Chapter 5: Mad Dog on the Loose!

Lilo had been a little surprised when, in the middle of breakfast, the phone rang. Her 'father' answered it, and from the look on his face as he spoke in his usual clipped manner, he was a little surprised as well, but not unpleasantly so.

"That was Kim Possible," he said after hanging up. "She wanted to know if you could drive her to school this morning, so you two would have a chance to talk. I told her you'd be over after breakfast."

"She wants to talk? About what?" Lilo asked, cutting her pineapple rings into tiny bits, then tossing a couple into Stitch's waiting mouth when he climbed up on the table.

Cobra Bubbles removed his shades so he could look directly into the girl's eyes, which implied the seriousness of the situation. "About the missing illegal genetic experiments, and the best ways to catch them."

Lilo dropped her fork. "She KNOWS? But I didn't tell her!"

"You did say she'd had contact with 625," Cobra reminded her. "How much does he know?"

Lilo's face fell as she traded a worried look with Stitch. "Everything..."

"That's my ride!" Kim called through the house as a distinctive, familiar horn met her at the front door.

"Okay, hon! Tell Leila I'm making oatmeal raisin cookies today!" Mrs. Possible called back.

"Make sure she remembers we're doing final tests on the jetpack after school!" Tim shouted at Kim's back.

A jetpack, however, was the last thing on Kim's mind as she walked up to the red speedster parked in front of her house. Her gaze swept quickly over the two occupants as she climbed in. "Lilo," she greeted coolly. "Stitch."

Lilo looked particularly sorrowful. "Please don't me mad at us, Kim," she pleaded. "Haven't you ever had to pretend to be someone you're not for the sake of a mission?"

"Yes," Kim admitted, "but I still don't like being lied to, especially by my friends."

Lilo and Stitch traded confused glances. "You mean...we're still your friends? Even after we lied to you?" she asked.

"I understand why you did it, Lilo. Just don't do it again. If I'm going to help you, then you have to be honest with me." Kim looked at Stitch. "That includes you, too, buster."

Stitch nodded. "Okay," he agreed in that raspy voice. "Stitch sorry." As an afterthought, he dropped his disguise, allowing her to see him in his true form.

Kim's eyes widened. "...I think that's enough honesty for now," she said quietly.

"We do hide for a reason," Lilo pointed out at as Stitch assumed his former shape of a disfigured dog.

"So I see." Kim swallowed noisily as the car began to pull away from the curb. "Wait!" she cried. "We need to pick up Ron."

"Are you sure he should know about this?" Lilo asked as Stitch stopped the car.

"He's my partner. No secrets," Kim said firmly.

"If you say so." Lilo threw a curious glance at Kim. "But since we don't have any secrets, is 625 in your house or not?"

Kim started, not expecting to have the truth turned against her. "Yes," she said after a moment. "How did you know?"

"When I taste a sandwich that good, I remember it. Plus, I had Stitch sniff around your garbage late last night, and he picked up 625's scent." Lilo paused. "Can I ask why he's living with you?"

"I got him from an animal research lab in Australia. The zoologist in charge seemed to think living with my family would be good for him." Kim smiled a bit. "I think it's good for me, too." Her expression became worried as she caught the looks of doubt on Lilo and Stitch's faces. "You're...not going to take him from me, are you? He seemed pretty worried about that."

"Did he tell you about his powers?" Lilo asked.

"He lifted my bed over his head."

Lilo looked surprised. "He's being honest with you. More honest that he's been with anyone else in a long time, anyway." She shot Stitch a questioning glance, and he nodded. "Everyone needs an ohana. If his place is really with yours, then that's where he'll stay. Besides, I don't want you holding a grudge against me. I know I'd be mad if someone took away the best sandwich-maker this side of the galaxy."

Kim smiled and gave Lilo a big hug. "Thanks...cousin."

Lilo shook her head. "If you really want to thank me, convince Ron that he should still go out with me after I tell him the truth."

Kim laughed, and there was no trace of pain or resentment in her voice when she answered. "Oh, don't worry about that. Ron never turns down a girl once she shows any interest in him."

Tara finished the last of her apple juice just as a car horn honked twice. "That's Bonnie, Mom! Bye!" She grabbed her bookbag and rushed out of the door.

She came to an abrupt stop, however, when she got a good look at her best friend.

Bonnie's hair had been cut, shortened only slightly, so that it preserved...no, highlighted her natural beauty and charm (when she chose to use it, anyway). And though Tara had seen that exact look several times before, today it was new, refreshing, and exciting.

