Pain struck Ethan as consciousness returned to him. He shot up in bed, and looked around frantically. The first thing he saw was that he was in a dark stone castle… Or was it a fortress? He threw that thought away and continued looking. Around the floor were five other humans… Or, humanoids that were unconscious.

The closest to him was a big, grey, winged humanoid that had a tail and what seemed to be horns on his eyebrows. The big man was wearing only a loincloth and leather belt. His pointy ears showed from behind his long black hair as well as some pointy teeth from his open mouth.

To his right, Ethan saw a pink haired girl with pointy ears, and wearing a pink and black one piece suit with a belt. She looked a lot more sci-fi than the first guy.

Ethan saw three others farther away. One was a blonde haired woman with black spots in her hair who was wearing a bodysuit with one arm missing that was a couple shades of orange with one armband that held a yellow pole down her forearm. Another was a red headed guy wearing a green t-shirt under a tan vest, dark green baggy cargo pants, a pair of tan boots, and red shaded glasses. The last was another red headed guy who wore a green shirt with brown pants and a vest, leather gloves that covered his forearms with the pinky and ring finger missing, and a quiver and black bow on his back.

Looking at himself, Ethan analyzed what he was wearing. A shirt that matched his skin, covered by a white hoodie with green on his shoulders and neck piece, while on his legs were black jeans with writing on his right ankle. Red gauntlets were on his hands, and a green and white holster was on his left hip. All in all, it looked like some sci-fi, anime and barf were mixed in a blender. Also, from what he could tell, his hair was a red like almost every other guy in the group.

Ethan, groaning in pain, pushed himself off the ground and onto his feet, which he noticed were red. When he was standing and knew he wouldn’t fall on his face, he gingerly walked over to the almost naked man on the ground.

Kicking him lightly a few times, Ethan started the tedious process of waking someone he knew was stronger than him. “Yo, get up G.”

Groaning a bit, the big man slowly opened his eyes while holding his head. He then stood up and stretched all of his limbs.

“Who wakes me from my slumber?” the man said in a deep voice. He looked around the room and took stock of the situation.

“Me, you moron…” Ethan replied, slightly annoyed. “What happened to us? Do you remember?”

“No, I don’t. Who are you anyway?” the big man asked.

“I’m Ethan Waber… Now at least. Not like my real name suits me.” Ethan said, looking around the room once more. “And you?”

“Well, going by my appearance. I am Goliath. My other name is as you said, unsuitable,” Goliath replied as he examined his appearance. “Any idea who these others are?” Goliath gestured to the four other beings in the room.

“I think I know two of them… Pinkhead and… Wait… We do know each other!” Ethan almost wanted to facepalm. “It’s me, Vein…”

“Vein? No way,” Goliath said in disbelief.

“Way… Then pinkhead’s sis… Who’re the others though?” Ethan asked no one in particular.

“Your guess is as good as mine. We all seem to be in the same boat, though,” Goliath said as he slowly walked toward the prone figures. “All of us seem to have been changed. I’m now Goliath, you’re Ethan Waber, and your sister seems to be Aelita.”

Ethan looked to the sleeping pinkhead and rubbed his head. “Okay… I’d be freaking out if I wasn’t loving this.” Ethan then walked over to his sleeping sister, and picked her up bridal style. “Wake up the others, starting with… The nerdy redhead. And make sure to calm him down.”

“Right, calm. You sure that someone looking the way I do can calm him down?” Goliath said as he walked over to the nerdy red head and gently shook him awake.

“Gah!” The boy screamed, and tried to make a run for it. Ethan rolled his eyes and pulled out one of his blaster pistols and shot the door the redhead tried to use.

“Calm down, foureyes! We’re not trying to hurt you!” Ethan yelled, causing his sister to stir in his arms.

“Why should I believe you!?” The boy yelled, before his eyes widened.

“Because if we were trying to hurt you then he wouldn’t have missed and I wouldn’t have let you run. Now, apologize for waking up his sister,” Goliath said as he stood up and folded his wings around his shoulders.

“S-sorry…” The guy said, shrinking.

“What’s your name?” Ethan asked as his sister was groggily waking up.

“Uh… Z-Zeke Browns…” He looked over himself. “Am I? My voice sounds weird...”

“Zeke Browns is still your name, but you’ve been changed into someone else like Ethan and myself. I am Goliath, by the way,” Goliath told the frightened boy as he went to wake another person. It was amazing that neither of them had stirred from the commotion.

“Then… I guess I’m Kaz Kalinkas, or Kid Chaor.”

“G, I think Kaz should wake the last two, don’t you think?” Ethan suggested as he went to the farthest place from the sleeping people.

“Oh, right. I’m a gargoyle now. Not exactly something you’d like to wake up to,” Goliath said as he walked over to stand next to Ethan and his sister.

