Attention world…Nick Grey speaking.
Yeah, things got weird for me last year. I was sent into a world that I thought only existed in a video game! But it was THERE that I learned of the existence of other worlds, even more fantastical than the one I'd been in!
I also learned powerful abilities, ones that were possibly within me all along, waiting to be let out when my inner hero was truly unleashed. Using these abilities, and the VFX powers of Mach Speed, Slow, Replay and Zoom, I was able to finally save Viewtiful Joe's world, Movieland, from destruction. Awesome, huh?
But my family doesn't remember what happened. Not even my brother. Only my friend Matt remembers, but he and I are not talking to others about it. Who'd believe us?
And for a while, I thought that what had happened to me had been just a dream. Something brought up from an overdosing of root beer, popcorn and Skittles.
But then THIS happened.
I was thrust into a brand new world.
Into a brave new adventure.
I endured brave trials, saved an island, made a lot of friends, and found someone to call, with pride and love, my girlfriend.
I entered the world…of Lilo and Stitch.
LILO AND STITCH:
OHANA
Inside a white house, watching the credits of a cartoon TV show named Lilo and Stitch, was a teenager with a light green "Spring Break" t-shirt who had on blue jeans and white sneakers. He had brown hair that was slightly curly and brushed back, its temperamental nature subdued with a little hair gel. This kid was Nicholas Michael Grey.
Nick sat down on the couch, and turned off the TV after his show had finished. He sighed deeply, as the humidity of the house wafted around him, the smell of the wooden floor drifting up through his nostrils and perforating his very brain cells. Weather like this made you feel really "D-U-M-M." as some of Nick's friends at school might say.
Which reminded him. "I've gotta call Matt up and tell him I want to talk to him about the warp engine." Matt had a plan to build the world's very first working warp engine and Nick honestly believed that his friend could do it. He was very intelligent, even though Nick sometimes wished that his friend would give it a rest sometimes with the Star Trek and Battlestar Galatica talk.
He sighed and rubbed his head. "Man, it's so hot. How can it only be 80 degrees when it feels like a billion and two?"
He sighed and stood up, stretching.
It was June 22nd, 2003, and Nicholas Michael Grey was 14 years old. He was gonna be a freshman in high school next year, and as hundreds of adults said, "Thus begins the best years of your life".
"Bull!" Nick always thought when he heard that piece of advice. "The best years of my life are gonna be spent at a desk, listening to old farts talk to me about multivariable calculus and the fifteenth symphony of so-and-so? HA!"
Naw, he'd take his time becoming an adult. He only had so much time to relax. Which is why he watched Lilo and Stitch.
The show was about a young Hawaiian girl and her "dog", who wasn't really a dog, but an illegal genetic experiment from outer space, created for total destruction and havoc. The girl was named Lilo Pelekai, and the alien, koala-like dog, whose designation was experiment 626, was named "Stitch". Originally Stitch only hung around Lilo because he was using her as a shield to keep his creator from getting at him, but Lilo had taught him how to love and care for others and how to belong to a family…an ohana.
Ohana means family.
Family means nobody gets left behind…or forgotten. Nick smiled every time he thought about that. A family that truly looks out for one another…he wished his brother would understand that lesson sooner or later. He loved his brother, but sometimes…MAN!
He wished he owned Lilo and Stitch. Too bad he didn't though. Chris Sanders and Jess Winfield did, the lucky stiffs.
Nick's parents had divorced, so he felt sorry for Lilo, who had lost her parents in a car crash a while ago. She had had something good, and had lost it, like Nick felt he had. He knew that he could never really "fix" the wound that the divorce had given him…but he could grit his teeth and move on with his life, looking for the good things that had come from the divorce. And Lilo had found an angel from heaven, Stitch, to help her sort through a tough time in her life. She was on the verge of being taken away by Social Services when Stitch entered her life.
Nick wondered what it would be like to lose David. He felt a chill go up his back. The willies. "Your soul is trying to escape because something disturbed it" as his stepmom Barbara would say. He couldn't imagine life without David, or Mom, or Dad.
He couldn't imagine life without his best friend Matt either. Which reminded him…he'd have to call his friend up.
He wished that his v-watch would actually WORK. All it did was look really nice, which is why it was gathering dust on his desk. Did Matt have any watch-fixing experience? Couldn't hurt to ask. His dad ran a hobby shop, fixing a watch should be easier than fixing a ridiculously big toy battleship.
Nick walked over to the phone and reached for it. Suddenly the power went out. His dog, Jessica, howled, sending a shiver up Nick's spine. This was odd. Really random! The power out in the SUMMER? That only happens what, every couple dozen hundred years?
