Are There Angels?

Chapter 2: Activation

A/N: It'll be a little while yet before I go back to Believe, but I'm going to work on this in the meantime. To answer reviews:

Anonymous but Impressed: Yes, I do prefer working on slightly A/U fics, for the reason that trying to stay within what's already been woven would irritate me very much. This story is how I wanted things to go for Angel, had she been given the fair chance every other experiment has seem to have gotten...

Wouldn't You Like To Know: Yes, that's what I thought when the idea first hit me. That's another reason why I love A/U fics, because it allows me to try out some ideas that would be impossible to write within the limitations of the universe.

We arrived home soon after the Grand Councilwoman left Earth. She had given us her permission to find my remaining cousins, and find the one true place for each of them. As I looked at 624's pod, several feelings ran through me.

I was curious about her. This was the very first female experiment I had ever seen, and I wondered how we differed, besides in powers. I wondered about her personality and behavior, among other things.

I was also a little fearful of her. We were designed for different things, and even though I was immune to her song, just thinking about what she could do to others frightened me a tiny bit.

But the one feeling that I felt the most was that of exhilaration. I was built from what Jumba had learned about the 625 experiments he had built before me. To meet the ones who inspired him to create me was really exciting me.

Still, my slight fear prevented me from activating her right away. I played around with Lilo for a little while, until Jumba brought the subject back up.

"626, have you started with the reformingk of 624?" he asked me.

"Naga," I told him, knowing that I should have started already.

"Well, what are you waitingk for? If you are not doingk it now, then she will be causingk more trouble later."

I nodded. I went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, then entered Jumba's ship and closed it behind me. I placed the glass on the floor, and dropped the pod into the glass. It started to glow, before there was a bright flash.

When the light cleared, the same pink experiment I had seen yesterday stood before me. She had long antennae that curved upwards slightly, and then back down, like hair. On her chest was a white 'V'. Other than those differences, I could have been looking at a mirror image of myself.

624 blinked a couple times, and looked around in confusion.

"Heh… ha… hi!" I greeted her.

As she continued to look around, she realized that she was trapped on the ship. So she took a breath, and began singing.

"Acoota, chi-meeto igatta no moota Nagatong nala Itume te dooka..."

As nice as that sounded, the song had a dark theme to it, and I could see why an earlier experiment would be drawn back to being evil. I took a couple steps back and chuckled, which probably convinced her that I was evil.

"Well, now that you are evil again…" she said, smirking, "you can help me find any other experiments that may have miraculously been turned back to good."

Chuckling, I responded, "Uh, I don't think so, 624. You're not turning anyone evil today."

"What? Are you disobey me? You're supposed to be evil!"

"Exactly, and that's because your song has no effect on me at all."

"Either that means you're evil…" she murmured, as I shook my head, "or you're 625. But I thought 625 was yellow…"

"He is yellow. I'm 626," I clarified.

"626? Jumba said that 625 would be his greatest and last experiment…"

"I have all the same powers that 625 has, except for the fact that he is lazy and likes to make sandwiches."

"Huh…Never expected that. But I still want to go and sing!" she cried in a singsong voice.

"No. You won't be doing that as long as I'm here to reform you."

"You, reform me?"

"Yeah, and if possible, find a way to make your power work for good."

Much to my surprise, 624 burst out into laughter.

"What?"

"What you said… hehehe… My power… hehe… for good… AHHAHA!" she laughed.

"Yeah. You would be the third experiment reformed."

"Ooooh… 3 out of 626… hehahaha!"

"Better 3 out of 626, and eliminating the chance for them to be returned to evil, then to have 625 out of 626, and then suddenly have to reform the 623 before you again, plus yourself."

624 stood up and stopped laughing, but was still wearing a smirk.

"That's why Jumba created me. To make all the experiments before me evil on the off chance that some of those fools from the Galactic Alliance managed to reform some of them, and make them soft."

"If I were you, I would be thanking the Galactic Alliance that you're even here right now. If not for my friend Lilo and myself, then this entire planet would have been destroyed. I would have been forced to leave your pod here as the planet was destroyed."

Now I had caught her attention.

"Now then… we should probably think of a name for you. I'm Stitch. We named 221 Sparky…"

"221? The electrical surge experiment? Humor me and tell me how you managed to find a good place for his power…"

"He operates a lighthouse by his own power. It's big enough so he doesn't overpower it."

"So? That means nothing for me. Nobody needs, much less wants, something that can turn others from good to evil."

"Someone," I corrected her, "not something. You're not an object; you've got your own hopes, dreams, despairs, and nightmares. And besides, you don't need to benefit people with your power. You could just benefit a few by being in their company."

She smiled at me, and I started feeling dizzy. I started arguing with myself in my head.

'Get a grip, it's just another cute girl… There are only a few thousand of those on this island alone,' one part said.

'But how many of them can you actually relate to? How many are experiments? Jumba might have created a handful, if you're lucky…' came the response from the other side.

I shook off my argument, and turned back to 624.

"So have you thought of a name?" I asked her.

"Well, Jumba usually referred to me as a siren…"

"But Siren is not a name for a good experiment. Sirens are always evil…"

"Then you come up with a better name," she challenged me.

I closed my eyes and started thinking. Very shortly, I came up with a name, but I kept thinking for another minute. I opened my eyes and gave a suggestion.

"How about Angel? Angels are supposed to sing, and look beautiful."

"Me? An Angel! I have no wings, no halo… In fact," she said, brushing her antennae with a hand, "these antennae are more like demon's horns…"

"Not every angel has to have visible wings…" I told her. "Some angels have dulled halos. All that's needed is a little polish, and it will shine brightly. Trust me, I've been there."

And I had… when I first arrived on Earth, after having met Lilo. Angel thought she was evil, she had nothing on me… I had used Lilo only to protect myself from being captured. Until I nearly lost her, all I had cared about was myself…

Yet this Angel who stood before me, blushing softly, didn't know about what I had done, so she thought herself to be evil. Compared against my beginnings, she truly was an angel.

"So… why are you so interested in finding all of Jumba's experiments? You don't seem to want them to take over the universe. If you're not after them for that, then there seems to be very little in it for you," Angel noted.

"Until very recently, I didn't know about you… any of you before me," I explained. "In a sense, we're all cousins making up one big o'hana, or family."

Angel made a face at that description.

"Cousins? Ew!" she shrieked, sticking out her tongue in disgust.

"No, not really related! We just make up a big o'hana of experiments. And o'hana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten," I clarified.

Looking out the window, I saw that it was much later than I thought. I stretched and yawned.

"Whoa… I'm beat!" I said groggily.

"What, you're getting tired already?" she mocked.

But then she yawned as well, and I grinned at her.

"Don't even…" she muttered.

"C'mon," I motioned, "beds are this way."

We crawled into separate beds, and talked for a little bit. After a little while,I shut out the lights.

"Good night, Stitch."

"Good night, Angel."