Note: Dr. Cossack's past is discussed here, and Kalinka's will be addressed in the next episode. I'll admit that this is working much better as a slight canon divergence, as I don't think I could write this having to acknowledge what Ruby-Spears did to X. Oh yeah, that whole thing is getting a redo.
This chapter contains material that may trigger some readers regarding current events. Any similarities are purely coincidental and in no way related to recent events. If any of the following material is offensive, please alert me.
I'll warn for any potentially triggering sections of where they begin and end. If there is a better way to accomplish this, let me know.
The Tale of Dr. Cossack
WARNING
St. Petersburg, Russia
December 1st, 198X
This was it. Tomorrow was the big day. And while he had been looking forward to it for a long time, he was still quite nervous about it. What he and everyone else were planning to do was dangerous, not just for the adults but the children. But if his father was right and life was better where they were going, then maybe the risk would be worth it. He could only hope so because it was far too late to stop anything now.
"Mikhail, go chop up the potatoes for the Beef Stroganoff," an elderly woman commanded, her grey hair bouncy and curly, but her eyes were serious. "We're all going to have a fantastic meal tonight."
A boy with brown hair and bright green eyes with glasses went and turned on his latest invention. When his grandmother caught him building it, he was immediately relieved of his science equipment as he had used some of her cutlery for his creation. Still, upon allowing him to give it a test run, the older woman found it made for quite an effective slicer and chopper. It certainly made preparing meals much more effortless.
"Hey, Mikhail?" A far younger girl's voice said, trying to get his attention. She had bouncy, blonde curls that would remind him of his daughter upon reflection years later. She was dressed very much as he was: clothed in the garbs of their parents and grandparents; very few items belonged to them. "My toy broke again."
The young Dr. Cossack groaned. "Again, Lidia?" The boy asked, frustrated. "This is the third time this month!"
"Mikhail, fix her toy." The older woman commanded, sautéing the beef.
"Yes, Babushka," the boy said, rolling his eyes. The younger girl, Lidia, was happy things had gone her way. She grabbed Mikhail by the hand and dragged him a room over, two other boys playing with some of Cossack's inventions. "Hey!" He shouted, running over to them. "Those aren't ready yet!"
"See? I told you!" One of the boys, one with shaggy black hair and brown eyes, said to the other, whose hair was just as blonde as Lidia's. "I told you he wasn't done yet!"
"I just wanted to try and see what it was!" The blonde boy retorted. Then, he turned to the boy that would become Dr. Cossack. "Hey, Mikhail," he then asked. "What is this anyway?" He asked, holding up the unfinished invention.
"It's supposed to be a garnish cutter," Mikhail said, holding up a set of small knives connected and attached to a wooden cutting board. "But I'm trying to find out how to space the knives. They're always either too close or too far apart." Most of the tests he had done with the garnish cutter came out of his pocket, so the constant remeasuring was costly.
"What about my toy?" Lidia asked, handing the glasses-wearing boy a mechanical doll with one arm popped out of its socket.
"Ok, fine. Give it here," Lidia handed the doll over to Mikhail, who then took it over to the bed he shared with the dark-haired boy, Ivan. He then removed a small box underneath the bed, a collection of tools, gears, and other bits and pieces resting inside. Next, he grabbed a small screwdriver and began working on the doll's arm.
Mikhail Cossack wasn't related to any other children living with him. The older woman cooking dinner was the only one he had any kinship with. His mother died from typhoid when he was five, and his father was killed in an accident at the ironworks he worked at. This left Mikhail with only his grandmother, who shared a communal with two other families. Yet despite having to share a room with other kids, he found that his habit of tinkering and creating things gained him some new friends. Friends who always managed to break their things brought them to him to fix.
The door to the three-room communal opened, and a young couple and a middle-aged man came through. "Ah, there you are!" Cossack's Babushka greeted. "You're just in time, too. We're having beef stroganoff tonight."
"Oooh, excellent!" The woman said, going into the adult section of the communal and taking off her nurse wear.
"Finally, something good to eat around here!" The younger man said, joining his wife.
The middle-aged man just looked at the older woman sautéing the beef. They all put their money together, not just for this meal but for this entire trip. Everything was set, and yet it was clear everyone was still quite anxious. "Everything is still going as planned?"
