A/N: Hello again. Writing all those chapters in such a short period of time burned me out, but I got this chapter finished. This, folks, is when things start to get weird. Not crazy weird, or funny weird, this is still a serious story, but I'm going to start introducing elements that will go beyond the scope of this narrative. Lilo and the others are about learn that this may be more than a simple act of revenge, that something else might be at stake. Again, if you paid attention to earlier parts of the story, a lot of this will make some sense, if you think about it. And if it doesn't, chapter 17 will reveal what you don't figure out.
This came from my mind, and as of my mind it shall remain.
Disclaimer: I don't own Lilo and Stitch.
Thru New Eyes
Chapter 14
To Find Hope
Lilo quickly took to the air as Stitch charged her. I just have to hold him off for five minutes, and Lilith will lose control of him! I just hope I can hold out that long.
Her plan was quickly shattered by a taunt from her nemesis. "Oh, and don't think you can just avoid him and it will wear off. My control over him is as absolute as Victoria's. It doesn't go away."
"What, how are you…" was all she got out before Stitch tackled her to the ground. He then viciously began to tear at her wings. It would have been over then and there, if Lilo hadn't let out a powerful charge in reflex.
Stitch flew back several feet before crashing to the ground. Lilo meanwhile began to tear up. "Stitch, please. Come to your senses."
Stitch quickly leapt back to his feet. "I have come to my senses. I am a destroyer of worlds. You've held me back for far too long. Now I'm going to get rid of you like I should have years ago!"
He charged forward, hell-bent on killing Lilo. Just as he was about to land another blow, Lilo darted out of the way. He then did a quick turn and came at her again. Lilo barely managed to get airborne in time to get out of the way of his flailing claws.
Fear and sorrow wracked at Lilo's heart. It was happening all over again, she and Stitch were being forced to fight. Only now she was on the other end and Stitch was the one under the thrall of evil. Despair filled her, as tears began to fall.
The others meanwhile watched in various forms of horror. For Jason, who so valued freedom, this was the worst thing he had ever witnessed. He welled with hatred for the monstrous being known as Lilith, and yet he was unable to say anything, as he was paralyzed with fear as the black mist continued to squeeze tighter.
Myrtle had become nearly comatose, all the horrible memories rushing back to the front of her mind: the electrocution of herself and her friends, their savage beating, the fear of death. She fully believed that she would die here, that this sick being would make her witness the deaths of her friend and brother, burning the sight in her mind before bringing her a slow and tortuous death.
Richie screamed and struggled, after being so close to freedom, he was determined not to go down without a struggle. All the years of backing down and cowering had built up inside him, and he released it as he tossed and turned and screamed bloody murder. One of his best friends was being forced to hurt the girl he loved, and soon the love of his life would be ordered to kill him.
Jumba watched as he tried to break free, and realized that Lilo was overcome with doubt and despair. She wasn't able to defend herself in this state, let alone fight back. He knew that she had to snap out of if she was to have any chance of defeating Lilith and getting out of here.
"Little girl, listen to me!" He yelled. "You must fight 626 if you are to be having any chance of getting us all out of this."
"But I don't want to hurt him!" Lilo replied as she dodged an attempt to lunge at her from the wall. Stitch then merely got back up and went for the nearest object. He tore off one of the chains from the wall, taking a small piece of the wall along with it.
"Little girl, 626 is not doing this of his own free will, as you were not once. He forgave you then!"
This caused Lilo to open in realization. Stitch was under Lilith's control, and the only way to save him was to stop him so she could be free to destroy her clone. She would have to hurt him to save him.
Suddenly the chain came flying thru the air like a bola, and wrapped itself around Lilo, the force breaking her concentration and sending her spiraling to the ground. Stitch charged forward, intent on finishing the job, when Lilo's wings began to charge rapidly. Just as he leapt forward to maul her, she exploded with energy, shattering the chain and sending her attacker flying.
Meanwhile this brought Lilith no end of pleasure. "So, you're finally going to stick up for yourself and stop letting Stitch beat on you? This should be fascinating to watch."
"Because of you I have to hurt him" Lilo said as she narrowed her eyes in rage, her wings glowing brighter and brighter. "And after I defeat him, I'm coming to kill you."
All the experiments stood in awe as something resembling liquid crystal flooded from Siron's nails and horn. It flowed and warped as it covered his shaking and angry form, as he screamed to the heavens that no harm would come to that small child. His friend selflessly ran into the maw of danger to help someone he cared about, and Siron wasn't about to stand by helplessly. His secondary programming kicked in, as his mind was flooded with information. Suddenly, he was fully aware of all his capabilities, as the liquid around his body formed into a red crystalline armor.
