(A/N: Well, here it is, the chapter that you've been waiting for. For those of you who have been curious about what she is, guess what? This is it. We're going to find out what she is. I'm personally very excited, so I hope you guys enjoy this.)
X~v~X-Y-X~v~X
The sun fell over the horizon and dim stars were beginning to appear in the overhead violet sky. It's a beautiful time of day that usually means that it's time to relax with the family, but not this time. Because it was time for the Tennysons to say goodbye to Layla.
Ben and Gwen didn't want to see her go, but they understood why she had to. They just hoped that this wouldn't be the last time they see her.
She gave a hug to Gwen, "Bye, Gwen." She then gave one to Ben, "Bye, Ben."
She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and sniffled, "We'll miss you."
"I'm going to miss you guys, too," she replied sadly.
"Well, Patelliday," Max started, "you take care of yourself."
They shook hands and he replied nonchalantly, "Take care, Max, and don't you worry 'bout a thing. I'll make sure to take good care of her."
He nodded, "I'm counting on you." They then pulled closer to each other while the kids gave their tearful goodbyes, "Be sure to call me as soon as you get the results." They pulled back from each other and let go of their hands.
"You can count on me," he responded. "Ready to go?" he asked Layla.
She nodded, "I'm ready." She pulled a small bag that held the clothes Gwen gave her, as well as some clothes they bought her, and her old sweater.
He put his hand around her shoulder, "Well, we better be taking our leave now."
Max gave a two-fingered salute to him, "Take care."
He returned the friendly gesture, "You too, Max."
A bright light engulfed them and they disappeared in a flash. It was almost a sobering and surreal feeling for Ben and Gwen to suddenly see someone disappear so suddenly, but of course they knew it was for the best.
"Do you think we'll ever see her again?" Gwen asked sadly and innocently.
The only answer Max could give her was, "Only time will tell."
The last thing Layla remembered seeing was the Tennyson family before a bright light obstructed her vision. The next thing she knew they were suddenly inside a high-tech facility full of people wearing suits identical to the one worn by Patelliday.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"Plumber Satellite Beta, a Plumber base just a mere fifteen light years from Earth," he explained.
They began to walk through the base and she just couldn't help but to notice all the stares she was getting. It made her feel uneasy, but she had to figure it was because she was human and that there weren't many humans stationed there.
He led her down a hallway where there was an infinite number of doors on both sides. He stopped at a door and opened it by pressing a button on the panel right next to it.
A light turned on as soon as they walked into the room. The room had light gray walls, a charcoal gray, almost black, linoleum floor, and instead of a bed there was a mattress sized tank full of water.
He went over to another door and opened it with the panel next to it, "This will be your room."
She saw that her room was a mirror image of his, albeit much smaller and had a bed instead of a tank. She set her bag down on the floor and sat on the bed.
"As soon as Max asked me to take you in, I requested to be moved into the family quarters," he explained.
She didn't say anything and just stared off into space. He sat down next to her and put a comforting arm around her.
"Look," he started in a reassuring and understanding manner, "I know that it's hard, but just know that myself and Max did it for your sake."
She still didn't say anything, but leaned her head on his shoulder. He pulled her close into a comforting embrace as she started weeping.
They stayed like that for a little while until she finally calmed down and he stood up from her bed and asked, "Would you like to see something?"
She shrugged, "Sure. What is it?"
He waved a hand in front of a circular object on the wall and it opened like a camera lens to reveal a window. Outside was a view of the endless void of space along with infinite stars and planets and other stellar bodies.
She was in total awe at the beautiful sights, before she could only enjoy the stars from the ground and point out all the constellations she could find and identify on sight alone. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
However, she just couldn't help but to notice how everything seemed to be in place. It was as if everything was stuck in suspended animation.
"Why does it look like nothing's moving?" she asked.
"That's because this base is a space station, suspended in place," he answered.
She grinned brightly and her eyes glazed over, "That's amazing!"
He rubbed her shoulder, "Get some sleep, I'll have to wake up early, so if you want to see me before I go you'll have to get up at the crack of dawn."
He walked out of the room and the door shut behind him as he walked out, leaving her alone. She looked out the window to look out into the void of small white sparkles and colorful planets.
She waved her hand in front of the window and it closed. She smiled and let out a small laugh, 'I guess this won't be so bad after all.'
She woke up when she heard water swish around, she turned on a light and crawled out of bed. The door to her bedroom slid open and she saw Patelliday putting on his Plumber suit and fitting some kind of machine around his neck. It was black with some metal in some areas.
He saw her by the doorway, "Oh, good morning. Didn't think you'd get up this early."
"What's that around your neck?" she asked curiously.