Cossack's grandmother nodded. "Do you have the visas?"
"Yes, they won't suspect a thing," the dark-haired man said. "All we have to do is get past the Berlin Wall, and we're off wherever we want to go."
"Although," the older woman added. "There are rumors that the country is about to collapse," she said. "We could wait a little longer; then, we could go somewhere else without crossing so much land and water."
"I'm not letting Ivan spend his childhood in a place like this," the man said, glancing over at his son, who was looking over Cossack's "toys." "Once we get past East Germany, we immediately go to Sweden. We have to do it now, or we may not get a chance in the future."
Cossack's grandmother, Katyusha, knew that Ivan's father was right; the children, her grandson, and even Lidia and Alexi's young parents deserved a better life. But the risks they took to get there greatly troubled the older woman. She had lived in this country her entire life, so while it was a struggle to get by, Russia was still her home. But that was also just it: she was in love with the Russia that was, not what it was now.
"Do we need to go over the plan again?" Katyusha asked.
"When the children are asleep," Ivan's father said. "For now, I'm ready just to get something in my stomach."
The older woman scoffed. "Yes, because that's all I'm good for," she said, though she wasn't being serious.
Tonight was going to be a good night, for neither she nor anyone else knew what tomorrow would bring.
Sometime Later
They had been careful so far, but the last hazard remained ahead. While the three families had kept themselves undercover for a good while, the visas everyone used were discovered to be fraudulent. Thus, they had to continue their journey by another means of travel. Renting a couple of boats, the three groups began paddling across the large body of water to escape any sort of communist country. Initially, they had planned to cross over into Western Germany, but now, they had to go elsewhere, and there was no other route to go but over water.
His grandmother warned Mikhail Cossack that the trip would be challenging, but he wasn't counting on a violent storm waiting for them when they started paddling!
"Keep going, Mikhail!" His grandmother commanded. "Don't stop!"
He didn't dare stop, even as he was pelted with rain and the waves threatened to sink the boat. He and his grandmother fought against the ocean as they made their boat move forward; the ever-moving water made it a constant struggle. But, given the circumstances, they were doing all right. Ivan's boat was full of water, and Alexi couldn't paddle because he was trying to keep Lidia from falling off the boat. But they were all close; if they could get over this last hurdle, they'd be in the clear!
Unfortunately, Cossack thought, in hindsight, it seemed fate decided to take something else from him.
There was nothing he or his grandmother could do but watch as Ivan's boat took in too much water and began to sink. Mikhail's grandmother tried to steer towards him to grab him, or at least Ivan, but they didn't come back up not long after they sank. Alexi jumped into the water to try and at least save Ivan, but he soon vanished underneath the waves too. And then, to further present the direness of their situation, Lidia and her parents were taken out by a massive wave, the boat overturned, and all of its occupants fell into the water. And, despite his pleas to turn around and go back, his grandmother continued to paddle and soon commanded him to do the same, tears in her eyes.
Ironically enough, the weather began to clear up once they were the only ones left.
Warning Over
"Uh, hello? Is someone in there?" The Russian scientist was pulled from his thoughts by someone repeatedly tapping his head. "Hey, I'm talking here!"
Brought back to reality, the middle-aged man rolled his eyes at Wily's childish attempts to get his attention. "Yes, I hear you. What do you want now?"
Wily put his hands on his hips. "You act like this is boring you," the German observed. "You know, if you're that disinterested in this, I could take over from here. I, for one, actually enjoy seeing that blue boil on my life getting popped!" He then leaned over to see how the battle between Mega Man and Dust Man was going. And upon seeing the Blue Bomber nearly take a Dust Crusher to the face, only to block it with his arm at the last moment, he hissed in disappointment. "Drat! So close!"
Dr. Cossack said nothing, his green eyes on the screen displaying the battle between Light's robot and his. Even if it was against his will, he still felt tremendously guilty for doing this. Thomas, forgive me.
Dust Man's Chamber
"Heads up!" Dust Man shouted, firing another Dust Crusher in Mega Man's direction.
