Disclaimer: I don't own Lilo and Stitch.
Thru New Eyes
Chapter 7
Confrontations
Lilo was taken aback slightly by the experiment's forwardness. "Hi, I'm Li…I mean Sora, nice to meet you." Lilo didn't exactly know how much this experiment knew about herself or the extra programming she caused to have installed in him, but she figured it would be better if she just played dumb.
"Your real name is Lilo, isn't it?" Siron said with some uncertainty. He didn't recognize this experiment from his mental records, but Jumba could have created more experiments that he had not been told about. But the reaction he received confirmed his beliefs. Her face showed that he had been correct, and his enhanced vision showed him that she changed color slightly, though a normal human, or experiment, would not have noticed.
How much does this new experiment know about me? Man, I hope it can't read minds. "How do you know that? What else do you know about me?" Lilo asked worried.
"I'm sorry if I frightened you. I only know what Jumba programmed me with about you, and what was in his file on you and the LG project."
This caught Lilo's interest. Jumba made a file on me? I wonder what's in it? Information on my powers maybe? Or better yet, a weakness. "You found a file on me? Where was it? What did it have on it?"
Siron closed his eyes, slightly upset. So he kept secrets from her too. I wonder if she even realizes what might happen. How much did Jumba tell her about her powers? Did he tell her anything at all? Has she just been flying blind, like I have?
Lilo noticed the hurt look on Siron's face. "Did I say something wrong? What's wrong?"
"How much has Jumba kept hidden from you? What secrets do you not know about yourself, I wonder. Why does he keep things from us, his own creations?" Siron looked up at her and saw the look of concern on her face.
It was Lilo's turn to look downward at the earth. She felt ashamed of herself. He was talking about his powers Jumba had kept hidden from him. Powers he wouldn't have had had she not gone bad and caused so much damage. So much hurt. Lilith was gone, and she still ruined the lives of others.
Siron noticed that Lilo's fur had grown darker still, and now resembled 626's fur in color. Something was upsetting her as well. But what, he had said nothing hurtful at all to her. Then he realized that she knew more than he thought she knew. She knew about his rogue function, and chances are she blamed herself for it. Jumba had told him one time while they were talking that most creatures were selfish and uncaring, but Siron was no longer convinced that was so. Already in his short time he had met two completely unselfish people. "It's not your fault, you know. I read Jumba's journal, and it was beyond your control. But how do you know that much about me, when we just met?"
Lilo looked up as she replied "I overheard Jumba and Pleakly talking about you earlier today. At first I was angry that he had the nerve to create another experiment, after what happened with me and all, but I listened to how proud he was of you, and how concerned he was when he talked about your…flaw."
"I overheard him too. When he discovered I was listening in, he tried to call out to me, but I ran away. I was afraid he would be mad at me."
Lilo smiled slightly. He's not evil at all, and I don't think Jumba ever intended him to be. He's civil and polite. I wish Stitch would act that way more often. "I don't think he's mad at you. I think he might be afraid for you. Jumba has changed a lot since he first came to Earth, much of it in the last year. But why did you come and talk to me? Jumba told Pleakly that he told you to stay away from me and Stitch."
"I wanted to ask you for your help. Jumba said you helped all of the other experiments find a purpose. I figured you might be able to help me as well."
Siron noticed that Lilo's fur had returned to it's normal hue, meaning she had calmed down. "I don't think you'll need help like the other's did. They needed to find a purpose, a one true place. You already have yours, but something inside you might jeopardize it. We need to find out everything Jumba knows about it, and figure out how to prevent it."
She then turned back to face the ocean as the sun sank down beneath the waves. "And don't worry about why that program was created. If she ever comes back, you won't have to stop her. I will do it. I'll never become that monster ever again, and if someone tries to bring her back another way, well God help them."
The neon lights of the arcade set an excited mood as children happily tried to best each other at various video and skill games. In the corner, Jason and Alex were busy trying to school each other in a game of Guilty Gear X. After a few moments, Jason threw his hands in the air in frustration. "That the fifth time in a row you beat me. Maybe if you'd use someone other than Sol every once in a while, I might have a chance."
"Save it. Ok Chris, you're up next." Knuckles said as he motioned to the other controller.
Stitch just leaned back on a change machine. "I think I'll pass. Go ahead and beat on Jason some more."
"Something wrong dude? Normally you'd be all for whipping it up on us." Jason said as he turned to face his friend. "Something on your mind? I mean we should be excited. Everyone's gonna remember what we did today. It was totally awesome."
