Ruby, Grace, and Pat’s group dealt with Rockette, a woman that had some exposed flesh, but the rest of her body was stone. She attacked with jabs and kept her fleshy bits guarded. “Tell me, Rockette,” said Grace, “was it worth it, sacrificing your soul to Emperor Entropy?”
“And getting all this power? You bet it was!” replied Rockette.
“That sounds too much like the quick, easy way out,” remarked Pat.
“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it!” Rockette could still swing a punch and any punch or kick the Roses used was literally hitting stone. Ruby then summoned her sword and swung it, but all it did was bounce off uselessly when Rockette blocked it with her stone arm. Pat then summoned a large hammer and swung it downwards, only for Rockette to grab it. Pat smirked and the hammer became heavier…then it became lighter, much to Pat’s surprise. Rockette smirked and tossed Pat aside. “Please, you REALLY think you’re the only one that has gravity powers?” scoffed Rockette. Grace then twirled her spear and jabbed at Rockette only for Rockette to twirl out of the way. She then stamped her foot and all three Roses ended up floating in the air, then Rockette hit them all in the stomach and restored their personal gravity. The three of them were gasping for breath from the hit.
“How…does she…do that?!” strained Pat.
“Never…studied…Emperor Entropy’s…magic!” replied Grace. Ruby sat up, clutching her stomach.
“Look at you,” scoffed Rockette. “Fighting for a concept that just holds someone back! Morals, righteousness, the soul, they’re ALL nothing more than shackles! There is no good, no evil, there’s only power and those too weak to seek it! Great beings DO seek power! And I AM a great being!”
“No…you’re not!” coughed Ruby as she glared at Rockette. “Morals are NOT shackles! They’re the keys to unlock your full potential! You might be right about good and evil being fake, but without those concepts, what’s the point of life?! Just to be born, work, reproduce, then die?! That’s a terrible life! There’s no end goal to believe in!”
“Why look for an end goal?” asked Rockette. “It means you perpetuate a cycle that condemns the universe to chaos!”
“Life, death, and rebirth is a worthwhile cycle and you know it!” retorted Pat. Rockette rolled her eyes.
“Ordinarily, I’d say you kids will learn the truth one day, but since you’re enemies, I can’t really leave you alive.”
“Look who’s perpetuating the cycle!” snarled Grace.
“With Emperor Entropy’s minions, I can safely say that the cycle WON’T be perpetuated,” smirked Rockette.
“What do you mean?” asked Grace. “What did he do?!”
“That’s not your concern anymore. Goodbye!” Rockette swung her fist, but the Roses rolled out of the way.
“It’s no good!” Grace said through their telepathic field. “We can’t hit her like this! We’ve got to find some way to combine our attacks!”
“How do you combine fire, gravity, and balance?!” replied Pat.
“…I think I have something of an idea,” said Ruby, “but it involves gravity in a different way. …Pat, when Grace and I fly over her, you increase the gravity on our weapons to three times that of Gaia’s.” Pat arched an eyebrow and started thinking.
“…You know, I have enough mastery that I can add my hammer to that mix,” she said.
“All right, then do it when we’re all directly above her,” directed Ruby. Then…their Transformation Seeds glowed. “What the-?!” spluttered Ruby out loud.
“We’re already Cosmic Roses!” yelped Pat.
“Girls, go through your transformation routine,” directed Grace, “but during the announcement, replace ‘lady’ with ‘dame’!”
“What kind of garbage are you teaching those girls?” asked Rockette.
“What you call garbage,” replied Ruby, “we call worthwhile lessons! Red Dame Rose of Fire…”
“Purple Dame Rose of Gravity…” continued Pat.
“I DESIRE TO BLOOM!” shouted both girls. Their Transformation Seeds expanded, enveloped them, turned into rosebuds, and opened into a purple and red rose respectively, then Ruby and Pat leapt out as usual…but their outfits were different now! Yes, they still had the leotards, skirts, gloves, tights, shoes, and roses in their hair, but the roses had gotten bigger and replaced the leaf with a gold thread with a bead matching their rose’s color. The skirts became pleated skirts and now they wore gold bracelets on their left wrist. The two girls goggled in surprise.
“Holy-!” breathed Ruby.
“Looking good!” remarked Pat. Ruby then flexed her arm.
“And feel that power!” she said. “…Come on, Grace, Pat! Round two, like we planned!” Ruby led with a punch…and cracked the stoney part of Rockette’s skin. Rockette gasped in pain and clutched her wound. She then looked down in horror. She felt…pain! Somehow, teenage girls got through her stoney skin!
“…No!” she whispered in terror. Then Grace slashed with her spear and cut Rockette’s more fleshy face, causing it to bleed. Pat then tripped the villain up. Once she was on the floor, the Roses flew up and aimed their weapons at Rockette.
“NOW!” called Pat. She increased the gravity on all their weapons and they came crashing down on Rockette. They then leapt away as Rockette started convulsing.
“N-NO! NO!” she wailed. “NOT LIKE THIS! NOT TO THEM!”
“Hoo boy! Here comes the boom!” gulped Ruby.
“Boom?” asked Pat.
“TAKE COVER!” warned Grace. The Roses ducked behind a wall, then Rockette screamed and exploded. Her flesh was vaporized and her stone was broken up in the explosion. Her soulless body couldn’t handle the amount of magic the Roses had introduced, so it was destroyed violently. The Roses waited a few minutes, then poked their heads out to see the stone that was left behind.
“…That’s one down,” said Ruby. “Three to go!”
“I hope the others reached the Dame rank,” remarked Pat.
“Knowing them, I think they have,” replied Grace. “You girls should be proud to have reached that rank.”
“Once we’re done here,” suggested Pat, “maybe bring your folks here so we all can celebrate!”
“Sounds good to me!” replied Ruby. “Let’s go!” The three Roses headed off.