There was only one thing on my mind as I ran away from my father and 621. I had no idea where I was going. I was running blind.
Lilo.
I had no idea where she was at the moment and I dreaded not being able to find her before tonight. I had to, because if I didn't...? God damn it... I didn't even want to think about that. Us ending on a bad note before I went 'nuclear on the planet' would destroy us forever. How could I live the rest of my life without her? I couldn't!
I know I'd badly scared Lilo before—I'd seen the change in her demeanour, the way her shoulders slumped and her eyes glossed over. She'd had that same look on her face the day I'd kidnapped her and busted us both out of the motel roof. That same look of fear when I'd threatened to go over the cliff and she'd screamed out for me.
That look of fear that broke my heart... I'd vowed not to put Lilo into such a position that I'd see that face again, and yet I had.
What was wrong with me? Had I broken her heart by what I said? I sincerely hoped not. It was rare she didn't want to be around me, cases like what had happened to Pudge being an exception but this...? Perhaps this was too much. I was at my breaking point, maybe hearing that from me had been hers. Or at least, building up to it.
I felt almost light-headed at that point. What was I supposed to do? Never mind what had happened before with the Kukini's—also playing on my mind was the fact that I still hadn't told her what 'boojibu' meant. I didn't want to lose her before she had the chance to find out. I'd already pushed away my other family and I didn't know how much more I could take of setbacks.
Screw this. It SHOULDN'T have to be this way. It SHOULDN'T.
I lunged forward with a scream of rage and dug my claws deep into a nearby tree. When I caught my breath and looked up my own engraved initials greeted me inside of a heart.
LP
SJ
"..."
Not this one... this is OUR tree...
Lilo...
I stared. My claws had penetrated right through the centre of our engraving.
I didn't even know what to think seeing that before me. What I'd just done. With my luck of all the places I would end up, of COURSE it would be here! Out of the millions of trees around me, running blind I could have ended up ANYWHERE else, even that same damn laundromat I'd had bleach spilled all over me in on account of Mertle, but no it just had to be here, didn't it. I had to slowly just destroy everything sentimental to me beyond my control. Because of my stupid Metamorphosis programming. I'd learned the nightmares were a sign of this to come, now this must be as well.
It felt like a sick joke. If this had any correlation to my dreams, I was going to lose Lilo.
WHY.
Maybe it was an omen.
Or maybe... maybe I was just starting to push Lilo away from me...
I was losing her. Was I losing her? Did I come to this exact spot because subconsciously I knew I was losing her?
Or did I just want to push her away because I wanted to? I grabbed my ears and pulled them down. No. What was I thinking?!
So many damn questions I can't answer!
I couldn't stop myself after that—my anger flared and before I could register what I was doing or what was happening, my entire body suddenly locked up. A near blackness consumed me, but it was like I could still see through a blurry lens. The world became distorted. At that point I knew my form was changing again. My entire body felt as though it was on fire, a horrible sensation that caused every single muscle in my body to spasm rapidly. This time felt different. I felt like I was in control. But I felt angry.
Nothing but raw anger.
I choked out a cry as a violent shudder ripped right through me before it stopped as swiftly as it had started. So what now? Was I stuck like this? Was I about to change right there and then?
I had no idea how long I stood there like that. I didn't want to move because I was afraid of what might happen. I didn't want to be a monster. Why couldn't Jumba just have LISTENED to me when I begged him not to change me?!
God I'd never felt as angry as I did now. Maybe I should have killed him.
YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT!
"626."
I was startled out of my thoughts. Good thing I was—I was shocked at myself for even thinking that about my beloved father.
I was losing it.
"Turn around."
Why was he here? I didn't want to turn around, but finally mustered enough inner strength to. Thank Rofplar I was still in control. I wasn't exactly in the mood to attack my cousin.
Chopsuey stared at me for what seemed like hours and I stared back at him. Eventually it dawned on me that he had a left arm. It was two different colours. He noticed me looking.
"Amazing, isn't it?"
He just crossed his arms in response after I raised my brow at him.
"Why are you here?" My voice was different again—I sounded as I had speaking to Nani in the bathroom that day she'd thrown me out of her wedding.
He scoffed slightly. "Why do you think?"
"I..." I paused. "I don't know."
I really didn't. From the look on his face I don't think he knew exactly why he was there either. Or maybe he did. He was cunning. Obviously he must have been well enough to leave.
"Jumbo didn't send me. The B.U.G tracked you, but I looked it up on my own accord."
Of course it did. I just shook my head.
"Then what made you come?"
621 sat down cross-legged in front of me. "Look, 626. I hate you and it's HIGHLY likely I always will. That fat bastard creating you was nothing but a kick in my face after the hell he put me through—but I'm not here to discuss that with you because it's none of your Rofplar-damn business. I'm here because I gotta be and YOU already know why that is because if ya don't then you're just as stupid as ever."
I growled. In this form it sounded demonic and I stopped instantly. It startled him as well and I saw him tense slightly but he didn't move.
"Watch it, fridge-raider."
"Shut up!" I growled. "Say that again and I'll rip your head off!"
"Will you?" he asked me, tilting his head slightly. "Because I didn't think you had it in you, 626. You're WEAK."
I snarled.
"Weak enough to allow yourself to be controlled... not just by a hatchling of an inferior species but by your own emotions. It's almost laughable that you're so pathetic! You'll be your own downfall!"
All I heard was Demon 626 talking straight out of him when he said that to me.
I roared. I'd ripped my claws out of the tree and lunged at him but within seconds he'd grabbed my arm and flung me down to the ground. I was stunned for a moment or so and the momentary confusion caused my body to flare up again as I felt my form shifting back to normal. A fire spread throughout my body before stopping as swiftly as it had started, but I was left panting.
621 crossed his arms behind his back and looked down at me. "If you let it control you that easily 626 you let the program activate."
I couldn't face him. It was going to activate anyway.
"And if me saying that was enough to piss you off 626 imagine what will happen next time."
"WHY are you here?!" I cried. "I need to BE. ALONE."
He was quiet for a moment or so. "Do you?"
"YES I—" I paused. "I..."
Truthfully I didn't want to be alone. Being a monster made me feel more alone than ever. I really didn't want him here but I think he knew why he had to be here himself. Not Lilo, Not Jumba. Not my family... him.
He was just like me. He was also a monster. And he was the ONLY one that understood what was happening to me at that moment.
"..."
Chopsuey just sat down beside me. I couldn't take my eyes of his jacket. Eventually I just hugged my knees and sighed.
"Why do you hate meega so much?"
He frowned at that, looking intently at the ground. "You took everything from me simply by being born, 626. That's why."
I glared at him. "Neesa how isa my fault?"
"It wasn't. But day by day I had to watch as Jumbo praised you, gloated over you and even had you take over MY missions. How proud of you he was, especially because you were HIS!"—he seethed out that last part—"And the more it happened, the further away I was pushed! He barely even acknowledged me... but you also took it upon yourself to act as though I didn't even exist."
