The darkness of space envelopes them as they fly towards a system Rage hasn't been to...nor heard of from the crew of the Endeavor. It is a darker system with a large red sun. The planet they are flying to is a small blue planet on the edge of the system. As they pass through the atmosphere, she can see a small city of crystalline towers and blue walkways. They land gently in the middle of the city.
"This is home..." Divis says.
Rage's eyes widen in amazement. She hadn't expected...this! The Teragen had appeared to be somewhat disorganized when they were all back on earth, so what she'd imagined Divis was taking her to was the city block that he'd flown away from New York with! She hadn't imagined such delicate and beautiful architecture! Let alone their own planet!
She's speechless for a long time as she looks around, and for the first time since her "birth" centuries before she feels...a sense of peace. After Damage's assumed death she realized she couldn't be alone. She NEEDED to belong to a group. But the group would have to be people just like her-- no more disapproving stares or reprimanding words. The fact that people just like her built this amazing city...that they cooperated and worked together...that they've been existing together for centuries...she's...so proud...she feels reaffirmed that she made the right choice when she chose to join Divis.
She finally takes her eyes off of the building and looks over at Divis-- her reaction plain on her face.
"You built this?" she asks almost reverently.
"After a fashion..." he says. Divis curls his lips, "The race that lives here still made this for us. We are their gods now. They live among us, worship us, adore us. As they will you..." he says. "There are more of us now. But more on that later..." he says.
Rage nods slowly as she takes this in, her eyes like deep red smoldering coals. "I am sure we have many questions for one another. I'm sure you will need time to decide if you trust me or not. There were many times when you came to me and asked me to join and I turned you down. There is much I have to explain. Thank you for not giving up on me." she says, the flames of her EuFiber seeming to lick around her skin, just barely maintaining her modesty.
Divis gives her a side-glance and then his eyes focus on the crystal towers. "There is a room in that tower for each Nova whom I respected and wished to join us...yours is on the top." he says.
"The room has not been touched since we arrived many years ago..." he says folding his arms.
Rage raises her eyebrows, her eyes flickering in surprise for a moment. A million thoughts and questions race through her mind in the space of a second. "You could see me, couldn't you." she says more of a statement than a question. "You could see the real me beneath the politically-correct slave name 'Aura'...beneath the exterior..."
Throughout her "marriage" to Supreme, many many times he'd told Gwen that he knew she could fight and beat Rage. She'd always suspected that he could see her in there...that he knew there were two of them. Maybe he hadn't KNOWN, but he must have been able to sense something was up. She would never forgive him for trying to get Gwen to fight her. She'd had enough of a battle with Gwen without him encouraging her-- Supreme was just a complication that made it nearly impossible for Rage to get her agenda done!
"I knew there was a part of you who wanted to break free. To determine its own destiny and path. But my brother held you back, kept you from realizing your potential." Divis says his eyes flaring for a moment. "Those days are long gone."
Rage nods in agreement as he speaks. "I know you followed me for a long time before you finally made your presence known. I know you watched Damage and I on that Veran planet. How...much after that did you see? When did you start watching me?" she asks, needing to know when she should begin her explanation of the split that set her free.
"I have never stopped," Divis says. "I sensed your presence as I was flying by Veran. I saw your ship land and everything after. Your friend Damage's thinning and fading, your cries and whispers in the darkness of space." he says. He turns to look at her. "I wanted to see if it was truly the one I was talking to, asking to join so long ago."
Rage listens quietly, a little embarrassed that he saw her screaming and ranting and trying to kill herself with her own powers after Damage disappeared.
"I want to tell you my secret." she says. "Before Gwen erupted, it was just Gwen in that head. Good old hard-working, boring Gwen. Then she was attacked by a group of men at the Olympics, and she froze. She was desperate to do something to defend herself, but she froze. See, the Nielssons have this legendary bad temper that they have to consciously work hard to suppress. Her brother Nick actually killed someone when he lost his temper. I am that temper in the flesh. At the moment of her panic she reached out for me...called to me...and I came. I took care of her attackers, and since that moment there were two of us in her head. Some people call it schizophrenia. I call it hell."
