D17
Dynasties
By James
Chapter 17: Ambition
"So. Tell me about her." Sandi folded her arms together and leaned against a wall.
"About who?" Rick said, typing away at a computer. He had an idea of the answer already.
"Jedda Walker. Tell me about the person behind the legend."
He snickered under his breath. "Legend?"
She glanced down at her pink T-shirt, curly hair swaying just above her shoulders. "Years ago, I heard that she moved into a royal palace, married a sexy alien, and became queen of the galaxy." Sandi shrugged. "Some girls have all the luck."
Rick's hands fidgeted as he mistyped something.
"I also know a little about your history with her. I've seen the pictures. I've heard the stories." She paused to stare. "You must have always thought that she'd be married to you right now."
The typing came to a slow halt, and Rick simply stared down at the keyboard.
Sandi gritted her teeth. "Okay... Maybe I shouldn't have gone there."
"No. It's fine." Rick himself shrugged now. "Krotan changed. I didn't want to accept it at first, but he did." He shook his head with a chuckle. "I know it's supposed to be a good thing when a bad guy changes his ways...but in this case, I guess the result wasn't exactly beneficial to me."
"So she's Queen of Mongo now." Sandi stroked her chin. "Wasn't Jedda supposed to become the Phantom instead?"
Rick quieted briefly. "Over the past several years, people have expected Jedda to be just about everything. Jungle girl, city girl, Defender of the Earth, government agent, my girlfriend, Krotan's wife, Princess of the Netherworld, Queen of Mongo, and maybe a few other things that I missed." He looked toward the ceiling. "She always went on and on about how she wanted to shape her own destiny.
"Then she admitted that she couldn't...because life did that for her. But as long as she had some control over the destiny she'd been handed, I guess everything worked out all right in the end." Rick rolled his eyes. "Girl drove me nuts with that stuff."
Sandi flashed a curious frown. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you and Jedda even break up in the first place?"
"We didn't. Not really. She just disappeared one day. The next time I saw her, she was happily married to another man."
She squinted, watching him closely. "I'm beginning to notice a pattern in your life, Rick." Sandi grimaced. "I mean, people are obviously supposed to part ways with certain loved ones over time...but when it comes to the loved ones whom you've lost — Jedda...your mother — it must seem like all of them have been taken from you too soon."
Rick flinched, letting his eyes drift toward her. When it came to this subject, others had always told him to let go and move on, but here was someone who seemed to realize that it wasn't quite that simple.
She continued. "And now it's about to happen again, with Dynak."
Rick looked over at the computer that contained his mother's essence. A blank screen greeted his stare.
Sandi lowered her voice, treading lightly. "I understand that once Dynak is removed tomorrow, that will be it. They're not going to start her up anywhere else. She's considered..." Her words trailed off.
"Obsolete." Rick nodded.
She licked her lips and brushed back her curls. "Have you tried 'talking' to her? You know. Have you taken a moment to say a few last words?"
"Not really," he mumbled.
She frowned a tad. "Dude, no offense, but are you out of your mind? You should do that, Rick. You should say a proper goodbye while you've still got the chance."
Rick stared down at the keyboard again.
"I'll leave you to it." Sandi turned, exiting the room.
Moments afterward, Rick drew his gaze back to Dynak.
The Phantom and Hadea sat atop a grassy hill near the Defenders' base.
"Is this not nice?" A sly grin crossed her face. "You and I, spending time together?"
He looked off into the distance, holding quiet.
"I'm glad that you've become more lenient with regard to letting me leave the Netherworld. I do enjoy the view from up here."
The Phantom hesitated, then muttered slowly. "So do I."
Hadea smiled, running her hand along his.
Rick had only meant to talk to Dynak for a few minutes. Before he'd known it, a few minutes had become several, and several minutes had become an hour. As one hour was becoming two, Rick threw his head back with a laugh while recalling an old memory.
Without warning, a laser whizzed past him and hit Dynak between the eyes. The shot tore through the screen, ripped through the circuits, and exploded throughout the computer's core.
Her voice faded. Her face disappeared. And just like that, after so many years, Dynak was destroyed. Forever.
Rick jerked out of his chair in horror, spinning around to face the culprit.
