#the royal flush

[holmesoldfellow]

"Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries" gamebook series by Iron Crown Enterprises (1987-1988, published by Berkley and I.C.E.)

[graviconscientia]

The second night, there is, as expected, panic.

Her Highness, Virago Netrak, First Princess, Promised Future of the Alternian Empire, has not slept a wink since someone broke into the palace. The captain of the palace guards has been trailing her every step for hours, apologizing one moment, offering ideas on how to bolster security the next, and while his intentions are good, his voice is driving her to madness. His attention has been on her the entire time, but so has everyone else's. Soldiers and staff and nobles and every person who has ever stepped foot inside the palace are seeking answers-- They cannot ask her mother, so they must ask her. There are many moments where she would love to raise her voice, and remind all of them that her mother did not choose an heir. There are five siblings, and here, they are a quinquevirate. The empire will not fall if there are ten hands to hold it up.

But it seems that in the commotion, everyone has lost their goddamn minds, as well as the recollection that she is not sole regent. So she is left to guide forces, to console servants who are nervous that there will be another attack very soon, to appease nobles who would love to see the House of Netrak lose their power in a day. Where are her brothers, her sister? Not offering their help, for certain. And there is a flash of irritation directed far beyond the grounds of the castle; because where the fuck is her mom?

She sweeps through the halls, greeting whoever she passes by, head held high and violet eyes kept forward as she hears the prattling behind her, and eventually, it strikes the right nerve, and she spins around, eyes closed with her middle finger pressed firmly between furrowed brows. Virago is not known to express frustration, but there are exceptions to every rule.

"Captain Zaldun, I appreciate your concern, I do." The princess speaks gently, with restraint and all the grace she is known to carry. "But perhaps we should continue this conversation with the entirety of the Crown. My brothers will have more to offer on the matter of guards than I do."

The oliveblooded captain leans forward, his eyes pleading to keep just a second more of her time. "But Your Highness, I just think that--"

Her other hand goes up to stop his speech, and she shakes her head, fins flaring from her cheeks. "Captain, please. I need a moment to compose myself. It's been a frightfully long day, and I am no longer interested in words. We will revisit this conversation tomorrow."

Of course, he wants to say more, but he cannot force her to listen, and with a sharp turn away, he is gone, the only sound he makes coming from his boots rapidly clicking down the hall. And for a moment, there is silence, a break. Good. Thank fucking god. A few more steps down the hall, and she is in front of a large door, that leads into a private, spacious common area for the Crown. A hideaway for a moment. Upon stepping through the door, though, she sees she is not alone.

There, spread out one of the chaises, is a young man dressed in loose, casual garments that sport magenta and gold, tossing a dense glass orb up in the air above his head, a leg lazily draped over the arm of the couch. He doesn't turn to face Virago, only smirks as the ball is launched upward, and caught effortlessly, once more.

"Zaldun finally leave you alone?"

The princess scowls at the young man, stomping over to him to yank his toy from him mid-air. "No thanks to you. No one can seem to find any of the other heirs! So instead of talking to you, they have to speak with me immediately!" She hurls the orb back to the man, glowering as she stands over him. "Where the fuck have YOU been? Where the fuck have any of you been?"

The tyrian troll does not catch his toy well, the wind knocked out of him as it hits his chest. Still, he smiles, infuriatingly. "Well, I can't speak for the other three, but me? I've been hiding. Turns out, I'm pretty good at it."

There's a groan from Virago as she sits on his lounging spot, flopping down but taking care to avoid his head. "Cyther Kaiser, I hate you so much."

"What are you gonna do, kill me about it?"

"No. If you died, Mom would be sad."

"Well…" The boy tosses the orb up once more, then carefully sets it on the low table in front of them. "Mom isn't here, is she?"

There's a glance shared between the two royals, a sorrow that carries through both of their hearts and into their eyes, and Virago sighs, resting a hand on his hair between his horns. "She would know what to do about all of this… We wouldn't even need to do anything ourselves."

"Yeah…" Cyther Kaiser rolls on his side, closing his eyes for a moment in the safety of his sister's presence. "And she'd probably tell Captain Zaldun to shove it up his ass. Which you could do too…"

The violetblooded woman laughs briefly, and her brother joins in. "You know, I just might. I'll get him next time."

There's a moment of silence, of rest for both of them, but it's gone in an instant as there is a knock at the door, with a muffled voice calling for the princess outside of it. And that voice is immediately recognizable to both heirs, earning the bearer double the rolled eyes, and raised hackles from the princess.

"There's your chance, Vira. Tell him to suck your bulge too, for good measure."

The princess whacks the top of her brother's head (which is answered with a loud ow! fuck! from the fuschia prince) and stands up, eyes intently staring down the door as she clicks back into royal mode, opening it without greeting. There's a race to speak first, and the captain wins:"Your Highness, forgive me, but I--"

"Captain Zaldun, unless this palace is in flames, or the moon is crashing into the planet, whatever you have to say can wait until next light. Do not dare to bother me again."

Virago is ready to slam the door in his face, but a smaller voice speaks up, belonging to a fresh-faced blueblooded guard that stands a few paces behind him. "Your Highness, I requested he speak to you. I wanted him to tell you something on my behalf."

