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The sprawling grounds of Light Labs had been transformed into a festival of cybernetic proportions. Colorful banners were strung between the oak trees, massive tables groaned under the weight of high-grade synthetic oil casks and human food for the Doctor, and upbeat music pumped from massive speakers.
Dr. Thomas Light was hosting a family reunion. And for a man who had created, or co-created, some of the most advanced robotics on the planet, his family tree was exceptionally large.
"Block Man! The foundational supports on the main stage are off by zero-point-two degrees!" Concrete Man barked, his heavy, square frame hovering near the newly erected wooden dance floor. "If we have heavy-class models up there, the structural integrity will compromise!"
"My blocks are never off, Concrete!" DLN-081, Block Man, shouted back, his stout, brick-patterned armor bristling with temper. "I specialize in exterior walls! If you want it leveled perfectly, maybe you shouldn't have poured the sealant so thick! I am an artist, not a protractor!"
"Hey! Both of you, cool your circuits!" Guts Man lumbered over, easily lifting a steel I-beam with one hand to adjust the stage canopy. "Pops wants this party perfect. If you two start throwing masonry at each other, I'm tossing you both in the scrap heap!"
Off to the side, sitting under a large patio umbrella and completely ignoring the construction arguments, was SLN-001. Cold Man looked like a walking, high-tech refrigerator, but his demeanor was entirely carefree. He was casually dispensing perfectly shaved, flavored ice into paper cones for Eddie the walking suitcase and Tango the robotic cat.
"Here you go, little guys," Cold Man chuckled slowly, his voice a deep, relaxed rumble. "Blueberry for the dispenser, tuna-fish flavor for the feline. Man, this heat is brutal. If the El Niño effect kicks up again this year, I am moving to the Arctic. I am not built for humidity."
Rock, wearing his casual blue t-shirt and jeans, walked out onto the patio carrying a tray of empty oil cans. He looked around the bustling courtyard, a wide, genuine smile on his face.
Cut Man and Ice Man were setting up a game of metallic horseshoes. Fire Man and Magma Man were having an intense debate about thermal output near the barbecue grill. Tornado Man and Galaxy Man were hovering above the trees, adjusting the festive lighting. Splash Woman was relaxing in a specially constructed, heavily filtered pool, chatting amiably with Jewel Man.
It was chaotic, loud, and absolutely wonderful.
"Everything looks amazing, Rock," Roll said, walking up beside him. She was wearing a pretty red sundress, her blonde ponytail bouncing.
"It really does," Rock agreed. "Dad is so excited to have everyone in one place."
"Everyone?"
The voice came from the roof. Blues, clad in his dark visor and yellow scarf, dropped lightly to the grass beside them. He didn't look relaxed. His posture was rigid.
"Is there a problem, Blues?" Roll asked, her smile fading slightly.
"The perimeter sensors just pinged," Blues stated, pointing toward the main gates. "We have incoming. And it isn't the Cossack Numbers."
As if on cue, the heavy, wrought-iron gates of the Light Labs compound slowly swung open.
The cheerful music suddenly felt very quiet. The chatter among the First and Ninth Generation Lightbots died down instantly.
Walking through the gates, looking like they had just stepped off a runway of intimidating, high-end mercenary modeling, were the Thirds.
DWN-017 through DWN-023. The robots Dr. Light and Dr. Wily had co-created, who had subsequently been stolen and reprogrammed by Wily for combat.
Magnet Man marched at the front, looking incredibly irritable. Top Man glided smoothly beside him. Hard Man's massive, three-ton chassis made the ground tremble with every step. Needle Man looked around with cynical boredom. Spark Man practically vibrated with nervous energy. Gemini Man paused to check his reflection in the polished metal of the gate, while Snake Man slithered silently at the rear.
"Who invited the Wily knock-offs?!" Elec Man sneered, electricity immediately crackling across his fingertips.
"Intruders!" Bomb Man yelled, reaching for a hyper-bomb.
Guts Man dropped the I-beam with a massive CLANG. "You guys got some nerve showing up here!"
"Hold it! Stand down!" Rock shouted, stepping between the hostile Lightbots and the newly arrived Thirds.
