Disclaimer: I do not own Lilo & Stitch or any of the characters therein.

CHAPTER TWENTY:
LE'KRUUNE'S OBSESSION

Le'Kruune stood naked beneath the steaming cascade of water inside the cleansing station, allowing dark blood to wash from his already healed wound. For a while he watched the water swirl into the drain, the purple tint of his blood fading slowly until it was clear once again. That dagger had been long; no less than eight inches, he'd reckoned, and that nasty little bitch had driven it all the way down to the hilt. He smiled serenely at the thought of Vay, standing over him as she admired her work. She had remarkable prowess, he had to admit: her passionate blood thirst was so like his own, it was uncanny, although the two of them would have killed for very different reasons. The very image of her attacking him… a maniacal gleam in her eye, ample chest heaving with the effort, her hands stained with his blood… drove him mad with lust. In no man had he ever met his match in battle, but in this particular woman, he had met… perfection. She was everything desirable to him, and so much more. Perfect rival, perfect lover, perfect everything. As the last of the blood was washed away, Le'Kruune shivered a little with excitement. The scalding hot water only intensified his yearning, and he stepped out of the shower quickly and dried off, ready to claim his prey.

* * * *

Mother and I had fallen asleep in each other's arms. I was surprised that either of us had managed to doze off, as we held each other close and discussed new strategies of escape long into the night. We both knew that it was only a matter of time before Le'Kruune sent for us again, specifically Mom, but what we didn't know, and were afraid to know, was what he might do to her in retaliation for that attempt on his life. I still couldn't believe he had survived that. Mom, on the other hand, hadn't been all that surprised. In a long-winded procession of very technical jargon, even the simplest of which being hard for me to understand, she explained the rumors about Le'Kruune and an elite circle of Kaizaxx members undergoing a top-secret experimental procedure… one that had succeeded in rendering them all virtually indestructible. Even when she repeated it to me in layman's terms, it was still difficult to comprehend.

All I remember was that it had something to do with reconstructing their molecular maps to allow severe damages by programming the very molecules themselves to disband and regroup at will. This meant that the intrusion of a foreign object, such as a knife, into a specific mass of molecules, such as muscle tissue, would trigger the molecules' reaction to retract away from the object, and to return to their proper place once that object was removed. As for Le'Kruune's substantial amount of blood loss, this was attributed to the theory that certain molecular groups, like the ones that formed some of the veins and arteries, had a slower reaction time when it came to disbanding and regrouping. It could also have been due to the extended length of time he had left the knife in his back. This had been made up for by his body's acquired ability to restock its own blood supply at a super fast rate… another side effect of the experiment. Of the experiment itself, and its procedure, very little is known. Early research in the field of molecular programming had been stolen by the Kaizaxx and then developed further for their own benefit. It was a dangerous procedure, and it was rumored that several men who had undergone it had died due to molecular breakdown. I had heard tell myself of how the Kaizaxx had appeared to be invulnerable… countless stories told by horrified Federation troops of a gruesome attempt to disembowel their enemies, only to watch as their bloody innards slithered back into place and then became resealed in their abdominal cavity by rapidly regrouping muscle and flesh. I had been both fascinated and repulsed by these stories, although I had never truly believed them… until today.

* * * *

It was late morning by the time we were summoned from our cell. We were escorted to Le'Kruune's quarters by a rather large entourage: four Rapturian guards and two Kaizaxx officers flanked us evenly on both sides. They were all giving my mother dirty looks, obviously remembering the night before, but they said nothing as we headed down into the center of the ship. When the door to Le'Kruune's suite came into view, my heart jumped into my throat. Suddenly I was terrified, and I found it very difficult to breathe as we walked slowly down the corridor. We were about twenty yards away when it opened, and there stood Le'Kruune, waiting to greet us with such a pleased expression on his face that I suddenly wanted to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I couldn't do it, though. No matter how scared I was, I just couldn't abandon Mom. Her very life was probably at stake.