“Now I see it, I loved that show.” Kaz said as he went to the girl first. He placed his finger on her forehead and started making circles with it in hopes of stirring her awake. He made sure his arm was as extended as possible so it wouldn’t be awkward.

The girl stirred slightly, but batted Kaz’s finger away and rolled over.

“Haha!” Ethan laughed.

Kaz grumbled. “You try waking her up without her thinking you’re a pervert!”

“Try that guy then. Maybe she’ll wake up while you’re trying to wake him or he can wake her,” Goliath said as he watched.

Kaz crossed his arms. “I can wake her! Watch me.” He then started shaking her by her shoulders half heartedly.

The girl’s eyes opened and she immediately smacked Kaz across his face. She quickly stood and grabbed the yellow pole from her arm guard. The small pole extended into a staff as the girl took a fighting stance. “Who are you and what did you do to me?” she asked as she pointed her staff at Kaz.

“I didn’t do anything!” Kaz said, his voice shrill and high pitch. “I tried to wake you!”

“Then why do I know how to use this weapon and have the skin tone of a cheetah?” she asked angrily.

“Wow, she’s faster than me.” Ethan stated plainly from where he was. “Look, we all woke up like this. I’m Ethan Waber, that Gargoyle is my buddy Goliath, and the runt that woke you is Kaz Kalinkas.”

“It’s nice to meet you all. Does anyone have more information about our situation? Having all the facts is always nice. Oh, I’m Cheetara, apparently,” the girl said to the group.

Kaz grumbled as he crawled away, nursing his red cheek. Ethan pointed to the last sleeping guy. “Once my sister wakes up, we’ll wake him up.”

And just then, Ethan’s sister screamed. “What the hell’s wrong!? Who are you!? Why does everything look like a cartoon!?”

Ethan decided to put that cartoon comment in the back of his mind. Right then, he needed to help his baby half sister. “Sis, it’s me, Vein. I was somehow turned into Ethan Waber, like you were turned into Aelita.”

Aelita looked at her hands, which she then proceeded to run through her pink hair. “Wha- How- When-”

“I’m trying to figure this out!” Ethan yelled, causing Aelita to shut up. Ethan sighed. “Okay… Wake the last guy up, then we’ll figure this out together.”

Cheetara walked over to the last sleeper, knelt down and gently shook his shoulder. The boy in question rolled over in his sleep and grabbed Cheetara’s chest. Cheetara screamed, slapped the hand away and then smacked the boy across his face for good measure. This woke the boy up instantly.

“Ow, ow, ow. What’s the big deal?” the boy asked as rubbed his red cheek.

“It seems we have two pervs in our group,” Cheetara said grumpily as she walked away from the youth she’d woken up.

“Hey! I’m not a pervert!” Kaz yelled. “I shook your shoulder to wake you up, there’s nothing perverted about it!”

“What’d I do? I just woke up,” stated the boy as he stood up.

“First, you grabbed me,” Cheetara said as she pointed at the boy, “Second, you obviously have no experience with waking anyone. When you wake someone you do so as gently as possible. My neck has the slightest pain in it and that tells me that you shook me pretty well.”

“Maybe I should have woken her up. The result probably would’ve been better, though not as funny,” Goliath whispered to Ethan.

“If I grabbed you then I did so in my sleep. You can’t help what you do while you’re asleep. I’m sorry for doing it, though,” the boy said as he examined his appearance. “Why do I have Tigrevurmud Vorn’s clothes and weapon on?”

“No idea who you’re talking about…” Ethan started, “But as you can see, there’s at least two people here that aren’t human, and another that has pointy ears.”

“Tigrevurmud Vorn is a character in a manga, light novel, and an anime. He and Robin Hood are kinda like my idols. Anyway, what do we do now? I mean, we were all put into the same room with each other and there seems to be only one exit,” Tigrevurmud said.

“I think we should remember what happened before we all woke up. I guess since Goliath, Aelita and I were in the same group, we’ll tell you what happened to us.” Ethan said, shrugging. “Any objections?”

“It’ll get rid of half of the group’s explanations so please proceed,” Cheetara said as the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

“Okay… To start off, me and Aelita are half siblings, our father cheated on my mom and… Well, let’s just say he didn’t choose my mother…”

Vein and Louise ran up to Marcus, who was standing outside of Comic-con wearing his Goliath costume.

“Hey Mark!” Louise yelled, waving her hand and beaming.

“Hey Louise. Sup, Vein. I’m glad you guys are here. It wouldn’t be nearly as fun coming here without friends,” Marcus said as he and his friends walked toward the entrance of the convention center.

“I know what you mean. We were lucky to get out the door with how long Vein took.” Louise said, giggling.

“For your information, I was getting the dye in.” Vein commented grumpily.

“Ah, the vain Vein,” Marcus said as he chuckled at his bad pun, and Louise joined him.

“Ha… Ha… Let’s get inside before all the good cheap stuff are gone.” Vein said, clearly pissed about the play on his name.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Louise responded. “C’mon guys, we don’t want the ladies inside to miss your costumes, now would we?” She giggled.

