Juka's recent foray into the woods to discover exactly what his new powers could do was, if he was to be any judge, a raging success. He knew now that he was Green Mage, bubbling time manipulator extraordinaire! How gloriously wonderful was that anyway? His bubbles had always been amazing, the envy of any mutant to be sure, but now they were even better! He could reverse or hasten time or even stop it; as long as it took place within the safe confines of one of his bubbles he was the master! He even had the outfit to prove his worthiness of the title Green Mage and thus life was complete. Or at least almost complete.

Although Juka now had a much better idea of exactly what his newfound powers could do, he still had only the vaguest idea of how quickly his powers could do whatever it was that they now did. His ever active mind had come up with a solution, however. One of his experiments had involved a plant, specifically a plant who he made bloom much faster than plants normally bloomed. Unfortunately, having little experience with plants, he couldn't really say how much faster it bloomed than usual except that plants normally take longer than a few hours. Luckily he just so happened to know someone who did know a little something about plants, someone who he also still had to apologize for for an unfortunate pokebattle mishap that had ended in him being unconscious.

For these two reasons Juka found himself entering the doors of Flower Peddlers in search of Kai. In his hand she held a little potted fern, his gesture of apology and peace. Hopefully he would be forgiven his unfortunate sins.

A string of bells above the door jingled in that oh-so-familiar-way that indicated business might be on the positive side of the books today. Kai brushed off his hands- he had been cutting flowers for their fresh bouquet of the day- Gerbera daisies.

“Welcome to the Flower Peddlers,” he called, rustling around with the plastic bouquet bags until he deftly finished his task with a rubber band and placed the bouquet in the waiting bucket of water.

Then he looked up, but saw, not an eager husband looking to impress his wife or a woman looking for the perfect centerpiece for a social event, no, not even a doey-eyed couple looking for a place to do the flowers for their wedding. Instead he was greeted by someone already carrying a plant. And that someone had bested him in battle only a few short days ago.

Kai inclined his head in recognition. He held a certain amount of respect for Juka, being nerdy enough to make a pokemon and enter it into a contest, and being cool enough to beat him. He also learned later that he had helped get them (Kai and his unconscious pokemon) to the Pokemon Center to be healed. He bore no grudge, only slight disappointment on account of his own performance. “What can I do for you?” he asked politely.

“What can I do for you?”

Instant relief at the fact that Kai did not seem to be mad at Juka for the horrible way he had treated the poor boy during the Pokemon tournament. Oh what a saint he was for not simply yelling and Juka and demanding that he leave his little store after forcing him unconscious through judicious use of fly and shadow ball. Surely no other more forgiving person could ever exist.

"I am so very very very sorry about hurting you and your poor little Liana during the Pokemon tournament," Juka said bowing very low. Upon rising to his feet he offered the potted fern to him. "I brought you a peace offering and although I know that it can never make up for the mean and terrible things that I did that day, I hope that you will take it as the gesture of peace that it is."

Juka held his breath, knowing if Kai refused his offer of apology he would surely be crushed. He hadn't meant to hurt the boy, surely that must count for something, right? Surely? He looked up, attempting to meet Kai's eyes with pleading sorrowful eyes of his own. If only he could show him just how truly sorry he really was.

He thought back. This really was the first time he’d been bowed to outside of a martial arts type setting. Juka was hold out a fern as an olive branch. It was appropriate and accepted! It was always exciting to see new plants. Pteridophyta were some of his favorites! There were leafy and exciting, but also had a beautiful root system. They also unfurled in such a cool way.

“Wow!” he gasped with genuine surprise, “It’s ok. Liana is doing very well now. She’s firmly rooted in a beautiful pot with her very own climbing latter. Thank you so much, this is awesome.”

His hands reached for the pot. He just wanted to get to know this new beauty. One whom he wouldn’t have to sell to someone who may or may not take care of him or her. Just from this angle, he looked like a house-plant type fern, but he couldn’t tell for sure without really communicating with him.

Don’t be rude, Kai! He chastised himself. “You didn’t have to come all the way down here. But I really appreciate it. This is the best peace offering ever…”

Clearly Kai liked the plant which made Juka very happy indeed. It was a good day when his apologies were accepted and it was a good thing he had friends in many different places, one of which was was lovely enough to suggest the fern. Unfortunately he really wasn't all that knowledgeable when it came to plants.

