The Roses were trying to climb the ladder. Gabi had just reached the top and Bethany was climbing behind with Belinda behind her. The noise the Entrooper larvae made was ear-splitting! “I’M NOT SURE I CAN HOLD ON!” called Bethany over the noise.
“DON’T GIVE UP!” urged Belinda. “YOU’RE NEARLY THERE!” Bethany reached up and…
“ACK! A LARVA’S GOT MY HAND!” she yelped.
“NO! NO, THAT’S ME!” replied Gabi. “I’VE GOT A HOLD ON YOUR ARM!”
“BETHANY, I’M GRABBING YOUR ANKLE!” called Belinda. “I’M GOING TO PUSH YOU UP! GABI, YOU PULL AT THE SAME TIME! THREE! TWO! ONE! NOW!” Belinda pushed Bethany up as Gabi pulled her to safety.
“SAFE!” called Bethany. “COME ON, GABI! LET’S GRAB BELINDA AND-!” Just then, the area shook and the Entrooper larvae fell to the ground. “What the-?” spluttered Bethany.
“Someone’s tampered with the gravity here!” replied Belinda as she was pulled to safety. “Probably saved our lives!”
“Not for long!” corrected Gabi. “If all the elements of magic aren’t properly regulated at all times-!”
“Come on!” called Bethany as she got the door open. Flora and Miguel pulled all three Roses through, then shut the door behind them.
“Mama! Papa!” cheered Gabi.
“Gabi, mi bebe!” sighed Flora.
“So it was YOU tampering out here!” realized Belinda.
“Senor and Senora Morales,” said Bethany, “do you remember which controls you pressed? It’s vitally important!”
“Well, we pressed everything, to be honest!” replied Miguel. “We were trying to get you girls out of there!” The place then shook. “Oh, help! What have we done?!”
“You saved our lives in the long run, Papa,” replied Gabi. “Let’s have a look.” Gabi and Bethany checked out the displays on the console.
“It looks like your folks set up a feedback loop,” said Bethany.
“Imbalance ratio 91% and rising,” warned Gabi. “Any further and it’ll blow the Pools wide open and us with it!”
“Let me try something,” said Bethany. She quickly came up with code in her mind, then put it into a magic circle she managed to create, then she thrust the circle into the crystal receiver.
“…Imbalance ratio falling!” cheered Gabi. “What did you do, Bethany?”
“I set up a counter frequency to stop the mana imbalance,” explained Bethany.
“Did you discover what was causing those surges from the Pools?” asked Flora. “…And what’s that slime all over your survival suits?”
“It’s the reason for the surges,” explained Belinda. “The Mana Pools have been converted into an incubation room for Entrooper larvae to accelerate their growth into full-fledged Entroopers.”
“That must be why Dame Petrify is here now, to collect them,” said Bethany.
“Now that we know what we’re dealing with,” said Gabi with new confidence, “we can start a Mana Pool purge to fry the Entrooper larvae and give Dame Petrify and her forces nothing! I’ll set up the purging algorithms and…Bethany, why are you looking at me like that?”
“The exterior console,” explained Bethany, “is solely dedicated to countering the imbalance until everything is reset and the Mana Pools are purged.”
“What?! B-But the only way to reset everything and p-purge the Mana Pools-!” gulped Gabi.
“Is to go back in there and do it manually!” finished Miguel.
“I-I don’t th-think I’m w-w-willing to g-go in there ag-gain!” stammered Gabi fearfully.
“Wouldn’t dream of making you,” replied Bethany. “I’ll go alone.”
“But-!”
“No arguments, please,” interrupted Bethany. “But if you can guide me via telepathy, that would be splendid.”
“…B-Be careful, please,” said Gabi.
“I will,” promised Bethany.
“Let me get you a new suit. That one’s damaged,” said Miguel.
After she got her new suit, Bethany entered the Mana Pools and carefully went down the ladder. “Head eastwards,” directed Gabi through the telepathic field. “You should find a service walkway just glancingly at your left.”
“I see it,” replied Bethany. “Moving along it now.” Bethany carefully walked along the walkway…then an Entrooper larva saw her and leapt out of the pool it was in! Bethany heard it first, then summoned her shield and bashed it aside. “Filthy thing!” she shuddered.
“I saw the image,” said Gabi. “They know you’re there?”
“Looks like it. Hang on, I see the access panel.”
“You’ll have to hit the master override switch to your…to your left!”
“Hold on, let me project the image I’m seeing. There’s five switches.”
“Hit the green one, then get out of there as fast as possible!” directed Gabi. “It will take ten minutes to build the reset charge!”
“Got it!” Bethany hit the switch. “All right, ten minutes! I’ll-!” She heard a groan. “What the-?”
“Bethany?” asked Gabi.
“There’s someone in here with me,” replied Bethany. “…It’s an old woman with a cane and…and some intricate shawl.”
“Let me see,” directed Gabi. Bethany projected the image of the old woman to Gabi’s mind. “MI ABUELA!” shouted Gabi.
“Wait, this is your grandmother, Rosa?!” yelped Bethany out loud. That attracted the larvae’s attention. “Drat! Gabi, I’ve got larvae swarming! I’m bringing Rosa with me!”
“Hurry! You’ve got nine minutes left!” urged Gabi. Bethany slung Rosa over her shoulder, then held her shield out front.
“Right then!” she said to herself. “CHARGE!” She rushed forward to the ladder, the noise helping Rosa wake up.