"It's a breathing apparatus," he answered, "gives me water every couple of minutes."
"You didn't have one yesterday," she pointed out.
"I don't need it if I'm able to keep myself hydrated," he replied.
"Oh. Where are you going?" she asked again.
"Well, our newbies aren't going to learn the ropes themselves," he responded pointedly.
"What does that mean? What does it mean to 'learn the ropes'?" she questioned.
He chuckled, "Well, aren't you curious? It means I have to show them the security systems and show them how to operate them and what procedures they have to follow in case of an emergency."
He finished clamping the apparatus around his neck just as he finished his explanation. He then proceeded to finish with the rest of his suit.
He checked the devices of his suit and apparatus and nodded in satisfaction. "Well, looks like everything's working alright," he checked the time and realized that it was nearly time to report for duty. "Uh oh, time to go." He packed some small devices in the pouches of his suit and opened the door. "Someone will come by later with food. I'll be back just as soon as I can."
He rushed out of the room and the door shut as soon as he left. That left her alone with nothing to do while he was gone. Since he said that someone would be coming later she decided to freshen up a little.
She went back to her room and stepped into the bathroom. The bathroom was solid white and was roughly identical in size to the width of her bed, which wasn't that big. It consisted of a sink, a toilet and a shower that took up half the bathroom.
She stripped down and stepped into the shower. It was a quick shower because all she had to clean herself was a bar of soap and a small bottle of shampoo/conditioner.
When she used the soap she just couldn't help but to notice how luxurious it felt when it got soapy. She really enjoyed the smooth, clean feeling it gave her skin.
She couldn't spend forever admiring her personal hygiene products, she had to finish freshening up. She washed off all the soapy bubbles on her body and in her hair.
She turned off the water, stepped out of the shower, and wrapped a towel around herself. The towel was short and just barely covered her upper thigh.
She dried off her body and gave her hair a quick dry. She then changed into the clothes she wore the other day: a periwinkle shirt, a black, white, and red flannel jacket, and instead of tan shorts she put on black pants.
While brushing her hair, there was a knock at her door. She finished brushing and opened it exactly how Patelliday did.
At her door was a young male in his late-teenage years wearing a Plumber suit. He had light blue almost off-white skin with a long neck with silver accents on the sides and along his jawline and cheeks. He was tall, easily twice her height, and very thin. He had large, solid black eyes that were a deep abyss full of emotion.
"Hello. Can I help you?" she asked politely.
"Hello, I am Bai-Obi," he introduced himself, his voice was very soft and formal. "I was instructed by Magister Patelliday to bring you sustenance," he gestured to a metal tray carrying packages he was holding. There were over a dozen packages in total.
She took the tray from him with a small smile, "Thank you."
He was about to leave, then remembered something, "Apologies, I forgot to give you your water." He handed her a white thermos that had been previously hanging from his belt. "Please, enjoy your meal."
"Thank you," she responded as he walked away.
She looked at the packaging of the food on the tray, she couldn't read them but she could interpret what they were based on small pictures. So as long as the pictures weren't some type of misconception.
From what she was able to interpret, the largest package was the main meal, it was some kind of meat with vegetables. The second largest was the appetizer, it was some kind of bread with a savory filling. The rest of the larger packages were snacks and a dessert - there were three in total - while the smaller ones were seasons, condiments, and powdered drinks - there were seven in total.
Along with the food was a brown plastic fork and a heating element. According to the instructions, in order to heat the food, water had to be added to the heating element.
She did just that and made sure to only add a small amount of water from the thermos. It started to steam, so she placed the main meal with the heating element and placed them aside.
While that was heating up, she decided to open the package containing the appetizer. She saw it was log-shaped and appeared to be plain bread. She tore a piece off and discovered that inside was a type of meat with cheese. She took a bite out of it and thought it tasted like the food provided by homeless shelters, which she was very familiar with.
She placed the appetizer aside and tried to pick up the meal, but pulled her hand away due to the intense heat. She blew on her hand to stop the heated pain.
She noticed the steam from the heating element created perspiration on the wall. She used her powers to lift it off and shape it into a sphere of water. She clenched her fist and the water turned into ice, which she used to cool off the heating element.
Once it stopped steaming, she carefully pulled it from it, as to not accidentally burn herself again. She opened it and started to eat her meal.
It wasn't long after this that she heard the door of the living chamber open and her door opened just a few seconds later. It was Patelliday, and he looked tired yet still looked like he had enough energy left in him to last a few more hours.
"How's your day so far?" he asked with a smile, exposing all of his pointed yet straight teeth.
"Kind of boring," she replied, "there's not much to do in here. What about you?"
