Chivalry: it's NOT a game...

Bernie interrupted Ted: "This isn't a game – and when you hear what I have to tell you, you'll realize just how huge the stakes can be. John's already been shot at, and Jim and Tony risked drowning, and Marty and John and I dared enter an old abandoned mine..."
"Oh man! I can't wait till we get to college and can do fun stuff too!" Nate said.
"He calls that fun," Bernie groaned. "And then there were days and weeks of slow plodding futile research... Be patient, Nate! You've got enough to do where you are. You know what our club is for..."
"Not really," Nate said, and some of the others nodded. "Chivalry? That sounds too simple."
"What else is there?" John asked. "Leaving all those imaginary super-powers for the fantasy comics, what more could a good young man like you want than chivalry? I mean, real chivalry, not that fake trash you read about in pulp fiction! Real Chivalry! The perfect union of
– the strong, brave, steadfast and reverent knight of the Middle Ages;
– the silent, bold and clever student of nature who is a Native American Indian scout;
– the well-read, up-to-date scholar who can handle the classics as well as the highest of high-tech science and engineering;
all this united, wrapped together and blessed by the Church? The defender of the weak, the supporter of the good and right, the relentless foe of evil? I ask you, what more do you want?"

«We gotta have John write all our ad copy», Marty murmured, and Bernie nodded in agreement, deeply impressed.

The Gregs stared in awe, conscious of their heart's pulses surging to a larger life. Jim and Tony were sitting alertly, as if on guard.
Jason nodded solemnly. "It sure sounds impressive when you put it that way."
"It does," Jeff replied in a small voice, but his eyes were glowing with enthusiasm.

Nate gulped. Then, since John was still staring at him as if expecting an answer to his grand rhetoric, he replied, "I guess... nothing. Right?"

The room was silent until Bernie spoke: "Well – no, Nate. There is one more requirement beyond what John mentioned. You must also have Authority."

Again the room was silent. Marty sighed faintly, and John closed his eyes and nodded.


[From Darkness Into Light VI: What More Do You Want?]