"I figured you'd be done by the time I got back." She raised the blaster, aiming it at him. "Honestly, Rick, aren't you a little too old to be clinging to mommy?"
Rick began to tremble. "Sandi? What are you doing?"
She held quiet, watching him with a cold stare.
Kshin appeared in the doorway to their side. "Hey, Rick. Did you- -" His jaw dropped, and he froze in his tracks.
Two seconds later, Kshin drew the blaster at his waist.
But Sandi was faster, and got her shot off first.
As the blast ripped through his torso and hit the wall, Kshin dropped in a bloody, motionless heap.
"Kshin! No!" Rick began to move, then jerked to a halt. Sandi's weapon was aimed at him once again. A series of fast breaths began leaving Rick's mouth. He swung his gaze between Sandi and Kshin, trembling and fidgeting and sweating where he stood. It wasn't long before pure hatred had swept over his eyes. "Why are you doing this?" he finally managed to ask.
Sandi's tone was calm and cocky. "I'm after something, Rick. That's the only reason I volunteered for this team. I have a goal, and you're about to help me reach it." Her gaze drifted to a certain button. "Sound the alarm. Get the others in here."
Rick's eyes gleamed with fury, and he made no motion whatsoever.
"Do it," she said, pointing her weapon at Kshin, "or the next one goes in his head."
Rick hit the button, holding his stare on her.
One minute later, Flash and Lothar ran to the room, while Mandrake and LJ were quick to follow. All froze in fright upon spotting Kshin, most of them dropping to examine the wound.
"What's going on?" Flash yelled over the alarm.
"She's been setting us up!" Rick shouted.
Sandi held her weapon on the other Defenders, maintaining a safe distance across the floor.
Composing himself as best he could, Mandrake lifted his wand, creating multiple duplicates of himself and his comrades. Around 100 intangible figures appeared — the strategy being that while Sandi was wasting shots on the decoys, one of the real Defenders could approach and subdue her.
Fidgeting in place, Sandi reached for something tucked at the small of her back.
Upon seeing her pull a gas mask on, the others eyed the woman with perplexed stares.
Moments later, the illusory Defenders disappeared.
Mandrake coughed while trembling to his knees, and Flash stumbled about with his mouth covered as well.
Rick glanced around with tense eyes. "What's going- -" A heavy wheeze overtook his voice.
As a gas from the vents began filling the room, all of the Defenders fell unconscious.
Sandi sighed beneath her mask, relieved that Rick had been too distracted by Dynak to do his usual monitoring of the base. Had he not been, he might have noticed her handiwork over the past hour.
After stepping over to a large video screen, she began sending out a signal that would travel deep into space.
Soon afterward, the royal palace of Mongo received a transmission, and a small group of nobles observed the chaos in the base.
Sandi eyed each of them with an arrogant stare. "I highly suggest that you let me speak with the queen."
Jedda arrived swiftly with Krotan at her side. Upon seeing the Defenders sprawled about, the young queen froze in horror.
Sandi nodded. "You have 20 seconds to teleport the Necklace of Oros to me. Don't say you don't have it, because I know that you do."
Jedda shook while looking on.
"15 seconds," said Sandi. "After that, I start killing your friends."
Jedda hesitated, then extended an arm. The necklace flashed into sight, descending toward her hand.
"Jedda..." said an almost equally tense Krotan. "You can't."
The queen felt her stomach tightening. Moments later, her eyebrows flinched as she noticed movement behind Sandi.
Down at the base, the Phantom ran into the room with Hadea at his side.
Sandi spun around, taking aim.
Almost immediately, the Phantom began to cough and wheeze, dropping in place as he lost consciousness. Hadea followed, collapsing off to his side.
After a moment of hesitation, Sandi turned and faced Jedda again. "Time's up. Shall I start with your father?"
Placing the necklace around her neck, Jedda concentrated until the jewel disappeared. Seconds later, the necklace materialized in the Defenders' base.
Sandi paused where she stood, eyeing the jewel in awe. She quivered upon placing it around her neck. It felt like she was pulling a thick and weighty aura over her chest.
Unable to keep herself from shaking, Sandi faced the screen again. "How...how do I control it? How do I make it work?"
