Chapter 17:
Liberty
I
"Ow! Shit! Be fucking careful!" Pig bellowed, her spit, tears, sweat, and blood indistinguishable as they fell from her bloated, crusty, red face.
"I'm trying, 21!" Jumba urged, sweating almost as much as his creation, who sat hunched on a medical table as he gripped her bicep and forearm, trying better than his best to reunite the destroyed elbow. "Squirming will only make this more difficult,"
"Right, because you've got the hard job," Pig cried through her remaining teeth. "And as if my arm isn't the only fucking this broken!" She craned her neck to look into Jumba's four anxious eyes with her only functioning one. "That's just the goddamn problem here! You can pump us out like a Xenomorph whore, but you can't fix us for shit!"
Jumba stopped handling Pig's limp arm for a moment, and instead focused on her asymmetrical eyes. He saw her clear black one leak a single tear, and her other, obscured by repulsive red and black swells like an inept creature drowning in a bubbling crimson sea, and then abandoned his efforts entirely.
"I'm sorry," He whispered. "I tried, but…I'm just not sure I can heal you,"
"Well, that doesn't do dick for me," Pig spat weakly.
Soon after, an all-too-familiar trenchant accent penetrated Jumba's and Pig's (one-and-a-half) ears.
"What the fuck are you doing, Jumba?" Hamsterviel demanded as he stormed into Jumba's lab.
"Jacques!" Jumba swiveled around frantically to face his partner. "I was trying to tend to 21's wounds,"
"I see…" Jacques muttered, looking at Pig, who looked in his direction, but he couldn't tell if she actually focused on him. "A word, please, Jumba," He beckoned his partner, who obeyed. "Why do you even bother?" He whispered through his teeth. "She must be infected beyond the capabilities of any medicine we have,"
"She's one of our creations, Jacques," Jumba insisted. "It's our duty to care for them,"
"Jumba, she has provoked conflict amidst her cohorts, distracting their anger away from the Federation, and worst of all, committed a crime almost as abhorrent as the likes of Gantu. The only reason we didn't take action against her is because Number 621 took care of it himself. You need to look past your maternal pride and realize that, just because you brought something to life, doesn't mean that you need to keep it alive,"
"But…She's ours, Jacques," The four-eyes scientist pleaded. "Surely, there must be something we can do,"
"The fact that she's ours should disgust you," Hamsterviel growled. "But yes, there is something we can do, and since you can't bring yourself to make the tough decision…" He turned and marched towards Pig, his crimson coattail swinging as he did.
Jumba saw his partner's hand dive malevolently into his coat, and his heart stopped before the fist had even resurfaced.
Pig still seemed to be staring underwhelmed into space, but when she found herself looking into the barrel of a yellow plasma blaster, her good eye widened enough for Hamsterviel to see a border of unsightly red cracks like bloody lightning bolts.
Jacques' finger was only a second away from depressing the trigger when Pig's foot struck his gut. Creator and creation harmonized pained grunts as the former fell to the floor.
Pig heaved herself off the bench, landing miserably on her hands with another exhausted groan.
Hamsterviel rolled to a foot and a knee, his blaster pointed only inches away from Pig's forehead. The crippled Experiment grasped the barrel, feeling the scorching heat singe her palm as a wild shot was fired.
After a few tense seconds of limp but bitterly resentful wrestling, the blaster was won by Pig, who fell on her side with another painful cry.
Jacques got quickly to his feet, prepared to evade if he wasn't close enough to disarm his opponent. Before he could act, however, he found that, while Pig's one good eye glared at him with fire as crimson as most of her face, she only held the blaster apathetically at her fallen side. Hamsterviel barely flinched, waiting for his creation to make the first move, but instead, her one visible eye began to leak tears, her blood-stained lip quivered, and her glare intensified.
Finally, her eye a narrow inferno of fire and water, she raised the blaster, past Hamsterviel, until the barrel rested beside her only complete ear.
In one moment, Jacques was staring at a red eye above a grey floor, and after a deafening shoom and a repugnant splatter, he stared instead at a grey eye against a red floor.
Jacques' combat stance relaxed as he steadied his breathing, though he never looked away from the corpse that had been made for him.
"You seem less objective, Jumba," He finally exhaled.
"Well…If she wanted it…" Jumba said, his four eyes glued despondently to Pig's splayed body. "Who am I to deny her?"
"My thoughts exactly,"
"…Should we burn her?" Jumba suggested. "We could use plasma,"
"Best not; that's better saved for the ones still breathing." He knelt down beside Pig, picking up her head by the fur at its top, and smiled sinisterly at the empty face, whose only color now was the red of fresh blood.
"Instead, we'll have a special surprise for our guests," With his other hand, he picked up the blaster, holding it near Pig's bleeding head as he turned his smirk to Jumba.
"I don't think they'll know the difference. Do you?"
II
"How about Jake?" Lilo suggested.
"Hmm…Jake?" 345 turned to Felix, who shook his head after a moment's contemplation.
While they sat in the back of the pod with Nani, Clyde, and Bonnie (who sat on Clyde's good, unbandaged shoulder to save room for the others), the front was occupied by Stitch, Angel, Sparky, Spooky, and 625, who piloted the vehicle diagonally upward.
"Maybe Reed?" Lilo asked.
"Hmm…Not sure," 345 replied. "So many names. Hard to pick only one,"
"345 should have special name," Felix said. "Special name only for 345,"
"Oh…Okitaka," 345 reddened as he ruminated. "Bonnie? Angel? Sparky? What did you used to call me sometimes?"
"Stretchles?" Said Bonnie.
"Nah,"
"Squeaky?" Said Angel.
"No, the other thing,"
"Daddy Long Legs?" Said Sparky.
"No, the other, other thing,"
"Elastico?" Angel suggested.
"Elastico," The clown repeated. "Elastico, Elastico. What do you think, Felix? I like it if you like it,"
Felix smiled as his clawed left hand seemed to find its own way around his friend's back and to his right shoulder. "Perfect, Elastico,"
Elastico likewise stretched a soft arm around Felix.
"It's so wonderful to have you back," The medic whispered. "All this didn't feel complete without you,"
"I didn't feel complete until I was back with all of you guys," Elastico replied. "…I wanted to say thanks…You made me sure that I wasn't just a weirdo for getting tired of the rebellion; that I was on the right track after all,"
"I wanted to thank you, too, for…Pretty much the same thing. All this time, we've been following 621 or Spooky or Jumba, when we should've been following you,"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Elastico chuckled. "Following them still led you here in the end, didn't it?" They said no more, but only smiled at each other as if they were both admiring a magnificent newfound painting.
"Hey, uh, 625, right?" Lilo began, leaning over the front seat's back to see the taciturn pilot. "We should think of a name for you,"
625 glanced back at her momentarily. Lilo at first couldn't fathom why his cousins, save Elastico, Felix, and Spooky, looked at him so coldly; his eyes were as soft as the blue shade of the sea. Then she remembered where she had last seen those eyes; when Stitch had confessed his origins and deceit to her, moments before they were captured by Gantu, seemingly a lifetime ago. Suddenly, she understood much more.
"After 621 saved," 625 answered, facing front again.
"Oh. Why not now?" Lilo inquired.
"…Meega want earn name," He answered as they abandoned the bright, soothing clouds for the grim metal of Hamsterviel's pod bay.
"Alright, once we get in there, we immediately search for 621, fending off Hamsterviel, 627, and the others if we need to," Stitch commanded as everyone disembarked. "We'll start with 627's bedroom that 625 mentioned, and the glass cell in Jumba's lab,"
"Everyone stay close to Lilo and Nani," Angel added. "Especially if 627 is looking right at you. Right; ready?"
Everyone nodded.
Angel and Stitch dug their claws into the thin crevice between the pod bay doors, exchanging determined grins before ripping the doors away.
The Pelekais rushed into the base, but halted after only three decreasingly resounding steps.
L.E.R.O.Y. and Gantu stood on either side of Hamsterviel; 627's absence somehow petrified the Experiments more than his presence would have.
In Hamsterviel's left hand, he clutched a yellow plasma blaster, which he pointed at the hostage whose neck he restrained with his right arm.
She had pale blue skin, no hair, and nightly eyes. She wore a black gown with white shoulder pads that stretched into long, curved spikes like a scarab's legs. Her hands were held behind her back by a single metal tube, like an enormous finger trap.
