After five minutes of crying, the little blue alien sat up. What was to
worry about? Jumba would bring Lilo back, he'd find some way to make Nani
forgive him, and in a few days the twins would go back to New York. Stitch
sat up on the porch steps, feeling better.
625 sat down beside him. "Sorry about the tyke, cuz," he said in a sympathetic tone. "It was out of line, even for Halibut Head."
Stitch shrugged. "Gantu pacha sobie!"
"Getting Gantu back is all within your sharp little claws," joked the yellow companion. "If you use that gold-making experiment." 625 shuddered at the mischievous gleam in his cousin's eyes. "You're not really going to turn Gantu into gold, are you?"
"Sa jasa morda," replied Stitch, extending a claw and pointing to 625's throat, although not close enough to cut.
625 inched away. "Remind me never to tick you off. The difference between you and me is that you get mad. I don't. All that stress is going to shorten your life. Everytime Gantu takes an experiment, you're ready to beat the blitznak out of him."
"Cousins ohana!"
"But you got the two experiments and the girl will be fine. Just call it even and leave Daddykins – er, the big dummy – alone. At least, until the next one's activated."
Stitch conceded the point. "Why now?"
"What?" 625 asked.
"Gantu-o-itume?"
"Because Renie appreciates me a lot more than G did."
"Okee takka." His yellow cousin was a total mystery to Stitch. How could he stand living with the Big Dummy so long, especially if Fish-Face hated the experiments? Why was he so content to make sandwiches and sit on the sidelines? More often than not, he had regarded his predecessor as an adversary, but he had no real reason to hate 625. What difference did one number make? There were actually a few times when he seemed an ally, or at least sympathetic. Why were they so close, and yet so distant?
Just then, a twig snapped underfoot. Villefort and Maharene arrived, arms full of shopping bags.
Nani opened the door for them. "What do you want on your pizza?"
Maharene wrinkled her nose. "Pizza! How vulgar! It's so fattening and don't get me started on the cholesterol!" "Nonsense, my dears," Villefort interrupted, pulling items out of his shopping bags. "I'll make dinner for all of us."
"You don't have to," Nani protested.
"But I want to," he replied, tying a white apron over his expensive suit. "And I assure you, my cooking skills have vastly improved."
"Though the fire department loved your toast," teased his sister.
Maharene's gaze fell on the gold Lilo. "What happened?" She asked even though she already knew.
Nani sighed. "I could lie, and tell you it's just a statue, but you would see right through me. That's Lilo."
"I guess your lucky star decided to shine."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Lilo is her weight in solid gold." Maharene patted the statue. "And I know some gold dealers that would pay a lot of money for something this size."
Nani felt her stomach twist. "You're kidding, right? Because it's not funny."
"I'm serious, Nani. You're free. You don't have to provide for her anymore. Once you sell her, she's gone forever. You're absolved from the responsibility. Granted, I'd miss her, but isn't she worth more to you like this than alive?"
"What?!"
"Sell her, and take the money. It'll set you for life! You could marry that surfer dude boyfriend of yours and go to Paris!"
"Maharene!" Nani's dark eyes flashed. "I can't believe what I'm hearing! Are you lolo? Lilo and I don't always get along, but we're ohana. Have you forgotten what ohana is? Oh, what has happened to you, Renie? You used to be so loving, and compassionate. And now you're so cold! So emotionless! You're changing, and I don't like it!"
There was another knock on the door. Jumba looked up from his laptop, grumbled, and went to the door.
On the doorstep was a tall, African American man dressed in a black suit. Dark sunglasses shielded his eyes. "Good evening, Dr. Jumba. Is Nani in?" The voice was in a clipped, business-like tone.
"Who's he?" asked Maharene.
Nani looked sheepish. "Uh, Renie, this is Cobra Bubbles."
Maharene looked up at him, nearly getting a crick in her neck. "What kind of a name is Mr. Bubbles?"
He looked coolly at her through his sunglasses. "Social Services, Special Classification. I check up on Lilo and Nani once in a while." He glanced at the golden 'statue.' Midas, who had been let out of the capsule by Jumba for some exercise, toddled by on all fours. The floorboards he touched were turning to gold.
Villefort poked in. "Dinner is almost ready!"
