Despite their concerns, Rose continued to stay calm. She leaned back and laid flat on the ground as she used ice to continue to propel her forward. The rocks all flew over her head, completely missing her. With this final move, she managed to close the distance between herself and Gambling Gary. Throwing ice towards his legs, she rooted him in place, and then layed an ice knife against his neck.
Feeling the knife, Gambling Gary decisively raised his arms. "Okay, you win. I give up."
The lackeys stared blankly into the field, they were awestruck by the amazing fight that just occurred. Somewhere within the group, one of them started applauding and then the rest of them followed suit. They totally ignored the fact that their boss had just been beaten by a 10 year old girl and didn't help him save face at all. They also missed the angry look on Gambling Gary's face, he was flushed with anger and embarrassment.
Rose ignored the applause and stepped away from Gambling Gary, removing the ice around his legs as well, as she indifferently walked back to Aida. As she did this, a glint rose in Gambling Gary's eyes and he used his earth ability to conjure more rocks and threw them towards Rose who was walking away. He didn't care if it made him look bad, the only thing that mattered to him was that he win.
"No!!" screamed the lackeys who stood on the side. They knew that if those rocks made contact with Rose, she would be severely injured and disabled, if not dead.
Suddenly, two knives came out of nowhere. One lopped off his head as well while the other went for his most precious part. The rocks that were approaching Rose harmlessly fell to the ground.
Rose turned around, eyes rounded in shock which made her more adorable. She hadn't expected that the man would be so vile as to attack her when she had allowed him to live.
Aida walked over to Rose by this time and patted her on the head comfortingly. She reminded gently, "Remember. Never turn your back on the enemy."
Rose nodded with a grave expression on her face. She had been careless and was lucky that Aida was there to save her. She would never make this mistake again.
Seeing that she understood, Aida turned her attention to the group of lackeys who were still standing there with awestruck expressions. They clearly had no loyalty towards their old base leader and just followed where the wind blew. With a cold expression, she declared, "I'm the new leader for this base. Does anyone oppose it?"
There were no responses from the men there. Taking this as confirmation, Aida said, "Good. Then let's get to work. If any of you dare to rebel or betray me, I will chop off that thing that's most important to you."
A collective shudder passed through everyone as they nodded furiously, eager to prove their loyalty. Seeing that they understood, Aida walked back towards the penthouse they had previously been in. Before she left, she turned to Rose, "Take care of business here and then come find me. Little White will stay with you too."
Rose nodded and then continued to stare at Sarah who was on her knees. She had been left behind and forgotten by the other Variants who were trying to please Aida.
Holding Little White's hand for support, she faced this former classmate and bully of hers. There were so many thoughts and emotions going through her head as she approached this girl. Rose wasn't sure if she should be angry at Sarah for having tormented her for most of her life or thank her for teaching her resiliency which allowed her to survive all those horrifying experiments or pity her for her current conditions.
With all those feelings, Rose walked towards Sarah step by step until she finally stood before her. Without saying any words, she took out a handkerchief and wiped away the dirt on Sarah's face while helping her up. Sarah stared at her with tearful eyes as she began bawling.
Rose sighed and patted her as she continued to cry for a long time. After a while, she finally stopped and Sarah said, "Thank you for releasing me from that evil monster. I'm going to go find my parents now. Be safe! There are a lot of dangerous bad guys here."
Rose watched quietly as Sarah ran out of the field and then sighed. She never thought that she would be able to forgive Sarah, but after seeing her in such a pitiful state and her care for her parents, somehow she was able to let go a little bit.
She stood there with Little White holding her hand for moral support for a while longer before indicating that she was ready to go back to her mother. Little White picked her up and they flashed quickly through the base and back into the penthouse that Aida was at.
Aida was sitting on a comfortable chair, staring out the window when the two little tails had returned. She traced the fine wood of the table as she observed the sad and gloomy base. She could sense that Rose had found some closure. Seeing this, Aida could finally be at ease.
Rose and Little White quietly stood by either side of her chair, acting like guards. Aida rolled her eyes internally, it seems Ace had taught them some strange habits again.
She ordered the people from the base who had been standing there nervously, ""Everyone, leave this room except the tattooed guard who brought me in. Bring me the other leaders of the base."
Very quickly shuffling out as though running away from a demon, they all escaped except for the tattooed guard who stood in a corner trying to minimize his own existence. Ignoring him for the time being, she turned to Rose who was standing stoically to her right.