You're probably wondering what in the hell I'm doing, what with having Wo2W to work on. To which I say, good question! I'm slightly insane, so honestly? I don't even know.

Okay, more seriously, my interests come and go over time. I recently (read: about a month and a half ago) got my hands on Persona 5: Royal and honestly? It got me even more addicted than the original did. And thus, this is what my demented mind cooked up. Enjoy my insanity!

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit, fan-based parody. Lilo and Stitch and Persona 5: Royal are owned by Disney and Atlus respectively. Mystical Raven's characters belong to her.

Please support the official release!

Side note: this story has some music that's meant to go along with it. Just look 'em up on YouTube.

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A young man with spiky blue hair suddenly snapped awake. He lay motionless for a few seconds, a look of surprise etched onto his face.

' Where am I?'

Slowly, his eyes began to wander across the room.

Chains rattled above him as they swayed in an unfelt breeze.

Droplets of water dripped into the bowl of a nearby latrine, the sound reverberating around the room.

The young man slowly pulled himself up, off of the uncomfortable bed he'd been lying on, chains rattling as he did so. He looked at his wrists, and was surprised to find that he was handcuffed. He then realized he was wearing a black and white tattered prisoner uniform.

There was no doubt about it. This was a prison.

Panicked, he looked around much more frantically. He couldn't see anything, save for the walls, which were covered in blue velvet.

He pressed his forehead into his hand.

'What's going on here!?'

He was quickly pulled from his thoughts, however, when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

He slowly craned his head. There, carrying a massively oversized book was a young, cute looking girl, with long platinum hair, golden eyes, and a blue dress reminiscent of a maid's uniform standing outside of the cell. Completing the look, she wore a blue headband adorned with yellow roses and what appeared to be butterfly wings.

The young man stood up and, looking confused, starting walking over to her. He paused, however, when he noticed that his ankle was chained to a large iron ball.

Feeling his panic welling up again, he walked over a little more quickly, before grabbing the bars of the cell. He looked at the girl, a panicked look in his eyes.

Before he could say anything, the girl smiled gently at him, stepping aside and turning around as she did so. The young man nearly jumped in surprise at what was behind her.

A short distance away, a grotesque looking man with large, bloodshot eyes, pointed ears, an unmoving rictus grin, and the single largest nose to ever exist sat at desk.

The man looked up and, still with that creepy grin, held out his hand cordially.

"Welcome, Trickster, to the Velvet Room."

Music

~Aria of the Soul~

(Persona 5)

The grotesque man, contrary to his almost cartoonishly striking appearance, spoke in a calm and courteous manner, as if he were welcoming a cherished guest. The blue-haired man looked confused.

"Velvet Room…?" The young man repeated, still feeling slightly alarmed.

"Do not fret," The young girl spoke in a soothing tone. "The 'you' in reality is still fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream."

The young man felt his panic subside somewhat. 'A dream, huh?'

"I am delighted to make your acquaintance," The grotesque man continued, snapping the young man from his thoughts. "This room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a space that only those bound by a contract may enter. My name is Igor."

Seeing that he had the blue-haired man's attention, Igor continued.

"I have summoned you here to speak of important matters. It is unfortunate, but involves your life as well."

"Important matters? Could you explain that?" The young man asked.

"This room reflects the state of your heart," Igor continued, seemingly ignoring the question. "That it appears as a prison is indicative of your current status as a prisoner of fate."

'Great…' the young man thought.

"As such, in the near future, you shall meet with a most unfortunate fate," Igor spoke. The young man reeled with alarm.

"However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

"…What?" The young man tilted his head, looking confused and slightly scared. Igor chuckled.

"You shall uncover the truth in due time. Allow me to observe the journey you shall undertake," He said. The young girl turned to face the young man.

"Ah, pardon me for not introducing my assistant. Her name is Lavenza."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Trickster," Lavenza spoke kindly, a small smile gracing her features. "My duty is to oversee your stay here, as well as act as your collaborator."

"I shall explain her role on another occasion," Igor spoke, prompting the two to look at him. "Now then, it would seem the night is waning… it is almost time. Please, take your time to understand this place, and the role that you will soon take. We will meet again eventually."

Suddenly, the sound of an alarm began to tear through the prison, sending the young man reeling in surprise once more.

