I wasn't sure why Lilo was so envious of my hearing sometimes. I knew that humans had inferior senses to me however if she heard half the things I did day in and out I was confident that it would drive her insane. Listening to heartbeats and breathing non stop was one thing – but listening to my family fall apart through the floorboards below was something else. It felt surreal.
I'd told myself to switch off; that I would not allow myself to feel anything anymore in regards to the situation no matter how hard it was, however it was proving more difficult than I anticipated. Part of me wished I was just running the programming – that way I'd be completely devoid of all emotion and wouldn't have to endure the heartbreak I was hearing below.
Sometimes I wondered what it felt like for Chopsuey. For one to be so envious they drove themselves to the brink of insanity trying to prove their self-worth. That was him, essentially.
A thought crossed my mind. If Chopsuey could go into that strange 'pod' format I'd seen – did that mean I could as well? I felt my heart pound slightly at the thought. I had no idea what the pod was exactly – but if it meant isolating me so that the programming wouldn't run it's full course then perhaps that was worth a shot.
For now, however, I was dome-bound. I'd managed to get up into the dome by swinging myself around the spiral wall of the staircase with my four arms, crutches in my mouth. It hurt too much to use my left leg.
Why did Chopsuey have to be such an idiot?
And where the heck had my father gone? I wasn't looking forward to his reaction about the situation between me and Nani. Her not wanting to be near me. Oh boy.
Nani was crying below. It wasn't just her momentary sobs – no this was heartbreak. I couldn't feel remorseful for her. Perhaps I'd gone too far by ripping the invitation, but she'd treated me like garbage. I was done with her as well at this point. It wasn't fair that I had to cop all the blame in this, even if I'd scared her numerous times now. I hated what I'd done to her, but it truly wasn't me and I would have thought Nani knew me well enough by now to know that I would never hurt her. In a way I felt like a puppet to my own mind. Although – the voice still remained unexplained. I had no idea who or what the entity was, just that it resided in my consciousness when it did manifest itself.
If it hadn't of appeared, none of this would be happening. Jumba had been wrong about the fail-safe. I wondered if the device had even kicked in at all once the cell switched because I'd felt nothing happen.
I was on a time limit now. I had no idea how much longer I had left until it switched to green and I knew a code was needed to fully activate the system, but what if I was so corrupted now that it would work without the code?
It seemed that was bound to happen.
I had no idea how we were supposed to explain this to the family. Nobody was going to listen to us, or believe us. I'd wiped out a planet; not even a human terrorist was capable of such a feat. There was nothing living on this planet that had the power to stop me when I morphed. Maybe Jumba, perhaps, but even so the chances of that were low. He was a genius though. I didn't doubt he would try until the very end.
I just hoped something could be done in time.
I was left by myself up in the dome for hours. Nani had stopped crying a little while ago and the voices had quieted down. I wasn't sure what was happening down there, but I refused to go down. I still couldn't hear my father and worried slightly. He'd been gone all day.
I had no idea what Lilo was doing. She was down there but she was very quiet. If anything I knew she was probably torn about the situation. She'd forgiven me for kidnapping her, but had she truly? I had really scared her and then she'd had to deal with Chopsuey threatening to pick her bones clean and pushing his claws to her neck.
I closed my eyes. We really were just monsters.
While I was alone I'd curled up on my bed. I'd been gazing through Lilo's drawings and messages to me for a long time now. They soothed me, if only slightly. The pillow was still wet beneath my head as I'd cried before. Not because of Nani – but because of what was happening to me. I was utterly terrified to face the future at this point.
My birthday was apparently going to go down in flames. And the wedding? The one thing I looked forward to the most? The bride didn't even want me near her. Maybe my wish of finally feeling like a true part of a family was never meant to come true. What was the point of going to the wedding if I wasn't even going to be accepted there?
I looked across to the closet where my suit hung inside. I'd helped pay for that suit. Perhaps that was just going to end up a waste.
I just wished things had never come to this. It wasn't fair. Wasn't I allowed to be happy for once?
I heard footsteps upon the stairs outside and the front door opened up below. I sat up and perked up my ears to listen. It was my father. I could hear him asking where I was. Lilo was the only one that responded.
