Hey everyone, I hope you all had a good Christmas break, and I hep you all had a great New Years :) Now the last chapter was just a relaxer episode, but now I'm getting back into the story, and in this chaoter..we shall be introduced to the Diclonius..who was able to beat Lucy...well in the anime version at least...Who is it? Well, we will just have to find out, also we shall see more glimpses of Nana in Maple Inn. Sit back, grab popcorn, and watch :)

To Milo S Darek: Happy Late Chriowtmans, I hope you had a great one :)

To the mysterious MR. E: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. And Happy LAte Christmas :) Hope it was good

To gamecubenut: Yea...after reading some of the manga and watching the anime, I can see where you are going with this. It's going to be a challenge for him to reach out to her.

To tomahawkESP: Trust men, that chapter will come soon ;)

To BvC: Possible, I think I used Water Hazard already in a previous chapter...I think...but yes possibly :)

To Monkey-man369: Thank you :)

Wowzas, 46 favs and 50 follow. Man that's alot. But in all seriousness though, thank you all for liking this story, it really means alot to see how much you are all enjoying this. So than ky again everyone, you're all awesome :)

Ben 10 belongs to Man of Action and Cartoon Network

Elfen Lied belongs to writer Lynn Okamoto and Weekly Young Jump and the anime was produced by Arms and licensed by Sentai Filmworks

Diconius Institute/Night Before

Shirakawa was walking down the halls of the Institute, with Isobe walking with her. Chief Kakuzawa had told her to get Number 35 and get her ready, as she was going to go after Lucy and kill Nana.

"Are you kidding?" Isobe asked with concern. "We're releasing number Number 35?" He asked as he and Shirakawa were still walking. "Doesn't the Director know aobut her?"

"Yes, but it's his order though." Shirakawa told the man as they continued to walk. Isobe was a bit concerned aobut this, 35 was supposed to be the most dangerous Silpelit, even more, dangerous than Lucy herself, and the chief asked for her to be released? Just what was he thinking?

"Well...if you ask me, it is not a good idea." Isobe said as they reached their destination, they had entered another room that was holding a large door with a big lock on it. "When ii comes to killing, she has set eh bar really high." He said as they walked over to teh door and Shirakawa swiped her key card to open the door. When it opened they were greeted by a sight, in there was a big containment device with the number 35 on it, it looked dented a bit. And what was teh cause of it?

"Wait...I can.." Shirakawa said with shock. Yes, those were vectors all around the device. She was shocked, so this was what vectors looekd like? And there were..so many!

"Yes, you can see Number 35's Vectors, she is the strongest than the other Dicloni," Isobe explained to her. "Which is also the reason why we keep her in this big large containment cell, her Vectors can reach to about 11 meters...amazing since she is only five years old...make me worried about how she will be when she is older." He said with dread. Shirakawa was looking at all of this and was trembling a bit.

"Still though..are you serious about releasing her though?" He asked the secretary. "Sure she can triumph over Lucy, but it's a very risky thing to do." He said

"I am only here to carry out the Directors orders..." She said sternly, but a part of her was nervous as well...but she knows something about her though...something that'll make her cooperate with them.

"So, if you don't mind me asking...how are we going to get her to listen?" Isobe asked. "I doubt we can do it by getting on our knees and begging..."

Shirakawa sighed and looekd at him. "You're right, we won't be begging...we'll threaten." She said turning back to the chamber. Isobe raised an eyebrow with confusion. "Number 35's body..is full of explosives.

Isobe eyes went wide fro this revelation...a little girl's body had explosives in her? I ea sure she is a Diclonius...but this was probably going overkill, and he was not the only one. Though Shirakawa looekd stern, deep down, she too was not happy aobut this.

"Just what the hell was the Director thinking?" Isobe thought. "Implanting explosives in a small child?" His fists were gripping at his sides really hard. Her sighed as he still looked up at the chamber. "Apparently, she has been locked up in here since she was born, so she might be weak as soon as she comes out." He said. All of a sudden, the door behind them opens up and they tune around to see who it is. It was a woman who looked to be in her late 20s-early 30s, she had black hair that was in two pigtails that went down her back, she was also wearing a green shirt that was underneath a white lab coat, and she wore pinkish shoes.

