"It looks like your qualifications are in order, Mr. Cardgage. Welcome aboard."
"Thank you, sir," replied Luke Cardgage, the Institute's newest janitor. "You won't regret it."
A shame I have to be the bearer of falsehood, thought Luke – in actuality Brother Lucas of the Order Of Equilibrium. But if I am to inform the Chosen One of her destiny, I must be in a position where I can get her alone.
As Brother Lucas shook hands with his new boss, he was already calculating the quickest method of getting in touch with the Chosen One.
***
The Chosen One (or Rhonda Lloyd, as she knew herself) was hardly alone. It had been a week since the attack on the Institute, and since there seemed to be no further danger, Rhonda had convinced the Institute's advisors to allow Nadine to stay over for the weekend.
"She knows my secret. She's proven herself totally trustworthy. And even if we do get attacked again... I'll be able to protect her!"
It was almost the one-month anniversary of Rhonda's transformation from the fifth grade's fashion queen into a violet-skinned, three-eyed, eagle-winged, barbed-prehensile-tailed, razor-clawed – and as it had turned out, extremely powerful – mutant. But inside, she was still just a young girl, and young girls need some form of human contact from their own age group, even if they themselves are no longer human.
Now, the two were having a makeshift slumber party. Rhonda was using her pyrokinesis, used last week to roast homunculi, to instead roast marshmallows. They discussed all the usual things girls discussed, school, family, events...
...boys...
"Did you know Curly went on a hunger strike?"
"You're kidding. No... wait. That actually does sound like something he'd do. What happened?"
"Well, one day, he just plopped himself down in the middle of the gym and said..." she went into an imitation of Curly at this point, "I shall not move from this spot, nor shall I eat or drink, until the federal government releases Rhonda from the hidden New Mexico base they have her trapped at! I care not that my love hails from another galaxy... only that she be given her freedom! Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah!"
Rhonda chuckled. "For all we know, he could be right. I just might BE an alien."
"Think he'd be so stuck on you if he saw you now?"
"That weirdo? He'd probably like me MORE."
The two giggled in the same manner that ten-year-old girls do everywhere.
"You know what would make this perfect?" asked Nadine.
"Ice cream!" they shouted in unison.
"I'll go get it," Rhonda said, getting up.
"Nuh uh... you relax. I'll get it."
"But..."
"I said relax!" Nadine shouted.
"Uh... okay." Rhonda sat back. "I'm not going anywhere.
"Now, then... name your flavor."
***
She has to come out sometime, thought Brother Lucas, as he waited down the hall. Chosen One or not, she still needs to eat.
Finally, the door opened. This was his chance!
He waited in an alcove as he heard footsteps getting closer...
"Gotcha!" he yelled as he pounced on a very surprised Nadine.
The next sound was Nadine's scream echoing down the hall.
And the one after that was Rhonda's door shattering as she smashed through it at top speed.
"Let go of my friend!" she demanded. "Or you'll wind up like your buddies did last week!"
"This is not what it looks like, Chosen One! I did not intend to frighten this child, I merely need to speak to you!"
"Oh, riiiiiiiiight... you need to kill me for your master, that's what you need!"
"No... look, I'm releasing her!" Lucas pleaded as he let go of Nadine, who ran as fast as she could toward Rhonda."
"This is a trick. You get my trust and then you betray me. Don't try it with me, I've seen a LOT of movies!"
Lucas raised his hands in the air, to show he meant no harm. "Believe it or not, I am simply here because I have vital information."
"Like...?"
"Like the true nature of your transformation and your destiny."
Rhonda seemed to untense as he said that.
"Okay... you have my attention now."
***
"This world is older than you know, and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise."
"Ooh, I know! Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Giles in the first episode!"
"Look, this works much better if you don't make sarcastic comments all through my explanation! And... does she have to be here?"
"Nadine's my friend. My secrets are her secrets."
"Just, uh, ignore me." said Nadine with a sheepish look.