"I know, it makes you think, doesn't it?" Hamsterviel sneered at his intensely frozen creations. "I've been sending all of you after the Grand Councilwoman for years, but all I needed to do was gain control over a high-ranking officer…" He nodded to Captain Gantu, whose forehead emitted the faintest red light. "And have him sneak into her quarters. Oh, well; all that matters now is that she's here, where she belongs,"
"Don't think for a second," Stitch defied, pointing a claw at his creator. "That just because we're not a part of this anymore, then we'll just let you kill her,"
"On the contrary, you are very much still a part of this, no matter how strongly you try to adhere to a peaceful existence. Your mere presence here proves as much," Hamsterviel grinned evilly as his scarlet eyes gleamed like fire. "I'd like to propose a deal; you all surrender yourselves, as your brother, 621, did, and I will spare the contemptible Councilwoman,"
"You know, giving us 621 back might make us leave ya alone," Sparky objected.
"Might," Their creator repeated through his teeth. "That's just the trouble, isn't it? As much as you'd like to believe otherwise, it will always be only a matter of time before you deserters find an excuse to get in my way again. Better to have a full guarantee,"
"Even so," Angel added. "Your deal's not very convincing,"
"Hm. I was worried you'd say that. Allow me to amend it, then," The scientist sneered as his eyes burned hotter. "Surrender yourselves to me, and I will spare the Councilwoman, and your two Earthling friends." He looked directly at Lilo and Nani, who promptly moved closer to their Experiments, who did likewise.
Spooky, however, slithered to the front of the group.
"Is that so?" He questioned with all the authority of a High Court judge. "You would end innocent lives to benefit your cause? Innocent lives that have scarcely even heard of the Federation, let alone support it…" He noticed his creator's sinister grin thinning, and so he began to alter his form.
He gained a snowy coat of fur, and sprouted long ears from the top of his head and dark blue boots. He donned a black shirt with white buttons along the far-right side, beside the highest of which was the all-too-familiar spider-like emblem of the Federation. Spooky now resembled a much shorter, childlike, cerulean-eyed version of Hamsterviel.
"Would daddy really do that his-self?" Spooky questioned, his trenchant voice now high and meek.
For what seemed like hours, Hamsterviel was frigid; his face became as pale as a corpse's, and the only parts of him that moved were the tears that threatened to abandon his eyes.
"You dare…" He whispered, his blaster-armed fist quivering.
"Please, daddy," The child pleaded. "No more hurting. No more like Lukas— "
"Don't you fucking say his name," Hamsterviel growled through his teeth.
As the rest of the Pelekais watched anxiously as the conniving scientist was reduced to a hesitant mess, they glanced upward at Captain Gantu, who watched the scene just as intently. Beneath the miniscule red light on his forehead was a face every bit as pale as Hamsterviel's.
Though this mystified the Pelekais, they knew that they had to act immediately, before Hamsterviel's terror escalated to heightened fury.
Sparky rose high above the standoff, ready to fire a bolt at his creator's blaster.
A vulnerable Jacques noticed this and, reacting impulsively, held out the Councilwoman like a shield.
Gantu moved to fire at the attackers, but Sparky's redirected projectile kept him at bay.
Seizing the opportunity, Stitch and Angel rushed their creator from opposite sides.
Though Hamsterviel's brain and heart still throbbed agitatedly, he still had mind enough to know that aiming his plasma blaster at Angel was much more practical than aiming it at Stitch.
In spite of his strategy, Jacques wasn't quick enough to save his blaster from being crushed by his target, or himself from being picked up by his long ears by Stitch.
Elastico then wrapped an elongated arm around the Grand Councilwoman, lifting her carefully to his allies' side.
"Aloha," Lilo greeted her hastily as the clown pried open her metal restraints with his bare hands. "I know these guys have done some bad things to your, uh, Federation, but you should know that it'd be meaner to arrest people when they're helping you,"
"An enemy's enemy is a friend, Earthling," The Councilwoman replied. "Besides, I've been paying attention to Dr. Hamsterviel's scheming since I was brought here. I know you're no longer a threat to the Galactic Federation,"
"Oh...Well, that's good. Thanks," Lilo smiled.
"It's not too late to take up Sparky's offer, Hammy," Stitch told his creator, holding him at eye level. "We're mainly here for our friend. Just give him back and we'll go easy on you,"
"You think he's Doc's to give away, handsome?" A voice identical to Stitch's objected.
Stitch and Angel looked over the latter's shoulder, finding L.E.R.O.Y., far enough from them to shoot, pointing a plasma blaster of his own right at them.
What worried the two Experiments more than this, though, was that they each could have sworn that L.E.R.O.Y. had been behind Stitch, not Angel. Their suspicions were confirmed when the crimson remake locked his blue counterpart in a full nelson.
"Not that ol' 627 is any more negotiable," This L.E.R.O.Y. added.
His duplicate fired at Angel, who ducked the slimy green projectile (which pathetically impacted Stitch and L.E.R.O.Y. like a ball of yarn.) and broke into a charge at the firer, swiftly dodging every bit of plasma while remembering with a trenchant pit in her gut how agonizing the substance had felt in last night's dream world.
As she closed in on L.E.R.O.Y., she saw Bonnie running to back her up.
Just as L.E.R.O.Y. switched targets, Angel grasped his arm, forcing his blaster downwards as Bonnie leaped into a spin, then introduced L.E.R.O.Y.'s jaw to her foot.
The duplicate's blaster tumbled out of his hand and across the floor, skidding to a halt on the floor just beside the Grand Councilwoman, who quickly claimed it.
Angel continued her attack on L.E.R.O.Y. by tossing him across the room, and then shared a high-five with Bonnie.
Hamsterviel then darted past them, bolting by L.E.R.O.Y. and headed for the monitor on the east side of the circular room.
Bonnie and Angel made to pursue both their creator and the second L.E.R.O.Y., but they were stopped and sent to the floor when something grabbed them each by an ankle.
Angel and Bonnie were flat on the floor; L.E.R.O.Y. was rising to defend his creator.
They were dragged upward and smacked back down like sledgehammers; L.E.R.O.Y. exchanged fisticuffs with Stitch.
Angel and Bonnie turned vehemently on their sides; L.E.R.O.Y. clutched their feet in two vise-like hands.
"What? You didn't really think we'd stop at two, did you?" The third L.E.R.O.Y. cackled.
He prepared to throw Angel and Bonnie again, but his head was trapped in a metal hand before he could.
"You guys go after Hamsterviel," Clyde offered, lifting up a struggling L.E.R.O.Y. like he was pulling up a weed. "I'll take care of Stitch-Lite here,"
"On it," Angel declared as she resumed her pursuit of her creator.
"Thanks for the save, Clyde-eo," Bonnie winked as she followed.
"Anything for you, Bon," He saluted with two organic fingers.
As Clyde and Stitch each contended with a L.E.R.O.Y., and Angel and Bonnie charged towards Hamsterviel and the other L.E.R.O.Y., and Sparky and Spooky tangled with Gantu, the Grand Councilwoman stepped up, L.E.R.O.Y.'s blaster in hand.
"You go and find your friend," She commanded Elastico. "I'll get to Jacques' master console and send for reinforcements to end this once and for all,"
"Oh. Okitaka," Elastico promptly stretched one arm around Lilo and Nani, and another around Felix and 625.
"Stay close to the others," Nani advised. "They'll protect you if Hamsterviel or anyone comes after you again,"
"When, you mean," The Councilwoman smiled. "Now go, while I try to cope with the irony that I'm fighting with my greatest enemies and against my most loyal captain,"
With that, Elastico's legs grew into giant stilts as he traversed the battleground with his passengers. He was stopped only momentarily when a L.E.R.O.Y. caught his ankle, but he was quickly freed when Stitch punched down on his doppelganger's shoulder. The five Pelekais bunched into the elevator on the opposite side of the metallic room, where Elastico was crestfallen at memories of his last melancholic conversation with 621, and 625 was haunted at the recollection of being inside such a closed space with 89.
As the elevator doors whirred shut, its inhabitants were given a final look at the battle, now joined by Hamsterviel, who combatted Bonnie and Angel with a pair of hefty metal gauntlets.
The doors shut, and there was a silent facade of peace.
III
"So 627 has his own bedroom?" Nani inquired.
