Friendship

C/By: Kenjaje

Edited/Revised by: raVen

(Phase also created by raVen)

Chapter 17: The Fall

"Phase…move!" Angel said through strenuous grunts, the tremble in her arms and legs exponentially more pronounced as the seconds passed. Phase pushed her hands against the chunk, intent on taking Angel's suggestion, but the boulder slipped—Angel was losing control—and in a sudden twitch of time Phase found herself immobile under the heavy metal scrap, its bulk now pressing against her stomach, its weight slowly being expressed to her.

"Angel…I can't, it's too heavy!" She yelled, gasping for the breath that was being pushed out of her lungs by the chunk. It slipped again, and Phase heard the most struggling scream come from her left, and the boulder lurched downward again, and quickly back up.

"Got it," Lilo's voice. Phase couldn't turn her head, but it came from her right and maybe a bit to her back. The boulder lifted slightly; its flat, threatening surface moving away from Phase's eye. Phase's arms began to ache, and soon even Lilo was letting out strenuous groans. "This…thing…is…huge!"

Phase heard a click come from her feet; she glanced down to see Stitch's legs and hands join the others'. Slowly the chunk lifted up, but quickly they're energy was draining. Phase's arms felt like jelly, and they lost even more of their feeling when they began to shudder and tremble like a stressed, stiff board.

"What is this thing made of?" Stitch screamed. The chunk lowered.

"It's too heavy! It weighs a billion tons!" Lilo's hands fought to get a better grip on the underside of the boulder. Phase's temples began to throb, adrenaline taking over fear, and she struggled, trying to put her legs into play to help lift up, but they couldn't move. "I can't hold it anymore!"

"Me neither!" Stitch and Lilo struggled, but their grip was lost. Phase's heart skipped a beat, and a bead of sweat trickled down her scalp as she felt the boulder press down. A scream; the most aggravated, furious, painfully determined scream Phase had ever heard, and it came from Angel. Just as quickly as the boulder seemed to fall down, it was lifted up. Light came to Phase's eyes where the dark shadow of the chunk's underbelly had been for only a few minutes, and the first thing Phase saw was the expression on both Lilo and Stitch's faces.

She rolled away, gasping for breath, and looked into the direction the other two were looking; her eyes widened as well. Angel, with a face to match the scream she had just roared, lifted the boulder above her head with her arms straight and her elbows locked. Another yell of fury escaped her, and she turned, throwing the boulder in the opposite direction. It made a noise no louder than a single clap as it cut through the metal flooring like a hot a knife through butter.

"Angel…are you ok?" Phase asked. Angel turned taking a couple steps to Phase, and extended her hand. Phase took it, and after she was pulled to her feet, Angel fell past her to the ground, exhausted. "Angel!"

"Don't worry." Stitch said, getting to his feet. "I think she's just tired."

"Are you sure she's not…hurt?" Lilo asked. Stitch picked her up and rested her on his shoulder.

"She'll feel a little loose when she wakes up, but I think she's fine." Another volley of water screamed for attention. "C'mon, let's get outta here!" Stitch yelled, running toward the ship. Lilo and Phase immediately followed, but just as they all came within seven yards, the ground seemed to lurch and give way a tiny bit.

"Whoa!" Lilo uttered, jumping back. She glanced at the ground; a crescent-shaped crack snaked its way across the flooring, starting at the edge of the disk somewhere to the left of the ship, and ending somewhere else she couldn't see. "I think we're in trouble…"

"No, we're too heavy." Stitch said.

"What do you mean?" Phase asked.

"Look," he pointed to the crack, "that divided the disk. Our ship is on a part of the disk that's barely connected to the body. It doesn't have that much support, and if too much weight goes on it'll break off and fall."

"As easily as a cookie." Lilo commented. Stitch nodded, and seemed to take only a moment to think.

"Here." He said to Lilo, sliding Angel off his shoulder. "Take her." Lilo caught her and held her upright by the armpits.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to make sure that 'cookie-piece' breaks off." He told her.

"You're gonna try to get to the ship?" Asked Phase.

"Yeah, and after I get it flying, I'll swing by and you guys will jump in, and we'll make a break for it through hyperspace."

"But we're too close to the planet to use hyperspace! And besides, what if you don't make it into the ship?" Phase protested.