"Fine..." grumbled Lucas. "Anyway... in the beginning, all was pure Chaos. The world was ruled by horrific creatures born of the Chaos. Your religion has dubbed them "demons", but they are known by many names... efreet, n'zikin, oni..."
"Wait... hold up a second... are you telling me that demons actually existed?"
"Could you please let me continue?" Lucas snapped, exasperated. This would've been so much easier with a boy. Or at least a much older girl.
"Oh, uh, sorry. Go on." This is a big fat load, thought Rhonda privately.
"Ahem. Eventually, there arose an opposing force, that of Order. The forces of Order stemmed the tide of Chaos, driving it off the earthly plane for the most part. Their job now finished, Order mostly withdrew as well. However, isolated Chaos-beings remained on the mortal plane. Rather than fight them theirselves, Order would recruit agents from the mortal races, granting them vast powers. The beings you know as the gods of Greek and Norse mythology were such beings."
"So the gods actually existed?" interjected Nadine, who had been paying rapt attention the entire time. "But doesn't that contradict-"
"No religion is entirely true, but all have some grain of truth to them. The beings that you know as angels were also agents of Order. In fact, all legends of good vs. evil are in reality merely echoes of the war between Order and Chaos."
"Look... " replied Rhonda. "I'm sure you worked hard on your story, and it's incredibly long and boring, but what does ANY of this have to do with me?"
"I'm getting to that. First, you must know that the most powerful of the Chaos Lords, a being so old and powerful that he predates the very concept of time itself, has returned to the mortal plane. For lack of a better name, let us call him the Dark One. He's at a low ebb of power at the moment, having expended the vast majority of his power simply to escape the limbo dimension in which we was imprisoned. He still has a great deal of resources at his disposal, including the troop of homunculi that you fought last week."
"So this guy sent them?" asked Rhonda, finally paying attention now that the discussion was touching on something she had actual experience with.
"Yes, in order to dispose of you before you became a threat to his plans."
"But how would I be a threat?"
"Because you are the one being that is capable of defeating him. Surely you've begun to discover some of the things you're capable of. You're only scratching the tip of the iceberg, to use a perfectly good cliché."
"What am I capable of? And who are you, that you know all this stuff?"
"I'll answer your second question first. I am Brother Lucas of the Order of Equilibrium. Our order has been preparing for the return of the Dark Lord for centuries. We believe that the key to defeating him is to combine the greatest strengths of both Order and Chaos.
"A bit over ten years ago, we determined that the Dark Lord would begin his ascension to full power in the year 2012. We charged ourselves with creating a champion to oppose him.
"That champion, Rhonda Lloyd, is you."
"But... me...? WHY?!"
"Because you were born at the appointed time. Thus, you were Chosen."
Rhonda sat there in shock. All this... my transformation, my powers, the attack... all because of the time I was BORN?
"At a specified time chosen by our seers, the Order cast a spell. It would summon one Order sprit and one Chaos spirit... or, an angel and a demon, to use the common terms... and bind them to each other and whichever child would be born at that very moment, thus creating a single being of immense power."
"And... I'm that being."
"Correct. You have already discovered great strength, near-invulnerability, the power of flight, and vast telepathic and telekinetic abilities. But that's just the beginning."
"There's MORE?"
"With proper training, you'll be able to tap abilities you couldn't possibly have imagined. You will be able to manipulate matter and energy in new and exciting ways, heal the injuries of others... even to the point of being able to resurrect the dead within a period of fifteen minutes. Eventually, you will be able to traverse space and time as easily as I cross the street."
This was all very overwhelming. Time travel, resurrecting the dead... this was crazy. Things like that just didn't happen! Right? This had to be a very strange dream. She'd wake up any second now, in her own room, two-eyed, flesh-colored, and just plain normal.
...any second now.
She opened her eyes.
Nadine and the janitor/monk/whatever were still there.
"Okay... not a dream. Sorry... it's just that you show up from nowhere, start spinning this wacky tale about demons and gods and angels, tell me I'm gonna be as close to omnipotent as humanly possible... it's nuts."
