Yay! I updated after... what, a week or something? Well, here it is, a nice, shiny new chapter for all you guys...or girls... out thare! Now all it needs is a red ribbon...


Ari woke up to a very bumpy ride on the inside of a glass container. It took her a few moments to remember what had happened earlier, and she cursed when she remembered, and cursed even louder when a particular bump made her hit her head on the glass wall. She looked around and saw that she was in a glass tube strapped to Gantu's back. He was walking towards his ship, which could be seen at a distance.

Now I can see what these claws can do… Ari thought. She scraped her purple claws down the glass with a loud screech. It left a deep indent in the glass! She continued clawing at the glass, but couldn't get any deeper than that. All she succeeded in was wearing down her claws to nubs.

She sighed and sat back down in the tube. She had been in a similar situation like this yesterday when Lilo and Stitch caught her and Jake. However, this was different. She wasn't comforted with the fact that she would be going somewhere safe, and Jake wasn't here. Her heart panged with the thought of him. Why hadn't he come to her rescue when she was in danger? She had thought he was her friend!

I guess I thought wrong, she thought sadly. He's just like all the other boys. Cowards. She wiped away a tear that was beginning to fall from her eye. Even though she wanted to be angry at him for not helping her, a small part of her said that he would come for her.

625 was sitting on a chair eating an egg salad sandwich. "Hey, hey! You got him! I guessed I underestimated you, fish boy!"

Ari took a moment from her misery to glare at him. "I'm a girl, thank you very much." Normally she would have laughed at 625's comments, but now that she was at the other end of his statements, she didn't find it in the least amusing.

Gantu approached a cell built right into the wall. It was large and square, and had thick clear glass over the front. Ari couldn't see the back wall of the cell; it was too dark in there. Gantu pressed a button to the right of the cell and the glass spread apart. He opened the lid of the container Ari was in and dumped her inside. She landed on her back with a loud THUMP.

She sat up and rubbed the back of her head and clenched her teeth. "Ohh… she moaned quietly. "Why do these things always happen to me?" She stood up and pressed her paws up against the glass to watch what was going on.

"625, I need you to watch the abomination for a while," Gantu told him.

"Why?" 625 didn't even look away from the TV.

"Because I told you to! Do you need another reason?" Gantu growled. Then, without another word he went off to the bathroom.

"Probably to play with his rubber ducky," Ari muttered.

"Yeah, probably," 625 answered. Ari was surprised he heard her, but then remembered he could hear as well as Stitch.

"Listen," he continued. "You and I are both in a situation we'd both like to avoid. You're on a one-way trip to Hammy, and I'm stuck babysitting while fish-face is in the bath. Let's call a deal, alright? My favorite show's coming on, but I can't watch it if you're gonna escape on me. How 'bout this. I get to watch my show, and you can sit here and not try to escape, ok?"

Ari glared at him again. "How does that help me, though?! Aren't you going to let me go? Then you won't even have to worry about me escaping because I'll already be gone!"

625 looked confused for a moment, and then a look of comprehension crossed his face. "Who said I would let you go? I'm just telling you that if you don't try to escape that'll save both of our hind ends."

Ari looked like she would like nothing more than to take that sandwich ad shove it up his left nostril.

"Besides, your boyfriend is probably on his way right now." 625 said casually.

"Jake's not my boyfriend!" Ari said quickly. "How do you know about him, anyway?"

"The first thing G said when he came home two days ago was complain that," he lowered his voice to match Gantu's," the only reason I lost that abomination is because that stupid green trog snatched my gun out of my hands!" 625 chuckled. "He then went on explaining how the "trog" tried to protect you, and he would have captured the both of you if it weren't for your boyfriend."

Ari had to smile at 625's impression of Gantu. Then she went right back into her state of misery. "Well, he's not my boyfriend. He's not even my friend!" She turned away and bit her lip to keep the tears back. "He didn't even try to save me when Gantu came to Lilo's house," she said quietly. She expected 625 to come up with some cocky saying, but when he didn't answer she turned around. She saw him in the next room watching some show on the "Sandwich Channel".