"When we were found and unfrozen after floating in space, the aliens who had collected and frozen us had injected something to keep us from connecting to our quantum. The telepaths on board the human ship figured out that if they forced us to re-live our moment of Eruption that they could re-connect us to our quantum. However, this time around I saw my chance. During the first eruption, even though I had taken control Gwen still pulled me back enough that none of her attackers were killed. This time I planned to surprise her and take her over once and for all. And I did it! I took over completely!"
"And then the telepaths sensed this and did something to us, and the next thing I knew I had my own body!! I snuck out of the room-- no one saw me in all the confusion-- and I got off the ship...finally FINALLY FREE!" Rage cries in ecstasy, her eyes flaring in bright flames. "But I couldn't leave my brother behind-- Damage." Rage's voice quiets down just slightly. "I knew there were two people in Brody's body, too-- just like me and Gwen. I wanted to set him free, too. And he agreed, and the telepaths did the same thing they did to me and Gwen and separated Damage and Brody! And Damage left with me for freedom. But...then...he...well, you saw what happened. It killed him. I thought I was alone in the universe...that there were no more like me...and I couldn't accept that I would have to exist in the universe like that...and then there was you. And at last there was nothing preventing me from joining you-- as I tried to do so long ago when my application was rejected, as rightly it should have been with a spy like Gwen sharing my head."
Rage falls silent for a second. "So there are two of us. Gwen-- or Aura-- is the one who married Supreme while I was trapped inside of her and had to endure it." Rage watches Divis intently.
"There are more like you than you know my dear," Divis says. "Many were killed that day...that day in New York when your...other side killed so many of my followers." he says. "But we will discuss that once you've....proven yourself." he says. He looks at her again, scrutinizing her and his eyes flick to hers. "You speak a convincing game, Rage...what can you do to prove that you are truly different than your other half?"
Rage gives a deep, throaty laugh. "What would you ask of me, Divis?" she asks, her eyes flickering eagerly.
"Indeed...what would I ask of any of us? Or of myself." he says. Divis considers a moment walking back and forth at a slow pace. His boots clicking on the crystal beneath their feet.
"I have completely divorced myself from humanity. I am no longer human. And you, Rage, must undergo the same process. You must enter Chrysalis."
Rage nods as she listens to him. During the quiet hours while she and Divis were flying to this place in silence, she'd been wondering what he would ask her to do to prove herself. She knew what the Teragen required back when they were all on earth, but some of those things would be null and void now. And then she'd remembered Chrysalis-- how it made the Teragen stronger...more god-like...less human-- and she'd found herself feeling no apprehension about entering it.
"I was never human...never born of human parents. I believe I went through a sort of Chrysalis just before I left to find you. I feel...different. I feel stronger." she says, her non-human scarlet eyes radiating like red-hot embers. If this is what Chrysalis is, I will do it again gladly. You have only to instruct me." she says, her eyes flickering over his.
Divis turns once more to her and sees the fire within her. He smiles. "It will rob you of all you once were, you will be reborn in fire and pain and you will be evolved. This is not the fake Chrysalis your friends tried. Once you do this, there is no turning back, forever will you be Teragen..." he says.
Rage nods, opening her mouth to reply, and then suddenly stops as she remembers something. "Divis...before I do this, I...need to bring up a rather...personal subject." she says, trying to figure out the best way to say what she has to say, and then deciding the best way would be to just come out with it.
"I know that you within the Teragen have been...unable to have children. Aeon came to the conclusion that this is because of the Chrysalis." Rage pauses. "Here I stand before you, ready to do what you ask to prove my dedication, and I may be...your last chance to have a child of your own. I know about your consorts...what you were attempting with them. And I guarantee you that I am very fertile as I am right now." she ways, keeping her eyes on his attentively.
Divis smiles and crosses his arms. "They were very wrong, Rage. But I will not speak of that further until after you emerge. I must have this proof before I can speak to you any more than I have already."
Rage nods. "Then if this is what it takes to prove myself to you, I will do it immediately," Rage says, anxious to have all the secrecy stop. She had to endure distrusting looks when she was in Stormwatch, and she can't handle that anymore from the people she works with.
Divis nods, "And so shall it be," he says. He reaches out and touches her forehead and she immediately falls to the ground, deep asleep.
Divis stands over her watching and smiling. He lifts her body and flies up and to the highest point of the crystalline tower and places her gently on the floor of her room. He stands by the window watching for a time and then flies off.