“Well, I did workout so I wouldn’t look horrible wearing this,” Marcus said with a grin as he flexed his muscles.

Vein shook his head as he went inside, hands in his pockets. “We all look ridiculous…”

“Maybe you do, but me and Mark look fabulous!” Louise said, snickering at her words.

They went around a bit, before stopping by a stall with a girl behind it. She was wearing a Harley Quinn suit, and had multiple things in her stall.

“Would you three like a souvenir?” She asked, talking exactly like the Joker’s assistant.

“Sure, do you have any suggestions?” Mark asked as he looked at her wares.

“Hmm… How about a group photo?” She suggested. “I’ve got this sweet camera from some ancient time.

“An ancient camera? Well, as long as it works. How much?” Mark said as he brought out the money he’d stored behind the wide leather belt holding his loincloth in place.

“If it works, then… Fifty, since it’s a really cool camera. Trust me, or your money back!” She said, pulling out a camera.

“You got the flash powder to go along with that?” Marcus asked as he handed the girl fifty dollars.

“Yep! It’s all there, so you just get into whatever position you want while I set it up.”

The three of them did as she told them. Marcus struck one of Goliath’s statue poses, Louise got on her tiptoes and tried to make it look like she was hovering with her arms to her sides, and Vein pulled out one of his laser swords and faced it away from him while he held a toy blaster in his left hand, aiming it at the camera.

“Ready?” The Harley Quinn asked.

“Ready!” the three replied. A background fell into place behind them and there was a flash, and everything went black.

“And then we woke up here,” Goliath said, finishing their tale.

“And we don’t seem to have gotten the photo…” Aelita said, searching through Ethan’s pockets.

“Huh… Who’s next then?” Kaz asked.

“I’ll go next,” Cheetara volunteered.

Ursa was sitting in their base camp enjoying a nice dinner when she heard a vehicle pulling up to their camp. She looked around and saw a Land Cruiser pulling into their camp. She wasn’t sure who was coming for a visit, but having visitors out here was almost always nice. This was Africa after all, not everyone was nice.

As the Land Cruiser pulled to stop alongside their vehicles Ursa noticed that it was driven by young girl. This wasn’t exactly unusual, but she didn’t seem to have anyone with her. This piqued Ursa’s curiosity so she went to see who the girl was and what she wanted out here in the middle of cheetah territory.

“Hello, what can we do for you, miss?” Ursa asked as she walked over to the girl who was getting out of her vehicle.

“I’m sorry, I got lost, and my gas tank got to low and saw this place. I’m a merchant, but even I don’t have unlimited supplies.” The girl said. She didn’t look much older than eighteen.

“Ah, that’s some bad luck. We’ve got some spare gas, but even we research expeditions don’t have unlimited fuel. You’re more than welcome to buy some of our gas, but we are open to trading as well if you don’t have enough money on you,” Ursa told her as she put a hand on her hip.

“Oh thank the maker! You can help yourself to anything in here besides the small black box if I can get enough to get to the nearest town…” The girl said, hopping off of her vehicle. “My name’s Enid Splinter, you?”

“I’m Ursa Bishop and we aren’t as cruel as to let someone get stranded out here. It’s dangerous out here, even for a group like us. The nearest town is about 150 miles to the southeast of here,” Ursa replied as she pointed Enid in the right direction to travel.

“Take as much stuff as you like, I’ve got a bunch of stuff that’ll sell real good! You’re my hero!” Enid hugged Ursa tightly.

“I’m glad I could help,” Ursa said as she returned the hug and giggled a bit, “You’ve got my curiosity piqued, though, by mentioning the black box. What’s inside that you’re not willing to give up? Now, if it’s personal you don’t have to tell me or if it’s embarrassing. I may be curious, but that doesn’t mean I have to know.”

“It’s a charm my dad gave me before he died. I bring it everywhere I go.” Enid said as she started to let go. “My dad fought in a war and sacrificed himself. So I keep it to remember the man he was. Simple as that.”

“I’m sorry for your loss and for bringing up sad memories. Let’s see what you’ve got,” Ursa said as she hugged Enid tighter. They let go, and Enid went to look for a gas canister.

While Enid was looking for the gas canisters, Ursa looked through her merchandise to see what they could use or what she’d like to have. There was a lot, from trinkets to souvenirs, to survival tools. Heck, there was even a registered gun or two, both sidearms. Seeing the sidearms she picked them up to see what caliber each was. One was a .45 Sig Sauer P226 and the other was a Smith & Wesson .500 magnum. Both were high enough caliber to fend off the animals that would like to make her into a meal. They had rifles and those worked quite well, but having a sidearm on her would allow her to defend herself should she get separated from the others.

“I’ll take this Sig Sauer you’ve got. Any ammo for it?” Ursa said as she picked up the weapon and checked its magazine and chamber.

