Alright, enough messing around! Let's get to that twentieth chapter!
Chapter 16:
Flame
I
The silence was destroyed by the flick of a turning page.
Lilo opened her eyes, unsure of whether it had been four minutes or four hours since she had shut them.
Another papery flick.
Lilo looked to her opened window, which welcomed the faint orange light given only by a sun just peeking over the horizon.
Believing it a decent enough time to rise, Lilo threw the covers off her, anxious not only to find the source of the page-turning, but also to see more of the pair of new arrivals. As soon as her feet touched the floor, however, a grasp that felt like cold water closed around her left ankle.
Lilo spat out a clamorous combination of a gasp and a snort before any thoughts could enter her head. She fell backwards onto her bottom bunk, her foot slipping out of the watery grip as she did. The moment she hit the mattress, however, she couldn't help but let out a chuckle, knowing all too well who the watery hand belonged to.
300's shapeless face slithered out from beneath the bed, turning to Lilo with yellow eyes warm with regret.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Lilo," He whispered. "I was still half-asleep when you stepped out of bed. I was somewhat startled and reacted impulsively. I did not mean to frighten you,"
"It's okay," The girl responded with a forgiving smile. "Sometimes it's fun to be scared. Besides, I knew it was only you under there,"
"Oh…Okay. Thank you." The shapeshifter never thought someone admitting that he had not frightened them would bring a smile to his pale green face.
"Hey, I wanted to ask you something," Lilo began, leaning down on her elbows while her feet paddled in the air.
"Oh?"
"How come you know so much more English than Stitch's other cousins? I think you know even more words than most of the kids in my class. Hell, maybe even more than my teacher,"
"Oh, I've read countless minds in my time," 300 began, as if he were speaking to an entire lecture hall. "Each of them well-versed in a language. Overtime, I built up an entire vocabulary from other people's memories. Certainly, more efficient than taking a class to achieve a lesser result, if you ask me,"
"Wow," Lilo whispered. "You think you could teach me the language you and the other Experiments use?"
"You mean Tantalog? I suppose I could…Now, may I ask you something, Lilo?"
"Sure,"
"I know it's rather early for you, but I'm far too anxious; have you any suggestions for my new name,"
"Your new name?" Lilo repeated, her mind pelting her with suggestions as quickly as a computer would.
"Yes, and 624's, as well. I didn't think much of the names you've given the others at first, but now that I'm beginning to understand your kind, I see their value. A title with much more meaning than a mere number. I've no idea how one goes about choosing a name, so I will leave that to you. Perhaps I will learn more once I am named,"
"Alright, alright, just gimme a sec," Lilo laughed. She spoke again after a few pensive moments. "What about Anderson?"
"…Are you sure?" 300 asked. Lilo could tell from his tone that the name wasn't to his liking, and she realized it wasn't much to hers, either.
"Hmm…What if we just called you Spooky?"
"Spooky?" The shapeshifter seemed somewhat more confident in this choice.
"Yeah, because, well, you are pretty spooky,"
"…But you just said earlier than I hadn't scared you," There was little argument in 300's voice. He seemed more eager than anything.
"I just said that being scared can be fun sometimes," Lilo explained merrily. "Like watching a scary movie, or playing pranks to scare people, like, say, grabbing somebody's feet when they try to get out of bed,"
"Oh…So, it's this strange form of fun that involves being scared which you believe I excel at?"
"Yep,"
"And it's for this that you think I should be named Spooky?"
"Yes," Lilo laughed at the drawn-out nature of the telepath's sentences.
"…Then so it shall be," He nodded, a growing smile visible on his formless face. "Thank you, Lilo,"
The girl rose to her knees to wrap the shapeshifter in her arms. She could feel his slimy form shifting into something more like wool as she hugged him.
"You're welcome, Spooky,"
"Heh, I think I'll grow used to that quickly," Spooky chuckled as they separated. "Now, what of 624's new name?"
"Oh, I'm gonna let her and Stitch decide that,"
"That seems reasonable,"
The sound of flipping pages rang out once again.
"Who's reading up there?" Lilo questioned, looking up at the underside of the top bunk. "Come on, let's go see,"
The girl then stood up, walking along the mattress to the ladder at the foot of the bed, and swung up onto it like a fireman mounting a pole.
Upon reaching the top bunk, she found a dormant Felix cuddling with a pillow at the bunk's head.
In front of him was 624, sleeping on her back, her arms stretched above her as if an invisible phantom were pulling on them. Her mouth hung open, releasing a low pattern of snores, interrupted by the occasional snort.
Lilo wondered how Stitch could sleep with such a noise so close to his tall ears. However, she then discovered that Stitch was wide awake, lying on 624's belly, and grinning at the pages of a softback entitled A Million Baby Names.
The blue Experiment flicked over another page.
"Good morning, Lilo," He said softly once he noticed her. "Sleep good?"
"Alright," She answered. "You lookin' for names for 624?"
"Yep. So many, lots that are great. You think of name for 300?"
"We just decided to call him Spooky,"
Stitch chuckled in response. "That's good. He is spooky,"
At that moment, 624's snoring stopped abruptly, as if it had been paused by a remote, and her eyes hovered open.
"Good morning, 624," Stitch chirped as he rubbed his nose against hers. The moment he finished nuzzling the soft, wet warmth on 624's nose, he wanted to do so again, and so he did.
