Notes: For those that aren't aware, Shego's plasma isn't generated by her gloves, but by her body itself. This was proved in "Go Team Go," and again in "Dimension Twist" (in the hospital, she charges up while her hands are bare). I bet the gloves are specially made though, since they never burn. Maybe they help her focus the plasma (like when she leaves green claw marks in walls). Just thought I'd point that out to avoid any confusion.
Chapter 6: Evil Comes In Many Forms
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you this, but it looks like I have to. It wasn't really a secret, just something you probably were better off not knowing."
Kim and Ron traded confused looks.
Lilo sighed. "Stitch, illustrations, please."
"Ih!" Stitch dove under the table, and re-emerged with a large notepad and crayons.
"It's time we introduced you to our evil foes," Lilo explained in a serious tone.
"They're here?" Ron asked, his eyes widening as he glanced around Bueno Nacho nervously.
"No, but you need to know them on sight, just in case. They're kind of hard to miss, though."
Stitch's paw became a blue blur as he scribbled on the notepad, then tore off the sheet and slid it across the table for Kim and Ron's inspection.
"A shark man and a talking gerbil?" Kim asked slowly.
Lilo shook her head. "That's just what they look like. They're much more dangerous than they seem. Gantu is a super strong experiment hunter, and Hamsterwheel is a super smart mad scientist."
Ron frowned. "So...the hamster talks?"
"Is it really so hard to believe? Rufus talks."
Ron looked offended as he petted his naked mole rat. "Rufus is exceptional!"
"So is Hamsterwheel. Exceptionally evil. He wants all the experiments so he can take over everything. Gantu is his right hand...um...shark. But it gets worse." Lilo bit her lip. "625 used to be with them."
The color drained out of Kim's face. "What?"
"It wasn't totally his fault," Lilo said quickly. "He was the first experiment pod that Gantu captured. But then he started going along with some of the evil plots. He was never actually dangerous, though. Sometimes he'd help trap us, but other times he'd help us for his own reasons."
"He didn't tell me that," Kim muttered angrily.
"He wouldn't have. Gantu never really treated him well. He probably wants to forget all about it. I bet that's why he didn't go back to them after the whole mess."
"What whole mess?"
Lilo took a deep breath. "When we thought we had enough experiments, we went into space and attacked the prison holding Hamsterwheel to free the other experiments. We didn't realize he'd converted the whole thing into his own fortress, though. It didn't go so well."
"You got creamed?" Ron guessed.
"Yeah. Stitch had to blow up the hyperspace drive so we could escape. The only problem was a lot of experiments got away in the explosion. We got most of them back, and we think the ones that aren't still with Hamsterwheel are somewhere in Middleton."
"And they're all going to be acting like that one?" Kim asked, pointing to Skrump.
"Well...maybe. Some of them don't mean to cause trouble, but some of them are just plain nasty."
Kim and Ron traded worried looks.
"I think you'd better go down the list," Ron suggested.
"Okay." Lilo pulled out what seemed to be a futuristic laptop computer and opened it up. "These are the ones we know for sure are missing." She turned the laptop towards them.
"Uh...am I the only one that can't read that?" Kim and Ron asked simultaneously.
"Whoops. Jumba left it on Standard Galactic." Lilo tapped a single key. "There, now it's in English."
"Experiment 177: Clip. Consumes...hair?" Kim paused. "I thought they were dangerous?"
"Only some of them," Lilo corrected. "Clip is more...hungry than anything else. She also never really gets full. Which can be a problem."
"If you say so." Kim turned her gaze back to the laptop. "Experiment 258: Sample. Records and replays sounds in an annoying rhythm."
"Bet he'd be great at a party," Ron commented.
Lilo nodded. "Only problem is, he also never knows when to stop."
"Hey, check this one out!" Ron interrupted. "Experiment 323: Hunkahunka. Causes anyone it pecks to fall in love with the first person they see. Now that's my kind of illegal genetic experiment!"