Nick looked around, taking in the house now that it had no power. Then he saw something REALLY freaky. The tv…it…it was GLOWING! There was a strange little white dot in the middle of the screen…ooh, freaky!
Then Nick heard a voice.
It couldn't be…but it was!
THE Voice. The omnipotent-sounding voice that had spoken to him in Joe's world!
"NICK…NICK…ARE YOU READY?"
"For what?"
"A BRAND NEW ADVENTURE. ANOTHER WORLD REQUIRES SAVING. ARE YOU READY? YOU MUST BE AS GENTLE AS AN OCEAN BREEZE BUT AS PASSIONATE AS A NATIVE WARRIOR."
"Ocean breeze? Native warrior? Am I being sent to an island?"
"YES. AND NOT JUST ANY ISLAND. IT'S HAWAII. THE ISLAND OF KAUAI."
"Wait…Kauai…that's the island Lilo and Stitch live on! Does…does that mean?"
"YES. YOU ARE GOING TO THEIR WORLD. APPOACH THE PORTAL IF YOU WISH TO GO ON THIS ADVENTURE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO OF COURSE."
"Hmm…"
Nick was a curious guy, so who can guess what he did?
If you said "He went up to the TV", you're absolutely right. Everyone else has to stay after school and write "I would rather hang around the house on a lazy summer day" 500 times on the board.
Nick walked up to the TV and put his pointer finger gently on the white dot on the TV. Suddenly he was sucked into the TV with a "PHWOOMP!" and he vanished from the house. Everything went dark around him…and then he found himself falling down, down, towards a bright light at the bottom of this seemingly-endless tunnel.
"NICK…YOU ARE GOING TO ENCOUNTER STRANGE CREATURES AND DANGEROUS VILLAINS…BUT YOU ARE NOT UNAIDED. YOU HAVE YOUR NATURAL ABILITES…AND THIS!"
A flash of light, which temporarily blinded him, and then Nick saw that he had a watch on his right hand, a silver watch with a nice display screen that showed the time. It had many buttons on it. It reminded him of his v-watch.
"USE THIS WELL."
"Wait! Is there something else I should know?"
"YOU NEED TO PROVE THAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF BEING A TRUE HERO. TRUE, YOU DEMONSTRATED GREAT BRAVERY IN VIEWTIFUL JOE'S WORLD, BUT THERE ARE OTHER QUALITIES BESIDES BRAVERY AND NOBILITY THAT A HERO MUST DEMONSTRATE. HE MUST BE WILLING TO DO ANYTHING IN ORDER TO DO THE RIGHT THING. SO YOU WILL BE TESTED."
"How?"
The light was fast approaching…
"YOU WILL FIND OUT…"
It was almost upon him…
"BEWARE OF THE DARKNESS, BUT TRUST YOUR HEART. AND REMEMBER, YOU ARE THE ONE! YOU ARE CHOSEN! CONTINUE TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART AND DON'T FORGET WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN, NO MATTER HOW HARD IT MAY BE TO REMEMBER! THERE ARE OTHER ABILITIES WAITING FOR YOU WITHIN YOUR FAMILY, FIND THEM."
Everything went white…
"GOOD LUCK."
OPENING CREDITS
Camera cuts to Nick Grey, wearing a blue Hawaiian t-shirt, white shorts, white sneakers and a necklace with a color-changing orb on the end. He's on the luau stage, and the only light that shines down is on him. You can't see anyone else really, except for outlines of the characters. Nick has a regular guitar in his hands.
BGM: Burning Love, by Wynonna Judd
Nick strums a few notes.
"Nah. Maybe a…"
He grabs an electric guitar that's lying next to him and starts playing.
"Oh yeah! One, two, one-two-three-four!"
Lord almighty, I feel my temperature rising! (Camera cuts to Lilo and Stitch, who smile broadly and wave at everyone cheerfully.)
Higher and higher, it's burning through to my soooul! (Camera cuts to Jumba's lab. Jumba turns around and pulls his goggles off, smiling, and Pleakley waves eagerly, not noticing that he's about to spill an explosive.)
Baby, baby, baby, you gonna set me on fiiire… (Camera cuts to Nani and David, who hug and grin at the camera.)
My brain is flaming…and I don't know which way to gooo…yeaaah! (Camera cuts to Nick back on the stage, as he prepares to REALLY play his guitar.)
Cuz your kisses lift me higher! Like the sweet song of a choir! You light my morning sky…with burnin' love! (Nick plays his guitar like a pro as more lights come onto the stage, showing Lilo and Stitch. Lilo is in a hula skirt and she bows, and Stitch is on the guitar, grinning.)
