Stitch Triverse, BOOK 1: UNION

Chapter 3: K A M A K U R A

Chapter 3
K A M A K U R A

Yuna stared with a twitching eye at the sign in front of her..."Welcome to Kamakura" it said in kanji. Stitch had already told her a few seconds ago of their whereabouts. Up to this point, the two had been warped off via a series of unfortunate events that just so happened to involve Jumba's normal teleporter on Izayoi.

Now, they were in Kamakura. Though odd as it may, Yuna's Good Deed Memory couldn't pick up where they were despite knowing this...

Kamakura, or this Kamakura to clarify, was a big city. Normally it wasn't so, but in this place, it actually appeared so. Skyscrapers cut into the sunny skies like serrated blades, people bustled around this place in hoards and of course, there was many a manner of enterprise in this place.

Signs, billboards and even store displays all seemed to convey their usual product game of flashy clothing brands or names. Nike. MARVEL. Sapporo. Many a name covered this place, even the cloud and clutter of all sorts of audio. All this was mixed in with the old spiritual parks and even the calm with surfer coveted beaches in the flow.

To Stitch though, what made his face grin brighter than ever was one look at a store display nearby while Yuna was gawking at the sign still. That store wasn't the only one though. Everywhere in this city had this. The gleam of a certain blue alien's own face all over.

It was Stitch himself. In this place, he was embraced as an icon of sorts, not only him but the others from his past. Reuben. Lilo. Even Yuna herself. However, Stitch had to quit out of the greedy outlook of his name in lights and try and coax Yuna into getting a move on.

"Yuna? Tay've been staring at that sign for 5 minutes now... c'mon, we gotta get a move on..." Stitch said, hounding the hotheaded tomboy staring at the sign in this big city.

Yuna hounded back equally- "Stitch, move on where!? We're in some kinda quasi-futuristic Kamakura, what makes you think you know the way around?!"

"Well, maybe isa easier if we just hit the road and see... ih?"

Yuna wasn't particularly in good spirits, but just as she nodded and was about to agree and follow, a cough broke the city ambience that the two heard... along with a wave of other noise following. The two turned their heads to see just what was going on.

Standing before the two was a whole set of tens of other Kamakuran city folk. From kids to adults, to businessmen to beachgoers, all of them seemed to stare insanely at the two with bewildered and excited grins, scanning Yuna's wears, Stitch's ears and even the orange backpack propped onto Yuna's back with a fan's form of zealotism.

Lines like "Eep! It's them!!", "Either that's a very impressive cosplay or that's the real thing..." and "CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPHS?!" were uttered out of this as the youngster and diminutive alien looked with confusion.

Yuna didn't quite know how to react to this, as didn't Stitch... Stitch knew that he was big in this place. Yuna however, did not catch on. Yuna, being a leader of the moment, took the first step, putting on an anxious grin and waving to the masses.

"Uhh... hi?" she uttered to the crowd in front of her.

Undeniably, the entire mass of people roared in the screams that only a fanboy would make in the face of a celebrity. Though this didn't phase Yuna, she did grin somewhat unknowingly at the situation. Stitch though, decided to add to this, knowing his role in the city...

"KAMAKURA! Are tay ready to par-tay!?" he yelled. Stitch might've not known what he said at the time.

Because this rather risque cry from the Experiment seemed to cause the entirety of the mass of people to dash forward down this very street of Kamakura, about to tackle down their idols Yuna and Stitch in a fit of joy!

There was one thing Yuna and Stitch could do from this... run. And so they did after a twin set of yells escaped their mouths. The crowd chased the young karateka and her blue friend closely behind.

Yells came from the fans' mouths- "Hey, stop!", "Can't you slow down to read my fanfic, guys!?", "But I gotta have Yuna show me that kick of hers', it's AMAAAAZING!!"- all things that showed how downright insane they were. So insane it was sickening, in fact.

Yuna and Stitch ran and ran with this unfaltering crowd behind them down the many twists and turns of the city, the stores and noise flying in their trail.

"Yeah, nice going, Stitch! You and your big mouth got us into this!" Yuna barked.

Stitch aggravatingly came back at her- "Well, meega had to appeal to my public somehow!"

"Your public? What do you mean, YOUR public?!" Yuna questioned...

Although, it seemed in the midst of the chase, that question was answered by the look of a Stitch and friends advert on a billboard nearby. She shook her head, taking in the crazy Stitch-ified sights and continued, finally getting an idea.

"Stitch!" Yuna said as Stitch turned while his dash of all fours continued.

"Ih?"

"On the count of three, we take a swift right turn into that alleyway up ahead, 'kay?"

Seemed as though Yuna caught wind of a slight turn inbetween a bakery shop and a pottery that could've made good use for them to evade their fanbratty captives.

Stitch caught on rather quickly, nodding and giving a hearty "Ih!" to follow.

"One..." Yuna started, looking back at the crazed crowd coming from behind, gaining fast.

As she continued to "Two...", she skidded her foot into turning as Stitch mirrored the same movement.

"THREE!" was her final call as she and Stitch gave a leap into the alley inbetween the shops as their safeguard from this Comic-Con cornering...

To their surprise, the plan worked perfectly. The crowd blazed ahead, still thinking that Yuna and Stitch had ran ahead towards the Kamakuran beach coasts up ahead.

Without a sweat, the two veered out of the alley, heads at a tilt to see the crowd all clamor ahead.

"Where'd they go!?", "I swear I saw them heading to the beach!", "Maybe Stitch can surf for me!" were all lines yelled by the bratty fans as they marched ahead, not noticing Yuna and Stitch breaking free of their chase.

Yuna spoke up after that mess- "Man, what was that all about?"

Stitch piped up alike Yuna did. "Ih... meega like the attention, but this isa a little... too much. That was like Hall H on a good day..."

"And did that one person say something about a "fanfic"? Uhh... in what world'd this end up normal?" Yuna continued, a little weirded out about the idea of their adventures being like candy to these city folk.