When we arrived at his threshold, Le'Kruune bowed us inside with the air of a dignified host. He seemed remarkably self-contained, even happy, at the sight of my mother. Probably because of her tight shirt, I thought. Cheerfully, he invited us to sit down, and we did, both of us taking the sofa once again. I was slightly relieved when he chose to sit in the armchair instead of joining us. I was startled to see a large bouquet of exotic multi-colored flowers sitting on the table, along with a plate of delicious-looking pastries and a bottle of champagne on ice. Le'Kruune was obviously up to something…

Without a word, he proceeded to pour three tall glasses of purple liquid from the champagne bottle. It so closely resembled the blood I had seen pouring out of his wound the night before, that for an alarming second I thought that it WAS blood, until I noted the translucency of it. It couldn't be blood, then… unless he had watered it down to make it go further. I tortured myself with the thought, wondering which poor petty officer he had had to milk for this refreshment. He handed a glass to Mother, and I watched her taste it. She took a decent-sized gulp, and didn't even wince. I breathed a secret sigh of relief that it wasn't somebody's blood and, as I lifted the glass to my own lips, I was delighted by the taste of it.

"I do hope my lady is pleased by the selection," Le'Kruune purred, swirling his own drink. "I managed to get a few bottles of it in stock this morning. As sweet as the lady Vay herself, and twice as lethal."

In the middle of taking a sip I choked, staring at Le'Kruune in disbelief. He laughed heartily at my reaction.

"I was only joking, my dear boy! Go ahead and enjoy it. I assure you, I haven't tainted it. Look, do you honestly think I would poison myself?" He took two large gulps to prove his point. "I don't plan to give up the ghost anytime soon… I have a Federation to conquer! And what better way to celebrate my victory than with a few bottles of bubbly and a beautiful woman at my side!"

"What are you talking about?" Mom demanded. "You aren't even remotely close to taking over Federation space! Their defense department and military technology are light years ahead of yours!"

Le'Kruune grinned wickedly. "But you a forgetting one very important thing," he told her. "The Federation does not have the ways nor means to construct a subatomic matter collapser capable of degenerating an entire solar system with a single application!"

"Neither do you," Mother replied smartly. "Wendy and I made sure of that."

At this, Le'Kruune chuckled. "Oh, please," he said demurely, "don't tell me you're still playing that charade! You can swear up and down, in and out, and under pain of death that you destroyed that input, but I know better than to believe that trogshit for a second. Why the hell would you destroy the ZY drive when the information it contained was valuable evidence? Surely you could have used it at Pleakley's appeal? One quick glimpse of its contents and the Council would have pardoned him in an instant. Otherwise, it's back to prison for sonny boy here, where he's likely to get himself 'initiated' the very first day in the cleansing station." He snickered to himself. "No, you could never allow THAT to happen, now, could you, Vay? Of course not. Why, you were already on your way to Turo to give testimony when I contacted you. And that means… YOU BROUGHT THE EVIDENCE ALONG WITH YOU!!!"

He roared excitedly as he realized this. Suddenly, he gave a mighty leap over our heads and bounded to his desk, where he punched a communications panel and demanded a certain officer's reply. When the reply came, he gave a heated command for him to send a team of mechanics down to the docking bay and begin disassembling Mother's cruiser. He instructed them to keep a sharp lookout for a small, triangular metal object - the ZY - and to leave not a single part unturned in the process. I watched the horror grow on Mother's face and realized for myself that it was true. Of course… it would have to be. I knew she would be bringing the input to my appeal. We had agreed upon it. I just hadn't known that she was already on her way when Le'Kruune called her up. A minute later, he came back and sat down in his chair, looking very smug. He reached for his drink, and took a dainty little sip, savoring his victory.

"It's only a matter of time now…" he muttered, mostly to himself. "My mechanics will have that vehicle dismantled within an hours' time. After that, it shouldn't take very long to locate the ZY… unless, of course, you're willing to save us the time and energy by telling me the exact location of it right now?" He smiled seductively at Mom. She just frowned at him and remained silent. "Of course," he purred, showing his ugly teeth. "It's much more fun to be surprised. Yes. I'll play your little game, Vay, but ooohhhhh, the suspense is killing me!"

There was a long moment that followed in which some dirty looks were exchanged between the three of us. Le'Kruune looked down at the table, and his eyes lit up, as if he had just remembered something. He picked up the plate then, and held it out to us. "Pastry?"