Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 11: Ten Little Kinoes…

Cicadas chirped outside of the house as a nightly coolness calmly laid itself upon the grass and the leaves and the air all about the silent island of Kauai. The symphony of the night reigned strong and loud, and was only interrupted once, when the guttural sound of churning engine broke the steady harmony like a tremor in the earth.

Nani's foot leaned on the petal with a concentrated effort while she tried to keep herself from gunning the rest of the way to the house. A speeding ticket would only make her angrier, and she actually wanted to be generally nice to Lilo when she got home. There was some kind of uncertainty in Cobra's voice when he had called roughly an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes earlier, that made her wonder if he had all his facts straight. After all, when it came to Cobra, things could get a bit…strange.

The truck's noise was abruptly cut as she turned the key, and she uttered a small, frustrated gasp as she nearly tripped in her haste to get out of the car. She shut the door with such force that the air freshener attached to the rear-view mirror fell as though it was afraid of her bitterness.

"All right Nani, keep your cool. She's only your little sister…" Nani mumbled to herself, walking up the stairs. She knocked twice on the door, but heard no answer. "He's probably checking on them right now. I hope he keeps the little blue wrecking ball from blowing up my room." She said to herself, unlocking and opening the front door. "Hello! I'm-" She felt a scream of surprise bounce around her throat, but it didn't find its way out. She gathered her nerves and rushed to the phone, and smashed the emergency numbers.

Meanwhile, at least 600 light-years away in normal traveling time, on a planet made entirely out of water, inside a massive pillar made of unidentified metal, inside the docking bay set on level 73, more screams inside more throats did not make the journey past the epiglottis.

Stitch and Lilo pressed back-to-back, their mouths slightly open as they were caught in a trap they had blindly, and yet not so blindly, run into. Ten pairs of eyes—twenty eyes in total—all containing a green, slimy, gloss with small, narrow-slit pupils, stared at the two figures in the center of the circle, staring back at them with hidden appall.

"If it isn't 626, and his little earth-pet." Glared the eleventh, less-threatening pair of eyes, which belonged to the genius Dr. Jacques Van Hamsterveil.

"If it isn't the rat." Lilo snapped back. Jacques's smile widened.

"I may be a rat, but I am not the trapped one. You have such a big mouth, seeing as how you are so weak and fragile. Why don't you let someone talk who's able to back it up—like say, your friend standing right behind you."

"I can take you on anytime! All I have to do is-" Stitch turned and put an arm on her shoulder.

"Lilo," he barely moved his lips, his words reaching only Lilo's granted hearing, "don't do anything to give your part away. You've got to slip out unnoticed, remember?" She gave no recognition, but he knew she understood because she backed against him, playing like she was suddenly afraid, and wanted to hide behind him.

"I thought so!" Hamsterveil snapped. "You might have the guts, under normal circumstances, but I think it's clear you are in no position to be threatening me."

"Shagashu basa!" Stitch commanded, trying to guard Lilo on all sides. "Leave Lilo out. Isa miga ju quiesa."

"I see…you are wishing to cut to the chase, no?" Hamsterveil rubbed his hands together.

"What do you want with Angel?" Lilo shouted, peeking behind her blue bodyguard.

"624? Why, I need her. She is most effective when it comes to making things evil—look about you. All these Kinoes made on such short notice because of her abilities." He snickered. "Did you know evil makes things a little…stronger, 626?" He asked rhetorically.

"Nagaba." Stitch snapped. The Kinoes around them seemed not to move, which made him feel more at ease. However it was slowing them down—those Kinoes would have to attack for them to pull through.

"Really? I was so sure you knew by now. When I saw that power for the first time, I realized how badly I needed it. You know exactly what kind of power I'm talking about; the power where you lose control? You should be very familiar with it, my invention helped you achieve that power once, do you remember?" Stitch glared.

"Don't get angry…" Lilo whispered.

"When Stitch gets through with Kinoes…Hamsterveil next." He declared.

"You want to fight my creations that badly, no? Fine, throw away your chance to not be torn to pieces. Maybe if you're lucky I'll rebuild you with my special technology—provided you still come apart at the seams. However, I won't make this too chaotic; Kino –four through –ten, stand down; –one, -two, and –three, be prepared, but let the experiment make the first move." The dinosaurs abruptly came to life as though they had been turned on.

Seven of them disappeared, some form of stealth technology allowed them to become transparent as though they weren't there; only the slight distortion of light passing through the invisible medium allowed them to be spotted. They backed away toward the wall, and then returned opaque. The three that remained began to move, the lights from above shining off their metal, gleaming brilliantly against the metal walls far in the distance.

"Kinoes naga touch Lilo." Stitch stated, stepping away from her. "If touch, whole place going into water."

"Very well." Stitch motioned for Lilo to go to the door, giving her the nod. She knew her part well, though Stitch had only given it to her in brief.

"As soon as the fight starts, get ready. Wait until Hamsterveil is distracted, or until I'm able to cause a lot of commotion, then leave. Try to slip out as quietly as possible." Though stealth was going to be hard; Stitch had counted on there being only one Kino in the fight, more than that wasn't foreseen by either of them. She stopped by the control panel to the door, looking at it quickly. It had only two buttons, up and down. She blinked on her granted X-ray; the other control was right on the other side of the wall.

