Bass was nearly done with his trek back to Dr. Cossack's lab, but it was slow going having to tromp through the ever present snow (hurry, spring!). This made him even more grumpy; delays of any kind tried his patience. Going to Monstropolis for Dr. Light's funeral had taken up more time than Bass would have liked, but he wasn't going to complain about it. Dr. Light had been his mentor, and going to the funeral was the least he could do for the man he so desperately wished had put him together. That still didn't diminish Bass' eagerness to find his enemy and be done with his quest once and for all.

Zero... He clenched his teeth, wanting to spit. I'll kill that bastard even if it kills me...he is NOT going to do whatever the crap Wily wants him to do. He's going to die like the ugly chick that he is...

Thinking of his younger "brother" only worsened his mood, and he didn't feel like dwelling on Zero. Another delay, this one shorter and much less worth it (to Bass) was going to be that night. It was Kalinka's "royal ball", something she had planned for all the most wealthy and powerful families in the Russian science community. Forte hardly cared at all about Russia, but she had insisted that he be there and serve as security. Obeying Dr. Cossack was one of the rules that the law had placed on Forte once he had chosen to become a good guy. While most of the time Bass did as he liked and Cossack didn't seem to mind, this was one of those things that Dr. Cossack was not going to just let pass by. His daughter's happiness was at stake, and Bass was just going to have to deal with it. Sometimes Bass didn't think Dr. Cossack realized what a threat like Zero exactly was.

Kalinka's spoiled rotten. I have to waste even more time on this crap...I can't believe it. I'm getting closer to finding him, I just know it...

But for now, Treble would take his place and search the snow drifts alone. Bass knew Treble could handle it, and Kalinka didn't seem to want Treble at the ball anyway. Dogs were not proper security, in her mind at least. And that was why Bass was stomping his way through snow drifts and ice. Dr. Cossack had recently expanded the range of his anti-teleportation field constructs, so that meant teleporting straight through to the lab wouldn't work until Crystal Bot could get him the proper teleport codes. And he couldn't get them until he had reached the lab. Yay for hiking.

Bass just tugged his brown cloak more tightly around his shoulders and went on, starting on the hill that would lead upwards to Cossack's lab. It wasn't worth complaining about. As much as he didn't want to be a security guard, it was about time for him to get a decent tune-up. Months of searching for Zero had taken their toll on his armor and joints, which was why he was now sporting an old cloak that was stored away in one of Cossack's lab's back rooms. He had to keep excess ice from messing with his joints before he could get them back into shape. Forte gruffly mused that Cossack's lab must have once been a haunted house before it was a lab.

Hell, it's one now with all those stinking mummiras and crap running around. Not to mention Skull Man.

Skull Man was the most tolerable of the Cossack-bots, to him at least. He was at least a decent fighter, and it was entertaining to watch him frighten Crystal Bot. Any mention of death or a death-related something sent the girl-bot into frightened tremors. Bass snorted with a short laugh. It was humorous to watch. Another warm, cheering thought was robot master head he had tucked into the cloak, Cut Man's. He was getting closer than ever. He would find out what secrets Cut Man had on it once he reached the lab, but for now it was the uphill foot-battle back to Cossack's.

"Eeeeeeeeeeee! Heheehee!"

The squealing giggles were quiet at first, but it didn't take long for Bass to notice that his shiny technician was headed down the steep hill, sledding on something he couldn't see. It was sort of bowl shaped, though. Bass grinned, lifting a foot. She was going to pass him by, and if he timed it just right...

STOMP!

The impact of Forte's foot against the very front of the sled-thing was timed marvelously, and since there was nothing for the girl to hang on to, she flipped completely out of the impropmtu sled and cruised through the icy air, landing head-first into a pile of snow. Smirking, Bass picked up the object to find that it wasn't a sled at all. It was Proto Man's iconic shield.

"Eee! Eheheheee!"

Unfortunately, the squeaky giggling did not stop even when she pulled herself out of the cold stuff. Crystal ran her fingers through her auburn hair and flicked out the snow as she got back on her feet.