"I'm Saito," She said tot hem. "I have been overseeing Mariko for five years now." she said with a smile. "And I have been talking with her almost every day now, also I am teaching her aobut stuff every day so she won't have any trouble when she leaves."

Isobe was listening to her words and seemed intrigued, seems like Saito has been taming Number 35 for a while now...hopefully, it might help a bit. Saito also explained that Mariko often calls her mother and that she feels like one as well. Isobe thought it was fine, hopefully, it meant that hopefully Number 35 will listen and they won't have to detonate any of the bombs in the girl's body.

Saito was walking closer to the chamber as Shirakawa and Isobe stood back. the latter still having a nervous face on.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked the secretary.

"Directors orders; if Saito can get through to her, then we shall be fine...but if she doesn't follow directions, then we blow up one of the bombs in her body." she said, while slightly trembling a bit, and Isobe doing the same. The man sighed and nodded to the other's, who was on the other side of the glass. One of them pushed a button, and with that. the large chamber started to open with a hissing sound.

As the doors were opening, there was a small figure limping out. She was small, possibly around five to six years old, and had one of those weird helmets on her head She was limping out of the chamber while trying to maintain her balance while holding on the wall. Saito was tearing up a bit, happy to be seeing her foster daughter for the first time.

"Mariko, come to mommy!" Saito said with a smile. Shirakawa and Isobe were both shocked at this girl's appearance, she looked like she had been through alot, and she had a weird cord going up her...well I'd rather not say it.

"So she's been surviving on nutrients..." Isobe thought. "Interesting..." But his interests were replaced by a look of concern as Sito was walking up to the girl slowly. "Are you sure you're alright getting that close to her?" He called out, but the woman ignored him. When the small girl fell to the ground, Saito gasped in shock and ran towards her. "She's suicidal..." He thought. Shirakawa didn't say anything, but she could not help but worry a bit.

Saito gently grabbed the girl and held her up by her body. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly. "Poor girl...you've gotten so skinny." She then started to take off the helmet, she then unwrapped some bandages as well. When the bandages were off, she finally saw Mariko's face, she had pink eyes, and also had long pink hair, but not long like Lucy's but the same light color. Her eyes flickered a bit before she finally got a glimpse of who she was looking at.

M-Mommy?" she asked while looking up at the older woman.

Saito looked down in happiness as tears were threatening to spill. "Yes, honey..I'm your Mommy!" She said with a smile. Isobe and Shirakawa were watching, Isobe was feeling pretty good, with Sito easing Mariko, she might be able to be of use in defeating Lucy once and for all.

Mariko looked happy, but then her happy grin turned into one of a scowl. "No, you're not!" She said, and before anyone knew it...

SLICE

Saito exploded with her body getting all sliced up from between, with her top half being thrown into the watcher's windows. This sent everyone in a panic.

"Dammit," Isobe muttered before getting hsi walkie talkie out. "ACTIVATE THE ALARMS AND GET THE GUARDS!" He said with caution as the alarms went off. He then noticed that Mariko's Vectors were starting to hover above her, with the girl giving off a vicious and sadistic grin. Shirakawa was not moving from her spot, having been shocked by the sudden death of Saito. Mariko's Vectors started to launch themselves at the shocked secretary

"SHIRAKAWA, MOVE!" Isobe yelled out in warning, but Shirakawa didn't move, and as the Vectors were getting closer...

BOOM

Mariko's right arm exploded, causing the Vectors to stop and Mariko to fall to the ground and started crying and screaming in pain, Shirakawa ordered for the guards to restrain her as they started to barge in and started to restrain her, some had their feet on her hand and legs, while another few had their guns pointed at her. Isobe looked back to see that Saito, who was breathing heavily, had her fingers on one of the buttons that activated the explosions. Saito was still breathing..until it started going slower until her top half finally slid off and she died.

"I knew this was going to go wrong..." Isobe thought as he rubbed his hands through his hair and shook it. He then looked to see Shirakawa looking down on the downed Diclonius, with a stern look on her face.

"Have you had enough now?" She asked as the girl looked up with tears going down her eyes. "We have more than just one bomb in you you know...if you disobey, then you will suffer more. Do you understand me?" She asked. Mariko looked up and looked back down with tears going down her eyes as she started to cry.