Sure enough, the dome door opened and he called up to me.
"Son?"
Jumba walked up the staircase and over to me. I felt him put his hand upon my back as the bed creaked from his weight as he sat down beside me.
He pushed me over eventually and I squeaked in discomfort. He took note of my face before I could see his eyes widen. Taking me under the arms, he picked me up and placed me across his lap.
"Sorry. Why are you so upset?" he asked quietly. "I thought you were asleep, wanted to check on you since had to rush off earlier."
I sighed against him and stared up at him. I knew he was going to flip once I told him what had transpired just before. He used the corner of his shirt to wipe at my face.
"I-I..." I stuttered. "Where you go?"
"Ship. Trying to figure out what to do with that blasted experiment and needed time alone after that ordeal," he responded. "Probably should have said something. Was too angry to even think straight and didn't want to expose you to that so I left."
And here I was, about to make it even worse.
My father lowered to my level slightly. "What is it, 626? Why are you so upset?"
I sighed. Lowering my ears and clutching his hand, I told him everything that had happened just before. I couldn't keep this bottled up, even if I wanted to.
I knew this wasn't going to end well.
I'd never had to restrain my father before. But there is always a first for everything I suppose; even things you don't ever anticipate would ever happen and when they do you are unprepared. To be truly honest it felt like a nightmare for me and few times I couldn't fully comprehend if this was really happening and I was actually awake or not.
Nani was cowering behind the kitchen table. Jumba had smashed his fist onto it and broken the legs so it was lopsided. Shattered glass surrounded our feet.
David was holding himself over Lilo protectively while Pleakley was trying to calm Jumba down. I was the only thing holding him back from Nani and if I let go I knew he was angry enough he would do something drastic in his rage. With Nani pregnant, I wasn't going to allow that to happen.
"AGABBA!" I howled repeatedly, trying to break through Jumba's furious screams and shouts at the woman. I'd only ever seen him this angry once before in my life and that was when I'd told him I wasn't going to slaughter the board members for him or follow my programming.
He wouldn't stop. He was shaking like crazy and his rage had entirely consumed him.
"ENOUGH!" I finally screamed.
I grabbed Jumba forcefully and held him up above my head. It was very awkward while trying to balance on crutches, but I had no choice.
"STOP IT PAPA! STOP IT!"
The room went silent. Jumba seemed shocked but I held him like that until he got a grip on his anger.
"Put me down, 626. Now." He growled at me.
"No way," I sneered. "This needs to stop."
He heaved a sigh. "FINE 626. Just put me down for blitzkorp's sake!"
I glared up at him but put him down slowly. He lunged for Nani as I'd predicted he would and I jumped in front of him and blocked him.
Now I was mad. I snarled and growled at him savagely, raising my claws defensively.
I wasn't doing this because I wanted to exactly, but I knew Nani's child was first priority. If Jumba hurt her in his anger he could kill it. As bad as the situation was between Nani and myself, I didn't want that to happen.
I didn't want him to hurt her like he'd hurt me in the past. I could take a bullet to the head, but Nani was a human. She wouldn't survive a punch.
"Back. Off." I snarled.
Jumba stared at me for a long time before finally sighing, putting his hand to his head. He slumped down against the kitchen cupboard.
David rushed to Nani and helped her up. Lilo stood back with Pleakley while I climbed up over my father and tried to make him calm down by putting my paws to his face.
"Naga. Naga..." I said to him softly. When his quivering eyes finally locked onto mine, I repeated it again and again until he processed what I was saying. "Na. Ga."
There was a long silence after that as everybody tried to calm down and deal with the shock. My leg was hurting like crazy from the sudden exertion but I was doing my best to ignore the pain.
Lilo was the one to break the silence.
"Are we... no longer a family now?"
My heart wrenched. I could tell Jumba's did as well because he looked up at Lilo at that through tears. Nani was shaking. She stood up and David helped her sit on one of the chairs.
"Were you going to... hurt her, Jumba?" he asked eventually, looking at my father fearfully.
He grunted. "Had 626 not been there to stop me, probably yes. Will not be sugar-coating it."
"Why?"