"It would seem our time here is up. We will contact you again once the time is right," Lavenza said, turning to walk away.

The young man began to frantically pull at the bars of his cell, eyes wide with confusion and panic just as the room began to disappear into darkness.

Sunday, March 7 20XX (Morning)

Stitch awoke with a start, leaping off of the bed and landing face-first on the floor.

"Ow…" He groaned, pulling himself up. He looked at his paws. Yep. Experiment form. Exactly as he'd been the night before.

He put one of said paws to his head and groaned. Talk about an unpleasant dream. First, he was in a prison, then he was called a 'Trickster' by a guy with a nose so massive that it defied all logic, then he was told that he'd meet an 'unfortunate fate' but that he could prevent it by 'challenging distortion'.

"I need to stop eating coconut cake before bed," He concluded, running his paws down his face, pulling down on his eyelids as he did so.

"Stitch?" Lilo asked groggily as she pulled herself from out of the covers. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Stitch quickly turned to Lilo. "Just… had a weird dream."

"A weird dream?" Lilo asked, rubbing her eyes. "What was it about?"

"Oh, just woke up in a prison and got told by a guy with a huge nose that I'm probably going to die soon but not really because I can change my fate," is what Stitch wanted to say, only to find that he couldn't express the thought.

Literally, it felt like something was physically forcing him to keep his mouth shut. So, he shrugged instead. It was just a weird dream. Can't hurt not to say anything about it.

…Right?

"Can't remember," He lied, silently grateful that Fibber wasn't around.

"Well… okay," Lilo yawned. She then pulled herself out of bed and looked over at Stitch.

"C'mon, we should probably go eat," She said, shambling towards the elevator. Stitch went to follow, but paused.

'Trickster… Distortion… and fate… What's that supposed to mean?' He wondered. Reaching over, he grabbed his phone, deciding to check the today's weather. The moment he powered it on, however, he noticed something.

An app.

Not just any app, mind; that would've just been written off without a second thought. No, it was an app that hadn't been there before, with a weird eyeball-shaped logo.

It appeared to be glowing, if that was even possible, with weird ripples emanating out of it.

"…Huh," Stitch blinked, before holding his finger down on the screen. An "x" appeared on the app, and he proceeded to delete it.

"Probably just some virus," He mused. He extended one of his lower arms and grabbed his phone with it. He then retracted said arm, tucking the phone away. As he did, however, he heard Lilo calling out his name.

"Stitch?"

"Coming!" Stitch yelled, scurrying after his friend. As he did so, he missed the sight of a small blue butterfly fluttering in through the window. It landed on his pillow, glowing softly as it stared in the direction Lilo and Stitch had gone.

"So, what do you have planned today?" Pleakley asked. The rest of the o'hana was seated around the table, munching on breakfast.

"Besides having to go to work today?" Nani sighed, watching as Stitch devoured his meal in record time, before eating the plate as well. 'That's another one we'll have to replace…'

"Well, it can't hurt to ask, can it?" Pleakley responded. Nani shrugged. "What about you, Jumba?"

"I have very important project I need to be working on," Jumba said dismissively, getting up and turning to leave the room. Nani turned to glare at him.

"NO MORE CROP CIRCLES!" Nani shouted. Jumba froze.

"Wha-!? Oh, come on!" He complained. "All the other aliens get to make them!"

Pleakley then turned to Lilo and Stitch.

"And what're you two doing?"

"Stitch and I were gonna visit Angel and the others at the Dark Mountain," Lilo said, finishing off her plate. "We haven't been there for a while, so we figured we'd swing by and hang out."

"Ih," Stitch confirmed with a shrug. Honestly, whenever you were hanging around that place, things were never dull. How could they when you had friends like Clover, who was probably bouncing around the walls as they spoke, or Fang, who was probably either totally hung over or setting something on fire (or both), or…

Stitch scowled.

Slang. Experiment 621. They HATED each other. And everyone knew it. If the two were ever together in the same place, every other experiment except Stella or maybe Fang would book it, since NO ONE wanted to be caught in the crossfire. Heck, Jumba was eagerly waiting for the day tensions finally boiled over and they'd start trying to kill each other, so he could film it.