From ducking down to avoid the explosion to blocking it outright, Mega Man was beginning to grow a little tired of this pattern and wanted to get this over with. True, playing dodgeball with exploding trash was fun and all, but he remembered that he was on a time limit. True, he had gotten some hits on Dust Man, but the Robot Master's precision made it difficult to dodge his Dust Crushers, especially when they exploded. So he got back up to his feet and began to look for something he could use to his advantage.
Even if they were smarter, Dr. Cossack had programmed his machines with little "ticks" and traits that could be exploited due to oversight or intentionally doing so. The only question was, what? Mega Man didn't have much time to think as another exploding ball of trash came his way, forcing him to leap out of the range of the blast. He noticed some scrap nearby and sucked it in, ready to use it to create a Dust Crusher of his own.
"Hey! That's mine!" Dust Man suddenly shouted. "Stop the match!"
Mega Man was confused. "Huh?"
Dust Man pointed at the vacuum on the Blue Bomber's back. "You sucked up some of MY scraps!"
"Your scrap?" Mega Man then pointed to where the trash he had sucked up was. "It was in my section."
"Correction: it was ON the line. Therefore, it's mine." Dust Man argued. "Now, hand it back."
"Ok, fine. Rules are rules," Mega Man then shot out the scrap he had sucked in over to Dust Man's side.
It was then, however, that the Blue Bomber noticed how the Robot Master immediately sucked in the scrap. True, he would need it, but Dust Man sucked it up as if he couldn't stand the sight of it on the floor. His piles of trash were still exceptionally organized, while Mega's was covered in broken bits and pieces of metal and machinery. It was just a hunch, but he began to wonder if Dust Man's apparent need for neatness and arranging his belongings (even if they consisted of trash) could prove helpful. The only question was, what could the Blue Bomber do with this information?
"All right, now we can resume." Dust Man said, the battle between him and Mega Man continuing.
Observation Room
"D'oh! Just suck up his head and make something out of that!" Wily shouted at the screen as Mega Man and Dust Man continued to fight. "Who else did you send in to fight that pest? I forgot." The older scientist asked Cossack.
The Russian sighed and shook his head. This man astounded him.
"Psst! Hey! Wily!" Suddenly, the two men heard Proto Man speak, the shades-wearing robot peering out from the doorway. "Doc!"
"What is it, Proto?!" Wily questioned. "And where are the Cheetos? Didn't I tell you to go get something that brat didn't throw up?"
"That's just it! She won't give it up!" Proto said.
Wily was confused and found it odd that Proto Man mostly hid as if he didn't want to be seen. "Won't give what up? If that curly-haired little twit is insisting she keeps my snack stash to herself, then-"
"No, it's not that! Just...ugh! Get over here!"
He was unsure of what was happening, but he went to the robot to see what was wrong. Dr. Cossack continued to watch Dr. Light's robot and his fight, his mind traveling back to days long gone by.
Sweden
June 30th, 199X
WARNING
Once they had reached solid land, Mikhail swore he would never go into the ocean again, not even in the hottest summers. He and his grandmother were given very little time to grieve, for now, that they had reached their destination, their new lives would have to be made from scratch. In the years they had lived in Sweden, they found, to their surprise, that several Russian immigrants had also come to the country. Most migrated after the end of World War 2, and there were rumors a good number of them were escaped soldiers or enemies of the state back in the Soviet Union. Adjusting to life in a different country could be difficult, but Swedish wasn't a complex language to learn. While it was even smaller than the school he had back home, Mikhail Cossack had worked to enter Gymnasium (preparatory high school). He would soon be entering the Teknikprogrammet (National Technology Program).
He had come far from his time as a boy living in a communal with two other families. Now, he and his grandmother lived near Stockholm in a small house by a small lake. It was quite an adjustment to have a room to himself, but even more so when he looked outside and saw the capital miles away. Not just in St. Petersburg, but any city or metropolis made Mikhail nervous. Time in a small but spacious home in a quiet little section made him love more remote living. When he got a place of his own, he'd build it somewhere deep in the woods, surrounded by nature and hidden away from the world.
And if he needed anything, like a washing machine or dryer? He could simply make it! He had practically built all of their appliances, mainly because they kept malfunctioning initially, so there was no need to go much of anywhere. So he could stay relatively isolated from the world and be fine with it. And that life would be perfect.