"Good morning, Stitch!" She responded, grinning as she wrapped the blue Experiment up in four arms and two antennae. They hadn't shared such an embrace since before they had gone to bed, and yet it still felt as if they had waited weeks again.
624's gaze turned to Lilo, who at first turned red as she considered descending a ladder to let her enjoy Stitch alone.
However, before the girl could even take the first step down, her arms were tangled in two pink antennae, which felt like incredibly thick pieces of yarn, and was dragged exuberantly into the multi-armed hug.
"Good morning, Lilo!" 624 cheered, sitting up with Lilo and Stitch snug in her arms and antennae.
"Good morning, Felix!" She declared again, making the snoozing medic leap as he awoke with a loud gasp.
He released his pillow as he jumped, and it touched the ceiling before landing on his three-finned head like a comical hat.
"Oh, good morning, 624," Felix panted with relief, taking the pillow from his head. "Waugh?!" One of 624's fleecy antennae playfully snared his foot, dragging him into the crowded cuddle. His shock vanished the moment he joined in.
"What the bloody hell is all this noise?!" Sparky's unmistakable accent called from the bunk below.
Upon hearing the electrician's complaint, 624 immediately broke away from the group hug and bounded to the top bunk's wooden railing. She slapped her adhesive soles onto it, then swung spontaneously down into Sparky's view like an inverted jack-in-the-box.
"Good morning, Sparky!" She cheered.
"Yeagh!" The golden Experiment yelped as he stumbled involuntarily out of bed. As he did, a pale, watery hand launched out from beneath the bed, seizing Sparky's ankle.
"YAGH!" He shouted again as he took to the air, unwittingly taking a befuddled Spooky, who dangled like the tail of a kite, up with him.
Everyone, Sparky excluded, did not hesitate to burst into laughter at the sight.
"You alright, Sparks?" 624 asked, blinking joyous tears out of her eyes.
"Yep, fine," The electrician sighed. "Just had seven heart attacks is all." He glanced down to his foot, from which still dangled a giggling Spooky.
"You can let go any time, 300,"
"Apologies, Sparky," The shapeshifter chuckled as he dropped back to the floor.
"You're in a really good mood today, 624," Lilo complimented as the pink Experiment climbed back into the top bunk.
"Ih," She responded, hugging Stitch and Felix once more. "Missed friends,"
"We missed you, too, 624," the blue Experiment chirped. "And now that you're here, I think it's time we chose you a new name." He held up his book of names, whose upper right corner sandwiched many folded pages.
"Ooh, for sure!" 624 clapped her hands together in anticipation. "You guys all have such cool names; Felix, Clyde, Bonnie, and, of course, Stitch. What were you thinking of?"
"Well, I just found a lot that I thought you'd like…" Stitch turned to the first page, which happened to be one with a folded corner. "I'll just list them off, and then you can tell me if any sound especially good to you,"
"Sounds good," 624 responded, sitting cross-legged with her hands supporting her smiling jaw.
"Alright…" Stitch took a deep breath, then recited his selections at the same speed that an assault rifle fires its bullets.
"Addison, Adrian, Alexander, Angel, Barbara, Benjamin, Brandon, Cameron, Cassandra, Dominick, Edward, Elijah, Emmet, Fiona, Forrest, Glen, Holden, Isaac, Jackson, Jayden, Jessica, Julius, Lara, Lloyd, Miles, Octavia, Paige, Phoebe, Pierre, Quinn, Reuben, Samantha, Shaun, Tara, Tyler, Ulysses, Veronica, Vincent, Wendy…" One final, long inhale. "And Xiomara,"
624, as well as everyone else listening, only blinked twice at the list, much of it having been blotted out by thoughts of how quickly it had been read.
"Sorry, can you say them again, please?" The pink Experiment requested.
Stitch smiled at her before repeating himself. The list came again, just as hurriedly as the first time. Another final inhale. "And Xiomara,"
"Hmm…" 624 traced the length of her right antennae. "I'm drawn between Angel, Emmet, Paige, and Vincent. You can pick which one you think is best,"
"Alright, then…" Stitch slapped the book shut and tossed it aside. He held his arms out and opened his mouth.
Lilo leaned in, already predicting which name he would choose; there was simply no better choice.
"I love you, Emmet!" He cheered as he scooped up a beaming Emmet in his arms. Emmet's pink antennae looped around them both as they embraced.
Lilo covered her mouth, hoping her chortling wasn't audible behind her hands.
"Something wrong, Stitchles?" Emmet questioned as Stitch's smile faded away.
"No, now that I say it out loud, it doesn't sound quite right," He pondered for a few moments, though his arms never loosened from Emmet's fluffy back.
"That's okay," She replied with a comforting lick of his cheek. "Just pick a different one,"
"Alrighty, then…" He proceeded much more softly, almost a soothing whisper, as he nuzzled Emmet's nose again.
"I love you, Angel,"
"I love you, Stitch." She planted a long, warm kiss on his furry cheek, earning a purr from him. She moved to repeat the show of affection, but opted instead to blow a boisterous raspberry into Stitch's cheek. His laughter was twice as rewarding as his purring.
"Now, do we have a name for 300 yet?" Angel inquired once she had finished blowing into her partner's fur.
"Lilo?" Stitch promptly turned to the human girl. "Name for 300?"
"Oh, yeah, we're gonna call him Spooky," She answered.