Jumba sighed again, putting his hand through his hair. He stood up and also took a seat, carrying me alongside of him so that I sat on his lap.
"Because have been let down repeatedly in the past by own family and ex-wife. By many others. Even 626. Hearing that he was going to be let down was final straw. You have no idea how excited 626 has been for wedding, only to have that stripped away from him due to circumstances beyond his control. He is needing this."
"Apparently not..." Nani rasped. She pulled the ripped invitation out and threw it across the table towards my father. "Since he did this."
Jumba looked at her in strong disapproval. "And why do you think this happened?"
Nani couldn't answer him.
"Perhaps stop to think about it, use that brain for once ey?"
David went to retort, but Jumba held up his hand.
"626 has endured a lot during span of his life. You may think... oh, is not so bad – a lot of humans also go through a lot of troubles – but no. 626 has had it much, much worse, I assure you. Even the worst possible pain a human has endured, whether it be death, grief... could never compare. You cannot even begin to possibly imagine the level of pain 626 has dealt with on account of me."
Nani looked at him though red eyes. I stared at the table.
"When 626 finally is having a chance to be happy, seeing you strip that away from him after what he's already had to endure, I simply cannot be tolerating or dealing with. Yes, I am aware of what is being wrong with him and what you have seen from him, Nani – but as I've said multiple times now, isolating him as source of problem of your stresses and woes is not correct answer here. 626 is having more than enough to deal with right now. Whatever he has done to you, as bad as it may be in your eyes – is not him. When are you going to learn that? How much more clearer am I having to be making it to you, larger girl? Do I need to drag you outside to ship and chain you to computer chair, making you watch data over and over until is crystal clear?"
"N-no," Nani sputtered. She coughed. "I know something is very wrong with him."
"Does he truly deserve this then? If you are knowing yourself?"
Nani went quiet again.
"Because how I am seeing it, 626 has done nothing but prove himself to you. Notice how he literally held me back just before? He has defied me before, and he's more than willing to do it again. Because unlike him – I have far less tolerance and patience for your actions. I don't even know what I'm doing in my anger sometimes and had it not been for him, you might not be sitting where you are right now."
"You're dangerous, Jumba. He is too. You both know this."
"Of course am knowing!" Jumba spat at that. "You don't think we were banished here for nothing now, do you?"
Nani shook her head.
"So then, why is it you are still giving us chance? I've yet to see you kick us out."
"Because of Lilo," Nani simply replied. "You do things for him, I do things for her. Even if I don't approve of it."
"Did you ever truly approve of us being here from the start, then?"
"I did, yes," Nani responded. "But I've also had a lot to take on since housing the three of you. More hours at my job, more food in the house. More bills equals less money. It's taken a lot out of me just to even keep the house and a roof over my sister's head. The stress is eating me alive. And at this rate, I don't even know if I can afford this baby."
She looked between us. "My family will start arriving tomorrow. Thankfully they've booked motels and such – but they will likely be coming here to visit. Nothing is ready and everything is just a major mess. I'm tempted to call off the wedding but it's far too late now. I don't know if I can handle it."
I stared up at Jumba. He put his hand on my head. "We can have area 626 destroyed clean in less than hour."
"That's great... but it's not going to fix everything else."
"Perhaps not. But for love of greater being of this planet or whatever, do not outcast 626. We will have his birthday, and then wedding shortly after. He's had so many let downs in his life, just let him have this for once and be happy."
Nani looked at me thoughtfully. "Okay. But what I said to him still remains. If you do not come clean by the end of the wedding about what's actually going on with you two, then I cannot trust you to remain with us anymore. You'll have to find residence elsewhere."
Jumba sneered but Nani held up her hand. "I mean it Jumba! Lilo's faced enough danger on account of your past coming back to haunt you. This family runs on honesty and if you can't even give that... then... well..."
"Fine, larger girl," Jumba said. "I acknowledge that things have caught up to us and we cannot hide away from them forever. If anything things will probably only get worse from now on. But you have to hear me out and you have to hear 626 out. We were lucky to receive banishment and not execution for what we did."
Nani looked horrified for a moment at that, but Jumba held up his hand again. "As I SAID, you have to hear us out before making judgement... so can you at LEAST do that? We are not who we were in the past anymore."