The armor covered him from head to toe, three sets of spikes along his back, the top ones long, and each one beneath shorter and shorter. The armor, being made of artificial, unchipped crystal, looked somewhat jagged and edged in places, but formed perfectly around Siron's body. He looked like a living crystal statue of himself, with glowing yellow eyes.
"Wow, his hidden programming caused that to happen?" Clip said as she stared in amazement.
"I guess I can't call him 'Dork' anymore." Sparky said, his mouth agape. "Man that looks cool."
Siron shot his head back towards the other experiments, and surprised everyone with his next request. "Everyone who's capable of energy attacks open fire on me, right now!"
"What, are you mad?" Clyde replied.
"Why do you want us to do that for?" Heat said. Many were now sure that Siron's hidden programming had conflicted with his original and that he'd gone mad.
But that was far from the truth. In a strange turn of events, it had turned out that his original, logical programming meshed perfectly with his new combat abilities, causing him to be able to form complex strategies in seconds.
"My body has become a living prism, capable of channeling massive amounts of energy. Combined with my nullification aura, which absorbs incoming energy attacks, and I might be able to defeat Lilith."
"And the shield?" Bonnie asked.
Siron merely walked toward the shield. As soon as he got within a foot of it, part of the barrier began to distort and cackle. He then proceeded to stick his arm thru the shield, causing a rift to form. "I absorb all forms of energy manifestations, both weapons and shields."
"So you make all of Lilith's attacks and defenses useless." 625 said as he stepped out of the crowd with Angel at his side. It was surprising to everyone he'd even shown up, but he had figured most of the other experiments had no idea what they were dealing with, and had come to give 'pointers'.
"But why can't we just go with him?" Sparky asked.
"Because the shield will reform milliseconds after I pass thru it, so only I will be able to go." Siron said solemnly. "I will fight Lilith while Jumba, if he's still standing, can get to the shield generator and shut it off."
"And if he isn't?" Clip asked worriedly.
Siron turned back around to face them. "Then let's hope you can give me enough power to defeat her on my own."
Meanwhile, Lilo was in a fight for her life with the last person she ever expected to: her beloved Stitch. She knew she had no choice but to fight, Lilith had robbed Stitch of his free will, but it didn't mean that she didn't hurt inside. Each blast she landed hurt her more than it hurt him, but she had to stop him if they wanted any chance to stop Lilith.
If there was one blessing in all this, it was that Stitch was running on pure hatred and rage. Lilith either refused to, or was unable to, inspire any other emotions. Being so full of hate caused Stitch to be a dangerous killer, but decreased his ability to reason and therefore plan, and Lilo took advantage of it, dodging and weaving, going up and down, and generally running circles around the enraged experiment.
"Come down here and fight you little witch." Stitch screamed as he started ripping up various objects and throwing them at her.
"I think I'll stay up here until you calm down." Lilo replied as she dodged a piece of the container that Stitch had ripped of its hinges.
"Oh, I think your going to come down from there." Lilith replied as she began throwing blasts at Lilo. Lilo was barely able to get out of the way of the first shot and the second shot grazed her right wing.
"Hey, that's no fair!" Richie cried as he continued to struggle against his bonds.
"Oh. You are so right." Lilith said, putting her hand to her mouth. "Lilo shouldn't be flying around up there, Stitch can't get at her." Lilith then charged up into the air and tackled Lilo.
Lilo gave a scream as she struggled with her attacker. Lilith tried to slam Lilo into a wall, but Lilo put her feet out to brace herself, and instead used the wall to shove Lilith away. She then threw a Comet Blast towards Lilith, and even thought it was blocked, the resulting force threw Lilith towards the other wall. A moment before impact Lilith stopped herself in mid-air, and then started to return fire. Soon the room above had turned into a close-quarters dogfight, with each experiment trying to blast the other down. The wall became pitted with blast holes, one of which had actually opened a way into the hall above. Lilo saw the hole and made a break for it; if she could escape maybe she could lead Lilith and Stitch away from the others.
She had no such luck, because waiting for her at the door was Stitch, who leapt out and tackled Lilo to the ground. Before he could go for her throat, she let out another body charge, throwing her attacker back against the wall. Lilo was beginning to get tired, but Stitch merely hopped back up, he was just getting started. Add to that Lilith, who had now decided to even the odds by flying above, waiting to strike if she tried to get away, and Lilo's situation seemed hopeless. To everyone save one person.
