The morning that Dr. Wily called Quick man and Flash man into his quarters was misty, and a slight chill seeped through the castle's crevices, making everything lightly damp to the touch. While spring was gradually turning to summer, the real heat had yet to greet the many residents of Wily's castle.

"Do you know why I have called you here today?" Wily, arms behind his back, paced back and forth, bearing an expression of annoyance.

"'Cause we didn't beat Mega man?" Quick offered, finding the whole situation rather boring. The day before, he and Flash man had gone on a mission together to take advantage of a currently very busy Mega man to try and defeat him, but there had been a disagreement between the two Wilybots, causing a lapse in focus which allowed Mega man to take them both out and send them crawling back to the fortress.

"Not just that, Quick man. It is also because the teamwork between you two is deplorable! You are both constantly bickering and fighting-"

"-Quick's the one who started it-"

"-I do not care who started it!" Wily stomped his foot on the floor, getting up in Flash man's face as he scowled so deeply it was unsettling to look at his face. "Flash man, I very well know to expect such immaturity from Quick man, as emotionally stunted as he tends to be-" Quick rolled his eyes and scoffed, "-but you, Flash man, you are supposed to be mature enough not to stoop to the lows you have been going through lately, just to be on par with Quick man's antics!" He jabbed a finger at Flash man's chest armour. "You need to be the leader that I have assigned you to be, or I will give the position to Metal man, who currently seems much more up-to-task than you!"

Before either of them could reply, Dr. Wily stormed off to the other end of the room and aggressively tugged open a filing cabinet. Stuffing a wrinkled hand into the sea of dubiously organized files, he pulled out a couple of comparatively clean documents.

"So, what are those for?" Quick inquired, glancing over at Flash man and noticing how tense he was. Did Wily's approval matter so much to him? Part of him ached at the thought that he was causing the time-stopper such trouble, but he couldn't pin down why.

Wily didn't verbally reply right away, but instead grinned a sinister grin so broad it sent shivers down the speedster's metallic spine. There was nothing but evil in those eyes, whatever he had planned. "Instructions, for your next mission." He finally answered, shoving the notes at Flash man, who scrambled to keep them from falling onto the floor because he couldn't grab them in time.

"What is our mission, Dr. Wily?" Flash, having regained both composure and mission notes, glanced between Wily and the papers in his hands uncertainly. Apparently, something about the notes seemed to make him uncomfortable.

"Well, you see," Wily began, sitting down in his chair and folding his hands on the desk, "I cannot simply buy my materials from just anywhere- as you know, thanks to Dr. Light's pesky creations I'm wanted by police in nearly every country. So, I must buy my materials on the black market. Recently I've found a seller who is willing to sell to me, but I don't trust him enough to go there by myself, and he cannot come here to us. Apparently, he has some sort of severe injury. Of course, I don't buy this for a second and I suspect trickery, so I am sending you there in my stead- the both of you- as punishment for your failure." Leaning back in his chair, he continued, and the sheer amusement he was exuding irritated Quick more than the mission itself.

"Of course, that's not all." Wily laughed softly, "You see.. This man, who only goes by 'S.M', also has a day job- he's a billionaire who runs a romantic cruise liner. The only way to get to his location is aboard one of his yachts." At this point, Wily was having a hard time holding in his laughter, while Quick didn't know how to feel about this at all. Part of him was mortified, as he immediately guessed the implications behind this and was certain that it would only end awkwardly. Another part of him, in contrast, was euphoric at the news- after all, he'd been harboring a crush on Flash man for a couple of years now. Being forced into anything even remotely resembling a romantic context was exciting to him, and gave him way more of a rush than any amount of speed ever could.

Flash man, however, was either a lot slower on the uptake than he was, or was simply trying to deny the truth in hopes that his hunch was wrong. He assumed it would be the latter, as Flash was a lot more clever than he was at times. "Well, it can't be that hard, right? We just ride the yacht in our civilian forms. That simple… right?"

"No."

Flash paled, "W-well.. What else could there be to this mission?"

"It takes more than appearance to seem like a human Flash man! You must also act like one, and that means playing along with the theme of a romantic cruise liner."

Flash seemed to pale even more, though Quick may have just been imagining it. "You don't mean.."

"That is exactly what I mean!" Wily stood, cackling now as he slammed his hands down on the desk. "It's truly the perfect punishment, is it not?! I am brilliant! Ahahaha!"

Quick and Flash exchanged awkward glances. "Alright.. So we blend in on the ship until we get there, where we'll disembark and look for a large white mansion about a quarter mile westward, according to the notes you gave us Dr. Wily." Flash went on. "And then… we approach the mansion and state to whoever may be guarding the way that we are the creations of 'Mr. X'- wait, you're using that old alias again? Won't people recognize that one too? I mean, the first annual world robot tournament was a pretty infamous situation that got quite a bit of media coverage."

"Maybe so, but if I recall correctly, my name was only uttered a few times- I figured, this was the alias you two buffoons would be the most likely to remember, and it is a lot less attention-grabbing than my actual name, so it works fine." Wily stubbornly insisted. At this point, they had been talking for a good fifteen minutes- way too long to be standing in one place as far as Quick man was concerned. He couldn't help but shuffle restlessly and begin tapping his foot. The soft clanking sound almost seemed to echo despite the room being relatively too small for that.

"Oh, am I boring you, Quick man? Then let's wrap this up. I'm sure you're just eager to begin."

If only you knew, Quick thought to himself.

"Anyways, the item that I specifically need will be given to you in a duffel bag. Do not open it, and do not lose it! If you lose this I'll make you regret ever being created!" He slammed his hands down on the desk again. Quick stopped tapping his foot- it was his turn to get pale. Wily was unpredictable sometimes when it came to threats- you could never know if he was going to go through with them or not. "Now, the cruise is about a week long per round trip. I expect daily reports from you, Flash man, but not from you, Quick, as I suspect you'll probably forget."

The crackpot reached down and grabbed a blue duffel bag from under his desk. "This bag has some clothing and E-tanks. Try not to let anyone aboard see them- throw the empty cans overboard if you have to. The extra changes of clothes are simply to help you seem more convincing." He then pulled out another duffel bag, this time red. "The blue one will belong to you, Flash. It is made of a tougher material to help protect the item. I do not trust Quick man with this, so you will have to take it." he handed both of the bags over, blue one to Flash and red to Quick, who slung it over his shoulder and cocked a pose that clearly stated exactly how ready he was to bolt.

"This is your last chance to redeem yourself, Flash man, before I demote you all the way down to castle cleaner. Do I make myself clear?"

"C-clear as crystal, Dr. Wily.." Flash stammered.

"Good. Now, you are to leave here at exactly four A.M. tomorrow morning and head for the beach. Inside those duffel bags are one ticket each. Without them, you cannot board, so don't lose them! Now, get out of my sight! Go on! Shoo!"

Quick didn't need to be told twice, and ran out in a blur and a cloud of dust and papers, not bothering to look back even for a moment. Right then, he just needed to be alone, in order to emotionally prep himself for the week to come.