Bubbles plugged the last power cell into the back of the Time Portal, snapping the protective panel back in place over it. Since the machine was out of power, she hoped that these cells she found would supply enough to re-energize it. She hadn't yet made any modifications to the portal, but she decided that before she started, she needed to be sure that the portal could be easily powered up again in the first place.

Moving back around to the front of it, she set some coordinates and switched it on. The opening to the portal was filled with static, and Bubbles smiled triumphantly. It worked! This was a good sign…it meant that if she ever managed to fix the portal, she'd at least be able to use it.

An instant later, though, she glanced down at a little meter that showed how much power remained, and noticed that it was showing extremely low. In fact, its power was draining rapidly, and would be depleted in a few seconds. Instinctively, she scribbled a quick note on paper as fast as she could, only having time to write out, "duranium sawblades stay away"…she thrust it through the portal just as it closed.

Sighing to herself, she shook her head. I dunno why I even did that, she thought. I know I can't change the past with the way the portal is right now. I'm also gonna have to find a bigger source of power…

* * *

Blossom picked herself up from the ground, shaking off the effects of the impact. She glanced up just in time to see Buttercup swatting a missile away that was launched at her. She grinned slightly… That's Buttercup, she thought, always showing off her strength…

From within the Robo-Jojo, Mojo gritted his teeth at the missile's failure and said, "Very impressive…but let’s see if you can knock this away!" A hatch opened up on the body, and a spinning sawblade shot out, towards Buttercup. She raised her arm, ready to punch it the same way she had punched the missile.

The instant Blossom saw the blade, it sparked a memory. Wait a second, she thought…That piece of paper I found on the ground this morning…it mentioned something about Duranium sawblades. Could this be one? But…if that's made of Duranium, then… She gasped to herself, realizing what the blade would do to Buttercup if she tried to knock it away, and shouted, "No, Buttercup! Don't touch it!"

"Huh?" Buttercup said. She leaned to the side at the last second, but the blade clipped her arm cutting a huge gash along it. She yelped, and clutched it tightly…blood was seeping out from around her hand.

Blossom was shocked…it was Duranium! She heard Mojo's rants a few seconds later that confirmed this. She was relieved, though…thanks to her warning, Buttercup's life was possibly saved. I don't know where that message on the piece of paper came from, she thought, but I'm glad I got it! Noticing Mojo launching more of the blades, she thought, All right, now that I know what we're up against, I'd better disable that sawblade shooter, on the double…

* * *

Bubbles watched the time portal close. I wish I knew what kind of effect it had, she thought. Especially now that I know it was supposed to happen anyway. She began to wonder what would happen if she had tried other things. If everything she tries to change was supposed to happen, what if she went and changed something that she knew wasn't right? Like, something she saw with her own eyes? This was the biggest problem for her to get over once she gets around to fixing the Time Portal. She needed to find a way to change the past and allow repercussions to the future, or else it would be impossible to change.

"Well, step one is done," she said aloud, turning to the flowers nearby. "Step two is to keep going with my reading unti--…"

She cut herself off as she took a deep breath, holding her chest. Two days since doing all that work to clear the skies, and she still felt fatigued. All right, that's it, she thought. Enough working on the Time Portal for today. I'd better just relax for a little bit. I'll feel better after some rest.

Sitting down on the ground, Bubbles took a few more deep breaths. She glanced over at the flowers and said, "No, I'm…okay, just…a little short…on breath…I'll be fine…" She continued breathing heavily, and clutched her chest tighter. What's wrong? she thought. I've never been this tired…

A moment later, a wave of nausea hit her…she clasped her hands over her mouth, and without hesitation, she quickly flew out from the greenhouse. Once safely over to a pile of junk outside, she doubled over and started to throw up. After a minute, she was done, and reeled dizzily, lying down and resting her head on the ground.

She thought, What's wrong with me? Am I sick? What's going on? She clutched her arms around herself and shivered…it was warm out, but she still felt so cold…

* * *

Inside the greenhouse, Bubbles lay out on some blankets, a heavy one wrapped tightly around her, yet she still shivered violently. Her skin was covered with red blotches now, and her chest felt tight…every breath was coming in short gasps. She listened to the flowers nearby, but wasn't able to talk back to them at the moment.

