Hi guys! Shizuka Rakugaki here with a brand new series! Because I had so much fun parodying Sailor Moon and Tokyo Mew Mew in my fanfic Soldier Candy, I thought it would be fun to parody manga and anime in general, so…enjoy!

Chapter 1: Down the Manga Bin

"Anna-May!" a loud female voice cried out.

Crap! It's my mother, I thought, looking around for her.

On most days, I usually managed to buy the stuff I wanted before she knew I was here, but today I was having a dilemma. I couldn't decide whether I wanted the latest volume of Naruto or this new manga I never heard of called Alice in the Country of Hearts, and I only had enough money to buy one of them. After glancing once more at both, my eyes wandered to the front of the manga-store, where I saw my mother walk inside. She viewed the store with disgust, but I managed to look away before her eyes fell on me. There weren't too many places to hide, since the store was basically one room with three book-shelves and four metal bins full of anime posters, dolls, and other merchandise-related items.

When I looked back, my mother was making her way to the cash register, receiving a lot of stares from the other customers. She wasn't pretty, per say, but the make-up did make her look younger. I wanted to put the manga down and get out of the store, but my hands refused to let them go. My mom didn't take me out to the mall very often, so this was the only opportunity I had to obtain the things I loved most.

Hoping that she would go away, I quietly made my way along the bookshelf so she wouldn't see me from the cash register. However, I was so focused on what lay ahead of me that I didn't look down in time to see that I was walking towards one of the metal bins. My feet knocked against it with a clang, causing a few nearby customers to look at me. In fear of my mom hearing it, I quickly ducked down behind it, keeping out of view. While those behind me gave me odd looks, I heard footsteps coming toward me.

Shoot, I thought, holding the unbought manga close to my chest. I wish I was somewhere other than here!

Then suddenly, the strangest thing happened. The metal bin I was hiding behind started to form a hole on the side that faced me, and the bargain-priced manga behind it vanished completely. I was too shocked to say anything as I looked up and saw my mother's tall figure looming over me.

"Anna-May, what are you doing here?" my mom asked, frowning.

Instead of answering her, I instinctively leaped into the dark hole before me, still holding the manga against my chest. But I immediately regretted my decision as I fell into nothing. The air inside rushed past me, forcing my eyes to close as I waited to hear the inevitable sound of my bones being crushed at the bottom of this very deep cataclysm that I somehow found myself falling into.

However, that sound never came. Instead, I heard a sly voice whispering in my ear, "Anna-May Otaku."

Upon hearing my name, I woke up with a jolt. To my surprise, I was sitting in a chair in some abandoned classroom, while opposite of me stood a skinny man with yellow eyes, pale skin, and was wearing a pink suit that reminded me of the Mad Hatter from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. He grinned at me, revealing a large row of teeth, and it was then that I recognized him.

"Masakaki?" I asked.

"Yes, that is what I am called in your world," he replied, and lay himself flat on the desk in front of him, with his head propped between his hands. "Now I suppose you're wondering where you are, and how you got here."

"That's a really good cosplay!" I blurted, not believing my eyes.

The man who called himself Masakaki chuckled, and with his head still propped between his hands, he levitated his body towards me till our noses almost touched. "If you think I'm one of those 'cosplayers', you're wrong. I am the real thing."

As if to demonstrate, he suddenly vanished, and reappeared right behind me. Still not believing him, I replied, "You're just using holographic projections. That doesn't prove anything!"

But the man who called himself Masakaki didn't frown. In fact, his grin grew wider. "Then how do you explain how I know your name?"

"You looked through my purse while I was still passed out. I know my Student ID is in there," I said firmly.

"True, but what about that hole you fell through not too long ago?"

"I was drugged, and so my mind was imagining things."

"That might be possible, and yet there is one thing that doesn't add up." The man called Masakaki then disappeared again, reappearing this time next to me with his arm wrapped around my shoulder. "Who would want to kidnap you? Your mother works as a secretary for a mediocre fashion magazine, and your father hasn't been in your life since you were five years old. The school you attend is average. You're not popular among your peers, nor notorious, and the only thing you have that makes your life worthwhile is manga and anime."

Naturally, I was outraged by this man, who was spouting off things about my life like they were amusing bits of gossip, and the fact that he knew so much about me even though we were strangers. I jumped out of the chair, pushing him aside, and looked for the nearest exit. While most of the walls where covered by stacked-up desks and chairs, there was one door that stood visible, but before I could run towards it, the man who called himself Masakaki appeared there first, blocking my way.

"If this is some kind of sick joke, it's not funny!" I said, trying to get past the man, but no matter where I turned, he was always in front of me. "Who are you? Why did you kidnap me? And what are you trying to accomplish by dressing up as Masakaki?"

"Before I answer your other questions, let me ask you this: if I was merely using holographic projectors, then you would've felt nothing when my arm touched your shoulder, so how am I able to disappear and reappear wherever I please?"

I remembered the weight of his arm quite distinctly, but I quickly dismissed it. "But you can't be the real Masakaki!"

"That is true in your world, but in this one, I am."

"You make it sound like we're in another dimension or something."

The man who called himself Masakaki smiled, and then snapped his fingers.

The classroom dissolved, and we then found ourselves floating over an immense landscape of valleys, forests, and lakes with distinctly enclosed structures scattered about. There were no roads connecting them, but there was a pristine palace that lay relatively at the center of the surrounding structures. Then far off in the distance, I could see a small cottage at the foot of white-capped mountains while a dark swirling hole occupied the sky above it.

I know this is going to sound cliché, but I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore, I thought to myself.

To be continued…