Cafas stood in the snow. well, he actually stood in a cleared patch about five metres in all directions from the point he stood. He had spent a fair amount of time clearing it too. Over a foot of snow, who ever heard of such a thing anyway? He was only outside because he couldn't get into the danger room. It was quite an annoying situation to be in. No, he had had to run around the mansion in the cold, then shovel snow out of the area he wished to use for training. On the up side it had provided a substantial wall all the way around his arena. Not that a wall was required, but it had been easier than just one large pile. Piles were ugly, his wall... Well it was also ugly too but it made a wicked fort. He adopted a fighting pose and began slowly running through his moves. Without any resistance on the other end of a punch one could not get much exercise from the faster blows. Instead Alchemist was running through everything slowly. Very slowly. To anyone watching it would look like he was going in slow motion. It was the same principle as dancing using martial arts moves slowed down, the slower he did it the more of a workout he got.

'Fun fun.'

It was a decent day, for winter anyway. It was crisp, the wind was nonexistent and it was slightly sunny, not that the sun was making a difference, lousy good for nothing lazy bastard. Cafas could feel the muscles in his arm beginning to burn and his abs seemed permanently locked on as e moved into a right hand upper cut. His sword and shield lay completely unattended behind him, resting against the snow bank he had created. He wasn't worried about them going anywhere, after all, he was on mansion grounds. He was beginning to think he would go for a swim next, the pool, being the mansions, was of course still somehow warm. But then he had to get inside, and that was no fun. He could just imagine trying to run into the mansion with icicles forming on his skin. Yup, sounded pleasant. He started on a sweeping side kick, step, turn, kick. He found it more useful as a leg sweep, but it was better for the muscles to do it higher, it stretched the ligaments in the legs too, which was good for flexibility, which was not his strong point to any degree.

'My jeans are soaked and my t-shirt needs a jumper over the top and I need to start thinking about this before I go outside during winter.'

Juka was confused and just a little bit unhappy. Or perhaps frustrated would be a better word than unhappy. Ever since Aura's attack and near killing of him his powers just hadn't been acting right. No, that wasn't quite right, they had started acting funny before Aura had attacked him but her attack had only enhanced the problem. He had thought that after his battle with Cthulu, along with numerous other brave mutants, he had fixed the problem but it was seeming more and more like that wasn't the case. Sure his bubble had begun obeying him again, disappearing and reappearing at will and sure he had figured out that he could use it to reduce his need for sleep and sustenance, but the other weird things hadn't disappeared. No, if anything they had only become more weird and more prominent and he just didn't know what to do about it. Why, just that morning he had been moving a seedling from one place to another when it had started to grow at a profound rate and, while he had watched it in awe, it had then proceeded to wither and die. How was he supposed to deal with that? Could he now make things grow and die at will? That was what Juka had come to the Mansion to find out.

Neither the snow nor the cold were of much concern to Juka, safe and warm as he was within his happy little bubble. People rarely looked up anyway so it wasn't much of a risk floating from his apartment to the Mansion, far above the heads of the land-locked mortals. Once he got to the Mansion, however, he wasn't quite sure what to do. It didn't seem very moral to experiment with his powers on hapless animals and, it being winter, there wasn't much in the way of green living plants to use. Should he just go inside and borrow someone else's plants then? But that didn't seem much more moral than the first option, so he was stuck with a problem. How to test out his new powers and what they could do without infringing upon anyone or anything else.

As Juka floated well above the Mansion, considering his problem, he noticed a familiar face emerge from below him and begin training. The man seemed to know what he was doing, far more than Juka did, that was for certain and for that reason Juka felt just a little bit envious. How would he ever become a proper X Man if he didn't know how to fight? Which he most certainly did not. On a whim, and not having much success figuring out how to test his powers out anyway, he floated down to the man. "Alchemist was it? How wonderful to see you again." Juka bowed, though he kept his bow relatively informal.

