//------------------------------// // The Mastermind // Story: Wily's Wittle Wub // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Mega Man was able to use the teleporter's data bank to lock onto Doc Robot's transport signature and follow him, pursuing him in an attempt to recover the Energy Elements. Doc Robot had apparently fled to Spark Man's planetoid first. Mega Man had a much easier time this visit, as Rush's Jet mode was completed, and Mega Man was able to ride on his back through most of it. About halfway through, Doc Robot was waiting for him. "Catch me if you can!" he called out, leveling a Sonic disruptor at him. Mega Man yelped as he dodged to the side just before it fired. Once the shot passed him by, he shot the gun out of Doc Robot's hand. "Oops!" Doc Robot joked before racing away through to the rest of the planetoid. Mega Man took off in pursuit. When Mega Man caught up to him, Doc Robot began leaping about, hurling Quick Man's Quick Boomerangs. Unable to track the moving target accurately, Mega Man decided to let Search Snake hunt him down for him. After taking some damage, Doc Robot grinned widely. "Well, you're certainly full of surprises...but you can't beat me that easily!" With that, he teleported out. Growling, Mega Man locked onto the signal, beaming straight to the planetoid Gemini Man had worked. Halfway through the planetoid, Mega Man caught up to Doc Robot. "Stop running away!" he growled. "But I'm so good at it!" Doc Robot complained, thrusting his hand forward. Mega Man started to lunge forward, but found himself immobilized as the air around him twinkled. "F...Flash Man?" "Yup!" Doc Robot replied. "I've got all the weapons of the last gen of Robot Masters...but without their quirky weaknesses!" Lunging forward, Doc Robot punched Mega Man hard in the chest, making him double over before slamming the back of his head with his buster arm. As Mega Man slammed into the floor, he switched to Gemini Laser. "Flash this!" he snapped, rolling over and firing. As he'd thought, the bright shine of the reflective laser interfered with the functionality of the Flash Stopper. "Thought so!" he snapped, leaping up and firing several more shots as Doc Robot barely managed to dodge. "Well aren't you the clever clogs!" Doc Robot pouted as he fled further into the planetoid. Mega Man pursued further, this time catching up in an underwater section. Doc Robot grinned. "Not so good at underwater, are you?" he teased as he started firing Bubble Leads. Smirking, Mega Man called in Rush in Marine mode. "No fair!" Doc Robot complained as he beamed out. Mega Man pursued to Shadow Man's planetoid. Once again, Rush Jet made the passage through the planetoid much easier for Mega Man, once again catching up to Doc Robot halfway through the area. Doc Robot grinned as he conjured a Leaf Shield. "You can't beat me now-" Mega Man immediately fired off several shots from his Needle Cannon. They pinned the leaves to Doc Robot's body, shorting out the weapon. "Wood Man uses the hookah because he's terrified of needles," he explained. "Maker damn it!" Doc Robot snapped as he fled once more, Mega Man in hot pursuit. Rush Jet also made the second half of the planetoid easy for Mega Man as well, letting him rapidly catch up to Doc Robot. As soon as he stepped into the room, however, Doc Robot charged him, his body surrounded by flame. "It's time to heat things up!" Doc Robot exclaimed. Mega Man countered by grabbing Doc Robot by his ankles after dodging the first charge, switching to Top Spin, and spinning him around until he ran out of power for Atomic Fire before hurling him against the wall. "I don't wanna play anymore!" Doc Robot complained as he warped out. Mega Man pursued him to Needle Man's former base, determined that he wouldn't escape again. Mega Man was able to readily blur through the first half of the planetoid to catch up to Doc Robot. "You never did beat Air Man!" he called out, blasting away at Mega Man with the mini-tornadoes. Mega Man evaded them, firing away with Spark Shock. "Wind doesn't blow away electricity, and there aren't any pits in here." "Damn it!" Doc Robot countered angrily as he fled, his systems starting to malfunction. Mega Man pursued, using Rush Jet to clear most of the remainder of the area. When he finally caught up to Doc Robot, he switched to Hard Knuckle. "You're nowhere near as smart as Crash Man," he declared, hitting Doc Robot with a launched Hard Knuckle that took him right off his feet. Leaping forward, he smashed several of Doc Robot's components before pointing his buster at his head. "Now...where's the Energy Element?" Doc Robot giggled. "Silly Mega Man...I never had it! My Maker's had it all along!" "Who made you?" "Not telling!" Doc Robot teased. "And you won't get it out of me." His chest compartment opened. "I bring you destruction." Eyes popping open, Mega Man beamed out. Doc Robot blinked. "I can't believe that worked!" he crowed. "So...somebody's going to fix me now, right?" He glanced around, seeing no robots or humans nearby. "Somebody?" His expression became worried. "Anybody?" he called out forlornly. A familiar whistle sang out. While this was all going on, Albert had snuck his way into what Vinyl had set up as her lab, discovering her installing Shadow Man's new gyroscope. He was now tapping his foot as he glared down at her. "Vinyl Scratch Wily...you have some explaining to do," he stated firmly. Vinyl finished installing the gyroscope, then dropped to the floor. Hanging her head, she looked up at Wily with her ears flat against her skull, her eyes large and soulful as they peeked out from over the top of her sunglasses. She lifted one hoof, pawing at the air. "While that's excellent progress at weaponizing cuteness," Wily scolded, "it is not an explanation." "Check her tablet," Shadow Man stated bluntly. "Shadow Man!" Vinyl whined. Curious, Wily picked up the tablet. The "Make Daddy Proud Checklist" was displayed, with "Attempt World Takeover" highlighted, the checklist for that displayed. Wily blinked back tears he hadn't expected. "Is...is that what this is all about?" he asked Vinyl. "Were...were you just trying to make me...proud of you?" Vinyl nodded sadly, sniffling and pawing at the ground. Kneeling, Wily wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. "We'll talk about this once it's all resolved," he promised softly. "For now, there's something I have to do. Doc Robot was yours?" Vinyl nodded. "Where'd he put the Energy Element capsules?" Vinyl pointed to behind the door to her lab, where they'd be hidden by the act of opening the door. Wily chuckled as he gathered the capsules. "Clever girl," he praised, petting her on the head on his way out. Out in the main lab, Dr. Light blinked at the sight of Wily carrying the Energy Element capsules. "Albert, where did you get those?" "Vinyl was behind this world takeover attempt," he explained as he made his way towards Gamma. "She was doing it to make me proud of her." Tom sighed softly. "She loves you very much." "Yup," Wily agreed. "So now I'm going to steal Gamma so it looks like I was behind it, so she doesn't end up in juvey." "You're a good father," Dr. Light praised. "I'll try not to destroy too much of the lab on the way out," Wily promised. "Just make sure to do enough that I can convince Mega Man I tried to stop you," Light agreed.