Maple Inn

Ben was in the kitchen helping Yuka make breakfast for everyone, Nozomi had come over again to spend the day with them. Things have been going alright since the trip yesterday, although Ben could tell that Kouta was still a bit angry at Nana for attacking Nyu. Ben would be lying if he said that he wasn't, he was a bit mad, but knowing aobut what happened at the graveyard, he could understand.

"Hopefully today will go good...I hope." Ben thought with worry. Afterward, he brought out bowls of steamaed rice and placed them at the designated areas for everyone, Yuka bought out some Miso soup for the others as well, and Ben went back to get the sausage. Afterward, they all got down together and sat down.

"Wow!" Nana said brightly. "This stuff is really good...did you make this Ben?" she asked.

"Uh, yea.." Ben said, a bit startled by her outburst, of course, he could not blame her however, she then began to dive back into her food. Mayu took notice of the dress Nana was wearing, it was still torn from her fight with Lucy back at the graveyard.

"So..Nana, aren't you going to change your clothes?" Mayu asked. "I mean..you're sleeves are ripped up..." But she possibly should not have asked that, because Nana then gave her a hurt look.

"No!" she said to her. "Papa gave me this dress, so it's good enough!" She said turning away with a pout. Ben sighed a bit, but couldn't help but chuckle a bit due to him thinking she looked cute with the pout. He saw Nozomi looking at Nana and twidled her thumbs a bit.

"Uh, Nana?" Nozomi said nervously. "If you want...I could fix the sleeves for you..." She said with a small smile. Nana looked at the older girl with a shocked expression.

"R-really? You can do that for me?" She asked. Nozomi gave her a smile and nodded her head.

"Yes, I am proud of my sewing skills." She said while nodding her head.

"You're such a nice person Nozomi!" Nana said with a big grin. causing the schoolgirl to blush a bit and smile.

"Good," Kouta said, Ben saw his face and didn't really like it, because Kouta had a lot of sternness in his voice. "Then entrust your old rag to Nozomi then." He said.

"Kouta!" Yuka and Ben exclaimed in unison, a bit peeved at how he said that. Ben could see him gripping the cup he was holding was tightening a bit.

"OLD RAG!" Nana yelled out to him, in a mix of both anger and hurtfulness.

"Alright, just calm down," Ben said. trying to keep the peace between everyone at teh table. "What's going on Kouta?" He asked but he was ignored.

"Unlike Nozomi, you aren't here to rest like this." He said sternly as he took another sip of his drink. Mayu could see the tension build up and decided to put a stop to it.

"Hey, Nana," Mayu said, taking the girl's hand. "Why don't we go take a bath?" she suggested, she wanted to get Nana away from everyone else and to go help her calm down. Nana looked at Mayu. who was giving her a small smile and an odd and smiled back a bit.

"Ok then.." she said.

Yea, go take a bath." Kouta said to her, a bit more sternly. Ben and Yuka glared at him as Mayu pulled the Diclonius out of the room.

"Ok dude," Ben said. "What's your deal?" He asked a bit ticked off at him for how he was acting. "You sure as hell didn't act like this yesterday, what did that all mean nothing?" He asked.

Kouta glared at him right back and just continued to drink his tea, Ben sighed in irritation and went to the kitchen to go cool off. Nyu looked worried and went to follow after him. Yuka gave Kouta a glare and Nozomi looked worried.

"I understand he is upset, but he needs to get over it!" Ben thought with anger. He was at teh sink and getting a drink of water, as he was chugging it down he was rubbing his face with his left hand. This was difficult, and it was only going to get more difficult if Kouta is going to act like this...what should he do? His thoughts were interrupted by some footsteps, he turned aorund with an annoyed look, thinking it was Kouta, but when he saw Nyu's face instead, his face turned into one of softness.

"Ben upset?" She asked with concern in her eyes.

"No..." He said with a sigh. "It's just...Kouta's just feeling a bit mad because of what happened when Nana attacked you." He said to her, Nyu looked concerned and looked down a bit.

"Nyu fault?" She asked a bit while trembling. Ben saw this and quickly walked up to grab her hands.

