I lay on my bed, idly swatting at the bluish screen of reality defying transparency. I swung at it with what I can only assume caused it to start in the first place. A baseball bat. It was a MATTSTAR Aluminum bat, made by a company called RealTek Manufacturing.

That might not mean much to you. What you SHOULD know, is that this is a fictional company. As far as I know. It's slightly referenced in a manga called 'The Gamer'. It was the first weapon the main character used, and one he still kept with him all the way up to the most recent chapter I had read.

I had found it at the convention I was at yesterday. In one of the myriad of halls connecting all the different events, I found a large grouping of choice places to lose all of my hard earned pocket change. Twelve inch figures of every anime imaginable. Keychains of every series you could possibly name. I even noticed one poor sod selling off a REALLY highly detailed model of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Among all this, I came across a solitary table. I should have thought it weird, what with all the saliva inducing goodies scattered on top of the table. With all that, how come there wasn't a single person pressuring her for a price on any of the items there on her table? How come... it was if no one even noticed?

I saw Clouds buster sword propped up along one side of the table, along with a portal gun, Vash's gun, Dante's guns... there were a lot of prop guns. Point is, if you can name it, right here and now, this brilliant girl had it somewhere on her table. And among all of that, I found it.

The bat. It just looked so out of place, a normal bat alongside all these other fantasy and science fiction themed items. I gravitated towards it, and of course I picked it up. Gave it a couple practice swings. Again, in a packed hall, weird that I was able to do this. Almost like... people were unconsciously avoiding this table. Naaaaaah, I must have been imagining it.

I had to have it. Being able to find such an obscure piece of memorabilia in such a weird place was just too good of an opportunity for me to pass up. I payed the nice African American lady -she had actually been a bit creepy, after I bought the bat she got all mad. Asking why I was 'still there' and why I hadn't left yet- and left with my prize, having a thoroughly productive remainder of my day. There was even a new Star Trek movie announced!

Anyway, that was about a week ago. I had to go back to work almost the very next day, so I didn't have a lot of time to inspect my booty. Countless posters and promotional items, the bat, a Magical Girl Madoka figurine -it would look so freaking cool lined up alongside the others!~- and an item I would never willingly admit I owned to any sort of civilized company. A Sakura Wars mouse-pad.

'Ooooh, but Colton,' I hear you asking. 'Why would a mouse-pad be anything bad? It's just a mouse-pad!'

I'll tell you why. This mouse-pad featured one of the leading ladies... with her breasts... as... ahem... 'cushioned wrist support'.

Buying items like this were my guilty pleasure. I had a whole drawer of stuff like this!~

Not that I'm a pervert or anything. Nothing of the sort.

So anyway, about a week after I got that, I was just wasting my time in my bedroom... when something right out of the manga happened.

A blue, semi transparent rectangle flashed into existence in front of my face. Proudly declaring the text-

A Portal Has Opened To The Next Area! Do You Accept?

I stared at it for a good couple minutes, wondering if perhaps I was drunk. That of course was a preposterous thought. I hadn't touched a drink for over three years, had the three stupid little chips to prove it. At times they inspired me, others it seemed as if the circular bronze disks mocked me.

So I sat there, trying to figure it out. Accept? Accept what? That the portal was open, or that I could go through it or what? Accept that yes, it did exist and wasn't a figment of my imagination? Or Accept the exact opposite, that I had actually gone insane?

Such thoughts weren't helping me. I picked up the closest thing to me -which just so happened to be the bat lying against my bed- and tried to smack the blue window. It didn't do anything, just phasing through the rectangle with only slight ripples in the surface to show I had even touched it.

A couple more swipes, and I realized my efforts were pointless.

Do you accept. Huh. Well... if the context was anything to go by, pressing yes wouldn't necessarily suck me through or anything. If that was the case, it would have said something like 'Travel to the next area?' or something similar.

Right?