I had no memory of it. I briefly recalled Nani talking to me in the car about this before I'd left for Mr Kuakini's recently. "G-Gaba?"
"It was bad enough he neglected me," he muttered. "I thought maybe you might at least treat me the same as he did you, ya know... at least acknowledge I existed, but you didn't. You were exactly as uncaring as he was."
I had nothing to say to that.
"When I left he didn't even notice. He DID notice eventually, but only after I attacked you."
I was quiet for a long time after that. At this stage nothing would ever fix what had happened between us.
"Do you still hate me now?"
"..."
"I know Jumba didn't treat you right. Dunno what happened though."
He was quiet. Eventually he turned his back to me and stood up to look at the tree with our initials carved onto it.
"If you truly want to know 626, I was a mistake. I was the reason everything went wrong for him. A flawed, imperfect experiment that only ever reminded him of the bad times in his life whenever he looked at me. I screwed everything up. I don't doubt he regretted creating me."
I felt heart drop into my stomach.
"He hated me. Sent me off to collect him DNA under the guise that I was making good achievements for myself. For us and his work. He never once thanked me." He paused. "He just wanted to be rid of me. Didn't want me in his sight and according to him, collecting DNA from wasteland planets was all I was ever good for so I was only sent there—meanwhile he was sending you to Greema Falls."
I remembered Greema Falls. It was one of the more lush locations I'd sourced DNA from. Most of the planets I'd scoured had been like that—one even had Wuncs that I would use to jump across the ocean on and there were also these awesome pods that allowed me to bounce as high as I wanted. It had been one of the cooler aspects of my missions, just being able to play around like that and it had helped take my mind off things when I was stressed out from Jumba's tasks. Some of the locations were beautiful, comparable to that of warm summer nights here on earth.
I had been to one of the wasteland planets (they were all very similar) but Jumba had only sent me there once when Chopsuey had been busy doing something in the lab for him. The stench of that planet was something I'd never forgotten and my stomach twisted as I recalled what walking on that planet was like—chasms and marshes that went on for miles. I'd nearly drowned in one of the marshes there and had stumbled upon a skeleton when frantically trying to get out. Thankfully Jumba had rescued me but it wasn't a good experience and it had remained burned in the back of my mind.
I had no idea that Chopsuey had only ever visited the wasteland planets. "Naga kom yabata shua? Only ever those planets?"
"Nope. Ya probably woulda known that had ya bothered to ask."
"I-I naga nota he did that..."
"There's a lot you don't know, 626."
I swallowed. I recalled Chopsuey mentioning about Jumba being evil and hiding it from me. Perhaps he'd been right after all as much as I didn't want to believe it.
He couldn't be, could he? My own father? The very same father that had been banished from his own planet? Banished from his own kind just so we could remain together? I just couldn't see it. I just couldn't believe Jumba was evil. Sure he was an 'evil genius' but he wasn't THAT evil.
Chopsuey faced me again. "I'm not going to bore you with the details of my life, 626. When it comes to Jumba, you've only seen a mere fraction of what he's capable of."
"Dagaba eiek?"
"With how angry he gets with you, that's nothing compared to what he put me through. He created you to destroy planets and you did just that. No other alien has been capable of the feats you pull off. He was responsible for the creation of some of the most dangerous weapons in the universe. Have you ever wondered WHY he made you the way he did?"
"H-he told me why..." I was speechless. "Wanted revenge on Gamada. Board, hurt him."
"Never thought it was strange he went to the extent of destroying an entire planet to do so?"
"Backfired! He didn't WANT that to happen!"
Chopsuey raised an eyebrow at me. "What makes you so sure?"
"..."
My cousin sat down beside me again. "I can tell you one thing, 626. No other alien comes CLOSE to what Jumba is capable of."
"I know. Made us."
"Sure the whole human thing wasn't intended, no?"
I shook my head. No. It wasn't. But I was glad it had happened. Chopsuey looked at his arm. I looked as well. "Well... how is it?"
"Better than not having one obviously."
"Can you move okay?"
"Sorta. Gonna take awhile to get used to though."
"Did... Did Jumba tell you...?"
"About?"
I gestured to his arm before gesturing at my body. He got the message.
"Yeah. Related now, apparently."
"'N are you okay with that?"
"I have to be, don't I? Not like I have a choice," he muttered. "Better you than him. I want NO relation to that fat clown of a creator."
"..."
"Speaking of humans though, what's the deal then 626 with this whole whack 'identity crisis' ya got goin' on in there."
Identity crisis. It really was the best way to describe the situation with Mitch. I decided to explain it to him. I had no idea if he was interested or not, but he seemed to be.
"When Jumba create me, human soul go in too. Boy named Mitch. Started to retcha past life. Memories. All unlock when I meet Mr. Kuakini. Mitch father. Isa why I was never how Jumba wanted me to be."
"So you're a human then. Just like hatchling?"
"Ih."
"Is THAT why you love her? Cuz I sure as hell wouldn't ever feel anything for a member of such a pathetic species."
"Most likely reason."
"Well then THAT explains a lot about you 626. Why you're so overly emotional. You're not supposed to be, shoulda been like me. Being here has made you soft."
"I was like you..."
He scoffed. "You? Like me? Are ya smoking something?"
I shook my head. "Failure. Jumba wanted meega to be something else. Stitch wasn't."
He went quiet. I could tell he was thinking it over.
"I rebelled. Hated Jumba, for what he did to meega. I nearly killed him. Scar on eyes."
"Good. He deserved it. Fat fuck."
"..."
I stared at my cousin. He was so different to me and he didn't give the slightest damn about cursing or who he offended. Nani would flip if she heard the way he talked around me. But even so, I admired him. I admired who he was and what he'd been through. How he'd made it out as strong as he was after what Jumba had told him, because if my father had of said that to me, I had NO idea how I would have handled it with having the emotions of a human inside of me. Whenever Jumba was hurt the first thing I did was bawl my eyes out, if not that, I panicked. I wasn't as strong as he had created me to be.
Chopsuey looked like me but he also looked like a creature not to be crossed. His mohawk was natural, but when he was wearing his outfit, he looked pretty cool and it reminded me of an outfit I'd seen a customer outside Mr Kuakini's shop wearing once—a biker outfit I think it was. He was much taller than me as well, and I think it was the height that made him seem even more intimidating. I was small and now fat thanks to Demon 626.
I wondered what he thought of me. Probably nothing. I was glad he was here though. I didn't feel as though I had to fight this alone.
"Stop hating me."
Chopsuey snorted loudly. I stood up to face him. "I mean it. Agabba jeesta."
He raised his eyebrow at me. "Head screwed on tight enough there?"
"You have NO reason to anymore."
"Then give me one good reason not to, 626. Just ONE."
"I..." I paused at that. I realised I didn't have a good reason. I just wanted him to stop hating me because I wanted it. Nothing ever went my way. This wasn't going to either.