Today, it was love at first sight.

Tara covered the rest of the distance to the red convertible with slow, stumbling steps, a glassy look in her eyes. She practically fell into the car, her face ending up rather close to the driver's.

Bonnie, thinking Tara was just admiring her hair, secretly blushed with pleasure and outwardly tossed her head a bit. "Like it?" she asked.

"Love it," Tara answered at once with boundless sincerity, leaning forward to gently brush her fingertips against Bonnie's cheek. "You're a goddess."

Bonnie blinked, and this time the blushing was anything but secret. "Wow," she said softly. "Thanks."

Tara said nothing, as she was too busy staring at Bonnie.

As the car zoomed off, inside a birdcage on Tara's desk, a small, violet bird watched from the window as its mistress and the object of her affection took the first steps toward their newfound love. Very much pleased with itself, Presley, once known as Experiment 323, burst into one of its all-time favorite songs: "Burning Love."

Shego was filing her nails when an insistent beeping alerted her to an incoming call. She brought it up on the screen, but did not recognize the older man in a lab coat who stared back at her.

"Drakken's lair, state your business," Shego muttered. Being a secretary was not in her job description, and she took every opportunity to let Drakken's callers know that.

"I am Professor Warren, and I have a proposition for your employer," the man stated. "I will be sending a representative shortly to discuss what I hope will be a mutually beneficial business venture."

"Uh huh. And we should care because?"

The man frowned at her. "Oh, you will care, I assure you. Because if you don't, we'll simply take what we need and move on." With that, the call ended.

Shego was not impressed. She wasn't even planning on telling Drakken about the call.

But that was when something tore the ceiling in two.

Shego darted aside easily enough as debris rained down, but nothing could prepare her for the sight that greeted her eyes.

What seemed to a walking shark glared down at her. "Professor Warren sent me. We need to talk."

Correction: a walking, talking shark, with arms like tree trunks.

"Okay," Shego agreed easily enough. Had she been in the mood, she would've taken him on without a second thought. But after such a display of strength, she was suddenly feeling a lot more friendly. "I'll just get Dr. Drakken for you. Who should I say is-"

"Gantu," the enormous visitor replied. "And this," he added, gesturing to a small, red creature that suddenly appeared on his shoulder, "is Experiment 627. You'll have to excuse him, he's suffering from...jet lag, I think it's called here."

The red creature belched, sending a decent sized fireball zooming across the lab to slam into the wall, leaving a smoking crater. Amused, it chuckled evilly for a moment, before a sharp look from Gantu silenced it.

Slowly, a smile spread across Shego's face as she turned to fetch her boss. "Oh, Dr. D, I think you're gonna wanna see this!" she called in a singsong voice.

"Be the Mad Dog," Ron whispered to himself as he pulled his mascot costume out of his locker and placed in on a bench behind him. "Feel the foam. Embrace the rabidness. Become one with the canine."

It was his pre-practice, pre-game ritual. He did it every time he donned the dog's head, in order to give his best performances.

Unfortunately, it required his full attention, so he didn't notice when a green, gaseous form slipped out of nearby locker and into his costume. Nor did he notice when the costume seemed to gain a life of its own and run out of the locker room on all fours.

Rufus did notice the costume's escape, however, and began to wonder why Ron would've left him in the locker room. Then he noticed that he was still in his owner's pocket, and quickly realized that it wasn't Ron in the costume.

"Okay, Rufus," Ron said, turning around. "Time to...hey! Where's MD?"

Rufus pointed in the direction that he'd seen the Mad Dog run off in.

"What, you mean it just got up and walked away?"

Rufus nodded. "Uh huh, uh huh!"

"Well, that's just...weird."

"Experiment?" Rufus squeaked.

"Maybe," Ron answered, wishing Lilo had gone into more detail about the actual experiments. As it was, she'd spent the whole ride to school telling Ron the truth, and by the time she'd finished, there was barely enough time to rush off to class. "C'mon, we'd better check it out before things get any weirder."

Kim scaled the pyramid of cheerleaders in one gigantic leap, landing neatly on the shoulders of two girls on top. She was just about declare the routine a success when she was interrupted by a loud howling.

All the girls looked over to see the Middleton Mad Dog just beyond the bleachers, howling like mad.

"Oh, great," Bonnie muttered. "Stoppable's in rare form today."