He would probably be alone with very few neighbors, but he wouldn't mind. Even if he was alone, at least he wouldn't feel trapped. Not like he was back in Russia. But then, he and the rest of the world saw that the Soviet Union had collapsed, ending the communist hold in several countries in Eastern Europe. This brought in another wave of Russians traveling to settle in Sweden but also let the world sigh in relief that the Cold War was over.
But then, Mikhail heard his grandmother propose something he considered both ridiculous and downright foolish.
"Perhaps we should go visit sometime."
Mikhail nearly choked on his breakfast upon hearing that. "What are you talking about? Are you insane?!" He was confused and a little angry. "We were nearly killed trying to leave, and now you want to go back?!"
"I hated the leaders of Russia, young man," Katyusha said, voice firm to remind Mikhail who still had authority in this house. "I do not hate Russia itself."
"How?" The young man that would become Dr. Cossack questioned. "How can you not hate a place that took everything from you?" He continued. "Where were you, my parents, Ivan, Alexi, and Lidia's parents, worked and treated like machines? Where we all had to put all our money together just to buy a decent meal?" He then said something he shouldn't have in retrospect. "Where your father was sent to Siberia to his death?"
His grandmother's lips tightened, but her eyes also moistened with tears. She spoke up. "I'm more than aware of what happened to him," Katyusha said. "And I'm more than aware he was treated less than human during his stay there," the older woman's father had been quite the critic of Stalin when he was in power, and then one day was arrested and carried off, never to be seen again. Katyusha's mother died right when Mikhail's father was born from typhoid; she never got to see her grandson or great-grandson. "But I remember all the history of our country, what values were once held dear, the beauty that we could show the world," she then looked at Mikhail, her eyes gentler. "If some of us could show our country how."
Warning Over
"Wait, she won't what?" Dr. Cossack asked Proto Man.
"Shh! I don't want him hearing!" Even if he didn't see it, Cossack imagined that the robot was pointing at him. "Anyway, she says she won't give it back unless we let her out."
"Won't give what back? You haven't told me what she's taken!" Wily argued. "Just come out so I can see you!"
"No way! You come over here!" Then, Proto Man noticed Dr. Cossack was glancing over his shoulder. "Hey! Go back to watching my bro pummel your robots!"
Dr. Cossack raised a brow. "You seem quite confident that Mega Man will succeed."
"He had better!" Proto Man answered. "Otherwise, I won't get the chance to pound him!"
"Proto, we've been over this," Wily groaned. "I'm not supposed to be here. Dr. Cossack is supposed to be the head of this operation."
"At least I would be if you didn't have me install new rules into the challenge every five seconds." The Russian said.
"Because if you were, you'd immediately make it obvious that you're too nice a guy to go through all this trouble," Wily retorted. "You could even tell him that this is just a setup!"
"I value my daughter more than that, Wily," Cossack said. "If I have to make that choice, I will choose her without hesitation."
"But not before I get a chance to take him out!"
"Proto!"
The mad scientist and his most infamous lackey began arguing back and forth on the matter of fighting Mega Man, all the while, the battle between the Blue Bomber and Dust Man continued.
Dust Man's Chamber
Dust Man braced himself, ready to block the incoming Dust Crusher. But instead of an exploding ball of scrap, he saw that, once it bounced off of him, it was nothing more than just a wound-up collection of junk. He looked up at Mega Man, confused. "Well?" The Blue Bomber asked. "Aren't you going to get that?"
Dust Man was about to ask why, but then he saw that the ball of scrap had ruined the order his scrap piles were organized, so he quickly sucked up the wad of trash. Once inside his vacuum, he was pleased to see his space laid out just as he wanted it. But then Mega Man shot out another ball of scrap. Then another, and another, and another. He wasn't releasing any Dust Crushers, just wads of trash.
"Oh, sorry about that," Mega Man said. "I think my vacuum might be broken."
"It can't break," Dust Man said, another wad of trash being shot at him, and he, in turn, went to suck it up. "And would you stop that?!"
"I'm not breaking any rules," Mega Man said. "I'm taking trash from my side and not crossing the line." Dust Man was quiet. Damn, the little blue dweeb was right!"Oh, speaking of, catch!"
Observation Room
"Uh, just what is he doing?" Proto Man asked. He had come out of the doorway but was watching as his blue brother just pumped out balls of scrap at Dust Man, who then sucked them up.