"Trust me, it's not as good as it sounds," Lilo warned him. "Suppose the first person you saw was...that guy."
Ron turned and shuddered as a portly fellow walked past them. "Ewww! Sumo Guy!"
"Who?"
"Sumo Guy, the authority on all things Japanese," Kim explained. "He almost went to Japan once...except they picked Ron."
"Interesting," Lilo said. "Be right back!" She hopped out of the booth and ran off.
"What's she doing?" Ron asked.
They both watched in confusion as Lilo darted into Sumo Guy's path and began gesturing wildly. Sumo Guy seemed to agree to something she said, and then Lilo whipped out a small camera and took his picture.
"What was what all about?" Kim asked when Lilo returned to the booth.
"It's my hobby," Lilo replied absently. "Anyway, back to the experiments. And pay attention, because this next one's really tough."
"Experiment 601: Kixx. Hand-to-hand combat specialist. And he's got four of them?" Kim smiled. "Hmm. I could use a good workout."
"I hope you're as good as they say you are, then. Kixx has mowed down everyone that ever got in his way. Except Stitch, of course." Lilo patted his head fondly. "Even he needed a little help, though. He was having a rare off day."
"It happens," Kim agreed with a shrug. "I'll just have to make sure I'm at the top of my game when we meet up."
"Well, that's another thing. If you're really tough, Kixx might come to you. You have to be ready all the time. Maybe it'd be safer if Stitch went to school with you tomorrow."
"I may be able to get away with bringing Rufus, but no way they're going to let a dog in without someone being blind first," Ron pointed out.
Lilo smiled. "Just because Stitch is there doesn't mean anyone will see him. I know he doesn't look like it, but avoiding detection is one of his specialties."
"He's already saved my life once, Ron," Kim said. "If he can do it again, I want him with me. No offense, but if I can't handle Kixx, I don't think you could, either."
"It's nothing to be offended by," Lilo chimed in. "This is what Kixx was designed to do. If he wasn't good at it, we wouldn't need your help to catch him."
"That actually makes me feel better," Ron admitted.
"Good, because there's two experiments left, and they're going to be the hardest to get back."
"Experiment 627?" Kim asked in surprise as she stared at the laptop. "I thought there were only 626 experiments?"
Lilo sighed. "There were...but Jumba made another one, just to prove he could improve on Stitch's design. 627 is stronger than Stitch, and totally evil. Luckily, we know his weakness: he's got a funny bone a mile long. Give him a good laugh and he's harmless. Unfortunately, he's probably the first one Hamsterwheel would want to get his paws on. But if he still has this next one, he won't even need 627."
"Experiment 624, huh? She's a cutie," Ron noted.
A thoroughly depressed look settled on Stitch's face. "Boochibu," he muttered sadly.
"But it says here her name's Angel."
Lilo shook her head. "It is, Ron. 'Boochibu' is a word. It has different meanings, but the best translation is 'lifemate' in Stitch's case."
Ron gapsed. "They took his girl? That is sick and wrong!"
Kim frowned. "I'm not so sure, Ron. It says here that she turns experiments evil with her sweet song."
"There's a catch, though," Lilo added. "Her song only works on the 623 experiments before her. Since 625, Stitch, and 627 were created after her, they're immune to it. 627 is already evil, so it wouldn't work on him, anyway. But the last time we saw her, Angel was good. She saved Stitch, but Gantu grabbed her. She's the reason we attacked Hamsterwheel, but we couldn't save her."
"Well, you've got us this time," Kim reasoned. "I'm sure we'll be able to get her back."
"I hope so," Lilo agreed. "If she fell into the wrong hands, this could get a whole lot messier."
Angel slowly opened her eyes, stiffening as a hand stroked her back.
"Finally awake, my little pretty?" asked a sickeningly sweet voice above her. "That's very good! I was starting to worry about you!"
