Stitch's Revolution

by Bennie Stardust

A reimagining of Lilo & Stitch and its sequels. In deep space, a revolution made of genetic creations mercilessly attacks the expansive Galactic Federation. Sensing betrayal by their creators, a small band of revolutionaries breaks away, only for one to find himself stranded on Earth, where a lonely young girl gives him a far greater victory than the one he was fighting for.

13. Reunion

A brief Author's Note before the chapter begins:

Greetings, Readers,

To those of you who have been following this story for some time, I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. My schedule has been rather hectic these past few months, what with balancing a multitude of projects at school with a wonderful yet exhausting job as a roaming entertainer at a local Halloween theme park. Thankfully, though, everything is all caught up and, so long as I have a say in the matter, Chapter 13 and onward should not take as long as this one did.

I'd also like to take a moment to all those who follow, favorite, or otherwise keep up with There's Always A Light. Your support and feedback is a huge part of why I love writing this story and writing in general. Because it's been such an uncommonly long time between Chapters 11 and 12, why not, in your review of this chapter, also add what your favorite part of the chapter was and who your favorite character is at this point. Thanks again to those of your who leave feedback, both site users and guests. It really means the world to me.

Now, without further ado, I'll let you get to what you came here for...

Chapter 12:
Reunion

I

At the very least, the planet's sun was the perfect temperature. As 221 waited on the bottom step at the Pelekai house's front, he enjoyed the soothing warmth that wrapped over him like a coat. In his service to the Rebellion, he had been on planets that cooked him like carved meat and others that made him feel as frigid as a corpse. Despite the frustration strangling his brain, the electrician still appreciated that his faithless comrade had been marooned on such a perfectly warm planet. He noticed a particular warmth beneath his feet, and looked down to observe the material, a bizarre mixture of solid and soft, that made up the planet's surface. Upon pushing his feet into the sand, 221 discovered that it was incredibly malleable. He entrapped some of it with his acicular toes, then released it again. Then he trapped it again, and released it again, over and over until he heard a slight creak on the steps behind him. He turned his head with all the swiftness of an evasion, hoping, but not confident, that it would be Stitch, having realized the error of his ways and ready to earn a glorious victory for the rebellion. Instead, he found only Lilo, standing just two steps above him, holding a fork and a bowl of some smoking white substance and looking only somewhat hesitantly at him. Despite the Experiment internally admitting that anyone defeated by a mere spray of water would not seem intimidating, he still loathed her for her bravery. He didn't say a word to her; he simply scowled and turned away, no longer interested in grabbing the sand with his feet.

"Hi, Sparky," The girl greeted kindly despite the cold shoulder she'd received.
"Not call meega Sparky,"" The electrician demanded without facing her.
"Alright," Lilo sighed, finding his rudeness to be equal to that of three Mertles."Are you hungry, Two-Thousand-and-One?"
"221!" Now the Experiment directed his glare at the girl.
"Well, if you used a real name instead of a number, it would be way easier to remember," Lilo retorted.
"Naga hard,"
"Would you remember someone if their name was Nine Hundred Fifty Two Thousand Trillion Eight Million Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty One?" Lilo had nothing but 221's wordless glare for a few seconds.
"Yes." His curt response was ignored as the girl handed him the bowl of smoking white mush. "Hm?"
"I thought you might be hungry, so I saved some mashed potatoes for you," Lilo answered cheerfully.
"Naga." The irritated Experiment turned away again.
"Come on..." The girl scooped a forkful of mashed potatoes and held it near 221's airtight lips. Knowing that the electrician would not willingly grant the mushy meal access into his mouth, Lilo moved her free hand's wiggling fingers towards 221's fuzzy belly like insidious arachnids. 221 was too focused on looking away from Lilo to anticipate her guileful tickle attack. His laughter began as only a snicker through his teeth, but Lilo wanted a wider opening. When the Experiment moved his arms to defend his stomach, Lilo's fingers moved to attack the spot where his neck met his right shoulder. This proved to be a weak spot, as it created a heaving laugh that opened 221's mouth for just three seconds; plenty of time for the girl to swiftly spoon-feed him a bit of mashed potatoes. The tickling ceased, and the electrician's glare returned, albeit with a fork poking out of it like a silver tongue. Had Lilo known that his laughter, which rang with an electric buzz that made it higher than 221 would prefer, would conclude so quickly, she would have savored it longer. She felt accomplished, though, when the antisocial Experiment pulled the fork from his mouth, took the bowl from Lilo's hands, and emptied its contents into like garbage into a truck. As the hot meal slid down 221's tongue, he confessed internally that Earth's produce was one of its exceedingly few redeeming qualities.

"Where 626?" 221 questioned impatiently after swallowing, being faster than Lilo to restart their conversation.
"He's still eating inside," The girl answered, seeing that it would take more than a bowl of mashed potatoes to break this Experiment's stubborn hide. "He missed you, you know,"
"Yes; try to punch 221 and miss," He growled.
"No, he really did miss all of you. He always tells me what great friends you all were; how his girlfriend showed him how to fight, and the cool, spooky one who can change shape-"
"What 626 say about 221?" The electrician asked with a lessened grunt. Lilo smiled at 221's improved tone.
"He says you're really funny," She replied sincerely. "And that you're real brave, like when you all fought that assho-um, that stupidhead 627 for the first time,"
"He say that?"
Lilo nodded, smiling as the Experiment's glare faded like a setting sun. "He said that he saw 627 holding onto your ankle while you were flying around. Stitch told me that he would've been screaming, but you were telling 627 off the whole time." She was greeted by a proper smile, almost as grand as his buzzing laughter. Unfortunately, like the laughter, the smile died young.
"626 still like us, why not come back?" 221 inquired sternly. So much progress, Lilo thought, right down the drain.
"Well...What's that big thing you guys want to beat?"
"Galactic Federation,"
"Yeah, that's it. I guess he just doesn't want to beat them anymore,"
"Why not?!" The electrician raised his buzzing voice. Lilo's answer was not immediate.
"...I guess there's something else that he wants even more,"
"More?!" 221's exclamations clashed with the softness of Lilo's voice. "What? You?!" His statement was like a projectile.
"Well, why do you want to beat the Federation?!" The girl blocked the projectile with a titanium shield.
"They hate us! Think they can beat us!"
"Only because because you hate them and beat them up!" Lilo matched the revolutionary's ruthless tone.
"They have to learn! Learn that we better!"
"And who told you that?!"
"Jumba-" It was here that the electrician seemed to have frozen himself with his own words. Lilo was more than prepared to keep contradicting, but she could tell by 221's widening, sky blue eyes that she would not have to.
"Jumba what?" She pressed when the horrified and enlightened expression was static. Once she had spoken, the electrician resumed his glare and turned away from her again.
"Go away," He muttered lowly. Despite his growl, he could tell that Lilo had not even motioned to leave, but with a rear of his head and a small storm of sparks around his narrowed eyes, that was soon changed.

221 was allowed to be alone with his thoughts, which throbbed in his brain like an extra hideous heartbeat. He struggled to discover any other inception for his revolutionary motivations beyond Jumba's commands. He briefly considered that it was the encouragement of his comrades that had sparked his interest, but then he thought further; what had sparked theirs? He was positive that he wanted the Grand Councilwoman dead, and for every Federation flag across the quadrant to be seen coated in fire, but so did Hamsterviel, Jumba, 625, L.E.R.O.Y.; people whose selfish stratagems had benefited from bending his and his allies' animosity. The golden Experiment leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees and folding his fingers in front of face, which drooped like melting ice as his brain selfishly abandoned it out of its own turmoil. Hamsterviel was imprisoned and Jumba was dead for making him fight for their rebellion, so why did he keep indulging in what he hated them for?

"Does 221 want to come see Pudge?" A voice that sounded similar to Lilo's, but much more mature, inquired behind the lost electrician. He barely shifted.
"He just wants to be alone right now," This was Lilo's voice. "How come you're coming, Nani?"
"Well, I've never actually seen Pudge. I really should start, right, Stitch?"

"Uh...Right..." The traitor's voice, of course. Is traitor the best word, the electrician pondered, still giving no bodily hints that he had registered the Pelakais' appearance. He may as well have been part of the stairs. 221 couldn't help but notice hesitance in Stitch's answer, as if Nani had nearly stumbled upon something he would rather she not see. A few minutes passed after the blue Experiment and two humans left 221's company, and not only was he still a statue, but his brain was no less tangled than it had been since he had shooed Lilo away. Finally, he realized that sitting idly was fruitless; following Stitch would at least provide more exercise. To his fortune, footprints like small craters in the sand had been left for him, leading him around the house to an area shaded by tall palm trees like towering umbrellas.

