Some days, Dr. Albert W. Wily regretted having saved the world.

Oh, for the most part he enjoyed the fame and adulation that came with being a worldwide hero. A month ago, the global government had appointed him the Director of the new Department of Robot Crimes and Incidents. He had certainly relished commanding thousands of employees, from scientists to soldiers. And there was the huge budget he'd been given for the purpose of developing a new series of Robot Masters to help protect the public.

But the paperwork! The bureaucracy! The drudgery! The job was much busier than Wily had expected when he took it, and he believed he knew the reason why.

The DRCI had been founded after his former partner and colleague, Dr. Thomas Light, had been exposed to a strange kind of energy that had temporarily affected his mind, causing him to try and take over the world. Wily had stopped him (with some assistance), and Light had been returned to his normal kind-hearted self, but ever since there had been a spike in robot-related crimes. Wily suspected that criminals around the world had been inspired by Light's example, albeit on a smaller scale.

Maybe I should take over the world myself after all, he thought as he started to read another set of reports. If I was Lord Wily, instead of just Director Wily, I could make someone else do this.

-W-

That evening, back in his personal quarters, Wily prepared himself for something much more enjoyable than humdrum administrative work. He fixed a cup of tea, got comfortable in his favorite chair, and placed a call on his videophone.

After a few seconds, Light's smiling face appeared on the screen. "Albert! So good to see you again! I must say, I'm enjoying these weekly chats of ours!"

"As am I, Thomas," Wily replied. But I think I enjoy them for very different reasons than you do, he added to himself. Once, it had been Light who had been the well-regarded one, the one who kept winning prizes and awards and accolades, while Wily had been the perennial runner-up, even shunned from the professional robotics scene for a time because his "Double Gear" research proposal had been deemed unethical.

But now, oh, the tables had turned. He couldn't resist calling him once a week to subtly gloat, though at times he wondered if na?ve, idealistic Light even noticed.

-W-

"Before you leave, I'm afraid I have to ask a favor of you," Wily said once the conversation had wound down. Only two months ago, those words would have burned in his throat.

Light's eyebrows raised. "Of course, of course! After all you've done for me, I'm more than happy to help you however I can. What is it you need?"

"I'm sure you've seen the news discuss the rise in robot-related crimes. Well, with the DRCI being so new, many of my agents are still very inexperienced. I'm in the process of designing my own series of Robot Masters to lead field operations, but until they're complete, I find myself needing…reinforcements. I'd like to ask if you could send me Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man, Elec Man, Time Man, and Oil Man. To train and lead my troops. Temporarily, of course."

"I'd be honored, and I'm sure they will be too! I'll send them out first thing in the morning, and tell them to do whatever you need them to."

Dangerous words, Thomas. "I appreciate that."

"Would you like me to send Rock and Roll as well? They can be very helpful—"

Wily's lip twitched, almost imperceptibly. "No," he said curtly, and ended the call.

-W-

He knew that next week, he'd have to give at least a perfunctory apology. But he would not, could not, allow Light's "children" to come to DRCI's headquarters at Skull Castle. Not anytime soon. Possibly never.

During his campaign for world conquest, the unwell Dr. Light had modified Rock and Roll into combat robots: Mega Man and Mega Woman. They had been his most dangerous warriors, and had in fact come within mere seconds of killing Wily. That moment haunted his dreams. He'd wake up every few nights, the sounds of their energy cannons charging up as they prepared to execute him echoing through his mind.

It didn't help that his savior had been a Mega Man from an alternate timeline. Not when he revealed that in that timeline, Wily had indeed tried to take over the world, but been defeated by Mega Man again and again. Even as he departed for his own universe, he'd hinted that he might return at some point, to ensure that this Wily didn't go down that same megalomaniacal path.

It didn't matter that Light remembered nothing of what he'd done while under the influence of the "Evil Energy." Nor did it matter that when Wily had reverted Rock and Roll to their old selves, he'd made sure to erase their memories of what they'd done as Mega Man and Mega Woman.

He had no intention of coming face to face with either of them for quite some time, if he could help it. Not without some sort of ace up his sleeve.