Chapter 18

Sparky woke with a start. Lilo was sitting watching an open vent above them. He felt fur- Stitch lay beside him snoring. He felt dizzy like he had been knocked out by a hammer. He sat letting the memories of the past hour wash over him like a wave. He noticed something was missing.

"Trilby!" He said.

"He said he'd be down soon, he has turned the lights out, that's why it's so dark." Lilo whispered with a finger on her lip. She was right, any noise could alert the enemy. It was dark, Sparky realised his night vision had subconsciously turned on. It was eerily quiet up by the open vent. He must be sneaking he thought.

"What happened," he whispered.

"I don't really know, it was a blur. You and Stitch got knocked out, he took the computer and connected it to the panel, he threw me a blaster. Then he opened the vent and I pushed you and Stitch through. He's still up there though." The air was tense. They were both afraid to move in case it somehow alerted them.

Suddenly, a clattering up by the vent, a multitude of shouting, crying wailing. Trilby was in danger. Sparky sensed that his brother was in trouble. Dashing up to the vent he saw a massive pile of soldiers in white spacesuits. He growled preparing to jump to. A large shockwave blasted apart the pile. Sparky felt the electricity wash over him. It was odd, to be electrical being shocked made you nauseated. Sparky became more dizzy he fell back to the floor of the vent roughly three metres from the opening. Sparky lay for a second as Lilo looked shocked at his fall. He shook his head, then he leapt back up only to fall back down again. Sparky felt Trilby fall into his arms, his brother, now no longer yellow was red- powerless. Plasma burns scorched his skin. Blisters had formed. SParky flew back to the ground laying him down.

"Is he ok," Lilo was shaking Stitch. The Computer landed next to her clattering again. On the screen was an option.' VENT 017459 STATUS= OPEN.' Lilo grabbed the computer entering the close command. The vent above them slammed closed.

"Clever guy, is he all right?"

"No, lots plasma burns." It looked bad. The red fur was pockmarked and scorched black in places.

"We need to go Sparky can you carry him?"

"Yeah," Lilo grabbed Stitch lifting him over onto her shoulders. Stitch almost touched the roof of the vent. Sparky did the same being careful not to upset the blisters.

"Where do we go,"

"Anywhere,"

She grabbed the computer. They would probably still need it.

Stitch was heavy, a lot heavier than he looked and Lilo struggled to carry him. After about ten minutes Stitch woke, he jumped off her back instantly, growling. Sparky- who was behind her was surprised by his cousins sudden awakening. He flinched, trying to right himself, he crashed into Stitch and they both fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Stitch!" cried Lilo, rolling her eyes as noise echoed down the chute. "Be quiet, Sparky isn't an enemy."

"Oh, sorry Sparky- what happened? Where are we?"

"I don't know where we are, I thought Trilby would know the way when he told me to wait for him."

"How would Trilby know?" Stitch looked thoughtfully at Trilby, he was cunning, he probably had a plan, but got shot with plasma and was knocked out. He could see that from the limp red body and the telltale signs of burning.

"I'll explain," Said Sparky, and in the efficient language of the experiments," He used the helmet to block out that sound, Then he took Jumba's computer and went to the panel. After some time…"

"The computer?"

"Yes, right Lilo?" Sparky looked up at Lilo, her eyes lit up, comprehension.

"The computer of course," Lilo let Stitch take the computer. He tapped a few keys allowing the ship's control's flash up in a list.

"The clever guy hacked the ship's mainframe. We control the ship's minor functions." This did not translate so well into English but Stitch did his best with his limited vocabulary.

"We need to find a shuttle to take us down to the ground," Lilo poked the screen, as if the answer would suddenly appear. Stitch started tapping at speed. A map of the ship, as well as a map of the vents appeared on the screen.

"It looks like the closest one is right… there." She pointed to a spot labelled 'Shuttle Port'.

"What about cousins, Lilo?" He looked sad, he was being told to leave his family behind, something he was taught not to do.

"We can't get them now Stitch, you saw them as well, they are to exhausted now to leave, and that sound could knock them out before they go anywhere. We need Jumba, and now we have a map."

"Ok, Lilo." he knew she was right, but it still felt like he was abandoning them. His ears drooped.

"We should go, we can catch a shuttle out, and if we're lucky we can get one that's full of experiments."

Stitch took the lead, following the map from their location, which showed up as a red dot on the screen. Lilo followed, then Sparky still carrying Trilby. Sparky felt tired, he felt an strong urge to lie down and sleep. The effects of that sound. What made it so potent against the experiments. Jumba had a lot to answer for. They continued through the vents. Jumba's computer providing the guiding light. They all felt tired, none of them had slept and nothing but the adrenaline had kept them awake. But it was hardly the time to just fall asleep. Stitch stopped suddenly, causing the line to wake and stop moving. Stitch pointed to the light coming from a grate in front of them. A line of guards stood by, watching as a shuttle pulled into the cargo bay, They watched in disgust as they carried experiments out, 121, 441, 602- all friends they had to save. But they held themselves back- not now. All the experiments were asleep- exhausted. They were carried away without a fight- it wasn't fair and they felt it. The anger, they were all forced to repress. Lilo and Stitch were especially enraged. All their hard work being stolen from under their noses.