A crude dirt path was made out between the short walls of bushes that curved beneath the trees. At the very end of the path, which sloped downwards, 221 could see the heads of Nani and Lilo on either side of Stitch, whose head was hung, not unlike 221's own head had been not too long ago. It wasn't long before Lilo extended an arm around her alien friend, and in response, his head perked up and turned right, revealing a smile to the intrigued electrician. The smile let loose a huge, sopping tongue that thanked the young girl with a dripping kiss. The elder sister then scooped them both up like burlap sacks, setting them on her lap as they all shared a hug. 221 was further mystified by the family's joyous behavior, especially after considering his own behavior for the past few hours.

The electrician briefly surveyed his most immediate surroundings, noticing something neither wood or leaf behind one wall of bushes. Smitten with curiosity, 221 pushed his way through the leaves, discovering a lonely tree, tied to which was a tall, white board with a scarlet border, defaced by melancholic black paint. The Experiment initially believed it to be graffiti, but then he read its text; Lei and Akela Pelekai, The Best Anyone Could Ask For.
He was intrigued even more as his brain untangled ever so slightly. A memorial, he thought, and it's just a board. It seemed crude, but 221 could not help but feel a genuine aura of melancholy around it, as if he were floating in the deepest regions beneath this planet's ocean. He then thought of how 501 and 502 had been memorialized, and saw only an agonized glare with just one intact eye. He didn't feel like he was floating anymore; he didn't feel anything.

Suddenly, there was a whirring sound 221 recognized as the silencing thrusters of a pod. The electrician abandoned the isolated memorial to find exactly that; a pitch black pod lowering in front of Stitch, Lilo, and Nani. Despite the urgency he felt to reach his former comrade, 221's feet refused to leave the sand. The pod's door swung open; both Experiments' hearts skipped a beat, anticipating the eventual outrage of an appalled 624 or an infuriated 621. They both exhaled with relief when a wavering green trunk poked out of the door instead.

"Aloha!" Lilo chirped as 10 stepped out with the intention of greeting only Stitch. The medic was surprised as he was met with an admittedly soothing scratching behind his left ear from Lilo. His face flushed with red as his throat rumbled with a purr that was beyond his control.
"Are you another one of Stitch's cousins?" The young girl inquired merrily.
"...Cousin?" 10 repeated slowly with confusion, momentarily silencing his accidental purr.

"Yes, 10 is cousin," Stitch answered for his old ally. "Stitch tell you about him. Remember?"

"Oh! Yeah, now I remember!" Lilo declared merrily as she continued scratching behind 10's ear. The medic's purring was now accompanied by a light tapping from his foot, which became surrounded by a thin cloud of sand.

"Is he like Sparky, Stitch?" Nani quietly asked the blue Experiment.

"No," Stitch shook his head with a smile. "10 is good. He make Experiments better when hurt. Like helping more than hurting,"

"Oh, good," The elder Pelekai said with a comforted breath.

"626..." 10 began as Lilo continued to pet him. "Why is this human so happy to see me? I mean, not that I'm complaining, it's just..." He trailed off into another purr.

"Lilo, 10 want to talk,"

"Oh, sorry, Stitch," The girl ceased her petting, and 10 silenced his purr as the sand cloud abandoned his calmed foot. The medic smiled shyly at her before returning his attention to Stitch. "Have you seen 221?" He inquired.

"Yes," The blue Experiment answered stolidly.

"I'm right here, 10." The mentioned electrician hovered swiftly but reluctantly into the group. "Is everyone getting impatient?"

"A little bit," The medic answered with a slight chuckle. "624 especially," He said to Stitch. "She's been doing backflips and frontflips at the thought of seeing you again." 10 spoke with the timid smile that Stitch only now realized how much he had missed, but this news stirred a distasteful brew of guilt and hesitance within the former terrorist's stomach.

"But Stitch doesn't want to go back," Lilo told the medic firmly. He gave a small jolt at her defiant statement.

"Oh..." 10 frowned and looked to his feet, then looked up at Lilo again, and then turned to Nani. He faced Stitch once more. "The people down here are probably nicer than us, huh?" He surprised both of his fellow Experiments with his glum confession. 221's clawed fingers tangled with further uncertainty, while Stitch turned to his former comrade like a driving parent glaring over their shoulder at a noisy child.

"See?" He whispered crossly. "He gets it." Stitch turned back to 10, not replying or even shifting a facial muscle for a few seconds. He received concerned looks all around. Lilo and 10 both simultaneously opened their mouths to ask for Stitch's response, but then his lips curled into a confident smile like a ribbon being tied over a present, which he promptly gifted to 10.
"You see, 10," The blue Experiment began, surprising 221 with his polite tone. "I've already said all this to 221, and now he's just sticking around until I agree to come with him. But you turning up has made me think about something,"
"Oh," The medic said, confused. He looked at 221, then at Lilo, then at Nani, and then returned to Stitch all in just four seconds. "And, uh, what's that?"
"That, at least, I should come and tell the others that I'm not coming back to the Rebellion." His smile persisted, while 10's ajar mouth was temporarily wordless.
"...Alright," He finally said. "I'm not sure they'll be happy, though,"
"That's understandable," Stitch replied, still smiling. "But all the same...Hey, I could even drive there. How far is your new base, anyway?"
"It's, uh, just above the clouds," 10 answered hesitantly. "We thought we'd lower the new base a little to make the trip here and back shorter,"
"Oh, cool,"

"Can I come too, Stitch?!" Lilo requested eagerly like she was begging for a turn on a roller coaster.

"Yes-Oh, um..." Both the girl and her alien friend turned to look up at Nani, who did not remotely seem to be considering the endeavor.

"It won't be safe," The elder sister denoted firmly. "Remember what 627 was like? These other ones are probably just as bad,"

"But 627 was the last one," Lilo objected as respectfully as she could, hopeful of maintaining her streak of days of low volume with her sibling. "There's no way Stitch's other cousins are worse,"

"And Lilo help Stitch beat 627 and Sparky," Stitch added, wrapping one arm around his best friend and holding her close. The three Pelekais were internally surprised when the electrician did not correct his former comrade.
"Might help beat other ones if they try to fight." Despite these arguments, Nani was not yet persuaded. "And Stitch will protect Lilo. You know that. Cousin try to hurt Lilo, Stitch break cousin's nose." The other two present Experiments jolted at the casual promise; 10 also gripped his smooth trunk protectively. Nani let out a sigh of defeat.

"I do believe that," She admitted. "But I'm coming, too,"

"Okay," Stitch nodded. "Just go up, tell cousins 'no', then come back. Easy." He held an arm out towards the door as he shot an innocent look at his supposed cousins. 221 was the first to enter the pod, followed by 10.

"Can I sit next to 10?" Lilo inquired.
"Why?" Stitch inquired back.
"I, uh...Thought he might want another scratch behind his ears..." Stitch rolled his eyes playfully and then turned to the trunked medic. "10?"

"Yeah, 626?"
"Lilo wants to know if you'd like to be scratched behind your ears some more?" He smiled when 10's green face turned scarlet.
"Um...I guess it's alright..." He answered quietly. Stitch held an inviting hand in the the green Experiment's direction as he smiled at Lilo, who merrily hopped in and immediately resumed her massaging of 10's head. Likewise, the medic resumed his purring and his foot, without ground to touch, resumed tapping. Nani and Stitch followed closely after the child, with the former revolutionary landing behind the semi-circular wheel.

As the pod ascended carefully, 221 observed the purring 10 out of the corner of his eye, smiling wider than he had ever seen in his whole life. He thought of asking Lilo for a similar scratching behind his own ears, but the words only stayed and grew unpalatable in his mouth like a poisonous pill in a traitor's teeth.

II

Back on the sandy Earth, Stitch had felt optimistic about encountering his old allies again. As he exited the pod to a round and shut metal door, however, his confident smirk became more difficult to maintain. When Lilo and Nani exited the pod, they stayed close to him, while the two other Experiments approached the door. Stitch saw 10 push a small, red button to the door's left, and his stomach dropped like a boulder into an abyssal sea as the metal parted to reveal the next room. 10 might have been the first to enter, had he not been halted by something wet and indigo touching the length of his trunk.

"Oh! Sorry, 10!" 624 declared urgently, taking her nose away as both she and the medic became bright red. "I thought you were 626." She couldn't help but laugh at her own mistake, and Stitch, Lilo, and 221 couldn't resist the urge to join her.

"Heh, well, I'm not," 10 responded timidly with an embarrassed smile pushing up his crimson cheeks. "He's, uh, over there..." He pointed a clawed thumb in the blue Experiment's direction, where 624 looked with a beam that could make the sun appear dim. She was right in front of him after one ecstatic hop, holding her arms out like a massive blanket for Stitch to warm himself with.