Cafas spun at the sound of his name. He dropped his foot but tensed. It was only Juka however. Juka was friendly enough, if a bit... odd. The bow was maybe a little strange also but each to his own. C.J. nodded in return. "Hey Juka. How you recovering from Christmas Eve?" Cafas walked over to the snow bank next to his newly polished and de-dented shield. It wasn't aggressive or defensive, he just planned on using them next. He figured he'd end with some more kickboxing to make up for the interruption to the session. Juka's bubble disturbed Cafas a little. Even for a mutation it was just a little creepy. Most likely the fact it was slightly reflective. Regardless of that though, the other mutant was almost never out of it from what he had seen. He thought he had spied him at the wedding but couldn't recall.

'What's he doing at he mansion though? Does he live here? I certainly don't remember seeing him here.'

Cafas sat on the snow banks and stretched out a little, just in case it took more time than he believed it would. Then he remembered in a flurry of brilliance that snow was wet when it melted. So the seat of his pants was now also wet. How brilliant. He sighed a little and leant back, still watching Juka. At least the snow was cold. That was nice. His hand was numbed by it. Another good thing was that his bandage was now off, although the stitches were still in. He was sick of them. They limited his ability to use his hand. If he punched anything solid the cut would hurt. It didn't seem logical but it happened. He hoped they would be out soon.

'That vein was cool though.'

"Oh I'm doing all right," Juka assured Alchemist with a dismissive gesture. "Did you hear? I'm not longer trapped in my bubble!" He couldn't prevent the excited tone that entered into his voice when saying as much. After all, it had only been a week since he had been freed of its confines and as much as he loved it on cold days like this, he also loved being able to be free of it when desired.

"More importantly, my dear, how are you recovering from Christmas Eve? What a horrid creature that was." Juka shuddered. As much as he now had ambitions of heroism, a repeat of Cthulu was not exactly what he had in mind. "But we were impressively victorious in the end, were we not?"

On a whim Juka decided to de-bubble. After all, Alchemist seemed to be enjoying the snow quite well, so perhaps there was something worth enjoying about it? In a moment he floated the final foot to the ground and, almost instantly, regretted the departure of his bubble as he began shivering. He knew there was a reason he traveled in it!

Cafas had not been aware Juka had been stuck in his bubble. Indeed he was a little surprised by the news. He had no idea how it could happen. Regardless he figured it was good news for Juka. "Well that's great Juka." Cafas smiled politely, still unsure as to quite the significance of Juka's achievement. He found himself looking at his slight reflection momentarily. He needed a shave, the stubble had grown out all over again and was getting unruly. He figured he could grow it out, but that would just make everything more difficult. He moved a hand over the stubble, feeling the roughness. It wasn't difficult to shave, just inconvenient.

'Still, why is he here? I wouldn't have thought he would visit me specifically.’

Cafas laughed. Yeah, sure it was spectacular. However, on the matter of his recovery. "I'm doing pretty well, just my hand to go, apparently it was a bad gash. I was lucky though, it didn't strike a vein." Alchemist held up the hand in question, the stitches visible. However he wanted to get back to training. Bubble boy made it worth it though by dropping his bubble. Perhaps he found it cold outside his bubble. Fair enough Cafas was cold, but he liked it. Anyway, it was still positive figures on the thermometer, and minus the wind chill factor and in the sun it had to be about seven! In his defence he did spend an awful lot of time in the bubble; Cafas spent his with a window open inside. Okay, now e could understand.

'Even still there is no certainty it was warm in the bubble, it doesn't seem solid enough to do much but float.

Juka hadn't been aware that anyone could possibly find his bubble disturbing. After all, its not like it did much outside of float around and make him warm. But if he was not greatly mistaken, he thought he detected just a hint of discomfort from Alchemist. How very puzzling. All he wanted to do was re-bubble himself (clearly un-bubbling hadn't been his brightest idea in the world) and be warm, but he didn't want to make Alchemist any more uncomfortable, so he stood there shivering. He really wasn't dressed for winter at all.