Yet seemed as though their clamor hadn't ended there. A shadow was cast by a being at the front of the alley they had hidden on, something that caused the two's heads to turn and shout.

"Who's there?!"

"Gaba ika tasoopa!?"

Yuna and Stitch shouted in their different dialects, Yuna with an added karate kata to try and fend off whatever stood at their hideaway of the moment, her palm raised with a firm glare.

The shadow, however... was caused by something peculiar.

Standing before the two was something that they thought they would never see in a million years- another Experiment 626. While this one was darker of color and a little scruffy, it was in fact...

"Stitch!? Huh!?" Yuna and Stitch yelled, looking at one another in sheer amazement of the happening. Another 626? That couldn't be right...

This Stitch though, seemed scared from the yelling that spouted forward and backed against the wall.

"Ah... soka, meega... didn't mean to scare tay..." this dark-blue Stitch rattled.

"No way... Stitch, were you always like that before? So... docile?" Yuna asked.

Yuna's own Stitch shook his head. "Naga, meega was naga a coward... or shy, naga my wave there. C'mon, tay should know that from heart, Yuna!" he quipped.

"Well, I knew that, it's just... weird to see that be a thing," she followed.

Then, a boy's voice cut in.

"Man, I lost him! I didn't wanna lose him the--"

A voice interrupted as the footsteps of a teenage boy, a slacker sort who looked rather savvy with the city walked towards Stitch, picking him up at the edge of the alley.

"Stitch, there you are... dude, don't run off without me like that, you worried me sick almost!" he coaxed to his own 626 in his arms, holding him like that of a homemade plush toy.

However, upon a single dart of his eyes through his orange glasses up, he met with one of the greatest surprises he had ever seen in his 13-year-old life...

"...You're... no way, NO! YOU'RE YUNA AND STITCH!? Like... THE Yuna and Stitch!!" the boy shouted in his excitement.

Yuna spoke up first- "Hold on, hold on... if you're like any of those fanboy freakshows out there, I'm clocking your lights out!"

She seemed about to take a kata and a yell that showed her aggressive karate side.

The teenage boy yelped with cowardice- "NO! NO! Don't hurt me, please... I... I'm just a really big fan of you guys... that's all. I don't take it to that extreme... okay, maybe I do, but PLEASE!"

Yuna stopped, looking him in the eyes. "You... must not be like those other guys then?"

The boy looked up, giving a cool nod and a smile. "Nah, nah, that's not my style. Truth is, I just love you and your adventures. And Stitch too, he's one of my "idols" in life!"

Yuna's own 626 piped up after that- "But what about tay's copy of meega," a jerk of Kyo's head down to his own alien coming back up.

"He's... well, a recent addition to our "ohana". You know that word, yeah?"

The word "ohana" got immediate approval by Yuna and Stitch, the two nodding.

"Yeah, 'course we do! That's all Stitch's doing there!" Yuna said, walking forward.

"If you know us, then what's your name?"

He stated, sighing in a peaceful manner- "Kyozuki Yamada. You can call me Kyo though, dude... and dudette," he chuckled after the latter.

Kyozuki had been through a bit since our last check up on him. After a downright heck of a time trying to tame his Stitch, he succeeded. Now, Kyo takes his Stitch out into the city under the "disguise" of a Stitch plush toy, considering the Stitch-crazed Kamakura vista.

His own Stitch though, feral and cranky back when, had changed to be a shy yet kindred spirit, with a slight bit of feral attitude peaking in when need be. In short, the two had started on their merry "ohana" well... or so we'd think.

Yuna bowed, giving her name- "You probably already know this, but I'm Yuna... karate champion, tomboy and a bit of a softie at times."

She gave a laugh after, continuing- "Nice to meet you!"

Stitch, giving a clear "ahem" as day, tried bowing to introduce himself, but fell flat on his head, doing a handstand of sorts. Truth is, he never quite got used to bowing, even with Yuna's teachings.

Chuckling at his failure, he started "And meega's Stitch... ooh, best one yet, meega think," landing on his feet afterwards.

Kyo chuckled at the two. "Well, I'm thrilled to finally meet you two... I was just heading back from a grocery run for my Uncle, why are you two stuck here in a trash-covered alley?" Kyo said.

Yuna looked up, looking rather disappointingly at him- "Well, truth be told, this is the only place where we can hide without those dirty fans trying to get us..."

"You mean to tell me you guys have no place to stay?" Yuna shook her head "no" at Kyo's comment, sighing.

Kyo smiled and offered "Hey, chin up, dudette... why don't I sneak you over to my place? You two can stay there for as long as you're here, free of charge!"

Yuna beamed- "Really? You sure you wanna have me and Stitch stay there, I mean, we don't wanna impose any!"

Kyo nodded and waved, as his Stitch grumbled in his arm- "Who's imposing, guys? It's just me, my Stitch and my Uncle there, nobody else. And my Uncle'll probably dig y'all being around too! Come along... I know a shortcut from the alleys to my house..."

Stitch nodded and grinned mischievously at this opportunity, walking ahead down the alley following Kyozuki and his Stitch's direction through the dank passage.

Yuna though, more cautiously spoke up- "But wait, where's your house, Kyo?"

Kyo looked back and said "Just down near the beach. I know you're a little wary because of all those fanboy dudes that may have given you a run for your money, but trust me... I know the way and none of them involve going back into the streets," adding a smile as he walked.

Yuna didn't have any further objections. Someone new just walked in and gave them a place to stay after her mess of bringing herself and Stitch here. And from the looks of it, someone with the same understanding of "ohana" as her. She smiled and ran forward, joining the gang as they walked.

"Well then, haisai, let's go!" she cheerfully remarked with a usual catchphrase involving a common Okinawan phrase, before looking up to Kyo.

She then said- "Kyo... thanks. You really helped us out here, you know?" as she gave a smile, him returning the favor.