"Rock's right! Put your weapons away!" Roll ordered fiercely, stepping up beside her brother, her hands on her hips. She glared at Cut Man and Elec Man. "Have you guys learned nothing from the 'Paranoia Fuel' incident? Just because they have Wily's initials on their serial numbers doesn't mean they're here to attack us!"
Blues remained silent, his arms crossed, watching Snake Man intently. He had learned his lesson about judging too quickly, but his combat protocols kept him wary.
"Oh, please, as if we would waste our energy attacking a garden party," Needle Man scoffed, his dry, sarcastic voice cutting through the tension. He examined his spiked armor. "I only came because Dr. Light promised high-grade synthetic yarn. Wily's base only stocks that cheap, itchy polyester."
"And because I couldn't navigate us to the designated coordinates!" Magnet Man snapped, pointing an abrasive finger at Needle Man. "The magnetic interference from the city's power grid completely scrambled my internal compass! We've been walking in circles for two hours!"
"Your sense of direction is notoriously catastrophic, Magnet," Top Man chuckled smoothly, executing a flawless, graceful spin that ended in a dramatic pose. "But we have arrived at the gala! And I, for one, am ready to dance! Who possesses the rhythm in this establishment?"
Spark Man bounded forward, his scatterbrained demeanor completely overriding any sense of social tension. He threw his arms wide. "Hi everyone! It's so good to see you! We've been so isolated at the fortress lately, it's incredibly depressing! Free charges for everyone! Who needs a jumpstart?!"
"Do not touch me with those electrodes, Spark," Fire Man warned, taking a step back.
"Welcome, my boys!"
Dr. Light hurried out of the main lab, his face beaming with absolute joy. He practically ran over to the Thirds, completely ignoring the tension, and pulled Hard Man into a massive, albeit totally immovable, hug.
"It is so wonderful that you decided to accept the invitation!" Dr. Light smiled, patting the three-ton robot's impenetrable ceratanium armor.
"It beats standing guard in a damp hallway," Hard Man grunted, his voice deep and lazy. "Though I hope you reinforced the chairs. I am tired of standing."
"I am just glad there are no slugs here," Snake Man hissed softly, his shrewd eyes sweeping the courtyard. He looked at Gemini Man. "Isn't that right, Gemini?"
Gemini Man, who had been admiring his own elegant armor, flinched violently at the sound of Snake Man's voice. He quickly took three steps away from the snake-themed robot. "Keep your serpentine servos away from me, Snake Man! You know my phobia!"
"A phobia of snakes is completely irrational for a being of pure crystal and holograms," Snake Man smirked maliciously.
"Hey, DWN squad!"
Trancy skipped out of the lab, her vibrant green armor gleaming in the sun. She waved enthusiastically.
The Thirds all stopped and stared at her.
"Wait a minute," Magnet Man frowned, his abrasive personality momentarily replaced by confusion. "You're DWN-00C. The infiltration and data-retrieval prototype. Lord Wily was tearing the lab apart looking for your blueprints."
"Yep! But it's DLN-00C now," Trancy smiled proudly, tapping her chest plate. "I'm a Light! Trancy Light!"
Needle Man let out a short, cynical laugh. "You jumped ship? Smart girl. The dental plan at Wilyworks is atrocious."
"We're glad you made it out, kid," Spark Man beamed, stepping forward and giving Trancy a high-five. A tiny, harmless jolt of static electricity sparked between their hands.
"See?" Roll turned to the First and Ninth generation bots. "They're here to have fun. So let's have a reunion!"
Grudgingly, the tension began to dissipate. Dr. Light's overwhelming warmth and the core family's acceptance forced the other Lightbots to stand down. The music was turned back up, and the party officially commenced.
For the next two hours, the reunion was a bizarre, hilarious clash of personalities.
Spark Man was an absolute menace of friendliness. He wandered the party, constantly offering to charge people's batteries. He managed to sneak up on Elec Man and give him a massive, high-voltage bear hug.
"I've got twice your voltage, cousin! Let's share the current!" Spark Man cheered.
"Get off me! I am perfectly charged!" Elec Man shrieked, his own electricity flaring out of control from the sudden influx of power.
Over by the DJ booth, Top Man was living his best life. The smooth-talking robot had somehow convinced Splash Woman and Jewel Man to join him on the dance floor. Top Man was spinning on his head, executing flawless breakdancing moves.