Ooh, ooh, ooh…I feel my temperature rising! (Camera cuts to Gantu's ship. Gantu is cleaning his plasma gun and 625 snacks on a sandwich. Gantu's gun suddenly explodes and 625 laughs to hard he spits out mayo.)
Help me I'm flaming, I must be a hundred and nine…(Camera then cuts to 621 and 627. 621, arms crossed, closes his eyes and recklessly grins. 627 gives a wild grin at the camera, and his extra head pops out, sticking his tongue out.)
Burning, burning, burning, and nothing can cool me…(Camera cuts to 421, who is bounding through the air after a butterfly, and 561, who is flying after him, barely tossing a glance at the camera.)
I might just turn to smoke…but I feel fiiiiine…yeah! (Camera cuts to Hamsterviel, who has his back turned. He quickly whips around, stretching out his cape with one arm, smiling evilly.)
Cuz your kisses lift me higher! Like the sweet song of a choir! You light my morning sky…with burnin' love! ( Victoria is now seen, and she and Lilo dance. Keoni is also on the stage, he's got a guitar and is playing with Stitch.
Now as the instrument part plays, we see four dramatic scenes.
The first is of Nick, Lilo and Stitch all facing down Gantu, Stitch jumping at him.
Secondly, 621, 627 and 561 are are all standing together, doing different evil-looking poses.
Thirdly, Nick and Hamsterviel are rolling around, fighting hard, fists flying.
Fourthly, a shadowy, Stitch-like experiment stretches out his grasp across the sky as all of the other main characters all look up at the form, ready for a dramatic showdown.
It's coming close…the flames are now licking my body…(Camera cuts to a scene where Nick is rushing through a burning house, desperately searching…)
Won't you help me, I feel like I'm slipping awaaay…(Camera cuts to 621, who's arms are pinwheeling as he falls back, towards the ocean and a watery grave…)
It's hard to breathe…my chest is just a-heaving…(Stitch is raised into the air by 627's telekinesis, being choked as 627 laughs madly…)
Lord have mercy, burning a hole in meeee! (Camera cuts back to the stage. Nick raises a hand up in the air and snaps his fingers. All of the lights come on.)
Cuz your kisses lift me higher! Like the sweet song of a choir! You light my morning sky…with burnin' love! (We now see that Pleakley is on the bass guitar and Jumba is on the drums. Nani is dancing with Victoria and Lilo, and David is doing his luau torch routine in tune to the music. In the background, 421 gives everyone a thumbs up as he stands by the sound system.)
I'm just a hunka, hunka burnin' love…I'm just a hunka, hunka, burnin' love! (Jumba bangs hard on the guitar, spinning the drumsticks in his hand occasionally. Pleakley jams on the guitar, head banging.)
I'm just a hunka, hunka burnin' love…I'm just a hunka, hunka, burnin' love! (Lilo, Victoria and Nani all dance the hula while Nick, Stitch and Keoni jam on their guitars.)
I'm just a hunka, hunka burnin' love…I'm just a hunka, hunka, burnin' love! (Camera cuts to audience, filled up with townsfolk and experiments. In the front row is the reluctant Myrtle and her posse. Myrtle's posse are cheering, but Myrtle sulks…although her foot is going up and down to the music. Cobra Bubbles and Mrs. Hasagawa are also in the front row, along with the Grand Councilwoman, and they're cheering.)
I'm just a hunka, hunka burnin' love…I'm just a hunka, hunka, burnin' love! (Gantu and 625 are in the back, heads bouncing to the music. Hamsterviel, who's handcuffed, has his eyes closed and is tapping to the music. 561, 621 and 627 are also there in the back. 621 is smiling, foot tapping. 627 is clapping with all of his hands and 561 bobs his head to the music.)
I'm just a hunka, hunka burnin'… luh-ooooove, ooohhhh-oohhhhh, aahhh-hahhh…yeaaahhhh…
(Camera pans out to show the whole place, as the words "LILO AND STITCH THE SERIES" appear in their usual style. Lilo and Stitch poke their heads up from off screen, on the left and right side. They walk underneath the letters. Then Nick drops down from the top and falls in between them, and all three smile and face the camera, Lilo putting her hands on her hips and smiling bravely, Stitch grinning broadly and Nick giving the "peace sign" with his right hand. Music finally comes to an end and all goes black.)
"Now that was cool."
"Ih! Bootifa!"
"Cool? That was awesome! Mahalo, everyone!"
Everyone cheers.
WHO ARE YOU? CHARACTER BIOS!
Nicholas Michael Grey
Nick is the protagonist, the good guy, the teenage kid who's trying to do well…AND good…with his newly-discovered powers, simply trying to help others and doing the right thing. He's eccentric, slightly selfish, and the last best hope of the entire universe. He cares deeply about those he loves, and loves to write, draw and dream.