"I'm doing pretty well, just my hand to go, apparently it was a bad gash. I was lucky though, it didn't strike a vein."

"That's gr-gr-gr-great to h-hear," Juka managed to get out. "D-do you m-mind if I p-put my b-bubble back up?" It was polite to ask, especially if he was inadvertainly making someone uncomfortable. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

Cafas laughed as Juka shivered. Okay, perhaps he was being harsh in his judgement of weird, after all, he spent his days melting things and practicing swordcraft. Regardless he appreciated Juka asking, although the fact his discomfort had been apparent was all together rather lame. "Yeah sure, go ahead. What does that thing do anyway?" Cafas tilted his head to the side to indicate his question even if someone hadn't heard. Which would have been very odd. Regardless he had training to get to and He really did need to know what bubbles wanted, that way it would be done quicker. "So what brings you to my little arena?"

'Polite but direct, that's a new one for you Mr. blunty mcblunterson.'

Cafas noted that while the cold didn't feel cold he also couldn't feel pressure on his arms all too well. He pulled them off the snow bank. On further inspection they were both bright pink with Goosebumps. Bugger. Either way it was time to stand for this conversation. His butt was cold and stuff. Alchemist stood and smiled at Juka.

'Hmm snow equals cold, you're a genius...'

"Yeah sure, go ahead. What does that thing do anyway?"

Happily Juka's bubble returned, enveloping him in a warm bubbly cocoon of good. Almost instantly he stopped shivering. "Mostly it allows me to float around and pick stuff up, as well as ensuring that I don't get cold or wet or anything." By way of demonstration he did a couple of flips in the air and sent out a tendril to bubble a nearby rock. After a moment he let the rock fall back towards the ground. "Lately, though, its been acting a little strange." He sighed, feeling disgruntled at its lack of making sense all over again.

"So what brings you to my little arena?"

"Actually, I was hoping to try and figure out what was wrong with my bubble. Ever since Aura attacked me...but you probably don't want to hear about that. Lets just say apparently it can do more than I thought. Only problem is I can't exactly figure out what it can do and how to make it do it. Things jut keep happening whether I like it or not." A most frustrating reality to have to deal with. And none of those in charge at the Mansion were there to help him. Shin and Ghosty and his Jewely were all gone.

"I'd offer you a bubble but it doesn't really work that way," Juka said apologetically, noticing the goosebumps on Cafas' arms.

Cafas remembered when his powers had first manifested they had gone berserk. he had spent months simply avoiding touching metal in public les it turn to a puddle on the ground. He could understand distress when powers started being unusable again. or at least uncontrollable. C.J. nodded sympathetically. "Not sure how I can help you but I can always try. I'd offer you the danger room but it seems it is locked while the grownups are away, you know?" He wasn't pleased about that, he'd wanted to expand on a recently formed field of shaping things. Metal was far too expensive to buy and obvious to steal. Especially when he required blocks bigger than the object he was making and that much metal tended to be extremely heavy.

'It'll be fine though.'

Cafas was taken by surprise by the bubbling comment. It was only the fact his arms had been pressed against the snow for so long that made them so uncomfortable. "Nah, it's fine, just from resting them against the snow for so long." he grabbed his sword and attached it to his belt, picking his shield up in his left hand. He still didn't know if what Juka wanted would require him to stop his regime or not. It seemed however he was the only one around. "Oh and where did you get your anvils from and how much did they cost?"

'Cos that's important? When you have any money for the other tools let me know yes?'

"Not sure how I can help you but I can always try. I'd offer you the danger room but it seems it is locked while the grownups are away, you know?"