Really, it was only due Stella or Angel's intervention that this hadn't happened yet. But everyone, them included, knew it wasn't a matter of "if", only "when". Sooner or later, something was going to give, and no one wanted to be around when it happened.

Yeah, hard to have a dull moment when you two of the most powerful experiments alive hating each other's guts in the same room.

Lilo, either oblivious to the expression Stitch was making or just ignoring it, jumped out of her seat.

"C'mon Stitch, let's go!" She said, making for the front door and leaving her dishes behind.

"Right behind you!" Stitch shouted back, jumping out of his seat and scurrying after her.

"Lilo!" Nani shouted after them, looking irritated. "You need to clear your-!"

Her words fell on deaf ears as she heard the sound of the door swinging open before slamming shut. She groaned miserably.

"Why me…?"

"Well-" Pleakley started.

"Is what happens when you are trying to keep lid on both little girl and 626," Jumba interrupted, peeking his head back into the room with a shrug.

"Not that you two help any!" Nani spat back before sighing. "Our parents were a lot better at dealing with her. Honestly…"

The two aliens blinked and looked at each other. It was rare for Nani to bring up her and Lilo's parents.

"Do…" Pleakley hesitated. "Do you miss them?"

"Of course I do!" Nani almost shouted, clearly feeling overwhelmed before taking a few deep breaths. "Sorry, just… Ugh…!"

She looked up.

"Tomorrow's the anniversary of our parents' deaths, so…" The words died in Nani's throat. Both Jumba and Pleakley instantly understood the what she wanted to say.

It was that time of the year again.

She was overwhelmed. Both physically, having to take care of Lilo, and emotionally. It had only been a few years, after all.

Even if it wasn't as fresh as it was back then, there was still pain there, and it showed.

"Well, if you want… I can help clean the kitchen," Pleakley offered, not really sure what else to say. Nani looked at the one-eyed crossdresser with an appreciative nod.

"Thanks. Could you clear the table?"

Angel was lounging at the table. She, along with Fang (622), who was at the moment leaning her head on the table, groaning at what appeared to be a migraine and clearly hungover, had just finished up breakfast. Well, SHE had just finished up breakfast; Fang was, again, hungover and not in any state to eat.

"Would you two like anything else, while I'm up?" Stella (620) asked in her usual pleasant tone, looking over at them. She was standing over at the sink, washing off the dishes from breakfast.

"No, thanks," Angel said, grabbing her plate and walking over to the counter. Just as she put her dishes up, she heard a vibration and turned to the table.

"Phone…" Fang groaned, not looking up.

"Coming," Angel sighed, scurrying over and grabbing her phone. She powered it up and looked at her messages. There were a few from Stitch.

Stitch: Hey, Lilo and I are coming over.

Stitch: Wanna hang out?

Angel: Ih! I'd love to, boojiboo! We didn't have anything planned today, so…

Stitch: Who's "we"?

Angel: Clover, Slang and I. Charm's still asleep, I think, and Stella said she'd keep things tidy for our parents.

Angel: And Fang's got a hangover.

Angel: Again.

Stitch: Ugh, really? Should we sign her up for intervention?

Angel: Uh, no. Remember what happened last time?

Stitch: …Yeah, okay, bad idea.

Stitch: Last I checked, they still don't have the fire under control yet.

Angel: For real!?

There was a pause as both experiments thought of something to say. After a moment, she got another message from Stitch.

Stitch: Hey, maybe we can see a movie.

Stitch: I think 'Wasp Mummies III: Revenge of the Mummy Queen' was playing today.

Angel: Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Lilo wants to see that, right? I'll ask the others.

Stitch: Bootifa!

Stitch: Just don't ask Slang.

Angel: Okay, I'll just ask Clover.

Angel could almost hear Stitch groaning as she received that last message. Yeah… Stitch and Slang in the same theatre? By the time the movie was done, there probably wouldn't be a theatre left.

Out of nowhere, someone smacked her square in the back, nearly causing her to drop her phone in surprise.

"What the-!?"

"Mornin' everyone!" Clover (623) yelled, laughing energetically. Fang groaned, feeling another headache come washing over her.

"Not in the mood right now…" She grimaced, slightly pulling her face off of the table and glaring at Clover with one blue eye. Clover just laughed at her.

