While the ninja were outside searching for things to make a vehicle with (like a jiggly-compact-compress-converter... or that might've been a compress compact jiggly converter. She wasn't sure), Hikari was hard at work with her own project.

She'd found enough good scrap metal to alter Mindroid's appearance. She'd also found a good name (although it was more of an acronym) for him- Miniature Interactive Capable Assistive Help, or M.I.C.A.H.

Mindroid now looked like a regular little kid, except for the panels on his chest and arms, that is. He had black hair that looked remarkably like Lloyd's style now, and green eyes that looked a little like Hikari's eyes. She'd been tempted to add in multiple things, but decided against it due to her not understanding his system. One day when she had the time, she'd examine it. Then she could have some fun!

She placed the final piece of scrap metal on his eye, and sat back with a smile. For something she'd been working on all day, it actually had turned out okay. She reached out and turned Micah back on.

Micah sat up. "Hi Micah," Hikari said gently.

Micah beamed and hugged Hikari, making her blink a little in surprise. "Hi mommy!"

She still wasn't used to that.

Hikari chuckled and gently ruffled her fingers through his fluffy black hair. "Hey there, Micah. Do you like your new body?"

She held up a mirror. Micah examined himself so thoroughly Hikari almost laughed, as he even stuck out his tongue (Hikari had given him a tongue, yes) and widened his eyes. It looked very realistic. Hikari was proud of herself for fixing it, although most of the credit still went to Zane's dad and Pixal.

"I like it!" Micah said finally, beaming up at Hikari. "Thanks mommy!"

Hikari chuckled and placed her hand on his forehead, gently brushing away fluffy locks of hair. "That's good," she said softly.

Nariko came over to Hikari, who'd been kneeling in the shade of one of the scrap metal heaps to do her work, with a sort of tablet tucked under her arm. "Hey, Hikari."

Hikari nodded to her sister, and Micah looked up at her. "Who's that?" He pointed.

Hikari chuckled. "That would be my sister, Nariko."

"So... she would be my... auntie?" Micah asked, tilting his head innocently. Once again Hikari had to marvel the fact that he was so childish. "Yep, that's Auntie Nari."

Nariko rolled her eyes and gently bonked her sister on the head with her fist. "Gee, thanks. Anyway, I just wanted to give you this- Jay whipped it up so you can talk to Lloyd. The falcon's with him right now."

Hikari's face and eyes lit up so much she almost looked like a lantern. "Really?!" she reached out and took the tablet. "Gimme."

Nariko grinned, saluted, and sauntered back over to HER boyfriend.

Lloyd's face flickered onto the screen, and Hikari beamed at her boyfriend, who looked just as happy to see her. "Hikari! Hey!" he said, warmly.

"Hey Lloyd, what's up?"

"Climbing through the mountains... so, not much. What about you?" he responded. Hikari was about to respond when Micah tugged at her shirt. "Mommy, who's that?"

Hikari set the tablet down and heaved Micah into her lap. "Um... Lloyd, this is Micah. He was previously a nindroid that I hacked into and then accidentally made him more childish, so I changed his appearance and he's coming with us. Micah, this is Lloyd, my boyfriend."

Lloyd's expression was priceless. "I- you- you hacked one- and now he's like a kid-?!" he blurted out, looking utterly confused, shocked, and slightly amused all snowballed into one.

"So... is Lloyd my daddy then?" Micah asked innocently.

Hikari and Lloyd looked at each other with twin blushes on their faces as they stared at each other. Then Micah. Then back at each other again.

"Er..." Hikari cleared her throat. "I mean, if Lloyd's okay with it-"

"I mean," and Lloyd was blushing, "since... well, since it's you and I, and he's calling you mom, I, I guess it makes sense..."

"Sure, okay..."

Micah watched his two 'parents', who were both blushing up a storm, before beaming at Lloyd. "Okay! Mommy misses you daddy!"

"Does she?" and Lloyd wiggled his eyebrows at Hikari, who just blushed even more. "Lloyd, thou art a villain," she teased, but she was still blushing heavily at him.

Lloyd grinned at her. "Well, then, I'll come capture you after this whole thing's over, okay?"

Hikari blew a kiss to him. "Of course. I'll come with you willingly, darling." The two of them started giggling their heads off, and Micah just blinked innocently before Hikari sighed, "Okay, but I gotta go and help Nya, I think she and Zane are doing something with Pixal..."