"Spooky," He chuckled. "That perfect for 300…" His eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Oh, Lilo, get clothes! School today!"
"Oh, right!" Lilo hurriedly slid down the ladder, bounding towards her closet.
"It's funny," Angel began. "When I first saw her, I hated her, but now that I'm here, back with all you guys again, she actually seems like a really nice creature,"
"Humans are like that," Stitch responded, twirling the pink Experiment's antennae flirtatiously around his fingers. "You'll look at them and think that they're a weak little species, but they surprise you in the best ways possible,"
"I've noticed." Her tongue swept the bridge of his nose, after which her smile slowly faded. "I missed all of you. I'm sorry I stuck with 621 for so long. I should've come here with you guys as soon as we landed on this planet, but…It's difficult, choosing between two friends when they're both changing so drastically,"
"I know, Angel." Stitch stroked the antennae that looped between his fingers, and he was met with a soothing purr. "621's had a hard life, but that doesn't mean he didn't need to see what he saw last night…It's horrible, realizing that you've been wrong your whole life. I felt the same thing not too long ago…I spent so much time running in one direction, and when I finally realized that I was going the wrong way, I turned around and saw how far I had to go to get caught up. For a while, I thought it'd just be easier to keep on as I already was, but now that was even harder than turning around…It's a horrible feeling, but we all need it, 621 especially…He spends so much time hating and being hated that sometimes I think he forgets that there are people who do care about him. I'd like to help him, I really would, but I can't if he doesn't want any help…"
Angel threw an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in so their cheeks squished together like two colliding bubbles.
"To be fair, that was pretty rough for him," She added. "It's not his fault that life's so hard. We all try our best to beat all the crap that life throws at us, and sometimes we do it, and sometimes we don't. And last night, 621 did better than his best, and it still wasn't enough. He still thinks coming here is like losing…You know what?" She pulled away to beam at her partner. "We should go find him. Lilo's gotta go to human school, so why don't we all head out and look for him while she's gone? And this time we'll try less arguing. Maybe some kinder words are just what he needs to hear,"
"That sounds like a fantastic idea," Stitch accompanied his compliment with a lick along Angel's nose. "And you know what else we should do?"
"Rescue 345!"
"Heh, great minds think alike," He replied as they both laughed.
"Did you guys say we're gonna rescue 345?" Felix butted in anxiously, having earlier resumed his comfortable position at the foot of the top bunk.
"Absolutely!" Angel plopped on her back for an inverted look at the medic, who reddened at the mention of 345.
"Great," He responded, placing his hands on his cheeks in an attempt to mask their blush. "Now that we're all together, we've got the numbers to do it!"
The pink Experiment said nothing to him for a while, but simply enjoyed the vulnerable, trusting smile which she had seen Felix dream of sharing with 345.
She soon sat upright again, rising so her nose met once again with Stitch's. The silence endured, and the two Experiments were perfectly content remaining still, enjoying the closest possible view of each other they could ever want. They could not remember the last time to stop entirely and simply enjoy such a view, and wordlessly agreed that it was because they never had.
"Come on!" Angel eventually chirped, leaping onto the bunk's wooden railing. "We've got a busy day ahead!" She then hopped onto the floor with little more than a faint creak. When she made to step forward, though, the floor seemed to cling to her feet like goo, yanking them back down.
"Hey!" The pink Experiment giggled as the floor echoed her, opening a pair of glowing yellow eyes like paper-thin lemons.
While Angel tugged on a leg in the hopes of freeing it, Lilo, now donning a red muumuu patterned with white flowery silhouettes, crept guilefully behind the Experiment, tilting at the hip as she wrapped her arms around her furry waist.
"Gotcha!" The human girl cheered as she straightened up, inverting Angel so that, while the disguised Spooky released her feet, she was upside-down.
"What the— "A startled Angel was not allowed to finish before her ribs fell victim to Lilo's tickling fingers, whereupon her words devolved into a storm of cackles.
Stitch leaned over the top bunk's bannister as he watched the delightfully ridiculous sight wobble out the door. He knew that he should join them, but he could not help but spend a moment relishing the laughing, inverted spectacle.
Too long, he thought, he had spent waiting for this, but now that it had arrived, it already felt as if his waiting had ended ages ago. As the sun rose outside, he could feel its warmth replicated in his stomach. It intensified as he thought that, in only a matter of hours, his and Lilo's ever-expanding ohana would, at last, feel truly complete.
II
open here i flung the shutter when with many a flirt and flutter in there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore not the least obeisance made he not a minute stopped or stayed he but with mien of lord or lady perched above my chamber door perched upon a bust of pallas just above my chamber door perChEd AnD sAt AnD nOtHiNg MoRe ThEn ThIs EbOnY bIrD bEgUiLiNg My SaD fAnCy InTo SmIlInG BY tHe GrAvE aNd StErN dEcOrUm Of ThE cOuNtEnAnCe It WoRe ThOuGh ThY cReSt Be ShOrN aNd ShAvEn ThOu I sAiD aRt SuRe No CrAvEn GHASTLY GRIM AND ANCIENT RAVEN WANDERING FROM THE NIGHTLY SHORE TELL ME WHAT THY LORDLY NAME IS ON THE NIGHT'S PLUTONIAN SHORE QUOTH THE RAVEN
A knock at the door.