“There’s a crate under the passenger seat! Full of that stuff! I call that gun Siggy!” Enid shouted as she brought back a can. “Go on, is there something else you want?”

Ursa put the gun into her pantes and two extra magazines in her pockets. She was about to go load the magazines with ammunition when she noticed something red with orange around it. She grabbed it and found that it was the outfit that Cheetara wore in the classic Thundercats. “Yeah, I’ll also take this costume for the nostalgia,” Ursa said as she brought the costume all the way to inspect it further.

“You have good eyes. My dad made that, he used to make costumes before he joined the military. He made props mostly, though. Like those Pokemon Eggs… Heh… He was really good.” Enid sighed deeply, remembering something.

“If this is something your dad made then you should keep it. I wouldn’t want to take something that can make you remember the good times you had with him,” Ursa said as she held the costume out for Enid to take.

“No, no… They’re too painful to keep, and I hate looking at it anyway. I was actually heading to a city with an airport and if I didn’t lose it, I’d sell it as a convention. It’ll look good on you.” Enid started filling up the tank of her car, smiling sincerely.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll wear it. At least not out here,” Ursa replied.

“Oh come on! There’s no one here right now!” Enid encouraged. “Look, I’ll wear my own costume if you wear this, just for a little bit.”

“Okay, I’ll wear it, but only because you’ll be wearing one as well,” Ursa said as she began to change into the costume. She wasn’t quite sure how to wear it since it didn’t seem to have a zipper or any other opening, but she figured it out once she fiddled with it a little bit. Ursa hadn’t realized that it was meant to be skin tight so she had to take it off once to take off her underwear since it’d show as clear as day through the costume’s fabric. Once she was satisfied with her appearance she walked around to find Enid.

Enid was wearing a Harley Quinn outfit from Batman The Animated Series.

“You look awesome!” Enid said happily.

“Heh, so do you. I’m just glad the guys are gone. They’re bad enough while I’m in my other outfits. This would just send them over the top,” Ursa admitted with a blush on her face.

“I can see why… Maybe someday we can see each other again when either one of us are in the same place.” Enid said, smirking.

“That’d be nice,” Ursa said with a smile. She then started to feel tired. “I’m feeling kinda tired. You good by yourself? Cause I’m gonna go take a nice cat nap.”

“I’m good, see ya around!” Enid said before hopping into her vehicle and started it up. “Later, Cheetara!”

“Later, Harley!” Ursa called to her. She went into her tent and laid down on her cot and fell asleep.

“I woke up to being violently shook by that guy,” Cheetara said as she pointed at Kaz.

“I’m sorry, there. What do you want from me, a one thousand word apology note?” Kaz shot back.

“And foureyes decides he’s up next.” Ethan said.

“Wait, wha-” Kaz started but was cut off.

“Nope, it’s your turn. So, spill it!” Goliath said cheerfully.

“Ugh… Fine…” Kaz grumbled.

“Zeke! Get your fucking ass down here!” Shouted Jordan, Zeke’s step brother.

The boy wearing glasses ran down the stairs of his house, fear written over his face.

It was hard for Zeke to actually tell what Jordan was. Zeke’s foster mother divorced her last husband, and married Jordan’s father. So step foster brother he guessed.

“Where’s your costume? I thought you were going to farticon?” Jordan asked, blocking the front door.

“I… I decided to not wear a costume…” Zeke shivered at Jordan’s stare.

“Fine, but bring me back lunch, pussy.”

Once outside, Zeke breathed a sigh of relief and ran across the street and knocked on the neighbor's door. An old lady answered it and smiled.

“Hello Zeke, are you here for the…” The lady narrowed her eyes and looked around. “Package?”

Zeke had to hold in his laughter at the lady. “Yes Mrs. Wilignus, I’m here for the package.”

Mrs. Wilingus smiled, and gave Zeke his costume. “Make sure to have fun Zeke, and bring me a sucker.”

“Mrs. Wilingus, you are a sucker.” Zeke teased. “And thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Let me give you a ride.”

“Oh, you’re the best!” Zeke said, hugging the woman.

Mrs. Wilingus chuckled. “Come on, my car is over there.”

Once they got in the car, Zeke in the passenger seat, they headed for the convention. Zeke got out, and thanked the old lady for her help, before she had to drive away.

Zeke found a bathroom where he changed, and went around the place in awe. He found a girl dressed as Harley Quinn at one of the stalls.

“Heya kid! Ah got’s some stuff you might wanna buy!” She yelled.

“Oh… Okay.” Zeke said, walking over to the stall.

“Look at my stuff, I think you’ll find something good.” She said, smiling.

As Zeke looked through her selection, he immediately found something. “Is that a Chaotic Scanner!?”

“Yep! And you’re not going to find another one around.” The Quinn said, smiling proudly.

“Well… Okay, how much?” Zeke asked, pulling out his wallet.

“Five hundred.”