She forced herself to relax a bit. Gantu and Hamsterwheel never would've stroked her, unless she'd charmed them first. And she certainly couldn't have done that in her sleep, which meant that whoever was holding her genuinely cared about her, or wanted her to think so, at least.
It was still a very odd feeling...one she hadn't felt in a long time.
"Oh, and you must have been so lonely! But not to worry! I've found a few of your little playmates, and they've been so anxious to see you!"
Her spirits lifted only slightly when she was carried into a room that was absolutely covered in plush pillows and blankets. She would be comfortable if nothing else, she decided as the hands put her down.
Instantly, she was mobbed by a great deal of purple muscle, and then something was blaring in her ears over and over again. When her ears stopped ringing, Angel realized that it was only three of her fellow experiments greeting her. The ERD (Experiment Recognition Database) program Jumba had installed in her went to work, instantly identifying them as Kixx, Sample, and Yaarp.
Her first instinct was to bind all three to her will, so that she would be safe from anything that might harm her. Before she could though, Yaarp let out another blare of joy, which was quickly recorded and replayed by Sample at an even louder volume. It only made the message even more clear to Angel: "You safe with us, cousin!"
It had never occurred to Angel that her own kind would want to protect her without first being seduced by her song. She was confused, to say the least. Confused...yet strangely comforted.
"Oh, you're all even cuter than my Cuddle Buddies!" cooed that sugary voice again.
Angel turned to see a plump, bespectacled woman grinning down at them. She didn't seem evil, at least. And her fellow experiments didn't seem at all unhappy or mistreated, though Kixx was a bit disappointed that he only had pillow to work out with. Perhaps this strange lady would actually take good care of them.
"Well, time to see if that teensy little dose of brain serum I gave you is working!" The woman bent down and tickled Angel's chin. "Come on, now! Can you say 'Mama loves me, yes she does,' hmmm?"
Angel wasn't sure what the woman expected of her, but the next thing she knew, her mouth was moving in a rather unfamiliar way.
"Not Mama. Jumba Papa."
The woman frowned. "Hmm. Maybe I should up the dosage next time. You're not making any sense yet." Looking thoughtful, she stood up and walked away, closing the door behind her.
Angel brought her paws to her mouth hesitantly, still not sure of what had just happened. But she was feeling the need to do it again, especially when she turned to her companions.
"Where Jumba? Where 626?"
The three experiments traded worried looks, and it was Kixx who answered with a grunt that she was still able to translate.
"Jumba and 626...lost."
"Gantu? 625? Hamsterwheel?"
"Lost," Kixx repeated.
Angel blinked, coming to a startling realization. "We...free?"
The other experiments looked shocked, as if they hadn't considered that.
"Lady keep us here," Kixx pointed out uncertainly. "Not free."
"Lady nice!" Yaarp countered in a sharp horn blast. "Lady feed and play with us!"
The speakers on Sample's head boomed "Cuddle Buddies!" in the woman's sugary voice.
Angel tried again. "We...free enough?"
Only Sample seemed to have the answer again. "Ohana!" he boomed in a perfect imitation of 626. "Angel Ohana!"
Angel found herself smiling despite her remaining doubts. "Ohana," she agreed, growing more accustomed to human speech by the second.
Yaarp let out a long foghorn of happiness, and then they were all laughing, none of them having any idea that they were currently the houseguests of DNAmy.
Dr. Drakken tried not to be obvious about swallowing nervously as he stared up at his visitor. "So if we do agree to help you catch these experiments, what's in it for us?" He was fully prepared to flinch, in case his question angered Gantu.
But the former Captain of the Galactic Alliance merely smirked. "A great deal, Dr. Drakken. Any experiments you catch are yours to keep...with three exceptions. Experiments 624 and 625 go directly to Professor Warren. Experiment 626 is to be destroyed on sight."
Drakken frowned thoughtfully. "But from what you've told me, 626 is virtually indestructible. How, exactly, do you propose we destroy it?"
