the rocks, but they were piled in so thick that even if he could pull his legs from the swampy floor he would have a lot of difficulty getting out. Furious, he fired his cannons, but those caused even more rocks to fall, burying him up to his nose. Tank sagged, finally giving up.

Kixx gave Richter a thumb's up. "Great job, buddy! Now Finder, sniff out the weakest part of Tank's armor." Finder nodded and bounded down the slope, followed by the others. Melty, tired out by his earlier performance, chose to remain where it was safe so he could recuperate.

…

Stitch immediately pushed his cruiser into a dive. Mettalix's claws just missed him, scratching the hood and breaking the windshield. Stitch pulled the cruiser back up in a loop and fired at the phoenix. The metal bird weaved around the shots and spat a few fireballs at the cruiser. Stitch was about to return fire when a group of Felix clones abruptly fell onto his ship from the vortex above. Surprised, he could do nothing to stop the fireballs from hitting the cruiser, knocking several Felixes off the hood. Stitch flipped the cruiser upside down to throw out the clones and fired back at Mettalix. Before the shots could connect, a Nosey clone fell from the sky and got hit by the plasma bullets, killing it. Mettalix laughed…until a Tank clone fell down on him, pushing him to the ground and smashing him onto the shell of another Tank clone. Somewhat damaged, Mettalix pushed the clone off him and took back to the air again, meeting Stitch, who was trying to get rid of a group of Amnesio clones that had taken a liking to his cruiser's red paint job. "Look, this really isn't the best place to fight. Why don't we take this outside?" the bird suggested.

"Fine with me." Stitch did a barrel roll to get rid of the bugs and followed Mettalix.

The two flew away from the battlefield, Mettalix sparking somewhat from the damage inflicted by being crushed between a pair of Tanks. Once they were clear of any flying clones, the battle resumed. Mettalix spat fireballs at Stitch, who destroyed them with his plasma shots. Stitch fired a pair of plasma torpedoes at Mettalix. The phoenix folded his wings around him to shield himself from the blasts. That would have worked if he had still been at full power, but being smashed by the Tank clone had seriously damaged two of his wings, leaving him with only half a shield. The torpedoes exploded, tearing off Mettalix's third and fourth wing, destroying his talons and ripping a huge scar across his chest. The phoenix roared in pain.

Stitch actually winced. He wasn't enjoying this fight as much as he had thought he would. "Mettalix, we don't have to do this. You can still join our family! We don't have to kill each other!" Stitch said, a little worried about the bird's condition. He realized quite abruptly that even if Mettalix had done so many horrible things, he was still family. And didn't family deserve a second chance?

Mettalix was surprised. "You…would have me? Even after all the deaths I've caused, all the anguish and suffering?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because like it or not, you're still my cousin. I'll kill you if I have to, but I don't want to! I want to make up for what I put you through! We can put all this pain behind us and start over! Would that be such a bad thing?"

Mettalix almost seemed tempted for a second. "I…" He shook his head. "NO! You can never make up for what you put me through! This battle continues!"

"To the death then," said Stitch, a little sadly.

"To the death!" Mettalix agreed.

…

Spooky looked around him in dismay. His family was fighting and dying to repel the invaders, but they were making no progress. There had to be some way to stop this. He suddenly got an idea and transformed into Dr. Hamsterviel. "All unitssssss, ssssstand down!" he yelled. "All unitssss sssssstand down! Ssssstop it with the fighting and the killing of my precioussssss exxxxxxperimentsssss!"

All of the clones in range looked at him in surprise, then pointed their guns at him. "Wh-what are you doing, you mindlesssss tube-grown mutantsssss? I am Dr. Hamsssssterviel! Obey me!" The clones all fired at once.

In the instant before the plasma and laser bolts hit him, Spooky suddenly realized that the real Dr. Hamsterviel didn't have green eyes or a hiss.

He wouldn't live to regret his mistake.

…

Finder stopped and pointed to a spot on Tanks's armor between a pair of large cannons. "Here! Right here!"

"Good job, Finder! Richter, Digger, do your stuff!"

Richter slapped the spot Finder had indicated with his tail, shaking the titan. After a few slaps, a small crack appeared. Digger walked up to the crack and inserted his drill tail into it, spinning it to enlarge the crack somewhat. He moved back to allow Richter a few more slaps, then came back to widen the crack again. At this rate, they would have a small hole in no time!

Sparky suddenly saw a few hatches open up on the surface of the armor. Dozens of spider-like robots crawled out and came towards them. "Hey Kixx, we got incoming!"

Kixx saw them and growled. "Repair drones! Sparky, help me take these goons out, we can't let em' interfere with Digger and Richter's work!" The two experiments charged into battle, leaving Finder behind to watch over his cousins.

…

The fight didn't last much longer. With his defenses already severely weakened, Mettalix was knocked out of the sky less than a minute later by a few more torpedoes and plasma shots. Stitch landed the cruiser and found the robot bird was still alive, but not for much longer. "Are you okay?"