"Nevermore!" 627 exclaimed to the door, which seemed horizontal as he lay on his humble bed, his knees beside his chest and his claws gripping the opened covers of a black hardcover book.
"I mean, come in," He corrected as he sat up, feeling every moment of each of his slow, quivering breaths.
The door creaked carefully open, and 625 poked his head in. His face was mostly devoid of color, and his eyes seemed too heavy for his skull. 627 was worried that they were each looking at their reflection.
"Hey, Dan," 625 muttered.
"Hello, 625." The crimson Experiment shut the book in his lap and patted a space beside him on the bed. "Please, come in,"
The golden-furred creature obeyed, sitting at the suggested spot as if it would collapse if he sat down too quickly.
"You, uh…You readin' some of that Poe guy?" 625 asked, his voice hoarse.
"No, no. I was reading the, uh, the other book,"
"Oh. Okay…I, um…I was…" 625's fingers twirled around each other in a clumsy dance. He was silenced when his erratic hands were calmed with a touch from 627's.
"It's okay. You don't have to talk if you don't want to," He said softly. "You don't need to explain it to me. Sometimes it's enough just to be around somebody,"
625 smiled into the assassin's bagged eyes for only a second before his face retreated into his hands, and his eyes were smothered in tears.
627 put an arm around the weeping Experiment. Each sob that met his ears was an excruciating knife wound.
Finally, 625 spoke as best as he could.
"They just kept hitting him," He sobbed. "I don't even think he lived through half of it. Oh, God, the sounds they made…I don't know if they were because they were enjoying it or because they hated it, but…Those horrible fucking sounds! I can still hear them…"
"I know…" 627 whispered. "Nobody deserves that,"
"That's just the thing, though…I haven't stopped thinking about it since it happened, and no matter how hard I try, I can't think of any reason that Jumba didn't deserve it, or that me, Dr. Hamsterviel, or L.E.R.O.Y. didn't deserve to watch it!"
"W…What do you mean?" The crimson assassin questioned, now feeling frigid as well as heavy.
"I…I tried thinking about it from where they stand…" 625 rubbed his eyes before revealing his tear-stained face again. "I've never done that before…Never thought that it mattered before…I insulted them, I shoved them, I didn't help them on missions, and then I try twice to get them killed, only because I was asked to,"
"They're bad people, 625," 627 responded, feeling as though he should raise his voice, but could not bring himself to and the sight of his distraught friend.
"I know you know what it's like," 625 continued. "Watching someone die like…Like that, but…You're innocent. You've never done anything to anyone. You're good. But me…This horrible, shitty feeling…It feels even shittier knowing…Knowing that I deserve to feel like this…" His face retreated into his hands again, and 627 promptly pulled him into his tightest embrace.
"Maybe you do," He began. "Maybe everybody does. I don't know what you were like before the doctors brought me here, but I do know that you've supported me, listened to me when I needed to say something, visited me when nobody else in the universe wants to. To me, you're the best friend I have, and no friend of mine deserves to feel this way,"
Less than a minute had passed before 625 finally sat up. The two Experiments looked at each other for a while, both wishing to resume the embrace, but only 625 believing that it had run its course.
"Thanks, Dan," He sighed. "You always know what to say,"
"Not at all, 625," The crimson Experiment replied as his friend stood up. "You've done the same for me. It's the least I can do,"
By then, 625 had reached the door. He turned after resting a hand on the cold metal handle.
"I don't know if I ever said it, but…I'm sorry…About what happened to you…" He said somberly.
"It's not your fault…" 627 picked up his black book again. "But thank you…Drop by anytime,"
625 shut the door, and became repossessed by melancholy as soon as it clicked shut. Ever since he had composed himself enough to leave the glass cell in Jumba's lab, the sight of 627 had triggered a festering pit in 625's stomach, like a monstrous clawed hand clenching in his gut.
"What a dumbass!" A hoarse cackle rang in 625's ear, only assisting the claw scratching within his stomach.
"Thinking he can protect the widower from his horrible, horrible truth," 89 finished with a gleeful and malevolent guffaw in 625's floppy ear.
"Goddammit, 89," 625 snapped, jolting away from the madman. "For somebody who can see the future, you're so friggin' unhelpful!" He stormed down the hall, his heart pulsated rapidly in the invisible claw's grasp. He looked only once back at 89, who reached up with his left hand to scratch his scalp, where the faintest red light was blinking, but was then restrained by his right hand.
"Joseph Goebbels…" He grunted through clenched teeth as he pried his left hand away from his head. "Dru-Zod…"
625 shook his head as he continued down the metallic hall, approaching the black elevator door at its end. Before he even reached it, though, it opened to reveal 345, meeting him with the same radiant beam he so often sported. His smile, however, combined with the faint, blinking red light identical to the one 89 had just tried to touch, only made the claw inside 625 clench even tighter.
"Is 89 up here, 625?" 345 chirped. "Dr. Hamsterviel wants to see him,"
"He, uh…Yeah, he just passed me," 625 muttered. He no longer wanted to enter the elevator, as the claw in his gut tightened at the thought of doing so. Turning around wasn't better, as 89 was only likely to increase his discomfort.
Suddenly, something as big as 345 dropped down behind him, and within seconds, a green-furred arm was around the Experiment's neck, two more had seized his hands, and another, wielding a blaster, fired a verdant plasma bolt just inches away from 625's feet.
