Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two, but I don't. I own zero part of the Royal Flush Gang or anything to do with Batman Beyond.
Author's note: These are my two favorite villains in Batman Beyond. I'm going on the off-set chance that Jack and "Ten" are not brother and sister. I gather that from an episode I saw. Queen said that "This family" treats "us" well. Henceforth, I think Jack and Ten AREN'T siblings. Also, I think Melanie knows who Batman is. Anyway, let's get on with it.
You can E-mail me comments at my
Black Jack
--------------------------------------------
"Another run ruined by Batboy. When will we finally kill him?" Jack jumped off of his card onto the balcony.
King was already inside their home. He spoke with a very fatherly tone. "When the time comes, Jack. And when we get enough--"
"I'm SICK of waiting!"
Queen glided in, followed by Ace and Ten. "Jack, we are almost ready. Just a few more robberies."
"Look, 'Mom', I'm sick of waiting. You two always say, 'almost ready' and 'a few more robberies'. I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you, you, and you." He pointed to King, Queen, and Ten. "Ace!" Ace stepped up from behind King and Queen, nearly knocking her over.
King was surprised by Ace's loyalty to Jack. He usually only listened to the head of the family. "Ace! Jack! You're out of your minds! What do you think you're doing?"
"Not think we're doing, Gramps, know. Ace and me are out of here."
"But why is Ace listening to you?!"
"Easy, I reprogrammed him. Told you we should have put safety systems in him. We're out of here, but we're not leaving empty-handed." He snapped his fingers. Ace rushed to Ten, picked her up on his shoulder and ran to the flying cards. Jack followed him closely, gagging Ten's mouth and covering Ten's eyes. He jumped back on his card and flew away, the other three in tow.
King ran after them, but he did not get even close. They were already too far away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack led Ace into an abandoned hotel in the historic section of Gotham. There, Jack ordered Ace to chloroform Ten to knock her out painlessly and to set up headquarters. They went to an empty elevator shaft. Since they were on the first floor with no basement, there was solid floor there.
"Too cramped," Jack complained. "Ace, expand on the wall." Ace complied and punched the wall to reveal a parking garage. He kicked out the debris to clear a way for his new boss. "Thank you, Ace." He walked through the parking spaces. He found a couple of cars here and there. "How boring. Wheels." He went back inside, got a fireball shooter, and walked back to where Ace was waiting. "Now to amp up the fun." He shot a few fireballs in strategic places until the car blew up. "Schway." He did this to many cars he found and just overturned some others. He had Ace move the last three as a blockade to the entrance to the garage.
Unknown to both of them, Ten was waking up. She took off her restraints, held her head and tried to remember how she got there. She remembered Jack and Ace getting away with her, rips in her costume--she sat up with a jolt. "Oh, God. TERRY! I promised I'd meet him under the clock tonight! That's the fifth time this week." She looked at her watch. It was smashed. She looked around frantically, hoping to find a way of escape. To no avail, she gave up. There were no windows and the only door was most likely locked, and it might have Ace standing guard. "I guess I'll have to find a way out and new boyfriend." She slumped back into the corner. Somehow, she found sleep.
When Jack ran out of fireballs, he decided to check on his "prisoner". He threw the gun behind him and kept walking. Ace followed close behind him, stepping on the gun. He would have gone directly to the room Ten was being held in, but he didn't know his way around his own fortress just yet. After several failing tries, he approached another room.
"I don't know, Ace. You think she's in here?"
Ace wrote down his reply on a pad of paper he found. He wrote, "Chek aneeway"
"Remind me to install a speaker and spell check in you later."
Ace wrote again. "Oh kae"
With a shrug, Jack opened the door and looked around. No sign of her. "You dumb bucket of bolts! I told you she wasn't in here!" He shut the door and walked to the next room. "Why do I even listen to you?"
Ten was relieved once the door was shut. She was glad she hid behind the door when she heard footsteps. She didn't hear a lock click, so she figured it was pretty safe to try it. She did, and it was unlocked. She opened it all the way and looked around. Jack was at the end of the hall still going on about Ace's IQ being lower then the amount of letters in his name. Ten slid out with a giggle. "I hope King and Mom are on their way."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
King was pacing along the room and Queen was looking at some photos of the entire Royal Flush Gang. She noticed how Jack and King and Ten always got along. "Dear, why don't we go after them?"
"Because we have NO idea WHERE they are!!"
She kept on looking through the pictures. She saw one set that was unlike the rest. "Wait. Look at these."
"What now?" He saw exactly what she wanted him to see him. Pictures of Jack and Ten and Ace in front of an old building in the historic part of Gotham. "I think we know exactly where they are. It explains everything. That was their first time anywhere without us or their costumes. It only makes sense to go there. Only one problem, though."
"What's that, dear?"
"We have no fast way to get there. Our cards are gone and we have no other mode of transportation. By the time we get there, they probably would have already moved to another location."
"Then how will we rescue Ten?"
"I'm afraid we may have to call on Batmanfor transportation."
"Are you crazy?"
"Crazy that I can't find them! That's all."
"What would you do if you do find them?"
