Fencer's Nightmare

Somewhere, a Fox slowly blinked his eyes open, but found both clouded with... something. He slowly became aware of his paws tied behind his back.

The Fox tried to pull his bindings loose. He gave up and called out.

“Hello?”

There was a small grunt to his left. His heart skipped a beat.

“Sphinx?”

The grunt issued again.

The Fox unsheathed his Vectors, expertly severing the ropes.

He pulled the blindfold off his face.

“Sphinx.” he dove towards a small bundle, “Sphinx, you okay man?”

The bundle shook his head.

The Fox bit his lip, “What happened?”

The bundle started shaking, emitting a small whimper.

“Sphinx, what's wrong?”

Gesturing to his own face with a blanketed limb, the figure whimpered again.

Gingerly, the Fox pulled the cloth from his face.

The Fox recoiled, smacking his head into the far wall.

“WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARES!”

It was a fine day.

Two mares were chasing each other in the cool green grass, biting and nipping at each others exposed wings.

Three Foxes sat watching them, engrossed in their own conversation about new locations and better wiring.

A lone cloaked stallion trotted through the yard. The trail covered his lanky frame, and the hood covered his mismatched eyes.

Still, at the sound of an approaching figure, one Fox turned around.

“Hey Skor.”

The stallion scoffed, stopping beside a silver Fox. He gave a stern look and trotted right back off, making for the door.

“I think I'm in trouble.” the silver Fox slowly stood, eyes firmly locked on the figure's retreating back. Following a full step behind, the silver Fox was led to a large green box.

The figure opened it, holding the door open. The Fox gingerly stepped after.

“Did I do something?”

The figure shook his head, gesturing to his face.

The silver Fox carefully lifted the hood.

He jumped back, scream blocked out by a louder one.

“WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARES!”

The two remaining Foxes looked towards the house.

“What are they doing in there?”

The red Fox shrugged, “Apparently Skorpeon's a little cheesed.”

The black vixen shook her head, “It didn't sound like angry. More of... malicious.”

Casting a look at the two playing mares, the Vixen made her way into the house, following the same route the other two
took.

The red Fox bounced into the living room, “Why's Xanadu open?”

“I was just wondering the same thing.”

They gave each other a look, cautiously stepping towards the swinging door.

“Miles?” The black vixen poked her head in, “Skor?”

The red Fox nudged her shoulder, pointing to a pair legs sticking out from under the console.

“What are you doing?” The red Fox knelt down at the legs' level. “Something wrong with Xanadu?”

There was a small crack, and a glowing green liquid started spraying from under the console.

The lights flashed once and shut off.

The two Foxes fell backwards, dripping from ear to tail in the glowing goo.

The Vixen wiped the crud from her face, red eyes widening in horror. “Is this...”

“The Thermocoupling cooling liquid? Yes.”

“What are you doing? Trying to break Xanadu?” The Vixen stood, grabbed the destroyer’s feet, and pulled.

Black and Red mingled, as a loud cry issued.

“WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARES!”

Someone coughed.

Someone tried to wriggle free of their bonds.

Someone tried to kick a small device from his trouser pocket.

“This is getting NOWHERE!” A black fox shouted, trying to unleash his vectors once more.

“Can't you just unleash your vectors?”

“What the flippin' 'eck do you think I'm trying to do?”

“No need to shout.”

“Oh, thank you Doctor. I'll remember that for future use when we're all DEAD!”

The small group sat in silence, wrists chafed and bleeding from their struggles.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That scream. Someone gave a scream of death.”

“You're hearing things Skorpeon.”

“Viper, back me up!”

His sister sighed, “Skorpeon, face it, we're all going to die, and there's nothing we can do.”

Another bout of silence, punctuated only be Skorpeon's ocassional muttering.

“WELCOME!”

The four Foxes jumped, blinking the sudden arrival of bright light.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlement to Syrgree Manor. My name is Fencer, and I will be your host this evening.”

Fencer was a human. About five-foot. He wore elegant green clothing and had a deck of playing cards in his breast
pocket. His dark brown hair was butched at the ears, and he wore a large gold necklace around his wrist.