"Yeah, that's whatcha get for stayin' up all night drinking."

"Now, Clover," Stella said, turning around. "You shouldn't talk about Fang that way."

"You can't say she has a point," A cold voice came from behind. Slang was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed. "That idiot is going to poison herself sooner or later."

"Shut up… Ice Queen," Fang growled, holding a paw to her head in an effort to nurse her headache.

"At least I don't smell like a brewery again, Fury."

"Come on over here and… say that to me again," Fang tried to snarl, shakily standing up.

"Girls, girls-" Stella started, holding up her hands and trying, in vain, to get them to calm down.

"You really think you can fight like that?" Slang pointed out in a deadpan as Fang hobbled over to engage in a shouting match, ignoring Stella's attempts at defusing the situation.

"So," Clover said, leaning on Angel's shoulder. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Lilo and Stitch were asking if we wanted to hang out today," Angel said, turning off her phone. "I think that Wasp Mummies movie they wanted to see is out today, so-"

"Awesome!" Clover shouted, almost jumping with excitement. "I wanna go!"

"…Well, guess that answers that question," Angel blinked, before turning to Stella. "Hey, Stella?"

"Y-Yes?" Stella tried to turn to look at Angel even as she tried to physically restrain Slang and Fang.

"Um… Clover and I are gonna head out, if that's okay…" Angel sweatdropped as she looked upon the scene before her. Fang was clumsily swinging her spear at Slang, who casually leaned back and forth to avoid the attacks, while Stella was trying to grab Fang's spear and hold her down.

"S-Sure!" Stella managed a sweet smile, even as she finally caught hold of Fang's spear. "Have fun, you two!"

"C'mon, Angie! Let's get a move on!" Without warning, Clover grabbed Angel's paw and bolted out the door.

"H-Huh!? H-Hey, don't drag me!" Angel shouted as the door shut behind them.

It was at that moment that Charm walked into the room, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He paused when he noticed the chaos right in front of him. He stared at Stella, Slang, and Fang. They stared back.

Stella and Slang felt a sweatdrop roll down their foreheads. Fang was too hungover to care. Charm lazily leaned against the doorframe.

"So," He started. "What'd I miss?"

"Hey, Lilo," Stitch said, looking up at his companion.

"What is it?" She asked, stopping and turning to face him.

"Change of plans: Angel and Clover are gonna meet us at the theatre. Wasp Mummies III comes out today," He grinned toothily.

"Oh, yeah!" Lilo gasped, before cheering. "It's the Revenge of the Mummy Queen! C'mon, let's get going!"

"Ih!" Stitch agreed. As he went to put his phone away, he noticed something that gave him pause. His eyes narrowed.

It was back.

The strange eyeball app had somehow reappeared on his phone.

'Thought I got rid of that…' He blinked, before mentally sighing. 'Ah-rumba… Well, time to delete it again.'

He proceeded to do just that, holding his finger on the screen and then pressing the 'delete' button when it showed up.

"Stitch? What's up?" Lilo asked, having noticed that he hadn't followed her.

"Soka! Just had to do something really quick!" He yelled back, retracting his arm to put his phone away.

"Hey, that reminds me," Lilo stopped. "Since we're going to the theatre, you should probably-"

Suddenly, Stitch's ears perked up, and he shushed her. Lilo blinked.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Yeeeeeeeah…"

Stitch's ears drooped.

Great. Mertle and her posse were around. Just what they needed. However, he then heard something else.

"K-K-Kanine…"

Stitch's eyes widened.

"Lilo!" He shouted, grabbing his companion's hand.

"Huh? What is it, Stitch?" Lilo asked, sleepily looking over at him.

"Mertle's at it again," Stitch growled, before leaping away and dashing off on all fours. Lilo stared in confusion for a minute before Stitch's words registered.

"Wait, hang on, what!?" Lilo shouted, running after him.

Running at top speed, it didn't take Stitch long to find who he was looking for, and winced.

He wasn't sure how it was possible, but Mertle got more and more repulsive with every passing day.

Her posse, eh, well, Stitch didn't really bother to remember their names. They were just a bunch of nameless extras to him; sycophants who really only hung around The Thing because she had money. Nothing personal.

That wasn't important, however. He was more interested in who the fetid foursome was surrounding.