“Five hundred!?” Zeke almost screamed. “I only have twenty five!”

“Look dude, if you thought you could afford it with that much, you’re a daydreamer.” Zeke looked down, realizing the truth of her words.

“But… I do have a discount for daydreamers and people with costumes that need it. Twenty bucks.” Harley said.

“Oh thank you! But... Are you sure?”

“Look, you’re the only guy here who likes Chaotic. It may have been a good idea, but it’s forgotten.” Harley said.

They made the exchange, and Zeke looked at his new Scanner. One of the buttons was beeping, so he pressed it, and the world went neon.

“And then I woke up here, was told to wake Cheetara, and here we all are.” Kaz finished grumpily.

“Huh, I guess I’m the only one who didn’t pay or trade for something,” Tigrevurmud thought outloud.

“Well, it is your turn now so tell us how you got here,” Cheetara said.

“Gladly,” Tigrevurmud said.

Alex was on his way to the archery tournament that the renaissance fair was putting on and it wasn’t raining for once. This was a miracle in England. He brought his recurve bow with him since they didn’t allow modern compound bows in this tournament. The grand prize this year had yet to be determined and the excitement of finding out what it was and possibly winning the tournament made Alex have an extra spring in his step.

“Now, let’s see how good the competition is this year,” Alex said as he took his place after he’d registered with the tournament officials. There were plenty of other archers there and some looked like professionals.

“Well, at least the girl in the Harlequin costume at the prize booth is actually dressed properly this year,” Alex said as he strung his bow and took a few practice shots.

The tournament started fairly soon after Alex had finished retrieving his arrows. It progressed smoothly and Alex advanced to the semifinals. It turned out that the archers that looked like professionals just looked the part since they got knocked out well before the semifinals. Alex was relieved that there were no real professionals in the tournament.

After a small break the tournament continued. Alex ended up winning the tournament by only a couple of points. He was told to go see the girl at the prize booth to claim his prize.

“So, what’s the grand prize this year, Miss Harlequin?” Alex asked.

The Harlequin gave Alex a pair of gloves. The gloves were made of high grade leather and covered his forearms so that the string wouldn’t hit his bare skin and the pinky and ring finger were left bare since they weren’t needed for shooting an arrow.

“Man, these are just like Tigre’s gloves. These will be perfect for Halloween this year! What’s the name of the company that made these, Miss?” Alex wondered.

“They’re handmade, and the guy who made them died a few years ago.” The girl said apologetically.

“I’m sorry to hear that. If you know his family tell them that his work is exquisite,” Alex said as he continued to admire the gloves.

“I’ll see if I can, they’d love to hear it.” the Harlequin girl replied.

“Well, I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day,” Alex said as he started his walk home.

“After that I went home and fell asleep that night. You all know how I woke up,” Alex told the group.

“I guess we have that bitch ‘Enid’ to blame for this.” Ethan said matter of factly.

“She does seem to be the one who got to us all. She seemed so nice, though,” Cheetara replied.

“Hey, hey! We don’t even know why we’re here, she might have good intentions or bad, but we don’t know!” Kaz suggested.

“Whether she has good intentions or bad doesn’t change the fact that she ripped us out of our lives and put us here,” Goliath said.

“Personally, I really like the fact that I’m now one of my favorite characters, at the very least,” Tigrevurmud said as he tested his new bow.

“I agree. Some reason I’m not fazed either…” Ethan added. “Well, we aren’t gonna get anything done by sitting here. Tigre, Kaz, you two stay here and see if there’s anything of interest around here. Aelita, Cheetara, you two check that side of the castle,” Ethan pointed to the door Kaz had tried to escape through. “While Goliath and I check the other side. Meet back here in half an hour.”

“Why’re you calling the shots? We barely know you!” Kaz pointed towards Ethan.

“He has a point. You may know two people, but the rest of us have just met,” Cheetara said.

“Well then, what do you suppose?” Ethan asked, crossing his arms.

“There’s no need to argue. The plan is sound and we can decide on an actual leader later on if we want to. Let’s just go along with it until we can figure out where we are and what is going on,” Tigre said in a calm voice.

“I for one agree with Ethan. Splitting up to find out more about our situation is going to allow us find out more and it’ll be faster than if we stayed together,” Goliath said as he unfurled his wings and walked toward the door Ethan had indicated for them to check.

“I’m fine going with Aelita to check this place out. I actually prefer checking it out with her over the rest of you right now. I just don’t think that Tigre and Kaz are going to find anything in this room,” Cheetara explained.

“Kaz looks like a wimp, I’m looking out for him.” Ethan said.

“Hey!” Kaz yelled.

“Heh, yeah. I should be able to keep any dangerous looking people at a distance to keep this place secure if I actually am Tigre now. So, if you run into trouble you can’t handle fall back to here. Sound good?” Tigre said as he nocked an arrow.