“To start, I will give you a tour of my home, going over all things there is, including the kitchen sink.”

Fencer clicked his fingers, releasing his guests from their bonds.

“Wait, what?”

The human turned to the Fox, “Forgive me, you have a question, mister...”

“Ten.” The Doctor replied, “If we are being given a tour of your home, why are we in the basement?”

Fencer laughed. It was a good, hearty laugh, “I invited you to my home to play a game with me. It makes it more exciting when you're kept in the dark as long as possible.”

He clapped his hands, “Anyway, on with the tour. Allons-y!”

Skorpeon caught step with The Doctor, “Great. You've another fanboy that is even more nuts than I am.”

“...And that concludes out tour. Now, any questions? Yes, the one with the goggles?”

Miles lowered his paw, “What is the game we keep hearing nothing about.”

Fencer gave a warm smile, and tapped the side of his nose. “All in good time, my cybernetic friend. Now, who would like to go first?”

“First for what?”

“The game of course. The next round starts in five minues, and the top player does NOT like to be kept waiting.”

Skorpeon shrugged, “What the hay. I'll give it a shot.”

“Excellent!” Fencer handed Skorpeon a large box, “Choose a deck and I will tell the contestant that he is to duel soon.”

Fencer gave a wink to Viper, and took off.

The four Foxes peered around the box, “What are they?”

“Decks of cards.” Skorpeon shrugged pulling one out. It was wrapped in silver-gold plastic, imposed with an image of a sponge wearing a brown suit and tie.

“Deck contains fourteen cards concerning Spongebob Squarepants.” Skorpeon tossed the deck back into the box,
sifting through the hundreds of others, “Raven, Beast Boy, Spitfire, Jinx, Cinderblock, Bubbles... Some kind of Cartoon Network showdown?”

“Doesn't look like it,” Miles held another deck up, “Check this out.”

“Mickey Mouse?” Skorpeon couldn't help but grin, “What kind of game is it where Cartoon Network meets Disney?”

“The BBC as well.” The Doctor pulled another deck out, this one with Rose Tyler on the face.

“What was that game that you played, mashing almost ten universes together in one battle?”

“Super Smash Brothers. But that was still limited to Nintendo. This has everything. Look, Pinkie and The Brain.”

Sure enough, Skorpeon was holding a deck of cards with a large-headed experimental mouse.

“Think fast.” The Doctor tossed Skorpeon another deck, “Cynder, Legend of Spyro.”

Skorpeon examined the deck, “This makes me wonder what kind of game I just became a part of...”

Viper screeched, dropping one deck, “Good night I can't believe I touched that!”

Miles picked the discarded deck from where Viper tossed it, “What's wrong with Daft Punk?”

“Uh-oh.” The Doctor recognized that face, “Cover your ears everybody.”

Skorpeon shot a nasty look at Ten, “Shut up.”

The other two looked at the deck Skorpeon found. “Guess nothing is hidden from this Fencer bloke.”

“Nope. Alright, I got My Angel of Music. See you on the flipside.”

Skorpeon took the deck with Luna's smiling face, and made his way to the door Fencer took.

He blinked. It was a small atrium-like room with a large platform in the very center. Glass adorned the circular walls, as well as an overhead balcony for spectators. The room was brightly lit, allowing clear, unwavering light to illuminate the entire playing field.

“And now, our next contestant hails from a small world known as 'Equestria'. Not only is this small world distant from the
rest of Menkind (half of the reason being inhabited ONLY by Ponies), but it also has great sources of people. From this land
comes our next contestant, Skorpeon RyDer!”

Skorpeon stepped into the atrium, looking around for the screaming crowd. Instead, there was only Fencer holding a
tape recorder and an ice-cream cone.

“Take your seat, Mister RyDer, and the game will begin.”

The Fox did as he was told.

“I assume you've chosen a good deck.”

“I hope so.” For good measure, Skorpeon flashed his deck.

“Brilliant. Now, you contestant. Introductions may not be necessary, for he is none other than The King of Games!”

“Skorpeon?”

“Yugi Motoh?”