Lucas smiled benevolently. "I can prove it." He held out his hand. "Come, Rhonda."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
***
They stood on the roof. The time was close to sunset. Already, the sky was starting to display the vibrant colors that made that time of day a favorite for romantics everywhere.
"Wow," she said, breathlessly. "I'm actually going up there. I-I don't think I'm ready for this."
"Take your time, Rhonda," Lucas said. "The sky isn't going anywhere just yet."
Rhonda turned back, towards where he and Nadine stood. "You're absolutely sure nobody can see me? I'm invisible?"
"Not exactly. Invisibility's a pretty hard spell, and it has a serious drawback; it's caused by bending the light around you, which means that none of it's hitting your eyes. Which means you wouldn't be able to see anything."
"I never though of it that way."
"People think that magic can break all the rules of nature, but it doesn't. All it can do is bend them a bit. The spell I've cast on you is actually a simple glamour. Basically... nobody can see you unless they already know you're there."
"Works for me," said Rhonda.
She took in a deep breath.
Spread her wings.
Stepped off the roof.
It was instinct, really. Somehow, inwardly, she already had known how to use her wings. How to let them carry her higher, then higher still, and then, just a little higher. She knew how to bank, circle, dive, roll, and could even hover.
It was as if, at that moment, she had just started being alive.
She flew through the ranks of a flock of migrating geese; the birds seemed momentarily confused by their strange new neighbor, but quickly got over it.
She soared higher, higher still. Touched clouds. Tasted one. It tasted kinda like bottled water.
Hmmm... what else was there to do up here...
***
It was John Williams' first time on a plane. After his wife had spent hours explaining to him that the odds of dying in a fiery explosion were astronomical, John had finally relented on his insistence upon taking a train. Now, armed with all the good luck charms he could carry, John huddled in his seat, trying like hell to take his mind off the fact that he was suspended miles above the ground in a heavy metallic box with only four jet engines between him and a horrible death.
After several hours (and a couple of alcoholic beverages), though, John felt himself loosening up. Maybe this wasn't so bad, he thought. Maybe he would risk a glance outside after the movie...
"Attention, passengers... this afternoon's film will be Rob Schneider in Hamburger Man, the hilarious comedy about a man who switches minds with a hamburger."
Or maybe he'd do it now. Of course, there'd probably be something horrible on the wing of that plane, just like on that TV show...
He glanced outside.
There was something on the wing of the plane.
He rubbed his eyes, wondering if it was just some trick of the light. He looked back.
It was still there.
He looked closer. The figure didn't seem to be causing any trouble... it was just crouched there, face forward, as if it was just a passenger itself. It was purple, with black wings and hair and a long tail trailing behind, and oddest of all, it seemed to be wearing a red sweater and black slacks.
The creature turned toward the window. It... no, she, for her face was the face of a young girl, nearly human save for the color, ears and eyes. For a moment, they locked eyes, then the girl spread her wings and leapt off the plane into the void.
John stared a bit longer, then sank back into his seat. He thought of waking his wife, then thought better of it. What would he say? "Honey, you just missed it! There was a little purple girl riding on the wing, and she had wings herself, and three eyes, and she looked right at me!" Who would believe him? Especially since he had just finished his second martini.
So he did the only logical thing:
He ordered a third martini.
***
Had that guy seen her? Rhonda was pretty sure he had... but how? She was supposed to have been invisible, or something like it. Maybe the spell wasn't working.
As she descended lower Rhonda realized she had another problem; she had absolutely no clue where she was. Asking for directions was out of the question, of course... even if people could see her, they probably wouldn't be very cooperative. Maybe she could sneak a look at a map, or something...
She set down in the middle of a small town. None of the locals were paying attention to the sight of a pre-teen mutant, so she figured the spell was actually holding. Maybe the man on the plane spotting her was just her imagination.
She lifted off again, looking for a gas station; those had maps, didn't they? Spying one, she made a beeline for it.
She landed next to the gas tanks, attracting no attention...
