Dr. Albert W. Wily hummed to himself as he ran a comb through what was left of his hair. He wasn't usually full of so much energy this early in the morning, but after all…

Today was the big day!

Today he was going to infiltrate the home of his former partner, Dr. Thomas Light. It doubled as Light's laboratory, and housed his experimental next-generation robots. He would reprogram these "Robot Masters," then have them lead the army of lesser automata he had created here, at his secret manufacturing plant on a deserted Pacific Island. Then nothing could stop him from taking over the world, and at last achieving the recognition he'd deserved for so many years, but which only Thomas has ever been given (life was so unfair).

The glorious images of world conquest floated in his mind's eye. Building his Skull Castle, an impenetrable fortress from which he would rule. Creating an entire city with nothing but his own experiments, no matter how bizarre or outlandish…a Monsteropolis, if you will. Thomas kneeling at his feet and confessing who the superior roboticist truly was. Proclaiming himself the supreme master of the Earth. Why, he could almost hear the words now.

Actually, he could.

He blinked and stalked into his communications center, which allowed him to monitor—and hijack—broadcasts from all over the world. He had been planning to use it for the first time when he returned with the Robot Masters, so he could make his demands to his future cowering subjects. But it looked like someone else was stealing his thunder. A familiar bearded face covered each of the dozens and dozens of monitors that ringed the room.

Thomas?

"So let me repeat," his former colleague was saying, with an edge in his voice that Wily had never heard before. "Acknowledge me as the world's rightful ruler, and I shall call off my Robot Masters and their troops, and end the devastation. Continue to resist, and…" He grinned evilly, in a manner most unsuited to his Santa Claus-like face. "…We'll see if the graves can be dug faster than they can be filled."

Thoughts spun through Dr. Wily's mind like a hurricane. This wasn't the Light he was used to, naïve and gentle and trusting and as threatening as a marshmallow. What had happened to him?

For that matter, what had happened to the world? He hadn't checked the news this morning. Where had the Robot Masters been deployed to, and what kind of havoc were they wreaking?

And in the eye of the hurricane, one thought established itself with a calm fury.

You will NOT upstage me again, Thomas.

Without even realizing it, he snapped his comb in half.