Unfortunately, the princess cannot tell a young soldier in her care to evaporate immediately, and so she raises an eyebrow, a prompt for the guard to speak. Cyther Kaiser, brat that he is, has decided to join the conversation, resting his arm against the doorway, peering over his older sister's shoulder.

"Yeah? But now you've got us both here, so tell us what you need to. We don't need to hear Zaldun talk further."

The captain frowns at the prince, who only stupidly smiles back, deeply irritating the princess who is trying to hear the young lady in front of her speak. "Your Highnesses, I was sent into the library to stop the intruder from escaping, where my team and I were not successful…" There is disappointment in the blueblood troll's voice, but she continues on. "I was ordered upstairs, and I was lucky to find the intruder at their escape point, and I saw who they were."

The heirs look at each other for a split second. An identity will make this situation easier, certainly. An assassin will mean sleepless nights, but a spy will mean war. Thieves only matter as much as what they stole, and anyone else will be handled as deemed necessary. One more glance to Cyther Kaiser, and then Virago speaks. "Who was it? We need to start investigating at once."

The soldiers look between each other before the blueblood speaks once more. "Your Highness, it was your mother." >Previous? >Next?

[007srpblog]

New Ship Name!

The Royal Flush is the ship name for James Bond and Destiny Chiffre!

[transmechanicus]

The audacity of well established bands to only sell merch for their most recent album. You bastards, you fiends, your peak popularity was in 2007, sell me a tshirt with old album art for the love of god.

[year2000electronics]

mentoring the pop princess

[nixienewt]

Terry McGinnis for the *squints* 8 Batman Beyond fans

[sailorsenshigifs]

[skeletoncrevvs]

Royal Flush Magazine, Book 4, 2007

Cover Illustration + Coloring: Erik Rodriguez, Steve Chanks, and Josh Bernstein Main Contents Illustration: R.B Black Photos: Justin Borucki, Chapman Baehler, Don Mitchell Words: Josh Bernstein, Steven Ciancanelli Poster Art: Brian Ewing

[0ketlyn-s]

oh, i did this

the babygirls:

Canon JD

Brotherhood JD

Royal Fush (by @year2000electronics ) JD

[tea0w0stache]

just realized i never posted royal flush sabbath here !! au belongs to @year2000electronics !!

sabbath is a bouncer and part time performer at the rage dome. they take over for shimmer when she physically can't sing, though at the risk of their own health due to having to be forced into heavy metal

bonus doodles below;

[fraiserabbit]

my fav AU johns ever (i have only invested myself into these two)

hitman dory by @lemony-and-zesty and royal flush dory by @year2000electronics

[graviconscientia]

The first night, there is, unfortunately, blood.

The blood is not intentional, of course. But there it is, drenching the tiles of the palace hall, coating a freshly sharpened sword, gushing from a poor guard who had just been in the wrong place. She had to stab him, though. He would've heralded her arrival home, and that just won't do. No one can know she's come back. And to that end, he had to be stabbed.

However, Her Majesty, the Empress, Advoca Netrak, Brightest Star of the Alternian Empire, is generous, benevolent, fair. More importantly, she is well prepared, and had nearly known that there would be an injury. It's not his fault, she thinks, that he did his mission so well. A palace guard standing watch for the empress, unwilling to lay a hand on her? He certainly does not deserve to die for that. There are footsteps approaching, as his comrades heard his cries of pain, and so she must be fast. A bandage to his side, an apology in his ear, and a sack of gold tucked under his uniform to buy his silence. It won't last forever, but it must last until she can get what she needs, and get out. Before her soldiers round the corner, she unlocks the room the man on the floor was guarding, and makes sure that it's locked three times over once she's inside.

There's a timer, now that there's more guards. She's rummaging through the bookshelves, opening drawers with reckless abandon, grabbing scrolls of ancient laws, files of notes with yellowed edges, weapons kept in secret compartments, and another key, red thread wound around its handle. The soldiers on the other side of the door hear the commotion in the office, and she knows this is all she can do. Before they break through the door, she slips out through a back door, a window, down rooftops to bolt through the dark towards the library. Alarms have been sounded, swords handed off, and the royal family roused. Exactly what she hadn't hoped would happen, but she knows the protocol. Get the princes and princesses to safety, if necessary. Protect the people inside before pursuing any threat. That buys her enough to time to get inside the library and up the grand stairs to a room further back, chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath, hands holding tightly to the satchel full of treasures stolen from the Empress. In here, there is a transportaliser, the only one she knows that works in the way she needs, the only exit point from this timeline. She is not any sort of skilled scientist, but she's learned how to scramble coordinates, erase data, enough that she won't be followed. At least, not for now.

The front door of the library slams open, the sound echoing alongside voices shouting orders. Faster, faster… The transportaliser crackles with energy around its archway, green and foreboding, but she can't be afraid. Coordinates are input, and she steps onto the platform, giving one last glance behind her.

A young guard has made it up the stairs, as ordered, following the hum of something coming to life, the flash of unnaturally bright green light, and at the end, finding a woman in a black cloak with teal eyes full of worry, a dead ringer for the missing empress. But before any confirmation can be made, Advoca is gone.

>Next?

[macksartblock]

I’m sick this is nothing

[ciccerone]

Ace by Asura-00

[year2000electronics]

if you wanna play with power, then you're gambling with the king

[nunalastor]

source by winte_ry