"C'mere, you!" The plucky revolutionary enveloped her long lost friend in an airtight hug, deliberately separating his feet from the floor. Stitch found his arms automatically reciprocating, although not as passionately as he would have many days ago. His heart was pounding like a tsunami, but in a very different way than 624's.
"Oh, there's so much we have to show you!" She announced merrily before rubbing her nose against Stitch's.
"Yeah, Sparky's told me a bit," He replied as 624 let him down.
"Sparky?" She tilted her grinning head with curiosity.
"221, I mean," Stitch chuckled to disguise his error. He was surprised that his lover had not noticed Nani or Lilo, the latter being greatly entertained by 624's euphoric behavior. "I just called him that as a joke a little while ago,"
"Oh, okay." 624's head became vertical again. "Hey, everyone else wants to see you, too. Come on!" She took him hurriedly by the hand and took 221's and 10's hands with her two wavering antennae. In her excitement, she still did not notice either Pelekai, so they were made to follow after the quickly departing Experiments. Thankfully, the sprint concluded immediately after turning right out of the pod docking bay, where they entered a cylindrical room with a pit-like middle, making the rest feel like a ring-shaped balcony. There was an enormous computer screen across from where the sisters stood, and a wall of seemingly science-fictional weapons not far from it. What really riveted them, though, was the crowd of smiling Experiments of every shape and color surrounding Stitch. Lilo and Nani noticed a short one with tall ears and green fur pat Stitch on the back, and another one, with a body like a stick, shake his hand using one of his four own. Lilo's favorite, though, was the bright green one that was stuck at the back of the crowd, whose body extended to reach Stitch and greet him with a hug looser but every bit as warm as 624's. Lilo thought that this one, with white fur encompassing his face and with three droopy fins on his head like a jester's cap, would be a perfect clown. If only his nose were huge and scarlet instead of green and medium.

"If I might painfully intercede this joyous reunion," 300, curled between the crowd like a snake taller than it was long. His typically trench-deep tone rang with a chuckle, and a smile was noticeable upon his watery form. "Did you, at any point, come across 627?"

"I did, actually," Stitch answered sincerely, as he was rewarded a break from the ambush of handshakes, pats, and hugs. "Gantu showed up, too. He wasn't much of a problem. As for 627, I actually got him to think that he killed me,"

"Ah," The shapeshifter responded with enlightenment. "Yes, I've known that to be quite effective,"

"Look at Mr. Clever here," 624 merrily ruffled the fur on her boyfriend's head, much to his internally confessed pleasure. "We never needed to worry at all, did we?"

"Well, I did have the best teacher," Stitch complimented, but he immediately regretted it when he noticed the plucky Experiment's beam grow as thanks; it would only make his goodbye more agonizing for her.

"Now, I've a choice for you, my friend," 621 began with a smile that belonged to his face like a prisoner to an invader. "What shall we do first; find the Captain on the planet below and ensure that he's punished completely, or celebrate with something I'm told the humans call 'booze,'"

"With what?" The returned revolutionary raised a befuddled eyebrow.

"221 mentioned it on his way out, said it's supposed to be good for celebrations. For victories," The marksman turned to his golden comrade, who had remained atypically quiet. "221, explain it to him,"

"Oh, uh," The electrician had been caught off guard by the request. "Well, you drink it, and, uh, you feel dizzy, but in a good way. Like, super strong,"

"Oh," Stitch wasn't convinced. "What does it taste like?"

"It tastes like..." 221 found no comparisons. "I can't remember,"

"Well, there's only one way to find out," 621 declared in a chirp that was owned by his deep, commanding voice as much as his smile was by his face. "We'll head back down there, find some of it, and then get completely-" He marched excitedly between his returned allies, with the minute pod bay being his destination. He halted, however, when he saw two thin, furless creatures who looked nothing like Experiments, and thus, exactly like foes. The marksman's borrowed smile melted off his face like wax, revealing his traditionally vengeful scowl. His upper-left hand seized the blaster in the left of his gunbelt without a moment's consideration. The barrel was pointed at the floor, but 621's shoulder was itching to pivot.

"Whomata youga?!" He demanded of the sisters, who heard his volume before his foreign words. When he was answered by silence and paling faces, he turned to the three most recently returned Experiments.

"Who the hell are these creatures?!" The marksman questioned, pointing a claw back at the humans.

"The small one's Lilo and the bigger one is Nani," Stitch responded genuinely, but not before exhaling an anxious sigh.

"Alright," 621 growled, his sharp teeth peeking from beneath his lip life a monster's red eyes in the darkness of a cave. "And what in the galaxy are they doing on our base?"

"I brought them here," Stitch surprised himself with the swiftness of his own answers, especially since his heart was lodged in his throat. He walked coolly around his former comrade to be in front of his new family, just in case anyone were to take a petty swing at them. He briefly scanned the clawed fingers of each member of the Rebellion; were any of them to maliciously approach that direction, they would be snapped like a twig, he hoped, without a second of hesitation.

"Because they asked me to," The blue Experiment continued. "You see, I've lived with them since I crashed on that planet, and they've been very nice to me. So nice, in fact, that it made me think,"

"About what?" 345 inquired, his chin resting upon his index finger and thumb, both of which Stitch had only just imagined breaking. Looking at the clown's white face, however, the blue Experiment was shocked and pleased to find his eyebrow raised with sincere curiosity. Aside from the complacent 221 and 10, everyone else appeared either amazed and disappointed or furious like a ticking bomb.

"About my life," Stitch answered his rubbery predecessor. "And what I want it to be about. And, no offense to all of you, but I like what this life is about..." He pointed two clawed thumbs back at his Ohana. "Better than that one." He pointed straight at the Rebellion, whose expressions were unchanged, aside from 345, whose eyes widened, like they had been struck by a bright light.

"You're kidding, right?" 149 inquired with frustration. "After all the shit that we've been through to find you?! You know we nearly died, like, three times! Just in the past few days! That's what it took to find your ungrateful ass!" She pointed a scathing finger at the blue Experiment, whose fists clenched in the hopes that doing so would keep his expression consistent.

"I appreciate all that, but-"

"Oh, shut up!" 624 exclaimed as furiously as she had spoken to L.E.R.O.Y. This now broke Stitch's expression; his eyes widened and his jaw lowered. Lilo and Nani could scarcely understand the alien language of the argument, but their spines shivered at the sudden anger of someone they had seen express such heavenly joy.
"Don't give us that bull!" 624 went on, stepping forward to stand next to 621, their glares and battle-ready posture reflecting each other. "You really think we'll accept that after all we've been through?! 'Oh, sorry guys, I know you went through hell to find me, but I've decided to betray you for a couple of peasants. See ya!'" She wasn't sure if she had struck herself or Stitch more maliciously.

"You're ill, 626," 300, who hovered about his green and pink comrades like a monstrous shadow, scolded lowly. "Or should I say, Stitch,"

"Stitch?" 150 repeated with confusion. There was no malevolence in his tone; he stood at the back of the group, the furthest from the debate.

"After scanning their minds," The towering telepath explained. "I've discovered that he's accepted the new title of Stitch. Care to assume who suggested such a name?" The Rebellion, save 221, glared at Lilo. She would have turned to ice were it not for the saving graces of 10 and 345's curious eyes.

"You're right, 300," 621 growled. "Our supposed brother is ill..." He stopped, allowing his brain to speak before continuing. "And we have ill people on board, don't we?" Every Experiment, a nodding 300 excepted, turned to the marksman with a look of shocked reluctance. "You remember, don't you? You remember what we did to them,"

"What are you talking about, 621?" Stitch demanded.

"Oh, surely 221 or 10 told you what's become of most of our enemies," The four-armed terrorist began, his growl turning into an ominous sneer. "They not only drove 89 mad from birth, but found it more productive to let him gather dust in a hidden closet than to end his pain, one way or another. Hamsterviel, L.E.R.O.Y., and 625 all condoned this, so we decided they should spend some time with poor 89," His eyes narrowed as Stitch's widened with fear. "A particularly long time,"

"What if they try to kill him, though?" 624 inquired, momentarily concerned again for her former boyfriend.

"Oh, we can break their bones..." The marksman suggested. "Again...Or kill them and just let 'Stitch' sit with three corpses and a madman. I'm open to either option..." He made his way towards his former ally, whom he had once run back into an exploding ship to rescue. "No matter what, it should get the point across,"

621's approach was abridged, though, as a wall suddenly existed between him and Stitch. A wall whose green-furred arms stretched between the two opposing sides like a shield for only one.

"Get the fuck out of my way, 345," 621 commanded through clenched and pointed teeth.

"Well, now I'm really not gonna if you're gonna use words like that," The clown responded lowly. He sported what everyone present believed to be his very first scowl, and it was returned from many angles. 10 and 221, however, were shocked, while 150 merely scratched his head with his flesh hand. Stitch, Lilo, and Nani all beamed at the rubbery Experiment's intercession, Lilo brightest of all. 345 turned to his blue ally as his arms shortened to their default length.
"626, uh, Stitch," He began kindly. "I've actually been feeling a little let down by the Rebellion, too. You think, maybe, uh, that I could go and stay on Earth with you and...?" The clown looked to the Pelekai sisters, their names evading him.

"Lilo and Nani," Stitch responded with a smile. "Of course you can." He turned his smile towards Lilo. "Can 345 come stay with us?"

