Wily and Cossack sat back, sharing some black tea and cookies Kalinka had made, while Kalinka was introducing Vinyl to the sweet taste of Mors, her preferred beverage. Vinyl, apparently, absolutely adored it, considering she constantly asked for more. As the pair of scientists watched their robots trying - with varying degrees of success - to keep the children in line, Wily decided to bring the topic of conversation around to something his companion had brought up. "You said you had eight Robot Masters, Mikhail?" he asked curiously.
"Yes," the young doctor replied. "Commissioned by my government for...various purposes."
"I couldn't help but notice that, despite claiming to be an archaeologist, Pharaoh Man is equipped with a high powered buster in his arm," Albert commented.
Mikhail flinched. "I'm certain you must be imagining-"
"It's really rather clever how you concealed it," Albert continued. "The energy is designed to focus in his hand for a thrown projectile rather than one being launched. If I'm not mistaken, he could either throw a sphere at high speeds or charge the energy to unleash a wave blast. Really rather versatile for combat...but unusual for an archaeological robot."
Mikhail managed a chuckle. "You really are every bit the robot expert I have heard. I admit, you are 100% correct. You even correctly interpreted the workings of the Pharaoh Shot and Pharaoh wave." He sat back in his chair. "...would you perhaps like to meet my other Robot Masters, and give your opinions on them?"
Wily couldn't help but grin. "I believe I'd enjoy that immensely," he replied. "Will you summon them here?"
"Ah...no," Cossack replied. "Some of them...I'd rather limit their interactions with Kalinka. On meeting them, you'd probably feel the same way regarding Vinyl. Do you think your Robots can handle watching over them?"
"Certainly," Albert replied. "Protoman! Mikhail has something to show me in his fortress! You're in charge until I get back!"
Protoman nodded in response, smirking as he leaned against the wall.
"Are you certain that will be enough?" Mikhail asked as they made their way to his vehicle. "Normally, I have to implement all sorts of directives to get Pharaoh Man to not let Kalinka order him around while he's watching her, and she still finds ways to circumvent them."
"Protoman's a little different," Albert replied. "Kalinka won't find him easy to push around."
Mikhail looked confused and curious, but Albert's expression discouraged questioning at the moment.
Once at Cossack Castle, Mikhail began to lead Wily around. "I feel I should warn you, my Robot Masters are rather..."
"Quirky?" Wily offered.
"That's putting it mildly," he replied. "I'm afraid I was...under the influence of...several exotic substances...from my high school reunion...when I programmed their personalities."
Albert raised an eyebrow. "Lots of 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' programming?"
"Indeed," Mikhail replied in embarrassment. "Also...lots of flipping through Kalinka's movies, games, and anime, and programming in whatever made me laugh."
Albert shrugged. "It's alright. Tom and I design our robots to generate their own personalities based on a random encoder. I'm pretty sure there's nothing you can show me that will shock me too much-"
At that moment, music started playing, and a large, green, toad shaped robot slid into the room, singing along with a rather distinctive voice. "Slime beneath me, mm...slime up above! Ooh you'll love my-unf!" The giant toad delivered a pelvic thrust. "Toxic love!"
Wily stared as the robot continued to sing and dance his way out of the room. "...why is his based on Tim Curry as Hexxus?"
"Because Toad Man's primary design function is to filter pollutants out of the environment and store them in his own body for condensing into usable resources," Mikhail replied. "Also, Kalinka really likes Ferngully."
"Not exactly one of your best decisions, Doctor," another robot said as he approached. This one had a large light bulb on his head, and one arm ended in an obvious buster. "He still gives her nightmares, after all."
"Well it's a little late now, Bright Man," Mikhail grumbled. "What am I supposed to do now?"
Bright Man stroked his chin for a time...and then the bulb on his head illuminated. "Light...bulb!" he stated happily before rushing off.
Wily stroked his chin as he watched Bright Man run off. "Can I borrow that movie?" he asked curiously. "I think it might be nice to watch it with Vinyl."
"Certainly," Mikhail agreed readily. "Come. Some of the other Robot Masters should be more readily approachable."
In another part of the Castle, Mikhail called out to a red robot with drills for hands and on its head...and a bike pump strapped to his back for some reason. "Drill Man! There's someone here to meet you!"
The robot approached, remaining completely silent.