"..."
"626 I'll stop hating you on my own terms. Until then keep grovelling about it 'cuz it ain't gonna change before you do."
I sneered at him, but I wasn't expecting his reaction—he swiftly grabbed me by the neck, wrenching me up towards his face. "Watch it 626. I'm the last alien you want turning on you right now."
"Fine." I grumbled. He threw me down and I pushed myself back up. "I don't deserve this. Mitch don't deserve this."
"Maybe not. But that doesn't change anything."
"..."
"You change again 626 you're not coming back this time. Keep that in mind."
I looked down and kicked a rock into a nearby tree. "I know."
He nodded, crossing his hands under his chin as he sat and faced me. "I did a lot for you, 626. Including losing my damn arm. So I suggest—"
"Suggest WHAT? I keep my mouth shut?!" I yelled. "Yeah, I get it."
He just stared at me.
"Whatever..."
I turned to walk away from him. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I just needed to be away from him at that point.
Chopsuey didn't call out after me nor did he follow me. I think he respected I wanted that.
I ended up sitting on a bench at the local playground. There was nothing really for me to do there, except sit and watch people in front of me and what they did. I had nothing else to do at that point anyway other than just go back home, fret, potentially panic and then do something utterly stupid and reprehensible while I awaited my fate.
It was about midday at that point. If what Demon 626 had said was accurate, I'd change at about four o'clock.
With such little time left now, my mind was slowly starting to blur.
Some of humans stared at me, mostly mothers, but I paid no mind to it. I was used to stares and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. Lilo was the only thing on my mind and everything else right now was irrelevant. The screams and shouts of the children on the playground was background noise to me.
A thought creeped in.
I did remember this playground from some point in my past. I'd never actually come here with Lilo myself, but I recalled myself going down that slide. Somehow.
I wondered why for a good few moments but realised pretty quick it was another one of Mitch's distant memories.
Then, another one appeared in my mind. Mitch's time at this playground had been limited. He'd stopped being able to run around and play once his legs had given up on him and he was confined to the wheelchair. The playground suddenly felt unsettling to me as well as the environment around me.
Mitch had started to resent it. He'd never shown it, other than through expressing himself in his journal—but I felt that envy. That longing feeling he had. Of just wanting to run around like the other children but being unable to. Wanting something so badly, but it was out of reach because of physical limitations.
He'd become just a spectator. He hated that his freedom was taken away from him.
He didn't want to be at the sidelines.
First it was on crutches, then it was the wheelchair.
He hated me sitting here. The longer I sat the more uncomfortable I felt. As I stood up to leave, I noticed something. It was a merry-go-round and something drew me towards it because I felt Mitch drive me towards it. He didn't remember this. In my brief glimpses at this playground in the past I didn't either.
I felt a jolt inside. It was a merry-go-round designed for disabled children. Children in wheelchairs. It had open spaces wide enough to accommodate them. Mitch was reeling.
I had a feeling it had been introduced shortly after he'd died.
I had no idea what to think about that, but I did know that my former self never wanted to go back into a chair again. The alien side of me couldn't relate to him on that aspect considering I'd never known what it was like to be paralysed, and the closest I'd felt it was in my dreams and those visions I'd had where I was Mitch.
I'd come close to being paralysed by the nanites. I didn't want to think about it. Chopsuey losing his left arm was my permanent reminder that he'd stopped me from not ever walking again. I was spared paralysis because of him.
Some of the children playing watched me as I left the playground. I heard multiple cries of 'blue doggy!' as they tried to get closer, only to be dragged back by their mothers. And a father in one case. A little blonde girl had come up to me and paused, her father right behind her looking alert, but I could sense his fear.
He seemed to know I wasn't a normal dog. The majority of humans could tell something was off about me but they chose to either act oblivious to it, or just ignore the fact. Most of them were just stupid though.
It was rare that a human actually saw right through me. Those ones were smarter than the rest. They took note of what was around them and thought for themselves instead of following the sheep.
This was one such case. The way he was staring at me made that obvious.
"Come on Lilly," he muttered to his daughter. He kept his gaze on me as he walked away.
I couldn't help but wonder how I was going to kill him as he did so.
I looked back as I started to leave and saw the same playground before me, but it had changed. The play equipment was broken. I could see a pair of feet sticking out from underneath a collapsed tunnel. And then I paused. I rubbed my eyes as it took me more than a few seconds to rationalise what I'd just thought, let alone what I'd just seen.
The playground was fine. A fog was entering my mind. Skewing my reality. Unlocking evil thoughts.
Soon though, I'd no longer have thoughts.
Mitch used to get stared at as well. He recalled this as I walked back home. He'd never had people stare at him the way that man had stared at me. When they did stare at him so intently it had been doctors, probing at him in the hospital. It had instilled a fear of hospitals into him.
But somebody just staring at him like that was a new feeling and he didn't know what to make of it. Now that most of the memories of my past life were unlocked, I felt Mitch had allowed me in completely. And that involved opening up everything, even his deepest, darkest inner most feelings and thoughts.
Some of them were similar to mine. But as the experience of a human.
It gave me quite the perspective on life.
Mitch was an outcast and so was I—he stood out because of his fiery hair and pale skin. I stood out because I was blue. Some of the locals had stared at him because of his traits. But he'd never felt judged to a point it bothered him.
That man staring at me like that today had made him feel judged. He was still adapting to what he was now. Just like I was adapting to the idea I was a human. That was something we both had trouble dealing with—acceptance.
Me with my father, trying to make him proud. And then with the Pelekai sisters, getting Nani to accept me and trust me. Lilo's hula school and the children there. Even Mertle.
And now Chopsuey. I didn't think he was ever going to accept me.
Mitch had one friend, from what I recalled. A boy by the name of Chris. I had no idea what had happened to him considering he was Mitch's friend. Even though my mind wasn't on that right now, Mitch for some strange reason kept thinking back to that man at the playground. I couldn't care less about him but it was nagging feeling.
He'd done this before, actually. Where he was pushing at me to remember something. Something he couldn't quite piece together. Maybe he knew that man, if he was that bothered by him staring.
Chris played in my mind. That name.
I think that man may have been his friend's father. Is that why he'd stared like that? There was no possible way he could link me being Mitch. Could he?
The only thing we looked alike on was my fur. The way it sat on top of my head. My father had mentioned my fur had looked similar to his hair, in the way it sat.
I still didn't believe that human would have thought anything else when he'd looked at me. There was no way he could see me as Mitch. He probably could tell I wasn't a dog though.
Mitch seemed troubled by that incident and wouldn't shake it but I let the nagging feeling just linger there. God it was such a weird experience being the same entity, only split in two in one body. He was like my twin but he was also me at the same time. An extension of myself that I could think to.
Part of me wondered if we'd ever full integrate to the point that there was no split between us—that I would no longer feel what I did as 'his' feelings and 'his' thoughts but solely as my own. Not recognise us as two entities, but just as one. The thought of that did my head in and I wasn't particularly in the mood to dwell on it at that point.