"Ih," 625 answered. "Hamsterviel want 627 feel home here, so naga leave,"
"621 probably there," Elastico added. "He give up to 627, naga Hamsterviel, so bedroom make sense,"
Once the elevator released them, and they had darted to the first door they saw in the glum metal hallway, their hearts vibrated violently as they hoped desperately that 621 had sustained only minor injuries, but anticipated a bloody mess barely capable of movement.
The only comfort was that Felix was already there, ready to attend to 621 if necessary.
When the thin metal door was opened, Lilo and Nani's first surprise was 627's bedroom itself. They had imagined a dimly lit chamber filled with jagged and pernicious torture devices from any and all alien races, and walls coated with pictures of the Experiments' smiling faces, dirtied with blood and held up by enormous blades that pierced the likenesses' eyes.
Instead, they found little more than the minimum requirements of a bedroom; a quaint bed with dark green covers and a single pillow, and a bookshelf that was identical to the one in Lilo's room.
The only thing remotely resembling their prediction of the room was the four-armed creature lying against the western wall, his face masked with blood.
Felix and Elastico darted to 621's side, relieved (though also mystified) that his injuries were only a fraction of what Pig's were, though they were no less concerned for him, especially not at the repugnant burnt aroma of electricity that rose from his fur.
The marksman's reddened eyes widened at the sight of the Experiments and humans surrounding him.
"You…" He whispered. "You returned,"
"Of course we did," Elastico replied, gently intertwining his fingers with 621's. "Everyone's here; we're all here to save you,"
"But...I don't understand," 621 coughed. "Why would you want to save me, after I've brought you nothing but pain?"
"Because you don't feel good about it, and you certainly don't feel nothing, either," Felix answered, carefully wiping away drying blood from the marksman's face, despite more rushing from his nose and mouth to replace it.
"You're not Hamsterviel, you're not L.E.R.O.Y., and you're certainly not Pig,"
"We've all done bad things," Elastico continued. "Maybe you've done more than the rest of us, but that doesn't mean that we want our friend gone more than we want him back,"
621's eyes became shielded by reflective pools of tears.
"A-And the others? They really want…?"
"Of course,"
"Even 150?"
"He's fine," Felix responded. "He's still healing, but he's willing to forgive you if you come with us, and prove that we're right about you,"
"Oh, God," 621's eyes clamped shut, and tears streamed down his cheeks like waterfalls. "I...I don't deserve you all…"
"Well, you know what, 621?" Elastico caressed the snowy mohawk of fur on the marksman's head. "We're gonna fix that right now,"
"...Okay," 621 heaved himself to his feet.
"Can you walk alright?" Felix asked, ready to catch his friend should he stumble.
"Yeah," 621 answered. "627 concentrated on my upper body...It was strange; I thought he'd be more creative, but he only punched me in short intervals, and then electrocuted me a bit...I thought he'd be like how I was with Pig, but it seemed like he was struggling to enjoy it…"
"That is weird," Elastico replied. "I mean, I'm so glad he didn't hurt you as much as we were scared he would, but...Why would he hold back if he hates us as much as he says he does?"
"I know from experience…" 621 began, wiping fresh blood from his nostrils. "That most of the satisfaction comes from your victim's fear. My guess is that my asking for punishment ruined his revenge. But theorizing will get us nowhere."
He walked carefully to the bed, knelt down, reached beneath it, and rose again holding the guns and belts he had seemed (and literally been) naked without.
Donning them, however, felt strange, like he was dressing up as a notorious figure who bore no resemblance to him.
When he looked at Nani and Lilo, an even stranger feeling encompassed them both; it felt like fear, yet somehow they knew that it wasn't truly that.
"Meega...Sorry…" 621 finally said. "Meega...Think that youga...Was bad for friends...But youga...More good than meega...Youga make friends happy...All meega want...Maybe...Youga can make meega happy, too,"
Lilo took a step towards him.
His voice had been nothing like the pleasant squeaks of his cousins. It was neither as low or as soothing as Spooky's, but its gravel and depth gave him just as much presence as the shapeshifter, despite his current bleeding and apologetic state.
Lilo hesitated on the next step, but when 621 was still, like a melancholy version of a soldier waiting to be spoken to, she approached him more loosely.
"It'll be alright," She spoke softly as she took two of his hands in her own. His lower hands did not participate. "I'm sorry about what happened to your friends,"
"...Meega sorry...Yougata friends." More tears dampened his cheeks. He shook his head quickly, and then looked again with the same tears, but with new determination.
"Weega help friends," He stated. "Get Hamsterviel. Go to new home,"
"Alright!" Lilo chimed.
621 led the way to the door, and both he and Lilo were mutually surprised to find that they still held hands as they moved. Lilo hoped that he would not let go, and 621 found himself not wanting to.
When they reached the exit, it was suddenly blocked by a towering figure of crimson fur that was harrowingly familiar to the Pelekais.
To their surprise (and 625's nauseating anxiety), 627 did not glare at them with eyes glowing with the prelude of a scorching laser blast. Instead, he only looked at 625 with all the authoritative despondence of a disappointed parent.
"You probably think I hate you now, 625," He began, his voice rumbling with the unsettling growl of a vicious dog kept at bay by the gradually weakening control of its owner. "But more than anything, I'm disappointed in you. Just...Just help me understand why you would side with these monsters, knowing what they did to me,"
"Because I've finally been thinking about what I am to people," 625 answered, moving to the front of the group with swiftness that surprised himself as much as his audience. "And I'm not doing this because I don't care about you...Look, what they did to you; it...It's different from what you think. There's a lot more to it than what Jumba and Hamsterviel told you,"
"Then why don't you tell me?" 627 pleaded, his usual fury relaxing for a moment. "625, if you were ever truly my friend, please tell me what you know." His voice, so often booming with vengeance or trenchant with mysterious poetry, was now merely that of a desperate beggar.
"I'm so sorry," 625 responded with equally miserable softness. "But I can't imagine what you'll do when you find out, and it's because I care about you that I can't tell you. Honestly, it's Hamsterviel who knows all about it, and he's the one who really owes you some answers,"
"Maybe so, but I'm not talking to Hamsterviel right now, am I?" 627 took a single step forward, and everyone facing him took two steps backward, as if a second gravity were pulling them towards the wall.
"I'm talking to you, and you're not leaving until you tell me what I deserve to hear." He kept his gaze on 625, watching him fumble for another half-answer that would only lead to his fumbling again for another.
His immense concentration, however, did not allow him to anticipate Nani's sudden charge towards him.
He raised a defensive palm, but nothing else; no plasma, no electric sparks, not even a barred claw, all of which Nani had planned.
Before she even reached him, Elastico's elongated arm struck the crimson assassin directly in the face, shoving him into the wall behind him before he landed gracelessly on all fours.
"Quickly!" Nani declared.
The Pelekais darted out of 627's bedroom, past its recovering owner, and back into the elevator.
In the seconds that all this occurred, 625 had the last apologetic word before the doors shut.
"I'll tell you this, though; you don't deserve any of this,"
Just after everyone felt their bodies descend before their stomachs could catch up, 621 pulled a blaster from either side of his gunbelt, and held them out to Lilo and Nani.
"Naga work on L.E.R.O.Y. or 627," He began. "But for Hamsterviel, for Gantu, for 89, if youga think they hurt youga,"
Both humans grew pale. Although Lilo's open mouth had no words as she stared entranced at the weapon, Nani had plenty to spare.
"We're not going to kill anyone!" She exclaimed, thinking as she spoke that she sounded reasonable, but only afterwards did she consider that she had sounded foolish.
"Then naga kill," 621 replied, scarcely shaken by Nani's outburst. "Shoot in knee, or in hand, in naga-kill places. Only hurt places. Only if meega or friends late to help youga,"
"But...We don't know how to shoot. And Lilo's just a child-"
"It's probably a little like darts," Lilo suggested, her eyes still locked on the blaster. Color returned to her face as she carefully took hold of the hilt. As she lifted it from 621's hand, she was both surprised and intimidated at how light it was.
"Cafita." 621 carefully adjusted Lilo's grip with his three fingers, moving her index from the trigger to the thin metal curve in front of it. "Only if youga about to shoot. Blaster naga get empty, just hot; need time to cool,"
The marksman held the other blaster out again to Nani as her sister carefully held the blaster up with two hands.
"Isa okitaka, Nani," Felix advised. "Not for fun. Only for safe,"
Nani sighed. "Fine." She grudgingly accepted the blaster, and, like her sister, was surprised at its weight; she nearly thought the weapon was only a toy.
