DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lilo & Stitch in any way. I only own Experiment 000. VOID99 owns Experiment 555. You can use Experiment 000 in your stories but you must ask me for permission first.

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CHAPTER TWENTYTHIRD: RUNNING! TO STAND STILL

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I walked toward Jumba's house, carrying 555 with me.

I still couldn't believe 621 is gone, just like that. Still, the idea of believing 552 could give him invincibility was rather stupid.

But 552 dug his own grave when he picked a raid with me; it was a mistake for him to mess with me and my friends, and I hope he rots in hell.

It seems everyone knows what happened, as I returned, Jumba and 627 were waiting outside.

"000!" I heard Jumba calling my number.

"Is he…" 627 didn't finish his question, he probably thought 555's dead.

I kneeled down on the ground and laid 555 down.

"No, he's just unconscious. He suffered major damage to his nerve system, but he's alive, I still sense some life energy inside of him."

I turned my head to Jumba and 627 with a smile while pointing up. "It's faint, but it's still there."

Jumba kneeled down to check on 555.

"Yes, 555 is still alive. But his nerve system is damaged beyond repair. Even if he lives, he might suffer some problems that'll risk his life."

"555 prefers dying than to continue his life handicapped." I heard 627 say.

"Just have a little faith, he'll pull through." I hope…

= = = = = =

Can you believe it? It's been two weeks since nothing bad happens. I guess this means 552 is gone for good.

Right now, Jumba has me on some lame tests, something about finding out my maximum speed and testing some of my abilities.

I've never been this bored before, these tests aren't fun at all. Today I'm just running around in a desert, simulated by Jumba's training room simulator, while Jumba is working on his monitors, observing my status and attributes.

Finally, after hours of jumping from wall to wall at incredible speeds, the simulator is slowly shutting down. I stop to see the simulator shutting down, returning back to the training room. I walk to the bench where there's a towel and I start drying myself from all the sweat. I see Jumba walking out of the computer room with a mad look on his face. Experiment 625, a chubby yellow experiment agreed to help out with Jumba's research walks out with him as well with a sandwich in hand.

"000! How are we supposed to determine your maximum speed if you accelerate too quickly? You know it wrecks the equipment every time!" Jumba scolds at me, "What in the world are you rebelling against?"

I threw the towel at Jumba and looked at him. "Whaddaya got?"

"Boy, talk about attitude!" I hear 625 whisper to Jumba. I ignored him and walked to the door to exit the damn room. "Certainly not gratitude!" I hear Jumba whisper back.

Screw Jumba, I don't care what he says. I got a lot on my mind now, everything that has happened after 552 came into my life, before all of this mess happened.

I felt useless now; I got nothing to fight about. Nothing to believe in anymore…

= = = = = =

A few hours after that damn test of Jumba's, I found myself lying down on the roof of the house. I look down at the beach to see a few other experiments having fun in the sun, not having a care in the world.

Experiment 158, a brown experiment with a large nose sniffs the ground, I see him taking something out from the sand, and it looks like a toy shovel.

I look to another experiment. Experiment 010, that green experiment again, this time he was just having fun in the water instead of just cleaning around.

Another experiment I see is Experiment 602, a shark-like experiment with a huge fin swims around in the ocean.

There are more experiments out there in the beach, but I'm not in the mood to go around and looking at each one.

I yawn and fall asleep, banging my head unto the roof.

= = = = = =

"Hey, Zero…Wake up…Zero…Zero!"

My eyes shot open and I raise my head in surprise to see 625 standing there, trying to wake me up.

"625! What're you trying to do? Scare the living hell outta me?"

I follow him to the beach as I hear his excuse for waking me up. "I didn't want to wake you from your sleep, but what about the test?"

I scoffed. "I wasn't sleeping. I was remembering…Oh great. Who invited him?" I end up saying when I see Jumba.

"Zero! Who do you think is running the-"

"I was being sarcastic 625!"

As if 625 isn't slow enough, I walk over to Jumba, who handles me some sort of device.

"Now, remember, these headphones are protec-"

"Like I didn't already know that!" I interrupt him with my smart ass attitude.

"This device is very frag-"

"Sure, sure." I interrupt him again.

I put on the lousy equipment as Jumba starts up some sort of machine behind him.

"And remember…"

I zoom off, not letting him finish his instructions.

Everyone probably thinks I've gone haywire with my recent attitude, but let me assure you, I'm not. Sure I may be getting a little overboard, but I can't stand this boredom. Don't get me wrong, I don't want 552 or any of his evil deeds back, I just want something to do with my life, something that'll give me meaning to my world. My talents and abilities are being wasted in this sudden peace; everyone has decided to start something new now that 552 is gone. Even Jumba has decided to take on something new.

Yes, the world is changing…but is it for the better?

= = = = = =

"Oh, well, so much for this highly expensive…sand-encrusted, worthless piece of scrap metal!" I hear Jumba rant as he checks his busted contraption he gave me a few hours ago. "Why are you running so blindly, 000? You're barely paying attention to the test!"

Like I care!

"Do you think we'll ever really know how fast Zero is, Jumba?" I hear 625 asking the chubby, four-eyed alien.

"Better chance of determining that than of trying to figure out what's eating at him 625!"