King hesitated. "I'll turn him in to the authorities to let him know what a bad choice he made when he tried to double-cross us."
Queen wasn't worried about the answer he just gave. She was really expecting it coming from him. "What about Ace?"
"I'll repair him. After all, it's Jack's fault that Ace follows him and only him. Then I'll install those protection systems on him."
"And Ten?"
"I'd probably let her take some time off to go on a real date or two with that boy she's been meeting. If she survives, that is."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mad Stan was on a rampage in the City Hall yet again. "Society's crumbling, man! There's too much power to the government and not enough to the people! Share the wealth!" He said the last bit while setting up a ring of explosives around a fallen Batman. He turned to his witnesses. "See why the government can't be trusted?" He pointed at Batman. "They can't protect you from lunatics! What's the solution? BLOW IT UP!!" He held the detonator high in his hand and was about to activate the bombs when Terry got up and threw a bat-erang through the wire, disconnecting it from the set of bombs. "Joke's on you, man! It's wireless, too!" He pulled out another small box and pressed the button. The six bombs that surrounded Terry blew up simultaneously, blowing a hole in the floor below him. Terry flew onto stable ground before he could fall with the rubble.
"No, joke's on you." He grabbed Stan by the shirt and threw him down the new hole in the floor. Stan grabbed Terry's hand and pulled him down with him. They fell with a big thud.
The debris from the previous floor weakened the floor. Terry barely had enough time to jet back to the occupied level as Stan and part of the previous floor fell to a lower floor.
Terry decided to check if it was safe to bring him in to Barbara. He jetted back down next to Stan. He got a piece of rebar and poked Stan's gut. He got no effect. He poked Stan's forehead. Again, he got no effect. He turned Stan over and Bat-cuffed him. He grabbed onto the cuff's chain and jetted back up.
On the main level, he set Mad Stan in front of the innocent spectators. He was thanked and jetted back down to exit. He flew to the floor below the action and was stopped by King floating in front of him.
"Hey! Want trouble again?"
"Quite the contrary." He snapped his fingers and Queen floated behind him. "Notice anything?"
"Wait, I know this trick." He quickly looked behind him and saw nothing, much to his surprise. "Or maybe I don't. What's the trick?"
"No trick. Well, at least we aren't pulling one."
Queen spoke up. "We need your help to find Jack and Ace to bring back Ten."
King was angered by the sudden out burst from his 'wife'. "Silence!" He turned back to Batman. "Batman…Terry, please. Help us finish what Jack started."
"So, you figured out who I am."
"It was easy. Melanie had more undelivered notes to you than the previous Royal Flush Gangs and the way she acted around you, it was like she was acting this way to the same person. Only thing was, she was."
"What makes you think I'll help you?"
"Because I know you want to save Melanie as much as we do."
"So, how can I help?"
"Let's not discuss here and now. Follow us to our home, not in pursuit this time."
"Sounds good to me."
*************************************************************************************************
"Ace! Why haven't we found her yet?" Ace shrugged. "I really need to install speakers in you."
Ace got out his pad and pen again. "Yes, yoo shood."
"Oy. Let's search the lower levels again."
"Weev bin down ther 3 tyms"
"Then, we have a better chance of finding her, don't we?"
"Yoo sed that the last tym wee chekd. Gist never mynd her. She wont fynd her wae owt of heer kwikly"
"Maybe you're right." Ace nodded happily. "And maybe you aren't. Let's check again." They dropped down to the first level using their cards as an elevator. They got down and started searching like they did three times before. This time, they only checked the handle to the doors. If they were locked, they'd check. If the door was unlocked, they would go on.
Ten saw this and ran behind them. She went through halls they haven't been through locking the doors. It was an easy task, considering the locks were buttons on the out side. She thought it was a bit weird for a hotel, but, what ever worked. She went into one room and found a bed and television. She went in and turned on the TV and set it to a reasonable volume. Only static, but it was okay. She got some civilian clothes that were left there in the closet and left the room without shutting the door and ran down the hall to a sign that said "EXIT" and an arrow pointing left. She followed the direction.
"What the--? Ace, why is a TV on in an abandoned hotel room?"
"Um, maybee ten wus heer end wantid too distrakt us in owr serch"
"Maybe. Where would she have run off to?"
Ace pointed a finger in the direction of the exit sign.
"Why didn't I think of that. Don't answer that."
Ace scribbled out what he was writing as a reply.
&@$&@$&@$&@$&@$&@$&@$&@$&@$
Melanie slipped out the door carefully. She quietly shut the door, turned around and ran. She quickly hid in a broken down theater and changed her clothes into the civilian clothes she swiped earlier. She came out of the door cautiously. She brushed off her leg-hugging, brown leather pants and adjusted the revealing, skin-tight, light blue tank top.
"Now, where do I go from here?" she asked herself. She saw many big lights coming from the direction left of her. So, she ran through streets towards the lights, hoping it was civilian life. She just crossed a street when she saw a shadow on the ground. She looked up to see the Batmobile slowly creep along in the sky. Melanie climbed up the fire escape of the nearest building to the roof. She jumped and flailed her arms hoping to catch his attention.