"Man, to think that some hubbub about Yuna and Stitch being in town actually led me to the actual shreddin' thing!" Kyo laughed.

However, his curiosity got the better with one final question on their march back to Kyo's Uncle's house on the reach of Kamakura- "Hey though... just where did you two come riding in from?"

Yuna chuckled and left it with a simple answer- "Long story, Kyo... we'll tell ya later, 'kay?"

So, it appeared that while Kamakura wasn't quite safe for them as of yet, Yuna and Stitch found some new friends in Kyo and his very own Stitch too, and not only that, but refuge too. If "ohana" included people from another place (and it should), this means that Yuna's own "ohana" grew with these two bonding.

The teen and the tomboy continued on their merry way, their aliens at their sides... Although, the real question was what in the world was going on back at home on Izayoi?

♦ ♦ ♦

While certain people were getting acquainted over in Kamakura, there appeared to be another case of this on Izayoi Island elsewhere. After the rocky event that welcomed three new islanders in seemed... well, overblown in a word, things had been relatively peaceful since, the new people moving in without a hitch.

One of such people was Jessica. Being the richest of most students of Okinawa New Town's class, she moved here equally. As it turns out, one of the reasons her father moved them here in the first place was in part due to Penny's Dad, the Mayor of Chitama Town and operator of several pineapple facilities. Knowing this, Jessica's family, the Ninkis, moved into a manor nearby that of the Painapps or Penny's family.

Since it was a day after, Jessica was wandering around Izayoi trying to figure out what there even was to do on such a boring yet clashing and coincidentally beautiful island. Jessica sighed. "You know, this place could use a little more than just historic landmarks or palm trees to really get go--"

She was interrupted by someone bumping into her, someone rather... diminutive. One could tell from her squawky voice who it was. Then again, anyone would've been able to tell.

"Watch where you're walking there, missy! If I catch you walking like that again, I'll have you made into pineapple jam and--!!"

Turns out it was Penny, running her mouth of again until she realized just who it was standing in front of her.

"Umm... pardon me?" Jessica said, her maribelle tone coming around.

Penny gasped and bowed- "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run my mouth off in front of you... you're that new girl, Jessica, right? The one my Daddy gave the manor next door to?"

Jessica seemed far too bewildered to make a response, and nodded.

Penny, flicking her gorgeous blonde hair around, looked up at her.

"Well, I suppose I should introduce myself to you then... my name's Penny of the rich family Painapp! Also known as richest girl of the island and "princess of pink". Some people tend to look at me as a primadonna of the island" Penny said, finishing off with an attractive grin only accented by the lipstick on her person.

Jessica seemed quite similar in the sense that her and Penny seemed very much alike.

With a flick of a wrist through her luxurious caramel hair, she started- "Well, my name is Jessica, last name Ninki. Most popular of class back in New Town and new here on this island because... well... my daddy wanted to. I begged and pleaded him not to though!" she said, her beautiful speech turning more into a sob story later on.

Penny looked on with a simply sneery chuckle. "Hah! I guess that's why you reminded me of someone... Me. Anyways, the way you were wandering around the island seemed to catch my eye..."

Jessica perked her head at this. "Oh? Do go on then, Penny..." she insisted.

"Well, ever since you came to this island, I couldn't help but notice you'd fit in like a glove in our little group. You see, I often travel in a clique with my brother and his bozo friends and I figured, what's one more person to add to our quad set here? We could make it a... uhh... quint set, quin... whatever, there'd be five of us, got it?" Penny made her claim known to the world and this was fact.

Penny always bossed around her brother Kenny and his own friends Taka and Masa. They had a clique going on, with the three boys often being used to further help Penny's goals... no matter how fiendish or greedy they were to others, even themselves.

Jessica gave a simple smile, or at least a simple one that a bully girl could have at this moment.

"Well, I admire the offer and I'll graciously accept. Considering we're next door neighbors now? This'd make things a cinch between the both of us and also give me a set of friends to call my own."

You could tell how interested she was in taking people a step down below her.

"Perfect then!" Penny said, shaking hands with Jessica.

"Welcome! Oh and don't worry... you won't get the bossing end of the stick with me. I only reserve that for my big brother."

Penny then brought up another curious question. "By the way, just off the top of my head, have you ever seen this girl around the island... tan skin, big head, wears lousy clothes, has hair that looks like someone stacked pineapples into her hair... badly?"

Jessica merely shook her head at this without a word. It was obvious who this was pointing to out of the islanders.

This seemed to please Penny, as she grinned with dastardly intent.

"Good, good... I'll tell you about her later. Now, why don't you come along? I was actually heading somewhere to relax today and I want you to join me," Penny said, waving her new friend Jessica forward down the isle's dirt trail.

Jessica looked curiously- "Uhh... where to, Penny? You certainly know this island better than me."

Penny, giving a smirk, looks back to Jessica and her rather curious expression.

"Well, Jessica, since you're friends with me, you're gonna be be getting in on some VIP stuff, courtesy of yours truly. Now, where was I going? Well, I was gonna head down to the Izayoi Grand Hotel and relax in the pool there... solo," she stopped a moment, smirking to the taller girl.

"Then you came along and now we can both go pool lounging! My Daddy owns the place, so he can let us use for our own use, no matter who's there. He can just kick them out, if anyone! Not to mention, you're next door to us with your rich father, so... this'll make ends meet here!" Penny said, finishing her explanation with a sneaky laugh.

Jessica couldn't help but feel honored. The use of a pool? Without any people around thanks to Penny? She couldn't help but smirk a smile unlike any other.

"Alright then, Penny, you've got yourself a deal! Let's stop by our manors and then you lead the way. After all, I'm no rolling stone!" Jessica ended off with a laugh...

...Only to have a tumbleweed fumble right by the two debutantes. Penny looked unenthusiastic about Jessica's pun as the started walking back to their manors.