We'd accepted we were the same being and this was my life now. His friend was nothing more than distant memory. His life was past.
I kept my vision focused on the ground as I walked back home slowly.
I had no idea if Lilo was going to be home or not. I had no idea where she'd run off before after I'd scared her.
Out of sheer desperation I'd decided to buy her flowers. When I'd arrived back I hadn't gone in through the front door but instead had scaled the dome and climbed in through the window.
I couldn't think of any other way to make it up to her. I didn't trust myself at all to take her out in the cruiser again, because she'd be killed if I changed up there with her locked inside the cabin with me.
I shuddered. I stared at the small bouquet, now on her pillow. I had sat down on the end of her bed.
Her scent was all over her bunk. It made me feel very calm and at peace. That fog that had started
up in my brain receded a little because of it and I didn't feel so over the place. Most of my thoughts had been a jumble.
I didn't like thinking about why things had to be this way. Why so much of my life had been made hell on account of my father. Mitch was the same, but instead of another individual making his life hell, his own body had. We had two stories—both identical in how they played out, just under different circumstances. His body had attacked itself from the inside out. Mine had been solely created to be used against me.
Both of us hated what had happened to us, which in turn probably further fueled us landing in that dimensional pull. Becoming one.
In some ways it still felt like a movie plot. Like a never-ending dream. But I did know that there were some things in the universe that were just unexplainable, and could never be explained. You couldn't dwell on those ideas though, you'd spend a lifetime and then die before ever finding an answer as to why things happened the way they did.
Life was a timeline. We were just along for the ride and had to accept what we were dealt with in that timeline. There was no going back and forth—unless you were Jumba of course and had a personal time machine. I didn't doubt he had one. But I was aware that going back in time drastically altered the course of the future. It was a good concept to explore in science fiction, but not in reality. I'd seen plenty of movies of time travel and all of them never turned out well. I recalled one we'd watched one night named "Back to the Future" which had explored that concept.
Of course, all of those movies were simply humans perception of what would happen during time travel. Such a thing had never been accomplished by them and probably never would be.
I sat waiting for Lilo, but she never came up to the dome. I was about to leave when my ears perked up to the sound of footsteps on the driveway. Racing over to the window I looked out to see her walking up the driveway, accompanied by my father. He had knelt down beside her and seemed to be instructing her on something but I had no idea what. As much as I wanted to listen in I didn't because I knew it would probably only pain me. The look on his face told me all I needed to know.
I did wonder though—was he telling her what was going to happen? Somehow I doubted it. My father wasn't the type to be direct about something unless forced to. Just like he'd hidden my glitch from the family before I'd died. Lilo didn't seem to have any sort of expression on her face. She just looked a little blank.
The next time I decided to look down to them again, Lilo had gone, and before I could wonder where she was I heard footsteps on the stairs outside. I scrambled to hide and just barely got myself underneath the bunk bed as the door opened. She walked inside, but then I heard her breath hitch a little. She must've seen the flowers.
I remained where I was. I was still terrified that she wanted nothing to do with me after how she'd reacted before.
The bed creaked a little. She'd sat down. And then I heard her begin to sob brokenly and my heart shattered.
I'd caused her so much pain. First by destroying her house, then dying in her arms and now telling her I was about to destroy her family and everything else that she treasured. Everything she'd come to know and love. I wasn't sure how much more her heart could take at this point, just like I wasn't sure how much more I could handle.
I wanted to stay there, but I knew I couldn't. As I was about to crawl out she bent down and faced me.
"..."
Silence. Lilo always seemed to know exactly where I was.
We just stared at each other. Eventually she joined me underneath the bed and she lay on her side on the floor, staring at me.
"Nani told me she lost the baby."
"..."
I really had nothing to say to that. I already knew what was on her mind and nothing I could say at this point would change the situation or make it better since it had already passed. Nani had confided in me about her lost child, but I had wondered when she'd be ready to tell the rest of the family. Perhaps today was the day.
It really was the beginning of the end.
I swallowed. "Leelo... I..."
She faced me. "Not only have I lost my parents, Stitch. Now I've lost more of my family before I even had a chance to meet them. And on top of that all now you're saying you might be taking Nani away too. And David."
"..."
"So I guess ultimately I'll lose you too. Maybe I'll die as well. We all will."
I lowered my head.
"What is it like, Stitch? Dying?"
I stared hard at her at that. She continued. "You have a lot of experience with it. You died as Mitch. You died as Stitch. Three times."
"...Awful, Lilo." I really didn't want to be pushed on this subject right now.
"What does it feel—"
"AGABBA!"
She flinched as my voice cracked out like a whip. I put my head into my paw.
"..."
I drew in a breath. "Feecha. I'll tell you—Mitch didn't want to go. Body failed and forced to. I naga wanted to be shot but Jumba shoot me. I didn't want to glitch, but I did. Heart fail. All of those times, extremely painful. Can't describe it. It's a descent into nothing and that's something you don't want to experience. Blackness and nothing. No thoughts, no feelings. You don't exist when you die."
Lilo was quiet, processing what I said.
"Only exist when you are aware of soul. Happens in Limbo. As ghost. But even then, it's a different feeling to being alive. If you reach there, it's not so bad. If you don't then I don't know."
"What... do you mean by that?"
"Don't go to heaven. Go to hell. Or, end up as ghost."
"Was Mitch a ghost?"
"Naga..." I shook my head. "Limbo. Neither alive nor dead, just stuck in between. Caught there because didn't want to move on."
"And my parents are there too?"
I nodded. "Tied. To you. Didn't want to let go, wasn't ready. Like Mitch with Mr Kuakini."
Lilo paused. She reached up and rubbed at her head."I... don't want to go. If I died, would I end up there too?"
"Possibly..." I responded. "Don't wanna know that answer Lilo."
"But I might be forced to. Like your body forced you to die."
I looked at her. She scooted a little closer to me and positioned herself so that she was directly looking into my face and eyes.
"I barely got to know you, Mitch. And then you were gone."
"..."
"I don't want to get to know you only in Limbo."
"Why are you saying this?!" I exclaimed. " Why are you talking like this, Lilo? I don't know what will happen. Neither do you!"
She went quiet. "...It hurts you to talk about death."
"..."
"It's okay. It hurts me too. But it's the only way I can accept what you said, Stitch and why you said it."
I sighed. I knew what she meant by that. At this point I knew she was prepared to face the unknown and had possibly already started letting go. Feeling blank. I had felt blank long ago.
"What did Mr Kuakini give you before?"
I reached underneath my tank top and pulled out my necklace. He'd given me a charm, similar to Ku-Tiki. It was string of planets, bound together with a little clasp. I had it next to the medal-of-honour that Lilo had given me.
Lilo picked it up into her hand and stared at it.
"Mitch really liked space..." she said softly. "His bedroom is really cool. I suppose it's fitting, isn't it Stitch. He loved space and aliens and now you are an alien."