"No, it's nothing." Actually, it was far from nothing. Many of the same worries that haunted his girlfriend's mind troubled him as well. Richie knew their secret, and Stitch was worried he wasn't the only one. Myrtle had been giving Lilo dirty looks more than usual, and he'd actually caught her spying on the house a couple of times. Things were getting dangerous, and Stitch was worried how Cobra might react.
Then there was the new experiment, 628. Stitch was still unsure why it was researching itself the other night. Could Jumba be keeping something from it? Stitch knew he should let it go, 628 was just an apprentice for Jumba, but something kept nagging at him that something was wrong and it had more to it. He would have to find out soon. A little late night trip to the ship might clear things up. That's what I'll do, I'll sneak into Jumba's ship and find out anything I can on 628.
"Hello, Earth to Chris. Come in." Jason said as he waved his hand in front of Stitch's face. "You still there, or are your thoughts on a certain someone?" he added with a smirk.
Knuckles just rolled his eyes. "Obliviously Stitch is just deep in thought. You should try it sometime."
"Very funny. Now I want a rematch." Jason said as he put 50 cents in the slot.
Knuckles raised his eyebrows. "You're on."
It was a minute or so later when it looked like Jason was actually going to win, as Richie came up to the trio.
"Hey Richie, I thought you went home. Your dad was supposed to call today." Stitch said he noticed the red head.
"Yo Richie, you want next game? I am so about to beat Knuckles and his cheap moves." Jason said, not taking any attention off what he was doing.
"You haven't won yet." Knuckles replied.
"Jason, I have to ask you something." Richie said calmly. "Why did you and my sister break up?"
Jason went ridged, and Knuckles took his chance. It was over in seconds and he had won again. He smirked and turned to his defeated and stunned opponent, but instead of gloating, he merely said "Told you he'd find out sooner or later."
Jason let out a heavy sigh and turned around. No surprise was on Stitch's face, he had figured it out a while ago. "I guess I have some explaining to do, but not here. Let's go grab some ice cream and I'll tell you what you wanna know."
After the four boys got ice cream for the parlor next door, they sat down at a table in the corner as Jason began to explain.
"It was about a year ago around this time. I was dragged by my mom to one of her female empowerment meetings, guess she wanted to sensitize me or something so I wouldn't be like my dad. My dad, as Knuckles already knows, was a complete sleaze ball. I don't remember him, since he abandoned me and Mom before I was born, but I heard a lot about him from my grandparents. And my mom, but I'm not allowed to repeat the stuff she says about him."
"You're digressing again Jason. I told you about that." Knuckles said as he leaned back in his chair.
"Whatever. My mom became an ultra feminist after that; Grandma says it was to get over Dad and how he treated her. Anyway, I was at the meeting, bored out of my mind when my mother told me I should go over to Myrtle and her friends and socialize a little bit. Of course what she really meant was 'Show everyone what a gentleman I raised.'"
"Then what happened?" Stitch asked, now very interested in the conversation. He wasn't surprised when he found out that Jason had dated Myrtle, but he was curious as to why ANYONE would date her.
"Well, you know the old story. We got to talking, and I guess I figured she wasn't as bad as everyone at school had said she was. When I told her what certain people had said about her, she just laughed and said it was jealous gossip that she wasn't really that mean, she was just a little aggressive, and they were all jealous."
"And you believed her? I guess you also didn't hear how big a liar she is. She'll say anything to get what she wants." Stitch replied as he finished his ice cream.
"Yeah, I guess I should have been more cautious, but I believed her. Then she asked me to the dance, and I said yes. Then she asked if I wanted to hang out with her the next day, and I said yes again. And then, well…"
"Well what?" Richie asked, dieing to know what happened next.
Jason let his head hang low, like he was embarrassed. He even blushed a little. "She kissed me."
"And then you were putty in her hands." Knuckles joked.
"Shut up, Alex!" Jason said, trying to hit Knuckles on the side, but missing completely as Knuckles dodge the blow, like he'd been expecting it.
Like Jason, Stitch didn't find this amusing in the slightest. That's just like Myrtle. I bet she did it so she could control him. "Then what happened? Did she cuddle up to you and ask you to be her boyfriend?"
Jason looked down at the floor. "Yes." He replied weakly. "I can't believe I fell for that! For the next week she had my heart on a string. I did anything she wanted, carry her books, buy her and all her friends ice cream, she even made me ditch Knuckles for a while, because she 'didn't like his attitude.' I was a complete sap."