"My day's been pretty busy," he responded. "I tell ya, it's like these recruits just don't wanna learn!"
She laughed at that and just couldn't help but to be reminded of Ben. He just didn't like to listen to anyone.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asked.
She nodded, "Yeah, but not all of it. It's a little too much for me to eat. Have you eaten anything yet?"
"Yes, I have," he answered. "Don't worry if you can't finish it, you can just eat it later." He then suddenly told her, "Get your shoes on."
"Why?" she questioned, confused.
"My commanding officer told me that you need to be physically examined," he informed her. "It's just for safety reasons in case you have any diseases or anything like that."
Technically the safety reasons were true, he knew the risks of introducing someone to a Plumber base and tests are the only thing to tell if there are any risks to Plumber health. But the real reason why he wanted tests to be done were because of something else entirely.
She nodded understandingly, "Okay. I'll get them on." She put her shoes on and they walked out of the quarters.
He led her to the infirmary and noticed that she looked a little nervous. He patted her back in a reassuring manner, "Don't you worry, the doctors here will take great care of you."
They walked in and were greeted by a doctor, "Hi, I'm Dr. Uril, I'll be examining you." She looked human, but she had green skin and the sclera in her eyes was colored gold.
"I gotta go back to work," he told Layla, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll see you later."
"Follow me," Dr. Uril gestured for her to follow her.
She led her into a small plain white room with a round table and a chair. On the table was a basin of water, but nothing else.
"This is the examination room, I'll just be outside looking through that glass window," she said.
The window she referred to was one-way glass. Meaning, she wouldn't be able to see out, but anyone outside could see in.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"Just do what you can with the water," she replied. She sat in the chair and Dr. Uril left the room.
She sat there for a little while and just stared at the water. She then closed her eyes and focused, the basin then levitated off the table without spilling a drop. She carefully set it down on the table, still without losing a drop.
The water then started to move on its own and began to dance in the basin. It then suddenly erected like stalagmites and they turned into ice.
The ice suddenly cracked and separated into quarter-sized pieces. Those pieces hovered above her head in a circle and sparkled beautifully under the lights.
The pieces then paused in mid-air and just hovered as if in suspended animation. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists, the ice disintegrated, it had turned into air.
She started to wave her hand around and small water droplets appeared on her hand. She moved her hand around more and her entire hand and wrist was covered with water. She placed her hand in the basin and the water shedded off her skin.
Dr. Uril opened the door, "That was very good, now I'm just going to take you to get your blood drawn and take your temperature."
"Okay," she responded and stood up.
She led her to a medical bed and she turned her back for a moment. She set up serology equipment next to her and took out a disposable thermometer.
"While that's warming up, I'll take your temperature," she told her.
She nodded and opened her mouth for the thermometer. She placed it under her tongue and she closed her mouth. She opened it when it started beeping.
"Good news, no temperature," she said. She placed a transparent tape on her arm and took out a metal object. "Don't worry, this will only pinch for a second and I only need a small amount."
She nodded and she applied a little pressure to her arm as she pressed the blood extractor on her skin. It did pinch for a second, but nothing else afterwards. She removed it from her arm and placed it onto a computer.
She checked the results and nodded, "Okay, it doesn't show anything unusual."
"That's good, right?" she asked.
She nodded, "Mhm. That's a very good thing. It means you don't have any diseases that could cause concern for your health or Plumber safety."
It was now the early morning hours and Layla was fast asleep in her bed. Patelliday was awake although he was off duty for another couple of hours.
He was looking through his Plumber badge, he was looking at the results of her 'examination'. Now that he had what he needed, it was time to call Max.
He went into his bathroom so that there was no risk of awakening Layla. He activated the badge communicator and asked. "Max, it's Patelliday, are you there?"
"Yes, Patelliday," Max replied.
Back on Earth, Max stepped out of the Rust Bucket with his badge in hand. It was close to three o'clock in the morning and it was pitch black outside.
"What are the results?" he asked.
"According to a DNA test done on her blood, she's roughly seventy-five percent human and twenty-five percent Ectonurite," he informed.
'Ectonurite? That explains her vulnerability to the sun gun,' he thought.
But that just begged the question: where did the Ectonurite DNA come from? Having only twenty-five percent of the DNA could mean a grandparent or a distant relative. But Ectonurites rarely leave the Anur System, it would be an extremely uncommon occurrence for one to leave their homeworld, let alone for one to mate with a human. But anything is possible.
"How does that explain her powers? Could that have something to do with her Ectonurite heritage?" he questioned.
"It could, but I doubt it," he answered.
"And why's that?" he inquired.