"Yeah, just what IS he doing?" Wily wondered this too and then drew closer to Cossack to watch what was happening.
Upon watching it further, Proto Man smirked. "Heh, looks like you got some of me in you, after all, Bro."
Dr. Wily groaned. "You programmed a robot with crippling cleanliness?!"
"Yes, I did," Dr. Cossack answered. "Something you could probably use around here.
Stockholm, Sweden
199X
It was initially somewhat tricky, mainly due to having to make social connections, but with time, Mikhail Cossack rose to one of the highest members of the Teknikprogrammet. It wouldn't be long now before he would be applying for university, hoping that the scholarships he applied for would be able to make the journey easier. Mikhail took his grandmother's advice and had already prepared himself to go into the field of robotics. It was still a developing field, but given he was already good with machines, Katyusha believed that her grandson could contribute to helping it grow and develop. As a result, a technological boom had taken over the country, and Sweden soon rose to become one of Europe's most innovative and advanced countries.
Mikhail was unsure how or if he could even fit in to contribute to the country's development, but, according to his grandmother, it would put his talents to good use. "And maybe you could bring some of that to Russia one day." She told him.
"That's impossible, Babushka," Mikhail said to himself. "Because I'm never going back."
"Excuse me, are you Mikhail Cossack?" The Russian was suddenly aware that someone was talking to him. He saw a young woman with blonde, flowing hair and deep blue eyes standing above him; Cossack had been sitting on a bench.
"Well, yes, I am," he said. "But I don't think I know you."
"Well, no, I guess you wouldn't," the young woman said. "I'm not even in the program you're in," she explained. "My friend said she's in your class and wondered if she could copy your notes. But, unfortunately, she missed yesterday due to a doctor's appointment."
Not long after that, Mikhail and the young woman were in the school's building, copying written notes onto blank paper via a scanner and printer. "So, who's your friend?" Mikhail asked her. "Better yet, who are you?"
"Oh, right. Sorry," the blonde apologized. "You know Agnetha, right?"
"The girl with the red hair?" Cossack was about to add, "The one who always nags me about copying my notes because I supposedly have the best ones? Even if it's obvious that she doesn't want to write them herself?" But he thought better of it. After all, he might've not thought much of Agnetha, but her friend was beginning to intrigue him.
"Yeah, that's her," the blonde said. "Well, I'm Anni-Frid," she said. "And even if it's my first meeting you, I've heard much, Herr Cossack."
Mikhail was a little shocked. Just what had Agnetha told her? He was beginning to wonder if he should've tried to get on her good side, especially if she had a friend this...pretty. "Uh, like what?"
The two began talking after that, and a few days later, they came to see each other again. At first, Mikhail tried to push back the growing warmth in his chest, the feeling unfamiliar and frightening to him. But he couldn't get rid of it, no matter what he did. And Anni-Frid could see it too. And not long after that, somehow, he worked up the courage to ask if she wanted to hang out someday.
And when he asked her this, she smiled and said, "I was beginning to wonder if you got any of my hints."
But, as time went on, Mikhail found that, surprisingly, Anni-Frid had nothing but praise for his home country. She spoke highly of Russia's history and art, professing her love of ballet because of a production she saw of Cinderella when she was a child. "The company performing were native to Sweden; they just had extensive training in the art form," she explained. "Have you ever seen a Russian ballet?"
"We never had the time or money to," Mikhail confessed. "I remember Babushka saying that her mother told her about her time dancing with them."
This information immediately got Anni-Frid's attention. "Your family was in the ballet?!"
"Just my great-grandmother," Mikhail clarified. "But it doesn't matter," he then said. "Nothing from that country is beautiful. And if there ever was, it's been destroyed."
Anni-Frid grew quiet upon hearing this. "You survived, so not everything was destroyed."
Present
"Ok, when is something going to happen?" Proto Man asked, still hiding in the doorway. "Mega's nearly blown through all of his own scrap!"
"Yeah! Why won't he-" Wily paused, confusion turning into devious joy. "That moron just supplied Dust Man with all his ammunition!" Wily cheered. "The next Dust Crusher he releases will blow Mega Man to smithereens!"