"Drill Man, this is Dr. Wily," Mikhail introduced.
Drill Man nodded silently as Wily looked him over. "Rather impressive," he murmured. "I see he's designed as an excavator...but those drills can be launched, and are easily hard enough to penetrate most metals. Another robot with hidden combat potential...but what's with the bike pump?"
"You don't want to know," Mikhail said quickly as he hustled Wily away. Drill Man had pulled out tha bike pump and was trying to plug the output end into Wily.
"Believe it!" an orange and yellow robot with a ring on his head and several rings on his arms proclaimed, looking up from a bowl of ramen.
"Shut up, Ring Man!" Mikhail scolded.
"And what was he built for?" Wily asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Officially, he's a jeweler," Mikhail replied, startling a laugh from Albert.
Not long after, a large blue robot with a giant vacuum on its head walked in, sucking junk up off the floor with his head vac. "How's keeping the lab clean going, Dust Man?" Mikhail asked.
"It ith going well, Marthter," Dust Man replied, walking so that it looked like he had a hump on his back, though he kept switching which shoulder he made look humped.
"Which way have you already worked on?" Mikhail asked courteously.
"Walk...thith way!" Dust Man then proceeded to do an unusual hop-skip gait.
"One of my favorites," Wily murmured.
"It is good that you are appreciative of us!" another blue robot proclaimed loudly as he stood like a statue, closed fists braced on his hips. This robot looked not unlike a miniature submarine. "I am Dive Man, underwater explorer! I shall plumb the secret depths of the sea for the glory of my kingdom!"
"He has a kingdom?" Wily asked with a raised eyebrow.
"He thinks so," Mikhail shrugged as he led the way to another part of the Castle where a robotic skeleton stood leaning against a wall, staring at them. "Skull Man."
"Doctor," Skull Man replied, his breathing audible and menacing.
"You've been neglecting coming in for checkups and repairs again," Mikhail scolded.
"I have not needed them," Skull Man countered firmly.
"You overestimate yourself," Cossack replied with a frown.
"And you underestimate the power of the Dark Side." Turning, Skull Man walked off, his breathing echoing around him.
Wily chuckled. "Well, they're certainly interesting..."
Albert sat back, enjoying some Kvas with Mikhail, thinking about all he had seen. "Quite an interesting set of Robot Masters," he said finally. "Am I correct in assuming that, whatever they are officially, they all have combat programming and capacity?"
"That's correct," Mikhail replied. "That was actually part of the government's commission...after seeing the success of your own Robot Masters against all opponents...even Mega Man."
"True," Wily replied. "He never did beat Air Man."
After a while of silence, Mikhail spoke up. "Do you think you could do me a favor?" he asked at long last.
"Depends on the favor," Albert replied, raising his mug to his lips.
"Could you kidnap Kalinka?"
Wily's Kvas ended up all over the wall, allowing Dust Man to demonstrate his wet/dry function. "What? Why?"
"My government's been pressuring me for a live combat test of these designs," Mikhail explained. "And, simply put, if I tried to arrange something like that, it would probably bankrupt me...or expose the secret combat abilities publicly. However..."
"If you're taking over the world for me because I'm holding your daughter hostage, any combat capabilities will be attributed to my modifications, and Mega Man will be fighting full force," Albert replied. "So Mega Man runs the gauntlet yet again, and I don't even have to do any of the work!"
"You'll do it, then?" Mikhail asked hopefully.
"On two conditions," Wily replied. "First, make sure cameras are broadcasting Mega Man's progress so we can watch."
"I'll be doing that for my government anyway, so certainly," Cossack replied.
"Second, if Mega Man fails, you actually take over the world for me."
Mikhail hesitated. "...seriously?"
"Honestly, I don't think you'll get that far, but if I'm tarnishing my name with kidnapping, I want some potential profit from all this."
Cossack stroked his chin for a time. "Well..."
Wily pulled out his phone and typed a few keys. After a time, he turned it to show Mikhail. It showed Kalinka holding Vinyl in her arms, both giving cute, pleading eyes. At the bottom of the image in white text was, "PWEEEEAAASSEEE?!?!"
Mikhail clutched his chest. "Alright! Alright!"
Wily chuckled. "A pleasure doing business with you, Cossack. I'll just tell Kalinka she'll be staying with us for a protracted sleepover, then."