Chapter 2: Freedom for Capture -or- Bubbles of a Cobra

KAUAI, HAWAII

Today she was late. Lilo normally was late for many things, but never hula class. Lilo had few things to worry about -she was six after all- so hula was her number one pastime. She had come a good way since she started, back then she couldn't remember important gestures like Hawaii, Pele, volcanoes, lava and mass destruction. Questions like those would usually earn her odd glances from the other students, more particularly Mertle Edmonds. Lilo didn't let it stop her before, so why should this time be any different.

Lilo joined after there teacher Moses was out of sight, moving with the students and professionals like grass in the wind. Gestures, spins, each move in tune with the music. Lilo could do no wrong, except for the puddles that her clothes dripped onto the floor. No one but the drummers seemed to notice the water as the dancers swayed around the stage. Moses took notice of how late Lilo was, but didn't call for them to stop when she joined in. Seeing as she'd memorized the dance, it would be a waist of time.

"He inoa no kilani kalakaua kulele," the students recited until they all -excluding Lilo- fell.

A brunette drummer sitting next to the other ones fought to hold in a laugh. She was smaller then they were but taller than Moses' students. Moses called for them to stop as they stood up. Things were going so well.

"Lilo?" he sighed. "Why are you all wet?"

"It's sandwich day," Lilo explained to him. "Every Thursday I take Pudge the fish a peanut butter sandwich."

"That's nice of you," the drummer told her.

"And today we were out of peanut butter," Lilo continued. "So I asked my sister what to give him and she said a tuna sandwich. I can't give Pudge tuna!" She gestured for Moses to come closer. "Do you know what tuna is," she whispered like it was a big secret.

"Fish?" Moses answered.

"It's fish!" Lilo erupted. "If I gave Pudge tuna, I'd be an abomination! I'm late because I had to go to the store because all we have is stinking tuna!"

"Why is this so important?" Moses tried to calm her down.

"You're not gonna believe this," the drummer girl said more to herself.

"Pudge controls the weather," Lilo said casually.

"Told ya so," the drummer earned an odd glace from the other adults in the room.

One negative comment from Mertle sent Lilo into anger. Pouncing on her like dog, Mertle only panicked while Lilo did her worst. Moses did his best to separate Lilo from Mertle, but Lilo held on with a strength no one really knew she had. The drummer had to assist him in taking Lilo off as she wouldn't let go. She put Lilo down and she relaxed a little. Mertle and the other girls were all in a panic over the sudden attack, which brought Lilo some satisfaction. Moses didn't share the enthusiasm.

"Maybe we should call your sister," Moses surprised Lilo with an almost-threat.

"No!" Lilo's eyes widened. "I just wanna dance. I practiced."

"She didn't do bad at dancing," the drummer told him. "She just needs to get dried up."

"Alright," Moses caved. "But only after she dries."

"Ooh," Mertle winced, "she bit me."

Collective 'ewws' were gathered from her friends. The rest of the class was less peppy after Moses made the call to Lilo's older sister Nani. Anyone could tell that Lilo brought in most of the spirit every time she walked in the doors. The thought of what Nani might say when she talked to her did a great deal to bring Lilo down, a thing that seemed almost impossible for other people to do. So when everyone left for the day, Lilo was one of the last ones out. A figurative cloud following her that made Moses sad when he saw her.

"Your sister said to wait for her here," he said to her. "We'll try again on Sunday."

The drummer girl was the last one out. She locked the doors and saw Lilo walk over to the other girls. She pulled out a green plush toy that made the other girls huddle and cling to their dolls. Lilo talked but the girls got away from her as fast as they could, leaving Lilo alone. The drummer girl frowned when she saw Lilo toss her toy to the ground. She ran over to the toy and picked it up. Lilo stood there unsure of what to do, being taught not to talk to strangers. This girl had been nice to her though, which made her question whether that rule should be broken then.

"You dropped something," she gave Lilo her toy back.

"Mahalo," Lilo hugged it tight.

"What's her name," she asked.

"This is Scrump," Lilo explained what she explained to the girls. "I made her, but her head is too big. So I pretend a bug laid eggs in her brain."

"That's...creative," she shook at the gross thought. "Don't worry, Lilo. Things won't be so lonely soon. Shaka."

"Alright," Lilo started to walk away but stopped. "Hey, how did you know..."

Lilo turned around to see no one in sight, which was weird even by her standards. Lilo hugged Scrump on her way back home. She walked the long path, waving slightly to the people she passed. She had nothing but her military duffel bag, Scrump and her usual red dress with white palm tree flowers. Making her way in the house, Lilo was exhausted. The good the came out of the day was that Pudge got his PB&J and she got to land a few punches and a bite mark on Mertle. The rest left her so drained, she turned on Heartbreak Hotel and laid on the floor.