A small girl, a little younger than Lilo, was in the center of the group, huddled into the foetal position, covering her head with her hands. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on, and Stitch wanted to put a stop to it.

"C'mon!" Mertle yelled. "What's wrong with you!? Why don't you speak English!?"

Angry, Stitch growled loudly to get the girls' attention.

Mertle turned around.

"Ew," She sneered, scrunching her nose. "It's Weirdlo's ugly dog."

Stitch's eyes narrowed so much they almost closed.

"Stitch!" Lilo shouted, having finally caught up to her friend. "What- Oh, Mertle. What's going on?"

"Nothing that concerns you," Mertle sneered. It was then that Lilo noticed the little girl huddling on the ground behind her. She frowned and glared at the bespectacled girl.

"Leave her be, Mertle," Lilo admonished.

"Stay out of it, Weirdlo," Mertle snapped back. This was met with the posse chiming in.

"Yeeeeeeeah!"

At that, Lilo turned to Stitch.

"You can spit acid on 'em if you wanna," She said. With that, Stitch opened his mouth and began to hock up a loogy. The girls shrieked in terror and ran away.

Having succeeding in driving the bunch of bullies off, Lilo went to approach the huddling girl while Stitch spat at the ground and followed after, ignoring the hole said spit proceeded to burn into the ground.

As Lilo approached, she noticed that the girl hadn't left the fetal position and was still covering her head with her hands. The girl had bushy, messy hair that was barely held down by a paperboy hat, Lilo noted. She didn't recognize her, so she guessed she was either a tourist, or had recently moved there.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked. The girl briefly looked up, before quickly dropping her head with a nearly inaudible "Eep!"

Concerned, Lilo lowered herself to the girl's eye level.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. Hey, are you okay?" She reassured. Slowly, the girl lifted her head. It was then that Lilo noticed that the girl's eyes; striking in color, but clouded over. She was wearing glasses, but it honestly didn't look like they helped much, so Lilo assumed they were for fashion more than anything else.

"Um…" Lilo started, only for the girl to look down again, obscuring her face with her hair.

"K-Kanine…" She repeated. Lilo blinked. What language was THAT? She turned to Stitch, who was already looking deep in thought. After a moment, he went up to Lilo and whispered into her ear.

"Japanese, but it's got an accent, I think. I can't remember what it's called, though," He said, shrugging. "She said 'Sorry'."

"Oh! Hey, you don't have to apologize for anything! Mertle's just… kind of a jerk sometimes, you know?" Lilo said to the girl, who gave her a puzzled look. Stitch scoffed.

'Yeah, "sometimes".'

"Homma desu ka?" The girl said, softly, getting the duo's attention. She was almost whispering, it was so soft. Lilo turned to Stitch.

"English, please?" She whispered.

"'Really?'" Stitch said. Lilo gave him an odd look, so he clarified. "That's what she said."

He then mentally slapped himself, realizing what he'd just said. If Clover had been there, she'd be teasing him for it right about now. Or laughing.

Or both. Probably both.

Thank... whatever higher power was up there that Lilo was too young to know what it meant.

"Oh, um, yeah!" Lilo said, quickly turning to the girl. She held out her hand to help the girl up. The girl looked up again, and blinked in confusion.

"I'll help you up," Lilo clarified. The girl looked at her, nodded gently, and grabbed Lilo's hand. With a hard pull, Lilo helped her to her feet. It was then that Lilo noticed that the girl was wearing what looked like a brown, fuzzy belt, which somewhat clashed with the rest of her outfit.

"Alright!" Lilo said, smiling. "We've gotta go now, so keep outta trouble, okay? Aloha! C'mon, Stitch!" With a wave, Lilo ran off, with Stitch in tow.

The girl watched as they ran off. As she did, the brown "belt" began to unravel from her waist, revealing it to be a long, monkey-like tail.

"…" She looked down at the ground, appearing downtrodden.

She heard footsteps behind her.

"Onee-han!" She heard a voice coming from behind her. She turned to see a similar looking girl with messy black hair running towards her.

"Who were they?" The new girl asked. The first girl looked back at where Lilo and Stitch had gone.

"…Nice people."

