The cut seemed unimportant.

	It was just a little scratch, due to some thrown up rock shrapnel.  

A few minor drops of blood leaked out before it was healed by her 
magical powers.  In contrast to the almost complete draining of her 
life energy, followed by almost dying a second time that day, when 
the source of her power shattered while trying to stop a meteor from 
hitting the Earth, it just wasn't that big a deal.
	Or so it seemed.
	However, due to the magical nature inherent within them, the blood 
cells survived, even managed to be thrown clear of the meteor when 
the large rock made it's mad dash at Earth.
	The small clusters of cells floated through the void, drinking up 
and being muted by, the unique radiation that formed only in the 
darkness between worlds.  After several years of travel, they came 
upon a sliver of white crystal, where they splashed against it.
	The small crystal shard was an alien intelligence, unique in all of 
the cosmos for it's ability to copy lifeforms.  When the blood 
splashed against the sliver, the alien intelligence began to 
instinctively examine and replicate the sudden appearance of DNA that 
had attached to it's side.
	The life of the being who's body had been the origin of the blood, 
flashed before the alien's metaphysical "eyes" as it's body began to 
change.  The alien learned of such things as the world the creature 
lived in, what a female and male were, bullies, food, school and test 
(although those two areas seemed a little light), family, the value 
of listening as well as speaking what one feels, magic (that bit gave 
the alien a headache) and (in the greatest qualities of all) 
friendship, compassion and love.
	When it began creating it's body, it managed to replicate the 
clothing the original had worn correctly, and managed to duplicate 
the body type and hair style... but that was all.
	The pale skin tone was too difficult and so it... no, she, went for 
the deep blue color that was common to all of her kind when they 
found a being to replicate.  She also found the hair color too 
difficult, so she went for a lime green color that came more 
naturally.  She changed the eye color to a deep gold and added the 
tail with the white spikes on the tip, just for an artistic touch.
	As a final touch, she added the necessary wedge of giant crystal on 
each shoulder, which was necessary for her to draw energy from 
elements around her and keep her alive.  However, she found that the 
advent of something called a "digestive system" could lead to some 
interesting possibilities... as well as adding a complication that 
needed to be attended to later.
	Her body complete, the alien used the psychokinetic power that was 
part of her crystal heritage and began to fly through the star field 
at a speed that came near the light barrier.  An instinct burned in 
the back of her mind.  A need to return to the planet that had 
spawned half of her being.  A need to go there and... and... and...

	I guess that I should be glad I woke up there.  Having writers block 
in a dream is pretty embarasing.

				FFML SENTAI
				 FIVEMAN
By: The Flashman
(Chapter 2: Welcome to the FFML)