SPACE -SBS-

The remaining crew of the SBS were following 626's signal. Ramthar was grumbling about regulations and protocol under his breath while he flew the ship. 624 rolled her eyes and mocked him while she followed the tracking device's map. 621 was getting more frustrated by the second while he worked on their communication system. 627 just snored loudly in his bunk, adding to more of the anger at his constant noise. They were so inwardly focused, it took 627 to remind them that there was a message on their monitor.

"Butifa pujara, Kavi," 624 patted him on his head.

621 stopped working so that they could all see the message on the window screen of the SBS. Seeing a large room they were confused, because they only knew few large rooms that were actually allies of theirs. What surprised them more was when the Grand Councilwomen walked in front of the screen. The prerecorded message she sent gave them some time to come to terms with the fact that the Grand Councilwomen wanted to speak to them, further how she even got a hold of the SBS. They received many calls from enemies, but never from the Grand Council.

"I'm sure it comes to no surprise to you that 626 has escaped," the Grand Councilwomen spoke. "You are his allies in crime, which is why you must now bring him back."

"She naga asking us to ikata Khalifaud," 624 shook her head unsure of the Councilwoman. "Isa she?"

"And to reward you," the Grand Councilwomen continued, "we are willing to trade your freedom for his capture."

"Meega naga believe her," 624 told them. "She naga know where Khalifaud isa."

"We believe 626 is going to land on a planet called Ee-arth," the Grand Councilwomen undermined 624's argument. "He's heading towards an island called -how do you pronounce this?- How-ie? I want 626 alive, and be warned Dr. Jookiba has already accepted the offer. Whatever you decide, Councilwomen out."

The transmission cut out and left the four to think it over. Ramthar and 621 already knew the immediate best option, and on Earth they'd be able to respond back to the Council with their answer. 627 was on board with them, evil like this was especially welcome. 624 didn't know exactly what the boys were thinking, but the look on their faces told her enough to know that she wasn't going to like the outcome. Usually she wouldn't bat an eye at the thought of trading in 626, but he was their leader and she knew something bad was going to happen.

"Crabba snabba," 624 thought. "Khalifaud-Huznet-Khalifaud, phaa thoy gho. Meega help yuuga baaheth jihadi ika patooka and toobaga, somehow."

KAUAI, HAWAII

Nani and the social worker walked into the kitchen so Nani could get him some lemonade. Why was there a social worker there to see them? Nani was Lilo's older sister, the social worker was there to make sure Lilo could stay with her only family left -apart from their Uncle Joe. There had been others, many of them leaving after enough time to drive them to near insanity. Lilo was the accidental cause of so many visits, had they gotten good with the first Mr. Bubbles wouldn't be there now. He was specially requested for this family for reasons he was unsure of himself.

"Do you often leave your sister home alone?" Mr. Bubbles asked Nani while he looked at everything in the house.

"No!" Nani denied a little to quick. "Well, except for just now. Uh, I had to run to the store to get some..."

On the oven there was a large pot of...something. In truth, Nani herself forgot what she was supposed to be making. She started before she realized it was time to pick up Lilo. She left the house and ran all the way to the hula school, only to find out Lilo was gone. She raced home and was almost accidentally run over by Mr. Bubbles' car -who she didn't know she insulted when she called him a "Stupid-head". Lilo locking the door and even nailing it shut didn't help the very much overcooked dinner.

"You left the stove on while you were out?" Mr. Bubbles tried not to breath in the stink it caused.

"Just a simmer," Nani obviously lied. "Mmm!"

Opening the pot, Nani saw the most disgusting thing she'd ever had to call "food". The powerful smell alone could cause a stomach problem, so eating it? Thankfully Lilo was there to bail her out of explaining that.

"Your knuckles say Cobra," was the first thing Lilo said to the social worker. "Cobra Bubbles. You don't look like a social worker."

"I'm a special classification," he answered honestly.

"Did you ever kill anyone?" Lilo was curious since he did look like the type to do such a thing.

"We're getting off the subject," Mr. Bubbles tried not to encourage her. "Let's talk about you. Are you happy?"

Nani stood behind Mr. Bubbles to make sure Lilo said what they rehearsed. Eating habits, street crossing protocol, sleeping schedules. At the moment, Lilo was the perfect child -through words. Nani was so excited she put a fist in the air, causing a miss-translation for Lilo.

"And get disciplined," Lilo wasn't supposed to say that.

"Disciplined?" Mr. Bubbles was curious.

"Yeah," Nani tried to make gestures for her to stop. "Sometimes five times a day." Nani gave up and put her head in her fists. "With bricks."

"Oh come on!" Nani thought looking at Lilo.

"Bricks?" Mr. Bubbles found that hard to believe.

"Uh-huh," Lilo pressed on anyway, "in a pillowcase."

"Okay!" Nani pushed her out of the room to avoid more trouble. "Why don't you run along, you little cutie. The other social workers just thought she was a scream."