Much later...
Rage awakens...something feels different...she looks around to see the crystal room. Nothing is within save her. She feels...powerful...beyond anything she has before. Stronger than Aura or Lady Supreme or whatever that one is calling herself these days. She also feels as if she has crossed a line...a line she can never cross again.
Rage gets up off the floor, curious beyond curious as to what's happened to her as a result of the Chrysalis. The walls are made of crystal, so she walks over to one, trying to see her reflection.
Her reflection hasn't changed since the day she separated. Everything remains the same. It is a feeling deep inside her that has changed...
Rage smiles, turning back and forth as she checks out her reflection from all angles. Definitely fit to be a queen. She saunters over to the window and looks out, and then levitates to make sure her flying-abilities are still all they once were before she leaps out. Satisfied that she can still fly just as well as before, she opens her arms and soars out of the window and down into the city, the flames from her EuFiber creating a sort of comet-affect around her body as the wind rushes past her.
The streets are filled now with creatures she's never seen before. They are tall and green. Their hapless forms are distinguishable from each other as no two are the same. Some have four arms, some none. Limbs, eyes, hands-- all are different. The only thing the same is the color. Sickly green.
Rage wonders why Divis picked this planet to establish his city on-- unless he knew of the natives' skill with architecture. She decides to test and see if they really WILL treat her as a goddess.
She slowly descends among them until her feet are almost touching the ground, and then folds her arms and watches them with her flickering flame-eyes.
All see her, whether they have eyes or not, and bend to knee, or slither to the ground, showing her difference. Murmurs of "goddess," "queen of earth," "mother of child," reach her ears.
Rage gives a tiny smile as she soaks this all in. Now THIS is how the humans of earth should have treated her! Or ANY nova! She will never raise a hand to any such worthy worshippers. She smiles and moves among them, pausing to touch random ones on the head or shoulder gently and murmur a blessing to them-- feeling benevolent and magnanimous.
She feels a pang of anger when she remembers Mestre ridiculing her abilities as a mother. If only he could see her now. And he will. Oh yes...he will. In fact, she means to make her face the last thing he ever sees for his ill treatment of her over the years.
She pauses for a second. Did one of them call her "mother of child?" Yes-- now there is another one calling her that! She puzzles over this as she continues moving amongst them.
More murmurs come to her, but they are all the same. There is the sound of a whoosh and Divis stands beside her. "You slept well," he says sardonically. "These are your followers. Those who will live and die by your will." he says. "Name them."
Rage smiles at Divis and raises an eyebrow quizzically. 'Name them?' she thinks to herself. She glances out across the people, deep in thought, and then levitates herself up high enough that all can see and hear her.
"You are truly faithful followers for you have given your goddess a most pleasing welcome as she awakens from her slumber!" she calls, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I choose you for my own, and will protect you and watch over you! And that all may know that you are mine, I shall call you 'Children of the Lady of Flames!" she smiles, raising her arms straight over her head and sending a column of fire into the heavens as her body crawls with fiery immolation.
Divis nods and looks over her followers. He bows his head to them and they look up to Rage with adoration in their eyes. They are named ones now, and their grateful eyes show her love and acceptance.
"So it is," Divis says. "And what shall you do with them?"
Rage floats down beside Divis. "What is their society like? What do they currently do all day? Do the women stay home with the children? What are the adults skilled at? What do they require to be content?" she whispers to him.
"All these things you will learn before we embark towards earth, Rage. You must decide what they will be on earth, what they will do when we take over," he says. "But more of this later." Divis says. "How do you feel?"
Rage's eyebrows raise. They're taking their people to earth with them! She hadn't been expecting this!
'They will be chosen over the humans-- that much I know!' she thinks to herself with satisfaction.
"I feel...fantastic! I feel...closer to what I am meant to become!" she answers with a smile, running her hands over her body and reveling in the power and strength of it. She pauses for a moment, looking at him intently.
"You said earlier that you had made a room in the tower for each nova you respected...and that mine was the room at the top. Divis...I had no idea you respected me-- let alone that highly!" she says, gesturing up to the top of the tower. "What did I do to earn such respect?" she asks in amazement.
Divis smiles magnanimous and takes her chin. "Because I could see the fire within your eyes. A strong and powerful woman just waiting to be brought forth." he says. "I had always hoped it would burst forth, better late than never."