"Remember," 621 added, drawing a blaster of his own. "Not for fun. Not for anger. Only for safe. Only for…"
"For ohana," Lilo finished, lowering her blaster and taking his lower right hand.
The marksman had never heard the word before, but the human's touch was all the definition he needed.
"Ih," He brought her his other lower hand, and smiled. "For ohana,"
IV
Daniel's blood bubbled and boiled as he rose to his feet. As he made for the elevator, he wondered briefly if the damp warmth on his face was blood or tears or a repugnant mixture of them both. He didn't care enough to touch his face and find out for sure.
As he approached the door, he reeled his fist back, and launched it at the door before he had even stopped walking.
The crippled metal doors, followed closely by their attacker, dived down the cold, silver shaft until they landed on the descending elevator.
With another vehement punch, 627's fist was in the elevator with his enemies, making them jolt as he tore the machine's roof away.
By the time he had crudely carved an entryway, however, the elevator had reached its destination, and its passengers disembarked as urgently as if it were a sinking ship.
Daniel, his head's burning and throbbing escalating, pursued them, emerging in the ovate computer room and pod bay turned battleground, filled with so many combatants and yet so few friends.
This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing.
Daniel saw one of the bastards; the golden electric one, flying in his direction while exchanging projectiles with Gantu.
When he flew unwittingly close, Daniel reached out and grabbed his ankle, halting him in the air.
"Ack! Oh, I was wondering whenyou'd show up!" Sparky growled. "Well, let me tell ya, mate; you're not the first one to try this bit…" He surprised a still burning Daniel when he reached down and grasped the crimson-furred arm.
"But you are gonna be the first to try out my new counter for it!"
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core.
Though Daniel was only further shocked and frustrated as he was heaved into the air, nothing prevented him from generating a fizzing green clump of plasma in his free hand. Unfortunately, this only got him tossed from the flight, and he careened plasma-hand-first towards Gantu, who struggled to pry a persistent Spooky from his neck.
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining.
Thinking quickly in his panic, Daniel discarded his projectile towards the ceiling, not caring what it hit or missed so long as it was far away from the captain's head.
Daniel hit and slid off of Gantu's head, but was fast enough to heave himself back on (and was careful, for Gantu's sake, to grab with his adhesive pads rather than his claws).
The watery one, still trapped in Gantu's fist, continued to resist Gantu's forceful pulling as he maintained a killer grip on the giant's neck.
Daniel stood up on Gantu's head, his eyes glowing red as he glared down at Spooky.
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er.
The shapeshifter was swift enough to avoid the scorching beam, but had to sacrifice his grasp on Gantu to do so.
The captain pried Spooky loose and chucked him across the room like a stone into a pond.
"Thanks for that, Daniel," Gantu declared.
Daniel was then swivelled around as Gantu turned his head, and he saw what the giant saw; the Grand Councilwoman approaching Hamsterviel's computer console, with Angel and Bonnie keeping its owner from stopping her.
Daniel knew just what the captain planned to do even before he had begun storming towards his betrayed leader.
But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er. She shall press, ah, NEVERMORE!
Daniel had been aware of Hamsterviel's crusade against the Galactic Federation since he had been granted his powers. He had, however, always insisted to himself that his own business with the rogue Experiments had been distinct from his creator's own conflicts. But now, as he found himself stranded in a situation that could mean both the triumph of his creator and the ultimate downfall of his friend, that distinction became nigh impossible to believe.
In that moment, Daniel realized with harrowing acceptance that he would have to make a choice.
He also realized that, while Hamsterviel had his word that he would pursue the Experiments no matter what, he had made no such promise regarding the Councilwoman or Gantu.
Thus, the crimson assassin had no reservations as he tore the faint red light from Gantu's head.
The giant stumbled to one knee just as he neared the Councilwoman, who had already drawn her blaster.
"Don't shoot him!" Daniel urged, leaping down from the captain's head and holding two clawed hands out as a shield against the blaster.
"He's alright now. I've freed him from Hamsterviel's control,"
"Your voice…" The Councilwoman muttered, lowering her weapon. "Somehow...More mature than your predecessors…"
"Thank you, Daniel," Gantu said as the Experiment turned to face him. "I owe you more than I'll ever be able to pay back,"
"Don't worry about it," Daniel rested a clawed hand on Gantu's huge finger. "Just take your leader and get out of here. You're the only friend I have left, Captain. I don't know what your comrades make of you, but to me, you've been supportive and sincere, and for that, you deserve to escape this place intact." He then turned to the Councilwoman, though his hand never left Gantu, whose face melted into a touched smile.
"I'm sorry for all the people you've lost to Dr. Hamsterviel and Dr. Jumba's creatures. I promise you that it will be put right." He turned back to Gantu before he could see the Councilwoman's befuddled and fascinated reaction. "Now go. While you still have time,"
"We will," Gantu responded. "I hope we'll meet again, Daniel,"
The Experiment smiled. "I have a feeling we will,"
With that, the soldier and his leader darted for the room's exit.
Once he was certain that they were gone, Daniel, the burning in his brain having left him for a few precious moments, turned back to the hellish room and his hellish life.
As if somebody somewhere just wanted to get right back to Daniel's punishment, the blue one who had cruelly teased Daniel with his false death was the very next thing he saw, as if he had been waiting impatiently for Daniel to finish saving his friend.
Stitch said something about being tired of these meetingsThen, methought, the air grew denserbut Daniel wasn't listening.
perfumed from an unseen censer.
Daniel swiped at his opponent, who caught his arm and countered with a punch of his own. Daniel caught it, as well as the other three, revelling in that moment the six arms that had terrified him so much so long ago.
He sent two simultaneous uppercut from his lower arms into Stitch's gut, then followed up by grasping the blue Experiment's head and slamming it into his knee, and then into the cold, metal floor.
"Oh, no you don't!" A familiarly passionate voice objected from behind Daniel.
He turned and threw two consecutive plasma-charged hooks at the pink one with the head antennas which he wasn't yet convinced were not birth defects.
Both blows were evaded before they were snared around the elbows by the strange antennae, which were closely followed by a headbutt straight into Daniel's nose.
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
Daniel simultaneously received Angel's fist in his neck and Stitch's foot in his calf, making him gargle and kneel.
He was more prepared for the next set of blows; he blocked Stitch's punch with his forearm, and then caught Angel's roundhouse kick. He used her as a club to smack Stitch into the wall, then tossed her after him.
Wretch, I cried, thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he hath sent thee.
Before his opponents could even begin recovering, Daniel dashed towards them and seized Angel's ankle again.
"Ohmannotagain-" She sputtered just before Daniel lifted her up and smashed her down into Stitch again and again, beating him as if she were a tenderizer and he were a piece of raw meat.
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Ellen.
"Every time I think you can't be meaner…" A voice declared from behind Daniel. It was the one with the bouncy accent that taunted him even more relentlessly than the electric one.
Daniel felt both of Bonnie's feet in his spine before he could turn to look at her, but that was the extent of her advantage.
He smacked her away with a left hook before grasping her head with his middle left hand, and then shoved her into the metal floor. Then, shifting his grip to her large, floppy ear, he alternated between beating Stitch with Angel and beating the floor with Bonnie.
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Allen.
He sensed a powerful footstep stomp down just beside him.
Only after he swiped at his next challenger, and after his attacking middle right arm was caught, did Daniel discover that it was the green one with the trunk; the one whose death at Daniel's hands had been fabricated by the shapeshifter.
Felix was silent, but his glare, which reflected Daniel's, expressed more fury than any words he could fathom.
Quoth the Raven, NEVERMORE!
To Daniel's malicious convenience, his hand in Felix's grasp was within grabbing distance of the medic's trunk. He seized it, forcing it in any discomforting direction he could, bending it in ways that it wasn't designed to, and digging his black claws into Felix's skin, and did likewise to Bonnie's ear and Angel's ankle while their punishments were ever so temporarily halted.
"Ow! Ow! OW!" The three Experiments chimed with agony as they all reached for their abused body parts.
The pain had loosened Felix's grip on Daniel for only a second, but that was enough for the crimson assassin to pull him down to the floor.
Then, after a kick like a wrecking ball into the medic's gut, he continued to bludgeon Stitch with Angel, and now used Bonnie to bludgeon Felix.