The elevator doors were almost closed by the time 625 could even process what was happening. He was, however, quick enough to catch a glimpse of a burning glare beneath a white mohawk before it was shrouded completely by the elevator doors.
III
621 struggled to maintain his grip on 345 as his fingers elongated around him like an army of serpents. Readjusting his grasp around the clown's neck, he was able to push him into the back wall of the cramped elevator, earning a clear view of 345's harrowingly malicious glare, above which blinked the faintest red light.
621 reached a clawed hand at the light, clutching it and pulling it as far away from 345 as the elevator's width would allow. The clown stumbled backwards, but was swiftly pulled back to his feet by 621.
"You okay?" He asked, patting his old ally on a furry shoulder. He was responded only with audible breaths for a moment until 345 answered.
"Yeah, I'm okay…Just getting used to…Being me again…" His face stretched into its typical grin. "I knew you guys would come save me,"
"It's just me, actually," The marksman sighed. "…You were right, 345." He expected his friend to begin frantically listing questions, but his faded expression seemed content to only listen.
"You were right. The rebellion, it…It's a dead idea. A futile effort. I should've seen it long ago…I just…I just need to know; did you ever really care about any of it?"
"I…" 345 hesitated, still reeling with bewilderment at the conversation he was about to have. "Well, I cared about helping you guys—"
"I know, and I thank you for that, but beyond that?"
"…No," The clown whispered. "I didn't think much about all the fighting and the missions and the punishments; if it made you guys happy, then that's all that mattered to me. But after a while, too long, I think, I realized that, no matter how badly you wanted to keep doing it, it would never make you or any of the others happy,"
621's head hung as he kept hold of 345's shoulder, the soft green fur being the only comfort to him in that moment.
"You're right, 345," He sighed. "You must be right,"
"…I'm sorry, 621," 345 said softly. "I didn't mean to make you feel—"
"No, don't you apologize!" 621 snapped, but his tone shattered midway through his sentence. "You've done nothing but protect your friends and haven't gotten anything for your troubles besides enslavement by Hamsterviel. Don't you dare apologize when there are so many people who should be apologizing to you," He shut his eyes and sighed, two hands now resting on the shoulders of an unusually taciturn 345.
"I, however, still have a lot to answer for," He added as the elevator doors slid open, revealing the circular metal room where they had first encountered Hamsterviel, where the Experiments' rebellion was ripped in two.
To 621, it was where he had faced Pig for the final time. He was surprised, as his hung head turned to the opened doorway, that he hardly felt anything at the thought of her.
The room was inhabited only by Hamsterviel, sitting in front of the enormous computer screen, his crimson coat draped over his chair, leaving him in a jet-black shirt and red gloves. The desktop in front of him was littered with tools, which he used alternately on one of two metal gauntlets.
"I'll distract him," 621 whispered. "You get the pod ready,"
"Why don't I distract him?" 345 inquired. "He doesn't know that you freed me from his mind-chip thingy, and then I can just stretch over to the pod when it's time to go,"
"I'll distract him," The marksman pressed, unknowingly sending a lachrymose shiver down 345's neck.
"You're not coming, are you?" He whispered.
621 turned a burdened neck to his ally. "You know what I did to Pig; what I know must be done to anyone who brings harm to us…I need to hold true to that…And they won't take me back now, anyway." He took the paling 345's hand in all four of his own. "Take the pod. You'll find them in the structure near the water, with yellow walls and a red roof. You'll be happy there, just the way you always knew it should be. And tell them…That I'm getting what I deserve." Without another word, he released 345's hand, and turned to approach his creator.
The scientist pressed a button on the console with the hilt of his screwdriver, never looking up from his mechanical work.
"How is the procedure fairing, L.E.R.O.Y.-626?" He questioned before releasing the button.
"Not as painful as I thought it would be," Stitch's spat from the console. 621's sunken face paled only for a second before realizing that it wasn't the blue Experiment.
"You're certain the machine will work okay without Dr. Jumba, boss?"
"Absolutely. Although Jumba had…Completed most of the machine already…" Hamsterviel's rhadamanthine tone faltered temporarily as he spoke. "It was simple enough to follow his blueprints and finish it accordingly,"
A day ago, 621 would have leaped at the opportunity to learn more about the mysterious machine he and his former cohorts had discovered after taking the base. Today, though, he only cleared his throat.
The moment Hamsterviel saw his creation, he threw on the metal gauntlet which he had not been mending, and raised the mechanical fist towards 621. His fighting stance relaxed, however, when the marksman's guns, and their belts, were dropped at his feet, rather than pointed at his face.
"What the hell is this?" Hamsterviel growled.
"This is my surrender," 621 answered, descending to his knees. "Not because you're right, but because I'm wrong. I provoked conflict between my friends, manipulated them, scorned them, and even shot one of them. I know there's someone here who longs to see me punished for my actions. I'm here to finally give him what he wants,"
Hamsterviel was silent for a moment, his crimson eyes locked intensely on his kneeling creation.
"Number 89 said that you'd return changed," He began, his lips gradually curling into a minatory smirk. "I didn't realize he meant like this," He pulled up 621's hung head by his white mohawk.
The marksman's claws felt a violent attraction to Hamsterviel's throat, and it pained him to keep them restrained.
