Thorne and Kook stared down at the equally shocked ninja. She didn't look too different; just a whole lot shorter and smaller than before. Her face was still streaked blue, and her hair was still tied into a ponytail. Her eyes, however, looked bigger, rounder, and gave her a more of an "innocent" look.

Nevertheless, no matter how innocent she seemed, the ninja was NOT happy.

"What the heck did you do to me?!" Shaiden yelled.

Thorne turned and glared at Kook. Kookaburra subtly took a step back.

"Hey, don't look at me!" he said defensively.

Thorne crossed his arms. "Why not? It's your fault! I told you not to touch anything, and what do you do? You nearly burn down my lab!"

"Okay, okay, maybe...part of it is my fault..."

Thorne's eyes sparked like a fire. "PART of it?"

Kook backed up a little more, knowing that it was a matter of life or death when Thorne was angry. Kook started speaking quickly, half-not knowing what was coming out of his mouth. "It's not that big of a deal-"

"SHE'S TEN YEARS OLD!" Thorne screamed, throwing his arms up. "OF COURSE IT'S A BIG DEAL, YOU STUPID BIRD!"

Kookaburra jumped back. "A-Alright, yes! It's a big deal! B-But we'll fix it!"

"You better hope so! 'Cause if she's stuck like that, I'm gonna make sure that you get Sore Tail Syndrome!"

"Whoa, there's no need to do that!" Kook said quickly.

"Ah-hem!"

Thorne and Kook removed their eyes from each other and looked down at Shaiden, who had her arms crossed.

"Will you two just shut up and fix the problem? Change make back!" Shaiden stomped her right boot on the floor. "Now!"

Thorne and Kook stared at the little ninja. Now that she was younger, she wasn't very scary. Actually, she seemed more...well, adorable. Kook couldn't help but grin. He bent down to about the ten-year-old's height.

"Aw, she's so cute!"

Shaiden roared furiously and kicked him in the shin.

"Ow!" Kook cried, grabbing his calf. "Hey! That was uncalled for!"

"THAT was uncalled for?!"

Shaiden lunged at Kook to strangle him, but he hopped out of the way before she could. She growled like a tiger, then chased him around the lab. The alchemist felt his blood pressure shoot up again.

"Alright, knock it off, you two!" Thorne ordered, knowing that one of them would break something sooner or later.

Kook ran back to Thorne and hid behind him. The alchemist angrily pushed him away just as Shaiden came into his reach. He grabbed hold of her, then began calming her down. After Shaiden's rage was under control, Thorne got back to discussing the problem.

"Alright, we need to change Shaiden back."

"Duh, I just said that!" Shaiden muttered.

Thorne shot his sister a look.

"Okay, so...Thorne, what was in that slime formula of yours?" Kook asked.

"My formula only made things shrink, it didn't make things any younger!"

"Well, something had to!" Kook declared, throwing his arms up.

The alchemist and the bird each paused to think. Suddenly, Kook's eyes brightened.

"Hey, maybe it was my magic!"

Thorne stared at the bird. His eye twitched. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face. "You have got to be kidding me- Kook, there is no such thing as magic!"

"No, Thorne, really! I'm magical! It's in my blood; most kookaburras know how to do magic!"

Thorne felt a very strong urge to smack Kook upside the head. "Kook, your flames are not magical! It's just a trick! You're just using lighters!"

The bird shook his head. "I'm not using lighters, mate."

Kook showed his open hands, then "finger snapped" more flames.

"See? It's really magic!"

Thorne stared at the bird's empty hands. He wasn't one to get too excited about things, so he wasn't very amazed.

But just a little.

The alchemist sighed and rubbed his face. "Okay...bottom line is, Shaiden changed into a ten year old. We need to change her back into...an adult."

Kookaburra cocked his head. "But how do we do that?"

Thorne rubbed his chin. "Well...I'll probably have to make another slime formula to reverse the result...and..." I can't believe I'm saying this. "...I guess, add some magic to it."

Kook nodded. "Makes sense. Maybe a little bit of my magic and some of your science turned her into a ten-year-old."

"Or perhaps it only makes her look younger."

The observing ten-year-old groaned. "I don't care how it happened! Just change me back to normal or you're gonna feel the wrath of Shaiden!"

Kook looked at her, then laughed. "Aw, her English accent just makes her even cuter!"

The ninja, along with Thorne, glared hardly at Kook. Kookaburra, still smiling, looked from face to face, then sympathetically patted the alchemist's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Thorny; you're cute, too."

Thorne brutally slapped the bird's arm. "Shut it."

Kook stifled his groan, then watched as Thorne walked back to his work station.

"I'll get working on the new formula," he stated, pulling out more bottles of chemicals. He turned back to Kook, then pointed at the ninja. "And I want you to keep an eye on her!"

"Oh, what?" Shaiden groaned. "Come on! I can take care of myself!"

Thorne ignored his sister's whine. "Make sure she ain't mistaken for an Attacker! Now get out!"

"Thorne, I'm not three!" the ninja cried. "Don't make Kook babysit me! I'll be just fine!"

The alchemist looked at his sister seriously. "Shaiden, I don't know what that slime formula did to you. And until I do, I need someone to watch you to make sure that you're functioning properly." Thorne moved his gaze to Kook. "You make sure to tell me if she starts acting funny."

"You got it, Thorne."

"Now both of you, leave me alone so I can work on the new formula."

The ninja shot a look at her brother, then reluctantly followed Kook out the door. Out in the hall, after Kook shut the lab's door, he turned his attention to Shaiden.

"So, now that you're ten and I'm watching you..." Kookaburra grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Want any ice cream?"

The young ninja rewarded Kook's inquiry with an icy glare.

Woo, this one was difficult. I don't know why, but it was. Okay, sorry if the characters weren't in character. I'll try to make the next chapter better.

Please review, and thanks for reading!

Canadians reading this, enjoy the second season premiere, tonight! Lucky!