Having known that this question would arrive, Jedda held her silence, thinking of ways to stall.
"Tell me," Sandi snapped. "Or- -"
A laser flew across the room, tearing though Sandi's torso.
Her eyes widened beneath the mask, and blood began pouring from the corners of her mouth. Dropping her weapon, Sandi collapsed to the floor and rolled onto her side.
Jedda and her court eyed the scene in surprise.
Looking across the room, Sandi saw Hadea approaching with Kshin's weapon in hand. "No..." the young woman mumbled. "How?"
Naturally, Hadea made no effort to hide the smugness on her face. "Your little gas may work on humans, but I'm afraid that it doesn't work on me. I was merely waiting for an opening." She reached down, pulling the necklace from Sandi's chest. "This necklace, my dear, is fit only for royalty. Seeing you don it tells me that you're a little too ambitious for your own good." She raised the blaster. "People like you come from all walks of life — but your paths lead to the same destination..."
Sandi's eyes tensed. "No!"
Hadea fired, and a burst of blood sprinkled across her torso. Moments afterward, she stared down at the woman's lifeless face, then let the blaster fall to the floor.
Upon pulling the necklace on, Hadea closed her eyes in calm delight, feeling a familiar power spreading throughout her.
Jedda and Krotan looked on with uneasy stares.
Hadea turned toward Kshin, healing his wound with a mere gesture of her hand. Afterward, she glanced toward the ceiling while spreading her arms, instantly removing the gas from the air.
Jedda's expression grew tenser as she watched the screen. It dawned on her that she'd missed an easy solution before: she could've simply used the necklace to teleport Sandi out of the base — and would've if she hadn't been too nervous to think clearly. While eyeing the sight before her now, it was obvious that she'd made a mistake.
She simply wasn't sure what the consequences would be.
Hadea faced the screen. "Your friends will be fine, daughter." She glanced over her shoulder. "Tell your father I'll be waiting." Hadea disappeared in a burst of light, teleporting back to the Netherworld.
As the Defenders began coming to, they found a relieved Jedda on the screen before them.
Rick ran over to Kshin, helping him up. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," he replied, noticing that his wound was nowhere to be found.
Upon spotting Sandi, the Phantom realized that the struggle was over.
Once he'd caught sight of Jedda, however, it dawned on him that she didn't look at all relieved.
Hadea stood on a perch above her kingdom. The necklace gleamed brightly at her chest.
And as she cast her gaze outward, her thoughts turned not only toward her own realm, but toward the many others out there as well...
"It's good to be queen." She smiled. "Again."
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Chapters
Volume I
Shorly after Jedda leaves the team, Queen Hadea begins a galactic conquest.
Jedda finds herself back on Mongo — and reunited with Prince Krotan.
Despite their affection, Jedda endeavors to counter Hadea's plans.
Seeking to resolve the matter with Hadea, the Defenders begin a climactic mission on Mongo.
Rick enjoys a meaningful reunion.
Volume II
Jedda and Krotan confront their feelings.
Against the wishes of his wife, Krotan grows tempted to pursue a vendetta.
Rick has a difficult time moving on.
In the wake of Krotan's actions, Jedda faces a difficult choice.
Hadea reunites with an old acquaintance.
The Royals of Mongo organize what's supposed to be a friendly feast.
A glimpse into the future on Mongo.
Volume III
Instead of spending a romantic evening together, as Jedda intended, Hadea and Phantom find themselves pursued.
Amid their exploits, Phantom and Hadea discuss personal matters.
Flash visits Ming's prison while thinking of Dale, and Rick learns that a new girl will be joining the team.
A vengeful woman targets Jedda.
The Defenders face an internal crisis.
Will she choose affection or ambition?
Needing to depart Mongo on business, Jedda and Krotan ask Hadea and Phantom to fill in for them temporarily.
Volume IV
As the enormity of his situation sinks in, an anxious Rick finds unexpected comfort.
Hadea continues to counsel Rick by reminding him that his actions have consequences.
Phantom and Hadea are advised to marry.
The acting rulers face a variety of issues on their big day.
The Defenders consider returning to solo work.
Volume V
Krotan and Jedda try to find time for their marriage while tending to duty.
Someone from Jedda's past returns.