Mr. Bubbles turned to him. "Are you a chef?"
"No, I'm a businessman."
"What kind of business?"
"None of your business!" Villefort snapped, retreating back to the kitchen.
"Keep an eye on those two," Mr. Bubbles whispered to Nani before slamming the door behind him.
Maharene waited until he was gone, then scooped 625 from the porch and re- entered the house. "You're not dressed for dinner yet!" She held out a small white shirt, little red bow tie, and black jacket.
625 preferred to forget the last time he wore a suit, but took the clothes anyway.
Villefort rang a silver bell. "Dinner is ready!"
Everyone sat around the table.
Stitch was outside the window, looking in. Villefort had prepared spaghetti. Pleakley struggled to roll the spaghetti on to his fork. Either he'd get too much, or it would fall off. Jumba had simply dug in with bare hands, slurping the strands as needed. The blue alien banged on the window "I can help you, I can help you," he mouthed in his native language. It was no use. Nobody heard him – save 625, who gave him a square-toothed smile and rubbed his stomach, as if to indicate Stitch was missing a real treat. The blue creature growled and raised his paws to break the window, but brought them down on the sill instead. The claws made deep, linear gouges. If there was a pillow nearby, he would have screamed into it.
Inside, Pleakley lost his grip on the fork. The silver utensil flew through the air and landed in Maharene's lap.
She looked silly. A strand of spaghetti dangled from her hair, and her dress was dotted in red sauce. A look of pure rage crossed her face, but she had to settle for shaking her fist at Pleakley. Maharene got up and walked into the living room, sinking into the plush chair – which was shiny and metal thanks to Midas, who was curled on the floor sleeping.
Villefort, too, pushed his plate aside and headed for the bathroom.
Nani nudged Jumba. "Did you find the recipe to get Lilo back?"
"Computer battery recharging as we are speaking. I could get 221, but he'd probably be blowing it up. Should be done by now."
625 climbed to the stove and scooped the remaining spaghetti on to a plate, then went outside. "Here, cos."
"Takka."
"Aw, what can I say? A good doggie always gets the table scraps, even if he's in the doghouse."
Stitch growled and threw the plate with such force that 625 was knocked over.
When 625 lifted the porcelain plate, his suit and fur were smeared with tomato sauce. "That's not funny!" After a pause, he added, "Do you have any idea how ironic this is? You actually envy me now!"
"Akata!" Stitch's antennae, spines, and extra pair of arms popped out, the way they always did when he was angry. He leaped on his slightly older cousin. They were rolling on the ground, kicking and biting.
625 was usually lazy, but he had self-preservation – and no Gantu to alert. He fought, but the 'upgraded model' was far superior.
Stitch rolled the yellow experiment into a ball and tossed him into a basketball hoop. Suddenly, he felt himself being kicked aside.
"Run away, honeydrop!" Maharene yelled. "That thing is a lunatic!"
625 sniffled. "I was just trying to reason with him, but he just attacked me!"
"Ajibba!" cried Stitch.
Maharene picked up the mud-covered 625 and cooed to him "Oh, did he hurt my little butterboo?"
Amazed at his acting skills, 625 looked over his patroness' shoulder and winked at Stitch.
"Ika patooka!" Stitch spat out, before sticking out his tongue. "Bleah!"
Inside, Nani was watching Jumba drop iron filings into a small flask.
Jumba read from the computer file as he added a few drops of water into the beaker. "Iron, dihydrogen monoxide, and one more ingredient. Poof. Little girl is back to normal-like self."
"What's the last ingredient?" asked Pleakley.
"H-C-2-H-3-O-2," was the scientist's reply.
"English, please!" snapped the cyclopic alien.
"On Earth, is called acetic acid. Can be found in glaciers."
"Does this look like Antarctica?" Nani snapped bitterly.
"Fine. I will be trying to make acetic acid in chem lab on my ship." Jumba left his bedroom, not noticing Villefort next to the door.
"Wow!" 625 commented. Maharene had rinsed the mud off him and dried him with a fluffy towel. Now he was looking at a small mahogany bed. There was even a pillow and a set of green and white silk sheets. "The cute little bed, the clothes, the dinner, and the marzipan. Why all this for me?"