I see Jumba checking some sort of blueprint. We're on the beach, what the hell is he planning this time?

"Now, let's see here. The influx hydropropellerators should account for water resistance and…Ah! Perfect!"

What? Oh never mind, this smart ass bastard is just trying to kill me with his tests.

I sigh as I walk to my starting line, facing the ocean.

"On your mark…"

I just can't seem to keep my mind straight.

"Get set…"

Why is this bugging me so much?

"Go!"

I'm off, running over the ocean like if it was solid ground. My mind just go…to those days when I was just a puppet, when I managed to pull the strings out of 552's hand, when I broke the strings and freed myself and turned the tables. Those days are over, but why does my mind always go back?

= = = = = =

Damn it, Jumba never gives me a break. This is Hour 18 of his stupid tests; I'm getting sick of this. I'm inside that hamster wheel-like wheel again, crystal walls keeping me in, two cables with suction-like ends on my forehead and two more on my chest. I look to my left to see Jumba with 625, holding a sandwich as usual, walking toward me.

"Well, we've performed tests on air, land and sea…Let's see how you old up in an artificial environment!"

"An artificial environment? I thought I'd already been in one." I say with my smart ass attitude again.

"What ever do you mean?" I hear Jumba ask.

I cross my arms and turn my head away from him. "Well, creating someone out of pure accident without giving them their own say on how to run their life is sort of like making them live in an unreal--phony--false--artificial world."

"Wow, can he hold a grudge." I heard 625 say.

Before Jumba has a chance to reply, I start the test for him. And as my feet race forward, my mind races backwards in time…back a few hours ago…

= = = = = =

I remembered walking on the beach back to the house to meet Jumba for this lousy test, I still don't know what possessed me to come anyway.

I remember yawing as I walked to the house, "What boredom, they should re-name this town 'Dullsville'!"

Then I remember a voice echoed in my ears, "Zero!"

I turned around to see 624 standing there. "624! What're you doing here?"

I remember her reply, "Strolling around, just marveling the peace."

"Don't say that word!" I requested her.

"What word? Peace?" She said it.

"I told you not to say it!"

I remember 624 looking at me concerned. "Why? What's the matter?"

What I said to her still makes me think, "Well, I hate to say it, but everything stinks now that 552 is gone!"

"What?! Zero, are you feeling alright?" She had every right to ask me.

"Well, at least when 552 was still alive I felt like I was somehow making a difference." I still don't know what type of difference I was making; "Now I feel my hands are tied while my shoelaces aren't!" I don't wear shoes, but it's a figure of speech.

"That's not such a good combo for you!" 624 replied to me.

"No, it's not. How can we rebuild our lives which 552 destroyed if we can't even stop long enough to make it if Jumba doesn't let us?"

Jumba has kept most of us doing chores or finding stuff for him and doesn't let us do anything, just like me with his lousy tests.

As we both sat on the house's porch, 624 decided to say something, "Well, I understand how you feel…" 624 suddenly said.

I glanced at 624 and saw her picking up a stick and started doodling on the sand. "You do?"

"Sure! A few years ago, an experiment used to tell me one important thing…The only difference is the one you can make."

I looked at the doodle 624 made on the sand, it was the face of an experiment, it seemed familiar somehow, but I never met him before.

"Do you understand sort of?" I remembered 624 asking me.

I stood up and started thinking, "The only difference is the one you make…The only difference is the one you make…Yea! I think I do!" I turned around and walked to the door.

I remember the last thing 624 told me, "Where to now?"

"Where else? To make a difference! Thanks, 624!" I replied.

= = = = = =

Right after my test in an 'artificial environment', I walk out to the beach to have a little walk, and my bad luck gets to me when Jumba and 625 decides to join me. I told them no, but Jumba persisted.

"000…We have to talk!" Jumba tells me as 625 goes on ahead, "And I don't mean about your top speed…or whether you can run on land, sea and air."

I glanced at Jumba then placed my focus on the road ahead of me.

"I want to talk about…what you said to me earlier…"

I know what Jumba means, but maybe it's something more, "Whaddaya mean?"

"Well…" Jumba stops walking and looks at me, "Don't you see? If you would've had your own say in your life when it begun…"

I stop walking and look back at Jumba as he catches up to me.

"You would have run wild and do what you thought was right!"

Jumba stops next to me as I kept looking at him.

"That was the mistake I did with all of my experiments and I couldn't afford to do the same with you, you are so strong and it would be very difficult to stop you. Please believe me."

Somehow, I know he's telling the truth, he really means it. I now know that he meant well.

"I do…I do. It's all part of making a difference."

Suddenly, the breeze became stronger. "Say, why the strong breeze all of a sudden?"

I, Jumba and 625 looked up to see black clouds coming right at us from the ocean.

"What in the name of Turo?" Jumba ask in pure shock.

"What the hell…" I too said in shock.

"Zero!" I look back to see 627 running toward me. "Zero, something bad is coming, and I mean bad."

I decided to ask, "What type of bad? Criminally bad or demonically bad?"

"I don't know." 627 replied, "But we need you and your speed to go up the mountains and check from there pronto!"

TO BE CONTINUE…

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Sorry for the long delay, but I had a mayor block for the ending of the chapter. And personally, I don't like this chapter, and the ending is probably bad as it is.

Please R&R