A spotlight shined down on her. She shielded her eyes immediately. A loudspeaker turned on and Batman's voice came. "Melanie, is that you?"
"Yes, Terry, it's me! Come and get me! Jack and Ace are insane! You have to stop--"
"I know."
"What? How?"
Another voice came over the speaker, a manly voice. "Hello, Ten."
"King? What's going on? Is Mom there, too?"
Queen's voice came over. "I'm here, too, sweetie."
Melanie was thoroughly embarrassed by being called sweetie by her mom in front of her boyfriend. "Mom!"
"Sorry."
Terry took over the controls to the speaker. "They came to me needing help to find you, Jack, and Ace. I'm coming down. Can you tell me where your flying cards are?"
"Yes, in the garage, I think."
"Garage?"
"Yes, they're in the Gotham Hotel Plaza two blocks that way." She pointed in the direction of the hotel.
Terry hovered just above the roof. King and Queen hopped out. They were out of their costumes and wearing something more casual. King had normal brown pants and a black button-up shirt. Queen was wearing the equivalent of a 1960's hippie out-fit, complete with tie-dye shirt and bell-bottom pants. King stretched his arms.
"My, that's a cramped space. Tell me again, why are we in these ridiculous get-ups?"
Terry hit his head. "I told you, if any tourists come by, you won't stick out like sore thumbs. You got a problem with that?"
"Yes, I do. These pants make my bum look big."
Queen laughed to her self, but talked out loud. "Like that's a bad thing?"
Terry closed his eyes. "C'mon, not in front of the teens. You might teach us something."
King turned his attention from Queen to Terry. "Which reminds me. When this whole ordeal is settled, we are not going to by allies. We were and always will be enemies. Understood?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way." With that, he closed the hatch and led the remainder of the Royal Flush Gang to the hotel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ace! We've searched this entire hotel THIRTEEN TIMES!!!!! And have we found her? NO!!! Tell me, should we have searched outside like I said we should, instead of thinking she would want us to go that way and get lost?"
Ace shook his head from side to side.
"At least I was able to install speakers on you."
Ace spoke for the first time. He had a voice almost exactly like Jay Leno's. "True, but at least we gave ample time for the rest of the family to find us. Maybe, if we're lucky, Batman's on his way, too." He was definitely sarcastic. "By the way, we both know that you thought Ten was still in the building and wanted to check yet again."
"Well, if you remember, when we were training for an evade mission, that is exactly what she did. Distracted, fooled, stayed inside. It's as simple as that. Can't blame me for that."
"Yeah, right." Ace crossed his arms over his chest. He quickly turned his head to his right. "Wait, do you hear that?"
"Hear what, you bloated sheet metal?"
Ace ignored the insult. He might not know how to spell, but he has above-average intelligence compared to other robots. "That humming. Wait, there was another noise. And another. Uh oh." He started running away from the sound.
"What are you running from, you chicken?" He soon found out. Two holes were punched in the wall above him by two explosions. He ran to the exit door, which was the opposite direction Ace went. He opened the door and ran out and into King. Jack fell backwards on his butt while King was entirely unaffected. "Hey! Watch it!"
"Watch yourself, Jack."
"Uh oh."
"Uh oh's right."
"How'd you find me?" Jack started to get up but was shoved back down by King.
"Quite simple, my dear boy. You were foolish in your choice of hideouts. When you went off an your own without your costumes, you went here and spent most of your time here. Henceforth, we thought you knew how to get to and from this place. Nice try."
Jack realized what King was wearing. "What's with the outfit?"
"Civilian clothes, all the better to turn you in to the authorities."
"On what base?"
"Trespassing, kidnapping on two counts, treason, need I go on?" He counted each object on his fingers.
"You can't do that?"
"Yes, I can."
"Well…ah, nuts." Jack snapped his fingers and stomped his foot.
"Plus, due to the fact you are still in your costume, it will be easier to press charges."
"I see." A light-bulb went on in his head. He put his hands behind him to act smart. "Wait a second. How did you get here so quickly? And where did those explosions come from?"
A voice came from behind him. "I took care of that and this." There was a click and Jack turned to see Batman standing pointing at a pair of handcuffs on Jack's wrists. "Not to mention I turned Ace off for a while."
"But, that will cancel all orders I gave him so he'd follow me!"
"I've made my point, then."
%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%
Barbara Gordon was standing next to Jack's ride to prison. "Well, kid, you took a risk with getting a part of the Royal Flush Gang. Where's the rest?"
"I don't know. Oh, the rest of them are innocent in whatever Jack did."
"How do you know that? Did you team up with them to get him?"
Another voice intervened. "Actually, yes. Thank you Batman. Remember, we're still enemies. Nothing will change that."
Barbara looked at Terry, who had his mask off. "You didn't."
"What? There aren't any people around. Why can't I take this thing off?"
"No, I mean, you did NOT team up with them. Did you?"
Terry looked in the direction they left. "I had a bit of motivation."
"You like Ten, don't you?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"You should have seen me with Dick Grayson."
THE END
That's all folks. Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it. Please review it now that you've read it. Oh, and if you didn't like it, tell me why you didn't like it. Thanks. Review please.
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