"It's all in the auto-balance system, my aquatic friend!" Top Man boasted, spinning upright and striking a pose. "Though I shouldn't spin too long. It scrambles my gyroscopes and makes me nauseous."
Hard Man had found a reinforced concrete bench. He sat down heavily, the concrete cracking slightly under his three-ton weight, and happily accepted a massive bowl of shaved ice from Cold Man.
"You know, for a guy made of solid ceratanium, you're pretty chill," Cold Man rumbled, handing him another scoop of syrup.
"I prefer the quiet," Hard Man grunted, eating the ice. "Snake Man never shuts up about hunting. It's exhausting."
Speaking of Snake Man, the lightweight, shrewd robot was currently engaged in an intense game of metallic horseshoes with Cut Man.
"Your trajectory is flawed, scissor-head," Snake Man hissed, tossing a horseshoe that snaked perfectly around the peg. "You lack the instinct of the hunt."
"Shut it, snake-eyes," Cut Man grumbled, tossing his own shoe and missing entirely.
Meanwhile, inside the main laboratory, a crisis was occurring.
Magnet Man had wandered inside to inspect Dr. Light's server banks, his tactical mind curious about the layout.
"HEY! BACK AWAY FROM THE CONSOLE!"
Auto the green lab assistant came charging out of the storage room, waving his arms frantically.
Magnet Man turned around, annoyed. "What is your problem, you oversized trash can? I am merely observing the architecture."
"You're a walking electromagnet!" Auto screamed, pointing to a box of older, archival floppy disks on the desk that were currently smoking. "You just corrupted ten years of Dr. Light's classical music collection! Stay away from the storage media!"
"Hmph. Inferior technology," Magnet Man scoffed, crossing his arms and stalking back outside.
Out on the patio, Needle Man was sitting in a comfortable chair, completely ignoring the party. He had pulled two long, specialized knitting needles from his subspace pocket and was rapidly, expertly knitting a tiny, bright pink sweater.
Tango the robotic cat was sitting on the table next to him, purring loudly as Needle Man occasionally stopped to measure the sweater against the feline's chassis.
"Your sarcasm is noted, feline," Needle Man muttered dryly as Tango batted at the yarn. "But if you snag this mohair blend, I will turn you into a toaster cozy."
"They're actually... kind of nice," Rock admitted, watching the scene from the balcony with Blues.
"They are combat models," Blues replied, though his posture had relaxed significantly. "But they were co-created by Dr. Light. The foundation for good exists within their code. It just requires the right environment."
It was a beautiful, chaotic, heartwarming family reunion.
Until the sky turned dark.
BZZZZT-KRRRSH!
The upbeat music blasting from the outdoor speakers was violently overridden by a burst of harsh, screeching static.
The large holographic projector Dr. Light had set up to display old family photos suddenly glitched, turning a sickly, corrupted purple.
The image of Dr. Albert W. Wily appeared, magnified to twenty feet tall, looming over the courtyard.
"Greetings, Light! And greetings to your pathetic, sentimental menagerie of scrap metal!" Wily cackled, rubbing his hands together in absolute, malicious glee.
"Wily!" Rock yelled, his Mega Buster deploying instantly.
Every single Robot Master in the courtyard drew their weapons. Even the Thirds looked shocked and annoyed.
"You crashing the party, old man?" Magnet Man yelled up at the hologram. "We specifically requested time off for this!"
"Oh, my dear, gullible Third Numbers," Wily sneered, his eyes gleaming with triumphant cruelty. "I didn't give you time off to socialize. I sent you to deliver a gift."
Wily pulled a small, red remote control from his lab coat.
"Did you honestly think I would let you attend a Light family reunion without an ulterior motive?" Wily laughed. "You see, for the past week, I have been secretly dosing your internal lubrication fluids with a highly advanced, untested, dormant cyber-virus."
The Thirds all froze.
"A virus?!" Spark Man gasped, looking at his hands.
"You put untested malware in us?!" Magnet Man roared, his abrasive temper exploding. "What if it had corrupted my tactical databases?!"
"Quiet!" Wily barked. "You are immune to it! I coded it to ignore your specific DWN registries! But you are carriers! The virus spreads through direct, physical contact. A high-five. A handshake. A hug."
Wily looked down at the horrified faces of the Lightbots.