"No, it was not your fault." Ben said to her. "Well...sorta..." He thought having remembered the battle in the graveyard. "It was not your fault Nyu, she was possibly a bit grumpy, and you must have looked like someone she was familiar with who gave her a hard time." He told her, but Nyu just had a look of confusion though. Ben sighed. "Forget aobut it, but know this...it was not your fault, ok?" He asked.

The horned girl nodded a bit and smiled at him, Ben smiled back and he immediately turned red when he felt his heart beating fast again. "Dang it Ben, can't you just tell her how you really feel? I mean she is learning every day...maybe shou-" But his thoughts were interrupted by Nyu grabbing hi face and moving it aorund with her hands.

"Haha, funny face!" She said with a smile as she continued to make funny faces with Bens' face, causing her to giggle. Ben was also smiling at this innocent act...innocent...he still wanted to know aobut that DNA Voice...and that cold act she put on back at the graveyard...this could not be a facade at all, he had to get to the bottom of this, and somehow as well.

Meanwhile, Mayu and Nana were in the bath, Nana would have enjoyed the feeling of it, but the little argument she had with Kouta prevented it though.

"How could he say such bad things to me?!" She asked as Mayu was giving her a sympathetic look.

"Well, he might still be mad at you for hurting Nyu..." Mayu said, trying to comfort her. "But I'm sure he will get over it soon."

Nana pouted and turned to face the water. "Oh yeah? Well fine, who cares if I'm hated? As soon as I find another place, I'll live there in peace!" She said while looking into the tub angrily.

Mayu looekd at the girl with concern. "I don't hate you Nana." She said reassuringly. "No one hates you at all, like I said, just give Kouta some time to calm down, and he will get over it." She said. Nana sighed ad bit and put her head back to look up at the ceiling.

"But still...this is a really nice place. And this bath? It feels really good...now those people would just tie me up and spray warm water on me with those long hose thingies...but taking a bath here? While sitting down? It feels so amazing and nice." She thought with a smile. "This might be the first time in my life that I'm taking an actual bath."

After a few minutes, the girls were done with their bath and they came out of the bathroom, now dressed in shirts and shorts. Yuka noticed them and smiled.

"So, how was the bath?" she asked.

"It was amazing!" Nana said with a smile on her face. Mayu smiled as well and nodded her head.

"Well good," Yuka said with her own smile. "Now, would you guys like any Ice Cream? Nozomi bought some over."

"Ice...Cream...?" Nana asked confusingly.

Meanwhile Ben was currently in the dining room looking out the window, taken aback by the lovely cherry blossoms that were blowing in the wind, Nozomi was st the table while sewing up Nana's dress, Ben saw and was impressed, she really was a good seamstress.

"Wow Nozomi," Ben said with a smile. "You're doing a pretty good job on fixing Nana's dress!" Nozomi looked at him and blushed a bit.

"Th-thanks Ben..." she said while looking back at the dress, all the while blushing a bit while also smiling. Nozomi was feeling a bit more comfortable aorund the residents of Maple Inn, even though they knew aobut her diapers (no thanks form Kouta) but they didn't make fun of her for it, yep. Nozomi was feeling accepted by everyone in the house, due to the nice nature of it.

"Nozomi!" Yuka said to her as Nana and Mayu followed her in. "Why don't you get the Ice Cream you bought over? She asked.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Ice Cream? Now? We just had breakfast though?" Her thought with curiosity. Nozomi looekd surprised and smiled a bit

"Oh, right!" she said with a grin as she went into the kitchen to get it. Yuka signaled Ben to come over and have some Ice Cream as well. Ben joined his friends as they all sat down and waited for their frozen treat.

"So what's the plan for today?" Ben asked Yuka, Yuka looked at Mayu and Nana, who was looking at her back and she whispered something in his ear, he nodded and nodded again, and as she stopped he went wide-eyed. "Oh...ok sounds good." He said.

"What's going on?" Mayu asked curiously.

"I'll tell you later Mayu," Yuka said with a sly smile, something Mayu raised an eyebrow at, she then looekd at Ben and have a sly smile of his own.