Mettalix laughed bitterly. "Do I look okay?" He snorted. "I'm dying, 626. I hope you're happy."

Stitch sighed. "I'm not."

Mettalix looked surprised. "Really? Why? Don't you hate me for everything I put you through today? For making you cheat on your girlfriend, for causing lots of deaths, for nearly tearing your family apart?"

"Yes," Stitch admitted. "I do hate you. But that doesn't mean I want you to die. Even though you might deserve to die for everything you've done, killing you would make me a hypocrite, because what I did to you was just as bad. And besides…even if I hate you, you're still family. I could never willingly kill family. The only reason I did kill you was for self-defense…and because I need to stop Hamsterviel before the rest of my family dies."

"Huh," said Mettalix. "Then did you mean what you said up there? About joining your family?"

"Yes. We all deserve a second chance, sometimes. I got one, and look at how I turned out! You've had it much worse than I did on my first chance, a second chance might have made you even better," said Stitch. "Who knows? In time, you might even have grown to love again!"

"…I would have liked that," Mettalix admitted. "Perhaps I shouldn't have been so quick to spurn your offer."

"Too late now."

"Yeah." The bird sighed. "626…before I go…tell me something. Why did you abandon me?"

"I was scared of falling in love. I didn't want to lose control of my heart to anyone."

"Really?" Mettalix was surprised again. "Huh. Fancy that."

"I don't suppose…you could ever forgive me…"

Mettalix shook his head. "No. I can never forgive you. But…" He paused. "I do understand. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Stitch felt some of the burden of guilt finally lift from his shoulders.

"Goodbye…Stitch."

"Goodbye Mettalix."

"No," said the bird suddenly. "Call me Hunkahunka." And then he died.

…

Chocola flew over the battlefield, dodging plasma shots and looking for targets. She suddenly spotted a group of Tanks that had just dropped in and hadn't spotted any experiment to attack yet. She darted through the group, pecking them all. The clones went berserk, attacking each other and their fellow clones. The hate experiment chuckled and turned to fly away when she saw a purple hummingbird. She gasped. "323?" The hummingbird turned to look at her. A very evil look came into its eyes. Without warning, it charged towards her, nearly stabbing her with his beak! "323, what are you doing?!"

That's when she saw another hummingbird. And another. And another. And she realized this wasn't 323 at all, they were all clones! Frightened, she flew away at top speed, with a whole swarm of evil clones behind her. She darted over, under, and through the fighting groups of experiments and clones, dodging plasma and laser blasts. She flew in front of a Tank clone, startling it. She pecked it then flew over its body, leading the Hunkahunka clones into its line of sight. Roaring, the clone immediately opened fire, causing them to scatter.

Chocola giggled, but was cut off when a brown tentacle grabbed her and started pulling her downward. She looked down and saw that a clone of the infamous chocolate experiment 119 had captured her. She frantically clawed and pecked at the tentacle, but it was no use, she couldn't escape. As she was pulled into the great chocolaty mass, her last thought was, How ironic, I'm getting eaten by the same thing I'm named after!

…

Digger drilled into the crack once again. To his surprise, it crumbled and became a small hole! "Guys, we did it! We got a hole!"

"Great!" said Kixx, looking up from all the repair drones he was dismantling. "Sparky, you're up!"

"Here I go!" Sparky turned into electricity and jumped into the hole.

"Everyone, retreat!" Kixx led the team off of Tank's shell and back up the slope. Only seconds later, the metal armor cracked and shattered in a tremendous electrical explosion, courtesy of Sparky. Tank roared in pain. "Yeah, we did it!" Kixx cheered. As the others celebrated, Kixx called Jumba. "Doc, we did it! Tank's been disarmed, he's not gonna hurt anyone anytime soon!"

Jumba chuckled. "Excellent work, 601!"

Sparky appeared at the top of the hill in an oddly weak bolt of lightning. As the others came over to congratulate him, he moaned, looking pale. "Ugh…I don't feel so good…" He collapsed.

"Doc, something's wrong with Sparky!" Kixx said, worried.

Jumba's expression was grave. "I was being afraid of this. Destroying 586's armor has overstimulated 221's electric glands. He used too much electricity, and is suffering for it. Not to be worrying though, I can be fixing him when we get there."

Kixx sighed in relief. "Thank goodness." That's when he heard a loud pounding noise coming from Tank. He looked down and saw the experiment seemed to be in pain. The sound increased in volume and frequency. "What's going on?"

Jumba's expression grew graver. "I was being afraid of this as well. That sound is being 586's heartbeat. By causing 586 to grow beyond my safety parameters, Hamsterviel has forced 586's heart to work overtime to produce enough blood to spread throughout his body. Too much of this can be causing the heart to burst. The armor was serving as a life-support system, but without it the fatal heart reaction is beginning."

"But you can fix it, right?" Kixx asked.