Ari sighed and sat down, scared of what lay in the future. She scraped her claws against the glass half-heartedly, the familiar scraping of nails against a hard surface making her grimace a bit. Her claws left four long white lines on the glass. Even though she knew she wouldn't be able to claw her way through, she gained satisfaction in the knowledge of ruining Gantu's cell. She stood up again and clawed at the glass again. And again and again. In fact, she didn't stop until the entire surface of the glass was covered in scratches and the sound of scratching claws was ringing in her ears. She brushed her paws off in triumphant glee and sat down again.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a small voice coming from the back of the cell.

"Thank goodness you stopped. I almost thought I'd have to come out there and strangle you."

Ari shook her head in confusion. The person, no, the thing, wasn't speaking English. It was speaking Turian! And Ari actually understood it! Man, this place just keeps getting weirder, she thought.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "Come out!" She wasn't sure she wanted to see the creature who threatened to strangle her, but she was even more uncomfortable not knowing what lay back there in the darkness. When no one answered or came out, she called again, "Come out!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!" the voice said with a touch of annoyance. "It's not that easy to get around when you're in pain, you know!"

Ari softened a bit. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know…" she wasn't able to finish her sentence, as what emerged from the dark was unbelievable.

"Angel!?" Ari exclaimed in disbelief. The creature was, indeed, Angel. But she was hardly recognizable. Her once light pink fur was bloodstained from cuts and scratches all over her body so her coloring now resembled 627's. Her ears had nicks and tears. Her antennae didn't have the once bouncy flair to them; they now hung lifeless on the top of her head.

Ari nearly cried at the sight of her. "I thought you were sent to Hamsterveil!"

"I was," Angel answered simply. Even talking seemed to cause her pain. "But how did you know I was captured by Gantu?" Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Oh, uh," Ari stuttered. "Stitch told me. After I was, er, activated, I was captured by him along with another experiment and he told me about you." She said the whole sentence in one breath. "Why are you back then? And why are you hurt?"

Angel winced in pain again. "I wouldn't obey what he said so he used some of the other experiments to persuade me. But I kept thinking of my bushi-bu, and the pain was bearable. After a while he finally sent me back to Gantu. I've been kept here ever since."

Ari's heart melted at the sight of her. "But… don't they feed you?" Angel had come into the light enough for her to see that she was thin that Ari could see every single one of her ribs through her fur.

Angel chuckled. "Yeah, they feed me. Gantu's dumb, but he's not cruel. I just choose not to eat. I will not do anything that makes them think I've given up and submit myself to them."

Ari admired Angel's courage, but if she didn't eat, she would die! Didn't she see that? When she voiced her concern, Angel just scoffed and told her she would rather die than be used by Hamsterveil for the rest of her life.

"Well, come here and let's see how deep those cuts are," Ari sighed. Angel walked over to her. Her wounds looked even worse close up. One Ari could see went right down to the bone.

"Who made these?" she whispered in horror.

"I told you. Some of the experiments Hamsterveil already has and trained them for battle." Angel winced when Ari gently touched one of the wounds. "Ouch! Don't do that!"

But Ari didn't answer. She was looking at the wound on Angel side she had just touched with a claw. It was glowing purple and closing shut! Ari gaped at it until it closed completely and the glow had subsided, leaving nothing but a faint scar in her bloodstained fur.

"Angel! You're better!" Ari exclaimed happily. "Well, part of you is."

"What?" Angel looked down at the place where the cut had once been and smiled. "Why didn't you tell me you could heal wounds?"

"I…didn't… know…"Ari said in disbelief. She was still staring at the scar on Angel side.

"Well, don't just stand there! Help me with these other ones," Angel said. "I've got one right here that hurts really badly." She pointed at an infected-looking cut on her leg.

Ari bent down and examined it. It wasn't bleeding anymore, but it looked like it was filled with pus. Some of it was oozing out. She rubbed a claw down the infected cut. Angel gasped at the flash of pain that accompanied the healing, but the cut was already healing. The scar it left was slightly darker than the other one, but still nearly unnoticeable. Angel put weight on it tentatively, grinning.

After several minutes of healing, Angel was cut-free and free of bruises. The only thing she needed now was nutrition. Unfortunately, Ari couldn't provide that.