Sunday, March 7 20XX (Afternoon)

Music:

~Hawaii~

(Persona 5)

"That was awesome!" Clover cheered as she, Stitch, Angel (all in human form), and Lilo left the theatre.

"I know, right!?" Lilo grinned, nodding enthusiastically. "I loved the part when the wasp mummies started laying eggs in that guy's-"

"Stop! Stop right there!" Angel shouted, throwing her hands out. "I don't wanna get sick again!"

"Oh, c'mon, Angel," Stitch grinned teasingly. "That wasn't anywhere near as bad as that one movie where that cannibal started eating that guy's brai-"

"Stitch!" Angel yelled in a panic. "I DON'T want to remember that!"

The rest of the group started to laugh.

"Why are you guys laughing!? That's not funny!" Angel yelled, puffing out her cheeks.

"Stitchie's right – you ARE cute when you're angry!" Clover teased. Angel had the decency to blush at that, before looking at Stitch.

"A-Anyway, what were you guys gonna do now?" Angel stammered, feeling her cheeks burning.

"Hm… Not much, really," Lilo shrugged.

"Yeah, we didn't have much planned after this," Stitch agreed. "What about you guys?"

"I heard that there was somethin' going on at that one hotel, y'know, the one Nani works at, today, so I was gonna swing by and see what was up," Clover grinned.

"I had a song I was writing, so I need to work on that," Angel said, before pouting. "That is, if I can get my mind off of that disgusting scene!"

Everyone had another laugh at that.

"Hahaha… Ah, alright, I guess this is where we split up," Lilo smiled, before waving. "See ya, guys!"

"See ya, guys!" Clover turned to run off, waving as she did so.

"See you later, Lilo. You too, Boojiboo~" Angel kissed Stitch on the cheek before taking off. Now it was Stitch's turn to feel his cheeks warm up as a big, stupid grin split his face. Lilo groaned.

"This again…!?" She grabbed his hand and started trying to pull on it, to no avail. "C'mon, Stitch! We need to get going!"

"Going… going… going… where?" Stitch said, still in a lovestruck daze.

"HOME!" Lilo shouted, shoving him.

That seemed to snap him out of it, as he jerked around to look at Lilo.

"Oh, right! Home! Yeah, let's go," He said, letting Lilo drag him away.

They didn't get far, however, before they bumped into (literally, in Lilo's case), a young girl with long white hair and clear blue eyes, holding a cootie-catcher.

"Oh-! Oops, sorry about tha-" Lilo started, before blinking. She smiled. "Oh, hey, Wendy. How's it goin'?"

"Ah, Lilo, Stitch," The girl, Wendy (590), nodded in recognition. "Fancy running into you two here."

"Same. We just got done with the new Wasp Mummies movie," Lilo grinned.

"I heard the commotion," Wendy laughed a little, remembering hearing Angel's outburst. She began fiddling with her cootie catcher. She looked at what she got, and frowned.

"Again?"

"What is it?" Stitch asked.

"Prepare for great change. That's what I've been getting all day," Wendy sighed. Lilo and Stitch looked at each other.

"'Great change'?" Stitch asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lilo wondered. Wendy shrugged.

"I don't know. I can't help but feel uneasy for some reason, though…" She looked back. "I feel like we're being watched."

Lilo and Stitch quickly scanned the area, trying to see if there was anyone around.

"...I don't see anyone," Lilo said, after a moment.

"Same," Stitch silently cursed his human form's lack of adjustable vision modes.

"I see... It must have been my imagination, then," Wendy shrugged, putting away her cootie catcher.

"Well…" Stitch scratched his head. "We'll keep an eye out, just in case. If we find anything weird, we'll let you know."

"That… would be wise, yeah," Wendy nodded. "I have to go now. Brother will get worried."

"See ya, Wendy!" Lilo waved.

"Bye!" Stitch added.

"Goodbye for now," Wendy waved, walking off. As she disappeared off into the distance, Stitch placed a hand to his chin.

"Prepare for great change, huh…?" Stitch muttered. Lilo turned to him.

"Pretty ominous sounding, isn't it?" Lilo asked. "Normally, I'd dismiss that kinda thing, but Wendy's got a pretty good track record with these kinds of things."

"Agreed," Stitch nodded. "Like I said, let's keep our guards up, just in case."

"Yeah," Lilo agreed.