Juka appreciated the offer especially when it was so unexpected. After Aura he didn't really have much faith in the kindness of others but be was beginning to think that Alchemist was an ok person. Unfortunately he wasn't really sure if there was anything he could do to help. Unless he could spontaneously grow plants or something. But something told him that wasn't his power, especially with a name like Alchemist. That brought the idea of working with metal to mind, like changing steel to gold or something. But that did bring to mind the realization that he really had no idea what kind of power the man had.

"I don't know what you can do," Juka said unhappily. "All of a sudden strange things just started happening. You know my bubble now makes it so I don't have to eat or sleep? That part I can control." And that part most certainly had its uses too. "The problem is sometimes other stuff happens. One time Jolteon's fur started falling off, like he was shedding, and he grew his summer coat. Another time my nails started growing and wouldn't stop until I exited my bubble. And just this morning I caused a flower to bloom and then wither and die in the span of a couple hours." Juka sighed in frustration. "What am I supposed to do with that? You don't by any chance have a power that could help me figure this out do you? Or any non-power related insights for that matter?" Faint hope but it was worth a try.

"Oh and where did you get your anvils from and how much did they cost?"

Now that was a much easier question to answer and much less distressing. "Oh, here and there. I just floated around and purchased them one at a time in different forges and metal working places. I don't remember how much they cost but if you want I can buy you one. Or several for that matter." Money wasn't really something Juka payed much attention too. His parents, estranged though they were, made sure his bank accounts had enough money for him to lie comfortably and that was that. "Though I'm not sure what you'd want with anvils. Or how you'd carry them either. Unless you're some kind of telekinetic too?"

Cafas thought about Juka's problem for a second. To him it sounded rather odd indeed. Not that he had any experience with anyone else’s powers, only his own, so that tended to narrow one's perspective on things. He thought a moment longer before looking up. "Sounds like a time problem to me, your bubble seems to be picking stuff at random and pushing it through time faster, I mean like, your plant or whatever. Maybe you have time control in that thing of yours." He nodded slowly and thought about it a moment longer. Yeah that was the only thing he could think of. He decided t stop thinking about it, the laws of physics that broke were out of his range of thought.

'So, price of eggs in china huh?'

The second bit was far less strenuous to ponder. "Yeah just one would do. I'd love to say I could pay you back but I can't, which is a pain. But I'd probably keep it in my room. I do some blacksmithing every now and then when I can afford metal, or have some laying about" He smiled and thought some more. It wasn't about anything in particular. Actually, he could test his theory with something fairly simple. He just needed a piece of metal he wasn't in love with. "You know, everything I do with metal wears off over time. If I was to say melt a piece or heat it up and you get it in your bubble however you do we could see if it goes any faster or something." He knew rough times for all his abilities, so it shouldn't be too hard.

'You say that now, but find me a piece of metal you are willing to destroy.'

"Sounds like a time problem to me, your bubble seems to be picking stuff at random and pushing it through time faster, I mean like, your plant or whatever. Maybe you have time control in that thing of yours."

Juka pondered that, thinking back to everything that his bubble had done over the last couple of months. The more he thought about it the more it sounded plausible. So, did that mean he could speed up how time affected things in his bubbles? But that didn't quite explain how it was that he no longer needed to sleep or eat, so clearly there had to be more too it than that. That, and when he took painkillers to deal with his pain that didn't affect him either, during the time he was stuck in his bubble? So maybe he could make time to faster or reverse it? "I think you might just be onto something there," Juka agreed, finally.

"Yeah just one would do. I'd love to say I could pay you back but I can't, which is a pain. But I'd probably keep it in my room. I do some blacksmithing every now and then when I can afford metal, or have some laying about"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about paying me back," Juka assured Cafas. My parents make sure I have plenty of money so it doesn't really make a difference to me." He shrugged, unaware that what he had just said probably made him sound like nothing more than a spoiled rich kid. Which, if he was honest with himself, he was. Though at least he was growing beyond that, or trying to at least.

"You know, everything I do with metal wears off over time. If I was to say melt a piece or heat it up and you get it in your bubble however you do we could see if it goes any faster or something."