"Let me illuminate to you the precarious situation in which you have found yourself," Mr. Bubbles used big words to intimidate her. "I am the one they call when things go wrong. And things have indeed gone wrong."

Mr. Bubbles walked into the living room to see Lilo sitting on the floor. With her she had a jar filled with pickle juice and spoons that were dressed like people. She opened the lid and put the spoons inside. She shook the jar harshly and glared at the spoons inside. This had Mr. Bubbles confused until Lilo explained herself, earning her a glare from Nani. Mr. Bubbles made his final assessment of his visit and knew what needed to be done. He reached into his suit's pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Call me next time you're left here alone," Mr. Bubbles gave Lilo his business card.

"Yep," Lilo snatched it not even looking from the jar.

Mr. Bubbles pulled the nails right off the door, something that would've taken Nani hours to do with a hammer. The nails flying caused Lilo to stand up and look amazed. Nani on the other hand was terrified even more now than she was about the visit.

"In case you're wondering," he looked back to Nani, "this did not go well. You have three days to change my mind."

He closed the door and not five seconds after, a high pitched scream filled the air. Lilo ran and hid from Nani as best she could but in the end, she was caught. Throughout the chase, she acted more animal than she did human -which wasn't uncommon if you knew Lilo. So while sharing some harsh words with each other -perticularly selling Lilo for a rabbit-, Lilo stormed up to her room. Both of them needed a break, so Nani took the couch while Lilo layed on her bed. Nani wasn't entirely mad at Lilo though, she was just stressed out that things didn't go well for them -as usual.

SPACE -SBS-

624 didn't like the feeling of betraying 626. He was their leader and had shown kindness to only them, to 624 more than the other males on the ship a large percent of the time. She hadn't asked what their plan was, but she'd been around them long enough to know that 626 was in for it when they land on Ee-arth. 624 wanted to get him some help, so she decided they'd do fine on the treachery without her aid this time. 624 gave 627 a pat on the head then sneaked to her battle cruiser. Putting on her purple spacesuit with a white diamond, she quietly left the SBS.

The crew woke up to find her gone as soon as she parted her cruiser from the SBS. Ramthar saw this as treachery and would've shot at her, if it had not been for their need to save up as much power as they can. 621 wasn't surprised she left, she seemed to think the worst of what they were about to do -a wise thing to do when you hang out with criminals. 627 was -surprisingly- a little sad that she left. She was the only one who noticed when he had something important on his mind, even when "evil" was the only word he could say.

621 and Ramthar knew that it was time to do something they were originally going to wait until they got to Ee-arth to do. But with their numbers getting lower by the stars, they didn't have any other options. 627 stood confused as he watched Ramthar grab a glass of water and 621 grab something out of the cabinet above the co-pilot seat. They agreed they wouldn't do this again, but they needed a little more help to catch the most dangerous creature in the galaxy. 621 dropped a blue experiment pod into the water.

A pod labeled 628.

The SBS may not have had enough power to do multiple things, but the battle cruisers could last as long as the engines or the system was functioning. 624 was set to go to the few planets that they were on good terms with -and that was a very small number- to get some help for 626. She would leave out the part about the reward for 626's sake. She set a course for the nearest star system, but a flash on the monitor stopped her from engaging auto-pilot. She was hesitant but accepted the transmission.

"Hello?" a girl no more than ten years old asked her. "624? Is this coming in clear?"

"Who isa yuuga?" 624 questioned the brunette.

"You wouldn't know me," the girl told her. "Let's just say I'm a friend of 626."

"Khalifaud-Huznet-Khalifaud?!" 624 gave her a wide eyed look. "Wait, how yuuga smish meega?"

"It's not easy," she laughed a little. "But I know a way you can help Sti-I mean...626."

624 was curious now. A human -a creature 624 had never seen before- was offering help. Not only that, she was also a friend of 626's. As far as she knew, 626 had no friends. Allies, sure. Lackeys, 624 technically counted as one. But friends? Anything could happen, but that was pushing logic. Nobody would want to be friends with 626, the feeling was usually mutual whenever they met some new alien. But this creature interested 624 with her plan. It would take time to pull off, but it was going to help 626.

"El kiyotay," 624 smiled at the idea. "Meega in."

A/N: Looks like 626 is gonna have a little bounty-hunter situation on his claws. As for Lilo and Nani, they're going to open the next chapter. And 624, let's say she'd do anything to help a friend -even if that friend is 626.

Disclaimer: Disney & Chris Sanders own the Lilo and Stitch franchise. I can accept credit for the character that comes out of the 628 pod and the drummer girl who interacts with 624 and Lilo -both of those OCs you'll see more of.

Next Time: As 626 lands, Lilo gets the friend she's always hoped for -sort of. Meanwhile, -to help 626- 624 has to break into the Galactic Federation.