"What?!" Whether out of protest or concern, Proto Man came running up to the screen, watching as Mega Man provided Dust Man with the last of his scrap.
Dust Man's Chamber
Mega Man's side was now wholly spotless, but now all of it lay in the vacuum of Dust Man, who was eager for him to shoot the last of his scrap. Habitual cleaning or not, the Blue Bomber knew those Dust Crushers packed a mighty punch. And the last thing he wanted was the walking vacuum to produce one that'd blow him or the whole room up. He had to make this work and only had one chance at it. It was finally time to use Dust Man's secondary weapon.
"Well?" Dust Man waited, impatiently tapping his foot. "I'm waiting." As annoying as it had to pick up the trash Mega Man threw in his side, the Robot Master soon realized that the blue idiot was providing him with free ammo! This was also good because his circuits were about to go mad from having to pick up scrap ball after scrap ball.
"Ok, just give me a second," Mega Man said. He had to do this just right. The final and last of his scrap. But right when Dust Man was about to suck it up, "Oops!" Mega Man activated the heat ray built into Dust Man's combat codes, turning the scrap ball into a smelted, gooey mess.
"GAH! What have you done?!" Dust Man shrieked. "That'll be impossible to suck in!"
"Then don't," Mega Man said. "It's just a little melted; I've seen Roll scrub worse off the lab's walls," While Dr. Light was an accomplished scientist, on occasion, a test run has some explosive results. "Besides, you got all that other scrap in storage; just make use of that!"
Dust Man tried to, for the Blue Bomber was right. There was no reason for him not to compact all that he had collected into one big Dust Crusher, but the sight of the melted scrap on the floor was driving him crazy! He looked at it, then at Mega Man. Back at it, then back at Mega Man. Back at it, and back at Mega Man.
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" It took some effort on Dust Man's part, but he eventually managed to suck up the gooey mess of melted garbage. "Ha!" He exclaimed triumphantly. "Now, you've sealed your doom, Mega Man!"
"Actually," the Blue Bomber then pointed at the vacuum on Dust Man's back. "I think the only thing that's sealed is your filter."
Dust Man ignored his words, but as he soon found out, Mega Man was right! The melted scrap had blocked up the filter and, in turn, the dust bag built inside him. He already had a massive Dust Crusher waiting to be unleashed, but now the Robot Master found he couldn't release the collection of scrap held together by a bomb! And then, after a few moments of pressure building, it happened.
BOOM!
Pieces of Dust Man flew everywhere; his head and attached vacuum landed right by Mega Man's blue boots. He then looked around the chamber and saw that, to his surprise, all of the scraps from Dust Man's side had been blown away to his side. The Robot Master's area was spotless, save for a dark smudge on the floor.
Observation Room
"Got to admit, I didn't expect that," Proto Man confessed. "But he still made the mistake of not scraping any of your robots permanently."
"Do the lives of your comrades not mean anything to you?" Dr. Cossack asked the red and grey robot, even if he didn't face him directly.
"Hey, it's just the way things roll," Proto Man said. "I'm just saying what I would've done if I was there," he then looked at Wily. "Which, I'm still waiting for my chance to take him on, Doc."
"If you go out there, our cover will be ruined!" Dr. Wily told him. "You're not to be in one-hundred miles of Mega Man-"
"You're in Eastern Europe; we use the metric system here." Dr. Cossack said nonchalantly.
"Look! The point is, you're NOT fighting Mega Man for now! And that's-" Wily looked directly at Proto Man, about to lay down the law to the robotic delinquent. But when Proto Man saw the older man's expression, he realized he made a mistake in coming out, having momentarily forgotten why he was hiding in the first place.
For it was then that Wily and Cossack learned why the robot was so upset: there was no scarf around his neck.
Note: Some trivia: Katyusha is a folk song (like Kalinka) about a woman who sends letters to a soldier she loves in a war. Lidia Touslanova famously sang it.
And Agnetha and Anni-Frid's names are references to two of the members of the Swedish group ABBA.
Even if this is still the Ruby-Spears universe (albeit a little darker), let me know if some things are too unbelievable, as while I don't want this series to be overly dark (until at the right moments), I like the more serious moments to matter and have an impact. And to do that, there has to be a bit of believability.
That said, thank you all for reading!