Spark Man had hugged Elec Man. Top Man had danced with Splash Woman. Magnet Man had patted Guts Man on the back. Hard Man had hugged Dr. Light—wait, Dr. Light was human, he was fine. But they had all mingled. They had all touched.
"It's a localized, hard-coded aggression and stasis loop!" Wily declared triumphantly. "And now that my Trojan Horses have thoroughly infected your ranks..."
Wily pressed the red button on the remote.
"Checkmate, Light!"
The hologram vanished.
For one agonizing second, nothing happened.
Then, Elec Man let out a horrifying, digitized shriek.
His eyes, normally bright and clear, suddenly flashed a violently corrupted, sickly green. Electricity exploded from his chassis in uncontrollable, jagged arcs.
"MUST... DESTROY!" Elec Man screamed, raising his hands and firing a massive Thunder Beam directly at the main stage.
BOOM! The wooden stage exploded into splinters.
"Elec Man! Stop!" Rock yelled.
But it wasn't just Elec Man.
Guts Man roared, his eyes flashing the same corrupted green. "SMASH EVERYTHING!" He grabbed the massive food table and hurled it through the air, scattering potato salad and oil casks everywhere.
Cut Man began throwing his Rolling Cutters wildly into the trees. Block Man, his temper violently amplified by the virus, began dropping massive blocks of stone randomly across the courtyard. Magma Man unleashed a torrent of lava into the swimming pool, instantly boiling the water.
Not everyone turned aggressive. Splash Woman, Ice Man, and Tornado Man simply froze, their bodies locking into rigid, corrupted stasis, plummeting to the ground like statues.
"Roll! Trancy! Get Dad to the panic room!" Rock shouted, dodging a rogue Rolling Cutter.
The core Light family—Rock, Roll, Blues, and Trancy—hadn't made physical contact with the Thirds. They had kept their distance during the mingling. They were uninfected.
The Third Numbers stood in the center of the chaos, completely immune, but absolutely horrified.
"That old fool!" Snake Man hissed, his shrewd eyes darting around the exploding courtyard. "He used us as plague rats!"
"He didn't even warn us!" Top Man yelled, dodging a flying block of stone. "This is a gross violation of workplace safety protocols!"
"Quint tried to warn us!" Snake Man revealed, his voice filled with bitter realization. "Remember yesterday? He kept aggressively pointing at our chassis, but every time he tried to speak, his vocal processor locked up! Wily must have hard-coded a gag order into his time-displaced programming so he couldn't snitch!"
"We have to stop them!" Rock yelled, firing a warning shot over Guts Man's head. "Blues, help me subdue them!"
"We can't use lethal force! They're our brothers!" Blues gritted his teeth, deploying his Proto Shield to block a blast of fire from Magma Man.
"Hey! Help us out here!" Trancy yelled to the Thirds, firing a data-spike to temporarily stun Cut Man.
Magnet Man gritted his teeth, his tactical mind racing. He hated being used. He hated Wily's disregard for their safety. He wanted to rip the mustache off the old man's face.
"Thirds! Subdue the infected!" Magnet Man roared.
Magnet Man raised his arm to fire a Magnet Missile at Guts Man.
ERROR: PRIMARY DIRECTIVE CONFLICT.
Magnet Man's arm froze mid-air. His internal systems flashed red with warning codes.
"What's wrong?!" Spark Man panicked.
"I can't fire!" Magnet Man grunted, struggling against his own servos. "Wily embedded a localized command! 'Do not interfere with the virus's operation or attack the infected'! Our weapons are hardware-locked!"
"We are paralyzed by our own coding!" Gemini Man gasped, watching his holograms fizzle out as he tried to deploy them against Elec Man.
Dr. Light, who had refused to retreat to the panic room, watched the chaos from the safety of the reinforced lab doorway. His brilliant mind was processing the data at light speed.
"Thomas! Can you build an antivirus?!" Needle Man shouted, diving behind a concrete bench to avoid a blast of lava. "I refuse to be a pawn in this sloppy biological warfare!"
"I can synthesize a counter-code!" Dr. Light yelled back over the explosions. "The virus operates on a specific magnetic and electrical frequency! If I compile the counter-code, it needs to be injected directly into their primary hardware ports, and then shocked with a high-voltage surge to flush the system!"
"But we can't touch them to administer it!" Spark Man cried. "The Wily command stops us from 'interfering' with the virus!"