As the two turned to leave, they missed the sight of a dark figure, watching over them from atop a nearby building.

The figure looked at where they were heading, before standing up straight and leaping to another building nearby, and again. Occasionally leaping to palm trees, the figure slowly followed the two home, making sure to stay out of sight as they did so.

As she walked back home, a thought suddenly struck Angel. She could have easily made today a impromptu double-date, as awkward as that would've been, what with Lilo around. Normally, Clover would've thought of that. Why didn't she?

Deciding to ask, she pulled out her phone and opened the IM app.

Angel: Hey, Clover?

Clover: Yeah?

Angel: I'm kinda curious.

Angel: We coulda invited Zack to come with us. Why didn't we?

Clover: Blah!

Angel: Oh, I get it.

Angel: You're still mad at him.

Clover: …Kinda.

Clover: He did sort of up and leave on us.

Clover: To space. Without telling us.

Angel: I get it, but I hear your phone goin' off all the time.

Angel: You should probably address that.

Clover: I will when I wanna!

Angel: So, never then.

Clover: Oi!

Sunday, March 7 20XX (Evening)

"Hey, Stitch?" Lilo asked as she walked into the room. She was already changed and climbed into bed.

"Yeah?" Stitch asked, looking over. He was already curled up under the covers, his favorite stuffed turtle lying besides him (The Angel sisters, particularly Clover, Slang, and Fang teased him about it a lot).

"Just thinking, but, um, if you could have anything you wanted, what would it be?"

Stitch paused. That question was a bit out of the left field. As such, he had to think for a moment to come up with an answer.

"Well… I guess… it'd be for everyone to be happy?" He said, shrugging slightly.

"Whaddya mean by that?" Lilo asked.

"Well, you know, just what I said. For all of us to live happy lives," Stitch shrugged. He honestly couldn't think of another way to put it. "Why're you asking?"

"Oh, no reason, I was just curious," Lilo said, rubbing the back of her head. Stitch wordlessly raised an eyebrow, before his eyes widened.

It was that time of the year again.

Tomorrow marked the anniversary of her parent's deaths.

It didn't take a genius to guess what Lilo wanted.

Thinking quickly, Stitch decided to change the subject, hoping to get her mind off of things.

"What do you think that was all about?" He asked. "The whole, prepare for great change thing?"

"Me? Um…" Lilo looked deep in thought. "Honestly, I can't think of anything. I can never think of what'll happen when Wendy makes a prediction like that."

"Same," Stitch nodded. "Too vague."

"Yeah…" Lilo yawned. Stitch did as well.

"Jhua tehrqua, Lilo," He mumbled as he turned over, pressing his head into the pillow.

Lilo did the same, snuggling into her blanket and turning over.

"Good night, Stitch." With that, she turned the lights out.

Unbeknownst to them, however, a dark figure lurked outside the window. The figure first looked at Lilo, a sympathetic glimmer in their eyes, before turning to Stitch. They focused on him for a few seconds, unseen eyes narrowing, before turning away.

"…"

Disengaging from the window, the figure landed on the ring on the outside of the room, before kicking off.

The figure was launched towards a nearby palm tree, kicking off of it and landing on the ground below. Silently, and with startling speed, they raced down the driveway and into the town.

For a short while, they ran, their head turning back and forth between the buildings, as if looking for something.

Finally, something caught their gaze.

"…Ah."

The figure came to a stop. Taking a moment to catch themselves, they looked up.

Before them was the Birds of Paradise hotel. It wasn't especially big, but there wasn't much around it. To the figure, that was perfect.

Looking up, they grinned and closed their eyes. When they opened a moment later, they were glowing a deep, eldritch blue.

"Laverna."

At that moment, the hotel and everything around it began to ripple and distort, before blue overtook the world.

?

Stitch awoke with a start. He had awoken on the floor of the room.

'Oh… Did I fall out of bed?'

Disoriented, he started rubbing his head. As the haze of sleep began to clear from his mind, he started to look around.

Everything was dark. Dark, but still visible, even without night vision. It seemed to be night, still.

'Where… am I?' He shook his head, before looking down at his lap.

'Still in experiment form… is this a dream?'