Normally, Kim wouldn't have agreed with Bonnie, but Ron was definitely messing up practice this time, and she'd warned him about going over the top outside of actual games. Sighing, she easily leapt down and prepared to drag her best friend out of gym before she gave him a real talking to.

But that was when his large head snapped towards her, and a feral growl escaped his foaming mouth.

Kim blinked in surprise and stopped. "Ron?" she asked slowly. Ron sometimes went too far, but he had never, ever growled at her.

Now the Mad Dog was growling louder, his legs tensing as he prepared to run.

"Ron, it's me," Kim said softly, lowering her voice so the others wouldn't hear. "Cut it out, okay?"

Instead of backing off, the Mad Dog broke into a full-on charge, headed straight for her.

Kim easily flipped over his head, and was only slightly grateful when the Mad Dog stopped sharply, turned, and continued chasing her. At least she would be able to lead him away from the cheer squad.

'But why should I have to?' she asked herself as she burst through the gym doors and into the hall. 'This is Ron...or at least, it should be. No way he would act like this.'

A quick glance over her shoulder showed that the Mad Dog was still following, and in fact beginning to catch up to her. Kim put on another burst of speed, but only seconds later, something crashed into her from behind, knocking her to the tiled floor. She managed to turn over, only to stare into the barking, foaming jowls of the Mad Dog as they tried to close around her throat.

"Back off!" Kim yelled, shoving the mouth away repeatedly. By that point, there was no doubt in her mind that this couldn't be Ron.

Her assumption proved to be right when Ron ran into the hall a few seconds later.

"KP!" he cried in alarm. "Hang on, I'm coming!"

"Stay back, Ron!" Kim shouted at him. "Too dangerous! It's like your costume is possessed!"

A high-pitched whistle filled the air, and all three looked up to see Lilo and Stitch at the other end of the hall.

"That's because it is, Kim."

Lilo reached into her pocket and pulled out...a thing. If Stitch had chosen to pose a doll instead of a dog, Kim suspected he'd look a lot like the thing Lilo was holding.

"Here, Phantasmo," Lilo called, shaking the deformed doll. "Come to Skrump. You like Skrump, remember?"

The Mad Dog actually panted before slumping lifelessly onto Kim, a green vapor escaping its mouth and flying straight into the doll, which instantly began to wiggle in Lilo's hand.

Kim sighed and handed the costume to Ron as he ran up. "Anyone want to tell me what that was about?"

"I was getting ready for practice when Rufus says my costume just ran off by itself," Ron explained with a shrug, pulling Kim to her feet.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Lilo asked with concern. She'd stuffed the doll in her pocket, but it continued to make faces at everyone.

"No, he just...foamed me," Kim muttered, brushing at her now damp cheerleading outfit.

"I'm so sorry, Kim. If I'd known Phantasmo was in your school, I would've warned you to keep an eye out for inanimate objects coming to life."

"He's one of your experiments?" Kim guessed.

"Cousin," Stitch confirmed with a nod.

"But it's weird," Lilo said. "He used to be pretty mean, but he's been a lot nicer since we first caught him. I can't understand why he'd attack you like that."

Stitch turned to the doll in Lilo's pocket and spoke in some alien language. The doll hissed at him, and Stitch said something to Lilo, who somehow managed to translate, but she didn't look happy.

"Stitch says Phantasmo smelled 625 on you."

Kim was shocked. "Why would that make him attack me?"

Lilo looked as if she didn't want to say. "Not here. We need some privacy first."

"Bueno Nacho?" Ron suggested, as he invariably did.

"I could definitely use an infusion of nachos," Kim agreed, but she threw an uneasy glance at Lilo's doll. "Just, um...let me get changed first..."

Next Chapter: Lilo gives Kim & Ron the rundown on how and which experiments escaped, and an evil partnership the likes of which Middleton has never seen before is formed.

Endnotes: "Burning Love" is the song played during the closing credits of "Lilo & Stitch" (the movie, not the TV show), when the photo album is being shown; it's also on the soundtrack. Incidentally, the song also contains the name Lilo gave Experiment 323.

If memory serves, I don't think Lilo actually ever named Phantasmo in the episode that featured him. He's one of a handful of experiments that either came with a name or got it somewhere else. In fact, I think I picked it up from an episode title (which are almost always named after experiments).

The King Lives...in a modest mansion in Hawaii with his roommates, Tupac Shakur, Bigfoot, and Pudge the Peanut Butter Lovin' Fish, Weather God. Incidentally, they enjoy sunny skies, and fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches on a regular basis.