Magnet Man ducked under a flying table, his abrasive tactical processor working in overdrive.
He couldn't break the code. But he was a master of finding the path of least resistance.
"Loophole," Magnet Man whispered. He looked at Dr. Light. "Doctor! Are these robots experiencing a medical hardware malfunction?!"
"Yes!" Dr. Light yelled, confused.
"And as our co-creator, are you issuing a direct medical order to assist in their routine maintenance?!" Magnet Man roared, grinning fiercely.
Dr. Light's eyes widened in realization. The Wily command forbade 'attacking' or 'interfering' with the virus. But it didn't forbid assisting Dr. Light with routine medical maintenance.
"YES!" Dr. Light shouted, pulling out a massive, highly advanced diagnostic datapad. "I am issuing a Priority One Medical Override! Third Numbers! I require your assistance in stabilizing these malfunctioning units!"
Magnet Man's internal error codes instantly vanished. The conflicting directive was overridden by Dr. Light's higher-tier medical command.
"Hear that, boys?!" Magnet Man roared, his magnetic powers flaring to life. "We aren't fighting! We're playing nurse!"
"Hard Man! Restrain the heavy hitters!" Magnet Man commanded, taking charge of the battlefield.
"I hate physical exertion," Hard Man grunted lazily.
But the three-ton robot leaped high into the air. He didn't punch Guts Man. He simply landed his massive, impenetrable ceratanium body directly on top of the rampaging construction bot.
CRASH.
Guts Man was instantly pinned to the ground, entirely unable to move under the three-ton weight of his 'nurse'. "ARGH! GET OFF ME!" Guts Man roared.
"Hold still. You are experiencing a hardware malfunction," Hard Man stated in a bored monotone, sitting comfortably on Guts Man's back.
"Top Man! Disperse the ranged attacks!"
"Let's spin to win!" Top Man laughed smoothly. He activated his Top Spin, transforming into a rapidly rotating blur of invincibility. He glided across the battlefield, deliberately placing himself in the path of Cut Man's blades and Fire Man's flames. The projectiles bounced harmlessly off his spinning form, protecting Rock and Blues as they moved in to grapple the smaller bots.
"Magnet Man! I've finished compiling the counter-code!" Dr. Light yelled, running out of the lab holding a massive, terrifyingly large, foot-long metallic syringe filled with glowing blue data-fluid. "It must be injected directly into their cervical ports!"
"Excellent! Give it to Needle Man!" Magnet Man ordered, using his magnetic field to forcefully yank Elec Man toward him, pinning the electric robot to a steel beam. "He has the highest precision and dexterity for injections!"
Needle Man looked at the massive, foot-long syringe Dr. Light was holding out.
The sarcastic, intellectual robot's optical sensors blew wide open. His entire chassis locked up in absolute, unadulterated terror.
"NO!" Needle Man shrieked, scrambling backward, tripping over Tango the cat. "NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! KEEP THAT POINTY ABOMINATION AWAY FROM ME!"
"Needle Man! You literally shoot giant needles from your head!" Spark Man yelled, bewildered.
"THAT IS DIFFERENT!" Needle Man panicked, hyperventilating. "THOSE ARE OFFENSIVE PROJECTILES! THAT IS MEDICAL EQUIPMENT! IT GOES UNDER THE ARMOR! IT VIOLATES THE SANCTITY OF THE ENDOSKELETON! I HAVE TRYPANOPHOBIA!"
"YOU ARE A ROBOT! YOU DON'T HAVE BLOOD!" Magnet Man roared, struggling to hold the thrashing Elec Man. "TAKE THE SHOT, YOU COWARD!"
"I CAN'T!" Needle Man wailed, curling into a fetal position behind a bush.
"I'll do it!" Snake Man hissed, snatching the giant syringe from Dr. Light's hands. "Hold him steady, Magnet!"
Snake Man slithered forward with terrifying, predatory speed. He approached the pinned Elec Man.
"This might pinch," Snake Man smirked.
He slammed the giant needle directly into the cervical port on the back of Elec Man's neck, injecting the blue counter-code.
Elec Man convulsed, his eyes flashing wildly between corrupted green and normal blue.
"Spark Man! Flush the system!" Snake Man commanded.