I was quiet. "Do you like being an alien now Mitch?"
"I like that it brought me back to you."
Lilo's eyes widened a little at that. She faced me again. "Stitch... you're so clear now."
"Clear?"
"When you talk."
I shrugged. "You know why Lilo."
She nodded. I watched her as she took up the charm again.
"I... would like answer." She remained quiet and I felt my heart sink. "Please Leelo!"
More silence. She continued to stare down at the charm, but I could see the turmoil behind her eyes.
I knew I couldn't make her talk. I did start to wonder if she was doing this because she knew she was going to lose me and didn't want to admit it. Just as I had tried pushing her away before, she was doing the same to me. What I'd said was more than enough to cause lasting damage—telling her that I'd be taking everything away that made her happy. A happiness she'd only just found again after being miserable for so long. Did I really have the right to do that?
No, I didn't. Just as I had no right to control the direction my life went in. I was forced to accept everything that had happened to me, and now with me changing, she would be forced to accept it too.
I felt like I couldn't get through to her anymore. Even as Stitch... the alien part of me that meant so much to her. I knew Lilo inside out to the point I could easily tell when she was putting up a wall, but this was different. This wasn't the same wall she'd put up when Pudge had died—this was a Lilo fortress that was impenetrable. I was on the outside of it.
Me. Stitch.
If I couldn't get through to her as the one she loved, then maybe I wasn't going to be able to get through to her at all.
It was at that moment that I felt Mitch really came through for me. I'd come through for him when he'd needed it, helping him to reconnect with his family. It was a hard feeling to describe let alone explain in any rational sense, but he knew what needed to be done.
I couldn't relate to her anymore as an alien because I'd done too many alien things. Destroying her world and family in the way I would be doing so in a few hours time was just that. And right now, she wanted none of it. She didn't want to be near me knowing I was going to do such a thing that was considered so inhumane. So outside of the realm of her comfortable, happy and safe existence as a human.
At that moment I wanted to be human more than anything. I didn't want to be an alien. Being an alien meant upcoming death and destruction and being a human meant none of that. I hated that my English was so broken.
If I tried as hard as I physically could then perhaps I could talk to her normally. Like I did inside of my head.
I felt something lift up inside of me. Like a part of my brain ignited. For a moment I almost felt like Demon 626 was taking control again, but this wasn't paralysis. This was a much warmer feeling.
Mitch took over because he wanted to help me speak to her.
"Lilo, listen to me. When I wrote that journal I meant every single word of it. I came back as Stitch because I wanted it. I DIDN'T want to leave. After I met you in the store that day, you were the only one that was interested in me and what I had to say. I was bullied 'n just a loner when I couldn't walk anymore. All I had was my family, dad especially."
Lilo was speechless. She had faced me again, but this time she was trying to comprehend what was happening and her eyes were wide.
"Stitch... W-What?! Why are you...?"
"It's Mitch, Lilo," I told her. "I'm still here. Helping me."
"Who are you?" she simply asked, looking back and forth between my eyes. "Who do I love?"
That made me go quiet. "... Me."
"I've never heard you talk like this before though?"
"I can talk Lilo, it's just hard for me."
"So why haven't you before?"
Truthfully I didn't have an answer for it. All I knew was that after recovering my memories of my past life, it had gotten easier to talk.
"...I don't think you want to deal with me for what I am. You can't handle it."
That made her flinch again. "What?!"
"I can read you like a book Lilo! I always have been able to!"
She shook her head. "No..!"
"YES! You're pushing me away, just like I tried to do to you!" I grabbed her hands in my paws, but she pulled away from me and pulled herself out from underneath the bed. I followed her. "If you don't want to deal with me as Stitch then you need to tell me that right now!"
"..."
"You know as well as I do that we relate so well because I was formerly human. And now here I am like this. I've always been Mitch but Stitch exists because I became him."
There were tears in her eyes. "Huh?"
I sighed. "We both know that you are afraid of the real me 'n what I'm gonna do... but if you hear me like this, perhaps, you won't be afraid of me anymore."
Her expression softened. "I—I'm not afraid of you."
"Would you rather me how I used to be Lilo, or an alien?"
She went quiet again. I reached up to stroke her hair. "I CAN stay like this, where I can talk to you, but only at the expense of Stitch being buried away, like with Demon 626."
Her eyes widened at that. "Like when Demon 626 took you over?"
I paused, trying to figure out what to say for a moment. "Lilo, Stitch exists because he's who I became when I forgot who I was. Now that I remember, both of us can exist together like this. If you want to accept me as I am then you have to accept I'm an alien now, just like I told my father he had to. And that means all of the past and present as well as what's about to come."
She stared at me. "...Stitch?"
"You know I'm bad and I've done terrible things. But now that I can talk to you better like this, I know you can relate to that more than me being an alien."
She looked confused. "But.. why? Why can you talk to me like this now, but you didn't in the past?"
I shrugged. "Like I said, Stitch exists because I forgot who I was when I was reborn. Now that I remember who I was I have all nearly all my memories back including how to be able to talk. 621 could always talk, yet I couldn't. Since I didn't know who I was back then that's likely why."
"So shouldn't it be easier for you to talk to me as Stitch now?"
"It is... it's just not this perfect. Spoke same way for years."
"I don't need it to be," she responded quietly. She picked up her blue plush dog from her bed and stared at it intently. It was the same one that I had won for her that night at Macki McCaw's.
"... There always was something different about you Stitch."
"Lilo. Listen to me."
She went quiet, but didn't face me.
"Mitch... me, Stitch... I'm doing this because I need an answer from you before it's too late. I don't know what's going to happen to me. And that's why I told you I was done with my dad and family."
"Taramba jutifa ba? Isn't that what you said?"
"Yes, that. When I said that I meant it."
She thought to herself for a moment. "I thought you just meant you were done with getting them to see it was you..." she trailed off. "So you were serious when you told me that? You won't be going back?"
"No. It's too late, anyway..." I kicked at the floor. "But it's not too late for us... Just yet..."
She sighed. "Stitch... M-Mitch... I..."
My ears perked up. "I'm talking like this because I thought it would make you feel better. More relatable. Something I cannot do as Stitch because I've drove you away."
"Drove me away?" she sounded surprised. "No, no that's not it at all! You haven't drove me away! It was just hard for me to deal with hearing all of that from you!"
"Then why won't you answer me!"
"Because I..." she put her head into her hands. "I don't WANT to face losing you all over again! Losing everybody! I can't even begin to imagine it, or how I'd react if I lost Nani and David because you did something to them! Destroyed my home!" More tears built in her eyes. "This is my l-life! It's ALL I know!" she sobbed brokenly. "I don't know how to answer you because I can't! I can't give you the answer Stitch, because if you do all that stuff, and I die too... then how will we be together? Or even if I live and everybody else is gone... I-I don't know if I'd be able to forgive you because how do you forgive something like that?"