"Really? Okay, if you're gonna be hanging around us, we gotta make that pun thing going, going, gone..." Penny uttered.

Jessica looked away and said "Well, it was funnier in my head..." as the two girls walked.

From this meeting, the two bully girls seemed to make a bigger alliance than ever before. What would Kenny and the others think? We'll leave that up in the air...

However, this wasn't the only happening on the island. Aside from the bullies' doings, the pitter patter of shoes came about as Sae ran ahead, looking rather distressed down a path near and dear to Chitama Town nearby. She skidded to a stop after, seeing someone ahead- Taro.

"Sae? Geez, you're in a rush... What's wrong?" Taro asked the young fashionista of a girl.

Out of breath and brushing the dust that coveted her outfit, Sasha started- "Taro, have you seen Yuna anywhere? I went... I went by her house earlier and the place was bare... Haven't seen Obaa around town either, so I couldn't ask her... Oh my gosh, next time I should leave the running to her... Ah..."

Upon hearing this news, Taro merely shook his head. "No, I didn't... I thought she was going to the Aguni Island though?"

Sae thought to herself again- "I thought so too, but... but..." starting to get worried for her.

Taro, usually the worrisome one in this case, decided to step up. "Sasha, c'mon... you're saying this as if she vanished off the island without a trace... give it a bit of time, she'll be okay... she always does, yeah?"

Sae nodded, giving a sigh to calm herself. "...You're right, Taro. Sorry, I... I'm just worried should something happen to her. Ichariba Chodei, right?"

"Hey, I am too, but we shouldn't be worrywarts. Yuna taught me that a while ago... even if I do end up feeding that habit sometimes, but still! If my sensei taught me it, it's bound to be right... Now, why don't we go check up with the newbies, Yoko and Jenna?" Taro explained.

Sae walked off with a nod, a bit of her glee returning to her- "Right, hopefully their first night went well."

Taro though, looked off seeing the sun touch the waters afar leading to other islands. This daze of his had him thinking of someone close to him. "I... I wonder if she's... OK..." he thought to himself, blushing.

Sae called from afar again- "Hey, Taro! C'mon, you gave me the idea! Aren't you coming?"

Taro broke out of his blushing stupor and ran forward. "Uhh--!! COMING!!" he yelled, now properly walking, or in his case, running- down one of the trails on the island to Chitama Town.

While they hadn't a clue what Yuna was up to or where she was, one has to wonder just whom was Taro thinking of for that one distinct moment?

♦ ♦ ♦

Meanwhile, our group of Stitches and humans had made it to Kyozuki's home. Located down nearby the beach area of Kamakura, it was on a hillside of a road. A wood exterior helped make it stand out among the other houses on the street. Nobody had spotted the four on their way back through the back door of the place, but it was the inside that counted.

Inside, it was nice and lavish for a small Kamakuran home, especially one not expensive in any grade, coming in with most of the basics. Uncle Haka wasn't home from his assume-to-be job yet, so Yuna, Kyo and the others had snuck in with relative ease. Yuna also seemed to ask about why Kyo only lived with his Uncle, but it seemed as though the teen didn't seem ready to answer that just yet. Keyword- just yet.

Kyo's room was a very unique sort. While it contained much the same wooden look as the rest of the house, his room had posters of musicians one would've probably never heard of on his wall, in addition to a poster of Lilo, Yuna, Stitch and several other characters on his wall, much akin to his Stitch obsession before... well, getting his own 626. He also had a prodigious computer nearby, with a homemade hanger on the wall for his Sony headphones he always kept on his person, bar whenever surfing. There was also his pride and joy, his Stitch blue surfboard, hanging up against the wall near the door, an ease of convenience.

"So!" Kyo said, looking at the pair of Yuna and the Izayoi Islander Stitch standing quite uniquely.

"You wanna stand out in Kamakura, don't you? Without being seen by the dudes and dudettes that stroll the city wake?"

Yuna nodded with ease- "Yep! Tell me your ways, oh wise surfing maestro of the city!" her own Stitch mimicking her nod with one similar.

With Kyo's Stitch sitting nearby on the bed nearby, the group was planning a new look for Yuna, because as it stood, if they were spotted looking natural as they were, they'd be mauled by wild Kamakuran Stitch fans. Kyo pointed at his closet against the wall.

"Well, lemme help. In this closet, I've tons of clothes I had left from years ago in my dude-hood."

Yuna looked in confusion at Kyo's term of "dude-hood". "Dude-hood? You don't mean childhood, do ya?" she snickered afterwards.

"Well, I had to scrounge up some kinda colorful term to use, didn't I, dudette?" Kyo said dryly.

Yuna opened the closet doors only to look around in the pile of left clothes. While they were boys' clothes, as a tomboy, she could have cared less about what she wore. Heck, most of what she wore was breaking away from her gender in a way.

The pile housed many wears, shirts with fire designs, Disney-laden clothes, even the occasional "Hidden Mickey", but she picked up a few odd ones and took her backpack in hand as she did.

"Alright, I think I've got what I need, gimme a sec..." Yuna said, as she closed the door.

After a moment of Kyo whistling some techno beat he had in his headphones over his ears, Yuna stepped out to the three in Kyo's room... and all that was heard was snickering.

"Yuna, I... I don't think Kamakurans dress like that..." Kyo muttered, holding back his laughter...

Yuna stood dressed in an odd choice of clothes. First off, a tiedye shirt that mixed the colors of pinks, yellow and blues garnished her top. A pair of plain blue shorts also were among, alongside a pair of magenta sandals. She also seemed to wear her swimsuit underneath of her clothes, as her usual red and yellow bikini top's bow was seen hanging and tied around her neck.

The coup de grace of this attire though was a cap that stood atop her head, striped and blue, with bubbles adorning the design. However, her hair still stood out clear as day, the pigtails people would've been able to tell a mile away.