"Of course I can! All I am needing to do is shrink him down to his original size, and 586 will be back to normal. Is as simple as that!"

"That's good," said Kixx, relieved again. "But you'd better get here quick, I don't know how long Tank can hold on."

"I will be there as soon as possible." The communicator switched off.

Kixx looked at the comatose Sparky, then the trembling Tank. "Better hurry Doc," he said. "I don't know if either of them can hold on much longer."

…

Hamsterviel pounded his control panel furiously. Unbelievable! According to his sensors, his enemies had somehow managed to defeat both 323 and 586, two of his most powerful minions! He growled and turned on a microphone as he looked at the long line of clones patiently waiting in line to jump into the warp gate below him. "All clones, move into the gateway! No more waiting around, get moving!" Heeding his orders, the clones started marching swiftly into the portal, increasing the influx of troops. The doctor grinned and took a sip from a nearby water bottle, certain that his combined army would be able to finally crush the experiments.

That's when a red and white police cruiser burst out of the warp gate, sending clones flying. Hamsterviel spat out his mouthful of water. "What?! Who dares to use my warp gate!" The cruiser flew over to him, blasting the surprised clones before they could recover, and stopped only inches away from Hamsterviel's control tower. The Rodentian's face turned red with anger when he saw who was in the cockpit. "626!"

Stitch grinned and lobbed a small black orb into Hamsterviel's tower. "Meega nala quista, Hamsterviel!" He turned his ship around and flew back for the portal.

"GET HIM!" Hamsterviel screamed. "SHOOT HIM DOWN!" The clones fired their weapons at Stitch, but he was too fast, and made it back through the warp gate before they could catch him. Blood boiling, Hamsterviel turned around to see just what 626 had left him. He froze when he saw the numbers counting down on the sphere's digital readout.

"Oh blitz-"

The bomb exploded.

…

Jumba's big red ship landed on top of the pass. Kixx's hope soared as the boarding ramp lowered. Jumba walked out, looking oddly solemn. Pleakley stood at the top of the ramp, looking equally miserable. "Where is 221?" asked Jumba.

"Right here." Kixx led Jumba over to Sparky.

The scientist checked his heart rate. "He is still being alive. Good." He picked Sparky up and headed back for the ship.

"Hey wait, what about Tank?" asked Digger.

There was a long pause. "586 cannot be saved."

They looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?" asked Richter.

"Yeah, you said you were gonna shrink him!" said Melty.

Jumba's shoulders sagged. "That…was originally being my intent." He sighed. "When we were reaching hospital, Little Girl and 624 wanted to stay with Big Girl. I let them go, then headed back here. Since Little Girl was not being there, I had to rely on Pleakley to help me. After you were calling me with the news of 586's defeat, I asked him to get me my shrink/growth ray. He tripped after he had picked it up, dropping the ray and totally destroying it." He shook his head. "After yelling at him, I told him to pilot the ship while I was getting ingredients for shrinking solution. But while I was mixing the ingredients, Pleakley let go of the controls to swat a fly that had somehow gotten onto the ship. The sudden drop caused me to spill too much of a volatile ingredient into the mix, making an explosion that totally destroyed my chemical set and any hope of saving 586's life."

"That can't be it! There's got to be some way!" protested Kixx. "Finder, find a way to save Tank!"

Finder sniffed the air for a few moments, then stopped. "I-I can't!"

"What do you mean you can't?!"

"I don't understand…I-I can't pick up anything to save Tank!"

"That is because there is not being anything to save 586." As Jumba said this, Tank's heartbeats, which had been steadily increasing all this time, stopped abruptly. Tank shuddered and closed his eyes. He didn't move. "You see? He is being dead." As the experiments looked at the fallen titan in disbelief, Jumba walked back to the ship, still cradling Sparky.

As he reached the top of the boarding ramp, Pleakley grabbed his arm. "Jumba…"

Jumba pulled himself away. "Pleakley, thanks to your clumsiness and my misplaced trust, one of my experiments…my children…has died tonight. I can never be forgiving you, or myself, for this." He entered the ship, tears streaming from his four eyes.

…

Stitch sat on the hood of his cruiser, crying. With the warp gate sealed, the experiments had won the battle, but at a horrendous cost. The total number of experiment bodies hadn't been counted yet, but there were nearly a hundred dead, even more injured. In one night, a large portion of his o'hana had been destroyed, thanks in part to a stupid mistake Stitch had made months ago because he had been afraid.

He looked at all the corpses on the field below. "So many dead," he whispered. "So many. Too many." He looked at the horizon. The sun was starting to rise. "Never again," he vowed. "Never again will I let my family get hurt because of me. I won't let any of them die because I made a mistake." He shook his head and stared right into the rising sun. "Never again."

…

And on that sad note, this story is over. But there is still one more chapter…one last tantalizing piece to hold you until the sequel. (IF I write one. I'm still slightly uncertain.) I'll see you next time.