"..."
"Maybe I would forgive you eventually but... it would always be there, knowing you did that. Even if you can't control it. It's so unfair and I don't want to be in this situation again!"
"Just like I've always had to live with knowing I wiped out Turo."
She went quiet. I felt my brain settle and that warm feeling left. "Beyond Stitch control, but could only try do better. Jumba try do better."
"M-Mitch?" she asked hesitantly.
"Stitch," I shook my head. "Meega."
"Where is...?"
"Still here... I'm still Mitch," I told her, pointing to my head. "Talk to you then like that because isa only hours left and he help 'cuz I needed to make point clear to you Lilo and speaking clear help."
"Hours...?" Her eyes glazed over slightly in confusion. "What point?"
"Answer. But now I see, not going to get."
She hung her head. I put my arms around my knees. "But that's okay. Cannot expect answer or you to stay with me after I ruin your life more. Just answer me this..."
Lilo peeked up at me, clutching the dog tightly. "...?"
"Do you still love me?"
I really thought she would answer me at that. Tell me anything, even if it wasn't yes. But there was nothing. God this really was the end.
Now what?
Just leave, Stitch. I drew in a shaky breath.
"I guess isa goodbye then."
At that she threw aside the plush and lunged at me. "Don't. You. DARE. Leave. Me!"
I was too shocked to respond. She grabbed my head into her hands. "Listen to me. Mitch. Stitch... whoever you are...! I cannot answer you if we will still be together or I'll still want to be with you. I just can't. Because I don't know what will happen in the future... but I can answer you on this and YES, I DO love you! Okay?! That will NEVER change Stitch so STOP doing this to me!"
I lowered my head. "S-soka..."
"I love you just the way you are. I want you as Stitch and I've only ever wanted you as Stitch. I know Mitch is in there and he can come through like you just let him. But it's BECAUSE of Mitch becoming you I met you and got to know him better. You two are together now, so why don't you just be together and remain as Stitch?"
"Gaba eiek?"
"Don't have him come through like that, just be you."
"Hard to explain..." I said. "It was him talking but it was me Lilo. Like new part of brain wake up in me, let me speak. But I am Stitch, so isa more comfortable for me like this."
"Then stay like that, Stitch. The Stitch I've always known. Has Mitch accepted that you're this way now?"
I nodded.
"Then maybe it's time to end whether it's one or the other. Just be one. Just be YOU."
"We are one?" I was confused.
"Then why was he speaking out through you so well?"
"Because I wanted it, Lilo..." I told her. "Wanted you to understand me better. And like I said, I could do it all the time if you want. Isa like when I willed demon features."
"It's just different for me, Stitch..." she responded to that. "I don't know if I could get used to it. All I've ever known is you talking the way you do now."
I didn't think I could ever get used to it, but there was no doubt I liked that when he fully took over I could talk like I wanted to. I took hold of my necklace and held it in my paw.
"You've had closure with Mr Kuakini now, Mitch. He knows you're Stitch. We all do. Maybe it's time that you and Mitch just merged completely like I just said. I know you're one now, but to the point that's all it is. No more him coming out through you."
"..."
I thought about that. I could always feel Mitch inside of me. He was always in there like I'd been shut away when Demon 626 took me over. It wasn't a terrible thing, but it was like looking of a window. In my case, with Mitch in me, I could feel him there. Feel his feelings and think his thoughts. But if we were merged perhaps I wouldn't be able to feel that anymore, and I would just have those memories and feelings as Stitch. I was born as an alien, so having those memories of his past life and living as though I had those lived experiences would be a lie and I didn't want to lie to myself. I didn't want to have memories as though they were a life I'd lived, when I hadn't. I'd been born an alien and always was this way. Just as Mitch had been born as a human and had his time that way. Even if we were the same entity, we'd had two different states of existence.
From what I gathered we already were merged, because he went back into me when Jumba had shot me that time. If this is what it had to be because that was how the dimensional pull worked, then that was how it had to be.
I shook my head. "Lilo. We are merged. I am Mitch, Stitch is me... version of Mitch before memories. Can you accept that?"
"Of course..." she responded. "But does that mean if Mitch talks out of you like before, that you can do that more?"
"Ih." I nodded. "But I'm used to this. What would you prefer?"
"How you talk now."
"Then I can stay that way Lilo. I'm just happier now isa easier to talk to you."
"Does anybody else know that you can talk like that?"
"Well... naga... you're the only one. I've never really tried to talk like that. Lots of things still discovering about meega."
"Then let's keep it that way."
I was curious why she wanted that and tilted my head. She smiled at me. "Because we all know you as Stitch, and we love you for who you are. It's just... your 'thing' that you talk the way you do, and it's one of the qualities about you I've always loved. It makes you unique."
"Unique..." I repeated, but I smiled a little. "Okeytaka."
Mitch had long accepted he was the way he was now, being me. But this had made me start to wonder.
If I could talk normally now, with allowing the portion of my brain that was Mitch to come through, did that mean along with my metamorphosis ability... I could potentially change myself into a human? Something I'd personally always wanted to be? Of course, I wouldn't be Mitch anymore... but it would be beneficial in that it would allow me to be with Lilo.
I longed for that. For her to be able to live a normal life with me, no stigma attached on account of our species difference. The thought itself was exhilarating, only it would remain that way—just a thought. A dream.
It wasn't going to happen with how little time I had left and I didn't want to focus on only that. I just wanted to focus on Lilo. The moments I had with her now were so much more important.
Snuggling the little dog plush tightly, she put her arm around me and held me close.
As the hours passed, the blurriness started to set in once more. My vision flickered on and off. I could feel my body starting to wither and twist inside of me, an entirely new feeling and it was deeply uncomfortable.
I had told Lilo to go down and stay with her family as I needed to rest. I had told her I loved her and always would. I hadn't told her today was the day I'd lose her but she already had an idea that something bad was going to happen.
She'd gently told me that Jumba had briefed them on a 'huge storm' coming. Knowing my father, I don't think he would have outright told them I was going to just turn into a monster, especially after what Nani had just been through. It was one of those things they would have to just face up to as it happened.
Of course, they had the option of taking the ship and leaving the planet, but they knew that they'd have no home to return to so it was pointless. It wouldn't just be the Earth I would take out.
I lay there, twisting and turning on my bed. My mind was a mess and I could see flashes of red in my vision. I knew there was less than an hour left now until four o'clock.
"H-help me..." I choked as tears leaked down onto my pillow. "Please..."
Everything hurt so bad.
Eventually I heard the sound of the door opening and through my blurry vision I could just make out my father. He was quiet as he came forth beside me, sitting down on the bed with me. He said nothing, just took me into his arms.
"Listen 626," he muttered into my ear. "There is nothing more I can do from this point. I do have plan formulated and depending on how events of today play out, I will execute that plan in due time. The outcome will not be good but is only option left. Depending on severity of destruction and loss of life plan will be only chance in saving family and potentially Kauai and earth, but as for us... well, we will either survive plan or die. Am not going to sugar coat anything for you 626 and if death is the outcome so be it. I've already accepted it."