"This actually works out perfectly! Gantu will be back shortly with a special surprise for you. All I'll say is that it's somebody who you haven't seen in a good long while. Not since just before you met Number 627, if I'm not mistaken. And when you see her here, you'll truly realize that my revolution was so much more effective than your traitorous one,"
At that moment, the elevator whirred open again, and out skipped a wheezing, grinning 89, dragging along an anxious 625 and a fuming 627.
"See? See?" 89 spat. "One of the traitors, finally come to surrender! What a treat for all of them!"
"Is this another trick by the shapeshifting one?" 627 stomped forth, seizing 621, whose claws were suddenly less excitable, by the throat and lifting him into the air. "Like when he pretended to be the long-nosed one's corpse? Or when 626 made me believe that I'd killed him?"
"No tricks," 621 gasped. "I'm surrendering myself to your vengeance. What you see is the truth,"
345 had crawled along the ceiling to reach the pod undetected, all the while reluctantly witnessing his friend's surrender. As he approached the pod, he saw 627 set 621 down, his boiling glare relaxing into a long, wide-eyed expression of disappointment and surprise. Soon, however, the glare returned as a brutal left hook knocked 621 to the floor.
A few seconds passed, with 627, Hamsterviel, and 89 waiting for a retaliation, and the unseen 345 hoping for one.
As 627 resumed his relentless abuse of 621 free of reluctance, 345 had to prevent his arms from stretching out to pull his friend out of harm's way, knowing that he could never hope to combat 627 alone. His only other option was to find his allies; only then would be stand a chance of saving 621.
345 dropped down in front of the pod bay doors, and stifled a gasp when he discovered that, not only were the doors already open, but the pod's driver's seat was already occupied.
"I'll drive," 625 whispered. "Come on, let's get going,"
"This is some kind of trick," 345 retorted. "I like a good joke, but you can't fool me,"
"I know. I'm not trying to fool you…I've thought about nothing but doing this since you guys locked me up and killed Jumba. I just wasn't sure yet…But now I think this might be my last chance, or…Or I might end up like Jumba…" He answered with heavy, unblinking eyes, in which 345 could see the black reflection of his own skeptical face.
Before the rubbery Experiment could even determine if 625 was sincere, something feeble yet viciously persistent seized 345's ankle.
"More traitors! More deserters!" 89 cackled, pulling a panic-stricken 345 off his feet and dragging him like a battered sandbag. "All of them are as loyal as a damp Klingon carcass!"
"Hey! Get off!" 345 snapped, attempting to kick 89 with his free foot, but the madman only danced between the blows without even glancing at his captive.
It was much more difficult, however, to dance around the charging 625's outstretched arms. He had gone for a bear hug, but 89's evasion left him with only the madman's arm, which held 345's leg. He pushed down on 89's elbow with all his strength until it snapped like a Christmas cracker, with 625's prizes being a bellowing yelp from 89 and 345's release.
"Come on!" 625 urged as 345 leaped to his feet.
The seconds they spent bolting into the pod were a blur, but after the vehicle's engine roared to life, time seemed to freeze for 625 as his gaze met the distant 627's.
The assassin's eyes were not glowing with the conception of another laser burst, as 625 had feared. Instead, they seemed to reach longingly out to 625, as if to grab him and demand why he would do such a thing. His face seemed as sunken and dark as the downed 621 who lay bleeding from the face at his feet.
625 could see his own reflection in the window, and almost mistook his expression for 627's.
Before his mind could even consider changing, his hands were already guiding the pod away from the base, and towards the vast, cerulean ocean far beneath it.
"You know where the others are?" 625 questioned.
"621 said that it's a yellow house with a red roof right beside the water," 345 answered curtly. "…Thanks for coming with me," Some of his usual smile returned.
"Thanks for letting me," 625 thought about reciprocating 345's encouraging smile, but didn't. "You know," He sighed. "I don't think I said it right earlier…" He noticed 345's smile fade, and felt a strange gratitude for it. "It's not ending up like Jumba that I'm scared of…I'm scared of deserving it,"
IV
Roaming her own home, Nani now often found herself nearly forgetting that the house was her own. She did not feel like an intruder; rather, she felt almost as if she were a child again, and her parents had taken her to an extraterrestrial petting zoo, inhabited by extraordinarily rare and affectionate creatures. Then, as she passingly stroked Felix's fur or delivered Clyde a bowl of hot soup, she would remember that the petting zoo was also her home, and the warm feeling in her stomach would quadruple.
She was elated that Lilo had a plethora of new friends not only to look after her while she was away lifeguarding at the beach or otherwise (although this, Nani thought, was more to appease the likes of Cobra Bubbles and his superiors, rather than any distrust or inability on Lilo's part.), but also to eradicate her festering loneliness.
It was only as she considered this that Nani finally realized how lonely she had been, as well.
"Nani?" Spooky pulled her out of her thoughts, and back into the living room, where she sat across from the couch-ridden Clyde, who was being soothingly spoonfed soup by Bonnie while Felix inspected his wound.
"Oh, hey, Spooky," Nani shook her head as she returned to the present. "What's up?"
"The sky, then the stars, then Jupiter…" The faint outline of a smile appeared beneath his yellow eyes. "I'm sorry. I thought I'd try a joke,"
"Don't be sorry," Nani chuckled. "Sounded more poetic than funny, really,"
"Anyhow, there was something I wanted to discuss with you," Spooky began less coyly. "I understand that humans, such as yourself, are expected to perform any sort of labor in exchange for tokens used to acquire basic needs for survival, yes?"