"Her powers were analyzed and it was discovered that she's giving off some kind of energy," he explained. "And here's the kicker, the energy she gives off is identical to the energy of Anodites."
Anodites?! Anodites are a very cheerful race of energy beings and they are known to interact with humanity, Max knew this from his own personal experience.
Not only that, but Anodites don't have genetic material as they are made of energy, therefore the DNA of the other parent - if the other parent is not an energy being - will pass on their DNA, making their children one hundred percent one parent. It could absolutely explain her powers.
Still, this was something that hit him hard. Verdona, his ex-wife, left him when she got tired of humanity and they lost almost all contact. The only time he ever sees her is when she visits their old private place. She never talked about her personal life after they separated, so for all he knows Layla could be her daughter.
"I see," was all he could utter.
"Max, I know what you're thinking, she's not Verdona's daughter," he told him.
"How do you know?" he asked quietly.
"Well, Anodites may not have DNA, but they do have an energy signature that's unique to every individual Anodite," he clarified. "We documented Verdona's energy signature years earlier, not long after you two married. Her energy signature was compared to Layla's and there are no similarities between the two. It's very unlikely that she could have any relation to her."
That was reassuring, but it still begs the question: who is her family? This unusual combination of genetic material could indicate that she's either the result of some kind of Frankenstein experiment or she's really the product of an Ectonurite/Anodite/Human family tree.
Deciding to change the subject, he decided to ask, "How's she holding up?"
"She's doing good, a lot better than I thought she would," he replied, mildly joking. "She misses you and your grandkids."
"They miss her, too," he mentioned.
He missed her just as much as they did, especially since it was his idea to have Patelliday take her in. Not to mention that it was his fault for putting her in the hospital because he decided to turn a blind eye when he and the kids first saw her, he really wished he could go back in time and fix that mistake.
He then realized something and suggested, "Why don't you come down next week, it's my birthday and I'm sure the kids won't mind a little surprise."
He thought about it for a second before he answered, "That sounds like a good idea, I'm sure Layla will be thrilled."
X~v~X-Y-X~v~X
Name: Layla
Species: Human/Ectonurite/Anodite (genetically 75% human and 25% Ectonurite)
Homeworld: Unknown
Residence: Plumber Satellite Beta
Age: 13
Affiliations: Tennyson Family, Zs'Skayr (temporarily), Circus Freaks (formerly), Zombozo (formerly)
Occupation(s): Circus Performer (formerly), Thief (formerly)
Alias: Enigma, Sweetheart/My dear (by Zs'Skayr), Little Lady (by Patelliday)
Relatives: Patelliday (adoptive father)
Abilities: Matter Manipulation, Telekinesis, Quick Thinking, Stealth
Equipment: None
Appearance: She has pale skin, jet black hair and purple eyes.
She used to wear a black sweater with black and white sleeves while working with the Circus Freaks. She's since become fond of wearing a periwinkle shirt and a red, black, and white plaid jacket.
Personality: She used to be very timid and quiet, but has since become more open. She's one of the few who's not afraid of Ghostfreak/Zs'Skayr.
Powers and Abilities:
She can manipulate multiple states of matter and change them into another (ex. turning solids into liquid and gases into solid).
She possesses telekinetic powers that allow her to levitate different objects and materials. She can also shape objects to make them more lethal.
She's shown to be quite skilled with stealth and is able to sneak into places and out without being seen.
Weaknesses:
If she's too weak or strains herself too much, it will cause fatigue, poor vision, bodily weakness, etc. It often leads to the point of her not being able to stand under or own power and ends with her collapsing.
She's afraid of the Circus Freaks and Zombozo.
As demonstrated with Wildmutt, any solids she creates are shown to not be very durable.
There's a limit to how much she can lift with her telekinesis and it will drain her of her strength if pressured too much.
Interesting Facts:
The name Layla is of Egyptian/Arabic origins meaning "wine", "intoxication", "night", or "dark beauty".
She doesn't need to use her hands when using her powers, but prefers to because it decreases the chances of a headache.
She has more experience with her telekinesis and matter manipulation powers than Hex and Charmcaster because hers are natural and theirs are not.
She's one of the few who doesn't mind Max's cooking.
X~v~X-Y-X~v~X
(A/N: Don't know how I managed to pull it off, but I did. This was an emotionally tough chapter, especially at the beginning and end.
So, yeah, she is a human/alien hybrid, but I'm not going to reveal her heritage quite yet. I know, I'm very evil!
The next chapter of this is going to take a while because it's during the episode "Ben 10,000". If you guys want to see how Future Layla will be, definitely stick around. I think I can guarantee that you will like what you read.)