"Ha, that was fun!" Crystal cheered. "Do that again!"

Bass rolled his eyes. "What are you doing with the Proto Shield anyway?"

"Oh, that?" Crystal said with perfect innocence, holding her arms behind her back like a child. "Why, I was just being my nice friendly self and proving to Proto Man that he really does need to get some upgrades! You know how nice I am to offer! If I can snatch his shield, then who else can? Don't you think he needs to be stronger?"

Bass guffawed at Crystal Bot's mischevious wink. It was a little funny. "You know he's going to find a way to get back at you for this, right?"

"Hey, that's where you come in and rescue me. I mean, hey, we're such nice people now that we're good guys, Forte-kun. Aren't we? Don't you wanna help Proto Man by making him get some nice upgrades? He'd never choose to get them on his own if we don't prove he should! He's so stubborn!"

Bass glanced up in the direction of Dr. Cossack's lab. The red and grey robot was coming down towards them, and he didn't look happy. Crystal covered her face, trying as hard as she could to stifle her laughter. They assumed that Proto Man glared at her through his visor before he turned his head to Bass. The dark robot guessed that Proto Man thought he would just give it up.

"You know what?" Bass' perfect teeth gleamed that bright winter day. "I think that I'm feeling like a nice person right about now. Sure I'll...help."

With that, Bass tugged off the cloak and wrapped it around Cut Man's head, throwing it at his technician. Then he dropped the shield back on the ground and promptly jumped on top of it, cruising down the hill like a skilled snowboarder as Sonata only giggled all the worse. It quieted with distance, and the wind rushing past Bass' auditory sensors helped drown her out.

The dark robot's evil smirk grew even larger. Aggravating Proto Man aside, the whole snowboarding thing was a lot of fun. Something about the rush of it and the careful work of staying on made Bass feel alive. The Proto Shield by no means was meant for a snowboard, so it even surprised Bass how good he was at steering it past rock and tree without too much trouble.

Heh, there's Proto Moron. I guess he has the teleport codes...

Indeed, the original robot had teleported ahead, waiting for him to come into range, buster ready. Bass strained his cheeks from all the smiling he was doing. Crouching down, he sent himself down the vast slope at an even greater speed. Coming right up on Proto Man, he turned hard right and sprayed Blues with a vast drift of frosty snow before he gleefuly continued his ride.

Proto Man wasn't a fool. Recovering quickly and doing some risky calculations, he let Bass go on for a little longer. The dark robot was heading for a flat rock that lay at just the right angle for a ramp, and like expected he jumped full on into the air. However, he wasn't expecting Proto Man to be there at the bottom. Even as old as the Light-bot was, shooting hot plasma was as good a means as any for getting Bass off his shield. Proto Man blew at his equipped, steaming buster like a cowboy would his gun, enjoying the sight of Bass sprawled out in a pit of black rocks and snow. He went to go pick up his shield.

"Ow." Bass picked himself up off the rocks, a little miffed about the new dents in his armor. That still did little to temper his overall very glorious mood, and he even let Proto Man take his shield back without shooting at him. "Heh, that was fun."

Proto Man only glared back at him, replacing the shield to it's proper place on his arm. "You and your sidekick need to respect other people's property."

"Hey, I didn't tell her to take it from you." Bass folded his arms, completely smug. "How exactly did she trick you into getting it, by the way?"

"I didn't trick him!"

Sliding her way down the boulder that had been Bass' ramp, Crystal Bot tried her best to get down without falling. She failed and landed sprawled out on the ground. Picking herself up again (and now covered nicely in a mess of snow), she tried once more.

"I didn't really mean to trick you, Proto-kun!" she insisted. "I really just want you to get some upgrades. You're really old and stuff and you need some new parts. You already decided to let Auto fix your power core. Can't you let me help you out too? Please? Pretty please? Pleeeaaaaasseee?"