Yuna looked in odd way at the others, at their snickering- "What's so funny? I thought Kamakurans wear stuff like this!"

Kyo and the Stitches burst into laughter afterwards, they couldn't hold it back anymore. "Haha, Yuna looks like a hippie! Naga takabah!" Stitch cackled loudly.

Yuna instantly jolted up by this- "W-- What!? Whaddaya mean I--?" as she caught herself in Kyo's mirror nearby his computer table.

Looking at her, she started snickering too. "Okay, I see where you're coming from... Mmhmhm!" she managed out of her comedic fit.

Kyo stopped his laughing at Yuna's expense for a moment, walking near her. From this, you could tell how tall Yuna was compared to the teen Kyo, as she reached up past his shoulders.

"Well, the clothes you got... the swimsuit's a bit much, but that's your one and only set of beachwear if my years of watching your adventures isn't off," Kyo stated.

Yuna looked at him after that- "Uhh... yeah, my Gram's not really a quantity worker, you know? More a quality one!"

"Guess we could just say that's a reproduction of your usual swim things someone made for you, but then again, we may not even need to do that... Anyways, right, the tiedye shirt and the shorts... they're good. Sandals? Perfect too, dudette! Now..." Kyo's eyes scanned up and down Yuna's person of what she was wearing, thinking.

Immediately his hands went right to Yuna's pigtails.

Grabbing them, Yuna already gave disapproval, a bit of a fuss following- "Hey, hey! What's the big idea messing with my hair, Kyo!?"

"Gimme a sec, Yuna..." Kyo said as he managed to shutter the tails down into a collective set below her head, brushing them into place with her hands as Kyo let go.

"Okay, what'd you do, Kyo?" Yuna demanded, as Kyo merely pointed to the mirror again.

Yuna looked on, noticing her pigtails were behind her head as opposed to up, the bubbly hat of hers propping them down proper. She then smiled and gave a nod, as she liked the handiwork Kyo managed to do with them.

"Huh... Spiffy, Kyozuki! Back tails over front tails! I like!" she stated with a grin. While the final look didn't change much in the clothing angle, it did give her a slight modification to her hairstyle not so easily read by other Kamakurans.

"So, guess you've got your wears... Stitch, what about you? You gonna get disguised up as a dude? Considering you had one back in Hawaiian days, it might be no surprise here..." Kyo asked. The Izayoi Island version of Stitch, getting up, began to put on things lying around.

First off, a tuque that had a striped red and black design on it. He followed that with a leather jacket that seemed far too small for Yuna or Kyo to wear, but small enough for him to wear along with a yellow T-shirt.

Then, he put on a set of beige shorts below his lower half, covered already by his usual orange and hibiscus peach swimtrunks he had snuck on, a staple Sae actually found for him back on the island that Yuna always packed with him in mind, among other things in her backpack.

Once everything came together, Stitch looked like some punk musician that came in off the streets. One that screamed "heavy rock".

Yuna and Kyo both looked on with a smile, Yuna giving a whistle at how impressive the getup was.

"Gotta say, Stitch here knows his disguise game..." Kyo muttered, with a nod from Yuna to agree.

Meanwhile, Kyo's Stitch looked at him, tilting his head. "Meega use clothes?" he asked.

Kyo shook his head- "No, no, no- Yuna's Stitch is more the type to don threads, not you dude. In fact, last time I did- you clawed 'em up. That said, you're always gonna be au naturale... if that makes sense!"

"Now, with both your disguises set... you guys need names. Like... Kamakuran names, man. Any ideas?" Kyo asked the two in front of him, his Stitch still sitting on his bed a bit away.

Yuna thought for a moment- "Hmm... how 'bout Flo? That sounds Kamakuran, don't it?"

Kyo beamed at the name with but a mellow grin as he began to compare- "Flo? Hmm... Kyo... Flo. Kyo... Flo. A solid name! Good choice then, Yuna!"

Yuna had to think, as Flo, she could've been a lot more in-your-face with the style of the city... that is if she already wasn't in-your-face to begin with due to her tomboy's attitude.

Kyo continued- "How's about you, Stitch? Or rather... her Stitch?"

Stitch had to think a bit before landing a name that suited someone like... well, Stitch.

He then got it- "Okitaka, okitaka! How 'bout Joker? Fits meega, ih?"

Joker. The name hit Yuna and Kyozuki's heads and clicked, it fit the Experiment's sensationally well known mischief-making habits.

Yuna snapped her fingers and said "Great then! From here on in, we are Flo and Joker!" giving a positive nod after.

Kyo then smirked- "Alrighty then! From now on, those are your threads to keep, dude and dudette. Take good care of 'em!"

Yuna replied with a grin- "Wow, really? I get to keep the bubble hat too? Sweet!"

At the same time, Stitch was amped from the news. "Meega getting my own leather!? Oh beautifa, ring meega up with that!"

Their happiness was cut down though. While they had the glee from Kyo's contribution to their ongoing wardrobes done, a loud screech seemed to cut into the room, affecting all sorts of technology around the house, not just in Kyo's room. The screens on televisions, microwaves, coffee pots and even Kyo's own Disney Mobile phone seemed to flicker and phase by this almost foreign screech.

Everyone had to cover their ears from how deafening the noise was and even more, it wasn't just affecting Kyo's- oh no... it was affecting the entire city of Kamakura.

"Man... spoke too soon about being "sweet"! What the heck's that noise!?" Yuna shouted over the static noise that was being echoed.

Kyo followed up on that as the Stitches pulled their ears around themselves to try and cut that noise out- "I don't know, but this definitely isn't anything I vetoed to listen to!"

Looking at Kyo's phone (as it was the among the Earth devices affected by this purge), the group looked to see a slender yet completely jilted figure with a large spire-like head appear to the fuzzy screen while the noise finally cut down, the small noise of TV static still remaining. This disfigured figure went on...