Juka bobbed his head up and down enthusiastically. "You know, I think that's exactly what I need! You are so very kind to offer. Of course, actual melted metal might be a problem unless you have something to store it in,but for the rest we certainly could try!" Finally something constructive to do. "And it'd be the perfect repayment for your anvil, don't you think?"

Cafas looked around unsure as to what to do about the piece of metal. It was surely a predicament easily fixed though. He found what he needed in the front gate. He'd never admit it though. He ran to it, took a bar, then ran back, forming a roughly shaped cylinder about the size of a large cup from the metal. He then melted the metal in the middle to form a sort of cup. "Here, bubble this and see if you can make it set in a few minutes, surely if you can make months take hours you can make hours take minutes. It takes 3 hours by itself, see what you can do."

'His parents though, maybe I'll enquire a little.'

"Sounds like your parents really take care of you, that's nice of them, sure wish my parents... Well, hadn't tried to kill me." He laughed at his own comment, He'd rather have cried but the laughing was manlier. He held out the cup out to Juka unsure of how the bubbling process worked. He figured he would train a little while Juka had a go with the bubble. He drew his sword. When the little tendril of bubble engulfed the cup Cafas set to work, practising his chop, slash stab combos, doing them from all starting locations in all directions, careful to remains out of range of Juka.

'Good, I can practice some more.'

Juka watched in rapt fascination as Alchemist first shaped a bit of metal into something resembling a cup and then proceeded to melt another piece of metal into a molten liquid. The wide variety of mutations out there never ceased to amaze him. He was just glad that Alchemist was one of the good guys, not having any interest in going up against him in a fight. Judging by the way he moved, he knew how to fight and judging by his ability to melt metal, well, it wasn't like a pleasant thought to imagine what it would feel like to have that poured on him.

"Sounds like your parents really take care of you, that's nice of them, sure wish my parents... Well, hadn't tried to kill me."

Juka had to resist the urge to let out a bitter laugh. "I wish my parents took care of me. I was a shameful failure to them because of the way I dressed and acted. All I wanted to do was perform and they couldn't tolerate it so they pretty much just gave me money to live and shipped me off to America with express instructions never to go back." It was still painful to think about. "At least they never tried to kill me though, I guess."

Once the cup of molten metal was offered him, Juka carefully sent out a tendril towards the cup and encased in safely in a bubble. He wasn't really sure what to do from this point on except maybe think really hard about it solidifying as quickly as possible? Not having any better idea on how this new power might work, that's exactly what he did. At first he didn't think that anything was happening and was about to say as much when he noticed a slight change in the metal. At first it went red and then, slowly, the red faded and the metal began to take on a more normal appearance. "Did it work?" Juka asked? He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he had bubbled the cup of metal but he felt suddenly exhausted.

Cafas hadn't even been going for six minutes. He had n way of telling if the metal was fully back to normal or not, but it sure wasn't liquid any more, hell, it wasn't even red. "That's bloody amazing, I pumped as much energy into that as I possibly could and you made it set in like, five minutes. It might not be fully back to normal, but that sure is impressive." The rate it had returned to normal was phenomenal, Cafas had never seen anything go that quickly he hadn't reversed himself. He looked at the metal some more then sheathed his sword. He looked to Juka and then back to the metal. He was astonished and it showed. Yup, bubble boy seemed to have time control in his bubble.

'Well I'll be, that's cool.'

Cafas held out his hand again for the metal, unsure if reaching into the bubble would be rude. "Let’s try that again, hey? See if you can reproduce the results." Cafas was being very scientific in his approach now, after all, repetition equals reliability and variables equal validity. Or something to the effect. He was intrigued to see if Juka could do other things as well but he had no way for those to be demonstrated. A bird chirped somewhere in the tree line quite loudly, Cafas looked towards it. He couldn't see it, so he looked back.

'Stupid bird. Always so loud.'