Crystal Bot was the earnest she had ever been, but Proto Man was already decided on the matter. His only response was to deepen his frown and teleport out. Crystal Bot moaned, stomping once in indignation.

"Aw...I guess Operation Happy Snow Fun was a half failure..."

The name of the "operation" made Bass feel sick, but he tested fate and asked anyway. "What do you mean, half-failure?"

He instantly wished he hadn't asked. Slowly Sonata turned around, a gleeful, prankster light in her mischevious red eyes.

"The other half was figuring out a way to tell you that I installed Top Man grade auto-balancers in you without you getting mad at me." she said. "Gee, that sure was a lot of fun snowboarding on the Proto Shield, huh, Forte-kun?"

"TOP MAN? What are you...you can't...but..." As much as he wanted to, Bass couldn't say one word against her. She really had improved his balance. At the same time, having something from one of the lamest robot masters in existence pained the dark robot like the continuous sting of an instant death spike. "I can't...grrr...urg! NRRRN!"

"Heehee, silly Forte." she approached him, turning one finger into a zip drive. "Those balancers were the one really good thing that Top Man had. Just because they were first used in him doesn't mean they're bad. Don't let it bother you so much! Now come on, let me get you that teleport code. I have to get you all fixed up."

Still deciding if he wanted to be grateful or pissed off, Bass grumpily let her load the teleportation code into his mental storage. "Erg...whatever. We've got a while until that thing starts tonight, so your fight training starts now. I got Ring Man's report and it's obvious that an expert is going to have to step in."

Crystal pulled away her hand. "But..."

He wasn't in any mood for her whining, his tone sharpened as he changed the subject. "You have my cloak, right?"

"Yeah, I don't know why you like this nasty thing." Crystal lifted it from where it had fallen in the snow. She unwrapped mechanical head from under it. "Ooh, Cut Man's head! You must be getting close. Eee! Forte-kun the hero!"

"Heh," The flattery helped his mood a little. "Get one of those brains of yours working on it. I ran into this idiot, but he was alone and still looking for Zero. Those idiots know about Zero and if we're lucky they'll know exactly where."

They teleported back to the room that Dr. Cossack had given to Crystal Bot specifically for her work. It wasn't just for the girl-bot's sake. The only way to keep her and Bright Man from killing each other was to separate them. The room was a bit smaller than Crystal would have liked, but she loved it all the same. The place, besides being a quarter filled with an enclosed automated machine, was decorated liberally with tools and software storage on the three walls not filled with a stack of computers. These fixtures went all the way up to the complex metal rafters, which above them served as a home for Bruce and the three other pipies that Crystal Bot had since repaired for her service. They tweeted their hellos as Crystal Bot and Bass reappeared in the small lab.

Sonata waved at them, going to sit in one of two chairs next to the technician table as she plopped down and pulled out Cut Man's head. Before she could do anything, out of nowhere a roar sounded. With a hideous clank, a monstrous robot smacked into Bass, knocking him to the ground. It bit Bass and held him by the neck, shaking him violently.

"Haha!" he laughed, slapping the metal beast in the ears. "I'm glad to see you too, Treble!"

The wolf let go of his master, barking merrily with his huge tail winding back and forth. Bass roughly grabbed his neck and rubbed it, pushing the dog off as they played and rough-housed.

"By the way, Sonata, you fail the test." Bass rubbed behind Treble's ears. "I was killed by a vicious robot dog because you didn't help."

Crystal Bot rolled her eyes as she hooked up Cut Man's head to her computer. "I'm working here, Forte. I don't have time for silly games."

"I said your training started now, and I meant it. You're going to have to learn to be ready for anything." he huffed, returning his attention to his robot assistant. "Alright, Treble, you go to these coordinates and keep searching. If Sonata can get her act together, she'll send you anything important you need from Cut Man's CPU."

"Don't talk about me like that!" Crystal whined. "I'm being nice and searching this guys' head for you. You need to remember to be nice to me."

"Try not to let her bother you, boy." Bass gave his ears a final scratch. "Now get going."