"Lilo, don't give up. I know you can do it!" Richie cried out from across the room. "I know it looks bad, but I believe in you. So does everyone else!"
"Somebody's optimistic." Lilith replied as she stopped circling as she stared down at the red head. "Lilo's going to die, and so will the rest of you."
"Lilo will stop you!" Richie cried as he started to struggle against the shadow bonds "You don't stand a chance against her in a straight up fight, because you have nothing to fight for! You don't have a heart. She does, and that's why she'll save us!"
Jason managed a smile, even though he was overcome with fear and anger. Richie had guts, and it made him feel for a moment that they did have a sliver of hope left. Meanwhile Myrtle slowly turned to the sound of her brother's voice, his words lifting her from her prison of fear.
Yet the greatest encouragement was yet to come. And if hit by light, the shadow bonds around Richie dissolved, as everyone, including Lilith, stood in awe.
"I'm free? But how?"
Lilith merely smirked. "So one of you actually figured out how my little trap worked. The bonds that hold you feed off your negative emotions." She looked at Jason. "Your anger." Then she turned to Myrtle. "Your fears." Finally, she looked at Jumba. "And your doubts." She then turned her gaze back to Richie. "Your negative emotions feed my patron, and in turn he makes me stronger as a reward for causing it. But you escaped with your feeling of hope." She said as she began to float down towards Richie. "I can feel the fear and doubt within you, but the hope eclipses them."
She landed right in front of Richie. "No matter what I try, you still hope. You still refuse to give in to despair."
Meanwhile Lilo and Stitch were locked in a death struggle, Stitch trying to claw Lilo to pieces, while Lilo trying to throw him off. She took her chance and drug her and Stitch up into the air. Stitch tried to struggle, tried to break free, but Lilo held on to him and proceeded to charge straight down, smashing Stitch into the floor. She then backed away from him, because sure enough he got back up. Apparently Lilith's mind control could cause a person to fight, regardless of how much they were hurt. But Lilo was ready. She charged up her body and took off at a high speed, ramming right into Stitch as he was getting up. The resulting force left Stitch imbedded in a dent in the wall, apparently unconscious. Lilo gave a tired smile as she stood back up.
"Sorry I had to do that Stitch, but it was for your own good."
"And this is for yours."
Suddenly Lilo was struck from behind by a goop blast. The force knocked her into the wall right beside Stitch. She was barely able to turn around to face her attacker before the goop hardened and she was stuck to the wall. There Victoria stood with the larger goop blaster in hand, an evil look on her face.
Richie saw this, and immediately his heart became heavy. No.
"See Richie, your last hope just got pinned to the wall, completely helpless. And by her former best friend, of all people." Lilith said as she continued to slowly advance towards Richie. Richie in response backed away from the advancing black experiment.
Richie was about ready to give up, when his eyes fell on the form of his sister. Myrtle looked like she was slowly dying, her breathing, once fast from fear, was now slow. The sight restored Richie's resolve; he had to do something to save his sister.
"You still haven't given up yet, have you?" Lilith said as she stopped in her tracks. "All around you people have given up and are ready to die, and yet there is always one who persists to the very end."
"Someone will stop you." Richie said, a defiant look in his eyes. "Even if you kill us, someone will come and defeat you."
Lilith took on a look of mock surprise. "Oh, and just who would that be? The other experiments?" She laughed as she snapped her fingers. Suddenly Stitch woke up and rose out of the dent in the wall. "Don't you think I had a plan for that? Or did you think that government agent was going to save the day?"
Lilith attempted to gaze at Richie, but he shielded his eyes. "That trick won't work on me!"
"Oh, I'm not surprised. But if you keep your eyes closed, you'll miss out of the fun of Stitch ending my lesser's life with his bare hands." She spun around as Stitch began to approach the helpless light blue experiment. "Now that she's pinned down, that will make it all the easier. But I want to wait."
As she said that, Stitch stopped in his tracks. Lilith then spun around to look at Richie, who had diverted his eyes towards the ground. "I'm going to enjoy watching as both of the last miserable sparks of hope are extinguished in this room, one after the other." Then she gave a sadistic grin. "And can you guess whose spark I'm going to start with?"
"Alright, all energy shooting experiments are front and center. Ready to fire on your command." Sparky said as he and over 50 experiments, all with various forms of beams, blasts, and bolts, stood or flew in a phalanx formation.
"Remember to lower your hands when you want us to stop." Heat said as he charged up.