"You'll find out later sis." He said as Mayu sighed a bit and rolled her eyes, but smiled at her big brother figure and adoptive mother. Nana was still confused and wondering what was going on. After a few minutes, Nozomi came back out with some bowls full of yummy Ice Cream. Nana looekd down at teh frozen treat with wonder and confusion, she then saw everyone else smile at her as she looked back at the treat and gulped nervously. She took her spoon, dunk it in and put the spoonful in her mouth

"WOOWW!" She said as she went wide-eyed, some of the others were startled by her outburst as she kept eating. "This stuff is amazing! What do I do Mayu? I can't stop eating it!" she said as he started taking big spoonfuls in her moth.

"Uh, Nana?" Ben said. "If you keep eating like that you're going to-" But he didn't get a chance to finish as Nana immediately dropped her spoon and put her hand on her forehead. "Give you a headache.." He deadpanned.

"Looks like you figure it out though." Mayu said with a small smile and Yuka and Nozomi giggled.

"Don't feel too bad Nana," Ben said as he was unknowingly taking large spoonfuls himself. "It's happened to all of us at one-" Ben stopped, and all of a sudden dropped his spoon...oh no...he didn't

"GAHHH!" He yelled, startling everyone. "BRAIN FREEZE!" He yelled as he then banged his head on the table. "Head..hurting...can't think..." He whimpered as he was shaking.

"Oh, Ben..." Mayu said sympathetically as she went over and rubbed her brother's head with comfort. The other girls looked at him with worry, but then they heard some footsteps approaching.

"Is everything alright?" Kouta asked as he had Nyu with him. "We heard some screaming!" He said with concern.

"It's alright, Ben just had a brain freeze from too much Ice Cream," Yuka said with a small frown. Nyu saw Ben whimpering and instantly ran over and kneeled down to him.

"Ben?" She asked worriedly as he had his hands on his head. Nyu was worried and shook his arm gently. "Ben hurt?" She asked with concern. Ben rubbed his head a few more before slowly looking up to face the girl's worried look.

"I'm alright now...just a headache at teh moment...it's alright Nyu." He said with a small smile.

"Yayy!" She said as she clapped her hands happily. Kouta sighed in relief, as he turned to face Nana he frowned again, albeit a littel bit, not aobut the whole attack on Nyu, but more on how she might be connected some way to her, because of their horns.

"Nana," Kouta said to the girl. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked. Nana looekd a bit nervous, and she was not the only one.

(Eyecatch of Mayu walking with Greaymattter on her head)

(Eyecatch of Fourarms holding Mayu and Nana)

Nyu was over by the clock with Mayu and Nozomi. Turns out that Nyu was messing with the clock and trying to see if she could fix it, so she disassembled everything. So now the three girls were trying to figure out how to put the thing back together.

"I wonder where this piece goes..." Mayu was wondering.

"Uh...maybe there?" Nozomi said nervously while twidling her fingers. Mayu looekd at the older girl and gave her a small smile.

"you don't have to be nervous Nozomi, if we can't get this done then that's fine, we're all friends here." She said with a soft smile. Nozomi looked at her, and then at Nyu who was smiling as well.

"Right...thank you." she said giving her a small smile as well.

Meanwhile, The older members were in the dining room area. Kouta was sitting across from Nana and Yuka and Ben were both standing up while watching. Ben was pretty nervous, and he was not teh only one. This could go either way, but he already made a mental note to step in if either Nana or Kout awent out of line.

"You can ask me all you want!" Nana said, raising her voice a bit. "I won't tell you anything!" She said to them.

"Nana, just calm down." Ben said trying to appease her, but the horned girl just looked and pouted as she turned away.

"Yea," Yuka said. "We just want to know what your relationship with Nyu is." The older girl asked. They didn't want to know that much, they just wanted to know what kind of relationship or history she has with Nyu.

Ben, having been there at teh graveyard, knew right away that the relationship was not a positive one, and that this talk could go either way. And it was making him a bit nervous. Kouta looked at the girl and frowned some more, mainly due to her not talking.

"Look, if you don't want to talk to us, I'm not going to pressure you or anything like that." He said, Nana still continued to look away. "But you're not a guest like Nozomi is, there is a price you have to pay if you want to stay here, got it?"

"Kouta, you don't need to sound harsh on her." Ben scolded.

"I agree!" Yuka said while glaring at her cousin.