"Rowf!"

The wolf teleported out, and Forte stood back up. "How long is that going to take?"

"Not too long." Crystal Bot replied, keeping her focus on the CPU. "I'm doing a search of his mind for any mention of Zero. Dr. Wily didn't like talking about him, so there's probably not a lot there. It's possible Wily left some instructions just in case he was jailed again. I'm also copying his last instructions for the past half-year."

"Alright. Let it load. We're going to need to get some training done."

That got an immediate whimper from Crystal Bot. She quickly turned away from him and started typing at the her computer, letting impossibly complex data flash across the screen. It was hard to keep her wincing expression out of Bass' sight.

"Uh, heh heh...this is more complex than it looks, Forte." she pretended to be engrossed. "I better, um, keep working!"

Bass growled. "Sonata, you're not going to get away with being a wuss for long. I can let Treble search tomorrow while you work on your unarmed combat."

"We're closer than ever to finding Zero and you're going on about this? Come on!"

"That makes it more important that you actually learn to fight for once." Bass grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the computer. "Now come on, let's go."

The door slammed open, and at the door there appeared a very wild-looking blonde. Her hair was done up in tight rollers, and an elequent green bathrobe was tossed over her shoulders. The wildest part about her, however, was the look on her face. Her eyebrows pointed dangerously downwards, and her pouting lips pointed the same way. She was hardly pleased with what she saw: two robots, dirty and still dripping from the melting snow. Her arms folded with dangerous ferocity, and her foot tapped against the ground with all the contempt Kalinka could muster.

"What is this?" Kalinka's cute accent sounded significantly less cute with sinister undertones. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, work?" Crystal Bot nervously answered, aimlessly pointing back at the computer.

"Are you kidding me? Now? There's only five hours until the party! Bass, you have a security meeting an hour before that! Stop standing around and get ready! Crystal, what are you going to be wearing?"

"This." Crystal gestured at her simple cyan dress and forest green cloak. "I mean, what else would I wear?"

Kalinka's eyes widened and her sneer deepened, and Crystal knew she had answered wrong. She couldn't help but whimper a little, backing away from the angry Cossack girl. Bass, however, ever the socially aware fellow (not), made it even worse. To his credit, all he did was smirk at his technician, when suddenly he became the next victim of Kalinka's ugly sneer.

"Someone fitted you for your tux, right?"

Bass jumped back in horror. "No! I've never worn human clothes in my life and I'm not going to start now!"

Kalinka's glare rather said otherwise, and she let it have its impact before speaking again. "I'm going to have one of the mummiras bring your tux, and you are going to wear it! Don't argue with me! And make sure your hair looks nice!"

Without another word, the young Cossack left with an abrupt slam of the door. Both robots looked stunned for a minute, and Crystal Bot was only marginally glad she had avoided her fight training. She nervously glanced at her boss.

"Make sure my hair looks nice?" Bass complained, throwing a hatefully expressive hand towards the door. "What the hell does that mean? I'll be wearing my helmet...won't I?"

Crystal Bot couldn't resist a giggle. "Uh...Forte-kun, why don't you head into that automated machine? I'll start a clean cycle on you while I work on Cuttie's head. I know how to fix clothes, so I'll get the tux on you somehow."

"I'm not going helmetless! What, do they think I'm going to just give in to their stupid demands because I'm some sort of good guy now? I was a dangerous villain for years! Why the hell do they think I'll go along with this crap?"

"Because it's the one thing Dr. Cossack asked you to do since you got here." His technician pushed him to the automated machine. "Go on, now. We'll talk about it later. Shoo!"

Bass grumpily shook Crystal Bot away and went off. He pushed the button on his way in, and the huge panel door slid shut behind him. Crystal Bot went ahead after him, pushing the appropriate buttons to begin the cleaning cycle. She took a glance down at her dress. She liked it, and she didn't understand why Kalinka didn't.

Aw, I'm gonna have to get all dressed up...I don't wanna...too much work for too little result.