"Oh, sure," The girl chirped. "I mean, uh...If Nani says it's alright,"

"I don't see anything wrong with that," The elder sister smiled down at the elastic Experiment, who beamed at both of his new friends in reply.

"None of you are going anywhere," 621 interjected as his shoulder fulfilled its desired pivot, aiming his blaster at his four newfound antagonists. "I thought we talked about this, 345, but I guess I was just wasting breath,"

"Yeah...You were." Now it was 10's turn to break away from the Rebellion, taking a spot next to 345 and in front of a beaming Lilo.

"Oh, come on, 10!" 624 exclaimed in outrage, a tone which she would last imagine targeting at the timid medic. "Not you, too!"

"I'm sorry, 624," The trunked Experiment responded sincerely, with infinitely less defiance in his voice than the other two traitors. "But 345's right...I was made to take care of you all when you got hurt. I'm not like you guys; I'm not used to going out and beating people up and...Killing them all day. And when we...When we killed Jumba, I...I didn't like him at all, but still, killing him that, that...Slowly..." He exhaled more noisily than he intended to. His eyes shut briefly for a momentary break from the multitude of scowls and displays of clenched teeth. When he opened his eyes again, he found the remaining revolutionaries' eyes all on him, and they were all aflame. He knew that they almost always were, but now that they were directed at him, he could feel the fire licking him, making him sweat like a melting candle.
"Maybe you guys think that's okay, but I don't," 10 continued, hoping he could maintain his rebellious tone. "I just want to help my friends and...Stitch and 345 are much better friends than you right now!"

"For Bowman's sake, 10," 300 scolded, his yellow eyes narrowing at the third traitor. "Don't be a...What is the name of that Earth animal that is herded easily into large groups?" He inquired to his more loyal comrades.
"A pig?" 149 suggested.
"No, it's a different one,"
"A sheep?"
"Don't be a sheep, 10," The shapeshifter returned his furious attention to the defiant medic.

"Excuse me, who's a sheep?" Stitch stepped forward. "Because there's still something I don't get about the rest of you..." As he spoke, he was ignorant of 221, who seemed to hover a few steps away from the rest of the rebellion loyalists with a look that contradicted the many barrier-like glowers.
"You hate our creators so much that you killed one of them and are, I guess, torturing the other one," The blue Experiment continued with a condemning point of a clawed finger. "But you only want to crush the Federation because they asked you to!"

"Shut up!" 621 commanded. His volume was not maximized, but it harmed all opposing ears regardless. "Whatever the reason, what we'll do with the Federation will mean so much more than your brainless pussyfooting about with those...Things!"

From where 221 stood, he could not see every Experiment at the same time; he had to turn his head to examine each side. Mere minutes ago, he was infuriated by Lilo's mere presence. He would have sided with 621 in a heartbeat, and yet now he found himself practically standing in No Man's Land, incapable of detecting his home trench. Had that been how Stitch experienced it; just a few minutes? The electrician looked at his former ally, who he had recently dubbed an unexpected traitor. Despite Stitch's appalling misdeed, though, he had still converted not one, but two Experiments to his unthinkable new ideology with scarce effort. Does that make him right, 221 pondered. He looked back to the rebellion, all of them glaring with fire-orange eyes. They looked even more enraged than they did before murdering Jumba. It was worse than rage; it was disgust. Does that make them right, 221 still thought. The golden Experiment remembered how this dispute escalated; 'I appreciate all that', Stitch had told his former comrades. How had he been responded? 'Don't give us that bull.' 'You're ill.' Only after that did Stitch regain allies, or, rather, the rebellion lost them. 221 thought further back to his duel with Stitch at the pool hours ago. The blue Experiment had been joyous to see him; it was only when 221 attacked Lilo that the battle commenced. Even now; the only one aiming a weapon was 621. That settled it for the electrician. Without waiting another second, 221 took a firm step towards 621 and, with his back foot, kicked the blaster out of the marksman's three clawed fingers and into the air above them all. As the weapon came plummeting back down, everyone dispatched a hand to claim it on its way down. It was ultimately caught by the tallest creature in the room; Nani, who pointed it at 621 without even thinking to. At first her heart pounded as the Rebellion's glares became focused on her; like an army unit of Cobra Bubbles'. When she found the approving beams both nearer and in a greater quantity, though, the elder sister shook her fear away and pointed the blaster more strictly. 621's mouth promptly curled into a smile, and not one that Nani would be comforted by.

"Ballista naga hart meega," He told her in his native tongue. His villainous smirk faded with annoyance when his words were lost on the human. A more patient Stitch turned around to translate.

"Gun hurt humans," He explained. "Not cousins." As he denoted Nani's solid expression melting into disappointment, Stitch failed to notice 621 reaching all four of his arms towards his distracted target. It did not matter, though, as 345's fist was in the marksman's nose before Stitch could be grabbed. The infuriated terrorist stumbled backwards, his nostrils dripping blood like thick, crimson tears. When he looked up, he and the rest of his rebellion pounced at the traitors, who did likewise, not caring which former ally they ended up striking.

III

"Are you sure this is the correct ship, Mr. Terrance?" Captain Gantu inquired, hoping that his assured tone would mask any inward hesitance. Though the architecture of the pitch black vessel was familiar to him, he couldn't shake the feeling that an old or brand new antagonist would lunge at him at any second. Gantu only hoped that the crimson Experiment guiding him through the halls was sincere about their deal.

"Positive, Captain," 627 answered lowly. "It's weird that it's above Earth; I know that it was much further away. I'm hoping that Dr. Hamsterviel's just moved closer to pick me up, but keep your guard up, just in case..." The assassin moved through the halls with a vertical and casual disposition, conflicting with the giant Captain's hunched, blaster-gripping posture.
"So if I lead you to Dr. Hamsterviel and Dr. Jumba, you'll help me kill the rest of their so-called Experiments?" 627 looked over his shoulder to make a sincere inquiry.

"Of course," Gantu answered, keeping his voice down. He stepped more shortly than he would prefer so as to avoid kicking the crimson Experiment, who only reached the soldier's shin.
"Thank you..." 627 looked forward again, but turned back all too soon. "If you don't mind my asking...Never mind,"
"No, it's alright. Go on." Whatever the question was, Gantu knew he would find it more comforting than the suspense 627 would have left him in.
"...Did you ever meet the parents of that boy?" The shorter creature continued. The Captain knew exactly which boy he meant.
"I did," He answered before too long. "And...They were far angrier than I thought any creature in the universe could be,"
"Angrier than even I was?" 627 questioned further, his expression far from the described emotion. Gantu hesitated in his answer as his mind flashed back to agonizing memories that he knew would soon be recreated.
"Even angrier," He finally answered softly. It was then that 627 turned towards a doorway on their left.
"It's a good thing that everything in here is just your size, huh, Captain?" The assassin stated as they entered the room, which ended at a wall of screens showing rainbows of Experiments that did not make 627 cringe as much as the ones he knew.
"This is an old Federation vessel," Gantu responded. "We stand for equal representation of all species, so there are ships made in all sizes. You'd be surprised how small they can get," He smiled, hoping to ease the tension for at least a few seconds. He failed.
"Yes, I know, Captain," 627 replied firmly. "I had a friend who joined the military. He told me all about things like that, such as that neck pinching trick,"
"I see," The massive officer muttered, feeling more ashamed than he felt he should at his botched attempt at humor. He shot a momentary glance at the screens several feet in front of him. His small, black eyes landed on one near the top center, which displayed a short, violet Experiment with thick muscles who was content to show all four of his arms, which were coated in bright red blood like warm sleeves. Gantu exhaled carefully, as if a mistake in his breath would cause the ship around him to combust. "What was your friend's name?" He questioned his newfound ally as stolidly as he could. "I might've known him."

627's mouth opened to answer, but another, stricter voice called out instead. A voice with a thick German accent. "Terrance!" The recent partnership turned left, finding a certain sanguine-coated creature with towering white ears tapping urgently against the glass which imprisoned him. With only a second's hesitance, the crimson creation darted concernedly to his architect.

"Dr. Hamsterviel!" 627 exclaimed when he was right beside the glass cell. "Who put you in here?!"

"Who else?" The scientist growled. "The separatist filth, having deduced our whereabouts thanks to Number 300's probing of L.E.R.O.Y.-626's mind. But never mind that, just free us! The keys should be-" He was not allowed to finish; 627 decided instead to cut an Experiment-sized hole in the glass using the scorching beams that leaped from his eyes.
"...Completely unnecessary," Jacques concluded his interrupted sentence. He stormed out through the smoking hole, closely followed by a quietly chuckling L.E.R.O.Y. and a more audibly laughing 89.

