Chapter 16: The Hunters' Bounty -or- Crisscross Double Cross
KAUAI, HAWAII
"And here I thought you'd be difficult to catch," Captain Gantu laughed as he walked through the forest to his ship. "Silly me."
"Not so fast, Captain!" Ramthar shouted as he ran towards him.
Ramthar's fist collided with Captain Gantu's stomach, causing him to drop his captives. Lilo and 626 landed safely on a pile of leaves, a few feet away from the scuffle Ramthar gave Captain Gantu. 626 scratched at the net to get Lilo and himself as far away from them as possible. As they continued to brawl, 621 went past them to Captain Gantu's ship. Ripping out a few wires, he was able to send a charge out that zapped the captain. Knocked down and out of breath, he pulled his plasma blaster as a last resort.
The weapon was crushed into a sphere before it blew up, propelling Captain Gantu to his ship. He shook off the dizziness as he stood, straining to clear his vision in time to stop whoever had knocked him down. He tried reaching for the prisoners, only to be held down by an invisible force. He struggled against this, knowing he couldn't fail his mission this time. Whoever was in control saw him reach for the net, pushing him against the ship upright.
"My apologies captain, but we'll be taking him," 628 let him drop to the floor.
"Who…Are you?" Gantu's vision returned to see the controlled of the invisible clutch.
"I am Experiment Six Hundred Twenty Eight," the grey creature introduced herself.
"628?" Gantu's eyes widened. "He's made more?"
"If you are referring to Jumba Jookiba, then yes?" 628 smiled before rolling her eyes. "If you used your brain you could have known there are others. What do you think 626 stands for? Some vacant sixteen story apartment complex I destroyed on the way here?"
626 panicked inside the bag, 628 was trouble. He knew what she was capable of, preferring she stayed dehydrated. Now that he knew she was active, he felt hopeless with protecting Lilo. He wasn't going to stop though, he just needed a hand. 627 provided and extra five as he jumped to get them away from 628. The red experiment growled at them all, stepping back into the forest to free his friends. 628 managed to sneak up behind him, sending the bag out of his hands and unknowingly into the hands of Captain Gantu.
The captain saw his chance to flee, so he snuck past Ramthar and 621 as they watched 628 bring 627 to them. Captain Gantu emptied the net into a containment pod at the back of his ship, surprised he'd caught someone besides 626.
"Well look at this," Captain Gantu laughed quietly to them. "626 you're in luck, I caught you a little snack for the trip."
626 growled at him for even thinking he would do such a horrible thing. Lilo was confused why, since he seemed to want to leave every chance he got. Captain Gantu got some joy out of watching 626 get all worked up, it was one perk to his job.
"Where do you think you're going," 628 forced the captain back to them by her power.
"Unhand me you little trog!" Captain Gantu squirmed. "Do you know how dangerous he is?! Ramthar, get some control over your crew!"
"Hold on," 628 narrowed her eyes at Ramthar. "How does he know you?"
"You never were the smart one, huh brother?" Ramthar glared at Captain Gantu.
628 was quick to understand their relation, faster than a supercomputer intelligence comes in handy when your enemy reveals something that shocks you. Though through her intellect, she was unprepared for 621 blasting her with his teleportation gun. She reappeared a few feet behind them, so Ramthar set his plasma blaster to fire at her. Even 627 suffered the same fate as 628, 621 made sure of it himself. Captain Gantu was free of 628's grasp, standing surprised that his immoral brother had spared him.
"Change in plans, I see," 621 nudged Ramthar in the foot, being much smaller than him.
"I doubt she would have helped us now," Ramthar then turned his attention to Captain Gantu. "I want that reward brother, and no one is going to stand in our way."
"What about me?!" Captain Gantu stepped to his sibling in anger. "What about all the trouble that monstrosity brought me?!"
"Calm yourself captain," 621 scurried to Ramthar's right shoulder. "We can all claim our rewards. We'll be free and you won't be embarrassed we got past you the first time."
"Normally, I wouldn't make deals with criminals," Captain Gantu gave it a second thought. "Although, it would put me in a better position with the Grand Council. Come on, let's deliver 626."