Prophet, said I, thing of evil.
"You know, I'm really sick of hearing that!" A bouncy voice declared with as much rage as it could muster.
Daniel's arms were suddenly wrapped like a mummy in bandages by something long covered in green fur.
Daniel curled his lowest right arm around Elastico's, and then yanked on it. Instead of another repugnant bastard flying into his grasp, however, he was only met with a resistant springing as he pulled.
He glared ahead to find the source of the resistance; the two humans had grabbed hold of Elastico's foot, leaving him hovering precariously above the floor.
Daniel tugged again, but now received even less springing; 625 was pulling on Elastico's other leg.
Prophet still if bird or devil.
With another, much more violent yank, Daniel pulled Elastico out of his friends' grasp like a weed from dirt, sending the three of them tumbling to the floor in the process.
For a moment, he was focused only on the downed humans, hypnotized and nauseated as he watched them discover bruises on their elbows and knees.
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore.
"Be quiet!" Elastico took advantage of Daniel's distraction and wrapped a rubbery arm around his throat.
Daniel pried at the arm as fiercely as he could, bending down so his unoccupied lower claws could reach. He dug his claws in until he felt hot blood between his fingers, but the elongated green arm was like a tightened noose.
Elastico's grip was tightening and, more to Daniel's frustration and panic, Stitch, Angel, Bonnie, and Felix were moving to counterattack.
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted.
Daniel pulsated his body with electricity, and his foes glowed and vibrated as they screamed and fell back to their downed positions.
On this home by Horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore.
Another shock, longer this time. His hands clenched Bonnie's ear, Angel's ankle, and Elastico's arm. He felt blood coat his claws and felt cracking bones and tearing skin in his fists.
Is there - IS THERE balm in Gilead? Tell me. TELL ME! I implore.
He heard two clicks and a threatening buzz.
Even before he turned to see them, Daniel knew the noises foreshadowed the projectiles of the electric one, the fat one with the prosthetic hand, and his former prisoner, who he had beaten and berated for his dear little Ellen.
Between them, the slimy shapeshifter slithered towards his feet like a charging puddle.
Quoth the Raven, NEVERMORE!
Two outstretched hands shared the excruciating current between 621, Clyde, Spooky, and their beaten companions.
A long eye-laser blast to Sparky's chest sent the airborne Experiment plummeting to the floor.
PROPHET, said I, thing of evil, prophet still if bird or devil!
Daniel's eyes clamped shut as his fists crushed their captives, and his sparks illuminated his victims' bodies the way a raging forest fire does a tree.
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore!
He could no longer distinguish the wet warmth of the oozing blood from the humid scorch of the electric sparks.
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn!
He was about to add the bubbling burn of plasma into the excruciating mix.
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Emma!
"SHUT UP!"
Daniel felt the bubbling burn hit the back of his neck three times. He felt it stop at the tip of his fur, then trickle down his back like melting wax.
His body became still, save for his heavy breathing.
His victims did not move, either because they were too exhausted to, or they knew that they would be released once Daniel saw his attacker.
It was the human girl; the one who had made him think 626 was dead, standing not much further from him than 621 and Clyde had been, and aiming a plasma blaster at his head.
"You let them go right now, you big bully!" Lilo roared.
Though Daniel knew that her ammunition would feel merely like hot mud against his skin, his heart was still racing as fast as it had on that horrible fateful day at the memorial service.
"I don't care what you think they did! I'm not letting you or anything else take away any of my ohana ever again!"
As she berated Daniel, his mind wandered from him and matched another voice to Lilo's.
He no longer heard the youthful tirade of a human, but now that of a child of his own species; a child that he knew would grow up to be his incredible Emma. His bludgeoned mind heard the soothing voice that had never offered him anything but comfort, even - no, especially - when he had committed what he had naively thought had been his most repugnant act, and made it attack him with every piercing ounce of contempt it could muster.
Though nothing in the room, or anywhere for the next few hundred lightyears, perhaps, could harm him at that moment, he still dropped his enemies and bolted for the elevator as quickly, as desperately, and every bit as terrified as when he had first fled from the Experiments back on Turo so long ago.
Even when he was alone in the ascending prison, his rocketing pulse still strangled him, and he felt frigid as he leaned against the metal wall and slid to his bottom.
Worst of all, he could still hear Lilo and Emma scorning him. Their silent voices deafened him.
Soon, the doors opened, revealing the path back to his glum bedroom, but Daniel didn't follow it.
He was blinded by his tears, deafened by his sobbing, and too exhausted by both to move any further.
V
As Gantu approached the airlock that linked the hijacked Federation pod to Hamsterviel's base, he was overcome with a harrowing and nauseating version of deja vu. Not only because he had been under Jacques' mind control the last time he had entered this pod, but also because, like last time, he was about to betray the Grand Councilwoman.
He had a plan, an ambitious but hopeful one, to end Hamsterviel's vengeful revolution once and for all, and should it succeed, it would be infinitely more satisfying than his arrest.
The pod's width and height were much greater than its name might imply (Gantu valued this more for his own improved usage of the vessel, rather than for any implied consideration towards his own gigantic kind.), and the various control panels ranged in height from being half his size or only meeting his shins.
There was a long red lever against the high ceiling; an emergency exit for anyone of Gantu's height. There were also two smaller ones on each wall.
"We shall stay nearby until reinforcements arrive," The Grand Councilwoman commanded, immediately getting to work at a starboard console equipped with a large screen and a smaller, stick-like microphone.
"Then we'll re-board the base and capture Jacques,"
"Yes, your honor," Gantu uttered the response, which had been hammered into his vocabulary, with all the deliberation of a hiccup.
He then marched to the console of his height at the pod's bow and turned a small red switch above a label reading Autopilot, and then immediately marched back the way he had come.
"-just outside of the neutral planet Earth's atmosphere. Bring as many troops as possible; Hamsterviel is now able to mass-produce a single Experiment with ease, and we must outnumber him if we are to succeed," The Councilwoman ordered just before her subordinate disembarked the pod and shut the giant door again.
"Captain!"
"Automatic launch in - one minute and counting,"
The outraged voice of the Councilwoman and the dryer one of the pod created a muffled harmony from behind the door's window.
"I'm sorry, your honor," Gantu said firmly. "It pains me to do this, but I believe I know how to resolve the threat of the rebellion that benefits Jacques as much as us. But in any event, you're much too valuable to be so close to harm's reach,"
"You're being foolish, Gantu!" The Councilwoman slammed her fist against the window.
"Maybe, but I feel like this can work. I owe it to Jacques to try...And to Lukas,"
The Councilwoman gave a perturbed sigh. "Very well...Do what must be done, Captain,"
"I will. I promise I will." He stepped away from the door, gave his leader his most stolid salute, and then marched back down the gray hallway until his giant form vanished from his leader's view.
The Councilwoman had considered opening the door and stopping him, but she knew that, to a creature of Gantu's size, there was little she could have done beyond argue.
Additionally, she knew that this long, excruciating conflict had been sparked long ago by an unspeakable mistake on Gantu's part. As the pod glided away, and as the base like a black whale swimming through space began to shrink into the distance, the Councilwoman reluctantly accepted that the one who started the war might be the only one who could end it.
"Oxygen field disabled," The pod's stolid voice rang out again.
The Councilwoman darted around and clenched her fists at the sight of someone she hadn't seen since she had first been dragged to Hamsterviel.
"She couldn't find me," 89 giggled hoarsely. "I win,"
Initially, the Councilwoman felt nothing but pity at the sight of the creature. His eyes were cracked and pink, and she wondered how much he had slept in his agonizing life. Then she wondered if his sleep was only more agonizing than his waking moments.
"I...Win…" 89 wheezed, walking hazily to port, rather than to the Councilwoman, as she had anticipated.
He reached the red lever, closed his bony hand around it, and turned his chilling yellow grin towards the Councilwoman.
She didn't hesitate; her heart racing, she charged at the Experiment and tackled him to the floor.
"No, no, no, no!" 89 shrieked as he struggled underneath the Councilwoman. "I need to make you stop! And I want to make everything shut up!"
Though his skin was so bony that the Councilwoman feared that she might accidentally snap one of his arms off, he still had the notorious strength of his brethren, and it wasn't long before he had shoved the politician off of him.
The Councilwoman, however, had already denoted the diminutive red light on 89's forehead, identical to the one that had corrupted Gantu's mind.