"Fine," Nani responded. "We can compromise as long as you come fully clean."
Jumba nodded. I watched as they shook hands.
"I don't know how this will be playing out, larger girl..." he told her, looking at me. "But as long as you are willing to hear us out without firstly booting us out on backsides – then I will be honest with you, as will 626."
The older Pelekai nodded.
"I truly am sorry for scaring you; I know it was wrong of me to fall into such rage. But I am at breaking point now. Not only with this treatment of 626, who is innocent, but also at fact I cannot be solving this problem. I can only prepare for the worst with it right now."
"Is he dying?" Nani simply asked at that.
"No. However, I do not know for sure."
She sighed. "I see. Whatever it is, I don't want it to interfere during the wedding."
Jumba looked irritated. "626 cannot be controlling what happens. Is not just switch he can flick on and off for your sake. If it happens during wedding, it happens. Will deal with it as comes because at this point, is all we can be doing."
"It's my special day, Jumba," Nani said bluntly at that.
"And it's MY son's life," Jumba responded. "No offence Nani – your wedding is not as important to me as his life is being. He comes FIRST."
Nani banged her fist on the table at that but she had no response.
"Then you can deal with him if it happens. Keep him away from my family and guests. They are older and far more liable to heart attacks if Stitch scared them like he did me. I have no doubts about that."
"Sounds like overreaction," Jumba muttered nasally at that, Besides, will be 'liable' to far worse things if cannot stop programming..."
Nani give him a questionable look at that. "What?"
"Never mind."
"I do mind, thank you very much."
"Then you will be finding out when we are coming 'clean', won't you?"
Nani glared at him.
"Stop it!" Lilo cried at that suddenly, jumping between us. "Stop it, both of you! Both days are important! Stitch's life is important too! Not one over the other!"
It looked like Lilo was the only one here that had some common sense.
Jumba agreed. "Yes, his birthday is important too. Your wedding is important but you do not see me making big deal about 626's birthday to point it's only about him."
"I AM allowed to have this day Jumba!" Nani shouted at that.
"Never said you weren't," Jumba shrugged. "It's just not all about you sometimes, you know? Remember how you stopped giving him food as punishment? You invited us as guests – you need to be respectful of us too. Your wedding would not happen without us to begin with."
"Of course it would!"
"So, you would have wedding without your family there then?"
I knew what Jumba was doing. Nani had fallen into his trap. She looked furious.
"Now you're just being insufferable Jumba and you know it."
Jumba cocked an eyebrow. "Really now? Could say same of you, larger girl, with how you've been treating 626 as of late."
Nani went to stand up towards my father in fury but David put his arms around her. "He is right, Nani. Our day is special, but our family is also important too. We can share out equally among the family. It is wrong to prioritise one thing over the other. You know we cannot have our wedding without Jumba and Stitch there. It wouldn't be right, would it?"
Nani couldn't answer him. She sat down.
"Perhaps I am being smug ass-I mean, jerk – " Jumba continued, correcting himself in front of Lilo, " – but do not think for moment longer and am I going to sit back and listen to you bark demands about what my boy should and shouldn't do, when you are well aware he has no control over his problem. From your incentive, seems as though if something happened to 626 at wedding, you'd just be angry over it because your 'special day' would be ruined. I thought the concept of 'ohana' mattered to you, Nani."
Nani lashed forward and slapped him across the face at that. Jumba barely flinched. I was shocked.
"Don't you dare go there, Jumba. This conversation is over."
Jumba looked at me as she walked out of the room. He shrugged again. "Well, I'm not wrong."
I slumped in his arms. Lilo stood beside us, tears in her eyes as she put her hand on Jumba's arm.
"I guess we really are a broken family now..."
"No... of course not," Jumba responded to her at that, lifting her onto his lap beside me. "Listen Lilo... 626 and I are dealing with a lot right now. I cannot be denying it is affecting the family, however as bad as it may be seeming right now, sometimes the worst of the storm has to hit before the sun appears again."
Lilo looked up at him at that, a tear streaking down her face. "...?"