Rage keeps her eyes on his. "Then you were the only one who truly cared anything about me or my future. Everyone else wanted to try to extinguish me! They made Aura go to a psychologist to learn how to appease me or fight me!" she says laughing darkly. "But everything they tried failed. If Sifirous had found me before Caestus did, I would have been by your side long ago." she says with a wry smile.
"A mistake I wish I could have taken back," Divis says. "But the past is the past and we are here to discuss your future." he says. "Soon we will visit upon the earth the reign of Mal that should have occurred ages ago. If they do not remember, they surely will never forget once we return."
Rage's eyes suddenly flash as she remembers something. "Divis...you said you were following me from the moment I separated. Did you see Damage and I fly into the atmosphere of a planet that had lots of ships leaving it? On that planet we saw a gigantic statue of Apophis! I think that's where he landed when you and Supreme threw him into space, and he's established a new colony there!" she warns him.
Divis shrugs. "It is his right to do as he wishes." he says. "I will not stop him. I only want earth." he says. "It would be wise if you forgot you saw him at all, Rage." he says. "I would hate to see him follow us because of it."
Rage nods slowly. "As long as he doesn't bother us. The last I heard he's been sending his Chromatics against earth-ships. What if he has his sites on earth? He WAS a little drawn to the Egyptian culture, if I remember correctly." she says slowly.
"Then the two of us shall destroy him once and for all," Divis says. He scowls and looks to the sky. "And there are more of us now..." he says. "And they will fight for what should be ours." he says. He smiles at her. "Tell me Rage...which nation is the first to feel our wrath?"
Rage smiles. "The former United States, now called the FSA. They are the most pathetic example of humanity I can think of! They go from being a rebellious new country fighting for their freedom, to a corrupted superpower that tries to get its fingers into every other country, to a dictatorship that tells its people what to believe! And the people allow this to happen! They sit by passively and lose their freedoms one by one! Well if they're THAT content to hand their country over to a dictator, I'll gladly oblige by taking it from them!" she says, the flames in her eyes flaring up hotly. "They say that novas are a myth...that we never existed. Well I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces when we come falling out of the sky like Armageddon!"
Divis smiles, "And so we shall, Rage. I have sent my emissary to travel there and begin his work to prepare the way for us," he says. Divis slowly floats above the ground. "We shall return as lords of all the earth, starting with them. And for their final fate? They shall bow down before us, and fight for us when we call."
Rage smiles. "That will be so satisfying! If only the same people who rejected the novas 200 years ago were still there for that day! I know no one on earth right now, but from the sounds of it, the ones in power are just as tiny-brained as the ones who were in power when we left." Rage smirks and folds her arms. "I would especially love to meet the one they call 'Jake Danger!' I have a special place on my list for him!" she cackles. Then she pauses for a moment.
"Speaking of 'lists, Divis...I want to make a request. Our people can do whatever they like to whoever they like, but there are three I want for myself to do with as I please: Aura, Mestre, and...Slider." she says the last name with a slight hiss and flash to her eyes. "I've waited a long time to kill those last two...a very...very long time..." she says with her lips curling into a smile that doesn't reach her eyes.
"So be it. They are yours..." Divis says with a curl of his lip. "Do with them as you wish," he says. "What do you plan to do with your other half?" he asks.
Rage smiles and her eyes grow half-lidded with pleasure when Divis gives her Mestre and Slider. Then she shifts her eyes over to Divis.
"With Aura? I plan to convert her! Imagine the horrific splendor of the twin powers lightning and fire raining down from the sky!" she laughs, clasping her hands together. "I know Aura...I know her better than she knows herself! She's afraid to embrace her dark fantasies, but she has them! Oh yes, she has them! I used to sit and listen to them from my hiding place, and then I'd burst out and take her over and start doing them for her, and...sometimes she didn't even try to stop me! She didn't watch, but she didn't raise a finger to prevent me from doing them-- MOST of the time, anyway! And then she felt like a monster and would berate herself for days for having such fantasies! If it weren't for Supreme, I would have had her! He kept threatening to divorce her if she didn't shape up, and everytime he did, she would suddenly grow stronger and prevent me from going about my work! But...where IS Supreme?" she asks in mock-wonder. She pauses, as if looking and listening for him. "I don't see him anywhere! Why, who will be Aura's conscience now?" she cries melodramatically, and then bursts into dark laughter.