He looked around. Strange distortions filled his vision. It looked like the 3D effects of an old movie, with blue and red 'echoes' surrounding everything, but he could easily see a bed, with blue sheets. There was a desk off to the side, and what looked like a closet. It was a bedroom, but it wasn't his own. Was it?

He winced, feeling his head begin to throb. He pressed his paws against his head, trying to suppress the dull, throbbing pain.

'This place… T-Taiga…?' The word came to his mind easily. The Taigan base. Where the experiments lived before being dehydrated and brought to Earth following Jumba's arrest. Where he-

His head pounded. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to ignore the sensation of his brain beating against his skull. Slowly, the pain began to taper off. He started to pull his paws off of his face.

Slowly, he looked around once more.

'I've been here before…' He realized. 'Was this… my room?'

As he did so, he heard a voice over what seemed to be an intercom.

"Ships to E-arth will depart momentarily."

Before he had time to process that, the intercom turned back on, only, it was… wrong.

"Ships to E-aaarth will de-e-epa-art m-o-m-e-n-t-a-r-i-l-y…"

"…" Stitch looked up. He felt a chill run down his spine and his stomach dropped.

'I have to get out of here.' He pulled himself off of the ground. Now on his feet, he slowly and shakily made for the door.

Upon leaving the room, he found himself outside. He looked back. He was standing outside of a large building. A housing unit, if he had to guess.

Everything was still dark, but the strange distortions had left his vision. He looked around. He was standing in the center of a large complex, surrounded by a thick covering of trees and other foliage.

'This looks like a residential area…' He took a few shaky steps forward. 'I need to get to the shuttle bay,'

He started to slowly, shakily walk forward. He could see what looked like a port of some kind off in the distance, with a single ship awaiting.

Before he could get very far, however, the darkness suddenly lit up with a deep red light and he froze.

"I remember when we learned that they died… it was raining, and they lost control of the car…"

'I can hear a voice…' He realized. 'Who is it?'

The red light faded, and he started walking once more. As he did so, a brief blue flash lit up his vision. Fluttering before him was a glowing blue butterfly. It started to fly off, towards the port.

'A butterfly…? I should follow it…' Stitch thought, beginning to walk after it.

As he did, the red light filled the complex once more, though Stitch elected to ignore it and continue walking.

"That day I took that IQ test, everyone started treating me differently. I don't want to just be 'the smart one'. I wanna be me."

Looking around, Stitch nonetheless continued on. He came to a door that seemed to be blocking his access to the port. Thoughtlessly, Stitch reached for the handle. As he did so, a brilliant flash overtook his vision.

When the light subsided, he was standing inside the building. Thinking nothing of it, he continued walking, following the blue butterfly, wherever it was leading him.

Red overtook the base again.

"I… I wanna say something, but I can't. Even though I went into space with Gantu, I'm still just a coward in the end…"

Stitch came to another door. In another flash, he found himself outside of it. He could see the ship now. It was almost looming over him, and the butterfly was fluttering towards it.

Red.

"I know it's saved a lot of people, but… why me? I never wanted this. I never wanted to have that monster. And… I never wanted… to lose him…"

Stitch felt a pain. He felt a pain, but he didn't know why. Nonetheless, he continued to walk forward.

The entrance to the ship was right before him. The hatch was closed, but that didn't matter.

He started to walk towards it. As he did, he heard another voice on the intercom. A different voice.

Where are you going?

"Home," Stitch said plainly.

Home? But isn't this where you belong?

There was a pause.

…I see. You're rejecting it.

…

Well, I won't force you into anything.

With a loud hiss, the hatch pulled away from its place on the ship before slowly lowering itself, allowing him access.

Our paths will cross soon. I'll see you then…

White overtook Stitch's vision.

Sunday, March 7 20XX (Night)

Stitch awoke with a start. He had awoken on the floor of the room.

He looked around, and saw Lilo, sleeping soundly above him.

'Must've fallen out of bed again…' He groaned silently before looking around. Everything seemed to be in its proper place.

'I feel like I had the weirdest dream…' He thought. 'What could it have meant?'

His mind still addled with sleep, he decided to just climb back into bed and think about it in the morning.

As he closed his eyes, allowing sleep to take him once more, the room flickered as strange distortions warped the space around him. Then, they vanished as quickly as they came.

Well, that was f*cking ominous.

R&R