"Greetings citizens of your fellow Earth city... Something we've been keeping a fellow eye on has crashlanded into your area. A certain Experiment 626. Now what I ask is simple... I ask for you to deliver this genetic "mad scientist" abomination to me when we land prior to this. Forfeit this creature... and your precious planet will be spared. If you do not... then we will come and we will destroy each and every square inch of your area. You don't know what power we have to do this... but just remember and lest you never forget... we'll be watching you..."

After that, the entirety of Earth's devices and the noise seemed to quell back to the usual surroundings, even that of the Kamakuran city outside. The gang stood baffled as to what might have just happened.

"Did... whoever that was just ask for Stitch?" Kyo said, his tone mixed up.

Yuna nodded with a simple "Uh-huh", as she was just as confused.

Kyo's Stitch growled, as if he had seen that being before... but alas, what with crashlanding on Earth, his memory was still a little shaky.

"Okay, okay, y'all calm down... that may've just been some on-air prankster trying to fool us all. Or maybe it's aliens Stitch knows, but for now, that loud racket is over with..." Kyo said, trying to at least quell the situation.

"For how long though is the question..." Yuna asked, gripping one her hands into a fist, maintaining her tough attitude.

Luckily, there was something to deride the thought of an evildoer lurking someplace and somewhere.

Afar, the sound of a door opened up near the front of the house, with a familiar voice calling to Kyo- "Hey Kyo! I'm home! You around the house, dude?"

This sparked a panic with the teenager, him dashing in place- "AHH! Uhh, yeah, Uncle Haka, I'm home, but uhh, can you give me a sec!?" His panic also motioned for Yuna and Stitch to move too, as they started up in a similar panic.

The character only wittily chimed back- "Okay, a sec, now here I come...", he chuckled.

An olden figure wearing a muscle shirt, a straw hat and a pair of blue shorts looked into the room to see an awkward sight. Both Stitches were pushing at Kyo's legs. Yuna's sandal covered foot was being held onto by Kyo, dragging her leg with it. It looked as though Kyozuki was going to try and cram Yuna under the bed in a hiding attempt.

And Kyo had only one thing to say about the situation- "Uhh, hey there, Uncle... how's it hanging?"

Uncle Haka looked on with a small pint of oddity. Until his usual grin took over.

"Kyozuki, you didn't tell me we had company over!" Uncle said as he chuckled.

"Especially famous company! I see twin sets of your idol Experiment 626! Oh yeah and his friend Yuna too, right?"

The team could not believe it. The eldest called Yuna and Stitch out easily, as all stared speechless.

"Uhh... how did you know it was us so easily? Are our disguises that easy to read?" Yuna piped up.

Haka shook his head again. "Oh, no, no, dear! Your outfits are top notch, Kyo definitely pitched in his five cents! It's just that... well... an Uncle knows these things! Anyways, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want! I can go set up an extra bed for you guys in Kyo's. Easy since we have the mattresses!"

Haka walked off down into the kitchen area, as the group stood.

"Guess isa... what Kyo calls "easy breezy", ih?" Kyo's Stitch piped up. With that, the group all nodded.

"An Uncle knows these things... he always says that..." Kyo said, still baffled by Haka's intuition.

As it seemed, Yuna was allowed to just be herself around the house, her own clothes and look and everything! Outside though, she and Stitch were to be known as Flo and Joker. A good plan, but just how was the parlor trick going to work out in Kamakura, one would ask? Time will tell...

♦ ♦ ♦

What time didn't tell was that elsewhere in Kamakura, the city's busy lights and sights seemed to foretell another coming in out of the blue. It was just after the harbor's usual flash-mob, a thing that wasn't particularly supported by a detective of the law in the city. But that's another story for a little later. For now, the rooftops of the city's skyscrapers housed an occurrence.

The top of a building lodged in the dock's area soon had its peace and quiet challenged.

A portal almost like a hole in space itself began to open up, as two very well-known figures stepped out, it dissipating behind them. Ones we would know well. The Astral Jumpers, Yai and Kyohaku Stitch. On the bright side, this time Yai wasn't punch-drunk on Xilxia, but with her very off beat mind, anything would've set her off...

"Well, well... seems like we've hit an Earth city this time..." Yai said with a dry tone.

Kyohaku Stitch seemed to mutter after- "It was your idea, princess... naga remember? Tay said Kamakura, meega took us..."

Yai looked back with a simple glare, not only caused by Kyohaku's mention of the nickname she hated so much, but by his very tone for that moment. "Well, I didn't ask to come here... even if I was inebriated at the time."

Yai stared out at how the lights touched the ocean water near the harbor. Her golden eyes seemed reminded of something of a memory, and with her and Kyohaku's praddling on, not just now, but also alot of the other times they travelled together seemed to harken one of the oddest things to recall. We were about to learn something out of this mysterious girl from the looks of her.

"Kyohaku? ...Do you remember the first time we met? I personally don't wish to remember it, but... you probably know why," Yai said, closing her eyes, holding back something that seemed to give the young flaxen girl's mind a fair amount of painful recollection.

Kyohaku Stitch nodded. "Ih, but why bringing that up? Meega thought tay naga wanted to revisit that?" he asked.

Yai looked away at the lights painting the Kamakuran sea its many colors and started coldly- "I don't and I really have no reason... But how could I forget?"

With that, Yaiko closed her eyes...

♦ ♦ ♦

Colony A-113. Back when, it was a project ran by the Galactic Federation to try and uphold and maintain life over planet Opion in the Auros system without use of segregation or division. People could live in peace in these colonies.

The colony, a cylinder-like craft contained matters of nature and several housing quarters for the many people aboard. There were even shops and a school for the younger children. The creation of technology known as Cosmos Cards also helped advance these planned colonies further.

Yaiko lived peacefully there with parents that were vaguely in her memory. Although she was lonely at the time, she was a much different girl compared to present day. She wasn't a sought after criminal. At 5-years-old, she was a girl who bluntly knew her place yet played her cards soundly. Her hair wasn't solidly locked into long yet thick ponytails.