A smile appeared on Gantu's wide face. "Professor Warren has authorized me to provide you with these experiment pods. Consider them...a gift. A show of good faith, if you will." He stretched out his enormous hand, revealing two dehydrated pods: 617.2 and 619.2.
Drakken grinned wickedly, snatching the pods out of Gantu's hand with a giddy laugh. "Shego! If you'd be so kind as to put these in water?" He handed the pods to his ever-present cohort, who continued staring up at Gantu a moment longer before leaving to do Drakken's bidding.
"So, Gantu," Drakken said when Shego was gone, "you mentioned something about modifying your little friend there?" He nodded to Experiment 627, who was sitting silently on Gantu's broad shoulder.
"He has a preprogrammed weakness," Gantu explained. "One that even Professor Warren has been unable to remove. I would like you to either eliminate the weakness entirely, or render it inoperable. If that fails, our only other option is to clone him in a strictly controlled environment."
"I would, of course, be happy to assist-"
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Drakken whipped around as Shego burst into the room, flailing her arms wildly. "Shego, what are you-"
"GET THEM OFF ME!" Shego screamed, clearly panicking.
Gantu calmly reached out and plucked Shego from the floor, holding her up by her collar. "Allow me to present Plasmoid and..." Here, Gantu made a disgusted face. "...Splodyhead."
Shego stopped yelling and flapping her arms for a few seconds. "They're...experiments?" she asked weakly.
"Indeed."
Drakken took a closer look at the green and orange colored masses on either of Shego's forearms. "Amazing! They've bonded straight through her costume!"
"What's that mean?" Shego asked, panicking again. "WHAT DOES IT MEAN?"
Gantu chuckled. "Relax, dear lady. Professor Warren modified these experiments specifically for your personal use. You see, they generate and release plasma, not unlike you. Now that they are connected directly to your bloodstream, your plasma output will increase tenfold. A large enough burst would even stun 626...which is exactly what we're counting on. Once he's immobilized, 627 will literally rip him in half."
"But...they come off...right?" Shego whispered uncertainly.
"Naturally. You need only to calm down first, and then wish it of them. They are connected to your brain, as well. Order your thoughts, and they will do as you command."
Shego took a deep, shuddering breath, and Plasmoid instantly detached itself, scuttling up her arm to her shoulder, where it nuzzled against her cheek, making an oddly soothing crooning noise. "I guess...they are kinda...cute," she muttered, still looking a bit paler than usual.
Drakken leaned forward and poked Splodyhead, only to shriek and barely duck in time to avoid a plasma projectile bigger around than his head. "Incredible," he whispered, staring at the smoking hole left in the wall.
"Yeah, I don't think they like to be poked, Dr. D," Shego pointed out, and Splodyhead growled in agreement. "Definitely no more poking."
Kim closed her bedroom door and glanced around warily. "Chewie?"
"You think you could get me a helmet the next time you're out?" came the muffled reply from under her bed. "I heard three explosions in the last hour alone."
"That's just the tweebs. You get used to it. Come on out, I brought you a Naco Grande Meal. Extra cheese and everything."
"Ah, you redheaded temptress, you." Chewie rolled out from under the bed, a huge grin on his face. "I must have done something good."
"You certainly did, to hear Lilo tell it."
Chewie blinked, the grin fading rather quickly. "She defended me?"
"Surprising, huh?" Kim asked, dropping the Bueno Nacho bag in his lap. "She blamed all the bad stuff on Gantu. Said you were almost totally innocent."
Suddenly, food was the last thing on Chewie's mind.
"I've already given her a lecture on telling the truth, so I have no doubt she believes that. What I'm wondering now is if you do." Kim paused and reached down to scratch his head. "If you're worrying about me changing my mind about keeping you, don't. You deserve another chance."
Chewie shook his head. "You're just like the kid. Too stupid to know a bad thing when you're looking right at it."
