The Wrong Genre

Justice Prevails

The heroes and Zack had moved to sitting around the table about halfway through the unknown, sordid tale of the Lladre family. Zack had told them all about the family, how the legacy was to keep running the city from behind, which of course everyone knew. A much less known fact was that more than 15 years prior one of the esteemed children of the Lladre family, the man who would later become known as Maestro, had gone completely off the rails.

"How does no one know all this? It seems like a big deal," Flashmob asked, scratching her head.

"Maybe it was swept under the rug," Interdit suggested, scoffing like he knew this was the answer already. "They paid some people off. Or they just got rid of the problem. Rich kids are often cut off when they start causing too much trouble for the family, as long as there's a replacement."

"He tried to make it a big deal," Zack confessed, eyes darting towards the door as if thinking Maestro would come in any moment, "but his last name isn't the same, people mostly thought he was lying to cause trouble. That... and..." he rubbed the back of his neck a little awkwardly, "my family does have a lot of friends, especially in law enforcement, so anyone who knew just... didn't make a big deal out of it?" He waved his hands in front of him when he saw Interdit raise an eyebrow at that. "There was no cover up, he still had a record and everything, they just didn't make any statements about it. I... I know it sounds a bit bad, but..." He shrugged helplessly.

"It's technically not illegal," Vertigo acknowledged, more to get Zack to move on than anything. Unfortunate as it was, things like that happened. And, not to seem callous, it wasn't part of her job to deal with it. "So how was this resolved?"

"We didn't cut him off," Zack assured, looking melancholy. "We were more than willing to try to help him, but when he was 18 he left, and he cut all ties with us." A sad smile graced his face, much unlike the grin he usually bore, "I've tried everything, we just can't get him to stop this villain thing and come home. So I guess I've made a nuisance of myself, because that's the only way he'll even acknowledge we exist anymore."

A heavy silence filled the room for a few moments, all of the heroes pondering how exactly they should respond to this news.

"Sorry, this isn't really your problem," Zack piped up suddenly, forcing his usual large grin onto his face. "I'll talk to Maestro about keeping it between us, kay~? He's usually more composed about it at least. I think he was just angry he didn't figure out that this guy wasn't Zakum because he was avoiding me... which, I guess does make it my fault."

"He didn't have to avoid you or neglect his minions," Flashmob declared, leaving no room for argument. "It isn't your fault."

"Thank you," Zack smiled, eyes drifting back to the motionless clone who was also sitting at the table with them. He was definitely creeping everyone out a little, because they had all avoided seating themselves in the chairs next to him. "I never really got why Maestro modeled it after me of all people," he pondered out loud. "At first I was ecstatic, thought it meant he missed us or something..."

"And now?' Kyle prompted gently, catching the clear undertone of the statement.

"Now?" He laughed a little, hand once again lifting to brush absentmindedly at his neck. "Now I wonder if he just likes watching me die."

——

"Checkmate! Right?" Stravarius glanced over at Romulus, who was watching the game, asking for confirmation.

"He got you, Maestro," Romulus grinned, absolutely thrilled.

He'd personally never been one for chess, too much long-game planning and not enough action. Since he didn't have the patience to plan ahead, he'd never won a game against Maestro. In fact, the only person he'd seen beat his boss more than once was Robert, who all the minions knew was an exception to most rules anyway.

But now, this was three out of four matches that Stravarius had won.

Maestro had a hand raised to his head, pressing on his temple and forehead and staring at the board in utter confusion.

It... just didn't make any sense. Stravarius was an idiot. Sure, winning through a fluke happened all the time, especially for beginners who had no strategy and ended up being confusing enough to throw off others. But... three times in a row? And, apparently, this was the first time the hero had actually sat down and played the game.

"Wait, you think you're good at this game, don't you?" Maestro accused, suddenly. Stravarius blinked twice, pondered a moment, and then shrugged.

"I guess. It seems like I am anyway."

"There, it's his power," Maestro scoffed, sitting back in triumph at having discovered the reason for his losing streak.

"Could be," Stravarius agreed, digging around in the box he'd brought and pulling out some chocolates.

"That shouldn't affect your side of the board though," Romulus almost grinned, absolutely thrilled to see Maestro being beaten for a change, extenuating circumstances or no.

"We don't know exactly how it works," Maestro sneered in reply, extremely insulted at the idea that he had honestly lost to this idiot.

"Maybe it's traveling through the table or something," Stravarius agreed guilelessly. "Chocolate?" He offered, and Romulus took a piece eagerly while Maestro stared a moment before reluctantly grabbing one as well.

"Maybe," Maestro agreed, clearly only humoring the blond, who didn't seem to mind in the least.

"Do you think it's been long enough? We need to take care of the Zakum issue," Stravarius asked instead. Romulus looked at Maestro in question.

"Hold on," Maestro muttered, clearly not wanting to but moving to turn on his comm link anyway. He'd turned it off halfway through the second match, when it became clear he was losing. It was hard to concentrate with all that complaining in his ear.

"It seems they've finished."

"We have to go back now?" Romulus' nose wrinkled in irritation.

"Or," Stravarius grinned, seeing the other man's reluctance, "we could play another round. Just to be sure."

Maestro's eyes narrowed at the cheerful hero, and Romulus looked at his boss in ill-concealed excitement, clearly hoping for another game to watch.

"Fine, you're on. Your luck has run out, hero," Maestro smirked, beginning to reset the pieces.

"Is that so?" Stravarius beamed. "But Maestro, justice always prevails!"