Fan Art for the fic by Diana Barron.
If Lilo could go back in time to save her parents, then they could all live as one huge happy ohana. But she would be dead wrong, and the world may pay the price for her naivete.
—Summary to Empire of the Pacific
Empire of the Pacific is a 2005 Lilo & Stitch Fanfic written by DaveNevius (known as WatsonSword at the time of the fic's publishing).
Lilo finds herself missing her parents again as she remembers the night of the accident that killed them, which she was actually in.note She and Stitch use Jumba's time-traveling surfboardnote to go back in time to that night and she has Stitch rescue them in order to have them alive with her newly-extended ʻohana.
However, what she does not realize when she and Stitch go back to the present was that, as a result of saving their lives that night, she and Stitch never met after he crash-landed on Earth. Since she never needed to go to the animal shelter, she does not meet Experiment 626 there and he does not get rehabilitated, and the duo are now in an Alternate Timeline where 626 has become a cruel and commanding emperor of a Polynesia under his control and his influence is expanding.
After the time board gets confiscated, stranding the duo in this horrible timeline, they must work with a dwindling resistance in order get the board back and save the world from the clutches of Emperor 626.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: This fic adds the detail of Lilo having been with her parents in their car on the night of the accident that would kill them, even though the original film has Lilo saying that her parents were out on their own at the time of the accident.
- Afro Asskicker: Sam Winnfield (AKA Alt!Cobra Bubbles) has hair, unlike his bald counterpart, and gets plenty of scenes to prove his fighting experience.
- Aliens Speaking English: Given the source material, it's no surprise that this is to be expected. However, this fic has Emperor 626 speak much better English than his good counterpart.
- All for Nothing: The whole reason Lilo travels back in time in the first place was to prevent her parents' deaths. However, she learns in Chapter 16 that their lives were only extended by just a few more months, as they ended up being killed anyway by Emperor 626.
- Anyone Can Die: Most if not everybody in the alternate timeline dies. Including Emperor 626 after hitching a ride on the time machine with Lilo and Stitch to the night of the car accident, only for Stitch to throw him into the Pacific during their fight.
- Apocalypse How: Class 0; in the alternate timeline, Honolulu was destroyed by Emperor 626, who turned it into a large-scale graveyard displaying the severed heads of his victims, with Lilo's parents as the centerpiece.
- Armor-Piercing Question:
- In Chapter 15, Lilo asks Stitch if he really would've done all those horrible atrocities if they had never met. Stitch initially was reluctant to answer but admits that yes, he would've, and is more thankful that he met Lilo to prevent him from becoming the monster that is Emperor 626.
- Stitch tries to pull this on Emperor 626 in Chapter 21 by asking him if he is happy, but the emperor is too full of himself to see things differently, responding, "I'm the unquestionable emperor and god of the pacific islands! These people worship me!" Emperor 626 then almost immediately tries to turn the tables on Stitch with the same question, pointing out the flaws of his life in the process, but Stitch swiftly answers, "Ih," pointing out that the love of his family makes him happy. So, the question does nothing but cause the two Experiment 626s to express each other's disgust by the other 626's contrasting viewpoint.
- Asshole Victim: After seeing all the horrible atrocities he committed throughout the story, it's immensely difficult to feel bad for Emperor 626 when Stitch drops him into the Pacific Ocean where he ends up drowning.
- Ax-Crazy: Do not expect Emperor 626 to show you the slightest hint of mercy.
- Bad Future: The alternate timeline where Lilo's parents survive the car accident proves to be a massive one since in that timeline, Lilo never met Stitch and he ended up turning into a sadistical tyrant.
- Bittersweet Ending: Lilo and Stitch managed to escape from the alternate timeline, defeat Emperor 626 and let the car accident happen from a nearby cliff instead of preventing it again. However, Lilo never gets her parents back and is traumatized from her experience in the alternate timeline.
- Boyish Short Hair: Unlike her counterpart who has wavy long hair, Alt!Nani has short hair. Personality wise, she is the second in command of La Résistance and has a very cold personality to a boot.
- Broken Bird: Alt!Nani lost her sister, parents, and boyfriend to Emperor 626. No wonder she's so bitter and cynical.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: In this alt timeline, Emperor 626 personally tortured Lilo's parents, as he drugged them, had machines drill into their brains, and finally, as he broke their souls, they bowed down before the emperor, and called him God. And with the sweetest smile, he laid his hands on their shoulders, and snapped their necks.
