Sorry for the lack of updating. My sisters were on ALL DAY today. X( But I'm here now and here's a brand spanking-new chapter! puts on a big, toothy Stitch smile
Absh: Hmmm… Stitch, or Jack? Stitch, or Jack? looks up at the sky innocently
troubledexperiment001: No, I don't trace my experiments, though for some I need to use a teeny bit of reference, like if I can't get the angle right or something. Thanks for the compliment!
Ari said nothing as the tube she was in was lifted from the buggy by Stitch. The tube lurched forward as he steadied it over his head, and Ari felt her stomach contract.
"Hey, take it easy, will ya?" she said to Stitch.
Stitch looked up at her while he was walking towards the house. "Sorry, cousin." He sounded like he really meant it, so Ari let the subject drop. Her fear after being turned into an experiment had subsided into anger for her captors and concern for Jake. She looked to her right, where Lilo was carrying, with some difficulty, the tube that held Jake. He still hadn't woken up and a small lump had begun to form on his head where he had hit it. Ari was beginning to worry how serious his injuries were.
"Lilo!" Ari jerked her head towards where the voice had come from. Nani was standing at the door with her arms crossed over her chest. "How many times have I told you not to bring experiments into the house?" She sounded exasperated.
"But Nani!" Lilo whined. "Jumba doesn't even know what they do and this one," she pointed at Jake," can't do anything bad 'cause he's asleep!"
"Asleep?" Ari cried angrily. "You shot him with a plasma gun and knocked him out!" She glared at Lilo.
Lilo seemed to ignore her comment as most people seemed to be doing and instead pointed at the tips of my antennae. "Cool! They changed to red!" Ari grabbed one and held it down in front of her eyes. Indeed, they had changed to a bright red color. But now, even as she looked at it it was changing back to lavender.
"We gotta get Jumba!" Lilo said happily. Ari didn't know why she was happy. She wasn't too happy about the situation. Lilo ran up the steps, past Nani, who just shook her head and sighed, and into the house. Stitch followed suit. Again the tube rocked back and forth as he climbed the steps, but Ari didn't say anything about it. She was too busy trying to keep her vomit down in her stomach.
Inside the house they past Pleakley, who was wearing a lacy apron and chef's hat. He appeared to be making some type of pie, except the filling he used looked like he had gotten it from the toilet. Ari wrinkled her face up at the sight, but her vision was obscured by a wall they had past.
"Jumba!" Lilo cried as they ran down the hall. Ari felt her heart lift a little. If anyone could help her get out of this mess, it was Jumba.
Jumba poked his head outside the door to his lab and his face paled at the sight f Ari and Jake.
"Ah, be the bringing in 622 and 623," he said, obviously trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. Ari wondered why.
"This one's got a bump on his head. Can you fix him?" Lilo asked while handing the tube that held Jake to Jumba.
Jumba took the tube and gently set it down next to his bed. "Yes, will be fixing 622, little girl. But first must be telling you something that I think will answer a lot of questions for 623." Everyone who was conscious in the room looked at him curiously. Jumba seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if considering whether to go on or not. But his good side go the better of him and he continued with his story.
"Is little girl and 626 remembering when asking what I was doing earlier today?" Lilo and Stitch nodded, while Ari wondered what the heck this was about. "This is the file was looking at." Jumba opened the file that contained the spores. Lilo and Stitch both looked at the title and gasped.
"You brought 622 and 623 from another dimension?" Lilo asked with awe in her voice. "You must've been afraid they would be so powerful that you wanted to be rid of them for good! I wonder…" Lilo was interrupted by Jumba.
"No, is not exactly what was to be happening," Jumba gulped. Meanwhile, pieces of the puzzle were starting to be put together for Ari. "See, I was designing new machines to invest people and bring them to new dimension. But, I needed helper from other dimension to activate machines. So I hired someone," his eyes turned to Jake and for a moment," and I, er…" Ari, who had finished the puzzle, interrupted his sentence with fury in her voice.
"You brought me here." Her teeth were clenched together. "You made me leave behind everything I knew to bring me here to be one of your stupid experiments!" She knew it was harsh, but what would you expect her to be like towards someone who had brought her to another dimension? The tips of her antennae her glowing bright red again, although they were much brighter than they were before when she had been angry at Lilo.