"Good." She thought. "I can do this…I just have to be quick enough." She stared back at Stitch, who seemed a little different to her, but she couldn't tell in what way. He seemed stable yet uneasy. She almost wanted to run back and give him his powers again, but something about his posture made her check that desire.

She braced against the wall as she saw him crouch, her hand hovering over the button to open the door. If she was quick—and she was, at least for now—she hoped she would be able to hit the button, roll through the tiny rift of the rising door, and then shut it as soon as she was on the other side. Her finger pressed the button; with a growl, Stitch leaped into the air.

Angel worked her hands, trying to break the restraints around her arms. The room she was in was very dark, with the exception of the small, open-vented window that faced toward the oceanic planet. But light was the least of her concerns. Her forearms moved slightly in the restraints, and with a straining groan, she managed to snap the metal like wood.

"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea…" She thought, rubbing the superficial cuts on her wrists. "Those will sting for a while." She sat back against the dark wall, underneath the window, the wind from outside blowing through the bars. "This looks more like a jail cell than a storage cylinder." She stood up and took a look outside.

Aside from the gloom and overcast, and the top portion of the number "73" written in another language, she couldn't get much of a view from outside. She knew somewhat of where she was; a storage cylinder meant for extra cargo and food supply on level 73 of a docking depot, on a planet whose name escaped her at the moment. She also was aware she was nearly seven meters high above the level's floor.

She went to the door, and felt for a handle. There was none. The door was large and sealed; a handle only on the outside and the lock only there as well. This wasn't a place where the door is supposed to be closed while someone's inside. She was at least thankful for fresh air from outside.

"I really hope they don't come…" She said aloud to herself, going back to her place under the window. "This is so crazy! If I have to sing that song one more time to make an Achie-baba Kino stronger, I swear there won't be anything anyone can do to stop me from going crazy." She wiped the sweat off her neck and cheeks.

"Calm down, Angel."

"Ten of them…ten! As if one weren't enough. What the heck are they for anyway? Whatever happened to Hamsterveil catching experiments; did that get so boring his making his own?"

"Calm down." She took a breath, getting a grip. It was a little humid inside the storage cylinder, and she was wondering if she was getting a bit hysterical. Her mind was telling her to get a grip.

"I wish they didn't have to come. I don't want them to, but they are; if not both of them then at least he will. But there's no way he can fight. Even one of those new Kinoes is more than enough for him…" She closed her eyes. "I'd hate to say it booch…but it's true." She let out a deep sigh, relaxing for a moment, then she stood up and slammed a fist against the wall with a scream, her knuckles shaking with a bit of pain.

"And Phase…" She hissed lowly. "She has some nerve. All this time…pretending she was just another newly activated experiment. She came into the house—we even invited her to stay the night—and then she goes and does this! She tried to play innocent—play our friend— but she was betraying us all along. I'll get her for that when I get out of this thing, if it's the last thing I do."

"You did it once too, didn't you?" Angel shook her head, sitting back down. She'd been talking back and forth with her mind for a while now, and it wasn't doing her much of a favor. Why couldn't it just help her like it did the other day, after Nani talked to her in the kitchen? Now it was just being a nuisance.

"Yeah…I did." She admitted to herself. "And that's why I'm so angry. …But I guess I kind of deserve it. Now I know what it's like—being betrayed by a friend."

Lilo's heart thudded as she pressed the button and heard the noise of the door shut. She hadn't even seen Stitch's first attack—she couldn't bear to see it. All she could think to do was get to Angel as quickly as possible, and then get Stitch his powers back after that.

She wondered, while running through the metal halls of the labyrinth, if it was Stitch's influence on her that was allowing her to cope with that kind of pressure. She was well aware that Stitch's success relied on her speed, and she somehow felt that without Stitch's mind, she wouldn't have been able to even come to this planet in the first place.

Stitch grunted as he was thrown from the Kino he had latched onto. He landed nimbly on his feet, his landing perfectly balanced. However, he didn't have much of a respite; immediately two of the three Kinoes charged toward him. He dodged the blows that came at him, their sharp talons whispering as they cut through the air, barely nicking him.

It didn't take him long to realize Hamsterveil wasn't joking when he said he would be ripped apart. Though he was designed to be modified, and so in a sense capable of being "dismantled", he wasn't in the mood to be ripped apart by these dinosaurs.

Blurry streaks of barraging blows mingled together as he moved fluidly and accurately, dodging each and every swing while leading the two Kinoes around in a circle. He wasn't quite ready to fight back yet—he wasn't sure if Lilo made it through. He tried to see but a Kino blocked his path. That reminded him that they could turn invisible; cloak themselves at will. He kept that in mind.

Not willing to waste another moment, he bounded over the Kino in front of him, meeting the beast's eyes for a moment as he passed the face. He slid down the monster's back, jumping off at the tip of its tail. He caught a glimpse of where Lilo was; she had left already.

"Good." He thought, turning around to calmly block a swing. He retaliated, sending the Kino flying backward, a cloud of dust rising on the impact of its fall. The other one retreated slightly. Stitch relaxed, blinking into the Kino's eyes. "Sorry Lilo. I'm going to have to break that promise…again. But I've got half my power and no help from Slushy this time—you'll understand, right?"