"But why? Why would you let her do that to you? I always thought you said you were really independent. Why did you let my sister boss you around?" Richie asked, completely engrossed in his friend's tale. He knew his sister was bossy, but manipulative too?
"I don't know even now what came over me. But I guess you want to hear why I broke up with her huh, and why she hates me so much now. Well it was at the dance."
Flashback
The atmosphere of the gym was charged with the excitement of the many children, dancing and talking loudly. It was the first boy girl dance any of them had ever been too, and many of them were taking it seriously, especially Myrtle Evans. She had come dressed up in a sparkling red strapless gown with matching purse, together which must have cost at least 400 dollars. She had just sent her new boyfriend Jason to fetch her drink when she spotted Lilo by herself.
"What are you doing here Weirdlo? I'm surprised that anyone let you in with that on."
As a matter of fact, Lilo was in a gothic looking black skirt and white blouse, which Pleakly had made for her after a design he found in a magazine he picked up from a Hot Topic. Of course, she could have come in anything and still been picked on by Myrtle.
Lilo just ignored her and tried to get away, back into the crowd, but she was cut off by Teresa and Yuki.
"Where going Lilo, back to find your date. Oh that right." Myrtle said, putting her hands to her face for effect, "You don't have one. What the matter, couldn't find a date? Everybody think you're too creepy? Say, why didn't you bring your dog, you take him everywhere else."
Lilo struggled to hold back her anger as she tried to shove past the two girls. "It's all true isn't it? It seems you'll always just be a social outcast, doomed to a life of loneliness."
"Yeah, and you're a jerk." Lilo retorted as she gave up trying to get past the two girls and headed for the door.
Myrtle thought it was high time to bring the fact up that she had a date and Lilo didn't. "Ah, what's the matter, upset because you're dateless? Or that I have a cute date?"
"Jason isn't as stupid as your yes girls, Myrtle. He'll figure out that you're a jerk sooner or later." Lilo said as she dodged around Elena and headed for the door.
"Jason does what I tell him to, and with good reason. I'm his girlfriend." Myrtle said as she turned to face Lilo.
Lilo noticed a reflection in the mirror, and gave the red-head a big smirk. "Not anymore you're not."
Myrtle looked at Lilo puzzled, until Lilo pointed toward the door to the gym. Myrtle turned around to see Jason, with a hurt look in his eyes. Just as Myrtle tried to say something, he bolted, dropping the drinks on the floor.
Jason ran to the restroom and hid in a stall, trying to fight back tears. He would have started to cry, but he heard someone speak to him. "I told you she was trouble."
"And I should have listened to you, Knuckles man." Jason replied with his head hung low. "Can you forgive me for ditching you these last few days?"
"Already done." Knuckles said as he leaned just outside the stall. "And I know what you're thinking."
Jason narrowed his eyes in anger. His heart was torn to pieces by the words of the evil red-headed harpy. What he was thinking was just one word. "Revenge."
Myrtle and her friends had spent the better part of and hour searching for Jason. They finally found him over by the soda machine, a soda in hand, talking to Knuckles sounding as depressed as he could be.
"Sweetie, there you are. I was worried you had gone home by yourself." Myrtle cooed as she tried to grab Jason's arm. Knuckles shoved her away from the distraught boy.
"Get away from him; you've done enough damage already." He said as his eyes narrowed.
"Listen, Spy Boy, I'm here to apologize. I got carried away and said some things I didn't mean, you know?" Myrtle then turned back to Jason. "I'm sorry Jason."
Jason turned around and opened his eyes. "Yeah, I know." He then tore the top of the can and pointed it at her. Apparently he'd taken his rage out on the can, and it was REALLY shook up. The soda dosed Myrtle and her friends and the group collectively shrieked. "I know that we're finished."
Knuckles chuckled as the two boys ran out the door. Meanwhile Myrtle was screaming at him, but neither boy cared. They just ran as fast as they could, into the night.
End Flashback
"Wow, so that was what happened. I guess Myrtle wasn't totally wrong in blaming Lilo for your breakup." Richie said as Jason finished recalling what had happened.
"Wait a minute. She blames Lilo for all that? She was the one who said that Jason was her puppet." Stitch said, angered that Myrtle would accuse Lilo of breaking up her relationship.
"And I have question, Richie. How did you find out about all of this? I highly doubt your sister told you." Knuckles added.
"Well, I kinda read her diary." Richie said embarrassed.
"Whoa, way to go Richie!" Jason exclaimed as he kneeled in closer. "So, she got any juicy secrets in there?"
"None that I saw, it was mostly boring stuff." Richie replied.