I gave a sigh against him.
"Messages, final testimonies... everything, all programmed into bracelets. Your message. I have ensured Lilo is wearing hers and have told her to keep it on at all times. Whether she heeds message or not is to be determined."
I was fighting tears. I could feel Jumba's shirt becoming soaked beneath me.
"We've been through a lot, haven't we 626? Somehow though, made it this far," he manged a chuckle. "I think we can say we had a good old time on this backwards planet. If today is the end then.. well... thank you for remaining true to me 626. Not giving up on me despite everything. Not many people stuck around for Jumba... not even family and as you know, Gamada almost destroyed my life. But you are and always will be the reason why Jumba kept going. You helped me to learn a lot about myself, especially as parent. I will always cherish that and you know that I will continue to do my best for you 626, even when Metamorphosis System activates. Plan is long shot but I've had stashed for years. Now all I can hope for is for it to work."
I couldn't bring myself to answer him. He put his hand over the back of my head and stroked my ears.
"For now though, we have to remain as though everything okay. Nani has asked if I will head to store to pick up groceries. I will be taking little girl, so... if you want to come..." He trailed off.
I knew what the was implying. It would be the final time I'd have with my angel. At least I'd be out of the house when I changed.
I sat up shakily and gave a nod. Jumba handed me the white and gold duck plushie that Nani had given me for my birthday and I snuggled it before setting it back down. I stared at my bed. I stared at my plushies and all of my toys. My Ugly Duckling book. I stared around our room at all of my cherished memories.
I didn't want to picture it as anything else other than what it was. I couldn't imagine it all destroyed.
It shouldn't be this way. It shouldn't be me leaving this room knowing it would be the last time I'd see it. It wasn't fair.
Silently I followed Jumba down to the family, the image of our room burned into my mind.
Nani helped Lilo into her raincoat as I sat silently on the couch. Jumba was standing beside me, holding an umbrella. Of course, there wasn't a storm coming but Jumba was very persuasive. The sky outside was also grey, which helped his story, but it only served to remind me of the looming doomsday ahead.
"Hurry back before the rain starts." Nani was saying, but her voice sounded distorted. David and Pleakley were watching a documentary on the TV. I had no idea if Pleakley was aware of what was going to happen. He made no indication that he knew something big was about to happen. The room was just a blur to me at this point, and it was too hard to focus. I didn't want to believe this would be the last time I would see my family. But I had to.
Nani said goodbye to us as we left. I lingered for a moment and stared directly into her eyes. She stared back at me, but then looked a little confused.
"Are you okay, Stitch?"
I couldn't bring myself to nod, or even shake my head. Eventually she just ushered me out. "Go on. Don't be long."
"I'm sorry Nannee... For everything. I love you."
She smiled a little but I could tell she was still confused. She probably thought I was referencing everything that had happened between us and her losing her baby. "I love you too, Stitch. Please don't worry about things. We'll be okay."
I just shook my head at her with a very pained smile. She looked confused but the shrugged at me a little.
"Stitch, I know we've been through countless hardships lately. This is just another one on top that we will get through too."
She turned and went over to beside David and they instantly held hands. David smiled at me a little in acknowledgement but Pleakley was too invested in the documentary to look up. Aunt Iwalani had left long ago, but I remembered her briefly too.
This image of my family burned into my mind, the way they sat so casually, dealing with grief in their own ways... but still it was somewhat another normal day for them. Another day that they would take for granted.
I waved and then turned and headed down the stairs to a waiting Lilo and Jumba, looking back at my home one last time. I wanted it to stay that way in my mind forever. I had no idea what awaited me or what would play out and as much as I tried to ignore the countdown until four o'clock in my head, I couldn't stop it.
Jumba looked at me solemnly and took my hand into his, Lilo walking ahead of us and we proceeded into town.
Town seemed quiet that afternoon. There were just as many people about, but something about the grey weather made me feel very unsettled. Of course, that was probably just me but I would have preferred to go out and meet my 'end' on a sunny day. At least then I could have had one last memory of something nice.
Jumba went into the store, while Lilo and I waited outside. We hadn't gone to Kuakini's this time. I couldn't face him again after before. This place was more expensive, but Jumba said he would cover the extra costs.
Lilo was staring at the ground. I stood behind her, just watching her, my paw gripping my necklace tightly. I unclipped the little planet charm and stared at it in my paw. There was five planets on there, one being a small crescent moon. I thought for a moment before unclasping it and pulling off, tapping my angel on the shoulder.
She turned to face me.
"Leelo. Take this..."
I pulled out her hand and put the moon charm into it, closing her fingers around it before pushing it to her heart. "I want you to have it. Keep it with you, always... okay?"
She didn't ask me why I gave it to her, but I think she already knew. "I will, Stitch... I promise." She went to put her hand to my cheek, however at that moment some kids were running up towards us and pushed past us, knocking us apart. Before I could stop myself I lunged for one of them and swiped at him with my claws. I probably would have taken his face off had Jumba not been coming out of the store at the exact moment he did. He'd been quick to restrain me, dropping the bag of groceries. Lilo looked mortified. The kid and his friends had bolted, screaming loudly as my father yanked me off. They were terrified. People had started to come over to investigate.
"Stitch, why did you...?" Lilo's voice was shaky.
Jumba just put his hand on her head and began pushing her forward and away from the store. "Let's just head out of here, drawing unwanted attention."
People were staring at us. In my vision I could only see them as red, almost corrupted figures as we hastily left the area.
1530
The numbers burned in my mind they counted down.
Jumba carried me as we walked, and he'd taken a side-street so that we were away from the small commotion. I hadn't really been paying attention to where we were going but I did recognise the area instantly when that small park I'd been electrocuted in came into view.
My father sat down on the grass. I sat beside him. Lilo stood and watched us before sitting down as well.
"So... is this about Nani?"
"Ey?"
Lilo gestured to us. "You're both all silent and acting strange and Stitch nearly hurt somebody. Is that why we are here?"
Jumba looked at me at that. I just looked at the ground.
"No, Lilo. Uh... knee playing up, I just needed break." He didn't try very hard at all.
"Really?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. She looked skeptical.
I sighed. I didn't know what to say. I just reached across and held her hand. It was quiet between us all for a while, and I listened to the birds chirping around us.
"Jumba... Stitch has been saying things. Stuff... about our family..." Lilo finally said to my father. "I don't know what he means by it."
Jumba couldn't look at her.
"Why?"
He sighed. "If you don't then I don't either."
Lilo had enough at that point. She stood up and pointed at him. "I KNOW you're hiding something from me. Both of you are. So tell me what it is, right now!"
"Little girl, you need to—"
"Keep my voice down? NO! Stitch keeps saying bad things, things about hurting Nani and David and asking me what I'd do!"