Jumba sighed. He smiled and put his hand on top of her head. "You will always be our family, little girl even if larger girl starts believing otherwise."
"I don't want her to..." Lilo cried into him. "I don't want this anymore, I just want us all to be happy again."
"I know. Believe me, whole life have been searching for happiness. Was only coming to me once 626 was born," my father looked at me, putting his finger under my chin. "Was changing my life. Made me who I am today... hence why, I cannot deal with blame being pinned on him when I know this is my fault."
Lilo sniffled. "What is your fault, Uncle Jumba?"
He closed his eyes. "I..." he sighed. "Listen little girl... all you are needing to know is that 626 and I love you. Very much, okeydokey? That will never change."
I nodded, licking Lilo across the cheek.
"Whatever is going to be happening over the next few days... I have no answer to. But you are strong, Lilo. And if things are going the way we predict them too, well. I need you to be stronger than ever. Not just for me, but for 626."
Lilo was quivering. "Is... something really bad going to happen?"
Jumba suckled the tip of his finger slightly, nodding. "Very possibly so. Something even I have no idea if I can be stopping or not. Is not something I ever wanted to happen, but know that no matter what, 626 loves you. More than anything. Nothing will come between that."
Lilo sniffled. "Okay..."
Pleakley had been quietly watching us. He knew more so than anybody else what Jumba was referring to. He put his hand on top of Lilo's head as well before sighing.
"We will start tidying area up outside in the morning," Jumba said to David. He'd followed Nani out but had come back in to us.
"Won't take long."
"Will he be okay?" David responded to that, gesturing to me. "He's pretty beat up."
"He's tough. 626 will be fine."
I looked at my father at that. Lilo squeezed my paw.
Jumba eventually put Lilo down. "Come 626. We need to talk in ship."
"Can I come?" Lilo asked quietly.
"Ehh..." Jumba looked very apprehensive. "I do not want little girl being around for this..."
"Please? I don't really want to be here right now..." she said softly. "I just want to be with Stitch..."
"Fine... I suppose so."
Lilo nodded. She snuggled against me as Jumba picked her up again and carried us outside to the ship, David going in with Pleakley to inform Nani what we were doing.
Jumba put us down inside his lab. I could tell he'd been busy considering the place had become a mess. After locking the ship door behind him, he turned to us. Lilo was gripping onto me tightly and when Jumba gestured for her to sit down she refused to let go.
He put his hand through his hair, but she was stubborn. Where I went, she went.
"626...?" he said to me, leading us to the back of the ship.
"What is it?" I asked.
He just sighed. He unlocked the automatic door and led us inside after turning on the lights in there. A loud bang caused me to fall backwards into Lilo. She screamed and cowered beside me as I realised what I was seeing.
It was Chopsuey. He was in a containment chamber thick enough to restrain him from breaking out, throwing his body at me through the glass. I couldn't hear him. His wounds had been tended to from our recent fight.
I whirled around to face Jumba. "GABA?! AGA BA BOOSA 621?!"
"Have been trying to knock some sense into him. Since he is mine I do not truly wish to destroy him – but if he cannot change his behaviour then I may be having no choice."
"HE TRY TO KILL LILO!" I screeched. "WHY GIVE HIM CHANCE?"
Jumba looked at me at that. "Could ask same of you, 626. Why give me chance?"
I went quiet at that. Lilo put her arm around me.
He sighed again. "Look. This hostility needs to end. Is my fault he is being like this but if he chooses to hold onto this forever then there is nothing else I can be doing other than keeping him dehydrated forever, or trapped in this chamber."
I thought about that. "Can... can Stitch, be dehydrated? Like Chopsuey?"
"Yes, 626. Why?"
I approached him. "Then do it, papa. Dehydrate meega."
He shook his head. "I refuse to."
"WHY?!" I yelled. "COULD PREVENT– "
"I KNOW THAT!" he yelled back at me, interrupting me, but I saw tears in his eyes. "But would be no different to killing you or putting you in comatose state, because you would just remain that way forever. If reactivated – programming would still initiate. Would just be prolonging the inevitable. "
"But you NEED to papa! Then everyone, saved!"
"NO 626!" he snapped at me. "I will never be doing such thing to you. I've put you through enough as it is."