"I'm so glad you like it," Juka stated with enthusiasm. "I just felt so terrible about what happened and I knew I had to come here and apologize and I knew that you liked plants so I was hoping that you'd like it." He smiled sheepishly, realizing that he was starting to ramble.

After a moment of silence Juka spoke up once more. "I actually have a favour to ask and if you don't want to help I understand and I won't be insulted but...well, its about some weird powers that have developed with my bubbles that I think you might be able to help with." Kai did seem like a nice person so hopefully he had read him correctly and he'd actually want to help. Its not like he would try to force him into it or anything since he just wasn't that kind of a person.

As he accepted the fern, Juka replied to his rambling with some more rambling, which made Kai smile even more. Then he asked if he could ask a favor. Some people might see this exchange as buying forgiveness and buttering him up to ask for a favor, but he couldn’t see it that way. After their battle, he was more than a little intrigued about what all those bubbles really did. Well… besides making a pokemon.

“I’m not insulted… as long as I can ask questions about your powers as… what’s the favor? I can’t imagine that plants and bubbles could really go together…?” he waited for Juka to fill in the holes, his curiosity definitely sparked.

"Oh, of course you can ask about my powers," Juka nodded happily. Everything was go so very well indeed. Plus, there was rarely (he honestly couldn't remember one anyway) a time when he wasn't willing to talk about his powers. One might even say that he enjoyed bragging about his powers, which probably wasn't too far off from the truth if he were perfectly honest with himself. But who wouldn't want to brag about magical floating time bubbles? Really.

Juka tried to think of exactly how he was going to explain what he was about to ask. "Well, plants and bubbles normally wouldn't go together. But, I've discovered that my bubbles can apparently make plants grow faster. Well, not just plants I think it works on anything, but I tried it on a plant in particular and made it bloom. It was very pretty." He nodded, remembering the pretty little flower that had resulted in the experiment. "The thing is, I'm not too sure how fast it makes plants grow. I thought that, maybe since you knew about plants you might be able to tell me."

There, he had said it. He had asked his favour. "I can off you a bubble ride in exchange, if you'd like." Because who wouldn't want a bubble ride?

“Make plants grow faster?” That’s interesting. I can do that! he thought with a touch of pride. “With bubbles? Wait, that’s… not really one of my questions.” His way of aging plants faster took a lot of effort, he wondered if it was the same for Juka.

He went on to talk about a prior experiment with making them bloom, and Kai nodded along. Really, it didn’t sound that out of the ordinary for a plant-manipulator. It sounded kind of routine. But in the bubble there seemed to be the small problem of monitoring the plant. He probably could help with that. His powers gave him a unique perspective, a way to be useful.

>>"I can off you a bubble ride in exchange, if you'd like."

In a bubble or on multiple bubbles? He pictured floating on a cloud made from little spheres much like a ball pit from a kid’s play area. Maybe he could request a bunch of them, for the thought of looking like a human-hamster wasn’t really all that appealing. Or what if…? He had seen one of his orbs look like it was filled with shadows, and apparently he could put a plant inside- could he fill them with other things? Kai was kind of hoping for “bottled sunshine”, heat lamps were okay, but they weren’t perfect by any means.

“I’d be happy to help you with your experiments,” he answered, aware that he had been pondering in silence for a moment too long. “What else have you put in bubbles?”

“Make plants grow faster? With bubbles? Wait, that’s… not really one of my questions.”

Juka grinned at Kai. His enthusiasm was just so very adorable! It quite confirmed the fact that Juka had come to the right place seeking out help to learn more about his powers. He nodded happily at him and, after looking around to make sure that there were no other customers in the store (he didn't want to scare away any potential customers with crazy mutant power demonstrations) proceeded to bubble himself. He then sent out a tendril to one of the potted plants on display and once the tendril touched the plant, the end turned into a bubble with the plant inside. Finally he floated the plant over to Kai and dropped it into his hand or, if he chose not to accepted to offered planty gift, onto the table. Demonstration over, he unbubbled.