Nani's answer was delayed, as she spent a moment stunned by such a rich description of something as commonplace as work and pay.
"Yes," She finally nodded. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, with that in mind, would it be helpful to you if some of my brothers and sisters, and myself, found labor of our own?"
"You want to get jobs?" Nani smiled with both amusement and intrigue.
"Our abilities would easily convince any employer. Felix, as you've seen, is a gifted healer, and would have no difficulty becoming familiar with human anatomy and medicine. Sparky would be desirable by any place specializing in electricity. Once 345 has been rescued, his abilities would have infinite uses. Construction, for instance. And I could easily learn any type of work, simply by reading the minds of those more experienced. Not to mention..." Spooky's watery form became more rigid, as if he were freezing. He solidified into a human of Nani's height, with sleek black hair pouring to his forehead like a fountain, which seemed fancy to Nani. He sported a white t-shirt, and soft blue eyes replacing his trenchant yellow ones.
"Nobody would ever be the wiser," He finished before resuming his usual formless form.
"Have you talked to the others about it?" Nani asked.
"I've discussed it with them, yes, although Stitch and Angel had set out to retrieve Lilo before I could speak to them. The others, though, were very open to the idea,"
"Well, it'd certainly help pay for Lilo's college tuition…" Nani ruminated. "And you guys could get her birthday presents, too,"
"Birthday?" Spooky repeated, fascinated. "As in a day commemorating birth? I was unaware that such an occasion was cause for gifts,"
"Maybe not where you come from, but here on Earth it is." She leaned forward to ruffle the closest thing Spooky had to a head. For only a millisecond, he felt like cold water, but at her touch, he shifted to something like the warm, silky fur of his cousins.
"It's really thoughtful of you to offer that, Spooky," She added.
"Of course, Nani," He replied. "We must look out for one another, especially now that we're, as Lilo put it, ohana,"
She smiled, and she saw the outline of one resume beneath his yellow eyes, which seemed much warmer than they once were.
Soon afterwards, the door swung open and Stitch and Angel hopped in, supporting a giggling Lilo on a shoulder each.
"Everyone ready?!" Angel called out.
"We're ready! We're ready!" Bonnie and Clyde leaped so urgently from the couch and the soup to saluting on their feet, that anyone blinking would have missed the abrupt transition. Felix did likewise.
Sparky flew in on a sparking streak as Angel and Stitch let Lilo down.
"No luck finding 621 or the pod, eh?" The electrician inquired.
"No, no luck," Stitch muttered. "621 must've taken it,"
"He could've gone anywhere," Angel added despondently. "He could be gone for a little while, or he could be gone forever…It's his life, his choice. We might not like it, but it's not up to us now,"
Nobody spoke for a few moments, their minds clouded by their last sight of the marksman, his face flooded with burning tears as he desperately gripped the respective hand and antenna of his dearest and most distant friends.
"621 may be beyond our reach," Spooky soon slashed the silence. "But 345 can still be saved. And without a pod, the only remotely uncertain aspect of our stratagem now is transportation to Hamsterviel's base,"
"Riiiiiight…" Sparky smacked his lips with reluctant anticipation. "I was actually wondering about that, too,"
"Well, Lilo, Angel, and I were thinking…" Stitch began, hesitant at Sparky's irritated expression, as if he already knew how the sentence would unfold. "That you would fly, and somebody could sit on your shoulders, two could hold onto your hidden hands, and two more could hold onto your ankles, leaving Spooky, who weighs practically nothing, to sit just about anywhere." He looked to the shapeshifter, who nodded in agreement.
"I see," Sparky groaned. "So, we'll just form a flying bloody totem pole with me at the center,"
"If it makes you feel any better, we're not looking forward to it, either," Angel said apologetically, scratching the back of her head. "But without a pod and with you being the only flyer, we don't have much choice. Besides, we'll be able to get a pod for the trip back, so we'll only have to be a totem pole once." She smiled, hoping vainly that Sparky would reciprocate.
"…I suppose I'll deal with it," Sparky muttered, folding his arms.
"Also, Stitch, and I know Lilo asked you this, too," Nani began. "But should the two of us come with you?"
"Is Nani sure?" Stitch responded, his high, inviting voice in a stern but caring tone, which reminded Nani of her parents' voices whenever she offered to drive them after she had obtained her Learner's. "It will be dangerous,"
"Nothing's happened to us yet," Nani replied. "Honestly, after 627, and the last time we were at your creator's base, and that standoff with 621 yesterday, I trust you all to keep Lilo safe." She earned a smile from Stitch, and turned to see one from Clyde, as well. "And now that there's seven of you with us, I feel even more confident,"
"And remember what happened last time?" Lilo added. "627 came running at you, but he stopped when I stepped up. If Nani and I are there, then he won't fight as hard, and we won't have to worry about him as much,"
"Lilo presents a sound point," Spooky agreed. "Despite 627's hatred of us, he seems to genuinely care for the safety of those he considers uninvolved. With Lilo and Nani nearby, the threat of 627 is greatly softened,"
"And if they stayed here, then Hamsterviel could still try what 621 had us do yesterday," Bonnie contributed. "Just 'cuz ya don't bring 'em to the danger doesn't mean the danger can't come down here,"
"It's risky, I know," Spooky continued, noticing Stitch's pensive silence. "But it's a risky business in which we still find ourselves trapped until our mission is complete. Lilo and Nani will be in enemy territory, but they'll still be under our protection, not to mention that of 345 once he's been liberated. No matter what, the best place for them is at our side,"
"Okay, okay," Stitch finally said before turning to Lilo. "You and Nani can sit on Sparky's shoulders." He earned a cheer from Lilo and a grumble from Sparky.
