// that’s just an open/flavor text fyi i just wanted him to comment on that

( Now, he has to process the fact that Mega Man might /not/ have been lying after all. )

… Why has Shadow Man gone offline?

( Repeated attempts to contact him are unsuccessful. Wily has to just… sit back, in total disbelief. )

( He gave his robots an /order/ for a reason! )

ㅤ
ㅤㅤ⌜ With barely time to react, a weight attaches and forces itself to latch onto his sight, digging flexible teeth into the back of his head.

ㅤㅤBoth eyes widen. For a brief moment, he hopes that second would be enough to ping to Wily for aid, ⌟

+

⠀
⠀⠀〝 Right, right—- way ahead of you, doc! 〞 He's pretty sure he'd be laughed at if he walked up to his fellow robots dressed like this. And /that/ simply won't do!

⠀⠀Playfully saluting his creator, Proto quickly scurries out of the doctor's lab, making his way back to his own room.
⠀

( Wily, of course, is not one to squander an opportunity when he sees one. Even if Mega Man’s words are entirely true, and they’re in for a fight… then he knows he’ll have the last laugh. )

You’re free to tell the others— but put your armor on first, Proto Man.

( No casual dress on his watch. )

( He nods. He’s willing to take the benefit of the doubt here; and if it turns out it wasn’t as serious as they thought, he’d take advantage of it. )

Yes, we’ll help him… and once he’s weakened from /that,/ I will step in and conquer from there. He won’t be able to stand in my way!

I won’t have any of my robots fall under his thumb. I’ll have to program a failsafe update…

( At least Wily and Mega are on the same page, even if he doesn’t know it yet. )

So an evil Mega Man X… and he thinks he can take /my/ world from me?

( Hmm. He pushes his current work to the side. That could wait. It seems like Proto’s more casual appearance, ironically, adds to how serious this is, if he’s willing to come up here without armor to tell him all this. )

( The genuine expression from him also helps in the matter… that, and Wily /knows/ how powerful and dangerous robots from the future can be. Though, the slightest bit of skepticism remains. )

Did Mega Man tell you what this “powerful robot” looked like?

( What? He designed Proto’s buster for a reason; shooting even without armor on! The information gives him pause, though. )

Took out his /eye,/ you say…

( He was going to ask how Proto knew Mega Man wasn’t just tricking him again, but his robot wouldn’t lie about the other’s parts being missing. )

( That gets him to stop in his tracks, looking up at his creation with an expression of disbelief. )

/What?!/ What does /he/ want from /me?/ Did you destroy him?

( The door opens pretty fast. Wily's working on something, as per usual. )

Proto Man, I was just about to call you myself. What was that alarm all about?

( He is again reminded of why he can’t stand Light, even though Wily’s the one proving his point. )

All of the robots that /I know and I created/ are still here. You know that’s what I meant!

… I don’t /have/ a robot named Bass.

( That is a good name, though. He’ll have to steal it for later, maybe. )

Well— hold on. /That/ can’t be right.

( Tuning into one of his camera feeds. The sky is, in fact, blue, but not blue enough for him to have noticed anything off before. )

I would know if I’m in another universe! Besides, all my robots are right where they’re supposed to be.

Of course you aren’t.

( At least they’re both on the same page. )

I’ve seen many time travel and multi-versal incidents recently… But one that puts another /you/ in this universe is one incident too many.

What do you mean by /here??/I’ve been in my lab this whole time. Every time you speak it makes less sense.

What do you take me for? I won’t “be nice” just because we haven’t seen each other in a while.

( This is boggling his mind, but he’s still not in a good mood. )

// he’s not fucking normal.

// i love old men marital disputes however my energy has been very low today so bear with me

Don’t “Albert” me, Dr. Light.

( Why does he look so different? Wily remembers every feature about him… )

Oh. It’s /him./

https://www.tumblr.com/tworedplants/749659643975974912

temp pin.

// wily voice NOT HIM AGAIN

Staying here? Good.

( With that, he gets to work. This'll be difficult, but not impossible. Nothing is impossible for Dr. Wily, after all. )

( He’s already pulling research up. )

It won’t take me long. In the meantime, don’t get into any trouble…

( He says that, knowing Proto is probably going to get into trouble. )

( But that’s /fine./ He can fix this. His right-hand bot will just have to be… a cat, for a while. He isn’t happy about it, though. )

I’ll fix this, Proto Man. But first, I need to build a machine that can translate your words…

I can’t understand what you’re trying to say. You know that.

( His fingers drum on his table in irritation. Not at Proto, of course; he’s sure that his robot didn’t /mean/ for this to happen. But if neither of them have any idea how this happened, then he’s at a loss for now. )

( The fact that this cat stared at Wily for several seconds, in total silence, before meowing in that confident tone seems to drive it home. Because, really, Proto /would/ do that. )

( He curses to himself, putting a hand to the bridge of his nose. )

… How am I going to fix you /this time?/