"Okay," and Lloyd smiled at her again, "Love you. Stay safe."

"Love you," Hikari repeated, "you too."

The screen flickered out, and Hikari stretched luxuriously, like a cat, before walking back to Ed and Edna's trailer.

Nya was holding a glowing half of Zane's 'heart' in her hand, and looking at him in concern. "Are you sure you want to do this? Modifying your original design could have... unintentional consequences."

Zane frowned, his eyes clouding. "No... I am not sure. But we need Pixal, just as much as she needs us right now. I think I am willing to take that risk. And... she risked her life for me. It is the least I can do to get her back."

Hikari frowned. "But I'm not even sure if your battery will work. Look, when I made Mindroid's, I was doing my best to base it off your design, but I don't know what makes Pixal tick. What might work for you... may not even do anything for her."

Zane looked at Pixal's inert body, before saying slowly. "I know that I may end up hurting myself... but... it's the least I can do."

"... wait, I want to try something. Nya, put it back in, just for a moment." Nya, looking puzzled, placed it back in. Hikari tilted her head before leaning in, so she was closely examining it. "Zane, try forcing things to remain in one half of your 'heart' for a moment."

Zane blinked, before shutting his eyes. The ebbing, pulsing glow stopped, and all of the lighter blobs (except for a few) squeezed its way into one half.

"Nya, quick, take the half with less stuff," and Nya was quick to take it out, whereupon Zane relaxed. The glowing, ebbing blobs of matter inside started circulating around its now much-more-crowded new circuit. Nya examined it. The blobs inside were very small.

"I hope that there's nothing important in this side, now," and Nya carefully placed it into the open panel on Pixal's chest.

She whirred to life, and Hikari couldn't help but smile and put her arm around Micah as Pixal let out a gasp. "Where am I? What happened?" she asked, looking bemused.

Her green eyes fell on Zane's 'heart'. "You gave me half your power source," she stated, "my... processor does not compute."

Zane shrugged. "You are the only one who knows Borg's system. You are vital to the mission."

And then his gaze softened, his cheeks flushed slightly, and he glanced away. "And... I think you might be vital to me."

He extended his hand shakily, and Pixal slowly took it, and a little spark travelled through their fingers. Hikari beamed as Edna said warmly, "Awww, robot love. Call me a sucker, but they don't even have half of what you and Jay have," and she was looking at Nya.

Pixal blinked. "Nya and Jay? Judging by Perfect Match Compatibility, perhaps Nya and Cole may be a closer comparison."

Hikari let out a gasp. "Wait- Perfect Match?" she asked, and her eyes were wide as she looked at Pixal. "Pixal, are you using your own Perfect Match system, or...?"

"No, I am referring to the original database files," Pixal responded.

"But that's it- the main one was corrupted. When we first got to Borg Industries I spotted the Overlord's eyes on the screen of the Perfect Match Console. I think the Overlord's just trying to stir up trouble among us!" And then she shrugged. "Either that, or he just takes an interest in people's relationships. Who knows?'

Everyone let out a snicker or a snort at the last part, before becoming more serious about the matter.

"I am not sure if the files were corrupted or changed," Pixal responded quietly, "I do not have access to the programming, and therefore cannot find it. But judging from the files I found in the database, Nya and Cole are a perfect match."

Jay spluttered, and everyone turned to see him. "Cole's Nya's perfect match?!" he cried out.

Hikari raised her hands placatingly. "W-we don't know that, Jay... it could easily be the Overlord trying to mess with us," she quickly intervened.

"Mommy's right! If the Overlord can take over cars and traffic lights, he can most certainly take control of a machine that pairs you up with people," Micah piped up.

Nya smiled apologetically at Jay's sad expression, and walked towards him. "Jay..."

She reached out towards him-

The door opened.

"Huh- so quiet in here. What'd I miss? Signature Jay Walker gutbuster?" Cole asked casually as he walked in.

Jay's eyes flashed as he whipped around. "You- backstabbing, no good-!" And he lunged at Cole.

Hikari got in the way and grabbed him by his shoulders. "Jay, calm down!" she cried, alarmed.

Micah turned to Cole, smiled apologetically, before helping Hikari restrain Jay. Everyone except Nariko blinked at the sight of the little mindroid. "Er... who's this kid?" Kai asked.

"Mindroid. Although he is now Miniature Interactive Capable Assistive Help, a.k.a. Micah," Hikari responded distractedly as she gripped Jay's shoulders, "Jay, calm down, seriously, it's not Cole's fault!"