"Hello again, Daniel," The madman exhaled, leaning in much closer to 627 than the assassin would prefer. "And again, and again-"

"Hello, 89," The red Experiment brushed past 89 to look inside the glass cell, just to ensure that nobody had been left behind. As it happened, 625 was still inside, standing at the very back, his fingers gripping one another, it seemed, just for the sake of gripping something.
"Are you coming out, 625?" 627 asked softly. He received only blank blinking in response. "It's okay," He continued, keeping his voice as somber as he could. "I'm going to punish them. I promise, they won't get away with what they've done to you." The chubby Experiment still did not move, making 627's head throb with a dreadful heat that he could not classify as either empathy or heightened fury.

"Terrance!" Hamsterviel's ruthless tone cut into 627's attention like a knife into an envelope. "What in the cosmos is this worthless stain doing on my ship?!" The crimson assassin knew he was referring to Gantu.

"He helped me get up here," 627 answered curtly as he turned around, finding Gantu's mellow frown a contradictory reflection of Jacques' reddening, toothy glare.

"We have a common enemy, Jacques," Gantu added peacefully. "The Experiments who've betrayed you-"

"We don't have a common enemy, you simpleton!" The scientist retorted scathingly. "We have two completely separate inconveniences caused by the same people! Mine and Jumba's rogue creations deter you because you represent the Federation's military, which they want to smite as much as I do! They deter me because their disloyalty can lead to exactly the situation I find myself in now; with the military right at my doorstep!" It was here that something like a match was lit in Hamsterviel's brain, and his twisted imagination was the explosive. He went silent in lieu of Gantu's frown, 627's glare, L.E.R.O.Y.'s sickly entertained smirk, 625's idle stare, and 89's momentary grunt of anguish, and then his lips curled into a grin like a general being brought an elusive prisoner.
"But that shall be dealt with swiftly and in due time," Jacques continued quietly, just below the volume which anyone except L.E.R.O.Y. and 89, who stood right beside him, could hear. "Come, now, before they find you've freed us." The malicious scientist turned and marched out the room's exit, his coat's tail waving as he began. 89 and L.E.R.O.Y. were the first to follow, while 627 and Gantu hesitated.

"Don't worry," The assassin whispered as he placed a comforting hand on the dispirited soldier's calf. "You're a big guy; he can't do anything to you." He earned a sigh in response; one which sounded like it had been struggling to hold up several tonnes and had finally given way.

"That's exactly the problem," Gantu muttered before following his supposed foe into the hall. 627 did likewise, but not before giving a last, concerned glance at the petrified 625. The crimson creature made for the front of the group; Hamsterviel. By then, they had entered a room 627 had ignored upon returning to the base. The room's left wall touched a silver shelf that was not particularly tall, but was long enough for its display of completed or fragmented metal items to be considered part of the wall itself. The very end of the room was home to a machine like a flying saucer. It had an Experiment-sized dome that was connected to an array of thick pipes stretching into a rainbow of sizable canisters behind the saucer-shaped machine. The most striking inhabitant of the room, however, was the massive dome at the right wall, jade where it was not gray and bleeding incomplete wires.

"So, are we gonna finish this thing ourselves, then?" L.E.R.O.Y. inquired hesitantly upon seeing the mechanical dome.

"What do you mean ourselves?" 627 responded, confused. "Isn't Jumba going to?" His eyes widened in realization before anyone could even think to answer him. The clone's face went pale while Hamsterviel simply turned and stormed towards the shelf of various metals. 627's fists clenched beneath his hung head as they radiated a sickly green.
"Every minute, those bastards just give me another reason to want them dead,"

"Indeed, Daniel," Jacques replied mellowly, putting more attention into taking a small, grey, metallic off the shelf than enunciating his sentence.
"But we shall do right by Jumba, especially with this new asset you've brought me,"

"Asset?" Both 627 and Gantu repeated with the former stepping closer to the soldier, whose hand gripped his blaster. It meant nothing, though, when Hamsterviel threw something from the box like an invisible dart, landing on Gantu's leathery forehead without the slightest vibration. The towering Captain became a vacant-eyed statue almost immediately after the chip had settled upon his head. His black eyes were practically dead.

"Now, you oversized imbecile," Hamsterviel snarled like a tiger approaching the back of an unsuspecting deer. "Release your blaster." As commanded, Gantu's hand returned to his side without a second's reluctance. Aside from the soldier himself, 627 was the only one in the room not smirking like a sadistic child being gifted a sharpened machete.
"You will accept the new title of Private," Jacques continued with malicious glee.
"I accept," Was the immediate reply. Gantu sounded as firm as ever, and yet something strangely robotic rang in his voice that sent a chill down 627's spine.
"And you will refer to me as Captain,"
"Yes, Captain,"
"Now, most importantly, will you act as I command you to?"
"I will, Captain,"

"Ooh, how long have you been working on this, doctor?" L.E.R.O.Y. inquired with sick delight.

"It's a little side project I've been working on since just after Number 624 was completed," The scientist explained proudly. "I thought of her ability to manipulate others through singing, which descended from 300's telepathy and the mental control given to 150 over his prosthetic left hand. I considered the potential of such control if I could place it over someone like, well, a small chip on their head." He turned to 627, who was motionless in his wide-eyed, guilt-flooded stare at the docile Gantu.
"I must thank you for bringing me such an ideal test subject, Mr. Terrance,"

"Just don't make him hurt himself," The assassin pleaded peacefully to his creator.
"Ooh, now there's an idea," Hamsterviel tapped his fingers against his chin like an ominous wave of cruel imagination.
"He hasn't done anything to you," 627 urged more strongly, pointing a demanding claw at the crimson-coated scientist. "I don't like you controlling him, but I'll play along if nothing happens to him-"
"He's not done anything, you say?" Jacques repeated, his sadistic smirk fading into a glare that 627 had dished aplenty recently, but had not received in ages. "On the contrary, he's done far too much for one lifetime,"
"What do you mean?" 627 raised a hesitant eyebrow.
"...No, I didn't think he'd tell you," Hamsterviel responded glumly and quietly, as if his sentence were not meant to be part of the conversation. The words stirred in 627's head for just a moment, and then his eyes widened with realization. The tale of the unlucky boy in the museum unraveled again silently in the tall crimson ears, while the mental image of the child, once envisioned as a generic and featureless face, morphed slowly into a terrified one that was almost a reflection of the white-furred, red-eyed one currently glaring in 627's direction.

"Captain Gantu..." 89 laughed a laugh that was almost a groan as he slithered in front of 627. "Gavrillo Princip...Khan Singh..." The madman stared right into his successor's paling face with eyes that seemed to have no lids. 627 did not look directly into the cracked, reddening eyes, but beneath them, he noticed a few drops of transparent liquid escaping like civilians jumping from a scorching building. The assassin then glanced upwards, finding the scientist, his glower intensifying, bringing up his gloved hand to do to 89 what he had just done to the docile captain. The thought to either halt Hamsterviel or restrain 89 passed fleetingly through 627's mind, but his hands felt no urgency towards either action. It didn't matter; 89's left hand shot backwards and caught Jacques' forearm without so much as blinking. The madman continued to stare with his damp eyes at 627, despite the crimson assassin not antagonizing him whatsoever. As Hamsterviel reeled with shock at 89's speed, L.E.R.O.Y. moved to grasp and bend the madman's elbow in the wrong direction. 89 was quick to move the targeted limb out of harm's way, though, and he retaliated by chomping at the clone's extended arm. The black claws barely eluded the sickly, yellow teeth.

"Don't worry about helping me, Dan," L.E.R.O.Y. grumbled sarcastically to the idle assassin.

"Private!" Jacques ordered at his gigantic zombie. "Restrain Number 89!"

"Yes, sir," Gantu answered firmly before kneeling down in an attempt to pin the madman beneath one muscular finger. 89 looked right up at the descending finger like a falling bomb, but at the last few seconds, his insane grin fled in lieu of a pained clench that made him clutch his head and scream. He was soon helpless beneath Gantu's massive finger. Everyone around him believed that 89's bony arms would not be enough to free himself, but the madman was not allowed an attempt before his creator successfully placed the diminutive mind control device upon his head. There was another blood-curdling scream, causing even Gantu to barricade his ears. When 89 silenced, though, his cheeks stretched into the crazed grin they had grown so used to bearing.

"Number 89..." Hamsterviel began quietly, lowering to one knee to look at his failed creation. "Will you tell me...Where my enemies are now?" The answer was not immediate.

"Fighting..." 89 finally spat with a deranged chuckle. "A civil war...In the far West wing, near the pod bays where they first entered,"

"Ah..." Jacques clasped his gloved hands together in conniving delight. "Private, release Number 89, if you please," He commanded with a sinister grin as he stood up. Gantu obeyed. "A civil war, you say? This may turn out better than I hoped." Hamsterviel let loose a villainous chuckle as he tossed and caught his final mind control chip like a coin. He turned to his two red henchmen, the older of which was looking considerably grimmer than his smirking successor.

"Now then, Mr. Terrance," The scientist began with a confident sneer. "Do you still hunger for justice?"