Back in those days, that freckled face of hers stared at the world a different way, her flaxen hair let free upon her person. And yes, that speck of hair was still there too. She housed many a crush towards a certain boy named Klaus and while not many liked her company due to how crabby she got, she did enjoy living on the colony...

That was until the one day A-113 was threatened. The day that the Leroys attacked. As it may be no doubt aware, Leroys, known as a doppelganger of Experiment 626 created to never be persuaded to good via a forced hand, were extinguished in a big fray involving Experiment kind on Hawaii... or so we had assumed.

On that day, everything had changed. The once peaceful communes of the colony soon met themselves with hell awakened. Fires ravaged as these red beasts flew from right to left, led by a much more powerful source. Whom though remained to be seen.

Yaiko, dressed in a white yet well-kept dress, ran and ran through the madness. The blaze and the chaos abound scared her to tears. She'd lived in peace up this point and there was no way out of the fires. However, her luck wasn't in her favor that day...

Her golden eyes met face to face with a Leroy staring her down savagely while the fires and devastation occurred. While she remained frozen as its multi-armed guise approached, she realized she had to run. Yai dashed, but she didn't get far as she tripped off of a rock nearby, leaving an extremely frightened girl in the hands of a red abomination. He raised his claws as the young girl had nowhere to run to, no time to get up to try and evade her fate. Yaiko screamed the loudest she ever could in her life. And all that was heard was the sound of what sounded like something cleaving flesh...

Minutes passed after and the devastation around the quite futuristic colony got progressively worse due to the Leroy scourge. But even moreso was Yai.

On her right shoulder was a large collective wash of red. She wished she could have yelled, but with the blood on her back welling out, she wasn't able. She felt defeated as the pain seared, tears at her eyes as the pain didn't let up. It was like she was going to bleed out here on this day with no one around to help her...

However, while she wasn't lucky enough to have that gash on her back averted, she was lucky enough to have help. An older boy with set of yellow spiky hair ran up to Yai, his hair caught in a headband with a lightning design. He wore a white set of shorts and a shirt that bore a gradient from black to white below. Yai only knew this as one boy she knew and loved- Klaus.

"Yai! Oh God... you're bleeding out!!" Klaus said with a state of shock.

Yai mustered a few words in her weak state- "Just... leave me, Klaus. If I have to die like this... I will..."

Young Yaiko seemed about ready to give up. Klaus though, wasn't going to have that, as he ran off into a shop and carried out some medical gauze. It would've been classed as stealing if not for the current chaos that was happening aboard A-113.

Knowing time was of the essence, Klaus picked the pale girl up and wrapped the gauze around the big X-shaped and bloodied mark on her back, fitting it securely around as he carried her body forth towards a section of escape pods that were laden near the end of the community.

Yai coughed- "Klaus... I thought I said to--", her voice interrupting by a fit of more coughing.

Klaus spoke up with a reassuring smile- "Don't worry about it, Yaiko... you're safe now..."

Yai again, tried to talk. "You don't need to save me at all... Why are you doing this instead of saving yourself, Klaus?"

Klaus looked convincingly at Yai.

"Because you're the most important thing on this colony. And you need to be saved. I'm... sorry," he hesitated.

Yai asked- "Why are you sorry," the pain on her back still not letting up.

Klaus then did something rather unexpected. He headbutted the young girl, knocking her out unconscious so she couldn't say a word or object any further. Her head drooped down as Klaus decided to carry her to the only working escape pod left in the colony that wasn't effectively damaged by the Leroy swarm as it stood nearby.

Setting her in and closing the pod's flap of a door, as well as programming the co-ordinates, he stood back, standing with a solemn smile.

The pod quickly burst off into the synthetic skies above, carrying Yai away from the rising hellfire that became A-113. Klaus muttered something in his salute as he ran off, his duties done in saving the one person that mattered.

"Long Live the ....."

Where was the pod headed? It was programmed for a desolate section of Opion... the Akostas Junkyard.

And then, as the pod escaped into the space surrounding Opion's atmosphere.. silence fell across the colony. And all that was left was a catastrophic supernova.

♦ ♦ ♦

Hours had passed beyond that nightmare and Yai was finally waking up, realizing the surroundings of a pod around her.

User-friendly controls and touchpads seemed to pop up along with a window on the cockpit that said "Warning! Front lobe has crashed! Please check your UGF Manual in order to proceed!"

The furious pain on her back hadn't let up, but one of her hands touched back to feel that her injury had been covered up by layers of gauze.

Realizing that Klaus actually did the deed, she blushed a bit before stepping out of the craft, albeit slowly as to not agitate her X-shaped wound on her back. Her white dress seemed stained with the color of red from the assault on A-113.

She looked to find a junkyard around full of spacecraft parts and other intergalactic paraphernalia, recalling this as the planet Opion, or rather a reclusive section of the planet to clarify.

More curious than that, however, was also a figure standing out in the distance, looking to have guarded the pod. A diminutive alien figure with a spiky hairdo and a misleading UGF uniform on his person. However, he was not so, as he was something called a Variated Experiment, a modified doppel of a heroic Experiment, albeit different. There was a story behind these Experiments, but now isn't the time to tell them.

He spoke up. "Tay's finally awake, princess... enjoy your nap?" he said with smug detail.

Yai looked on, still naively confused by the whole thing. "Who... are you?" she asked.

"Kyohaku Stitch... meega's a bounty hunter. That's all tay need to know. And all tay naga need to know is behind you..."

He hinted not to look behind Yaiko... but being rather curious, she looked behind only to find something that smashed her heart to pieces in the skies above.

Right at the orbit of Opion and at the corner of her eyes, burst aflame into pieces was her home. Colony A-113. Everyone she knew, everyone she loved or cared for was in there. And now, nothing could've been done to save them.