“Yep, sounds good. Let’s get this show on the road,” Cheetara said as she bounced on her toes.

“And if there’s something you can’t handle, give me a shout.” Ethan said as he turned on a green Saber.

“Of course. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” Tigre said as he began to carefully search the room they were in.

“We’ll see you in half an hour...Wait, how are we going to tell it’s been half an hour?” Goliath asked.

“Just assume. Aelita has a mental watch, and I have an actual watch.” Ethan said.

“Okay, good. I wasn’t sure what everyone has equipment wise since what you see is what you get with me,” Goliath said as he gestured to his body and state of dress. He walked out the door that he and Ethan were taking, looking around for anything noteworthy.

“I’ll make sure that cute little Aelita stays safe,” Cheetara said as she grabbed Aelita’s hand and strode out their side of the castle.

“So, Aelita. I vaguely remember Code Lyoko, but I can’t remember what you can do,” Cheetara admitted as they began their exploration. The castle around them seemed fairly old and not well kept.

“Well… I can create digital spheres and wings, as well as shut down towers… But I don’t see those around here.” Aelita replied.

“Hmm, interesting. I can run really fast and use my staff expertly, but that’s about it. I can’t even run at full speed for very long,” Cheetara admitted.

“That’s okay, Ethan can’t do anything and Goliath is just really strong and can glide.” Aelita assured. “So you were a… What were you before this?”

“Well, I was a zoologist. I specialized in cheetahs and other african cat species,” Cheetara told her.

“That’s interesting. What kind of animals did you study?” Aelita pressed.

“Cheetahs, lions, leopards, basically all the cats in Africa. Cheetahs were my favorite, though,” Cheetara explained.

“I guess becoming one is a dream come true, isn’t it?”

“Oh, it’s quite wonderful. It kinda takes away from it that I know what diseases and genetic faults are common in cheetahs, but I can’t wait to find a nice open area to try running as fast as I can,” Cheetara said excitedly.

“And I can’t wait to learn how to fly.” Aelita added dreamily.

“Flying, that sounds like fun. Any idea why Goliath can’t fly? He seems to have a big enough wingspan and enough muscle to fly,” Cheetara wondered. She looked out a window as they passed by and noticed that there was nothing besides forest for as far as she could see.

“Beats me, I never got into that show. My brother told me a few simple things, but Goliath knows way more.” Aelita replied, shrugging. “Maybe the wings aren’t as strong as they look.”

“I guess that could be. Well, there are some things that aren’t entirely explainable. Like how there’s forest as far as you can see instead of a town or something right outside this castle,” Cheetara said with a shrug of her own.

“Or how we’re all fictional characters.” Aelita added. “So, did you have family back home? Friends? A boyfriend? A… Girlfriend?”

“I had family, but it had been awhile since I’d last seen them due to that expedition to Africa. The same goes for my friends. My career choice made it hard to be in a relationship so I didn’t have a significant other when I was sent here. How about you?” Cheetara explained.

“My brother’s all the family I have, never knew my mother and my father wasn’t ever there. Goliath is my only friend because I was shy back home. And I never really met someone who got me.” Aelita replied. “I guess I’m someone without anything tying me down.”

“Hmm, I see. It’s not bad to have nothing tying you down, but have something solid to support you in hard times is really nice. You know, you might find someone here who ‘gets’ you,” Cheetara said with a smile.

“We’ll see.” Aelita giggled as she looked around, and found something. “Uh… Why is there horse armor with spears?”

“And why are they so small? A horse this size would only be able to be ridden into battle by children,” Cheetara said as she examined the armor and weapons. “Well, this might be a stretch, but maybe the armor was made for the inhabitants of this castle. The way they are displayed is just like medieval castles back home. So...”

“We’re in little horseland, aren’t we? Better not be My Little Pony.” Aelita said simply. “Oh, heh… I just thought of something you said. I don’t think I’ll find someone who understands here.”

“Well, if they are ‘ponies’ then I think you’re right about that. What about that Goliath guy? He might understand you, might. Hmm, My Little Pony...Is there a way to confirm or deny that we are in that show? I’m not familiar with it,” Cheetara said.

“Well… Are there rainbows and prissy stuff around?” Aelita asked.

“Not that I’ve seen, but we haven’t really seen much yet,” Cheetara replied.

“Okay… Still, it wouldn’t surprise me if this was My Little Pony.” Aelita said, before continuing her walk.

“Well, we’ll just have wait and see. Shouldn’t there be someone here besides us? I mean, this is a castle. You don’t build one and abandon it. That would be a waste of resources,” Cheetara said as she walked next to Aelita.

“Well, if the forest around us is any indication, they left. Maybe animals scared them away?”

“If they got scared away by another animal then that means that there’s a predator around here. Most likely an apex predator if the entire castle and forest is its territory. If that’s the case then I hope we don’t run into it while we’re separated from the others,” Cheetara deduced.

Aelita nodded, and the two continued.

