What, you didn't think I was gonna end it like THAT, did you?
"I don't get it... what stopped that missile?" Sergeant Morton surveyed the area with his binoculars, baffled by the turn of events.
"Sarge!" called out one of the troops. "We found something!"
"Spill it, Murphy, what'd you find?"
"That's just it... I have no clue what it is. You'd better come see for yourself."
The thing was thirty-five feet long, blue, scaly, with four arms, wings, and a five-eyed lizard's snout.
It was also, clearly, very dead.
"Damn. This just keeps gettin' weirder," the Sarge mumbled.
"Found something else, Sarge. Looks like a bird's wing. Wait... there's two of 'em."
"That's just great, Portnoy. Did you, by any chance, find anything that can tell us just what the hell happened out here?"
"Yeah, I wish, Sarge. All I see is some kind of bluish smear that trails off over by that brush over the-"He trailed off as he noticed something behind the brush. "Hold on a sec." He went over to the brush. His jaw dropped in shock.
"Sarge!"
"What now, didja find a unicorn horn or something?"
"No." He lifted a small figure. "It's a girl. And she's alive."
"Jane Doe" was rushed to the nearest military hospital, where she was treated for exposure and dehydration. Surprisingly, she had no other injuries.
For three days, she slept, as American and Israeli military officials looked for some sort of ID in what was left of her clothing. All they found was a partially-melted cellphone.
Finally, 67 hours and 12 minutes after being found, "Jane" woke, seeming very confused. She felt around her face frantically, mumbling about "eyes".
"Relax," the nurse on duty said in a comforting voice. "You're fine."
"My eye!" Where's my eye?" she shouted frantically.
"It's all right!" said the nurse. "You still have both of your eyes! You must have been having a bad dream."
"Both... uh huh... yeah... both..." responded the girl, a bit confused. She stared at her hands for a minute. "Sure, bad dream. That's what it was."
She settled back down, a bit calmer, and fell asleep again.
That night, Dr. Kim Li Moon dialed a special fifteen-digit phone number known only to a select few people.
"This is Sister Luna," she said into the receiver. "Clearance 9-273-X-72B6v9I..."
"Okay, Luna, that's sufficient. Nobody expects you to recite ALL 897 characters of the password."
"Good, 'cause I only remembered the first 35. Anyway, I've found the Child of Light and Darkness. Emphasis on 'child'. She's reverted back to her human form, with no sign that she was ever a dark angel. I thought the transformation was supposed to be a permanent one?"
"It was... however, it was always intended to happen when she was an adult. Maybe the fates have decided to give her back her childhood. Now... let's bring her home."
Kim hung up the phone and entered the ward. She gently woke the girl.
"Wha--- whassa..."
"Hi, Rhonda. You ready to go home?"
The mystery of who "Jane" was and why she disappeared was never solved. All records that she ever existed disappeared, and most of the base staff had a strange gap in their memories. Officials were ordered not to pursue any further investigation.
Upon being dropped off back at the Institute, Rhonda was declared fully mutation-free and given a clean bill of humanity. After returning to Hillwood, her life slowly returned to normal. Soon, she settled back into her old routine, as her adventures began to feel more and more like a weird dream.
Only, she knew it hadn't been, because there were some pretty obvious consequences related to the death of nearly everyone in the Executive Branch. The President's party had to hold an emergency convention to nominate a new candidate, and soon, the political game was back in swing.
Life was the same as it had ever been... only now, at least humans were messing up on their own without the Dark One's influence.
Now, it was mid-October. Rhonda and Nadine, now with a good six weeks' experience as sixth graders under their belts, were on their way home from another day under the stern-yet-bored gaze of Mr. Frank (he was definitely no Mr. Simmons, not even a Mr. Packenham). The discussion ranged from tonight's homework, to a new outfit that Rhonda had seen in the window of The Abyss, to preparations for Rhonda's upcoming Halloween gala.
"You're NOT wearing that," Rhonda stated flatly.
"But Rhonda," teased Nadine, "you're supposed to wear something scary!"
"There's scary, and there's over the line. And clowns, sister, are over the line. Why do you think I refuse to eat at O'Riley's?"
"I thought it was because," and she now went into a perfect imitation of the preteen diva, "'my palate is just too refined for that slop. It simply is.'"
"No, that's just what I tell everyone. My real reason is because 'Smiley O'Riley' scares the living heck out of me."
Nadine sighed. "The girl can fight giant three-headed dragons, but an ordinary human being in makeup scares her."
"Life's funny that way, I guess," replied Rhonda as they continued on.
As they neared the corner, Nadine asked out of nowhere, "Do you ever miss it?"
"Miss what?" replied Rhonda, with semi-obliviousness.
"I think you know. Flying, super-powers, fighting monsters..."
"Hmm... let's see... do I miss being a freak that couldn't go out in public, do I miss being tortured in the name of "training," do I miss having my life threatened on a regular basis..."
"I was just asking, Rhonda, you don't have to bite my he—"
"I actually do miss it. I miss how unbelievably acute my senses were, I miss having an unlimited capacity for knowledge, I miss my strength, my laser eye, my poison tail... okay, not so much the last two. But what I really miss was the feeling that I was chosen for something special, to truly make a difference. I miss... I miss being able to accept myself as different, and being able to accept the differences of others BECAUSE I was different too, and realizing that differences don't matter... Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"Vaguely..."
"What I'm saying is... I think that not being a human being...made me a better human being."
"So... if you had a chance to go back, give up being normal and become a dark angel again, would you?"
"Pfffft... heck no. I don't miss it that much. Now... I was thinking, maybe I'd go as a disco queen..."
"So, clowns scare you, but disco doesn't?" Nadine asked, suppressing a giggle.
"Drop it, Nadine..."
"Hmm... maybe a disco clown..."
"Drop it, Nadine.."
"Huge platform shoes, rainbow afro..."
"DROP IT, NADINE..."
The souvlaki vendor on the corner waited until the two girls rounded the corner, then pulled out what seemed to be an ordinary cell phone... because it was. He punched in the secret number...
"Hello... Brother Andrew here. The Chosen One's doing fine, it looks like."
"Have her powers resurfaced yet?"
"No... like the boss said, it may be months, even years before she even becomes aware she still has them. And that we're absolutely, positively not to interfere in her life until she DOES become aware."
"Of course. She's earned a little normalcy in her life, after all."
"Yes, she has. Andrew out. I'm returning to base."
As he closed his cell phone and folded up his phony pushcart, Andrew mused on Rhonda's growth. He'd watched her mature from a whiny, petulant child into a powerful, capable heroine. Now, it seemed like all that growth might be undone as Rhonda returned to her old life...
But deep down, he doubted it.
The legend of Genesis was only beginning.
Author's note: Well, that's REALLY the end of this story... but stay tuned for the first chapter of:
Rhondagenesis II!
Join Rhonda as she struggles with aliens, mad scientists, monsters, giant robots, and any other form of weirdness I can dream up... not to mention the horrors of high school!
And if there's anything you'd really like to see, ask. I'm feeling generous.