“I’d be happy to help you with your experiments, What else have you put in bubbles?”

"Oh you lovely dear! I could hug you right now I'm so happy to hear that!" Except that Juka had been learning a little more about a whole thing called personal space and boundaries and so did not run up and hug the boy. No, he remained quite professional and he was pretty sure that Jewelly would have been proud of him and his restraint.

"Oh, I can put just about anything in them as long as its small enough. My personal favourit thing is anvils, but that's only if there are baddies trying to hit me or I have to save defenseless damsels or something." He winked at Kai.

Kai held out his hand to receive the plant that was FLOATING OVER TO HIM IN A BUBBLE! It had been safely conveyed to him through the air. The plant touched down lightly and then the bubble disappeared. That was a cool power! He sometimes wished that his was something visible like that, but was reminded now that it was Juka asking him for help, not the other way around.

The aforementioned Juka was nearly bouncing up and down with happiness. Almost like he was a bouncy ball himself.

>>"Oh you lovely dear! I could hug you right now I'm so happy to hear that!"

He was still kind of distracted when Juka started on about anvils. “Do you have to be in a bubble yourself in order to make bubbles? And what are they made out of- Do they just evaporate when you’re done with them?” He realized that he wasn’t giving him time to answer and promptly snapped his mouth shut.

Only to open it again. “When do you want to get started? And do you have a plant already? I might have one around here somewhere…” he teased a little.

It was a lovely sight to see how much a simple bubble fascinated the plant man Kai. He began firing off questions in rapid fire fashion and Juka couldn't help but grin his amusement. He vowed that he really must spend more time with the adorable little man in the future because there was just something so pure and innocent about him and his curiosity. He realized that Kai reminded him a little of himself and that, in Juka's vaunted opinion, was not a bad thing at all.

Juka decided to tackle the questions one at a time. "I have to bubble myself in order to send out a tendril and form a mini bubble. I don't have the slightest idea what they're made of. They just sort of appear when I want them to and disappear leaving no trace behind when I don't them. I don't know where they come from or where they go when I'm finished with them." Hmm, he really didn't know much at all about his bubbles did he? Maybe there was someone he could ask and he filed away the question for future contemplation.

Juka was about to suggest that they get started immediately but never got the chance. Everything suddenly went black and he opened his eyes, completely disoriented, finding himself on the ground. His bubble was around him and he didn't know how it had gotten there. Something was seriously wrong, his heart, something was wrong with his heart. He felt a keen sense of panic as he realized that his heart had stopped beating. It wasn't beating! He couldn't survive without his heart could he? Of course not, no one could. Oh God. What was he going to do?

Their grins were just getting wider and wider as the two fed off of each other’s interest and enthusiasm. Kai was pleased that Juka was able to keep track of his rapid-fire questions and answer them in chronologically order. Cam just would have given him a decent smack and told him to shut his logic hole.

“So you don’t really know what they are made of? What if you touch it, will it bre-?”

He blinked an extended and forced blink and opened his eyes to find himself on the floor behind the counter. “Wha-?” His head hurt all of a sudden and his hand flew up to touch his forehead. It was wet and stung a little bit to the touch. That there was definitely blood under his probing fingers and something else, something foreign, but not strange. How exactly had that happened? One second he’d been standing, having a nice chat and then ‘poof!’.

Sitting up rather a bit quickly was as much as Kai could manage, before he was gasping. His heart raced irregularly. His brain processed ever so slowly- Had he just had a heart attack?

He surveyed his surroundings and noted that there was a broken pot on the ground. The plant Juka had floated over seemed not to have survived his little episode. Or at least the pot, which was in shards all around him. He was having difficulty actually locating the little pansy. Or any plants at all. He sat horrified for the slightest portion of a second. Are my powers gone?!

His head whipped from side to side, as though what he lost was something physical. This motion came with a flash of purple out of the corner of his eye. The missing pansy was stuck to his face.
And then a wave of mental sound rolled over him, even as he heard the frantic rustle of leaves. ARE YOU OKAY?!!! Was the general message, shouted by all the plants in the shop.

