Author Notes and Disclaimer: No, I don't own Rockman.exe, though I wish I did. For all of you who waited patiently and with much curiousity, I now present to you the sequal to Survival of the Fittest.

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Winter had struck Densan City with much fury and little warning. The night before it had been clear as a bell, though a bit chilly, but the next day there was about 4 feet of snow piled on top of everything. Schools had been closed, as had most of the shops in the city. Plows were out clearing the roads, but the snow kept falling, showing no signs of letting up any time soon. When Netto woke up the snow was the first thing he saw. For a moment he thought he was seeing things, but no, it didn't go away when he blinked a couple of times.

"Cool!" Netto exclaimed. "Rockman, look!"

The blue navi nodded and smiled. "I know. It was snowing when I woke up. You'll be happy to know school has been cancelled."

"Even better," the 13-year-old grinned. "Winter holiday just got extended."

Rockman was surprised when Netto got out of bed instead of going back to sleep. When he said something, Netto just grinned and pointed out the window to the noisy, beat up blue pickup truck that had just pulled into the driveway. The driver that got out was none other than Netto's cousin, Kichi. In that past two years since Rockman had met Kichi he had learned that it was pointless to try and sleep when she was around. She was one of those people that had to constantly be doing something, even if that something was bothering other people. Enzan had grown to hate her, since he was now one of her favorite targets.

Netto and Rockman both heard her come into the house, but Netto didn't bother hurrying down to greet her. He took his time getting dressed, then grabbed his PET and went downstairs. She was sitting on the couch when he came down. She had hung her coat up, and her boots sat next to his shoes. Snow still clung from her hair, which was currently tied in a braid. Unlike most people, Kichi didn't own a PET. Where she worked, in the Aspen Mountains, PETs didn't work. She lived with their great-grandmother, next to the mountains. PETs did work there, but they spent so much time in the mountains that it was kind of pointless to have one. As soon as Netto reached the bottom of the stairs Kichi through something at him. It was a battle chip.

"What's this?" Netto asked.

"What does it look like, genius. Its a battle chip. The one from the contest. Nana couldn't decide whether to give it to you or Enzan, but Enzan told us to give it to you. Therefore, its yours."

"Ah. And it took you two years to figure this out?"

"Shut up. We've been busy."

"Yeah, I was about to ask about that. You could have waited until we came up for the holidays. I know you're needed to help patrol for poachers."

Kichi shrugged. "Nana instisted I give it to you now. You know how she can be sometimes."

Netto smiled. Mycah Hikari could be very stubborn about things, and even though they didn't make sense to anyone else, they obviously made sense to her.

"Besides, since school was cancelled, she figured you wouldn't mind coming up early. I guess Aunt Haruka and Uncle Yuuichiro said they would be a day late or something?"

"Yeah, they got stuck at the airport because of the snow. How did you manage to get through it?"

"My truck has its own plow built into it. Duh. Now, is Enzan coming this year?"

"Yes, and all hell is gonna break loose if you purposely get him lost again."

The glare Netto gave Kichi was supposed to be threatening, but it had no effect. In fact, Kichi gave him an innocent look, as if she were the nicest angel in the world. But Netto wasn't fooled. He knew Kichi far too well. If she could find some way to irritate Enzan then she would. Netto was still surprised that Enzan had stuck around after the first time Kichi had pulled one of her pranks on him. But apparently he was willing to put up with her, for Netto's sake. Just then there was a knock on the door. Netto opened it, and was immediately tackled by none other than Enzan himself.

"Speak of the devil," Kichi grinned.

"Shut up, Atilla the Hun," Enzan replied, glaring at Kichi.

Kichi made a face at that name. It was the one name she hated being called, and Enzan made certain to use it at least once every time he saw her. It was his little way at getting back at her for all the trouble she caused him.

"You're here early," Netto observed.

"Rockman sent me an email saying that your cousin had come to pick us up early, so I came over."

"Great, you saved me from having to drive further into the city. If you're ready, we should go now before the snow gets any worse. I may have a plow on my truck, but that thing can only handle so much."

Netto snorted. He knew better than to believe that. Kichi's truck may look like a piece of junk, but it was one very powerful machine. It was the same truck they used to plow the main road around the mountains, and that place got far more snow than Densan City did. Still, it was just as pointless to argue with Kichi was it was to argue with Anuzu, and if she wanted to get going, well, Netto and Enzan weren't going to argue with her.

****

Cesare huddled down in the little alcove in the cliff side, trying to get out of the wind. He [i]had[/i] been tracking what looked like a very large wolf when the storm had hit. Now he was stuck trying to wait it out, and chances were he wouldn't be able to pick up the trail again. Well, that was just a bit of bad luck. Cesare was a skilled hunter, and he would simply find other game after the storm ended. Maybe he'd find a bear or something, something that would get him a lot of money, though it was still as shame that he had lost that wolf. Who knew, though. Perhaps he would find it again.

Huddling against the rock wall, Cesare stared at the falling snow. He couldn't see anything of the forest around him, it was snowing so hard. The wind wasn't that strong, but it was bitterly cold. So he had sought some shelter in the cliff. The alcove had been right there, and he had gotten in just before the worst of the storm had hit.

The little cave itself was odd, though. He'd never heard of any cave painting being found in this area, but this place was full of them. The images made no sense to him, for all he could see was some sort of shapeless black thing with a strange design around it. Not much interested in anything but finding animals to hunt, Cesare had chosen to ignore it. That was his mistake, however, for the black image began to move and extend from the rock! Without warning it wrapped around Cesare's neck, causing the man to scream. Still screaming, Cesare dashed out of the cave, disappearing into the flurry of stone. Back in the cave the symbols that had been around the began to pulse, and the black shapeless, nameless thing had vanished from the wall...