627's first reaction was to glance up at Gantu like he was a ship carrying away a loved one. The Captain did not reciprocate the look. The crimson Experiment sighed wearily as he turned back to his ominously grinning creator. 627, still with a look of sorrow upon his furry face, held his claws up in front of him as they began to illuminate green with sizzling plasma.

"Yes..."

IV

"You know, you're not really making me wanna stay with you guys," 345 denoted calmly, despite his body curling like an acrobatic snake to avoid the plethora of thick, scaly arms that 300 grabbed at him with.

"You have yet to fail," The shapeshifter responded lowly, sending more lizard-like arms, like enormous and skintight gloves, splitting from his left. "Once you have..." He slithered right as the clown cartwheeled left to avoid the hands, landing in a handstand as he did. One set of claws clamped shut around 345's ankle like a well-timed trap, making its captive yelp.

"Then you will repent." 300 returned all of his arms to him before they vanished into his watery body. The hand that gripped 345, like its captive, was more stubborn. The clown's arms shot towards the ceiling like bright green rockets, sticking to it and carrying all of him up except his trapped leg, which extended as his arms shortened.

"So what if I beat you then, 300?" 345 inquired cheekily when he was safe, looking down at the violent feuding between his people like they were ants bickering over crumbs.
"Would you repoop, then?" His smile was joined by narrowed eyes. He hoped his former ally would detest the deliberate error as much as the rest of the insolent sentence. 300 did not reply; he only furrowed his liquid-like brow and then slithered up the elongated leg like a malevolent and graceful insect. Having the opportunity he had requested, 345 dropped from the ceiling, ready to strike the shapeshifter with both fists halfway down. 300 anticipated this, however, and ducked his falling opponent swiftly. 345 adapted; his hands stretched out and entangled 300 like lengthy, hungry vines.
"Sorry, 300!" The clown pulled his new enemy close to him, flipping them both backwards so that 300 met violently with the metal floor upon their landing. 345's victory was short lived, however, as he found the pale green puddle he had created clinging to his skin like a vicious hound's jaws.
"Augh, get off! You're so cold and slimy!" The clown bolted to his feet, trying in vain to rip 300 from his body. The shapeshifter gained control over 345's left foot, which he had kicked into the air, knocking the clown onto his back. Next, 300 manipulated 345's right arm, and moved its attention away from freeing its owner and instead to clutching his throat. 345's tongue wiggled around his ajar mouth as his only free foot kicked at the air. His left hand wrestled powerfully with his right to no avail, and soon he felt his own skin chilling. Only seconds later, though, did both Experiments feel a painful electric rush shoot through their bodies, splitting them like wrapping paper being torn off of a gift.
"That's not the proper way to give a hug, 300!" 345 declared, only half-joking as he thrust the exhausted blob over the nearby railing, where he landed just short of the table 345 and 10 had discovered much earlier. Once free of his slimy opponent, the clown smiled over his shoulder to find, as he predicted, 221 returning the smile.

"Thanks, 221!" 345 chirped before following 300 via a graceful backflip. 221 hovered into the air, ready to join his ally, but was halted when something caught hold of his foot. Still above the floor, he darted around to find 149, her brow furrowed like a road crumbling to dust in an earthquake, clutching his ankle.

"Don't be runnin' off when I ain't done talkin' to you!" She shouted scathingly at the traitor, pulling maliciously on his leg when he attempted to fly away. "Don't be such a little bitch!"

"Babe..." 221 began firmly as he charged electricity fleetingly down his leg; just enough to break 149's grip. "You don't need to punch while you talk." He grounded himself again, coming level to his former lover, who grasped her electrocuted hand whilst panting like a bull.

"What have those Earth buttmunchers got above us, huh?" She demanded, malevolently approaching her golden opponent.
"I'm not quite sure yet." The electrician responded by gliding along the metal floor like a snake made of lightning, zipping past 149 to stand several feet behind her.
"Oh, yeah, that's gonna take you places," Was the scathing and sarcastic reply.
"I'm not sure yet, but I'm getting an idea," 221 defended, holding out two shielding, spark-free palms. "The littler one; I've been mouthing off at her, and she's still nice to me. When I got her, she put in this bed that was, like, a million times softer than the one I sat in when my foot was shot. I argue with her and she brought me something to eat,"
"So what?! We're nice to ya! I'm nice to ya!"
"You were just punching me, grabbing me, and calling me a bitch!" 221 objected, more appalled than frustrated.
"Only 'cause you're being a jackass!" His former girlfriend retorted much more forcefully.
"That's what I'm saying!" The electrician pointed a declaring index finger like a revolver loaded with bullets of clarification. "Even when...Even though I was a jackass, she never punched me or grabbed me or called me a bitch! That's exactly why Stitch and 345 and 10 and I are fighting all of you! You'd rather hit us and discipline-no, punish us when we do something wrong!" 221 found that he was losing his opponent's attention, as 149 dashed towards him for an uppercut, which was swiftly dodged.
"Works on the military, don't it?!" She growled defiantly, bringing her leg up for a skull-shattering axe kick.
"And that's another thing!" The golden Experiment caught the descending foot above his head with two clawed hands. "It doesn't really work, does it? Hamsterviel started this rebellion, what, eight years ago? Pretty sure it's still the same Grand Councilwoman now that there was back then."
"SHUT IT ALREADY!" To 221's surprise, 149 used her trapped ankle to pull herself above 221, her free foot ready to propel his face into the unforgiving metal floor. Reacting hurriedly, the electrician delivered a more brutal shock into the foot in his hand, slamming the smoky-furred 149 onto her back immediately afterwards. He still clutched 149's ankle, and could follow up however he wanted, but in that split second, he look an inch to the left. Out of the corner of his eye, he found a face with teeth barred like the gates of Hell, and eyes burning with the heat of a dozen copies of the fiery realm. 221 had only ever seen a look of such scorching contempt upon 627's face, and for a moment, he thought he was actually looking at the crimson creature. He was corrected, however, when his face was violently kissed by a relentless fist of steel. He next felt only two things; a different steel scraping his back as he slid across it, and his face erupting with agony that both was both boiling and frigid. He remembered when his foot had been struck by a plasma bullet, which seemed like a lifetime ago, and how the anguish he felt in that moment was enough to make him scream. 221 currently felt like that pain had crawled up his leg to multiply and encompass his face, only now he was far too shocked and agonized to even consider screaming.

"Thanks, 150!" 149 said sincerely to her savior, whose face was redder than any burn mark. 150 seemed frozen; his metal left fist was still extended despite his target now being on his back on the furthest side of the room.

624 returned her attention to the traitorous blue swine, who wrestled desperately with her antennae above her head.

"You brought this on yourself, you know," She scolded him menacingly.
"Actually, I couldn't have," Stitch defended, leaping free of the furry, pink wires, gripping the end of one that had curled around his arm. "Lilo finding me was pretty much random; just something that happens without anyone ever asking. Like...Being born." The blue Experiment found the antennae successfully shooting out of his grasp.
"Assuming the person being born is any good." 624 stepped forward into a furious punch, which Stitch swiftly ducked.
"Look, I didn't like her straight away." Stitch sent out a tremendous left hook, but it was gracefully evaded. "At first, I was just using her to bide my time until I could find a way back to you guys,"
"So how quickly did it take you to give up on us after that?!" 624 demanded, spinning around for a roundhouse kick.
"That's the problem with you all right now!" Stitch momentarily flashed back to his training with 624; he had ducked one of her kicks, and afterwards, she told him that he may have been smarter to catch her leg instead. Stitch decided to put that to the test, and caught 624's ankle in his left hand like a zooming baseball.
"You're just assuming that what I'm doing is bad because it doesn't involve the Rebellion! If you guys came down and just saw what Earth is like, you might change your-" He found himself struck across the jaw by 624's free foot, causing him to release the one he had caught.
"You're not listening, dammit!" Stitch exclaimed in frustration as he rubbed his jaw.
"Because I've heard enough!" 624 retorted, going for another straight jab. When her first was caught, she followed through and thrust her skull into Stitch's nose.
"You abandoned us and now you've got us fighting each other!" As Stitch clutched his dripping red nose, his former lover head butted him again, causing him to kneel as his bleeding face looked to the floor.
"The revolution is completely fucked..." 624 followed up with a backflip that sent her foot soaring into Stitch's chin. The pink terrorist landed on a foot and a knee, while the traitor found himself on his back.
"And it's all your fault!" She growled, stepping towards him. Just before her foot could touch the metal floor, though, she felt a clawed hand grasp the back of her head, and then she saw nothing but the ceiling as her limbs swung in the air.

"Thanks, 10," Stitch heaved as he pulled himself to his feet.

The green-furred medic nodded in reply, but then his eyes widened in fear as he remembered what happened the last time he performed this move on 624. Feeling the elusive antennae reaching for his ankle, 10 was quick to thrust 624 face-first into the floor before she could grab him. He was even faster in throwing his former friend like a javelin. The pink Experiment skidded along the floor, still reeling with the shock of 10's surprise attack, only being halted by what felt like a pair of furry knees. She glanced upwards, and her bewilderment only intensified at the burning eyes and crimson scowl that glared back at her.