"Because you're so cute and snuggly-wuggly!" answered Maharene in a honeyed voice. She crawled into her sleeping bag on the floor and was snoring.
Villefort plumped up his pillow and lay on the couch.
"Hey, Ville," whispered 625. "What kind of sandwich does she like?"
"Maharene? Eat sandwiches? Don't be ridiculous." Villefort looked irritated. "Don't you ever shut up? Leave me alone!"
"Well, excuse moi!" 625 crawled under his silk sheets and went to sleep briefly. When he woke up, it was still pitch black outside. He tossed and turned, but couldn't go back to sleep. "I'll just make some sandwiches." He tiptoed to the kitchen and summarily prepared a short stack of lettuce and cucumber sandwiches, then took them back to his bed. After he shoved the last one into his mouth, he heard stirring.
Maharene yawned and got up. She shook her brother awake. "Villefort!"
"Mommy, Aunt Makana?" he muttered, as if he was in a dream.
"Villefort! We have to talk! But not here!"
Villefort yawned and followed his sister outside. Quietly, 625 followed them, to listen in.
The twins slipped out the back door, quietly. Once they were a few yards from the house, Maharene began the conversation. "Fess up, Ville. I won."
"It's not over until the little monster destroys this island!"
"You saw what happened when I kicked him. He just got depressed."
"He got mad. And if you hadn't interfered, he might have regressed by now."
"When his precious best friend was frozen into solid gold, all he did was cry."
"I guess you're right," Villefort conceded. "And perhaps we have tormented him enough. But what of the yellow rat? You've spent more on him today than you spend on me in a month."
"He has outlived his usefulness."
"Any usefulness he had," snarled the male twin. "On our flight back, I'll throw him out the window when we're over open ocean."
"That seems cruel."
"He'll eat us out of house and home! You've forgotten that he's only here for the bet!"
"You have a point. He is really of no use to me anymore. I could cheer myself up by buying some new stocks or jewels."
"So, back to 626. What do you say we wait and watch? If the abomination doesn't break something, I'll own up."
"And since they don't realize that acetic acid is right under their sink, our little cousin won't be around anytime soon!"
625 listened. An awful feeling rose in the pit of his stomach. He ran back to the house and crawled under the covers. "They used me!" He whispered in horrified realization.
To Be Continued
625 sat down beside him. "Sorry about the tyke, cuz," he said in a sympathetic tone. "It was out of line, even for Halibut Head."
Stitch shrugged. "Gantu pacha sobie!"
"Getting Gantu back is all within your sharp little claws," joked the yellow companion. "If you use that gold-making experiment." 625 shuddered at the mischievous gleam in his cousin's eyes. "You're not really going to turn Gantu into gold, are you?"
"Sa jasa morda," replied Stitch, extending a claw and pointing to 625's throat, although not close enough to cut.
625 inched away. "Remind me never to tick you off. The difference between you and me is that you get mad. I don't. All that stress is going to shorten your life. Everytime Gantu takes an experiment, you're ready to beat the blitznak out of him."
"Cousins ohana!"
"But you got the two experiments and the girl will be fine. Just call it even and leave Daddykins – er, the big dummy – alone. At least, until the next one's activated."
Stitch conceded the point. "Why now?"
"What?" 625 asked.
"Gantu-o-itume?"
"Because Renie appreciates me a lot more than G did."
"Okee takka." His yellow cousin was a total mystery to Stitch. How could he stand living with the Big Dummy so long, especially if Fish-Face hated the experiments? Why was he so content to make sandwiches and sit on the sidelines? More often than not, he had regarded his predecessor as an adversary, but he had no real reason to hate 625. What difference did one number make? There were actually a few times when he seemed an ally, or at least sympathetic. Why were they so close, and yet so distant?
Just then, a twig snapped underfoot. Villefort and Maharene arrived, arms full of shopping bags.
Nani opened the door for them. "What do you want on your pizza?"
Maharene wrinkled her nose. "Pizza! How vulgar! It's so fattening and don't get me started on the cholesterol!" "Nonsense, my dears," Villefort interrupted, pulling items out of his shopping bags. "I'll make dinner for all of us."
"You don't have to," Nani protested.
"But I want to," he replied, tying a white apron over his expensive suit. "And I assure you, my cooking skills have vastly improved."
