"Maturity"
Over the past several weeks, a town near the capital city of Mongo had been terrorized by rebels. The group was opposed to a newly elected governor, who'd made numerous changes that strayed from tradition.
The rebels had taken several actions since announcing their arrival. Citizens had been frightened, knights had been attacked, and empty council buildings had been utterly destroyed.
The group had stayed quiet for one week now, leaving everyone to wonder what their next move would be.
"This has gone far enough." With a bold glare and tightened fists, Rick turned around and faced his soldiers. "Just because they haven't killed anyone yet doesn't mean that they aren't planning to. We're going to make sure that doesn't happen."
The Mongoians looked on with hardened stares.
"I've just received a tip on the location of their hideout. I'm flying over there now to bring this rebellion to an end." He lifted a fist. "Now who among you is coming with me?"
The Royal Guards stormed through the doors of a run-down building, shouting orders as they aimed their weapons.
The rebels jerked into action and drew their own blasters, brown capes flapping as they dove for cover.
Amidst a mass of smoke and lasers, Rick marched slowly across the center of the room, paying little mind to the chaos around him. He held his gaze on one of the rebel leaders, who waited with a laser whip in hand.
With a growl, the Mongoian rebel lashed his weapon at the young man's head.
Rick dodged the swings with little effort, then floored his opponent with a quick backhand.
Across the room, the second rebel leader began making an escape.
Rick pulled his blaster and fired a single shot, tagging the retreating rebel across the shoulder.
The leader screamed, then crashed through a window.
As the Guards began taking control of the battle, many of the rebels began to yield.
The subdued leader snarled again. "This wasn't part of the agreement."
"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't really care," said Rick. "Your rebellion ends now."
Rick held his stare high while kneeling before the throne. "And then we turned them over to the local government. A search for the rest of their group is currently underway."
Hadea held quiet while looking downward, drawing her closed lips toward her left cheek.
The other knights were lined up behind their captain, kneeling in silence as they watched from afar.
Hadea lifted her gaze a little. "Rise."
Rick began to stand.
"Not you," she said quickly. "Them."
Rick's mouth fell open. Seconds later, he dropped back to his knee.
After the other knights had left, Hadea locked her stare on Rick. "You may have noticed that the rebels had ceased their attacks over the past week. That is because I'd opened discussions with their leaders. We were on the verge of a peaceful resolution to this conflict."
Rick shook, feeling a chill stir him from within.
"By making things violent again, you undid everything that I'd been working toward. Now the rebels will assume that they've been mislead and betrayed."
Rick felt his cheeks going red. "Why didn't you tell me about any of this before?"
"Why would I? Your job is to defend, not to attack."
"I..." He licked his lips, glancing back and forth. "I..."
"No one told you to go out there and do what you did. You made that decision on your own — without permission."
Amidst a slow and lingering period of silence, Rick simply began looking down at the floor.
Hadea tapped a finger, watching him closely. "Part of me is glad that you're willing to take initiative as a leader..."
He looked up with a hopeful twinkle in his eye.
"But that doesn't mean that it's okay to be reckless."
Rick's jaw sagged again. After a moment of hesitation, he heard himself mumble. "What can I do?"
She looked away. "We'll discuss this further at a later time. You are dismissed."
Rick stood, paused, then quietly left the room. He felt his stomach churning as he staggered down the hallway.
A robed noble nearly crashed into him. "Sir Rick!"
He reached down, taking the man by the shoulders. "What's going on?"
"Radar just picked up an unidentified aircraft approaching the capital."
Above the canyon, the shadow of a stolen vehicle began ominously pushing forth. Aboard the ship were the rebel leader and his remaining teammates, all of whom intended to use the kingdom's citizens for target practice.
Upon seeing the distant capital up ahead, the leader readied the ship's weapons. "Hadea will now learn the price of betrayal," he murmured.
Suddenly a smaller craft rose into view, charging straight at the enemy vehicle.
The leader froze in surprise, then began firing.
The smaller ship made a number of maneuvers, expertly dodging each of the shots. Then the small craft returned fire, hitting the larger vehicle in all the right places.
As the enemy ship hit the canyon's ground, a number of rebels began emerging from the wreckage.
The Royal Guards stormed onto the scene, subduing the intruders immediately.
After the skirmish had ended, one of the knights looked up toward the smaller vehicle, which was flying around in circles now. Then he spoke into a device attached to his shoulder. "Great job, Rick. We've got things under control down here."
"Good," said the young man in the craft.
Moments later, Rick began flying over the capital. While watching all of the citizens on the ground, he let himself breathe a sigh of relief.
"When I think about what could have happened today..." Rick wheezed, running a hand over his face.
Hadea looked a tad unsettled herself, eyeing the boy on his knee with a slight frown.
"All of this reminds me of something that my mom used to say: Actions have consequences."
A hint of fascination crossed Hadea's face. She lifted her chin, and spoke calmly. "She was right."
"It's one thing for those consequences to affect me...but I couldn't bear having my actions come to hurt others." He shook his head, and lowered his voice. "I don't belong here. I'm no knight."
Hadea interlocked her fingers. "I'll be the judge of that. I'm a queen, after all."
Rick held his stare on the floor.
"By acting on pure emotion, you made a reckless mistake." Hadea paused, then leaned forward. "But today, you also took the time to acknowledge your mistake, and to make it right. And that means that you do possess the key quality required of a knight..." She placed a finger under his chin. "It means that you possess maturity."
Rick eyed her in surprise.
Hadea straightened herself and leaned back again. "Rise, Rick."
He slowly stood.
"You are dismissed."
After a moment, Rick bowed his head, then exited the room.
Hadea noticed something from the corner of her eye. Upon turning to her left, she saw the Phantom looking on from a shady doorway.
After a few seconds of silence, he let himself grin.
Hadea glanced in the direction that Rick had gone, then turned back to the Phantom with a smile of her own.