"What's not my fault?" Cole looked confused.

Micah took a deep breath before rattling off, "So Nya went to try out the Perfect Match machine back in Borg Industries but then her perfect match came up as you but mommy saw the Overlord's eyes on the screen so she's thinking that the Overlord actually corrupted the machine to give a false answer to cause discord between all of you and Jay's mad at you because Pixal just said you were Nya's perfect match due to the files."

"And I thought Jay was the only one who did that," Hikari mumbled, making an uncomfortable laugh spread through the room. "Look, guys, why don't we all go do something else for a bit? Calm down. Jay, Nya, Cole, please don't go near each other for a while, we don't need a catfight. I'm gonna go spend some time with Micah."

And with that, the two of them walked off.

Kai and Nariko shared a look before they left the trailer. Ed and Edna took their son's arms. "Why don't we keep working on the hovercopter, okay son?"

Jay shot Cole a look of loathing. "... sure," he said finally. Cole gave Nya a sheepish look before heading off. "I'm... just... gonna try to go help."

Nya sighed and picked up some tools. "Well I might as well fool around... you guys can do whatever you like." And she left, heading off to go do who-knows-what.

x

"Mommy?"

Hikari looked down at Micah, with his big innocent green eyes and his hopeful expression. "Oh- yeah, Micah?"

"So... what does Daddy do?" Micah tilted his head slightly as he looked up at his 'mother' in confusion.

"He's the Golden Ninja," and then Hikari pointed at herself, "and I'm the Silver Ninja."

Micah blinked, and binary code came flickering over his eyes. "Analyzing databanks," he stated simply, before, "so the Overlord is after you for your power?"

Hikari sighed and nodded sadly. "Yes, unfortunately. It's annoying."

Micah giggled at the slightly offhand comment and nuzzled his mom. "Well, I know you can beat him, mommy!" He made a cutely heroic pose that made Hikari just giggle slightly.

"Aww, thanks, you," and she gently ruffled his hair, making him squeal and hug her with delight.

Hikari smiled slightly and carefully squeezed the child, who happily hugged her back, smiling brightly at her. She was strongly reminded of herself as a child, but she was pretty sure that was a coincidence.

Or perhaps when she hacked him she'd transferred part of her personality to him. Who knows, she really had no idea of knowing. And even if she did... well, it's not like she wanted to change that at all.

"Mommy, do you and Daddy love each other?"

"Yes," and Hikari sighed, a happy smile coming over her face as she answered the question, "Lloyd and I love each other."

Micah was silent for some time, before stating, "Well, if you and Daddy love each other, then I love you just as much. No, wait-" and he spread his arms as wide as he possibly could, "I love you more!"

And what could Hikari do when he casually stated this except for shake her head with a soft laugh and hug her little kid?

A/N: This chapter is probably much shorter than some of my other ones, for good reason. One, I actually am typing this up in the Notes of my iPad, which means I can't write nearly as well. And two... Originally I planned for Zane and Pixal to try to get to know each other better as well as give Micah a new design... and then I realized that Pixal is relatively new and Zane is, well, Zane, so they wouldn't have much to talk about. So, it'd be a relatively short talk.

Next chapter is the rest of this particular episode. So, toodleoo, hope you liked this shorter chapter! Bye!

Responses to commenters:

Fanfiction:

MMM: Hehehe xD Lloyd is just like 'who the what now?' And the Serpentine don't show up for another two chapters, I think.

Michelle Rita: Yes! I think Nariko is definitely a pretty down-to-earth person, so she'd definitely act like that. Nariko doesn't blush as much, because she's not nearly as innocent, but... I'm glad you like the shipping xD

Shelly Marsh: (pokes you) You alive?

Guest: Mmhm.

molly654: Sorry, I am not accepting OCs like that for this story... and thanks :)

Sandshrew master 317: Ding ding ding!

Guest: ...? (could you pinpoint what I wrote wrong? It's pretty much impossible unless I physically go back and reread the chapters... and I don't really do that.

Quotev:

MCianEnder: And you has that!

LovelyLife: Everyone says that xD

Katherynn: Oh :) Thanks! I'm glad you like this story! Don't worry, I'm definitely planning on finishing it. :)

Painted Wings: Thank you for all the fanart!

Wattpad:

pinkninjagirl101: Hehe xD

Narwhal_Power: Pffft xD

Bye!

x.X. A.L. X.x.