What happened was the Leroys that attacked the place not only devastated everything in their way, but destroyed the plasmatroid battery that powered the station's core. With that gone, it triggered a supernova that completely eradicated everything.

Yai stood speechless, her emotions hit a peak. She felt as horrified and destroyed as the colony she had called home now as. Tears started to roll down the girl's face. And there was only one thing she called out to the heavens above.

"NO!! My-- my home, I-- I gotta go back up there, my life was up there!! No, no... " she burst, her tears pouring out of her very being.

She tripped on junk and fell to her knees, the sadness hitting the girl as hard as ever. All she could do now was sit and weep her losses. The tears fell out in memorial for what she held dear- her friends, her family and even Klaus, all gone in a single super-heated explosion caused by a swarm of red abominations.

All she could really mutter was the repeated word of "no" in her tears for A-113... if not for the fact that Kyohaku was still there.

"Aww, boo-hoo... tay's home is long gone now. Been like that plasma mess for a good hour or two," Kyohaku stated coldly to the girl.

She looked up, giving just as equal an expression. "You say that as if it meant nothing to me. THAT COLONY WAS MY LIFE!! AND NOW IT'S UP IN FLAMES!! And you have the audacity to say... "BOO-HOO"!? How dare you!!" she snapped angrily.

Obviously her sadness hadn't passed, but she was ready to fight this Kyohaku character just for the sheer fact he was being such a heartless person.

Kyohaku Stitch merely smirked at her flash of anger and was about to walk off.

Yai sounded desperate- "Wait, where-- where are you going!?"

"Elsewhere. Meega got bigger fish to fry..."

"You can't just leave me here! I've got nowhere to go and I'm an orphan now, I can't be shoved aside and left behind like this!!"

Kyohaku took one look at Yai yelling these words. The girl was scared. Hurt. Alone. Now even more than ever now that A-113 had been destroyed.

"...And why should tay come with me? Meega naga want tay holding me back, how 'bout that?!" Kyohaku's tone seemed clear.

"I can help... I don't care in what way possible, I can help you..."

Yaiko made it quite clear. As she had no place to call home and nothing in her heart to care for now, she had to fill that void.

Kyohaku merely chipped back at the girl- "Ask tay... what would tay do to help me? And who left you like this, hmm?"

It was at that moment something snapped in the young girl. That look of wonder in her eyes was gone now. It was as if she grew up in seconds.

A cold look of anger on her face recalled just who left them behind as the Leroys attacked the place, who left everyone in the dark...

"Galactic Federation..."

She marched off through the junkyard, affirming this dark change to her heart. She picked up a twin set of hair cuffs, red and yellow in color and locked them around her hair, messing it up into what could be considered twin and bulky ponytails.

She tinkered around with junk at the colony for a moment. Picking up a piece of a crown and what looked like part of a Cosmos Card reader for a spacecraft, she fashioned wires and a mechanical setup rather quickly into one whole piece and also applied other attributes to make it useful in the elements. How a young 5-year-old human's mind could work so fast was unbelievable.

Then at that moment, she laid five crystals in the device. It booted up, as her anger began to build up.

That name that echoed in her head. "Galactic Federation... they left us there to die. They didn't do anything about the Leroys that so attacked our home... And they didn't do anything about the damage, like the so-called peacekeepers they are..."

Kyohaku watched the young girl fumble around. However, with this shift in herself, he gazed with a wary eye.

She shoved a Cosmos Card she had kept for a long time into the device, her most prized possession her parents gave her- "Astral Knight Stitch".

With its entry into the device, it spawned up that very same futuristic glowing blue blade from the card's picture, a blade marked with that of the UGF's own symbol. It felt somewhat like treason wielding this. Gripping it tightly, she made one thing clear as Yai sent the blade down hard into the side of an abandoned spacecraft...

"Galactic Federation... YOU WILL BE NEXT FOR LEAVING US BEHIND!!" she screamed in a tearful rage, cutting through the wingspan of that very UGF craft like the Leroy would've her shoulder's healing wound.

Her mind was made up, even if it was wrong. And it was at that moment, a moment filled with the coursing thoughts of revenge and pain over home, that the Astral Jumpers' namesake was born...

♦ ♦ ♦

Yai left the cold feeling of that memory as she should have, back three years ago, back before the crimes and infamy of the Astral Jumpers skyrocketed. It wasn't a game anymore, it had evolved into something to show the Galactic Federation who was truly at fault. Who truly couldn't keep peace.

Three whole years and back to tonight's reality. Over on the Kamakuran rooftop, our fair present day Yai used her Astral Knight's Blade from the Cosmos Card and struck it down on the roof... however, she wasn't slicing anything down to size these days in her 8-year-old life, at least anything that didn't get in her way. If it did, the difference was very sudden.

Caressing the aglow blade around in an arc, she drew something into the side of an exit door down to a complex below.

When she was finished, Yai looked to Kyohaku Stitch- "Well, whaddaya think? Good work of art?"

"They'll naga know who was here..." the two snickered.

"Now come on... we gotta leave before we're caught. After all, maybe we'll find something that'll help our precious Tri-Rune hunt out..." Yai urged, as the two leaped from roof to roof escaping from any authorities that would've dared catch them, intergalactic or let alone human.

The drawing Yaiko had made on the door as they left looked of broken Tantalog. It was an insignia slanted to the left upward, almost in a spike pattern.

Yai had used this logo to tag places where the Astral Jumpers had been to, not caring if it defiled an area of perfection. However, the real question was the alien nature of the symbol she drew. Just how'd she found this symbol and whether it's stolen or not remains to be seen, but it may have been something close to the flaxen girl. Again, how remained to be seen.

After this, it seemed that Kamakura had become packed as the night rolled by. With Yuna and Kyo having met with their Stitches and now Yai and Kyohaku sneaking around the place like masterminds of their own craft, things were starting to get interesting. But how else will these souls cross? That's a good question...

==============================================================================