Author's Note: Sorry to interrupt! Sorry, but I just wanted to know... tough question, but who WOULD you choose to be killed, if you COULD choose? You may (or may not, don't be disappointed if your choice doesn't get... uh... it) but I'm not quite sure yet who dies next. I've already picked who dies first though :(

Chapter 9

"Did you know," Bubbles said, smiling, recovered from her mirage incident, "that desert animals get their water from the things they eat? That's how they stay alive. They eat cactus." She smiled and wondered if Mojo had designed any tasty, juicy cacti or desert animals.

Suddenly, and almost ironically, Bubbles screamed. "Ow! Something bit me!" She lifted her foot to find that she had stepped on something. She was now crying her poor blue eyes out.

Boomer soothed her by saying, "Bubbles... you stepped on a cactus."

She burst into laughter. "Really? Awesome!" It still hurt, but not as much. They used their laser vision to burn through the thick skin of the cactus and drank its liquids.

"Mm... that was really refreshing," Bubbles said. "Obviously, here when you hurt your foot, it's a good thing." She giggled.

"Heh. Yeah, I guess."

They kept walking, now refreshed. There was really nothing else to do, now that they felt good. Mojo had no other sick plans to destroy them, for now -- or so it seemed.

Suddenly, and almost ironically, Boomer screamed. "Ah!" He doubled over in pain, grasping his foot. It was agonizing pain. Bubbles rushed to his side to see what was wrong.

She screamed at what she saw.

There, in the sand, scurrying away from its victim, was a scorpion.

"B-Bubbles," he said, whimpering, tears falling from his eyes. "Help me."

She burst into tears, but knew what she had to do to keep the poison from spreading. She lifted his foot and began to suck away all the venom.

Blossom's face had turned an icy shade of blue, still collapsed in the snow. Brick had been walking approximately twenty feet, and had not realized that Blossom's life was slowly slipping away. He wasn't even aware she was gone. "Hey, Blos -" He looked around. "Blossom? Um... Blossom!" He began to panic, flying high into the air. But he didn't have to search very far to find her. There she was, suffering terribly from hypothermia, passed out in the snow. "Blossom!" he shouted, crying. He shook her awake, and she squinted her eyes.

Immediately she got up, almost as if she were ashamed to have passed out, and brushed the snow from her hair and clothes. "I want to keep going. I just... got... tired. And I fell. Let's keep walking."

"No way! You're going to die."

"I know myself better than you do, Brick. And I know that I don't have to..." she stopped mid-sentence and looked as if she were going to collapse again.

But Brick knew better. She would freeze to death before her clothes dried, superpowers or not.

"Please, Blossom... just, please. You're going to die if you don't get back in the water. Please let me make you another puddle?"

"No. No, no!" she pleaded, delusional from the hypothermia.

"Yes." He fired a beam at the snow under her feet and she immediately sank into the warmth. "You won't survive without it. I'm sorry we couldn't find food, but we're just gonna have to --"

"Starve?"

Her eyes were wild with hunger. For a moment, Brick was afraid. Blossom looked around, her pupils small. "I haven't eaten in two days, Brick. I'm so hungry I could..."

She eyed one of her hands calmly. She drew closer to it, and opened her mouth. Brick was well aware of what she was about to do.

In one moment, Brick had flown across the water and yanked Blossom's hand away from her mouth. "You're crazy! We're not going to eat ourselves" -- she looked at him and licked her lips -- "OR each other! We are going to hold it together. Cannibalism? Really! Blossom, think about it. We are fighting for our lives here, and you want to eat your hand?"

"It's tempting," she spat.

"I know. I'm just as hungry as you. But you just can't."

Blossom put her hands under her legs to resist. "You're right... cannibalism's a bit extreme. But I'm so hungry, Brick. You just don't know. You can't be so calm if you're as hungry as me, I mean, dang, two days --"

"Three days," he hissed. "Three."

She sank back, amused. He'd won. Hey, if he could carry on and find food and stay alive, so could she.

He was so strong. He inspired her... what would she do if he died?

Butch opened his eyes slowly. Under himself, he felt warmth -- and land. No longer did the waves rock him back and forth, his balance lost. It was so nice to feel land again. Above him, they sky was blue and beautiful. To his left, there was a small grove of trees. And to his right sat Buttercup, crying.

"H-Hey," he said, forcing a smile. "You saved me."

"It's what me and my sisters do," she said in reply. "How's that leg feeling?"

"Not good, if that's what you mean," he said. "But at least I'm conscious now, so you must be doing something right."

She laughed. "I got some crab meat over a fire, if you want any." Sure enough, on a stick, she had used her laser vision to burn some bark from a tree. It smelled delicious.

"I already had my share, so you can pig out if you like," she said with a chuckle. She put out the fire and handed him the burnt stick. "Eat up. There's still no fresh water to drink, but I think that's going to be okay, don't you? I mean, think about it. If we've gotten this far, we can figure something out."

"Mm hm," he said, ripping open the skin of the crab and biting the meat. "I haven't told you this in awhile, but... I love you."

"Y-You too," Buttercup said, slightly surprised. "You know, this whole stranded in a virtual hell isn't quite fun, but I'm glad I got to spend this time with you. And I'm glad you're not dead. Your wounds are pretty bad, though... can you walk?"

He put the stick in the sand and tried to stand. He cried out in pain and fell face first back onto the ground.

"I guess not," he mumbled.