She realized that if Bass' hair was going to have to look good, then hers too wouldn't just be allowed to hang downward as boringly as it usually did. As a technician, she had no use for looking pretty. She gruffly wondered if Wily had programmed her to not want to doll herself up so that he wouldn't have to worry about buying her nice clothes.

Crystal Bot sighed. At least I get to work on this guy's brain. Hmph! Team 1 meanie. Even with Toad Man disease, I'm still a better fighter than him!

She went over to the computer and looked at the flowing data. As she read it over, she frowned. Cut Man's head was heavily encoded for some reason. It wasn't all of his head, as Wily's standard encoders were still easy for her to work around - he hadn't had much time to upgrade it before he was arrested. Despite this, somehow the past month of Cut Man's memories, and only that last month, were shut out in a completely unfamiliar way.

Uh, well Wily did have a couple of weeks out of prison while everybody thought he was dead. I guess he could have upgraded Cut Man then...

That was silly, though. It had been well over three months since Dr. Wily was caught from his escape attempt. This time, he seemed to be in prison for good. The guards were watching him very carefully. They had to be, after the last time he snuck his way out from behind bars.

Crystal Bot wasn't worried about it. She could decode the security measures in place, or guessed that she could. Worst come to worst, she could always just plug her own mind into Cut Man's and work on it manually. Bored for the moment, she decided to look and see what else she could find in Cut Man's head. He had been one of the oldest robots manufactured, and he was one of the robots closest to Wily. Having his head was a great way to find out any number of details about Wily and his schemes over the years. She had a thought that perhaps she should be getting ready for the party instead, but she wasn't worried about it. Secretly she hoped that Kalinka would forget about getting her a dress.

Crystal wasn't sure what memory she wanted to start with. There was just so much to look at, and she wanted to give it all a try before turning into Cut Man's head to the authorities. She was bound to record all of it to the computer later. So she just picked out a memory at random. It shocked her that the very first image she saw was an image of herself, surrounded on one side by Guts Man and Elec Man on the other.

Crystal Bot looked up in horror. "Oh Dad, please no! I'm sorry! I'll do anything to make this up to you! Please don't, please!"

"Oh, you will make up for it!" Wily's evil smile seemed worse than his horrible frown. "I've been wasting you as a technician. Your next job will be much more useful!"

In shock, she allowed herself to be lifted to her feet by Elec Man and Guts Man. Without resistance she let them pull her out of the door and towards the room that contained the automated machinery. The door closed behind them. The perspective of the memory turned to Dr. Wily, and it was clear that there was a sadness in his eyes. Wily glanced toward Cut Man, and the orange and white robot jumped as he was noticed.

"Cut Man..." Dr. Wily said, a little wistfully. His age showed through his cracked voice. "Did you know that I had plans to make her my replacement when I am gone?"

"Her as the doctor? She would have liked that."

His voice was tinged with bitterness. "I guess I know better now."

Crystal Bot stopped the memory. She stopped everything, standing there without word. She used to be the heiress of the greatest supervillain the world had ever known. She was going to be the Wily to live beyond what he had even planned for himself. Humans couldn't live continuously, but a robot potentially could. This realization stung her, leaving her in disquiet.

Turning to the computer, she turned on the web camera to use it like a mirror. She stared at herself, her innocent eyes and auburn hair.

"Doctor...Wily..." she said, in a little over a whisper. "I am Doctor Wily..."

She meant "Wily" as a family name, but it did seem strange to call herself that. After all, that was how Albert Wily was usually labelled. She would have to use a first name to clarify.

"Doctor Sonata Wily...the greatest villain of all time! Ew, that doesn't work."

Crystal Bot glanced over at the automated machine, still doing its best to clean up Bass. He was the one that had given her that name, and he would hardly appreciate her using that along with "Wily". Also, it was too nice sounding to be a evil scientist's moniker. Crystal's mischevious lips turned upwards. She had the perfect enemy name.