- Crapsack World: Hawaii — and the rest of Polynesia for that matter — has been turned into a complete Dystopia in the alternate timeline. Many of its denizens live in perpetual fear and those who oppose Emperor 626 are at risk of death. And that's not even getting into what happened to Honolulu, having been destroyed completely and turned into a massive graveyard for those who dared to revolt against 626.
- Dark Fic: Lilo & Stitch does not shy away from exploring themes of loss and grief, but nonetheless is a light-hearted franchise. This fic shows a possibility of just how terrible things could've gotten if Experiment 626 never reformed.
- Death of a Child: The deaths of Alt!Lilo and Alt!Keoni. The former was killed in Alt!Nani's arms after being shot by one of 626's troops, while the latter was killed solely because his father attempted to start a revolt against the emperor.
- Death Seeker: It's implied that Alt!Gantu, the very being who convinced 626 to become an emperor, has become this when he smiles just before he gets blown up.
- Desecrating the Dead: Having one's severed head and spine preserved and on display for all to see in hopes of keeping those still alive in despair is a horrific way to do this.
- Disney Villain Death: Emperor 626 dies when Stitch drops him into the Pacific Ocean. Like Stitch, he can't swim, so he ends up drowning.
- Driven to Suicide: Alt!Jumba's fate, having decided that he no longer wants to be his creation's slave and further contribute to his Evil Empire. There are also some signs of Better to Die than Be Killed involved since Alt!Jumba clearly knew his punishment for betraying 626 would be severe.
- The Emperor: Experiment 626 becomes one in the alternate timeline, taking over all of Polynesia.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Emperor 626 can't understand why Stitch, despite possessing the exact same powers as he does, would rather remain loyal to Lilo instead of joining him conquering and ruling the world when Stitch could enjoy much more luxuries and finer things in life if he did. In the Emperor's eyes, their relationship is no better than that of an obedient, weak-willed pet and its poor, downtrodden master. The Emperor is utterly baffled and disgusted when Stitch admits that he's happy with Lilo as despite the more downtrodden life he has with her, he at least has the love that Emperor 626 clearly doesn't have in his life. Stitch even lampshades this by stating that it's too late for the emperor to understand this.
- Evil Counterpart: Emperor 626 is this to Stitch, being a bloodthirsty tyrant in stark contrast to the gentle and lovable Stitch who had Lilo to act as a Morality Pet.
- Evil Me Scares Me: Stitch is disturbed to find out what his counterpart has become if he never met Lilo.
- Eye Scream: Alt!Jumba, having been abused by his own creation, lost two of his four eyes in the alternate timeline.
- Face–Heel Turn: Alt!Nani turns out to be the mole for Emperor 626.
- Faux Affably Evil: Emperor 626 acts incredibly jovial when interacting with Lilo and Stitch, but it's very obviously just to mess with them.
- Forced to Watch: When Lilo and Stitch return to the night of the car accident after having escaped from the Bad Future and defeated Emperor 626 for good, they watch the car accident happen from a nearby cliff instead of preventing it again to make sure that they get the timeline they know back, knowing that Lilo will never have her parents back.
- Foreshadowing: Lilo's Nightmare Sequence in Chapter 2 starts with Mertle and her posse scoffing at the idea of being taught the Hawaiian language at school, the former outright telling Moses it wouldn't matter if the Hawaiian culture died off. The story later goes on to reveal that Emperor 626 has pretty much erased said culture, along with other Pacific Islander cultures, from the face of Earth.
- Heroic BSoD: Lilo suffers this when she saw her parents' severed heads.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: It doesn't take a whole lot to set Emperor 626 off. In chapter 14, a series of increasingly unfortunate news causes him to singlehandedly lift a grand piano off the floor and smash it to pieces.
- Harmful to Minors: Poor Lilo is forced to endure the horrors of the alternate timeline that she and Stitch cause by saving her parents from being killed in the car accident.
- It's All About Me: Emperor 626 has such a complete and utter Lack of Empathy, a result of him never having been adopted by Lilo, that he never genuinely cares about anybody but himself.
- Last Stand: The resistance brings in all their remaining troops over to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi to infiltrate Emperor 626's palace in Hilo and get Lilo and Stitch to get their time machine back.