Nana's eyes started to shed tiny tears as she then got up. "Fine! If that's how it is, then I'm not hanging aorund this stupid place anymore!" She was trembling a bit,

"C'mon Nana..." Ben said. He wanted to walk over and I've her a hug but figured that it wouldn't be appropriate at the moment, so he stood where he stood, all the while glaring at Kouta a bit, he wished that the other boy wouldn't be so harsh to Nana, all he could do was shake his head in irritation and wipe his face.

"Fine then," Kouta said while crossing his arms. "If you don't want to pitch in and clean, then get out then." He said to her. Nana stopped trembling and turned to face him again with a confused look. "Everyone pitches in, me, Yuka, Ben, Nyu, even Mayu. That's just how it works, so you need to start earning your keep or else.."

"So...I can stay here then?" Nana asked him with wide-eyes.

Kouta looekd up at her as his look became calmer. "Well, where else were you going to go?" He asked his tone now a bit softer.

"Well..it's just.." Nana began to say, as tears began to swell in her eyes.

Meanwhile...

"I think everything is back where it goes...I think." Mayu said as she, Nyu, and Nozomi were looking at the fixed up clock, but after 10 seconds...all the gears and cogs fell out. This prompted the three girls to lower their heads in shame.

"Maybe...we should try again later?" Nozomi suggested nervously.

"Ok..." Mayu said dejectedly.

"Nyu." Nyu said sadly. Just then, they all heard crying coming from the other room and went to follow it, they rant o the dining room to see Nana, crying at the table, with Yuka and Ben trying to comfort her. Mayu went over there as well.

"It's just...I"M SO HAPPY!" Nana shouted out as tears ran down her face. "BEFORE ALL OF THIS...I WAS COMPLETELY ALONE, NOT UNDERSTANDING ANYTHING! I ONLY HAD MY PAPA AND THAT WAS IT!" She said as he put her nads to her face as teas came from between her fingers. "Always alone...always...living in fear..."She said through her tears. Ben gently took her hands away as he gave her a smile.

"You aren't alone anymore...We're here for you Nana." Ben said as Nana was looking at him with awe, she started trembling a bit as more tears came down her face. And she dug her head deep into Bens's chest and cried some more. Ben was started for a moment but smiled as he hugged her back.

"I feel...so happy!" Nana thought. "Papa...wherever you are...I hope you can meet the amazing people I have met."

Nyu looked on and couldn't help it..but when she saw Ben hugging Nana, she pouted and felt a bit jealous.

Diclonius Research Institute

Shirakawa and Isobe were sitting down at a table eating some steamed fish.

"So it will take a day then for her to get ready?" Shirakawa asked.

"Yea...that's what I was told...they have to get her new arm together, and then make sure she is fully cooperative."

"Good." Shirakawa said as she took a sip of her tea.

Isobe was thinking aobut something that was bothering him for a long time. That boy at the graveyard...how did that boy turn into that robot thing? And how was he that ghost thing too? Maybe...could he be useful I someway to the Institute? Hmmm...

"You know...Kurama and I mentioned aobut that boy you know when we came back from Kamakuraatter we picked up Number 7 a few weeks ago right?"

"Yes, and what aobut him?" Shirakawa asked.

"Well...do you think that...well I don't know, but that kid...its obvious he must have some weird ability like that...maybe he could prove himself useful to the Institute."

Shirakawa was looking at him. OF course, Kurama told her aobut what he did, and she was also grateful as well. She then gave Isobe a glare. "We are not doing that, we agreed to keep it a secret from the Director and we will do that." She said as Isobe nodded again.

"If he gets caught," Shirakawa said. "that it's his sown fault." However, in her mind, she was pleading to herself.

"Boy...if you really do exist...then please...get out of Kamakura while you can...please get out and save yourself before it's too late.." She pleaded mentally.

So, we got introduced to the violent Number 35, or Mariko. Ande Nana has found a place to call home, will she be able to fit in? Time shall tell :)

Next chapter will be another slice of life, I don't know if you know, but did any of you see the OVA of the anime? It was aobut Nana getting settled into Maple Inn, if you want, go check it out on Youtube. Also, expect Nana and Mayu to see some more of Ben's alien forms ;) Also after the next chapter, is when things will begin to go down

Please don't forget to read and review, I am always happy to her from you guys and always happy to answer any questions you might have :)

See you all next time :)