"Though the fire department loved your toast," teased his sister.
Maharene's gaze fell on the gold Lilo. "What happened?" She asked even though she already knew.
Nani sighed. "I could lie, and tell you it's just a statue, but you would see right through me. That's Lilo."
"I guess your lucky star decided to shine."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Lilo is her weight in solid gold." Maharene patted the statue. "And I know some gold dealers that would pay a lot of money for something this size."
Nani felt her stomach twist. "You're kidding, right? Because it's not funny."
"I'm serious, Nani. You're free. You don't have to provide for her anymore. Once you sell her, she's gone forever. You're absolved from the responsibility. Granted, I'd miss her, but isn't she worth more to you like this than alive?"
"What?!"
"Sell her, and take the money. It'll set you for life! You could marry that surfer dude boyfriend of yours and go to Paris!"
"Maharene!" Nani's dark eyes flashed. "I can't believe what I'm hearing! Are you lolo? Lilo and I don't always get along, but we're ohana. Have you forgotten what ohana is? Oh, what has happened to you, Renie? You used to be so loving, and compassionate. And now you're so cold! So emotionless! You're changing, and I don't like it!"
There was another knock on the door. Jumba looked up from his laptop, grumbled, and went to the door.
On the doorstep was a tall, African American man dressed in a black suit. Dark sunglasses shielded his eyes. "Good evening, Dr. Jumba. Is Nani in?" The voice was in a clipped, business-like tone.
"Who's he?" asked Maharene.
Nani looked sheepish. "Uh, Renie, this is Cobra Bubbles."
Maharene looked up at him, nearly getting a crick in her neck. "What kind of a name is Mr. Bubbles?"
He looked coolly at her through his sunglasses. "Social Services, Special Classification. I check up on Lilo and Nani once in a while." He glanced at the golden 'statue.' Midas, who had been let out of the capsule by Jumba for some exercise, toddled by on all fours. The floorboards he touched were turning to gold.
Villefort poked in. "Dinner is almost ready!"
Mr. Bubbles turned to him. "Are you a chef?"
"No, I'm a businessman."
"What kind of business?"
"None of your business!" Villefort snapped, retreating back to the kitchen.
"Keep an eye on those two," Mr. Bubbles whispered to Nani before slamming the door behind him.
Maharene waited until he was gone, then scooped 625 from the porch and re- entered the house. "You're not dressed for dinner yet!" She held out a small white shirt, little red bow tie, and black jacket.
625 preferred to forget the last time he wore a suit, but took the clothes anyway.
Villefort rang a silver bell. "Dinner is ready!"
Everyone sat around the table.
Stitch was outside the window, looking in. Villefort had prepared spaghetti. Pleakley struggled to roll the spaghetti on to his fork. Either he'd get too much, or it would fall off. Jumba had simply dug in with bare hands, slurping the strands as needed. The blue alien banged on the window "I can help you, I can help you," he mouthed in his native language. It was no use. Nobody heard him – save 625, who gave him a square-toothed smile and rubbed his stomach, as if to indicate Stitch was missing a real treat. The blue creature growled and raised his paws to break the window, but brought them down on the sill instead. The claws made deep, linear gouges. If there was a pillow nearby, he would have screamed into it.
Inside, Pleakley lost his grip on the fork. The silver utensil flew through the air and landed in Maharene's lap.
She looked silly. A strand of spaghetti dangled from her hair, and her dress was dotted in red sauce. A look of pure rage crossed her face, but she had to settle for shaking her fist at Pleakley. Maharene got up and walked into the living room, sinking into the plush chair – which was shiny and metal thanks to Midas, who was curled on the floor sleeping.
Villefort, too, pushed his plate aside and headed for the bathroom.
Nani nudged Jumba. "Did you find the recipe to get Lilo back?"
"Computer battery recharging as we are speaking. I could get 221, but he'd probably be blowing it up. Should be done by now."
625 climbed to the stove and scooped the remaining spaghetti on to a plate, then went outside. "Here, cos."
"Takka."
"Aw, what can I say? A good doggie always gets the table scraps, even if he's in the doghouse."
Stitch growled and threw the plate with such force that 625 was knocked over.