"NOW!" Siron yelled as he raised his disruption barrier. The crowd of experiments opened fire with everything they had, all their energy flowing into 628's absorbing barrier. It crackled, warped, and sparked as it nullified and absorbed everything the experiments could throw at it.
"How much do you think he can take?" 625 asked his girlfriend as they stood on the sidelines.
"He'll need everything we can give him if he wants to stand any chance of destroying Lilith." Angel replied as she watched with worry. "I wonder how she came back in the first place?"
"Don't know Angelcakes. What matters is that we get rid of her before she can do any real damage."
Meanwhile, Clyde was pouring on everything his arm cannon could handle. Although it wasn't near as much as some of the others, he'd brought along help.
"Thanks for letting us help, Daddy." Jesse said as she shot spark after spark out of her gun arm.
James turned to smile at his father. "Yeah Dad, we get to prove to everyone we can help too!"
"The more the merrier, kids." Clyde said as he looked proudly at his two youngsters. "Now lets give this hotshot all the power he can handle, so he can go stop the bad lady."
"Okay!" the twins replied in unison.
Meanwhile, Siron looked like he was beginning to hurt really bad. His abilities did have their limits, and he was fast approaching how much he could absorb. Although his null field could absorb blasts like these all day, he was taking so many in at once. He put his hands down, signally everyone to stop.
"You think you're ready to do it?" Sparky asked.
Siron turned back to look at him. "I'm going into hostile territory, with little or no intel on the situation or the layout of the ship. I have no idea how many people inside are either hurt or under Lilith's control."
"In other words." Clip asked.
"I am as ready as I will ever be." Siron said as he stepped thru the shield.
Clip turned back to Sparky. "Do you think he can do it?"
"Let's hope so. A lot of people are counting on him." Sparky said, as he put his arms around Clip's now bulging waist. "Including someone close to us."
Lilith smiled menacingly at Richie, while Richie slowly backed away from her.
"Well, can you guess?" Lilith said as she stood still. "I'll give you a hint."
Suddenly Lilith charged and knocked Richie to the ground. She then turned back towards Victoria. "We're moving something up. Come here Victoria, it's time."
Richie's eyes filled with fear. This was is it. He tried to back away, but Lilith grabbed a hold of his shirt. "Where are you going Richie? It's not nice to keep Victoria waiting."
His eyes turned back to Victoria, and the large knife in her hand. She was walking towards him slowly, a mad glint in her eyes.
"Richie." She sing-songed. "Richie darling. It's time to go."
Richie tried his best to free himself from Lilith's grasp, but as hard as he tried, she held on tight.
"Richie, it's time to go." Victoria repeated as she closed in. "We're going to be together forever."
Meanwhile, Lilo struggled to break free, while Stitch loomed over her, ready to pounce.
"Lilith, don't do this! Leave Richie out of this! It's me you want!" Lilo cried as she tried to charge up, but she was just too tired.
"Quiet, woman. You'll get your turn!" Stitch snarled.
Tears began to flow from Lilo's eyes. Lilith was about cause Victoria to end Richie's life, and there was nothing she could do to stop her. She could only watch as her best friend became a murderer.
Meanwhile Lilith's eyes glowed black, and Richie's hands and feet were bound by black mist. "There, now you're all comfy for your quality time with your girlfriend." She said as she let go of Richie. "Now you two have fun now. I'll be over here if you need me."
As she stepped as, Victoria loomed over Richie. "I've missed spending time with you Richie." she said as she kneeled close to him. "But don't worry darling, soon we'll have all eternity to spend together."
"Victoria, please snap out of it! You don't know what's your doing!" Richie pleaded as Victoria held the knife over his cheek.
"Oh, I'm afraid I do. Men are so unfaithful. Always looking to see if the grass is greener." Victoria replied as she then took the knife to her arm, and made a gash. She didn't even wince in pain as the blade drew blood. "But in the afterlife you won't leave me. We'll be all we have, and we'll be together forever."
Lilith watched in delight at her macabre play, as the actors played the roles she chose for them. But this was only Act One, there were many acts still to go. Next, she herself would cut out Jason's heart and give it to a screaming Myrtle, followed by driving the knife into the girl's neck, so she'd never annoy anyone with her voice ever again. Then she'd watch as her lesser half is torn apart by the one she gave her heart and soul to, and then Lilith would watch him mourn her death before ending his life. And then would come the finale, when she would bathe her hands in the blood of a child, and call upon the heavens to erase this cursed island forever.