“Well… Nothing here.” Kaz muttered to Tigre.

“Yep, nothing. So, I’ve never even heard of who you are. What can you do?”

“Nothing, my character has no powers.” Kaz grumbled as he pulled out his Scanner. “I don’t even know why I dressed as him.”

“Huh, what’s that thing in your hand?” Tigre asked, “My character is only good at archery, by the way.”

“It’s a Scanner. In the TV show, it was used to turn ordinary teens into awesome monsters!” Kaz said, getting pumped up at the idea. “But… One problem…”

“You have to scan them?” Tigre guessed.

“Worse… You need to be in a Drone Match, which is a one on one simulation. I memorized the codes of my deck, so I could get scans… But there wouldn’t be much use.” Kaz explained.

“Wait, you have the codes memorized, but you still have to scan them in a Drone Match? That seems really annoying,” Tigre said.

“The codes are random. Each card in the real world has them, which you can use on the Scanner. The card pops up as it’s own scan, and in Perim, they get scans of new creatures. I’ve got all my cards memorized in case… Well, in case I could get the online game working…” Kaz said, tossing his Scanner to the side. “But it’s useless.”

“Well, maybe we can find some friendly monsters for you to scan once we leave this castle. Who knows, maybe there’s a dragon or some other mythical beast that will allow you to scan it without fighting you,” Tigre said optimistically.

“That’s not the point. Scanning is useless in real combat, it’s meant as a game…” Kaz sighed.

“Oh, I see…,” Tigre said, “Well, any guesses as to where we were sent?”

“There’s no evidence, but I assume somewhere magical. Reasoning? There’s a few strange symbols on the walls that look like those things you see in fan art that go with a magic user. Also, this place looks big, but it’s a lot smaller than a normal castle, meaning the intelligent life on this world is small…” Kaz stated.

“Hmm, makes sense. There’s one thing I can add on to that. It’s night right now. How do I know this? Goliath isn’t a statue and in the show that means it’s night,” Tigre explained.

“Good work, Watson. Let’s see what else we can find.” Kaz joked.

“Thank you, Holmes. Is there anything else we can deduce?” Tigre said, playing along with Kaz’s joke while trying not to laugh too much.

“Well… It seems that Ethan’s placement was to keep the two ‘perverts’ together in this room, the girls in their own and the buddies in the last. We seem to be the butt end of this joke.” Kaz said, pretending to smoke a pipe.

“Well, we are the only ones that are ‘normal’ too,” Tigre pointed out while pretending to stroke a mustache.

“I guess, but I think Ethan’s normal to.” Kaz said seriously.

“Really? I totally thought he had powers or something to make him abnormal,” Tigre admitted.

“No, I know a guy who used to play the game he’s from. The only thing interesting about him is his laser weapons.” Kaz said, shrugging.

“That’s kinda like my character. He’s really good at archery, sure, but it’s this bow that gives him power,” Tigre said as he held out his black bow. “It can level an entire city with a single arrow, but the amount of power you can use depends on how practiced you are using the ability and your will power. The last one to use that amount of power died in the process.”

“Well then… Don’t die.” Kaz said.

“Oh, I plan to slowly work up to that level of power. That way should I ever need to use that much destructive force I won’t die like he did. It doesn’t help that this weapon is affiliated with a goddess of death either,” Tigre told Kaz with his fingers crossed.

“Okay… This is why I never watched anime.”

“Hey, it started as a light novel and was only adapted into an anime later on. There’s plenty of other anime that are quite good. Anyway, how do you think the others are doing?” Tigre said.

“Girls might be getting along. Other than that, I dunno.” Kaz shrugged as he picked his Scanner up.

“Man, it’s only half an hour, but time is flowing like molasses in January,” Tigre said as he stood up and walked to the far side of the room. He then lined up with one of the open doors and fired an arrow into it. “Might as well get some practice in while we wait, right?”

“Have fun, I’ll play with my Scanner.” Kaz said, turning it on.

Ethan slashed through a spider with a blue star on it’s butt.

“God I hate spiders…”

“That’s a fairly common statement when it comes to spiders. The girls in the orphanage would always have me come kill any spider they found in the same room as them,” Goliath said as he used his wing to blow the webs away. “That definitely wasn’t any kind of spider I recognize, though.”

“Really? You don’t say.” Ethan sarcastically said. “I don’t recognise this situation. I don’t recognise my own sister… What here is recognisable? We’re fucking characters for heaven’s sake!”

“True, but I meant from shows, comics, anything. I’ve never seen that kind of spider anywhere, real or otherwise, and if we can recognize something in this world then we can figure out where we were sent. Now calm down and look around for more clues,” Goliath explained as he continued walking and searching.

“Right…” Ethan sighed, before looking through a door. A large throne covered in dust, with a single banner hanging. “Maybe that banner has significance.”

“Banner?” Goliath asked as he joined Ethan at the door. “If that doesn’t have significance than something in this room will since this looks to be the throne room.”