When 625 lifted the porcelain plate, his suit and fur were smeared with tomato sauce. "That's not funny!" After a pause, he added, "Do you have any idea how ironic this is? You actually envy me now!"
"Akata!" Stitch's antennae, spines, and extra pair of arms popped out, the way they always did when he was angry. He leaped on his slightly older cousin. They were rolling on the ground, kicking and biting.
625 was usually lazy, but he had self-preservation – and no Gantu to alert. He fought, but the 'upgraded model' was far superior.
Stitch rolled the yellow experiment into a ball and tossed him into a basketball hoop. Suddenly, he felt himself being kicked aside.
"Run away, honeydrop!" Maharene yelled. "That thing is a lunatic!"
625 sniffled. "I was just trying to reason with him, but he just attacked me!"
"Ajibba!" cried Stitch.
Maharene picked up the mud-covered 625 and cooed to him "Oh, did he hurt my little butterboo?"
Amazed at his acting skills, 625 looked over his patroness' shoulder and winked at Stitch.
"Ika patooka!" Stitch spat out, before sticking out his tongue. "Bleah!"
Inside, Nani was watching Jumba drop iron filings into a small flask.
Jumba read from the computer file as he added a few drops of water into the beaker. "Iron, dihydrogen monoxide, and one more ingredient. Poof. Little girl is back to normal-like self."
"What's the last ingredient?" asked Pleakley.
"H-C-2-H-3-O-2," was the scientist's reply.
"English, please!" snapped the cyclopic alien.
"On Earth, is called acetic acid. Can be found in glaciers."
"Does this look like Antarctica?" Nani snapped bitterly.
"Fine. I will be trying to make acetic acid in chem lab on my ship." Jumba left his bedroom, not noticing Villefort next to the door.
"Wow!" 625 commented. Maharene had rinsed the mud off him and dried him with a fluffy towel. Now he was looking at a small mahogany bed. There was even a pillow and a set of green and white silk sheets. "The cute little bed, the clothes, the dinner, and the marzipan. Why all this for me?"
"Because you're so cute and snuggly-wuggly!" answered Maharene in a honeyed voice. She crawled into her sleeping bag on the floor and was snoring.
Villefort plumped up his pillow and lay on the couch.
"Hey, Ville," whispered 625. "What kind of sandwich does she like?"
"Maharene? Eat sandwiches? Don't be ridiculous." Villefort looked irritated. "Don't you ever shut up? Leave me alone!"
"Well, excuse moi!" 625 crawled under his silk sheets and went to sleep briefly. When he woke up, it was still pitch black outside. He tossed and turned, but couldn't go back to sleep. "I'll just make some sandwiches." He tiptoed to the kitchen and summarily prepared a short stack of lettuce and cucumber sandwiches, then took them back to his bed. After he shoved the last one into his mouth, he heard stirring.
Maharene yawned and got up. She shook her brother awake. "Villefort!"
"Mommy, Aunt Makana?" he muttered, as if he was in a dream.
"Villefort! We have to talk! But not here!"
Villefort yawned and followed his sister outside. Quietly, 625 followed them, to listen in.
The twins slipped out the back door, quietly. Once they were a few yards from the house, Maharene began the conversation. "Fess up, Ville. I won."
"It's not over until the little monster destroys this island!"
"You saw what happened when I kicked him. He just got depressed."
"He got mad. And if you hadn't interfered, he might have regressed by now."
"When his precious best friend was frozen into solid gold, all he did was cry."
"I guess you're right," Villefort conceded. "And perhaps we have tormented him enough. But what of the yellow rat? You've spent more on him today than you spend on me in a month."
"He has outlived his usefulness."
"Any usefulness he had," snarled the male twin. "On our flight back, I'll throw him out the window when we're over open ocean."
"That seems cruel."
"He'll eat us out of house and home! You've forgotten that he's only here for the bet!"
"You have a point. He is really of no use to me anymore. I could cheer myself up by buying some new stocks or jewels."
"So, back to 626. What do you say we wait and watch? If the abomination doesn't break something, I'll own up."
"And since they don't realize that acetic acid is right under their sink, our little cousin won't be around anytime soon!"
625 listened. An awful feeling rose in the pit of his stomach. He ran back to the house and crawled under the covers. "They used me!" He whispered in horrified realization.
To Be Continued