"Then find another ride." He said flatly, jumping onto the weak section of the disk. Immediately the "cookie-piece" crumbled from the body, and both Stitch and the ship began to tumble toward the ocean down below.

"Get up you good-for-nothing pile of blubber!" Hamsterveil commanded, kicking Gantu's head, jarring him awake.

"Huh-wha-?"

"No time! Get up! We have to get out of here!" Yelled the gerbil in a panic.

"What's going on?" Gantu questioned, hastily getting to his feet and running down the hallway, crouching so he didn't hit the ceiling. "Why do we have to-" The pillar shook, Gantu let out a yell of pain as his head bashed against the ceiling.

"That's why! Something's disturbed this planet's weather pattern or something; the water is attacking us, and its eating away at the pillar! If we don't get out now we're going to drown!"

"Whale's can swim." Gantu joked.

"Don't you try turning your ugly face into something good now!" Hamsterveil snapped, leading the way to the escape ship.

"Cowabunga!" Stitch yelled into the odd silence as he felt the flooring fall under his feet. A rush of wind immediately tugged around him. His insides felt like they were being pulled upward and very soon he felt the affects of the fall on his coordination. He set the distracting rush aside, and concentrated on the ship below him.

It staggered in the wind as it fell, flipping violently every so often. He slimmed and flattened himself against the wind as he saw fit, trying to aim it so that he would land on the top of the ship. After seconds of quick adjustments and decisions, he was finally sure he could make it. His arms at his sides, his legs pointed back, he fell fast; in even fewer seconds he reached out and latched onto the top of the ship.

In reaction, the ship was disturbed, and it lurched violently, barrel-rolling. Stitch was forced to let go, and he fell ahead of the ship for some distance. He reoriented himself, his eyes now felt like they were about to fly out of his skull, and flattened out, his fur fluffing with a loud sound. The ship turned briskly against the cloudy sky, the wing causing a shadow to brush past his nose. It turned too far; he couldn't make it, he had to wait for it to turn again.

Slimming his arms and legs he dove backward, looking up at the ship, watching it as it completed its turn. For a moment, to give his mind a break, Stitch wondered if this was what swimming was like; voluntarily controlling the speed at which you can sink by flattening or slimming your arms and legs, rather than being forced to sink.

The ship began to turn again, its underbelly a waning gibbous. Stitch flattened, the speed of his fall instantly decreasing. The distance between he and ship began to close, it was already halfway done; he could make it. As if to guarantee his success, the ship stopped turning, its top openly inviting him to land on it.

His claws latched on to the right of the cockpit, the ship rocked but nothing dramatic occurred. Stitch expelled his breath and opened the hatch, climbing into the ship upside-down. It took him a few moments to strap himself in, but he was able to do it without any difficulties. He glanced down at the ocean as he closed the cockpit hatch, and was suddenly aware of how close he was to the bottom.

"Shaza!" He muttered, slamming the hatch shut and turning the key inside the ignition. The ship shuddered, but didn't start. "Cabasha! Cabasha!" He turned it twice more, and then a third. He slammed his hand against the panel and leaned underneath, ripping out the wires and hooking them together.

His lips twitched as the electricity rippled through his body—a small price to pay to start the ship. The engine roared to life, and he took hold of the yoke, yanking it back. The ship looped, the nose barely scraping the edge of the waterline. The body floated atop the ocean as Stitch held it level, again letting out a pocket of breath.

"Maybe Stitch should try out for movie!" He said to himself, as he pulled up on the yoke. He looked to his left, out toward the horizon. The hurricanes that had been present were now gone. Stitch was beginning to get a bad feeling for some reason. Uneasily he looked out of the cockpit, trying to see what he could. To his right, the pillar seemed sound and standing tall, the disks passing him in a blur. But something still tugged at him. Somehow he felt those hurricanes weren't natural, and that they also weren't gone because whatever threat there was, was over.

Suddenly, the ship lurched, and forced a left turn. Stitch struggled to maintain control, while also trying to determine what hit him. He looked at the status; the rear had been impacted. He glanced behind him, and immediately thrust the yoke away from the pillar. A split-second after his maneuver, a wall of water shot forth from the ocean, blocking him from the pillar—from Lilo, Angel and Phase.