Just as the madman got to his feet, the downed Councilwoman swept a leg at them, knocking him to the floor again. Then, acting quickly, she reached at 89's face, tearing the illuminated chip from his head.
His cracked eyes widened, his petrifying smile faded, and the Councilwoman's pulse relaxed.
"You're free," She told him as he breathed loudly and stared at her. "Hamsterviel has no power over you anymore. You don't have to be his prisoner or his servant any longer. Our scientists and doctors can help you, find what's making you see the things you see and fix it," She sighed and brushed a three-fingered hand tenderly over the fatigued creature's head.
"We can still save you,"
For a few more moments, 89 hardly moved aside from his slowly pumping chest.
Then his scarlet eyes swivelled hauntingly towards the Grand Councilwoman, and his frigid yellow grin returned.
"What a dumbass!" He screamed as he kicked her squarely in the gut. She ascended into the air and her heart ascended into her throat.
"Thinking I'm only doing this because daddy told me to," 89 cackled as his opponent hit the white metal floor.
Sitting up, he grasped the red handle of the escape latch again.
He turned to the Councilwoman, who was heaving herself to her feet and becoming ghostly pale.
"Time for change. And time for everyone to finally shut up!" He held his head, turned the handle, and pushed.
Just before all air and gravity were stolen from the pod, the Councilwoman saw 89's eyes shut and his smile soften, as though he were laying down to sleep.
VI
"C'mon, Clyde, ya can fiddle with it when we're home." Bonnie gently pushed Clyde's metal hand away from her left ear, which now sported a trio of deep notches beneath a dripping coat of blood. The first thing she thought to say was, "OW, goddammit, it burns so fucking much," but she clenched her teeth and quickly reconsidered her choice of phrase for Clyde's sake.
"I'm so sorry," He whispered, seemingly unaware of the smoke rising from his own frizzled fur. "I was fighting the L.E.R.O.Y.s and Hamsterviel. I should've gotten to you guys sooner,"
"Hey," Bonnie gently caressed the burnt, bushy fur before Clyde's metal hand. "It ain't you who needs to be sorry. We all got our asses kicked by 627, and none of us are gonna pin it on anyone except him. I'm just glad you're okay; you've been beat up too much lately,"
Clyde responded only with a warm smile and a soft lick across Bonnie's forehead.
All around them, the Experiments were back on their feet, despite their aching bodies and the repugnant burning smell amongst them all.
"You alright, Elastico?" Felix asked, massaging his own trunk, now bearing scratches like a tiger's stripes, and hypnotized by the glove of blood covering his friend's long right arm from the elbow down.
"I am," The clown grunted. "But my arm sure isn't. I...I can't move it. It's all floppy," He gazed down at it, deeply disturbed that it was staying long enough to curl around his ankle twice and then touch the sole of his foot, while his left arm only reached his hip. "It's not gonna stay like that, is it?" He anxiously inquired.
"Oh, no," Felix responded, kneeling down to examine the bloodied limb more closely, but still reserving a hand to hold his own wounded trunk. "It's just the numbness that's stopping you from shortening it. It's probably better to leave it at that length, actually. Once we bandage it and give it some time to heal naturally, the nerves should reconnect and you'll be able to make it as short or as long as you'd like,"
"You really think so?" A small glimmer of optimism returned to Elastico's white-furred face.
"I know so," Felix stood up, resting his free hand in the fur on Elastico's cheek. "I'd never let anything happen to you,"
"Can you stand up, Angie?" Stitch, trying desperately to distract himself from his ripping migraine, offered a clawed hand to the pink Experiment, who stuck her hands to the wall behind her as she tried to stand up.
"Yeah, I can do it," She smiled. "Just a little dizzy from being used as a club, is all,"
But as she used the wall to pull herself up, Stitch couldn't ignore her feet; the left one was planted firmly on the metal floor, as it should be, but her right foot seemed to hover warily above it, as though touching it would make it spontaneously combust.
Despite her atypical footing, it didn't take long for Angel to be upright again.
"See? No problem,"
"Alright," Stitch replied, reluctant to return his lover's smile. "Can you walk?"
"Sure, sure...Just…" She released the wall, then looked down at her feet, specifically at her hovering right foot, as if expecting it to move of its own accord.
"Stitch?"
"Yeah?"
"I need your help,"
Without another word, Stitch pulled Angel's left arm over his shoulders, and only then did her smile fade.
"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCK, my ankle!" She spat. "Feels like somebody filled it full of chunks of stuff and then just stapled it shut again,"
"Just hang in there. We're almost out of here," Stitch comforted, although his migraine was not helped by Angel's exclamation being in such close proximity to his ear. "And once we are, Felix will be able to heal us,"
"Don't be so sure, handsome," Everyone heard Stitch's voice mock. They all knew that it was L.E.R.O.Y., and they turned to find all three of him approaching, led by a livid Hamsterviel.
"Must you take everything away from me?!" The scientist scowled, pointing a gauntlet-armored finger at his traitorous creations. "First Jumba, and now my chance for closure with the Federation, which is the only goddamn reason I ever brought any of you to life! Not to mention that your new pet cockroaches have rendered my perfect assassin utterly useless! Before, you were all opposing me to beat me to the Federation, but now I genuinely believe that you're doing it out of spite! You ingrateful parasitic-" He got no further before a bolt of plasma struck the floor at his feet, sizzling like green magma.
"Call any of us ingrates again, and the next one will go through your neck," 621 growled, aiming a blaster at his creator as his nearly limp body was supported by Lilo. "Now, you'll stand there, you'll keep your mouth shut, and for once in your miserable, contemptible life, you'll listen. You're going to stand there and do nothing while some of my less critically-damaged companions walk over there and break enough of your clones' bones that they won't be a problem for the Federation officers when they come for you,"
"I'm good for that," Sparky coughed as he was pulled to his feet by Nani. His chest gave off an inordinate amount of smoke.
"I can also oblige," Spooky added.
"Me too, if I can sit down while I do it," Angel chimed in.
"You're not really gonna let 'em-" One of the L.E.R.O.Y.s began to his creator, but he was interrupted by a burst of plasma hitting his face. Of course, it only slid off of his skin, but it was enough to get the message through.
"Then we're all gonna take our pod back down to Earth," 621 continued. "And you're gonna sit here and wait until the Federation comes to take you away. Or, you can do anything to try and stop us, in which case everything will play out exactly the same, only the Federation will come to cremate you rather than incarcerate or execute you. The only factor you have any control over anymore is whether or not you live to see what happens next,"
"Hmph," Hamsterviel scoffed. "You still don't understand. None of you do. No matter what you may think, I am always in control,"
"That so?" 621 grunted. Lilo's heart froze as she saw his clawed finger begin to depress the trigger. "Why don't you go tell Jumba and Pig just how much control you had,"
"Jacques!" An authoritative voice, which none of the remaining combatants had expected to hear again so soon, called from across the room.
Gantu, nearly convinced that another second of delay on his part would have meant Hamsterviel's murder, hurried to the standoff's side of the room, stopping only a few feet away from his former comrade.
"Back so soon, Captain?" Jacques growled. "And still by yourself. I thought you would have learned-"
"I'm not here for that," Gantu responded. "I'm here to say...You're right. All this time, you've been right,"
His entire audience, friends and enemies, Experiments and humans and clones alike, were for once united in a collective befuddlement and fascination at the mellow giant who stood above them.
"For eight years…" The captain continued, knowing everybody was listening but never moving his gaze even momentarily from Hamsterviel. "We've talked about you in speeches, depicted you in propaganda, whispered about you like you were just another criminal; some menace who cost us soldiers and resources. But really, you're the real victim in all of this...You and Lukas...I tried so hard to convince myself that it wasn't so, but every day, every time I close my eyes and see your son, it gets harder to keep telling myself that...And knowing how hard it is for me, I can't even imagine what it must be like for you,"
At this, Jacques averted Gantu's gaze and looked at the floor, and the captain's heart fluttered. Maybe, just maybe, this day would end happily for everyone.
"All of our soldiers lost to your Experiments; we may as well have been executing our people. We worked so hard to fight you, to prove ourselves, when we should've put that effort towards helping you, while you were grieving over a tragedy that was our fault…" He stopped for a moment, feeling as if he had just set down a cumbersome weight after having hauled it up a steep hill for eight years.