This is wrong, this is all wrong, she thought. I can't be sick…there aren't any viruses or anything out there…how can this happen? It's not possible… It was difficult to focus, but she still managed to think logically about it. If it's not a disease, then it has to be something else, maybe something I did to myself. But I haven't done anything wrong…I've haven't eaten anything different, and I haven't done anything strange. I've been doing everything the same. So what's wrong? I haven't come in contact with anything unusual…

That's when it suddenly made sense. The troubles started right after she had finished clearing out the dust and debris from the skies, the ones that had been kicked up from all those nuclear explosions. She had come in contact with something unusual: those clouds. And if they were created from a nuclear explosion…

Radiation, she thought. I thought I was resistant to it, though…I've lived through some high-energy blasts from Mojo's weapons; surely some of them were radioactive. Or perhaps…maybe I am resistant to it, but…I was in contact with it for such a long time…almost three weeks. It must have built up…to a point where it affected me finally…

Bubbles looked down at the red splotches on her arms, almost difficult to see due to how much they were shaking. How do I stop it? This'll…this'll kill me if I let it continue…but what can I do? I have to find a solution…

She felt nauseous again, but forced it down to dry heaves as she weakly got up off of the ground and headed for her books. She kept her blanket wound around herself as she started going through them, looking for something on radiation. She paused for a moment to give the flowers a brief glance. They're so concerned about me, she thought. Hold on, little ones…I'll make it through this, I promise…

* * *

Time passed as Bubbles went over the info in the books. At least she wasn't getting much worse…she still felt awful, but from what she read about the dosage of radiation she received, she should have been dead by now. Chemical X was an amazing thing, that it was able to protect her from heavy radiation like this. Still, she was sick, and she wasn't going to get better anytime soon without proper attention.

But as to what 'proper attention' would be, she had no idea. In the books she had, they didn't mention anything about treating radiation. She was beginning to get worried…what if there wasn't a way to cure herself? How long, then, before the radiation finally did her in?

She only looked through a small number of the books anyway. After a while, her hands were shaking almost too much to read, and then she was finding it difficult to focus anyway. Eventually, she just set the books aside and lay down. Her breathing was actually getting slightly easier, but everything else seemed to be getting worse.

Trembling, Bubbles turned her head from where she was laying to look at the flowers. They all seemed so afraid for her. She couldn't blame them…she was afraid for herself, too. She softly managed to speak to them, "I…I don't know…what to do…" Listening, she added, "Th-thank you…that means…a lot to me…I'll try to…hang on, just…just for you…"

She closed her eyes, trying to gather her strength. Her mind continue to try to work on the problem…Was this radiation everywhere? It must have blown across the whole world. Maybe not very strong, but it probably blanketed everything… A sudden thought chilled her even more than the coldness she was feeling. Oh no! What if it got on the flowers too?!

Straining her muscles, she pulled herself back to her feet and managed to get airborne. "I'll be…back…" she said to the flowers, "…I just have…to get something…from the lab…" She flew slowly out from the greenhouse and headed for home.

It took almost every ounce of Bubbles' strength just to get there. When she finally made it, she leaned up against the wall to catch her breath. Her muscles were throbbing in protest, but she clenched her teeth and went on anyway. Going into the lab, she found what she was looking for without much difficulty: a Geiger counter. To test if it worked, she pointed it at herself to get a reading.

The counter clicked wildly, picking up the radiation coming from her. It was actually less than she had expected, but still enough to be deadly. The true weight of the situation dawned on her…with this much radiation, she wouldn't survive, not for long. It spelled the end of her. She could feel it in every ounce of her being, too, that there wasn't anything she could do about it.

As this fear built up inside her, it was accompanied by grief…even if it was one of the last things she did, she had to know if the flowers were also radioactive now. If they were, then she failed…and even if they weren't, she still might have failed, unless they can somehow carry on without her. Tears rolled out from her eyes at she thought this…she was only one girl, but they were life's last hope. They were more important than her anyway.

She managed to get airborne again and started heading back, trailing tears behind her as she went…she cried, "I'm…I'm sorry…I did…everything I could…forgive me…"

* * *

Getting back to the greenhouse, Bubbles took a reading on the flowers. Incredibly, the meter showed nothing. Nothing at all, not even background radiation. Experimentally, she pointed it outside, and it picked up a little, well within the safe limits. She pointed it at the flowers again. Still nothing.

What on Earth…? she thought. She reached down and brushed one of the flowers softly with her hand. They still felt strong, too. No wilting, nothing broken…they were still perfect. Lifting her hand back up, though, she saw something amazing: the red welts on it had got noticeably smaller.