"Bad things don't eat at Bueno Nacho. Fact of life, according to Ron. This time, I'm inclined to believe him. Maybe you were bad, but you're not now. That's all that matters to me."
"I gotta say, you're starting to worry me, Kimmie. You live with two little monsters that make 626 seem tame, and now you're ignoring an illegal genetic experiment in your own home. Maybe you've been fighting evil a little too long."
"If you're convinced the tweebs are evil, you can't be all bad," Kim reasoned. "Don't stay up too late thinking about it. You're coming to school with me tomorrow."
"I'm what?" Chewie asked in alarm.
"Coming to school with me tomorrow," Kim repeated.
"Why?"
"Lilo thinks I might get attacked by an experiment."
"So what good would it do to have me there?"
"It's okay if you don't want to fight, Chewie. But you said you wouldn't let me die, and I'm holding you to that. I get hurt all the time, but I can only die once. If I get into a situation that I can't handle, I want you with me."
"Why?" Chewie asked again.
Kim shrugged. "Because I trust you."
"What if you're wrong?"
"Then I guess I'm dead wrong. But I really, really don't think I am."
"But what if you are?"
Ignoring the question, Kim picked him up and kissed him on the nose. "Night, Chewie. Eat your food before it gets cold." With that, she left the room, closing the door behind her.
Chewie sat on the floor for a long time after that, staring at the Bueno Nacho bag. Not for the first time, he wondered how 626 had kept his pet kid alive for so long, and with no major injuries, no less. He wondered why someone as smart as Kim would be so stupid as to put her trust in him. More than anything else, he wondered why he had a sinking feeling that he'd do everything in his power to live up to that trust.
"Should've just kept my big mouth shut," he muttered not for the first time, fishing out the oversized, slightly warm naco and taking a big bite.
Next Chapter: DNAmy gives Angel an upgrade, and Kim encounters another experiment at school...just not the one she was expecting.
Reviews!
Eternal Sidekick
You are really hitting your stride with Chapters 5 and 6. Lots of great continuity, appearances from some extra experiments, the truth emerging into the light on all sides with acceptance hand in hand. It was sweet to read that Kim has no intention of throwing Chewie (the always lovable 625) out. I'm glad to see that even a villain as capable as Shego can be impressed by something, in this case, by our ever popular bounty-hunting retired Captain of the Galactic Alliance. I eagerly await the next installment. Keep up the terrific work!
Since you feel that way, you seem like a good person to ask. Gantu/Shego: weird yet interesting, or sick and wrong? Call it like you see it.
aberaham tulip
Personally I don't think this cross-over is too weird, after all I started work on the same crossover a year ago ;-. I personally think this cross over makes a lot of sense, cause there's no contradictory elements in either show. and both characters are a lot of fun.
To be honest, this story is probably at least that old. At the time, I hadn't done any KP fics, and I think that's what held me back. That and I wanted more experiments to work with. Then it was a matter of getting inspired enough to do something about it. I think it was all the geniuses in each show that convinced me to do it.
Widow Shark
These were a couple of excellent chapters. I love the plot and I can't wait to see what evils Dr. Drakken, Shego, and Gantu will be up to. Great Job! Update soon and keep smiling : ).
They'll be up to evils, no doubt. What else could they possibly have in common? Poker?
lt. commander richie
cool! phantasmo, and, skrump. i like skrump in all its deformedness.
I would point out that Skrump is female, but she also can't hear in one ear, so maybe you'll get off lucky this time.
Ghostdraconi
Nice crossover, I wonder if DNAmy will show up.
Okay, now you're just reading my mind. Not to mention ruining the storyline for everyone. Stop that! Or I'll have to sic 625 on you. May God have mercy on you if you're packing food of any kind at the time.
anonymous
COOL! by the way its Lilo.
Sigh. I know that. Keep reading. All is made clear. Well, that part, at least. And I'm tired of explaining it already.