"...My fault,"
Nobody moved. The Pelekais hoped desperately that, once Jacques looked up from his mellowed stance, he would immediately apologize for everything he'd done, and then take them home before flying lightyears away where they'd never see him again.
The L.E.R.O.Y.s hoped that he would look up, draw a hidden blaster from his crimson coat, and fill the captain with holes without hesitation.
"I…" Hamsterviel finally looked up. His red eyes were not tearful, but they seemed to wish for tears. "I'm just so exhausted with all this…" He sighed.
"I am, too," Gantu responded similarly. "I think we all are. But this doesn't have to carry on. I can take you to another quadrant, somewhere where you can start over. You won't have to worry about any of the enemies you've made in the past eight years. You could even bring your new cloned Experiments to live with you, and I could arrange to have the rest of them brought to you, too." He turned to the Pelekais and their Experiments. "Minus all of you, of course,"
Most of them smiled at the image that appeared in their heads; Jacques living on some distant planet somewhere beyond the Federation's reach, perhaps farming some strange alien crops, building his own equipment, raising his creatures as a parent instead of a commander. Even if they never saw it with their own eyes, the thought that such a scene was playing out somewhere was comforting to the Pelekais.
621, however, saw nothing in his mind. He was not even entirely convinced that Gantu was only luring Hamsterviel into a trap, which would take him to either a cold cell or a firing squad. Regardless, he was equally comforted at the thought of never seeing his creator again, no matter the means.
"Please, Jacques," Gantu urged, kneeling down, although still needing to look down to address his former friend. "For all the times I didn't help you...Let me help you now,"
Hamsterviel gave a glum sideways look to the three L.E.R.O.Y.s.
"It's your call, boss," One of them said. They each had their arms folded. Though their heads were turned away from the scene, the Pelekais could see their vexed expressions. The Experiments recalled that the 'Y' in his name stood for yield, and believed that all three of him detested the letter in that moment.
Jacques let out a weary breath. "First, let me return my Experiments and their companions to their new home." He turned and despondently approached the computer console.
"You're serious?" Stitch questioned, approving of the prospect but not yet entirely convinced by it. "You're all done with us?"
"I am, indeed, done, 626," Hamsterviel answered, his back to everyone as he submitted a command. "As I just told you all, what I truly desired was closure, and now Captain Gantu comes and offers it to me freely. I hope that doesn't disappoint you,"
"No, no," The blue Experiment replied, smiling. "That's...That's good,"
Jacques gave a feeble chuckle as he turned around again. The faintest of smiles had appeared on his white-furred face.
"You know, the past few days, I've seen what you've been building between yourself, your allies, and these Earthlings, and called it a weakness. I scorned it, but the truth I've been denying myself is that I envy it. Look at you all; beaten and bloodied, but still standing together. Perhaps I could never defeat you because you possess what I lost so long ago...Maybe, hopefully, with the rest of mine and Jumba's Experiments, I can reclaim it…"
A strange feeling overcame the Pelekais as Jacques spoke.
Though most of them enjoyed the image of him living peacefully far away with his Experiments, the apologetic creature who stood before them was a totally different sight. It wasn't that his words felt insincere; rather, they felt unsatisfactory. No matter how remorseful he now seemed, this was still the same person who was responsible for 501 and 502's deaths, who had sent 627 after them, who had placed Elastico under mind control, and who would have been lying dead at 621's feet had Gantu arrived a second later.
Despite all this, this, the Pelekais could make no arguments when such a person was voluntarily leaving their lives for good, and with a ride home thrown into the bargain.
The strange feeling, they supposed, was gratitude instead of forgiveness at an apology.
Lilo and Nani wondered if the Experiments used to feel this regularly.
The base around them shuddered, and then Jacques pressed another button on the console.
The wall behind the Pelekais seemed to split in half, with one sinking and the other rising to reveal the serene beach shore that was only a short walk from their house.
"This doesn't make up for all that you've done to us," 621 growled. "Not even close,"
"You're now liberated from our conflict," Hamsterviel replied somberly. "It may not satisfy your anger with me, but it will bring you the happiness we've both been denied,"
"...Fine," The marksman sighed. "As Gantu said; I'm just so damn tired of all this,"
With that, the Pelekais walked down the newly-created ramp.
Bonnie looked to the three L.E.R.O.Y.s on her way out, sneering at them as their glares and folded arms did all the attacking that their bodies were forbidden to do.
"What good little boys you kids are," She remarked. One L.E.R.O.Y. spat in her direction as she left. Another showed her his middle finger.
The cold metal on the Pelekais' feet was soon upgraded to the soothing softness of sun-warmed sand.
They were each gripped by an urge to fall flat on the sand and just sleep there for as long as they could, but instead they turned and faced Hamsterviel and Gantu once more, determined to stay upright until the scientist's promise became truth.
They found, however, that he had no more words for them; the wall of the base was already retracting.
"It's not because you're a bad person," Lilo called to Jacques, seeing his face fleetingly in the corner of the closing door. "It's just that you've done too many bad things,"
The door whirred shut, and less than a minute later, the whale-like base had lifted off the water and zoomed into the sky, leaving nothing but a large ripple in the water and a long line in the sand where the ramp and landed.
Everyone conceded to the overpowering urge to fall back into the sand.
"You ever had Chinese, Spooky?" Nani exhaled to the shapeshifter's shapeless form beside her, easily mistakable for a puddle to anyone else.
"No," He responded, his yellow eyes shutting for a few moments. "Is that a type of medicine?"
"No, no," Nani chuckled. "Chinese food…'Cause I'm gonna order a whole bunch tonight...Enough for all of our new friends,"
"Ah," Spooky replied before he fell silent again. Nani had nothing to listen to besides his breathing for what seemed like minutes. "What a wonderful idea," He finally said.
"So...That's it," Elastico whispered, his intact left hand resting on Felix's right. "We're all done with all of it,"
"Yeah. We're done…" The medic glanced down at their joined hands, and something like a spark of electricity tickled his neck. He wondered, even suspected, that it was something that Elastico felt constantly. When he felt it, he gently pulled his hand from under Elastico's and then slid it beneath the clown's back, pulling him so he lay on top of him.
Elastico giggled as his white face reddened. Felix waited for him to finish laughing, and then, lifting his trunk to rest between two of the floppy fins on the clown's head, gave a long but soft lick to the clown's lips.
Elastico seemed to glow, and his beaming face gave Felix no choice but to kiss it again. Then it was Elastico's turn to kiss Felix, and then they settled into one as comfortably as a well-made bed.
"Hey, uh, Felix?" Clyde began hesitantly. "There's, uh, a few injuries here you might wanna-"
"Aw, let 'em finish first, bud," Bonnie said, already sliding off his metal hand. "We'll survive a little longer." She lovingly caressed the fingerless sphere at the end of Clyde's arm, smiling in spite of the blood dripping from her disfigured ear.
"Heh. Whatever you say, Bon," He smiled, but it quickly faded. "But 621 took a real beating back there. I'm not sure how he's holding up…" He turned to the marksman, who lay on his back, almost asleep, beside Lilo, Stitch, Angel, and 625.
"I'll be fine, 150," He said, his eyes remaining shut. "Let 10-Felix do whatever it is he's doing,"
"Well, alright," Clyde replied, his smile returning. "He's kissing Elastico, in case you were wondering,"
At least ten seconds passed before 621 spoke again. "Who's named Elastico now, again?"
"345,"
"Heh," A smile crept onto the marksman's exhausted face. "Yes, then definitely leave them be...150? Or, uh, your new name?"
"Clyde,"
"Clyde, yes...You seem worried about me." It was a question.
"Well, yeah. I mean, look at you. I'd say you learned your lesson. The 621 I'm mad at is the one who shot me, but he's gone now. The 621 I'm lookin' at would never do anything like that. Right?"
The marksman's eyes opened as slowly as the wall of Hamsterviel's base had. "Right." With a stifled grunt, he heaved himself so he sat upright.
"Never again,"
"We need to think up some names for you guys," Lilo chirped, wrapping an arm around both 621 and 625.
"Maybe he can be Emmet," Angel playfully ruffled the white mohawk on 621's head.
"Actually, I'd like to get some use out of Xiomara," Stitch chuckled, crawling behind the marksman and resting his chin on his head.
"And I still think somebody should be named Oscar," Sparky flew above them, his hands reaching to rub the fur on 621's cheeks.
