Chapter 6
"I can't wait to find out what your power is!" Lilo bounced with excitement feeling the suspense settle.
"Hey sorry pal, but I have no idea what my power could be," he mumbled through a mouth full of cake.
"We… make… cousin… member," Stitches mouthed stretched to physical limits to fit in the copiously large piece of cake.
"That is a great idea Stitch." Immediately she jumped to her feet and raced toward Jumba's lab, the two experiments heard the door close and mumbled voices behind it.
Both pairs of eyes swivelled settling on the half eaten slice of cake left behind by Lilo. Both jumped overturning their respective chairs, twelve arms went for the slice. Only two arms made the rest locked with its counter-part,
"Hey buddy back away, I touched it first it belongs to me," The red experiment squinted,
"Tiqa muha," The blue experiment replied returning the squint,
"Yeah- well I bet you broke the scales last time you weighed yourself, eh buddy?"
"Nagaa, tu tiqa muha,"
"You sure you want to fight about this,"
"Ih,"
"Then prepare yourself 'cause it's on,"
"Maybe you are cousins after all," Lilo had reappeared and was watching them from the door frame. "No one argues over food like Stitch and his cousins," She inserted herself between the two, pushing them apart to finish her cake. Once she had, she laid a long list on the table.
"Jumba said that this is a list, categorizing all the experiments we have come across. He says,' If strange monster has a skill it is probably in this catalogue'.
"Yeah, but I better discover my skill soon, I have appearances to uphold now,"
The as- of- yet unnamed experiment slumped unto the sofa, lying down he was barely half its length. He felt a breeze then the force of a slam as Nani entered the house throwing down her purse and coat, the contents spilled out, money, hairpins, a water bottle and a newspaper.
"If anyone asks I am in bed and tell them to not disturb me, ah it's been a long one, boss had me on inventory,"
He continued lounging- he was stuffed full with some delicious chewy round flat food, that got cut into segments. They called it 'Pizza'. He felt he should remember the name, not that he had much remembering to do. Ever since he had fallen asleep, then awakened, in a strange house- full of strange people, none of which looked the same but were a 'family' but not really: he had been a bit dazed. He had no idea who to trust and what he was supposed to do. Apparently he was an experiment like the Stitch thing, but at the same time not like Stitch. If he was an experiment he must have a purpose, some ultimate goal, a reason for existing, some ambition imbued unto him by his creator, but no underlining goal reared its head.
"ah well,"
The girl 'Lilo' jumped through the door followed by the blue mutant- thingy named 'Stitch'.
"Ok… um… I guess I can't name you until I find out what you can do so… Your temporary name can be… uh." She began looking around the room looking for some suitable nick-name. Lilo noticed a couple of clippings from fashion magazines, stuck against the wall. This was actually Pleakly's 'to buy' list. One clipping caught her eye-'half price trilby's this weekend only'.
"Trilby… I like it,"
"Until we find out what you can do, you can be called Trilby."
"Fine, now can we see what I can do, huh."
"We don't know where you came from, or what your powers are but we're going to try and find out,"
Trilby scratched himself, stretched and yawned.
"Let's do it,"
"First of all try 'strength' Stitch," Stitch grabbed a bookcase emptying the contents over the floor. He then surreptitiously tossed it at Trilby. He recoiled prepared for a painful impact. It hit him in the head, which left him sprawled on the rug. He sat up stroking his head.
"Nah I don't think that's it,"
Taking out a list Lilo crossed one box marked 'STRENGTH'.
"Next is agility." moving down the list.
Stitch threw open the front door and leapt out. He uprooted trees, stacked them, then he grabbed the spare tyres from storage. Arranging the trees as road blocks and tyres as virtual as an obstacle course.
"Nice work Stitch," inspecting the course, "now make a lap time,"
Stitch sped round the course with super-human speed… Or be it genetically modified super- speed.
When Trilby tried, however, it was clear he was not built for speed either. Hours past, and they got no closer to finding his ability or skill. They tried every possible type of mutation from Jumba's lists. Everything from throwing him off the roof , to making him sit and stare at an empty peanut jar- and try to turn it to something else. But as the day wore on, Trilby began to lose hope. These people kept talking about special experiments, like him, each with a unique power. Then he turned up from nowhere. What was he made for? Was he a discarded failure? He scratched the smooth oval on his bottom-left arm. If he didn't have some power how could Lilo give him a place he belongs. A genetic mutation- like Jumba's 627 experiments- can have a purpose using the power of destruction for good, but a genetic mutation with no power has no use, and by definition, no place.
But once all the options were exhausted as well as their energy and snack supply- and apparently the sun.
"Maybe you need the right situation for your skill to take effect." Lilo hugged him,
"Yeah… yeah… probably,"
They paraded into the house- exhausted from the day's activity. They trudged heavily, and wearily. Kicking Nani's abandoned accessories as they went- Trilby collapsed unto the sofa. Lilo walked up to him.
"Don't worry Trilby, I am sure we can find out what you can do, and I bet it's really cool as well. Like… Unlimited shave ice!"
"Sounds good, yeah,"
Stitch growled, he had got pages of the 'Kauai daily', impaled on his claws. He began shaking frantically trying to dislodge the paper. When it did not come loose- he chewed his way through. The scraps were dispersed around the room. Something in the remains of the paper caught her eye. Walking over, she picked up the paper, what she saw caused her mouth to drop open in disbelief. The picture showed the charred walls of the lighthouse. Blackened with scorch marks. It got quickly worse as it went up. Big black stains clung to the lighthouse like a disease. The plated metal had bent out of shape, and motors and loose wires still sparked like tiny stars, in the night. The description, was more disconcerting. A man, the director of Hatan cruises, was found after the explosion at the lighthouse. He third degree burns and in shock, but is due to recover. Witness' accounts talk of a strange yellow bolt fleeing the scene at the lighthouse. Can it be true? Is there a monster living in Kauai capable of burning a metal lighthouse. Hear at Kauai news he advice caution and report any sightings of a 'flying yellow bolt'.