While they prepared to leave, Lani, Nani and Angel searched the area for Lilo and 626. Nani was still apprehensive about knowing of aliens, though she seemed fine around Angel. Not fainting this time, however she did shake every time the pink experiment spoke. She shrieked when 628 landed in front of them, as did Angel. Lani was the only one who wasn't afraid of her and 627's sudden arrival. Lani gasped when she saw 628's condition, Angel gasping for 627.
In the time they've known her, Lani was always calm and collected. Now, she seemed to have snapped at the sight of 628. Angel and Nani couldn't understand why she would care, Angel even wondering what she knew of 628. The questions couldn't be answered as Lani stormed out in front of the ship, her helmet unfolding to cover her face. Ramthar, Captain Gantu and 621 looked between each other with perplexed expressions on their faces. When Lani's hands started glowing, Ramthar and 621 became curious.
Captain Gantu didn't see her as a threat, so he charged at her depending on nothing but brute strength. Lani jumped on his outstretched fist and flipped over him, landing in the hold of Ramthar. She brought her elbows to his chest to send him back, landing in front of 621 and his teleporter blaster. Lani ran, circling him to keep from being blasted. Angel, Nani and 627 sat in the forest amazed at Lani's ability, more so when her suit started producing weapons.
Electric whips like Angel's Ziz-ziz Wisps were the first. Lani twirled them in the air to confuse 621, which worked as he followed her movements to make sure she got blasted. Lani spun in the air and her whip latched onto 621's weapon, sending it to the trees. 628 would have woken up, had the teleporter blaster not hit her on her head. Back with Lani, her hands glowed once again. She held them up to send 621 over to the ship, using the same invisible force 628 had.
Captain Gantu ran at her a final time, only resulting in Lani using her ability to throw him at Ramthar. Ramthar leapt over his brother and ran for Lani, giving her a chance to produce an electric staff. As Ramthar punched, she backed up until they reached the edge of the woods. There sat Angel, 628, Nani and 627, who Lani was certain to protect from this battle. As he went to kick her to the wood, Lani slid under him to stand behind the anthropomophic squid.
Lani used her force to send Ramthar to land along with the knocked over 621 and Captain Gantu. Lani put her weapon away and walked towards them, menacingly so that even they shook in fear of what she would do to them. Angel stepped out and stopped her.
"Lani, naga," Angel spoke calmly. "Naga more. Yuuga naga hurt anyone. Doing butifa make yuuga feel butifa, graazi? Do butifa, Lani."
Angel's words went completely over Ramthar, 621 and Captain Gantu's heads. However, Lani's emotions seemed to shift after considering them. Lani's helmet retracted into her suit, revealing to Angel a smile she'd grown fond of over the past few days. Angel sighed in relief, it almost looked like she lost Lani for a second there. A silly thought really, there was no way it could happen. Lani could never be evil, it's not possible. Lani's warm smile turned into a mischievous smirk towards her attackers.
"Never harm 628 in my presence," Lani sounded almost like the experiment in question to Ramthar and 621. "You may not have Angel to bail you out next time."
Through the whole battle, Nani forgot to look for her sister. It was an honest mistake, she didn't want to drag Lilo into more trouble so she sat until it was over. She spotted her with 626, who scratched at the containment pod to no avail. Ramthar saw her gaze and used his blaster to shoot Angel and Lani away to the forest. He pushed Captain Gantu into the ship for take off. Nani called for them to stop, only for them to zoom away into the sky. 626 was the only one of the two to escape.
"Don't leave me, okay?!" Lilo called to 626.
"Okay," 626 shed a tear as she was abducted. "Okay."
A/N: That battle scene was so fun to plan out! I wanted Lani to have at least one fight, so my brother called my sister and twin to help me actually fight to know what to do here. My brothers were Gantu –older brother- and Ramthar –twin- while my sister was 621. I fought as Lani, just without the Gravity Warping. So yeah, I'd do that again if I could. And as for Lani, maybe they'll think twice before setting off her fuse.
Disclaimer: I'd be rich if I owned Lilo and Stitch. But I don't, so I'm not.
Next Time: Jumba and Pleakley catch up to their target, but will they listen to 626 when he tries to make amends?