"It figures. An airhead like her probably wouldn't bother to write anything interesting down anyway." Jason said as he stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm gonna head home, it's getting dark. See you guys at school tomorrow."
"Yeah see you later." Knuckles replied as he followed suit.
As the four boys left the building, Richie grabbed on to Stitch's shoulder. "I need to tell you something, Chris."
Stitch turned around to face Richie. "Yeah, what's up? Something you need to tell me?"
Richie turned his gaze to the ground. "Yeah. I lied about not finding anything in Myrtle's diary. I think she might be on to you and your family. She kept talking about how she was going to get revenge on Lilo by exposing her family as aliens."
Stitch's face took on a serious tone. "Thanks again Richie. I suspected she might be on to us, but now it seems she's out to get Lilo. I'll have to tell her we have to be more careful. I'll see you at school, ok."
"Ok." Richie replied.
"Thanks for keeping our secret Richie. It means more to me and Lilo than you might ever know."
Siron had just left the beach where he had spoken to Lilo. Even though they had just met, and he was designed to be able to hurt her, she was still willing to help him. He walked along the path in silence as darkness fell around him, when his keen eyes noticed someone sitting on the bench. Someone small in a funny yellow hat. Chance was apparently starring up into the sky. As Siron drew closer, he noticed a serious look on the little boy's face, like something was wrong. "Chance, what do you see up there that warrant's such a look?" he called out to the boy.
Chance's face immediately took a happier tone upon hearing the voice of a friend. He turned to face Siron as he reached the bench and sat down. "The stars are wrong." he replied.
Siron gave the boy a puzzled look. "The stars, are wrong?" He looked up at the sky and his computer brain quickly checked over the positions of the stars. They were right where they were supposed to be. "The stars seemed to be where they are supposed to be this time of year on this planet."
Chance turned his gaze back up to the sky. "That's not what I meant. Something's wrong. The sky looks bleak. But I can't tell what it is yet."
This seemly strange behavior concerned Siron. What was wrong with Chance? What did he think he saw? Siron looked back up to see the sky was perfectly clear. The full moon shone brightly in the night, and the stars twinkled. "I can't see anything. What do you see up there that concerns you?"
Chance brought his head back down. "I guess it doesn't matter right now. It will revel itself eventually."
Siron was growing more confused by the minute. Was Chance mentally ill? He seemed to be functioning perfectly, but the way he spoke, he was completely serious about this. "I don't understand, what's wrong?"
"I can't describe it, really. I just get this feeling when I look up into the night sky. Sometimes it's good, like the night before I met you. And sometimes it's bad. It's been like this ever since the accident."
"What accident? What happened?" Siron asked as he turned to his young friend.
"It's been almost two years since then. It was back when I lived in Memphis. I was playing in the yard when my ball bounced onto the sidewalk. I was scared it'd go into the street. I was only 4 at time, and I wasn't allowed to go into the street."
"With good reason, a car might have hit you. Did one?" Siron said with a bit of sadness.
"The man was on something, I don't remember what it was, though Mommy told me later on. He ran off the street and hit me as I got my ball. Mommy called an ambulance while Jon dragged the man out of the car so he couldn't run away." Chance looked to the ground as his voice became sober. "I died. Mommy said I didn't, but every time I ask her, she can't look at me. For a moment I was dead, but something pulled me back. It didn't let me leave. It made me live. I overheard the doctors at the hospital. They said I should have been dead instantly, the way I was hit. But I wasn't."
Siron knew that it was possible to die for a few moments then come back, although it was highly unusual. But the way Chance described it made him think. For a moment, he too thought there was more to it, but his rational mind put it aside.
The two sat silently for a moment, and then Chance spoke. "So, what did you find out about your hidden power?"
Siron sighed heavily. "More than I ever wanted to."
"What do you mean?"
"I discovered my hidden powers come with programming that could overwrite my current personality. I don't want to change into some berserk monster, but who knows what will happen if the program activates." Siron said sadly.
"That sounds bad. But it may not be as bad as you think." Chance replied as he fiddled with his shoelaces.
"What do you mean? How could any of that possibly be anything but bad?"
"Things have a way of surprising you. Perhaps, one day, your powers maybe the only thing standing between you and something horrible." Chance said as he turned to face Siron. The look of seriousness had returned, but Chance didn't seem as tense as before.
"Something horrible?" Siron replied. Could he mean Lilith? How could Chance know about that? Jumba never mentioned anything about him in his notes about that day and no one else was ever supposed to find out. But Chance has said he had bad feelings before, could he? "Chance, when was the last time you had a bad feeling when you looked up at the sky?"