"Oh...Shit..." 624 muttered as 627's right fist glowed a sickly green. As her heart vibrated like an automatic machine gun, she hurriedly rolled out of the way of the assassin's plasma-charged fist. She followed up with a swift leg sweep, sending 627 onto his back. Just as the pink revolutionary was about to stand, she was struck by an onslaught of volts from her horizontal opponent. 627 jumped to his feet, ready to finish off the terrorist, but then he was grasped under the arms and behind the neck by a skinny pair of arms, and then around the waist by another.

"Of all the times for you to show up…" 621, with blood coating his face like a repulsive beard, muttered furiously under his breath.

"You know what, 621?" 624 gasped, summoning enough strength to punch 627 in the nose as her fur gave off smoke. "If you think about it, it's this little turd's fault for what's happened to 626!"

"You have a point there, 624." The marksman thrust his knee right into the center of 627's back, earning a satisfying cry. "He sent 626 away in the first place,"

"I've killed two of you already-AUGH!" The assassin coughed loudly as he felt 624's foot drive into his gut. "Now the rest will be easy!" Despite it happening behind his back, 627 knew when L.E.R.O.Y. had violently pulled 621 off of him. With his arms now free, the livid assassin threw two consecutive hooks at 624, who dodged them each with a panicked gasp. 627, adapting to the incessant evasions, sent a crooked branch of electricity to smother 624 before striking her in the gut. After his pink opponent had traveled backwards, 627 was allowed a clear view of the battle scattered about the massive room. He noticed 621 and L.E.R.O.Y.'s intensifying squabble in the corner of his eye, and 345 and 300 tangling around one another as their flexible bodies extended into the air like rapidly growing beanstalks. Just across from him, though, past the recovering 624, he found two Experiments of blue and green. He remembered them vividly, especially since they had been motionless the last time he saw each of them. As he stared at Stitch and 10, 627's body grew suddenly icy, and then, when it had reached its coldest, became instantly like a furious inferno. He did not scream, but his teeth barred like a ratchet, his eyes glowed a bloody red, and his four additional arms revealed themselves, all burning a sickly green. 627 felt all the torment of the past few days froth inside him and spread into his claws, and then into his legs, which sent him charging like a demonic horse towards his two persecutors. Their fists went up, failing to fully obscure the sweat that soaked their brows. Just as Stitch and 10 prepared to combat their infuriated foe with hearts shaking like violent earthquakes, they found someone else stepping up to 627 before they could.

"Stop being a jerk!" Lilo commanded as if she were the Federation's youngest General. She was loud enough to halt the tall assassin right in front of her, and to take the plasma from his hands and the heat from his eyes, but not to soften his hellish glare. 10 was surprised, while Stitch was beaming from each of his long ears.

"Do you know what these two have done?!" 627 retorted to the girl as they exchanged scornful looks. "Do you know how many lives they've taken, day after day?!"

"No," Lilo answered firmly. "But it was a lot, wasn't it? But they don't want to do that anymore." She looked over her shoulder, trading her glare for a smile once she was looking at the two friendly Experiments. "Right, guys?"

"Right," Stitch and 10 chimed, smiling at Lilo before shooting an antagonistic glance in 627's direction.

"That doesn't matter!" The assassin objected. "Maybe you can forgive them, but I can't! They have to be punished, whether they're ready to accept it or not!" He went to move around Lilo, but she stepped into his path no matter which way he went.
"You know, you've not been the most helpful, either!" 627 snapped coldly at the brave child. "You helped 626 fake his death! You helped him manipulate me! Do you have any idea what I've had to go through because of you both?!"
"Maybe a little," Lilo responded, still stern. "You probably think that hurting someone else will make you feel better, but it won't! I've tried it, and it doesn't work!"
"What would you know?!"
"A lot more than you seem-" The girl's eyes widened as she made a sudden realization about this tall, furious Experiment. From what Stitch had told her and what she had seen today, Lilo knew that each Experiment was quite different from the last, but 627, she now noticed, was different in a completely different way.
"How come you can speak English?" She earned only a irritably raised eyebrow as an answer.

"What are you doing, Terrance?!" A scathing German voice demanded behind 627. Lilo, Stitch, 10, and 627's glances were all drawn to the sanguine-coated scientist, who gripped a yellow plasma rifle in the hand that was not clenched in a fist.
"Never mind the human! Just kill 626 and then grab 10!" The Experiment's creator heard a click, and turned left to find Nani, aiming a blaster at him from just a few feet away

"Who the hell are you?!" Jacques demanded, aiming his firearm at the human, noticing that, despite her firm expression, her hands were quivering. "And what makes you think a worm such as yourself can aim a blaster at me?!" He took a step towards Nani, and intended to take another, but was halted in his tracks by an electric bolt from above. All eyes turned to find 221 hovering them. 149 dangled from his antennae, pulling his head back, which looked horribly uncomfortable.

"Hey, 10," Stitch turned to the medic, whose fur was becoming damp with sweat.
"Yeah, 62-Uh, Stitch?"
"Go help 221 out!" He entwined his fingers into a cup.
"What about-"
"I'll take care of it; just get 149 off of him,"
"Alright, if you say so." 10 hopped his feet into Stitch's hands, finding himself flying into the air without the slightest notice. He adapted quickly, though, and stopped when he grasped 149's foot.

"Hey!" The nimble Experiment snapped in frustration when she felt the violent tug on her ankle.

"Now then…" Stitch muttered, rolling towards Hamsterviel and grasping his gun-wielding forearm tight enough to hear something snap. The scientist attempted to silence his cry through clenched teeth. The blue Experiment noticed Jacques' other hands headed for his face as if it meant to grab, but snared that arm before it even came close.

"I wouldn't mind some assistance, Terrance!" Hamsterviel commanded furiously as he was lifted into the air by his arms. He shot a glare at the assassin's direction, discovering that he was attempting to help him, but was impeded by Lilo pulling on him.

"For Bowman's sake, Terrance, just push her out of the way!"

"I-I just don't want to hurt her!" 627 excused before glaring at the girl, who glared right back.

"Don't be such a coward!"

"Are you Jacques?" Stitch interrupted with a smile.

"I am your creator," The scientist growled, looking his Experiment right in his black eyes with his own scarlet ones. "And believe me, I can uncreate you just as easily,"

"I see," The former terrorist muttered, unimpressed. "You know, I wanted to do the same to you, too, at one point,"

"Past tense…"

"Yeah, I don't want to do that anymore…" Stitch looked over his creator's towering ears for a moment, grinning after he did. "But after what you said to my friend, you know what I do want to do?" He did not wait for an answer. Instead, he turned Hamsterviel around, giving him a clear look at the two descending and elongated Experiments. 345 threw 300 beneath him like a sack of flour, looking back up to find himself heading straight for a vulnerable, glaring, and petrified Hamsterviel.

"Take a shot, 345!" Stitch called merrily.

"Alrighty-tighty!" 345 chirped in response as his legs snapped back to the rest of him like measuring tape.

With 627 momentarily distracted by the appearance of the rubbery clown, Lilo pulled him violently so he was right next to his creator. 345 held his forearm out as if he were holding a shield, and then extended it so it struck both Jacques and 627 in the nose. As Hamsterviel gripped his bleeding nose, Stitch and the grounded 345 each brought a leg up before smashing a heel down into 627's gut in two powerful ax kicks.

"Isa youga okitaka?" The clown hurriedly asked the two girls.

"Yes, we are," Nani panted, standing beside her sister. While the younger Pelekai seemed exhilarated by the battle, the elder was almost as pale as she had been when rescuing Lilo from Gantu mere days ago.

"Thank you," She added, at first only to 345, but then to Lilo and Stitch. "Those guys weren't any match for you all, were they?"

"Nobody's a match for Stitch and his cousins!" Lilo cheered as she pulled a delighted 345 into a tight embrace.

"Awwww," The clown responded with a grateful beam. His hands moved to reciprocate, but then Lilo, Stitch, and Nani were all surprised to find his smile melting into a wide-eyed look of indifference. Upon closer inspection, they found that Jacques, whose small nose was generating a disgusting red waterfall, had a hand firmly grasping the back of the vacant 345's head. The scientist's lips curled into a malevolent grin behind the dripping strands of blood. He directed his smirk at Stitch.

"Take your shot, 345," Jacques ordered calmly. The clown's face lit up as his allies' turned white.

"Alrighty-tighty, Jack!" 345 chirped before thrusting his foot diagonally and upwards into an astonished Stitch's chin. His leg stretched onwards, ultimately pinning Stitch by the throat against the hard metal wall.

"Very good, 345. Now…" Hamsterviel found that 627 had also recovered, although his nose was not bleeding as severely while he clutched his stomach. Jacques then turned to the two humans, the younger of which was glaring at him, while her sister held her close. As if it will do any good, Jacques thought.