She quickly picked the Geiger counter back up and pointed it at the flower. Still no reading from it…she pointed it at her own hand, and got a heavy reading, although it was very slightly less than before. This… Bubbles tried to think…this is almost…almost like it was absorbing some of it…can these flowers absorb radiation safely?

Smiling at the idea, she brushed her arm gently through the flowers again for a moment, the lifted it up to take a look. The welts were actually receding visibly. Wow, it works fast, too! she thought. But, it's not very much…and it's only on my skin. This radiation is all through my body. How am I gonna get rid of it all?

Listening to the flowers, Bubbles managed to say, "Yes, I…I saw it too…but it's not…enough…" She tried to think…even if she rolled around in the flowers for a while, it still wouldn't be enough to do anything but get rid of a little surface radiation. The only way to nullify it throughout her entire body would be to…

No, I can't do that, she thought. I can't do that to them. Any of them. She must have looked troubled, because she gazed up at the flowers and said, "Nothing…I was just thinking…if I…if I ate…one of you…but I can't do that…I'd never do that…" She paused and added, "Yes, it will work…but I still…I still won't do it…not to you…"

She gripped her chest again, gasping…it was starting to become difficult to breathe again. She tried to stand up straighter, but then slipped and collapsed forwards, falling on her knees. Panting, she knew it wouldn't be too long before she would be incapacitated, then probably die slowly in front of the flowers. But she still didn't want to do anything that would hurt them. She had vowed to protect them, not this.

She looked up in surprise at them and wheezed, "…what…Sophie, you…you mean it…? But I…I can't let…you do it…I can't…" She paused to catch her breath and listen, then said, "You…volunteer? But…are you…sure that you…" Another pause, then tears started to stream down her face as she said, "You're…such a good…friend…I'll never…forget you…"

With that, she carefully reached down and dug the flower out from the soil. Sophie looked so perfect in her hands, reminding her of Bulba once again. She was still shaking, and her vision was growing blurry, so she closed her teary eyes. Very slowly, she lifted the flower to her mouth with her trembling hands and took a bite…then another, and another…until eventually, she had consumed it entirely.

She half-expected disgust or shock from the other flowers, but not a single one of them showed it. She smiled as she laid down, already starting to feel a little better. "Thank you…" she said. "I feel bad…about Sophie though…" She paused and said, "You're right…I've done so much…for all of you…I guess she just…really wanted to do something…for me instead…"

After another pause, she chuckled a little, "Brigit, that's awful! Kinda morbid…but true in a way…I guess she will always…be part of me…"

* * *

Bubbles was almost completely better by that evening. The welts had disappeared from her skin, and her strength was returning. Her breathing was still slightly short, although the coldness was gone. Even the Geiger counter had stopped picking anything major up from her. It worked. After a good night's rest, even her shortness of breath had gone.

She talked to the flowers again that day. "Sophie was going to be one of the first volunteers to try to be transplanted somewhere else, so that a new patch of flowers can be started. But now, I'm going to need new volunteers…" She smiled as she looked across the flowers and said, "Wow…I don't need that many, but I'm glad to see you're so enthusiastic about it!"

She carefully selected three of the flowers and said, "You three get ready…it'll be a while before you'll go, 'cause I need to find a place to put you first." She nodded, "Yes, that's where I'm going right now. I'll be back in a few hours, okay?" Gathering her things, she left the greenhouse.

As she did, she really began to understand the relationship between her and the flowers. I've given them everything, she thought, and they've saved my life as well. This is no longer just me trying to make sure they survive…it's both of us supporting each other. They aren't life's last hope…we both are. And it's together that we'll be successful…

Bubbles continued to think about this as she passed high over the landscape, looking across for a good area to plant the flowers. There was a field, still covered in dead grass, that looked like it might be a good place…but it wasn't anywhere near a good source of water. Another place was a little less desirable, but was near a pond, which could sustain them.

She passed over a section of rocky soil and considered this location also. It had probably the best exposure to sunlight of all the areas, and it wasn't far from the coast, so there had to be water underground there as well, but she didn't like the look of the soil…could anything even grow there? After all, there wasn't a single dead plant in the area…that was a sure sign that nothing would grow there.

She was about to turn around, when she caught a glimpse of color amongst the rocks in one part of this area. Curiously, she circled around for a moment from high above to get a better look…and what she saw, she couldn't believe. Something she never would have expected to find, not in a million years…