And now came the end of an act. Victoria brought the knife back to Richie's check, as she made a small incision with the bloody knife, she straddled him. Richie screamed in pain as the blade cut his flesh, bringing clapping from Lilith.
"Now our blood is mixed, and we may journey to the next world together." She said as she leaned in close. She put her lips to his and forced his mouth open. She drove her tongue into his mouth, and brought him into a deep kiss. Richie tried to close his mouth shut, but Victoria used two of her fingers to keep it pried open until she was satisfied. She then raised the knife above her head, poising to strike his heart. "Do not cry my darling Richie, you will not be alone long, my master will send me to join you." Richie closed his eyes, waiting for the knife to come.
Myrtle's eyes went wide as she saw the blade poised over her brother's body. Her brother was about to die, and there was nothing she could to protect him. Tears escaped her eyes as Victoria readied to kill.
"Goodbye, Richie."
But before she could bring the blade down, she heard a voice in her mind, screaming out to her.
STOP! Snap out of it!
The voice blasted out the ones telling her to kill, and it felt like something shattered inside her mind. She suddenly realized what was going on, and what she was doing. She welled up with tears. "Richie…"
Richie opened his eyes to see tears streaming down Victoria's face, her arm shaking. "Victoria?" The shadow bonds around Richie faded away, his happiness and relief that Victoria was alright caused them to dissipate.
Victoria threw the knife aside as she clung on to Richie. "Oh god Richie, I'm so sorry." She said thru the tears.
"I'm just glad you're you again." He said, his voice full of relief.
Meanwhile, Lilith stood in shock. "How…how did you break free?" Then her eyes flared black. "No one defies me! I don't know how you broke free of my control, but if won't kill him, I'll kill you both!"
Victoria and Richie turned to see the enraged creature coming towards them. Both cowering in each other's arms; Lilith prepared to blast them both to Oblivion, when another voice got her attention. "Heads up!"
Lilith turned around long enough to get a console in the face, courtesy of none other than Stitch. "Surprise!"
Lilo had begun to tear up as well, Stitch was free of Lilith's control. "Stitch, you…your okay."
"Yeah, but that beating hurt Lilo. You've been practicing." Stitch said with a toothy grin.
"Oh Stitch, I'm so sorry." Lilo replied as tears of joy continued to fall.
"Don't be. You did what you had to." Then Stitch turned to help Lilo free of the goop. Between his pulling and her renewed vigor, she was able to get free. She then grasped Stitch in a big hug. "Owe, Lilo. That area's tender."
Lilo quickly let go. "Oh sorry."
Meanwhile, Jason saw what happened, and his heart lifted. They did it! Stitch and Victoria are free! We stand a chance. The bonds around him melted away, as he shot to his feet.
Myrtle watched as Victoria and Richie cried in each other's arms, and she began to feel her strength coming back. He's ok. My brother's okay. The shadow stuff around her evaporated as tears of happiness fell from her eyes.
Jumba knew however, that this was only the beginning. Lilith would most likely be too powerful for them in their weakened state. No one could reach them for the shield, and a mere hunk of metal was not going to stop Lilith for long.
And he was right. Lilith cast off the metal like it was a cardboard box. Before she was mad, now she was furious. "You think this is over!" she screamed. "This is not over. How did you escape my control!"
"Cause you're a bad person." A small voice said from the side of the room. "And bad people always get what they deserve."
Everyone turned to the source of the voice. On the second story catwalk stood a little blonde head child. His body shook like a leaf, but his face showed determination.
"Chance…" Victoria muttered, shocked.
"Chance?" Richie said as he looked at the little boy.
"What that kid doing here?" Jason asked as he and the others stared at the little boy.
The biggest reaction came from no other than Lilith herself, and it was something NOONE expected.
"You…" she said in an angry sneer, her voice deep and eyes aglow with black fire. "I knew I should have listened to him and killed you first. But I'm going to fix that right now, you little pest!"
Lilith reared back, her hands charged with energy. She then let loose a blast of huge power, headed dead on for the boy. There was no way he'd be able to get out of the way in time, the blast was too large.
Victoria let out a scream of terror. "CHANCE!"
But it was too late. The blast enveloped where the boy stood, the force tearing apart the catwalk.
Victoria fell to her knees. "Chance…he's, he's gone."
The gasps from her friends caused her to look up. There, floating in front of the cringing boy, was what looked to be an experiment made entirely out of red crystal.
"You're never going to kill anyone ever again."
End Chapter Fourteen
Next Chapter
Purpose