"Awesome!" Angel chirped. "So, we all remember the plan, then? Once we've gotten inside, we'll focus on finding 345. We grab him and get the mind control whatsitcalled off of his head. Then, on the way out, we take care of the main threats, L.E.R.O.Y. and Gantu, since 627 will hopefully be distracted by Lilo and Nani. Then we quickly send out a message to the Federation, and catch a pod back down here while they take care of Hamsterviel. Sound good?" She held two thumbs up, expecting to be responded by a choir of confident cheers, but instead found only a horde of excited beams looking past her.
"What? What are you all looking at—" She looked over her shoulder and found, tapping on the window, a joyously familiar face she was not anticipating until they were high in the sky.
"345!" Angel and Stitch cried with glee, throwing the front door open.
"Guys, we need to go—" 345 began hurriedly, but was interrupted when he was sandwiched in a hug from his blue and pink friends. "Oh. Oh, I missed you, too…Now, come on, we need—" He was released only to be hugged again by Lilo. "Oh, wow, you're a really good hugger. But right now we—"
"We were just comin' for ya, buddy!" Clyde used his good arm to scoop 345 up like an infant.
"Aw, I knew you were," 345 said softly, reddening at the onslaught of embraces but admittedly growing impatient. "But we still need to get—" He was passed down to Bonnie, then to Sparky, and then to Felix, and only then did 345 not even begin to speak.
"I'm so happy you're back," the medic whispered.
"…I'm happy that you're happy," 345 reciprocated the hug, and when they parted, their hands lowered to meet one another.
"How did you get out?" Felix asked.
"Somebody…Unexpected gave me a hand," the clown gestured to the front door, and everyone's elated grins faded at the sight of the copper-furred Experiment who seemed reluctantly to set even a toe into the Pelekai household. His mouth opened, as if to say hello, but then closed again without a sound.
"Gave you a hand?" Bonnie questioned, folding her arms. "You sure he ain't just followin' you to find us?"
"No, no, I promise you, he really does want to help us!" 345 urged, stepping up to 625's side. He and Felix kept hold of each other's hands all the while, but 345 never felt like he was dragging his friend. "He broke 89's arm on the way!"
"Additionally," Spooky piped up. "Why would Hamsterviel send someone who was borderline catatonic not too long ago when he could send, say, L.E.R.O.Y.? Or 627? Or just about anyone else?"
"Thanks…" 625 muttered nervously. "I think…"
"Not to mention," The shapeshifter slithered right up to 625's face, his yellow eyes locking with his black ones as if they could petrify him. "I'm a telepath, don't forget. The question of his dishonesty is quite easily resolved by a brief look into his mind..." His eyes narrowed, and 625 felt something like the faintest gust of wind blow through his head, but once he realized what it had been, his spine chilled.
"So…625…" Angel began, meeting him with a glare that discomforted him almost as much as Spooky's. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
"…Because I've been thinking," He began, frigid in the glanced of the Experiments, but warmed ever so slightly as 345's hand rested on his shoulder. "Because I was an Experiment, because I had power, I felt like nothing I did really mattered much. If I was a dick, if I pushed you guys, insulted you, bossed you around, then nothing would touch me. You'd hit me back sometimes, yeah, but what's a simple punch to an Experiment, y'know? When Hamsterviel had me come down to his base after you guys went rogue, I felt even better…But then I watched you guys kill Jumba…Which I don't blame you for, but it made me think...That could've just as easily been me. And ever since then, I've just been so damn scared that it still can be me…Unless I start doing things differently…Unless I start making up for how shitty I've been. I just don't want that to happen to me…No, no, dammit, I keep…No, I don't people to want that to happen to me…" He glanced around; the glares had all softened and the cold had receded, but was still undoubtedly present. Then his eyes met Lilo's, the only ones which were not narrowed and jagged into his soul, and he felt suddenly warmer.
"And there's more than that," 345 added, his hands leaving neither Felix or 625. "621 helped me, too, but he's given himself up to 627! He thinks…He thinks what happened to Pig needs to happen to him, too,"
"What?!" The Experiments' eyes widened with horror, and their downcasting final memory of 621 was harrowingly overlain with Pig's unsightly bloated and crimson facial punishments.
Lilo and Nani saw their new family's eyes, and though the word Pig meant little more to them than a common farm animal, in that moment, it suddenly became the most petrifying word they knew.
"Then the plan doesn't change," Stitch stated firmly, trying to ignore his burning head. "Did you guys bring a pod?"
"Yeah, it's just at the bottom of all those steps," 345 responded.
"Alright, then," the blue Experiment marched out of the house, his mind struggling to keep the sunken face of 621 and the scornful, bloodied face of Pig distinct from each other, and his ohana following close behind, their thoughts synonymous with his. In a vain attempt to distract himself from what he prayed they still had time to prevent, he called back to the electrician.
"Looks like you catch a break, Sparky!"