"Doctor Sinistra Wily..." she murmured, her giggles growing darker and more malevolent. "Daughter of Albert-"

She cut herself off right there, admonishing herself that she had so easily forgotten. Albert Wily was not her father. He had killed her real father, Crystal Man. At once Crystal Bot scolded herself. She was not a villain any longer, but an aide to the new hero Forte. She had abandoned her life of destruction the past year, and was now doing her best to be a good girl, as difficult as that proved to be.

It was too late. Crystal Bot had seen the memory, and now the gears in her head were in motion, thinking deeply about what could have been had she not disobeyed Dr. Wily and allowed Mega Man to live. It had been only to make sure that Bass would be the one to defeat him, but she had been caught not destroying the blue bomber when she could so easily have turned him into nothing more than a carbon-scored metal sculpture. With that one choice, Wily turned her into a mechaniloid. Only through the best of luck, the help of Bass, and secret programs in Jewel Man's mind had she been able to survive.

All the same, things could have been different. Crystal Bot could have been by Wily's side, acting like Wily's daughter and never knowing the truth about her origins and true creator. Curious, Crystal Bot picked a memory shortly after the time when Wily had fooled everyone into thinking that Dr. Light had let loose eight robot masters instead of him. That was when Wily had first discovered the little creation of Crystal Man. Crystal Bot had never understood why Wily had kept her around instead of killing her. There was no one who could tell her the truth. If Wily had only been trying to get the Mega Man X parts that were stolen for her creation, then he could have just taken the parts and let her die.

Maybe Cut Man was there. He might know what happened.

Crystal Bot picked what seemed to be the right time, coming across a memory that piqued her interest.

The first edition Crystal Bot wasn't even three foot tall, but that didn't stop her from proudly working on met after met, setting each of them in working order and putting them to the side for Dr. Wily's schemes. The lab was a mess of parts and shut down met mechaniloids, but the little girl-bot didn't need that much room to work.

"This is the last one, Uncle Cuttie!" the little thing squealed as she drove in a couple more screws into the black robot. "Yay! Daddy will be so happy!"

"Um, yeah...he will." the scissor-bot said with more than a little awkwardness. "You work pretty fast."

"Hee hee. That's cause I'm smart like Daddy!"

The giggly little crystal girl started to put the final pieces of the met back together, making sure the mechaniloid CPU was properly hooked in before replacing the cranial panel. All that remained was to put on the distinctive orange-yellow hat with the black stripe and plus sign. She looked at it curiously, turning it over in her hands. Then she promptly pulled her mini tiara out of her auburn locks and replaced it with the met helmet, giggling and clapping her hands. The thing was too large for her, and it covered her eyes completely.

The door opened, and Dr. Wily, always in a state of intensity, hurried through it with his mind absorbed by business. This track was de-railed by the mess of mets around the room, and Wily stopped. He smiled down at Crystal Bot, looking strangely enough like someone nice.

"Gee, I wonder where my little Crystal Bot went." he said, teasing. "All I see are a bunch of mettools."

Crystal Bot couldn't resist a little giggling, though she covered her mouth, trying not to say anything.

"Oh, this mettool is very cute right here!" A grinning Dr. Wily got down next to Crystal Bot. "I didn't know I had a mettool like this!"

"It's me!" The little girl-bot lifted the helmet over her eyes so that she could shine her cheeky grin at the mad scientist. "I tricked you, Daddy!"

Tossing away the helmet, Crystal Bot jumped up and hugged him around the neck. Albert hugged her back, then pushed her away, pretending to be strict.

"You weren't playing when you were supposed to be working, were you?" he warned, not at all serious.

"Nuh uh, Daddy! I was workin'!" the girl insisted. "You can ask Cuttie over there! I just gotta stick the last helmet on, and then I'm done! See, I'm a good girl!"

"You certainly are." Wily smirked. "Since you were a good girl Daddy was able to finish Commando Man today. You're being really helpful to me, sweetie, so you get a present."

"A present?" she gushed, jumping up and down. "Gimmie!"

