The Wrong Genre

Experiment 1

Maestro needed to do some experiments.

His scientist's mind was whirling, sorting through possibilities as he tinkered with the communication link that would be given to Stravarius. What experiments would be the most conclusive? Which would get results quickly? They weren't necessarily on a time limit here, but Maestro would prefer to end Rabastian's freedom as quickly as possible.

He needed to know what tactics would work. He needed to know the extent of their powers in order to use them most effectively. But the only one that would ever willingly participate in such an experiment was the idiot Stravarius. The others had quickly gotten tired of all the questions he had asked; he had barely had Interdit for five minutes, and Vertigo lasted the longest at two hours (he'd given up asking Stravarius about his power after only half an hour, since he seemed to know nothing about it at all). Flashmob had been amicable until about forty five minutes in, when he asked how she'd gotten her powers (as it was obvious by their abnormality she hadn't been born with them). She'd asked how he could possibly know she wasn't born with them, attempting to sound sarcastic, but ended up angry in the most revealing kind of way. She'd stormed out when he gave her a patronizing smirk, and he didn't really blame her for it.

Imagine how they would react if he approached with a proposition of testing their limits. Not well, he was willing to bet, especially because they didn't trust him. Rightly, but still.

Good thing Stravarius' power was the most obscure, then.

The positive aspect of his side (meaning himself, Romulus, and Zakum) being entirely assumed to be without powers or any other type of obscure skill was that his questions had not been thrown back at him or directed at his minions. Some secrets were best kept when no one thought to ask Zakum.

Another facet Maestro would have to factor in, and the one that sent most of his ideas to the grave, was the comedy. If he wanted the experiment to work it would have to be something inherently funny, or at least have some sort of comedic element, or else the universe would rally to electrocute his subject. Which he, admittedly, wouldn't particularly mind. Still, scientific progress over personal amusement.

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Stravarius followed Maestro into the woods without any sense of foreboding. After all, he was a good guy now, no matter how much he denied it, and if nothing else getting rid of his best advocate on the team was a stupid move. Maestro, Stravarius had discovered, was many things including insane, unstable, a cheapskate, and a good actor. He was, though, by no means stupid.

Therefore, this actually was just an experiment to find out more about his power because anything else just wouldn't make any sense.

"Keep looking up," the villain called from where he was walking, seeming to somehow sense his guinea pig had disobeyed his instructions.

The instructions were "just watch the sky. I'll tell you when you can look down. Don't worry about getting lost, just follow me."

Stravarius rolled his eyes (a bit irritated that Maestro had refused to tell him what he was supposed to be looking for, instead saying he'd figure it out eventually) before returning his gaze to the bright blue sky. It was a nice day, a gentle breeze pushed wispy clouds around the blue expanse. His gaze was lowered just enough to see Maestro's head, so as to follow.

"So do you do experiments like this a lot?" The blond asked, trying to start up some sort of conversation.

"I'm a scientist," Maestro replied, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.