//------------------------------//
// Peaceful Prelude 
// Story: Wily's Wittle Wub 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	Wily smiled to himself as he lay back in his easy chair, looking over Sky Lagoon as it slowly grew.  With the number of scientists who were disenfranchised by the robotics policy of the world below increasing as robots became more and more personable, the place had grown by leaps and bounds.  Whole families were now present, human and robot alike, working towards building and preserving a peaceful paradise.  It was amazing to him how far he'd come towards robot and human coexistence as equals.  ...the only cloud on his philosophical horizon was that he couldn't determine whether Sky Lagoon was proof of his philosophy or Light's.

Hearing an explosion, he groaned and got to his feet, making his way to Vinyl's private lab.  He was unsurprised to discover multi-colored smoke pouring out the windows and doors of the top room of her tower laboratory, though pleased to see that those Robot Masters that maintained the weather and atmosphere around the city were already cleaning it up.  Taking the elevator to the top, he stepped out with a gas mask already on his face.  "What is it this time, Vinyl?" he asked softly.

"I was experimenting with that new element you found, Daddy!" Vinyl squealed happily through her own gas mask as the rainbow colored smoke still poured off the pulsing green sphere in front of her.  "I was trying to figure out how it generates so much energy."

Chuckling, Wily shook his head.  The new energy element he'd discovered the previous day had been dubbed Bassnium, since it had been resonations with a test firing of Vinyl's experimental super sonic disruptor, called her Bass Cannon, that had revealed its presence in a passing asteroid.  The glowing green rock generated energy far beyond what normal science could explain.  As such, Wily had taken the three chunks they'd found and installed one as Sky Lagoon's backup generator, kept one for himself to study, and gave one to Vinyl to experiment with.  "So, what have you learned?" he asked curiously.

"It's tapping energy from other levels of reality!" Vinyl explained happily.  "That's why it generates so much power without any signs of decay!"

"And...the rainbow colored smoke is a side effect of your discovery?" Wily asked curiously.  While the idea of a material that naturally tapped into over levels of reality was fascinating, Vinyl's method was usually more so.

"Naw!" Vinyl replied dismissively.  "I did that by sending my magic back along the energy channels the moment I got hold of it."  Even through the gas mask, Wily could tell how wide she was grinning by her eyes.  "I'm trying to turn this chunk into a robot power core!"

Albert shook his head ruefully.  "Of course," he muttered.  "So...what?  Will you be building a Bass Man, then?"

"Nope!" Vinyl replied readily.  "I'm gonna give Forte the Mega Man upgrade, but suped up my way!  If I get this power core working, I can give him a Bass Cannon sub weapon!"

Remembering the size of the blast the prototype Bass Cannon had fired, Albert shuddered at the idea of that kind of power in a single robot, especially Forte.  "Are...are you sure he can handle that?" he asked worriedly.

"Well, even with this in his core, he'll only have one shot," Vinyl pouted.  "It only generates so much energy at a time, after all."

Albert found this far less terrifying.  However, another terrifying thought occurred to him.  "Umm...what if he fires it...down?"

Vinyl paused, scratching her head.  "...good point.  I'll hardwire it so it can only be fired forward while he's standing on the ground.  Still gotta figure out how to let him shoot in multiple directions without damaging his arm joints from the recoil.  Bet it'll really shock Mega Man when he gets shot in the nuts from below!"

Albert shook his head.  "While that is an interesting idea, Vinyl...don't you think you might be putting a bit too much into your 'rivalry' with Mega Man?  There should be more to your life than trying to take over the world."

"But Mega Man's birthday's only five months away!" Vinyl whined.  "And he went to so much effort with my birthday present, I have to do the same with his!"

Albert blinked.  "Wait...you're turning Forte into Mega Man's 'rival' as a...birthday present to him?"

"Well, to Forte, too," Vinyl corrected.  "You activated him on Rock's birthday, after all."

Albert blinked, having not realized he'd done that.  "Huh.  So...as a birthday gift for both of them, you're going to upgrade Forte so he can duke it out with Mega Man?"

"Yup!" Vinyl agreed.  "Once I've figured out how to stabilize the Bassnium into a power core, I'll take a break and head over to Kalinka's for some fun.  Then I'll plot out some designs, and upgrade Forte."  She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.  "But...if I include eight Robot Masters too...I won't have any time for fun..."

"Why don't you leave the Robot Masters to me?" Wily offered.  "It's about time I tried to take over the world again."

Vinyl gasped happily.  "Would you, Daddy?" she squealed before glomping onto him.  "Sweet!  I'll have time to build Forte a pet/support unit then!"  She giggled wickedly.  "I'm thinking wolf!"

Wily chuckled, shaking his head from side to side.  "Just don't push yourself too hard," he cautioned.  "Remember to have some fun."

Nodding and nuzzling him, Vinyl turned back to her research.