"You need to eat, Angel," she said in exasperation. "Or you'll die! Hamsterveil already knows you won't obey him, so Gantu won't send you to him. But please, eat."

Angel looked at her for a moment, and then sighed inward. "Fine. I'll eat. But I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for my bushi-bu."

"You can do it for 625 for all I care. I'm just glad you're eating," Ari replied.

They were interrupted by a sound coming from the bathroom. The door opened and out came Gantu. He was wearing nothing but a towel and a hair net. He looked over at the cell where Ari and Angel were.

Ari narrowed her eyes. "Are you trying to imitate the Towel Girl, now?" she smirked.

Gantu grunted angrily. He walked over to his computer and typed something in. "Dr. Hamsterveil," he told the computer.

Hamsterveil appeared in the moving TV. "Gantu! What are you doing calling in the middle of the night with nothing but a towel on, you incompetent fish head of a minion?!"

Gantu ignored his verbal abuse. "I have another experiment for you," he said with a slight smile.

Hamsterveil expression lighted. "Where is it, then?!"

Gantu pointed at Ari. "It's experiment 623."

"Hmmm… It doesn't look like a good minion, but it is an experiment, none the less! Send it to me first thing in the morning!" The TV blinked out.

Gantu yawned. "625! I'm going to bed. Can I trust you to feed the trogs without letting them get away?"

"Hey, no problem, G!"

Gantu yawned again and went to his bedroom.

"So," 625 said to the two captured experiments. "Would you lovely ladies like turkey, or egg salad?"

Angel growled at 625, but Ari was thinking. This guy could be their ticket out of here. But they had to buy their time. "Do you make grilled PB and J?" she asked politely.

"Grilled?" 625 said in surprise. "I don't think I've made that one before…" He had a look of struck terror on his face.

"You haven't?!" Ari faked surprise. "It's much better than a normal PB and J! And I'm sure you would make it perfectly," she added slyly.

"So that'll be two grilled PB and J's?" 625 cracked his knuckles. "It'll be right up! Oh, and thanks for the sandwich suggestion, cuz!" He walked off to the kitchen.

Angel looked at Ari like she was crazy. "What are you being nice to him for? He won't even let us go!"

"Not right now, but if we be nice and polite to him he might. He'd probably like the respect anyway; the way Gantu treats him all the time."

Angel narrowed her eyes again. "You're creeping me out. How do you know Gantu treats him like dirt?"

Ari suddenly seemed very interested in a dust particle floating in front of her face. "I, uh… Well… the way Gantu asked him to watch us before he took a bath was kind of rude, and I… kind of figured that's how he treated him all the time." She gulped.

Angel softened. "Oh." She dropped the subject. "So you think he'll let us go after a while?"

"Well, I really don't know. But…" she bit her lip. "I really don't want to go to Hamsterveil."

They were interrupted yet again by 625. "Two grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!" he exclaimed. "On the house." He opened a very small door just big enough for the sandwiches in the side of the cell. He shoved the sandwiches in on a plate. The two experiments grabbed their own sandwich. Ari took a bite.

"These are great, 625! She exclaimed in what she hoped was a happy voice. She looked at Angel expectantly.

"Oh, er… Yeah, thanks," Angel muttered between bites of her sandwich.

625 smiled. "Glad you like it. Well, I'm off to bed. I want to get some sleep before G tells me to make him another sandwich." He slumped away from Ari and Angel. Just before he turned the corner he turned back around. "And I'm really sorry about being sent to Hammy." He disappeared beyond the corner.

Ari looked at Angel. The delicious sandwiches had taken her mind off her predicament for a minute, but he had reminded her of it. She tried to hold back the tears.

"Don't worry, 623," Angel said softly. "We're gonna get out of here."

The tone of Angel's voice brought Ari's spirits up a bit. "Really?"

"If it's the last thing I do."


Ok, about the Towel Girl thing... On mTVone day Dan Radcliffe was taken to the window and there was a girl standing in the street wearing nothing but a Harry Potter towel and was carrying a sign saying "Nothing Comes Between Me and Harry Potter!!" I thought it was funny so I worked it into my story.

And the grilled PB and J... My mom makes them all the time for me, and they really are good! Even the jelly! You should try it sometime. licks lips