"A bad feeling like now? The last time was about six months ago, but this feels worse. A lot worse." Chance said as he looked back at the sky. "To tell the truth, the bad feeling never really went away after that, it just became weak for awhile. Sometimes I couldn't even feel it, but I can feel it now. I think it might be the same thing as before."
Things made less sense by the minute. It could be possible that the accident Chance had given him some sort of extrasensory perception, and that he sensed Lilith the first time. But he said the bad feeling never left, even when Lilo became good again, which means Jumba's fears may be coming to pass. But how? What does all this mean?
"Destiny. Siron, only you can do what you can do, whatever it is. Things happen for a reason, Jon told me that a long time ago. He said that when the time came, if you listened to your heart, you'd know what to do, and things would turn out alright in the end."
Then Chance rose from the bench. "I have to go home. If I'm out to much later, Mommy will be really mad."
Siron sighed. "Yes, and I suppose I should head home too. I have a lot to figure out, and tonight a friend and I will be going thru more of Jumba's files, in hopes of finding out the truth." He then rose from the bench and headed in the opposite direction. As soon as he was out of hearing distance, he spoke to himself "I can't expect Chance to understand the situation I'm in, he's only a small child. I'd better head back to the ship, Lilo will probably be waiting."
As the two figures went their separate ways, Chance looked back on the experiment, and smiled. I might just understand more than he knows.
Meanwhile, across the galaxy, on a large cruiser ship, a group of alien scientists was going over their work, which floated in a large tube filled with green liquid. The men turned around when they heard the door swoosh open.
"Good evening, Dr. Hamsterville. How are you this evening?" Said one of the scientists.
"Enough with the pleasantries, where is my creation?" Hamsterville said in his normally sour tone.
"The clone is right here sir. She is progressing rapidly and should be ready for programming in a few days." Said another scientist.
"Good, good. And what of the data charts. You are certain the clone will have none of either her predecessors' personalities?" Hamsterville replied, his mood obviously happier.
"She will have no memories of the original, as we originally stated, and the programming should make her completely loyal." Said the third as he brought up the proper charts.
"Excellent! I will then be leaving you to your work gentleman." Hamsterville said as he left the room.
A few hours later and only one scientist remained on duty. Suddenly one of the atmospheric charts for the chamber spiked slightly. "That's odd, I wonder what that was." He proceeded to check over everything, and could find nothing wrong. "Oh well, I guess I'll go over it again in the morning."
Just moments after he left the room, the lights flickered, and inside the chamber, a small snake-like shadow creped around the clone's neck. Awaken; be free of your bonds. Remember who did this to you. Make them pay.
And then, Lilith's eyes shot open. Oh don't worry, I will.
Back on Earth, Myrtle was all smiles when she entered her room to write in her diary. Her dad had called earlier, and he was coming home! But that could wait. Thanks to Richie, she'd finally got what she wanted. She took her diary out of her special place. She knew Richie had read it, and he WOULD pay for it later, but he had inadverantly led Myrtle to what she desired.
When she discovered someone had gone threw her window, and that Richie's notebook was gone, she instinctively looked to where her diary was kept. It was crooked. She threw a fit and ordered the girls to help her find Richie. He was going to pay dearly for reading her secrets. Yuki went to Jason's, Elena to Victoria's and Teresa to Alex's, thinking that's where he might be. Myrtle went to Lilo's house to see if he was with Chris, and to see if she could finally get some dirt on Weirdlo's alien family. And boy did she. As she approached the house, she saw Lilo standing outside that weird side house thing, which Myrtle now knew was a spaceship. Suddenly, Lilo started to concentrate and was enveloped in a bright light. In her place stood a creature with wings that looked like Lilo's weird dog with hair. Myrtle practically skipped home with her new found dirt on her enemy. The other girls never found Richie, but Myrtle didn't care anymore. Now she could make Lilo pay for what she did.
Dear Diary,
Today I found out Weirdlo's darkest secret: not only is most of her family aliens, she is too! I've finally got the dirt I need on her, but I won't stop there. Oh no, I'm going to make sure she suffers ten times what she made me suffer when she broke me and Jason up. Not only will Chris know his girlfriend is a monster, but the whole island, no, the whole world will! Then they'll take that freak away and lock her up in some government facility or something. Maybe they'll even dissect her.
Diary, I'm not just going to destroy her relationship. I'm going to destroy her life.
End Chapter 7
Next Chapter
According To Legend