Krotan and the guards attempt to defend the kingdom without Jedda.
Krotan and Ming have another confrontation under different circumstances.
Flash and Rick have a personal discussion.
As Rick prepares to leave the team, he and LJ receive a surprise visit.
Volume VI
The new trio embarks on a mission.
The Phantom is left startled by the recent development.
After spending a couple of days with Jedda, Rachel departs for the tme being.
In the future, Vera receives advice and comfort from her mother.
Jedda reflects on the recent years.
In the aftermath of an attack on her land, Hadea seeks help from a mercenary.
Flash is stunned by his discovery on a distant planet.
Volume VII
Hadea makes an announcement that leaves the Phantom unsettled.
The Phantom works to undo his mistakes.
In the future, the Royals of Mongo enjoy quality time together.
Rachel assists LJ and Hadea in very different ways.
Rachel adjusts to her new position awkwardly.
With Rachel and Jedda at her side, Hadea learns more about the history of her kingdom.
Volume VIII
The Phantom plans to propose.
Hadea and the Phantom attempt to work through their issues.
Rachel visits Hadea to discuss new intentions.
The Defenders confront a group of aliens who have descended on Earth, while Ming continues to scheme behind the scenes.
Flash, Rick, and Krotan engage Ming in battle.
Jade reunites briefly with her daughters.
A special occasion has finally arrived.
Volume IX
Rick has a meeting with Zyna that leaves him staggered.
Flash and Rick travel to another planet to investigate news.
Dale begins to set her agenda in motion.
The Royals of Mongo have a lengthy discussion about the past and future.
Dale takes bold steps forward.
Flash and Rick confront Dale to discuss her actions.
Empress Hadea appoints new queens.
Volume X
In the future, the royals have a discussion about politics on Mongo.
LJ and Lothar discuss family affairs.
Jedda views her official government profile to learn where she ranks among Mongoian queens.
Castra and Aura look to put their differences aside.
The Phantom learns more about Hadea's duties.
Volume XI
The Phantom, Hadea, and Rachel depart for a mission in the Bandar village.
Rachel heads off to find Kurt on her own.
Dale provides answers for Rachel.
Jade observes a significant discussion beween Phantom and Kurt.
Phantom learns that the village mission affected Hadea on a personal level.
Volume XII
Jedda and Krotan renew their commitment.
Krotan pampers Jedda as they discuss the future.
Nearly everyone joins the Phantom for a mission via boat.
The group arrives on Raven Island and learns the identity of the opposing team's leader.
Flash, Dale, and Rick spend time with Flash's sister, Commander Abigail Gordon, and her daughter Sara.
Rick and Kristina head off on a late-night mission.
Kristina, Rick, and Hadea confront their personal matters.
Once again, someone lands on Mandrake's yard during a storm.
Volume XIII
A woman arrives in the Netherworld, claiming to be the rightful ruler.
LJ, Rick, and Rachel investigate the Netherworld matter.
Flash and Dale's date is interrupted by news that Rick has been captured, and it's up to Kristina to save him.
While grouped together one night, several people must team up suddenly in order to defend the mansion.
Atascadero discusses her upbringing with Mandrake.
Volume XIV
Soldiers from Atascadero's kingdom come looking for her.
Ata heads to her kingdom to resolve the issues there.
Vera begins learning more about Jedda's past.
In response to the recent events, Hadea makes a controversial decision.
Rick attempts to resolve a certain personal issue.
Rick and his girlfriend decide to go their separate ways.
Flash, Dale, and Rick reunite with Dale's father, as well as Flash's.
Jonathan Gordon becomes overzealous, leading to repercussions.
Flash and Dale chase Ming down.
Kristina bonds with Rick in the aftermath of the events at the base.
Volume XV
In the future, Jedda and Krotan have to teach Vera the value of humility.
In the future, Vera is courted by several boys.
Rick and Kristina become stranded on an island.
Hadea is approached by an old suitor.
Kristina and Rick grow closer while stuck on the island.
Ata and Mandrake discuss their relationship.
Castra and her husband have a talk about their longtime commitment.
Krotan and Jedda discuss the past, and look to the future.
Flash and Dale reaffirm their feelings.
The series finale.
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