“Oogh. Wha-? …The Mana Pools?” she asked. “How did I…? I was on Tanza…right?”
“Your granddaughter, Gabi, will fill you in when we get out of here, Lord President!” replied Bethany.
“What?! Who are-?”
“Bethany Williams, Rose of Water from Earth!” explained Bethany.
“Good heavens, young lady, you’re going too slow! Put me down!” Rosa jumped off of Bethany, spun her cane, and ran at speeds incredible for a YOUNG woman, much less an old one! Her cane acted as a buzzsaw, cutting down Entrooper larvae.
“…Hot damn!” muttered Bethany. Then she remembered the time limit and followed Rosa all the way to the ladder. Rosa was having some trouble climbing it. “Get on my back!” called Bethany. Rosa nodded and did so, then Bethany began climbing. The air was thick with larvae once again.
“I-I CAN’T-!” called Rosa as a larva wrapped its tentacles around her eyes.
“I’M JUST AS BLIND!” called Bethany. Just then, something grabbed her hand. “HEY!” she shouted.
“IT’S ME AGAIN!” replied Gabi’s voice. “I’M GOING TO PULL YOU UP! HERE! WE! GO!” Gabi pulled with all her might and got Bethany and Rosa to safety. “COME ON! ONE MINUTE LEFT UNTIL THE RESET!”
“Goodness! Another reason to run!” yelped Rosa. Everyone made a mad dash for the door, then they shut it tight. The door heated up for a bit, making everyone step back. It then cooled down. Gabi went to check the instruments.
“…Impurity purged!” she said. “The Mana Pools have been reset and are back to normal!”
“Oh, thank goodness!” sighed Belinda.
“Well, with all that,” said Rosa, “would someone mind telling me what’s going on and how I ended up in the Pools in the first place?!”
“It must have been to distract me and probably kill a Rose in the process,” replied Bethany as she took her suit off.
“Ooh, goodness! You really ARE a Cosmic Rose like my granddaughter!” exclaimed Rosa.
“Lord President-,” began Bethany.
“Please, call me Rosa. Any friend of Gabi’s is a friend of mine.”
“Rosa, the citadel is under attack by Entroopers and their masters,” continued Bethany. “Pat and my friend, Ruby, helped the Lord Vice-President with evacuations while Opal and my other friend, Yazmyn, are fighting off the Entroopers with the Gaian Guard.”
“You’d better get to safety among fellow Gaians, Abuela,” suggested Gabi.
“Very well, dear,” agreed Rosa. “You and your friends come back alive, you hear? That’s an order from the Lord President.”
“Will do, Lord President,” replied Gabi. “And welcome back.” Gabi’s parents helped Rosa along.
“Come on, girls,” said Belinda. “We’d better lend our strength to the war effort.”
“Let’s give them a heads up,” replied Bethany as she pulled out her Comms Compact. “Ruby, Yazmyn, come in.”
“This is Ruby,” replied Ruby. “What’s the situation?”
“This is Yazmyn,” said Yazmyn, “the enemy seems angrier now.”
“Yazmyn, I have a theory,” replied Bethany. “The enemy was using the Mana Pools as an incubation chamber to hatch and grow new Entroopers. It sounds like news of the Entrooper larvae’s death and the retaking of the Mana Pools reached them.”
“Th-there’s more!” interjected Gabi. “Th-The Lord President is safe and sound and is on her w-way to the evacuation point!”
“I can see her!” called Pat’s voice. “Well done! The Lord Vice-President just helped her onto the evacuation shuttle! It’s taking off now!”
“It’s gone beyond the shield safely!” cheered Grace’s voice.
“Yazmyn, you and Opal hold out for as long as you can!” directed Ruby. “We’re all on our way!”
“Better hurry!” called Yazmyn. “The Gaian Guard heard about the Lord President’s survival and it boosted their morale to no end! I think we’re about to run out of enemies for you girls to fight!”
“On our way, Yazmyn!” replied Bethany. “Bethany out!” She ended the call. “Well, let’s finish this!”
“Together?” asked Gabi as she held her hand out. Bethany took Gabi’s hand.
“Together!” confirmed Bethany. The two headed to the battlefield with Belinda smiling and following them.
“YOU’RE GOING TO REGRET RETAKING THE MANA POOLS!” called Dame Petrify.
“Somehow, I don’t think we will!” cackled Opal.
“Opal, just double-checking, you sensing a void from her AND her minions?” asked Yazmyn.
“They’ve all sacrificed their souls to Emperor Entropy!” hissed Wilma. “Unlike Lord Typhoon’s minions, we can’t hold back!” By then, all the Cosmic Roses had arrived.
“Sitrep?” asked Ruby.
“Dame Petrify and her minions are soulless,” reported Opal.
“Then we can destroy them with a clear conscience,” said Bethany.
“Bethany, Belinda, you two have the greatest luck in taking on the tough minion,” said Ruby.
“I-I’m going with her!” declared Gabi. She then blushed. “Th-Them! I mean them!”
“Good to hear,” said Ruby. “Yaz, Wilma, you’ve dealt with the weird one with the freaky powers before.”
“Same as before, then?” asked Yazmyn.
“That’s the idea,” replied Ruby.
“I’ll go with them,” offered Opal.
“Excellent,” praised Ruby. “That leaves Pat, Grace, and I to take care of the pretty one. Roses, let’s show our thorns!” The Roses then split off into their groups and attacked!