- Les Collaborateurs: Alt!Nani became so emotionally detached from everything after losing everyone she ever loved and is so unconvinced that Lilo from the normal timeline is a still-living version of her sister, that she willingly betrays the resistance and allows Emperor 626 to trap Lilo and Stitch, not caring about whatever happens to them.
- MacGuffin: The surfboard time machine, which gets taken by Emperor 626's troops shortly after Lilo and Stitch arrive, forcing them to try to get it back.
- May It Never Happen Again: The inciting incident is that Lilo and Stitch use Jumba's time-traveling board to prevent the accident which killed Lilo's parents, and this creates an Alternate Timeline where Stitch's alternate self is a psychopathic "emperor" dictator. After Lilo and Stitch defeat the Emperor and set history back on its original track, Lilo destroys the time board just to be sure.
- Nightmare Sequence: Lilo has one in Chapter 2. It starts off bizarre but not horrifying, with a heavy storm, Stitch, Mertle and her posse attending the same class as Lilo, and Lilo's hula teacher Moses giving them a Hawaiian language lesson, as well as Lilo submitting Dracula for her homework, but it soon evolves into a nightmare which has Lilo see a shadow of a man in a Conspicuous Trenchcoat, be trapped in darkness after the lights go out, and an elderly man's voice shouting her name.
- Set Wrong What Was Once Made Right: Lilo learns the hard way that she needs to let her parents die in the accident that killed them so she would meet Stitch, preventing him from becoming an absolute monster.
- Shadow Archetype: Emperor 626 is basically what would have happened if Stitch transformed into an Ax-Crazy Dictator of Polynesia because he never meets Lilo and thus never gets taught how to be good.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: With some shades of You Have Outlived Your Usefulness thrown in; Alt!Jumba reveals that Emperor 626 killed Alt!Pleakley at one point because he saw no use for him.
- Sibling Murder: Well, "cousins", but Emperor 626 sees himself as so far above everyone else that he had all the pods of his predecessors (Jumba's other genetic experiments) destroyed in the past of the alternate timeline.
- Spiteful Spit: After dropping Emperor 626 into the ocean where he then drowns, Stitch hawks a loogie.
- Suicide Mission: The resistance makes one final push into Hilo to invade Emperor 626's palace just so Lilo and Stitch can get the time machine back and restore their original timeline. Virtually everyone in the resistance but Lilo and Stitch dies.
- Super-Soldier: Emperor 626's army in the alternate timeline are hybrids of humans and the Experiment 626 genetic template created by Alt!Jumba under Emperor 626's demand, making them stronger and more durable than any human soldier.
- Trauma Conga Line: The story feels like a never-ending stream of horrible events that befall poor Lilo. As if dealing with the loss of her parents wasn't bad enough, she gets stuck in an alternate timeline where she must see her home becoming a Crapsack World taken over by her own friend (an Evil Counterpart of his but still). Then she learns that Honolulu was destroyed and turned into a giant graveyard displaying the severed heads of all those that opposed Emperor 626; this includes Nani's boyfriend David, her crush Keoni, and her parents (which also shows that her efforts to save them were All for Nothing). Finally, when Emperor 626 has Lilo in his clutches during the last two chapters, he tries to rape her. The concluding chapter even implies that Lilo ended up developing PTSD from her experiences.
- What If?: Stitch would've taken over the entire Pacific region and caused the deaths of thousands if not millions of innocent people in the process, all because he didn't meet a little girl.
- Wham Shot: When Lilo and Stitch arrive in the alternate timeline, she's happy to find her original yellow home (from before Jumba and Stitch destroyed it in the original film) still intact, seemingly showing that her parents must be alive... only for a stranger to answer the door, first revealing to her and Stitch that something has not gone quite right.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Alt!Nani is nowhere to be seen in the end after betraying Lilo and Stitch.
- Wicked Cultured: Emperor 626 has more eloquent English and has gotten a taste for various Earth cultures, having amassed a diverse collection of fine art and sculptures from around the human world... with a notable exception of Pacific Islander and Hawaiian culture, the very region of Earth that's under his domain in the story.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Lilo and Stitch spend about a month in the Bad Future, plus some minutes each time they visit the night of her parents' deaths. When they finally return to their normal timeline, only a brief time has passed from when they first left.