Except for one crazy-looking individual sitting out front.
"I knew it," he said. "I knew someday you'd come."
Taken aback, Rhonda stammered out, "Uh, um, er, wha...?"
"You've come from beyond Pluto to take me to your homeworld as an ambassador!"
"Uh... yeah! I'm an alien! Oooowoooo!!" She wiggled her fingers in what she hoped was a creepy manner. "I have come to take you away! But first... you must find me a map!"
"A map? But don't you have sophisticated computers and things?"
"Are you questioning me, human?"
"No, miss alien, ma'am!"
"Good! Now, bring me a map and you shall be richly rewarded!"
"Yes, miss alien, ma'am!"
"And then bring me an ice-cold Yahoo and a Mr. Nutty, or I will deterraform this planet!"
***
It was around nine in the evening when Rhonda finally made it back to the Institute's roof.
"What kept you?" questioned Brother Lucas.
"I got lost," replied Rhonda, a bit irritated. "And seen. I thought nobody would be able to do that!"
"Nobody should have been! Unless they were insane or very small children..."
"Great, an invisibility spell that doesn't work on lunatics."
"Or cats and dogs, for that matter. They'd be able to see you."
"Magic is sooo stupid."
Lucas scowled. "We're going to need to work on your attitude during your training, young lady."
"Training? What? I'm not doing any training!"
"Oh, yes you are, Rhonda," a new voice chimed in.
Rhonda whirled. "Dad?"
"You're going to be a potential danger to yourself and others if you don't gain full mastery of your powers. It's all for your own good, honey."
"But..."
"No buts, precious. Brother Lucas assured me that the Order has a monastery near here where you'll be able to train. You'll be able to fully master your abilities with no distractions." He gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Remember... we only want what's best for you."
"I know, daddy," sighed Rhonda.
Being the savior of mankind is such a pain, she thought.
***
Earlier that day...
It was yet another red-letter day in the life of Helga G. Pataki. Miriam had not only forgotten to pack her lunch, but she hadn't done the laundry either, so Helga was forced to scrounge up her old pink dress. Then, Fenton, her pet monitor lizard, had eaten her school project, then she'd missed the bus and had to hurry to school in the rain, then she'd gotten there late and had to get a tardy slip from Mr. Wartz, who gave her a long lecture on responsibility, then the cafeteria ran out of tacos just before she got to the lunch counter, then she'd been blindsided by a history test she'd completely forgotten to study for.
And, to top things off, tonight, Olga would be dropping by, and she'd be forced to listen as Bob and Miriam fawned over her. It was going to be a long night.
Caught in her building resentment, she didn't see him coming. And so, she collided with Arnold for what seemed like the hundredth time.
"Sorry, Helga," mumbled the love of her life, the light of her existence, the reason why her heart kept beating.
"Yeah, well, you're gonna be sorry if you don't watch where you're going, Football-Head!"
"Okay, okay... look, I don't want any trouble. Let me help you pick up your things..."
"I can do it myself, Hair Boy!" she retorted, grabbing up her things and hurrying along.
She waited until she was far enough past him, then ducked into the alley. "Oh, my beloved ovate-skulled Adonis!" she gushed, pulling out her prized locket. "How I curse my weak will! How I yearn for the day when I can gather enough courage to finally..."
Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze...
"Damn it, Brainy!" she yelled, whirling around, ready to deliver her usual haymaker...
There was no one there. Just darkness.
And a voice within the darkness.
You will do.
"I will do what? Come on, this isn't funny! Brainy, Curly, Harold, whoever's back there, you'd better come out of there or face the wrath of Ol' Betsy!"
You are full of anger and resentment. You will be a perfect instrument, Helga Geraldine Pataki.
Okay, now this was just getting creepy. Helga began to back away... when tendrils of shadow reached out of the darkness and drew her in, screaming...
***
Oooh... another cliffhanger! What does the Dark One have planned for Helga? Will Rhonda's training be enough? Stay tuned for Chapter 5!