"W-what do you mean...?" Lilo asked shakily.
"Never mind little girl. Just... please do not ask."
She went quiet. I could feel her gripping onto the fur at the back of my neck.
"Neesa..." I started, but Jumba put up his hand.
"Enough 626, is never going to be happening. I don't care how much you think it would help."
I sighed. "Well... what about him then?"
I pointed to Chopsuey. He snarled at me through the glass.
"Brought you here to try talk to him. Probably won't be working, but... if I changed 626, perhaps he can be doing so too. Will be last attempt at saving him. Because if cannot be doing so then... I will just destroy him."
Lilo looked scared at hearing that. "D-Destroy him? Do you mean like...?"
"Kill him, yes. I will put him into a de-moleculisation chamber."
"A what?" she asked quietly.
"De-moleculisation chamber. Will disassemble molecules."
She looked confused. Jumba went to elaborate but I put up a paw. "Naga, Jumba..."
Chopsuey looked fearful for a moment but then I could see him screaming again. He pounded against the glass furiously.
"Can he hear us?" Lilo asked.
Jumba nodded. "One way. Can hear us, we cannot hear him."
Lilo looked at us before taking a step forward hesitantly. I went to stop her but she pulled away from me. She was shaking badly.
Chopsuey didn't know what she was doing either. He snarled at her though the glass as she approached him. I couldn't hear him, but I could lip read so I had some idea of what he was screaming at her and it made me growl loudly. I wanted to claw his eyes out.
Lilo however, kept approaching him. When she was face to face with the monster, he raised his claws against the glass, bearing his teeth at her savagely. He thrashed against it again, trying to get to her but Lilo simply just pressed her hand up against the glass. He towered well over her head, Lilo only just reaching midway up his chest.
I knew she was afraid, but that wasn't stopping her. Jumba and I had gone quiet.
"Why are you so angry?" she asked him quietly. "What has made you feel this bad?"
That stumped Chopsuey. He stopped his tantrum for a moment or so before looking at her wide-eyed.
"You don't really want to die, do you?"
I saw him growl. But he went quiet for a few moments.
Lilo looked at us. "Lilo, don't get so close..." I told her.
"I know, Stitch. But... let me talk to him."
"IGATTA NO PUGY?!" I yelled at her in disbelief but she looked at me with a dead serious expression on her face. "HE TRY KILL ME! KILL YOU!"
"No, Stitch. I'm not kidding. I helped you... it seems right that I should try to help him too. After all, he's like a... cousin or something to you, right?"
Jumba looked bewildered at that. "Uh..."
"Lilo..." I said softly but she just shushed me and sat down in front of the monster.
Chopsuey was laughing at her at this point. He pointed to her and then looked at me, doing the 'you're crazy' gesture at his head.
"Remember who Jumba approves of over you," I muttered back to him and he snarled at me furiously. I could tell that comment had burned him however; he flinched and turned his back to us.
"Go away you guys, please!" Lilo said to us.
"No way Lilo," I responded. "Cannot trust this as–"
"STITCH!"
"NAGA!"
Chopsuey sniggered at me.
"He is manipulative Lilo. I don't care if you think can get through to him."
"I got through to you didn't I?" she retorted.
I sighed heftily. "Feecha. It won't work Lilo."
"How do you know?"
I couldn't answer her.
"Well... I don't want you to kill him Jumba. Even if he is bad."
Chops looked at her with a strange expression on his face. I just glared at him when he looked at me.
"Lucha hagata... lucha tey ubatta meega deketa yuuga sabata fuga zeech," I sneered at him and he just looked at me cockily.
He just banged against the glass and shrugged, however.
"Is not breaking out of that container, 626, I assure you. He's been in there since this morning and not once scratch on glass despite size of claws."
I didn't feel right about this, but I couldn't stop Lilo from being Lilo.
"Very well, little girl. He is more than lost cause, I assure you. But I will let you hear him. Will not be pretty knowing his foul mouth, however. If causes you too much of a headache feel free to leave and let me destroy him."
Chopsuey flinched again at hearing that but continued scowling.
Jumba and I left her with the monster quietly. I looked back at her as the door shut behind us.