"Calm down Stitch," Lilo warned. He was breathing heavily, "Stitch?" He was panting now, his adrenaline rushing back. His family… Taken away… He felt the pain that they felt. It was his job to make sure they were safe. His job to protect them. He couldn't sit still. He couldn't let them go.

With a roar he burst from the vent. The element of surprise on his side, he dispatched several guards his arms flailing in a flurry of well placed blows. Sparky lay Trilby down, and flew down to help his overeager cousin. The guards fell like stalks of wheat in harvest. Lilo leapt down computer in hand she shut the vent behind her for good measure, The vent led out into a cargo hold much the same as the one they had arrived in. But a shuttle was docked in the area. Aliens carrying the snoring experiments dropped their charges immediately. A few trapped experiments woke and rubbed their eyes in shock. As their faces pressed against the heavy duty glass of their container walls. Plasma fell about in great sloshing mounds of glowing plasma. Stitch tore into the aliens with ferocity, one by one they fell. Sparky was unable to do any actual damage through the poly- titanium carbonate white suits, but he made a great show of destroying communicators, guns, panels, commands. Lilo rushed to the shuttle, she was locked out. She grabbed a connection wire, jamming it into the computers port. A large option appeared, 'HACK?". She pressed it and a moment sent the shuttle into a juddering start.

"Stitch, Sparky! Now!" Then the doors crashed open. A huge alien, huge muscles adorned his body in a overzealous show of strength. In his hands he clutched a huge speaker. He grinned.

The noise permeated over the group. Again Sparky and Stitch fell to the floor. Lilo screamed in frustration- the same old trick. The computer was showing the 'launch' command as being ready. But she couldn't consciously leave without Stitch, Sparky or Trilby. The screeching sound stopped and the big alien threw the speaker aside. Flexing his fingers he sauntered up to the small shuttle where Lilo was, the ship, barely a cockpit, wings and a hold. Was like a bug before him. He was huge, muscled and smiling with the giddiness of victory. Suddenly there was a bang. The vent had been thrown open. Trilby, looked angrily at the big reptilian alien with disgust. He leapt down to the floor he lifted Stitch letting his weight upon him. He felt the power of experiment 626 wash over him like a wave, his ovals filling with dark blue. His body filling with inhuman strength. The alien had turned to see the small red body fill with blue, same as the body he had lifted above his head. He flexed. It was no match for him. He swung fists clenched into contorted flesh. The Stitch- Trilby was not worried, he was all show. He caught the fist, lifting the man humanly above his head tossing him to the side of the room. He crashed into the wall, his pupils grew wide and sharp. In anger he roared charging forward. Trilby took the hit. Stalwart he endured the powerful blows the alien threw. Trilby punched the man in the stomach sending him sprawling, he groaned as his insides settled. Stitch was powerful.

"Thank you, buddy," Trilby looked down at the body of Stitch on the floor. His anger had dissipated. Being in the vent had muffled but not drowned out the sound, as such he had only grown angry instead of being knocked out. Suddenly he felt tired, as if all the punches he received were finally hitting him, he swayed light headed his hands turned red again. He was exhausted he couldn't absorb any other power. Not for a while. He saw Lilo's face in front of him. She was frowning, patting him telling him to 'come on'.

There was a distinctive growl that could be heard. The big alien had recovered. So many hits from Stitch had taken its toll on him, he crawled toward the speaker lying abandoned.

"NO!" Lilo screamed running at him. He brushed her aside with a sweep of his hand. She fell and landed on the floor away from them. She seemed unconscious. Stupid, he thought. Then he snapped out of his delirium. He was standing still. He was powerless again. If the alien played the sound again he was doomed. He looked around frantically- the ship! But the others. He weighed his options. He charged, he felt the anger draining form him. He felt fatigue clog his muscles, he felt the searing burning feeling of his burned skin. The sound had given him a boost but not for long. He lifted Sparky onto his shoulders, taking care to keep him there he ran to the shuttle. His vision became blurry. He was tired and hungry, he was weak and injured, carrying a brother on his back. He jumped up the steps slamming the door. He dropped Sparky, leaping up he smashed his head on the launch button. The shuttle- already pre- destined for earth fell from the mother ship toward the ground. The sound drifted over the ship like a siren call. He fell into a deep sleep again. He shouldn't have fought, but the sound forced his hands. He had used far too much energy, as had Sparky, he tossed in disturbed sleep. The pair. Destined to see familiar faces. Not happy ones.