Those who raised you will always hold an important place within you.

As well as the one you've sworn to love forever.

There is no way to choose one of them, as there is no way to split your heart in two.

The one who watched you grow, and looked after you, or the one that makes living worthwhile?

You can't just abandon them all, they're always within you.

Even if everyone left.

Even if you're alone.

They are always within.

~O~O~O~

The cold was unbearable.
Ryuzke kept walking, followed by the husky he'd been given when he had arrived this dreadful place... Even when he had summoned flames to surround him, he was chilling to the bone.
"The Dog help you find other contestant!" the gel in the screen had told him "You have surprise element! It good, yes?"
The red&black haired boy turned to see the dog. It looked ordinary. A little too ordinary...
The canid thrusted its nose high in the air, sniffing something nearby. After a moment, it turned to face its owner.
"Found something, did you?" Ryuze sneered "Show me you're worth the trouble"

~O~O~O~

"It's really cold, isn't it, Xander?"
"You tell me!" The Biometal Model-B Chosen One replied "My heating system's barely enough to keep me functional!"
Resisting the urge to lean against the ice-cold wall, he stopped and gazed into the starlit sky. Not a single star he could match to his astral map. He was lost in some other world...
His new wolvine familiar sat and stared at him with inquisitive eyes. In a wolf's standards, this one didn't seem to be particularly interesting...
Xander turned his gaze back to the ground, and drew a small device from his pocket. He had kept this a secret, but he had once recorded Slur's voice, just to be able to hear her at any time. It wasn't even that much of a conversation to begin with...
He activated the device and, as if the real Slur was standing next to him, her voice was heard loud and clear.
Her voice stopped a figure lurking around the corner, skidding in the ice. The reploid turned to the source of the noise.
"What's wrong?" Model-B asked Xander, who was looking around, the Wolf growling with its fangs bared.
"I think someone's there" he said quietly, pointing at a nearby corner
Before he could even move, the ice he was standing on stretched onto his legs, immobilizing him in a heartbeat.
"Wha-"
"I thought people were actually here for something" Ryuzke laughed "If everyone's as lost as you are, this will be an easy victory. Now, don't take it personal, human, bu-"
"Human?" it was Xander's turn to laugh "I'm the strongest megaman EVER!" he turned towards the biometalf loating next to him "MEGAMERGE!"
Model-B's eyes glowed a bright red, as it flew towards Xander
"Biolink established! M.E.G.A. system online!"
The ice in Xander's legs shattered as he was engulfed in a sphere of black energy. Ryuzke grutned as the energy cleared, revealing an armor-clad figure bearing a helmet with twin golden fins on it. The biometal gone, it seemed as if it had been absorbed by the kid.
The canids retreated to a wall as the two combatans charged at each other, locking fists and cracking the icy floor with the force of their crash.
"Still thing this'll be easy, human?" Xander spat at his opponent as he pushed him back.
Before Ryuzke could reply or retaliate, a cloaked figure emerged straight out of the wall, startling the combatants.
Ryuzke snarled and let go of Xander. Even if he no longer had a face, it was the same one who'd made fun of him when he was pulled into this place; he was sure of it.
Despite Ryuzke's challenging pose, the shadow laughed softly.
"Not yet, boy. You're not nearly strong enough to even touch me"
Xander had taken advantage of Ryuzke's lapse and prepared a disk of dark energy, and was about to attack them both, but Shade stood in his way to Ryuzke.
"I like this place" Shade began, as if talking about the weather, and if he had a face, he'd have been grinning "I'd rather keep it in one piece a little longer"
His only arm extended and changed its shape into a scythe. Quick as a thought, he drew an arc, slicing through the two combatants, and even though neither of the two were wounded by the attack, they both fell to their knees, a scrutinating pain spreading through their bodies.
"That should limit you two abit" Shade snickered "May the fight between Wrath and Lover begin"
He walked back into the wall, as the two young ones tried toget back on their feet. The pain was slowly receding toa bearable level, yet it didn't go away.
"T-that bastard..." Xander muttered, raising his buster "As if this wasn't... hard enough... He'll pay for this..."
Ryuzke smiled, his arms hanging loosely at his sides
"This proves we're a threat to him... and that's enough for me to keep on fighting, to make that humanoid burn..."
Xander smiled, as his wolf howled to a non-existant moon
"Had we met in different circumstances, we might have gotten along..." he said as he aimed at Ryuzke with his buster "But I c-can't lose..."
A shot left Ryuzke, making the pain in Xander's body increase for a moment, making him fall to his knees again. Ryuzke, who had noticed his rival's reaction, put his hands to the floor and created a pillar of ice to stop the energy bullet.
He also fell to the ground as the pain increased.
The bullet hit the ice, melting it halfway to the ground, and making the top of it fall through the ice floor with a crash.
The floor cracked, straining and slightly falling down onto the freezing river below.
Xander rolled to a side, closer to the wall just as the ice he was standing on broke and sank into the coldness.
Ryuzke's and Xander's eyes met, as the ice below the red-haired boy began to give in
"Make his life hell"
The ice broke, and he fell several yards,  but before he touched the flowing liquid, a bright blue light surrounded him, and he vanished without a trace
"The Lover is the winner!"
The two canids approached the black-armored one, as if looking at the leader of their pack
Xander looked down, meeting their gaze
"Consider it done... friend"

~O~O~O~

A hole opened on the ceiling of the dark room, letting in a bright colum of light, blinding for a moment everyone in the cell.
Someone was speaking, but the words couldn't be made out, as if something was distroting their voices on the way down.
They sounded like they were arguing, then the hole closed again, leaving the prisioners in the semi-darkness.
Scott broke the silence after a moment
"Did anyone get what they said?"
A wave of negations replied, as nobody had  gotten the words
Nobody but Isaac, but he didn't dare say anything
He didn't know if it was a false hope, or that he wasn't expected to understand what they had said
They're coming...

~O~O~O~

Just a little more... just a little more, and you'll all regret ever knowing me... you'll know the meaning of suffering!