625 sat beside Lilo, watching her and Stitch, Angel, and Sparky uniquely embracing their reclaimed friend in turn. He couldn't help but feel warmed by the sight, and yet he found it equally difficult to ignore Angel and Sparky's eyes, or rather, he couldn't ignore how they ignored him. She hugged and laughed with her new family, but somehow, it seemed that some kind of invisible barrier halted her gaze before it could turn to him.
He was consistently warmed by the sight, but was frozen each time he was denied even the slightest sideways glance from Angel or Sparky.
"I'm fine with any name you all choose for me," 621 laughed, his four hands taking one each from Lilo, Stitch, Angel, and Sparky. "After all, we've got forever to think one up,"
His four friends found their hands feeling numb as 621 squeezed them. They never pulled away from him, though. Instead, they simply squeezed back.
The marksman looked to Lilo, smiling a smile that, to Lilo, had the same softness of a newborn baby; the sweet softness of something that had never existed before.
In his eyes, she saw something not unlike what she had seen in Stitch's eyes when she had first shown him her parents' grave; the smoke that arose from a doused fire. In 621, however, she saw smoke rising from a nightmarish forest fire that had coated an entire plant-ruled planet.
Then, just like Stitch's eyes at the grave, 621's began to leak. Unlike Stitch, however, his tears fell over a smile that almost rivalled Elastico's.
Lilo brought a hand to 621's cheek, caressing his fur, but didn't dare wipe away a single tear.
VII
"Jacques…" Gantu said to the back of his old friend, who typed away at the console as the base soared away from Earth. The captain hadn't yet decided what to say to him; he was still reeling with excitement that his idea was working. By the day's end, Jacques would have the closure he had desired for so long, and no more would the Federation or its citizens needs to live in fear of the next brutal attack from the Experiments.
Gantu nearly believed that he was dreaming.
"...You have no idea how happy I am that you made this choice," He finally said.
"Thank you for offering it to me, Gantu," Hamsterviel replied, taking a break from his typing to turn and smile at the captain. "In spite of your past crimes, you've proven yourself to be a true friend,"
"I...I'm glad you think so," Gantu said before clearing his throat. "Now, we should find a new home for you. Any planet in any other quadrant. Then we can go retrieve your Experiments,"
"Yes. Of course, of course. I'll pull up some coordinates." Jacques pushed a few more buttons, and the base rolled to a gentle stop, and a black image of space appeared on the screen. "What would you recommend?" He stepped away from the console, holding a welcoming hand out towards it.
Gantu knelt down to better see the screen. He felt a genuine excitement course through him, ready to see a myriad of planets of all sizes, colors, habitats, and cultures, and infinitely curious to discover which ones would be to Jacques' liking.
Instead of planets inhabiting the black space on the screen, however, Gantu saw a black Federation pod floating among the stars like a corpse in water. Beside it, he saw what looked like the body of an Experiment, alongside another, taller body donning a black gown, with white shoulder pads that curved like scarab's legs.
Gantu's excitement transitioned almost immediately to asphyxiating terror.
Then, before he could turn and demand an explanation from Jacques, he felt an excruciating burning thing like a bullet strike his back, break through his skin, and eat through his spine like a ravenous leech.
Gantu fell sideways, hitting the metal wall and sliding down until he landed on what remained of his back.
He gaped at his body from his solar plexus down; he could see it, but had it been blocked from his view, he could have been convinced that he had been sawed in half.
He looked to his left; Jacques stood right beside his head, his black-gloved hand gripping a smoking blaster, most definitely hidden beneath his coat until now.
Jacques suddenly returned the blaster to his coat, and his hands fumbled furiously to remove their gloves from one another.
Gantu followed the agitated hands to Jacques' face, which looked past his gloves to glare at him.
Once he had tossed his gloves aside and rearmed himself with his bare hands, though, Gantu was allowed a proper look at his former friend's face. Not only did Jacques' crimson eyes seem to burn, but his entire face seemed aflame. Gantu had said earlier that he could not imagine Jacques' grief, but in that moment, staring at his burning face as he lay limp on his floor, Gantu got a remote idea, and it nearly drove him mad. He was forced to stare at Jacques for what felt like ages, and by then he knew exactly what was about to happen to him, but that was not what terrified him. The inferno of outrage and disgust that encompassed Jacques's face, the blaster that trembled at his side; Jacques was savoring this moment. He needed to savor it.
At that, Gantu felt a final stinging stab of fear, and then it washed away from him like a tide toppling over a sand castle. Instead, he felt only acceptance. He had failed the Grand Councilwoman, he had failed the Galactic Federation; it had been set in stone the day he had fired too carelessly and hit poor little Lukas Hamsterviel.
This was what he deserved.
Gantu never looked away from Hamsterviel. He allowed him to look into the eyes of the repugnant monster who took his little boy and his life away from him, until
VIII
It's okay, Lukas. Just stay there. I'll come to you. Don't move, okay? Daddy will come to you.
Jacques kept pulling the trigger until his finger ached, and then he kept shooting.
Daddy! Daddy! I am scared! Daddy I am scared! Daddy I am scared!
He fired until the blaster grew hot and his hand burned more than his head, and then he kept shooting.
Don't move, alright? It's like hide and seek. Daddy's gonna come hide with you. Daddy will keep you safe.
Finally, the blaster simply became too hot for him to hold anymore, and he threw the overheated weapon at the smoldering mess that had once been Gantu's head.
Lukas? Lukas?! Oh, God...Oh...No...Please, no...
Jacques immediately fell to his knees, only then realizing that he had been crying since his first shot. He buried his head in his hands, barely noticing the singe that they carried from the blaster to his face.
His sobs echoed hauntingly throughout the room.
Even when the echoes were drowned out by another devastated voice, Jacques did not move.
"Captain!" Number 627 cried. He sprinted to the corpse, but was halted when he saw what little, or how much, remained above Gantu's neck. He shut his eyes and covered his mouth with his fist, and then, keeping his eyes closed, knelt down and picked up one of Gantu's massive fingers, cradling it as if it were a body itself.
"What did you do?" 627 whispered.
Jacques lifted his face from his heated hands, but he said nothing. He focused intently and despondently on the remains of Gantu's head.
627's neck seemed tempted to turn his head in the same direction, but he yanked it away like a dog on a leash.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He roared, his eyes glowing scarlet as he hugged Gantu's finger even tighter.
Jacques stood up, looking at the mess of a head for a few moments longer, and then walked away.
627's eyes were black again, and then they were down at Gantu's giant hand, dampening his gradually chilling skin with tears.
"Well played, Doc!" A L.E.R.O.Y. cheered as his creator passed them. "You even had me fooled there! And with 89 having done his job, it's only a matter of time until the Federation's ours!"
All three of him offered congratulatory smiles to their creator, but he barely gave them a sideways glance. He merely sulked towards the hallway that would lead him to his and Jumba's lab.
"Boss?" Another L.E.R.O.Y. called to him more softly. No answer.
"What's, uh, what's our next move?" The third L.E.R.O.Y. inquired.
At this, Jacques turned his head slightly, but his damp, crimson eyes did not look at L.E.R.O.Y., nor did he stop walking.
"Do as you like," He murmured before finally disappearing down the hallway.
"...Well, that's helpful," L.E.R.O.Y. muttered.
"He'll be alright," One of his duplicates said, though his tone indicated that even he was doubtful of his own claim. "Probably just recuperating from all the bad memories that were just brought up,"
"Maybe…" The third L.E.R.O.Y. responded. "But if this isn't just a temporary thing, if this is just how the boss is from now on...What do we do next?"
"Well, for starters, there's still those reinforcements that the Councilwoman called on their way. They won't be a problem. But if Doc Hamsterviel was lying about everything just now, then he probably still thought that the rogue Experiments could be a threat to our revolution," L.E.R.O.Y. began. "And with the Councilwoman and Gantu gone, then what's left probably won't take long before thinking that teaming up with the rogue ones might be a good idea…"
All of him glanced towards 627, who continued to silently mourn the giant soldier.
"Dan won't be much help anymore," The second L.E.R.O.Y. whispered. "You saw how he just bailed on us today,"
"Not to worry," L.E.R.O.Y. responded. "We've still got Jumba's great big copy machine. And we've got me." His lips curled into a malevolent, toothy grin which was mirrored by his two twins.
"And these days, there's a whole lot of me to go around,"