Wily laughed. "I can't just hand it to you. It's upgrades."

"For my brain?"

"For the rest of you too. I know you're tired of being so short, so I'm going to make you taller now."

"And then can I go play with the robot masters?"

Wily nodded. "Then you may. So hurry up and put that helmet on the last mettool. The sooner you get done, the sooner you'll be tall."

"Yay!" The little girl-bot snatched her abandoned tiara from the floor and quickly stuck it back on her head as she started gathering up the likewise abandoned tools and helmet. "I'm gonna be big!"

As Crystal Bot settled down again on the floor and began finishing the work, Wily neared Cut Man, always keeping his eyes on the little robot. "Well, how has she been?"

"Not bad." Cut Man said, speaking so that Crystal couldn't hear him. "She complained a lot when I told her she couldn't leave this room, but she didn't actually try to leave. She sure seems to like you. I didn't think that Crystal Man could have made something like this."

"Hmph." Wily muttered, disliking the very mention of that rebellious robot. "You should have seen her before I figured out her mind. Now that was work was truly terrible. She works perfectly fine now. There's just a few things I have to settle and she'll be at full robot master status."

"I just don't get it." The perspective of the memory shifted as Cut Man leaned against a wall. "Why are you keeping her? Can't you just make another robot master your technical assistant?"

Wily opened his mouth to speak, but as he did, little Crystal smacked her screwdriver with a loud bang against the now complete mettool's head. She gleefully flung the screwdriver away and yelled loudly.

"I'm all done!" she announced. "Upgrade time!"

The mad doctor laughed, nearing the girl and lowering down to her level. "Sweetheart, don't be so loud. You're hurting Daddy's ears."

"Oops!" the little robot hastily put both hands over her mouth. "I'm sorry, Daddy!"

"It's alright. Shut down now, and Cut Man will take you to the repair labs."

"Okay!"

She did this at once, slumping to the ground as she deactivated her systems. Cut Man went over and picked her up without being told to (he was by then far used to that sort of thing) and he shifted the little robot girl to his shoulder, following Dr. Wily out of the room. The old man led the way to the repair labs, glancing back at Crystal Bot every so often. Those glances, though quick as they were, held touches of softness rarely seen in Dr. Wily. His smile deepened.

Crystal Bot shut down the memory.

He really did think of me as his child...he cared about me! I could have had the life of a baddie...being a supervillain's daughter...

She giggled. She couldn't help it. Turning back to the computer, Crystal Bot put a haughty grin on her face, placing her hands on her hips.

"I am the great Doctor Sinistra Wily! Fear me, pitiful humans! I do not go to fancy dress balls, I blow them up! Muaahahahaha!"

Crystal Bot frowned. Her evil laugh sounded far too cute.

"MuahaahahaHAHAHAA! Eh, better. I'm going to have to get some practice in. One more time, muahaha-"

A knock sounded on the door, and Crystal Bot jumped, slapping her hands over her mouth. She was silent a moment, and hoped desperately that whoever it was would go away. But no, a little later and the same knocking came again.

"Sona-chan, are you there? It's Roll!"

"Oh, um..." Crystal Bot quickly threw the tattered cloak over Cut Man's head and shut off the monitor. "Come on in!"

The housekeeper-bot intruded cheerfully, hauling in a short-sleeve tuxedo (for robots) as well as two glittery dresses. While Roll was just wearing her normal dress, her hair was already done, swept up in a curly and eloquent ponytail. Two of her longer bangs drooped down in the front, also curly and lovely. A tasteful amount of glitter was sprinkled on her face, and she glowed.

"Aw, you look all shiny, Roll-chan!" Crystal Bot gushed. "It's so cool!"

"Thanks!" Roll, finding no other place to put the outfits, hung them on a pipe running along the wall. "I ran into Kalinka on the way here, and I think she's way too worried about this event. I know you're not really about fancy clothes, so I volunteered to make you look nice for her. She's so worried that everything won't be perfect in front of all those important people! Really, she should go into politics with how much she cares about image and being social. Oh, where's Bass?"