"You need to calm down, little one..." Jumba held her gently and pushed her back down onto the ground but I sensed his panic despite disguised well. "626 is saying those things because he is simply preparing you for worst possible outcome."
"From what? The storm?"
"Storm?" Jumba looked puzzled before shaking his head. "No, is no storm. Storm is not being storm."
"I am so confused!" Lilo was really annoyed now. "You said there was!"
"Was lie!" My father said, running his hand through his hair. "Okay? Is no storm! Is something much, much worse."
Lilo looked between us both. "What? What is it?"
Jumba went quiet again, swiftly picking me up into his arms with the groceries. "Let's head home."
"Jumba!" Lilo cried after us, running up and pummeling her fists into my father's legs from behind. "Uncle Jumba!"
I could see instantly how that tore my father apart, even with my blurred vision. Telling her the truth would destroy him and he would rather avoid it at all costs. It had already destroyed me, which was why I'd delayed as long as possible telling her I was going to become a monster—but I had left it right until the end and boy was I regretting that hard with how things were currently playing out.
She knew I was changing, she just didn't realise how soon it would be.
The next twenty minutes.
I knew was out of time at that point to tell her. So was he.
Jumba tried his best to remain stoic and silent as Lilo cried out to him, begging desperately for an answer but he was failing badly. I rarely saw my father cry, but now he was starting to. He was sobbing.
My father wasn't a monster. No matter what Chopsuey had told me about my father being evil and hiding things from me, I just couldn't see it—and seeing how he was right now, breaking down here in front of me, I never would.
I had no idea why Chopsuey had thought such a thing about Jumba, nor did I know how badly Jumba had treated him for him to be so deadset on the idea that Jumba was evil because he still hadn't told me—and refused to tell me—about what had happened in his past to make him the way he was. My father proved countless times to me that he'd suffered for what he'd done. But even the worst suffering he'd been through couldn't compare to how he was now. He was breaking down because of Lilo's actions. For somebody with a heart as 'evil' and 'cold' as his, why would a meek, precious human child be the one to break him?
I don't think Chopsuey had ever considered that.
Eventually after a small, almost fully blinded run as he wasn't watching where he was going for the most part, Jumba came to a halt beside a storm drain and just fell onto the road crying. I could tell he didn't care anymore.
My vision was too blurred at that point but I could just make out an advanced looking crack on the surface of the road. I'd barely registered we'd pulled up outside of the road where Mr Kuakini's store was and I knew this particular area had bad flood damage, but my mind wasn't on him nor that. Lilo was crying now as well. She couldn't understand why we'd been ignoring her like this.
"Uncle Jumba!" she wailed, climbing up into my father's lap. He simply pulled her close, alongside of me and hugged us both tightly. I'd never felt as loved as I did at that moment and wanted it to never end.
"I love you pa..."
1540...1541...
It couldn't be ending...
"Lilo..." I muttered against my boochibu. "Always remember me. I love you so, so much... I always will."
1545...1546...
I screamed. I couldn't stop myself. Lilo flinched and held her ears but Jumba held me as tightly as he could manage as a searing pain coursed throughout me. It was on par with the pain I'd felt as my circuits had burned out and killed me.
I hadn't wanted attention, but I was getting it. The townspeople ventured outside of their shops to stare. Men and women. All the nearby tourists halted in their tracks and dogs barked.
I continued to scream before feeling a darkness creep around my vision. The pain had suddenly stopped but my head was spinning. Creeping black waves of fog danced across my vision before it was coated with shimmering diamond speckles of dust. I'd never had a headache before and wondered if this was what it felt like. I'd often seen Nani complain of headaches but couldn't even begin to imagine enduring one.
Right now my head felt like it was splitting open. A severe pounding had started and I was worried something inside of my brain was about to burst. I wondered if this was what I'd experienced last time Jumba activated my Metamorphosis System, although back then I'd been electrocuted so I had no memory if I had been in as much pain as I was in now.
Perhaps not, considering this was an altered activation. Demon 626 had programmed me to feel all of this.
...And then it stopped. I pulled back and stood there shakily, trying to regain my balance and panting slightly. It was like a switch had flipped. There was no sound around me, but my hearing gradually returned. I could hear my heart pounding.
1553...1554...
My father was staring at me, but he was extremely still. I saw a gradual orange hue start to form around him before Lilo made a strange, almost choked type of sound. Only after looking down I realised it was a glow that was starting to come from inside of me. My body had become see through again. As my hearing flickered on and off I saw Jumba's eyes widen and a look of deep panic settled across his face.
Lilo looked terrified. He hands were at her mouth. As she moved them, I saw time slow down, like her actions were playing out before me in slow motion.
I reached out my arms to my father at that point, crying. All I wanted was for him to hold me because I was the most afraid I'd ever been in my life. Jumba saw this and lunged forward at me but in my mind the only thing I could see was him moving very slowly towards me. As much as I tried to move forward to reach him I couldn't move, despite being right in front of him. It was as if I was stuck inside of a dream, almost like being on that never-ending beach I'd encountered in my previous one of Lilo abandoning me for Keoni. The more I moved forward, the further away my father became. Everything felt impossible.
Jumba, Lilo, my life... everything was fading away.
In the small crowd of people that had gathered around us I saw one familiar face become clear amongst the red blurry rows of distorted human figures.
Alanna...
She was staring at me with the same shocked expression Lilo had on her face, but also reeling at the sight of my insides on display. And it was not just her—all of the people around us had it. They'd never seen something so horrific and they were about to see something even worse, although it was entirely likely they wouldn't live to remember it.
Mitch cried out to her from inside, also reaching out towards her, just as I was with Jumba. I could hear his pain inside of my mind. Feel how badly he needed his mother. He was screaming just as I had but no sound was coming from my mouth.
Both of us just wanted our parents but they were unreachable. It was the worst feeling I'd ever experienced. Hell would have been a kinder place.
And then I saw my father break. The orange hue reflected in his eyes began to dissolve into a vibrant, glowing green light. I saw him scream out and could easily make out what he was screaming, but there was no sound.
"NOOO!"
1559...
Alanna... Mom...
Jumba! Lilo...!
CRACK!
I kept them all in my sight as the ground suddenly opened up beneath us, looking up as I was swallowed up and they disappeared from my vision entirely. The people all crowding at once on the concrete must have exceeded the maximum weight threshold before it collapsed. I had no idea if they fell in beside me because they'd disappeared in the darkness that had enveloped my mind. I felt nothing as I fell into a void although in a way it felt familiar to me, and this time I wasn't as afraid of it. I'd already been in this void before. When I went into Limbo.
I had no idea what was going to happen to me now since my consciousness didn't exist past the Metamorphosis System.
I told them goodbye before everything went black entirely. I would never get to tell my angel about her being a boochibu to me now... it was my only true regret.
Everything else? Heh... well... it had been wonderful. I truly had been happy.
1600
Twenty four hours had finally passed. And as far as I knew then, it was the end of my story.