//------------------------------// // Masters Meet // Story: Wily's Wittle Wub // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Now that 'Bass' and Treble were properly prepared, Vinyl decided it was time to see how her Dad had managed as far as the Robot Masters he said he would make for this takeover attempt. As such, she made her way happily to his lab, looking around for him. While she didn't see him at first, she did see the eight Robot Masters wandering around, as well as a datapad with them listed out by name and number. Smiling happily, she scooped up the pad and read through the data presented. Seeing the note that they were already programmed to listen to her, she decided to work her way from the top with what she saw was a...rather eclectic assortment of Masters. "DWN-049, Freeze Man!" she called out. "Report!" The Robot Master that approached seemed to be based off of Shadow Man's overall design, with a sleek humanoid shape. He was dark purple, with blue ice constructs on boots and shoulder epaulets, with a large red crystal embedded in the center. Once he arrived, he stood at attention, saluted with one hand, and held up a sign with the other. Did you need something? Vinyl blinked, having not expected something like this. "Umm...how come you're using a sign?" Freeze Man held up another sign. Wily didn't install a voice chip.(1) "Oh, I see," Vinyl replied. "Well, I can probably give you one-" Freeze Man quickly lifted another sign. No! As your father, Wily knows what's best for you! Vinyl quirked her eyebrow up, then rolled her eyes. "Keep your distance from Bass," she warned. "It's Mega Man you're supposed to fight." Nodding, Freeze Man turned back to attempting to stuff his face from a platter of food, despite the absence of mouth. Shaking her head in amusement, she glanced down at the next Robot Master listed. "DWN-050, Junk Man?" she called out. The robot that approached reminded her of Doc Robot's original design, in that it seemed to be a mishmash of different robot parts. The only real difference she could see was that some effort had been made to make Junk Man more streamlined, as well as a coat of blue paint being applied to most of the parts. "I am Junk Man!" he proclaimed in a distinctive, somewhat synthesized voice. "I live to serve the Wilys!" He paused, blinking. "Uhh...what's a Wily?" "I'm a Wily!" Vinyl replied. "I'm Vinyl!" "I am Junk Man, and I live to serve you!" Junk Man promptly offered Vinyl a tray of sweets. Vinyl happily took one as she giggled. "You'll do just fine!" she praised. "I am Junk Man, and I'll do just fine!" Junk Man proclaimed as he turned back to the rest of the room, wandering around to figure out what he was supposed to do now. Giggling, Vinyl glanced down at her list. "DWN-051, Burst Man?" she called out. Another humanoid robot walked over, this one blue and gold with tubes running over his shoulders and into the large buster on his left hand. His right held a large sack. "Who wants to know?" Burst Man asked cautiously while attempting to swipe the datapac and stuff it into his sack. Vinyl doggedly held onto the datapac with her magic. "That's not yours," she growled out. Burst Man promptly released the datapac. "I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted as he snatched her shades, only to freeze as her magic gripped him. "Give those back, or I'll count Bass as the eighth this time around," she growled. Burst Man carefully put the glasses back and raced off the moment he was released from her magic, pausing long enough to swipe Junk Man's serving tray but not the treats on it. "Well isn't that a story!" a bulky yellow robot floating on a cloud stated, using the electricity the orbs around him generated to power a video camera. "Talk about the scoop of a lifetime! Looks like I've caught the lab clepto red - or, well, blue yellow and white - handed!" Vinyl blinked, and glanced down at the list. "Umm...DWN-052, Cloud Man?" she asked curiously. "Aww, who am I kidding?" Cloud Man complained as he turned to film Vinyl. "Ponies being cute beats out any serious story any day. Smile for your adoring fans!" Giggling, Vinyl grinned widely. Once Cloud Man made his way to pursue 'other leads', she glanced down at her list. "Let's see...DWN-053..." She paused as she stared at the name. "...Spring Man?" she asked cautiously, glancing around to see if she could spot him. It didn't take long. A bright pink robot with springs for arms, legs, and neck was bouncing around like a supercharged slinky while making crazed cartoonish noises, and overall acting incredibly wacky. "...yeah..." she grumbled to herself. "Here's hoping the others aren't as crazy-" "Slash! Slash! Man...Slash!" Vinyl paused, staring up at the blue and green robot with spiky hair and claws on both hands. "...I'm guessing you're DWN-054, Slash Man?" "Slash!" Slash Man insisted happily. "And...you think you're a Pokemon..." Vinyl groaned. "Great..." "Yes!" a robot with bat wings in all purple proclaimed proudly. "That's six! Six crazy robot masters! Ah ha ha hah!" Vinyl groaned, burying her face in her hooves. "Make that 7, Shade Man..." A race car zoomed up to her side before unfolding into a robot. "That's right we're all not quite right in the head!" he proclaimed, his voice fast like an auctioneer. "That's quite traditional for us all as we're all supposed to be quirky and we hit the motherload with this group and-" "-just like that, I'm out!" Vinyl insisted, turning to go. "Next time, we're running quality control on the random personality generators." (1) The speaking with signs because of an absence of voice chip is, apparently, canon to the Mega Man manga, according to a friend of mine. I couldn't resist using it for this story...with this personality.