Crystal Bot stuck her thumb over at the automated machine. "He's getting cleaned up now. I think Kalinka doesn't want him to wear his helmet out there. He doesn't like that."

"He wears it too much!" Roll laughed. "He actually has nice hair. He should really show it off. So anyway, I'm going to start on your hair and makeup first, then we'll get to our dresses, if Bass isn't out before then. His tux is going to be the hardest! Okay, so sit here and I'll get started on doing something nice with your hair. I think you can wear yours up with the dress I got for you..."

Crystal Bot sat in the chair as she was told, letting a chatty Roll do what she wanted with her hair. She didn't mind, nor did she speak much. The thought of Dr. Sinistra Wily still ran through her head, and it was a delicious musing. She didn't want to let it go.

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Author's Notes:

- I need to write more Bass and Treble scenes. Bass is a lot happier when he can just hang out with his dog.

- Hey, if you tried to message me in the past few days or whenever and it didn't let you through, sorry. For some reason the site keeps disabling my private message function and I have to fix it repeatedly. Is it doing that to you too?

=====Cut Man

"Snip-snippety-snip!"

Good Point: Sharp and cunning
Bad Point: Stubborn
Like: Haircuts
Dislike: Rocks

I really like Cut Man. He's very cute. His level's music pretty much represents what Mega Man music is supposed to be. I just love how angry he looks in the game when he fights you, but it would be more handy if he had more powers or something. Oh well, the randomness of the robot masters in MM1 made the game interesting.

As for my story, Cut Man was of course stolen by Wily from Dr. Light. Dr. Wily was involved in the construction of the Team 1 robots, but this was when he more or less learned to work on robots and his influence wasn't very big on them. Cut Man was one of his favorites throughout the Team 1 scheme...up until Mega Man tore him up. Metal Man was created to outdo Cut Man, but in the end Wily still used Cut Man to administrate and pass down his orders to the other robot masters or to mechaniloids. He's not too great as a leader, but Cut Man is an excellent lackey. That alone keeps him in Wily's good graces.

In the Ruby-Spears cartoon Cut Man always made lots of puns, and I have to admit this influenced me. The voice actor was one of the few in that cartoon that actually did a really good job in bringing out their character (or maybe it's due to the writers), and come on, if you had to voice a robot with giant hedge clippers on his head, wouldn't you make him do puns?

=====Guts Man

"Maximum power!"

Good Point: Sentimental
Bad Point: One-track mind
Like: Karaoke
Dislike: Arguments

Ah, Guts Man and his remarkable posterior. I'm not really enamored of the Ruby-Spears Guts Man, but it's still funny. In any case, I know I didn't get to show too much of him, but Guts Man is still awesome. He's the most friendly of all the Team 1 robots. He's a little smarter than most people think that he is, and after his loss to Mega Man he ended up being a bodyguard and enforcer for Wily. He's Wily's favorite because while he was still working with Dr. Light, Wily programmed Guts Man's battle AI without Light's help. Guts Man's normal AI is all Light.

Over the years Guts Man was in and out of the robot museum, and about after MM7 he managed to stay out of it for good. A lot of the other robot masters respect him for being an original and for being cool, but a lot of them think he's gets everything from being Wily's favorite. Guts Man is above all of this, and doesn't really care what others think, though sometimes it gets on his nerves enough for him to lose his temper. Anyone challenging him to a fight gets to see a whole other side to him, and he's a ferocious contestant, to the point where it interferes with thinking strategically. When he fights, it's like "KILL, KILL" rather than "my opponent is doing this, so I should react like this".

Gutso was killed by Bass about three weeks after the last Skull Castle was destroyed. Crystal Bot wanted to keep Guts Man because she liked him, but Bass thought it would be funnier to give the butt to Mega Man for Christmas. Mega Man didn't keep it, but sent it to the robot museum (where the rest of the body was). That's where Guts Man is at the writing of this story.