"These two girls seem to be distracting Mr. Terrance," Hamsterviel said to the clown as he looked again at the chip he had placed on the back of his rubbery head. "If you could be so kind as to, shall we say, remove them from his attention?" He smirked again.

"Oh...Oh!" 345 responded highly. He suddenly drooped into a scathing frown. "No!" His reply shocked Jacques and 627 and overjoyed Nani and Lilo. Then he shook his head aggressively. "I mean yes!" He smiled again, and the reactions were swapped. The clown swiftly stretched a rubbery arm around each of the two sisters as Nani yelped loudly and Lilo called out to Stitch, who was still pinned beneath 345's extended foot.

"Wait, you can't-" 627 made a step towards the corrupted clown, whose torso elongated to carry him and his panicking captives towards the pod bay they had entered in. All watching, a paling Stitch included, could deduce what 345 intended to do.

"No, Terrance," Jacques snapped back, halting the assassin in his tracks. "You couldn't, so now we'll see who can!"

345's upper body had vanished with Lilo and Nani out the pod bay door. Stitch grew desperate as he pried in vain against his corrupted friend's leg.

"I'm real sorry, bud," The blue Experiment whispered in panic as he bit down as hard as he possibly could onto 345's ankle.

"YOWCH!" He heard the clown cry as he was allowed to drop to the floor by the retreating leg. 221, now free of 149, who now concerned herself with 10, had heard the cry as well, and zipped next to a freed Stitch with inquisitive worry.

"Uh, isn't 345 on our side?" The electrician questioned. "If anyone's leg needs biting, 149 is being a right pain in the-"

"Hamsterviel's controlling him somehow and he's made him throw Lilo and Nani off the ship! Come on!" Stitch explained as lightning quick as he darted for the pod bay door right afterwards.

"Woah, what?! Shit!"

221 followed Stitch before he had completely realized the dire situation. By the time he had, he was already in the pod bay, watching Stitch ignore the manipulated 345 to disappear out the door that led to nothing but pure white clouds. 221 would have scolded Stitch, but already he could surmise what his blue-furred comrade had planned. Running past 345, who clutched his foot in anguish, 221 leaped out the window as well, finding that Stitch, Lilo, and Nani had not yet fallen too far for him to fly. The electrician's panic gradually lessened as he made to fly straight downwards, believing that success was already in his grasp. Suddenly, his descent, along with his heart, were halted when a hand clasped his ankle. With a vehement gasp, 221 looked back in the direction of the battle-filled base, finding that it sprouted a lengthy and bright green arm which had a tight hold on his leg.

"Don't go away yet, 221!" 345's bouncy voice called down.

"I am getting really bloody sick of this bit!" The electrician exclaimed as he impulsively sent a random number of volts riding up the clown's arm. To his most immediate relief, it was enough to free his foot, and he immediately resumed his flight towards the Earth. At first, all he could see as his heart bludgeoned his rib cage was the blinding whiteness of the clouds. Before long, though, the clouds parted like curtains, revealing a gigantic overhead view of the island below, overlaid with the falling bodies of Stitch, Nani, and Lilo. As 221 flew faster than he ever thought he could, and both the bodies and the island below growing larger and larger by the second, he recalled his conversation with Lilo mere hours ago. The specific words were not leaping immediately to him in the moment, but remembered sitting with her, glaring at her, yelling at her. It was all he could think about the whole way down, even when the blue Experiment, who reached unsuccessfully for his human companions, came to descend alongside him. 221 held out a clawed hand towards his ally.

"Don't worry about me!" Stitch responded the offer with immense panic but no malice. "Can you reach them?!"

221 simply nodded. He flew even faster, sticking his neck out and reaching both arms out to the two sisters. Dots on the island were becoming vehicles. Stitch grabbed hold of 221's ankle as the electrician passed him. Unlike when 345 had done similarly, 221 scarcely registered it. His world was nothing but Lilo, Nani, and the island, soon to be the town, below. The two Pelekais reached out to the golden Experiment as he did likewise, all of them without color in their face and with heartbeats like monstrous gatling guns. Lilo could barely feel the warmth of 221's furry clawed fingers as they stretched just inches out of her reach. She looked the electrician in the face as her head began to swell. His teeth were clenched and his eyes, as blue as the sky that they were leaving behind, were watery. The tears did not appear to be as agonizing as a burst from a hose, but Lilo could feel, as she watched them leave 221's once-burning eyes to ascend back towards the clouds, that they hurt him all the same. The swelling in her head intensified as the warmth of 221's fingers grew closer. Closer still, but her head still seemed to freeze. The tearing face became distorted like a reflection in rippling water. Closer. The reflection turned black.

V

Lilo awoke slowly, her mind initially vacant as it gradually rebooted. It wasn't long before she arose slowly with a sense of confusion and intrigue. She did not recall going to sleep, let alone getting into bed. She did, however, remember a harsh battle on a spaceship, and then being thrown off of it, and Sparky…

Sparky…

Her eyes landed in front of her, finding that something warm had curled up at the foot of her bunk. She had adjusted to the feeling of somebody weighing the end of her covers down as she slept, but she had also adjusted to awakening in the morning to find somebody with ocean blue fur. Today, she discovered instead somebody with golden fur, whose antennae were draped messily over his back. Lilo's first impulse was to pick 221 up in the hopes of him darting awake, and then barraging him with questions about yesterday's events. As she listened to his somber snores and watched his furry back rise and fall gently, she couldn't bring herself to awaken him. Instead, she opted to softly scratch the bases of his antennae, substituting his quiet snoring for a louder purr. After a reasonable amount of massaging and purring, 221 flipped over, as if automatically, leaving his belly exposed seemingly deliberately. Lilo obliged and began to rub the electrician's fuzzy belly, making his purring grow even louder. Midway through the belly massage, 221's foot started to claw at the air, and shortly afterwards, his now-dry sky blue eyes hovered open. He smiled lazily at Lilo for only two seconds before he bolted urgently upright, taking the girl by her shoulders, albeit carefully.

"Youga okay, Lilo?!" He asked with concern, his worried expression a contradictory mirror of Lilo's ever-increasing beam.

"I'm super. Are you alright?" She asked merrily, though she made no secret of her own concern.

"Oh, yes...Meega okay," He took his hands from Lilo's shoulders. His claws intertwined as he looked at the ruffled covers beneath them. "Meega sorry,"

"Sorry?" Lilo raised an eyebrow as her smile dissolved. "For what?"
"Meega try to shoot you other day…" 221 did not look up. "Then meega shout at you...Meega...Not nice to Lilo...But Lilo nice to meega…"
"What do you mean 'not nice?' You saved me and my sister, didn't you?" This got the golden Experiment to look up.
"Um, yes...You fall asleep just before meega catch youga-"
"Fall asleep." Lilo's smile returned. 221 was confused for only a second, but then he had to smile as well as the two harmonized in laughter.
"Yes, youga fall asleep," He continued. Lilo was thankful for another chance to hear him laugh. She hoped that there would be many more chances. "So meega and Stitch take youga and Nani inside and put youga and Nani in bed,"
"Well, that doesn't sound 'not nice' to me," Lilo responded with a chirp. "In fact, that sounds like the exact opposite of 'not nice.' That actually sounds especially nice. Better than nice, even,"
"...Meega still sorry," The electrician's smile made to leave his face, but Lilo pulled him into a tight hug before it could.
"That's okay, 221," She reassured him as he reciprocated. "I think you're nice, whether you like it or not,"
"Lilo…" The Experiment began, but many seconds of the embrace passed before he decided to finish. "Meega thought name was Sparky." Lilo pulled away to look at his face again, smiling even wider when she found that his had only grown. The tears were returning, but these ones didn't seem the least bit painful.
"That's right," Lilo replied. "Are you gonna stay with us, Sparky?"
"...Yes," Sparky answered with a cheer. "Sparky will stay with Lilo and Stitch!" In response, he found himself lifted off of the bed and off of his feet in an embrace even warmer than any he had received from 149. It was then that the electrician realized that, for the first time in his life, he dreaded ever seeing his lover ever again. As he looked at Lilo, though, and as she continued to squeeze him, the dread was progressively diminished, and was replaced by something much warmer. Just then, Sparky recalled something else that occurred before curling up at the foot of Lilo's bunk the previous evening. Something he knew from the moment he had shut his eyes that the girl would be thrilled to discover.

"Oh, Lilo," He said cheerfully as she let him down. "Sparky has surprise for youga,"
"A surprise?" Lilo repeated curiously.
"Yes. On top." He pointed to the top bunk, which Lilo did not hesitate to climb up to. Immediately, she discovered Stitch curled up in the duvet as he so often was. He yawned, but he did not awake. Lilo turned her attention to the left of the bunk, finding something else curled up in the other end of the duvet. Most of it was covered by the blanket, but what was visible, much to Lilo's unparalleled shock and delight, included a long, green-furred trunk.