Divis snarls, "My brother...how I miss thee," he says quietly. "A good rival is nothing to mock. It is a valuable key to yourself." he says. "Can she be converted, Rage? Or will she take up the mantle of her husband?"
Rage's face grows serious. "She never felt worthy to take upon herself the name Lady Supreme. If she did it now, it would only be a crutch to try to persuade others that the Supreme name isn't dead, but inside she would still feel uncomfortable beneath the heavy burden. I believe she would find it a relief if I could convince her to shed it. As long as he's really gone...I know I will be victorious." she says quietly.
Divis nods. He crosses his arms and paces before her. "I see..." he says. "And if she will not convert...what are you willing to do then? Will you be willing to kill her?"
Rage presses her lips together tightly and looks away from Divis for the first time since accepting his invitation to join him.
"I would do everything in my power to prevent that from having to happen." she says quietly, the flames of her eyes dying down to dark embers. Then she suddenly glances up at Divis. "I believe you yourself have had to deal with the same quandary regarding YOUR other half. As did he. He couldn't kill you as surely as you didn't want to kill him." she says, watching him carefully.
Divis considers a moment rubbing his chin. He smiles, "You are correct as always, Rage." he says. "I, however, would no longer find it difficult...but it is a moot point..." he says. "Aura could be a thorn in our side. If anyone knows you better it is her. Your strengths, your weaknesses, she knows you."
Rage gives a tiny smirk. "Well...she knows the me that was trapped inside of her!" Rage paces around in a circle-- more or a strut than a pace. "See, most of the time I found Stormwatch business so boring and pointless, so I'd kind of phase out my mind and think about more interesting things. It made everyone assume that Aura was a little slow upstairs, you know?" she says, tapping the side of her head. "Which is far from the case. There weren't many times where I felt so passionate about something that I revealed my intelligence. But in contrast there were MANY times when she felt passionate about fighting this or stopping that, and that's when it would suddenly appear to anyone watching that Aura had gained a sudden load of IQ points! It was because SHE had taken over! So I know how she thinks...what she does when she's determined to succeed. But she's never seen THAT side of me. I think she's going to be shocked when she finds out that I was just playing dumb to throw a monkey wrench in the works!" she grins, hands on her hips, striking an arrogant pose.
Divis looks at her again and then crosses his arms. He looks around them and then back to her. "You will have an army at your side. And Aberrants above your head to help you destroy the FSA." he says. "I will leave that to you, personally." He looks towards the crystal buildings around him and nods. Suddenly hundreds of Aberrants, ones she's never seen, come out of the buildings.
Rage looks around in awe. She's been so excited to meet the other Aberrants! To be surrounded by others just like her! Now here they are!
She smiles excitedly at Divis, her eyes flaming up again. "This is paradise, Divis!" she whispers. Then she realizes what he's just said, and turns to face him fully. "Thank you for that honor-- to lead everyone in the fight against the FSA!" she says, placing her hand on his arm.
"It is by no great coincidence that you have lived to see this day. It has far more to do with providence. You were born for this day. The day you will lead all of them to victory..." Divis says. "And on the day, the president himself kneels before you in submission, I will join you. And together we will destroy what's left of any opposition."
Rage grins. "That sounds like a dream come true!" She glances over at the Aberrants who are all just standing there-- making no move to come up to them or greet her or anything-- and she turns back to Divis.
"Are they waiting for one of us to do something? I was kind of assuming they would come up and say hello, or something along those lines." she whispers.
Divis nods to them and they start walking towards them. Rage doesn't recognize a single one of them from her years on earth. "They are the children of those who followed me. Those who stood at the UN and stated they wanted freedom for their people. They are utterly devoted to the cause." he says.
Rage looks across them, hoping to see someone she recognizes so she can apologize and explain herself, but...there's not one familiar face!
'Did we really kill so many...?' she wonders, feeling her stomach fall a little with regret. She looks at Divis. "The children? Where are their parents? Were their lifespans so short?" she asks, her brow furrowing.
"The rigors of space were not kind to some, and for others their...evolutions did not have the desired effect, many of them became useless husks...Only I am an original from that time." he says. Divis turns to her smiling. "And you."