Yes, yes. Fine… He groaned and pushed himself to his feet. He would have to apologize to his customer- er, well, I guess he was more of a visitor since he had brought a plant, rather than intended to buy one. Juka seemed to be almost as panicked as Kai felt, “No, it’s okay,” he assured him, “I’m fine, really.” But Juka did not seem reassured, and was in his bubble of all things. “Uh… are you okay? What’s going on?”

His heart was not beating. A second went by. Five seconds. Half a minute. His heart was still not beating. Panic did not lesson but slowly turned to confusion. His heart was not beating. It was not beating at all. So how was he still conscious? For that matter, how was he still alive at all? How long did it take for one to die from lack of a heartbeat? For that matter, shouldn't he notice something wrong beyond the fact that his heart wasn't beating? Shouldn't he, maybe start passing out or something? See black spots in front of his eyes? Feel pain? Or maybe go numb, he was pretty sure he'd heard something about heart attack victims going numb before. But nothing seemed to have changed beyond the fact that his heart was still. Something really wasn't right here, not at all.

Having judged that his death was not impending, Juka suddenly became aware of the fact that Kai was on the ground too and currently getting to his feet and the fact that his little potted plant had crashed to the ground and was currently lying in a potless pile of soil. First, what had happened. Second, had whatever had happened affected Kai as well? Third, was his bubble keeping him alive and if so, how?

"I don't think I'm going to die if that's what you mean," Juka answered uncertainly. He was too afraid of what would happen if his bubble suddenly disappeared to try and unbubble, but something told him he wouldn't be able to if he wanted to. Things like that had happened before when bad things had happened to him. "But my heart isn't beating." It came out far more calmly than he actually felt.

His face seemed all panicky, even though his voice remained level. >>"I don't think I'm going to die if that's what you mean… But my heart isn't beating."

Kai cocked his head to the side as the words and other facts started to register. Then it clicked. “You’re heart, what?!” He started to hyperventilate. This was bad, so bad. Really, really bad. Did he have a defibrillator? No, but maybe he should do CPR? Or call the paramedics?

He ran over to Juka, intent on double checking to make dead sure he didn’t have a pulse. Probably not the best phrase… He tentatively poked the bubble. He had said that it wouldn’t break, but when he had stretched it out earlier, it hadn’t been completely spherical… Maybe he could make it Juka-shaped and then do the compressions?

But it didn’t give. The bubble didn’t give! What can get through it? I need to shock his heart before he dies! Yet Juka didn’t seem to die, even though Kai’s freaking out was taking up precious time. He really hoped no one died in his shop… again. The last time, Lori had been there and had shocked that mutan… Shocked him!

“I know someone who can help!” He bolted over the counter and pulled a box out from under it. It was the record of previous orders. The number had to be in here somewhere! Cards flew everywhere as he tried to find the right one.

Kai seemed more panicked than Juka himself felt. He felt disturbingly calm for all the reality that his heart had stopped and hearts were definitely not supposed to stop. Yet here he was, standing in his floating bubble, heart not beating and still alive and, for all intents and purposes, healthy. Except that his heart wasn't beating. It was a curious and disturbing feeling, all at the same time. He put a hand to his neck where his vein was and, predictably, didn't feel a pulse. His brain felt distant and detached, but definitely still operational.

Juka realized that Kai was trying to poke his bubble though he couldn't for the life of him, figure out why. "I think I'm fine as long as I stay in my bubble. Somehow it seems to be keeping me alive." Time bubbles stopped time. Blood flowed in time. Stopping time meant stopping blood flow. That kind of made sense didn't it? "Um, what are you doing anyway?" At least he'd stopped poking at his bubble. A flash of living the rest of his life trapped in his bubble went through his head, a rather disturbing thought. Being trapped for a month was bad enough and he didn't really want to go through life wondering when the unforeseen would happen and his bubble would suddenly fail him causing him to fall dead on the street, right then and there.

"Getting someone to help might be for the best," Juka agreed. He didn't let the little trickle of panic enter his voice. He couldn't live his entire life in a bubble, he just couldn't. Kai's friend would be able to help surely, right? Except that no one had been able to help him the first time around when he got stuck in his bubble because no one could get close enough to help him. The trickle turned into a stream but it wasn't yet a river.