“There’s a horse on it…” Ethan said, stunned.

“That there is...Please, please, please. Tell me we aren’t where I think we are…” Goliath said in despair as his eyes shrunk to pinpricks.

“I can’t read minds, where do you think?” Ethan asked.

“You're not going to like it...I think we're in My Little Pony,” Goliath said as he covered his eyes with a hand.

“It’s just a horse with wings and a horn. Why would you think this is a pony thing?” Ethan asked.

“It's because the girls at the orphanage would watch it every Saturday morning. They would see a spider and call me to kill it while watching it. Anyway, that's the only place I've seen a horse with wings and a horn,” Goliath said.

“It might be a symbol for a tribe, like a combination of a Pegasus and Unicorn. Might represent something.” Ethan said, “But no idea is debunked, so let’s find some people and either confirm or deny your theory.”

“I'm hoping that you're right. Being in that show would be horrible. The characters are way too naive and forgiving. Anyway, since this is the throne room there should be a way to get out the main entrance from here,” Goliath said as he walked toward the largest set of doors in the room.

“Okay, but we can’t leave. Let’s head back and tell the others what we found.” Ethan said.

“Yeah, okay. Hopefully they found out things we didn’t and hopefully we aren’t stuck in technicolor pony land,” Goliath said as he rejoined Ethan and headed back to where Tigre and Kaz were waiting.

“Welcome back. We found nothing in this room. Did you guys have any better luck?” Tigre said as the four who had left returned. There was a peace sign made of arrows in the door he’d been using for target practice.

“We found a throne room with a banner.” Ethan remarked. “Some kinda winged Unicorn was on it.”

“We found some suits of armor and weapons made for horses and a forest outside that seems to go on forever,” Cheetara chipped in. “Seems that the dominate species for this area is ponies. The armor and weapons were displayed the same way medieval castles back on earth display theirs.”

“Well… Maybe we are in My Little Pony… At least they’ll be welcoming, right?” Ethan offers.

“Crap. Why here of all places?” Goliath groaned as he slumped to the floor.

“Hey, at least it isn’t Final Fantasy, or a horror game.” Kaz stated.

“Says someone who looks normal. At least you won’t scare people just by looking at them. I’m a freaking gargoyle. I’m like the exact opposite of these ponies,” Goliath retorted.

“We’re human, meaning they’ve either never seen our race, or they’d give us a chance.” Aelita said. “I watched a bit of the first three generations. Humans are only in the first one, and the others are too stupid to care.”

“My brother forced me to watch generation three point five…” Kaz said, shivering. “It was like fingernails on a chalkboard…”

“Well, I’ve got no idea about any of this since I’ve never seen that show,” Tigre said as he retrieved his arrows from the door. “The real question is what do we do now?”

“Well, it seems like this place is abandoned… Aelita, try figuring out how to fly and see how far this forest really is. Kaz, Goli-” Ethan was stopped by Kaz with a clearing of his throat. “Sorry, do whatever you want. But I’m going to look for a map of this castle.”

“I’ll climb to the top of the castle while Aelita is trying to figure out how to fly. I might be able to see something from up there,” Goliath said.

“I’m all for suggestions of what to do since I’ve got no powers beyond destroying things,” Tigre said.

“Can you hunt?” Ethan asked. “I think food would be good.”

“I’ve never hunted, but Tigre is a master hunter. So, I’ll go try my hand at it since I seem to have Tigre’s skill with a bow.” Tigre replied and started inspecting his arrows for any damage.

“Okay, but hunting won’t do us any good if we don’t know how to prepare the meals. And we also don’t know how to tell if food is poisonous.” Ethan grumbled. “How about you guard the castle?”

“Valid point about the food. Mind if I tag along with you Goliath? Archers are useless unless they have some elevation when defending a castle.” Tigre finished inspecting his arrows and walked up to Goliath.

“Sure, I should be able to carry you on my back while scaling the castle walls,” Goliath replied.

“Well, that covers exploration and defense. We still need food and water if we can’t find some sort of civilization,” Cheetara said. “When you get to the top see if there’s a river nearby. I’ll look for the kitchen to see if any containers are still useful. So, what are you going to do Kaz?”

“Uh… I’m not-” Kaz was cut off by Ethan.

“He doesn’t have any special skills, so he’ll look for some rooms for us.” Ethan stated.

“Rooms are good, but with the amount of dust covering everything I doubt any beds left here are any good,” Cheetara commented.

“Maybe so, but something will be better than nothing,” Goliath said as he and Tigre left the room.

“I… I guess I’ll clean up as many as I can.” Kaz said, looking down.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s get to work people.” Ethan said as he walked towards a hallway.

Author's Note

AN:

BP: I’d like to thank Danger A Dragon for co-writing this story.

Danger: I’d like to thank Bronyparasite for the opportunity to work with him, beyond the War of Shadows.