Rage smiles back at him, feeling a flurry of excited butterflies in her stomach. 'Is he giving me a special look?' she wonders to herself hopefully. It wasn't really a well-kept secret that she spent a good amount of time fantasizing about herself and Divis during her early years in Stormwatch! She's pretty sure that couldn't have gotten back to him, however, but...
She wonders if Divis has been lonely...losing all his original followers like that. She wonders at his patience.
Rage looks back at the children. "So the original followers...they were able to have babies the traditional way?" she asks in wonder. These Aberrants all seem a little...odd to her.
"Yes...Bounty saw to that..." Divis says with a smile that's less than thrilled. "Many of them are my children..." he says looking at her askance. "I was the only one who could father at one point." he says.
Rage finds herself feeling jealous upon hearing that, and her lips tighten unconsciously. She's glad Divis' deliverance of this news isn't that of a man bragging of his conquests, and she wonders why that is.
She nods slowly, fighting to get her controlled demeanor back. "I see..." she finally says. "It must have been...exhausting." she glances at him from the corner of her eye, still fighting to keep her face from betraying anything. She looks back over the crowd, trying to see in any of their faces a resemblance to Divis. "Why were my people calling me 'mother of child?'" she asks, finally turning to fully face him again, folding her arms and finding herself on the losing-end of her battle with her jealousy.
Divis smiles and puts his hands upon her shoulders. "Because you shall be my queen. And our child shall be more powerful than any who have come before us." he says. "He shall rule the earth like no other could." he says. "It is you whom I have always coveted. But my brother got to you first."
Rage's mouth falls open and she feels weak in the knees. "Me??" she asks in a shaky, surprised voice. "I...I wish I'd known! I had no idea!" she stammers. "I...I have lusted after you since I first saw you fight Supreme back in the early days! But...I thought you looked down on me! That I was but dust under your boots! If I'd only known..." she whispers, thinking of the years of pain she wasted on Damage!
'Why am I cursed to only love men who won't tell me they love me back??' she thinks to herself, feeling a little giddy as the news finally starts sinking in.
"Oh no, my dear. It has been you for a very long time. And now we have only a small amount of time to prepare for the coming invasion." he says. He smiles wickedly. "Ours will be the love that will save the earth from fools who would see it weak and divided." he says. "We shall rule over earth and when we are gone our child shall continue our legacy."
Rage's eyes half-close in pleasure in reaction to his words and the look on his face. 'Love...' she thinks to herself slowly, is as if were a word she wasn't used to hearing. 'He loves me...he really loves ME...the real me...' She is embarrassed to find that she's now fighting back tears.
This is someone who went through the same thing she went through with Damage-- desiring the object of their affection for years...no, CENTURIES...and watching them marry someone else and having to deal with that knowledge everyday...never telling them of their secret love. She cannot believe that someone feels that way about HER! And that it's DIVIS!
'I am such a fool...such a fool!! I should have fought Aura harder to get us to go after Divis instead of Supreme! Then we would have avoided the heartbreak with Andre...the civil war over Supreme...the years of heartache over Damage...' she thinks to herself, and then pauses. 'No...then it would have been a civil war over Divis with Aura on the fighting-to-get-away-end. There still wouldn't have been peace. But NOW there will be, for we are free of each other.'
She reaches up and holds Divis' face in her hands, looking at him as tenderly as fiery eyes can look. "When did you want to make this child, my love?" she asks in a low voice, relishing saying the words 'my love' and meaning them, and finally knowing that the man she's saying them to feels the same way back.
Divis takes her in his arms as the two begin to float slowly towards the crystal tower. He kisses her passionately as they near the window. "Now...my love. Now so that it may grow and be by our side when we take back what is ours..." he says.
Rage kisses him back almost savagely-- so many years of frustration and longing behind that kiss-- holding him tightly to her and wrapping a leg around him, pressing her body against his. Her entire being is tingling with excitement and anticipation. All the things that were on her mind previously melt away.
"Take me, Divis! I have dreamt of this moment for so long!" she whispers into his ear urgently.
He flies through the window and into his room at the top of a nearby tower.
The children in the street and the Children of the Lady of Flame all bow to their knees while the holy act of their one-day-king�s conception begins...