Lilo and Stitch looked at Jumba in horror. The fact of the situation had finally hit them. "You brought them from another DIMENSION?" Lilo shouted. "And they weren't even experiments? They were PEOPLE?"
Poor Stitch looked confused about the whole thing. He kept looking from Ari to Jake to Ari again with his mouth slightly open.
Lilo seemed very angry at Jumba. "So now what are you going to do? Keep them here?"
Jumba waved his hands up defensively. "Oh, no, little girl! Spores will wear off in about a week. In meantime, I will set about fixing 622." He seemed to be looking for any excuse to escape Lilo's wrath. He quickly opened up the tube with Jake, or 622 as Jumba called him, in it and left the room.
Lilo sighed heavily and looked at Ari. "Sorry about this. Ah, er, it's so strange talking to an experiment that's supposed to be a person…"
"Don't remind me…" Ari muttered with her ears drooped. The tips of her antennae were now a soft blue color. She sighed and asked while looking at the bottom of the tube," Is he gonna be ok? Jake, I mean."
"Jake?" Lilo cocked her head in confusion. "Oh, you mean the green experiment person-thing! Yeah, he'll be fine. Jumba has his ways." Ari didn't seem convinced, so Lilo simply said," Trust me."
Oh, yeah, that's reeeeally convincing. Ari thought bitterly. But she knew Lilo was doing her best a ten-year-old could do to make her feel better so she didn't say anything about it.
"Would it be alright if I let you out of this?" Lilo said, obviously talking about the tube. "I mean, you aren't going to run away or anything, are you?" Ari rolled her eyes.
"Where am I going to run to?" she said quietly. Lilo shrugged and unscrewed the lid. Ari climbed out on her own and sat down on the table, concentrating on a certain grain in the wood to avoid Lilo and Stitch's piercing gaze.
She wished Lilo and Stitch would go away. She didn't like it when people looked at her all at once, especially when she wasn't even in her proper form. To give them a hint that she wanted to be alone she turned around so her back was to them. Lilo took the hint and signaled to Stitch to leave Ari alone. She took Stitch's paw and leg him out the door. With a last look at Ari, Stitch walked out.
Ari sighed and looked around the room. In one corner were Pleakley and Jumba's beds. Jumba's (she assumed) was unmade and XXXL clothes were strewn around the bed. Pleakley's didn't have one wrinkle on it. Every piece of clothing was inside the dresser. Ari doubted there was a speck of dust in that area. On the other side of the room were all of Jumba's inventions either hanging on the wall or were on the table either for tune-up or finishing.
Ari thought about that day's events. She thought about waking up as an experiment, almost getting captured by Gantu, getting rescued by Jake, and getting caught by Lilo and Stitch. The thoughts were almost overbearing and Ari had to bite her lip to keep the tears back. To shove the thoughts to the back of her mind she began to do something she had done whenever she felt sad ever since she was little. She began to sing her favorite song.
When you're sad
When you're feeling low
When you're hurt and don't know where to go.
Think of me-
There I'll be
Anytime you need a friend.
She wasn't the best singer, but she was pretty good. When she was done singing she was surprised to hear soft clapping to her right. She looked in surprise and there was Stitch with a tentative smile on his face. He scooted a little closer to Ari.
"Like to sing?" he asked.
Ari sniffed and gulped. "Yeah…" she said softly.
"You're good."
Ari managed a small smile. "Thanks."
Stitch rubbed the back of his head with his hand, as if not sure of what to say. After a few minutes of silence he said," Isa Oketaka, er…" he hesitated again.
"Ari," she said, hoping it would answer the question in his voice.
"Ari," he nodded. "Jumba fix friend. Sleeping in Stitch's room now. Will be awake in morning."
When Ari didn't do or say anything he withdrew a burger from behind his back. "Stitch thought you might like this." He set in down gingerly at Ari's feet, then jumped down from the table with a thump. With a last look at Ari, he left the room.
Ari was glad Stitch had brought her a burger, and picked it up from the table. After sniffing it for a moment (Pleakley could have made it), she took a bite.
I don't think this is my best chapter, but it got something that needed to be done out of the way. No, Stitch is not trying to "get close" to Ari. He's just trying to be her friend. Yes, Anytime You Need A Friend is one of my favorite songs. (For those who don't know, it's from Home on the Range.) Oh, and I don't mean to make Jumba sound like the bad guy, but he IS the cause