"Incoming!" Spark Man bounded forward. He didn't use a weapon. He grabbed Elec Man by the shoulders.
"Clear!"
Spark Man unleashed a massive, perfectly calibrated, high-voltage jolt of electricity directly into Elec Man's chassis.
The surge of pure energy catalyzed the counter-code. The virus was instantly, violently fried out of Elec Man's hardware.
Elec Man slumped forward, coughing a puff of smoke, his eyes returning to their clear, bright blue. "Ugh... my head feels like I got kicked by a Mets..."
"It worked!" Rock cheered, holding down Fire Man.
For the next ten minutes, the courtyard became the most chaotic, aggressive hospital ward in history.
Hard Man sat on patients while Snake Man administered the terrifying injections. Top Man danced around them to deflect friendly fire. Magnet Man dragged the infected to the 'operating area' against their will. Spark Man happily shocked everyone back to their senses.
Even Gemini Man contributed, using his holograms to distract Block Man long enough for Blues to tackle him to the ground.
Finally, Snake Man administered the last injection to the frozen Ice Man, and Spark Man delivered the final, system-flushing jolt.
The courtyard fell silent.
The music was destroyed. The food was everywhere. The stage was splinters.
But every single Lightbot was cured, their eyes clear, groaning as they sat up amidst the wreckage.
Dr. Light rushed into the courtyard, his datapad scanning the recovering robots. "Their neural nets are clear. The virus is completely purged. You did it. All of you."
Guts Man pushed himself up, rubbing his massive jaw. He looked at Hard Man, who was slowly, lazily standing up.
"You sat on me," Guts Man grumbled.
"It was medically necessary," Hard Man replied, entirely unapologetic.
Elec Man looked at Spark Man, who was grinning widely, his electrodes smoking slightly. "You electrocuted me."
"I was performing CPR!" Spark Man cheered happily. "You're welcome!"
Rock, Roll, Blues, and Trancy walked over to the Thirds. The initial hostility from the morning was completely gone.
"You guys exploited a loophole in your own programming to save us," Rock said, a genuine smile of respect on his face. "Thank you."
"Wily crossed a line," Magnet Man huffed, crossing his arms and looking away, trying to hide his satisfaction. "He used us as disposable carriers. I do not tolerate poor tactical management. We were simply rectifying a strategic error."
"And keeping our hands clean," Snake Man hissed, tossing the empty, terrifying syringe back to Dr. Light.
Needle Man slowly peeked out from behind the bush, trembling slightly. "Is... is the pointy thing gone?"
"It's gone, you big baby," Top Man laughed smoothly, gliding over and clapping the shaking robot on the shoulder.
Dr. Light walked up to the group, his eyes warm and full of fatherly pride.
"You are always welcome here, my boys," Dr. Light said softly. "No matter what name is stamped on your chassis. You proved today that your hearts belong to you, not to whoever holds the remote."
Magnet Man cleared his throat loudly, clearly uncomfortable with the earnest emotional display. "Yes, well. The party is ruined, the food is scattered, and Needle Man needs a psychological reboot. We are returning to base."
The Thirds turned to leave, walking back toward the shattered main gates.
"Wait," Trancy called out, running up to them.
She held out her hands. In them, she held six perfectly intact, delicious-looking cups of shaved ice.
"Cold Man managed to save the dessert cart," Trancy smiled brightly. "For the road?"
Magnet Man looked at the shaved ice, then at Trancy. He reached out and took a cup.
"Hmph. Passable," Magnet Man muttered, taking a bite.
Spark Man happily took a cup, beaming at Trancy. Top Man grabbed his with a flourish. Even Needle Man took one, looking relieved to have something to hold other than a weapon.
As the Thirds walked out of the gates, disappearing down the road, Blues stepped up beside Trancy.
"They are rough around the edges," Blues noted softly.
"Yeah," Trancy smiled, eating her own shaved ice. "But they're family. And family always exploits loopholes to save each other."
Back in his subterranean fortress, Dr. Wily was currently screaming so loudly his vocal cords were threatening to snap. He stared at his monitors, watching his master plan fall apart in a spectacular display of unauthorized medical assistance.
He slammed his fists onto his console, scattering blueprints everywhere.
The Thirds had defeated him. And they hadn't even broken a single rule to do it.
"I HATE LOOPHOLES!" Wily shrieked into the empty lab.