	I remember a friend once telling me that he enjoyed drinking himself 
into a blackout because he liked the suspense of waking up and not 
knowing where you were and what was happening.
	Now that I had done something similar, I can't say I recommend the 
experience.  I can say that my friend is a complete psycho though.  
Hell, he's light years beyond...
	Sorry.
	Unlike the quickness and relative painlessness of my being knocked 
out, my return to consciousness was slow, groggy, and left me with a 
dull ache behind my eyes.  "Easy," a voice said, "Don't try to move.  
We'll get you something to drink."
	"Ungh," I said, as I tried to take in my surroundings.
	I attempted to raise my hand to the bridge of my nose, but found my 
arms to be restrained from doing so.  I also felt a sticky weight on 
top of my head, and something uncomfortably tight was keeping my 
chest from expanding to it's fullest as I tried to take a breath.
	A fuzzy figure stepped into my line of sight and, when my eyes came 
into better focus, I noticed that it was Flunky, who had knocked me 
out earlier.  Flunky must have noticed my nervousness as he said, 
"Sorry about before, but we couldn't allowed to take the risk of you 
and your friend saying no."
	"Huh?" I mumbled as an unseen hand put a glass of water up to my 
lips and the person attached to the hand asked me to swallow.
	Not knowing what else to do, I complied and suddenly, I was wide 
awake, without an ounce of the pain I had been feeling several 
seconds ago.  My eyes scanned the room and I noticed that I was in a 
place that would have made any mad scientist proud.  It had your 
standard giant whatsits and doohikies, as well as several thing-a-ma-
bobs and whacha-ma-callits.
	What do you expect from me?  I'm not a technology expert.  I can 
point-and-click pretty well, but that's about it.  I had planned to 
take some computer courses...
	There I go again.
	Anyway, now that I was fully aware and alert, I also noticed that I 
was hooked up to some kind of computer, with several wires leading 
from it to the electrodes on top of my head, and several more 
attached to something that was beyond my line of sight.
	For a second, I panicked and thought that what was going to happen 
next was going to involve a lot of voltage, ending with me as a small 
pile of ash.  "What's going on?" I asked, my heart beating rapidly 
and the feeling of a hyperventalation coming on, "What do you want 
from me?!"
	I almost broke down into a Tsukino Usagi wail #23, complete with 
Tendo Soun Waterfall Cry, but Flunky said, "Easy!  Calm down, we're 
not gonna hurt you.  In fact, we need your help."
	That brought me out of it.  I mean, MY help?  Since when did anyone 
need that?  I mean, I wasn't any sort of specialist on anything.  I 
didn't have any real noteworthy skills, except I'd been told that I 
can come up with some, "Pretty darn wonkey" Anime characters.  
Although, I didn't think that there was a way they could possibly use.
..
	Sorry.
	Blinking in confusion, I asked, "What are you talking about?  And 
who's this 'we' you keep mentioning?"
	Flunky bowed and said, "The 'we' is us..."
	"Oh," I interrupted, "that helps SO much."
	I could feel him glaring at me through his visor as he said, "Do you 
want me to finish or not?"
	"Sorry."
	"We are the Free Flow of the Multiverse League.  FFML for short.  
Our duty is to insure that realities are not altered from what they 
should be.  We also police beings known as Avatars, who are the sum 
and total of a human from your world's imagination, given form in an 
alternate reality.
	"Most of them stick to their realities, but sometimes, they get too 
big for their britches and need to be put back in line.  Also, 
there's Wild Deamons, beings formed in the stuff between realities, 
who's only instinct is to mess up realities, so we have to..."
	"That's fascinating," I interrupted for the second time, "but what 
does it have to do with me being hooked up to this computer?"
	Flunky grimaced for a second before saying, "That's part of the 
problem.  You see, your Avatar form has just fused with you."
	"HUH?!!" I asked, praying that wasn't a Bad Thing.
	"Due to some unknown intervention, the Avatar forming in your mind, 
who would have been born in an alternate reality in a few years and 
joined us, has been artificially matured and bonded with you."
	I felt as if I had been slugged in the gut, and an image of my 
internet alter ego; Flashman, doing an impression of a newborn Alien, 
popped into my mind.  Flunky noticed my reaction and tried to hold 
back a snicker.  "Not like that," he said, "It's a bit more... 
metaphysical then what you're thinking of.  I can't explain it and 
the only ones who could, would take about ten hours to do so.
	"Anyway, to bring this back to the point, the long and the short of 
it is that we need YOU to take your Avatar's place."
	Me?  A super hero?  Oooookaaaay.  I was about to tell him that I 
wasn't the exactly the superheroing type (it took me over an hour to 
finish the mile run in gym class, I could never do the rope climb and 
I don't even want to TALK about weight li... I know, I know), but 
there was still something I wanted to know first.  "You still haven't 
told me," I commented, "why I'm hooked up to this EKG machine on 
steroids."
	"Simple.  What ever hit you, unleashed a certain amount of reality 
warping power called 'Duex Energy'.  When that happened, it went 
through you and into your little toy..."
	"Action figure!" I snapped, in pure instinct.
	"... and the Duex Energy gave your imagination form life." Flunky 
concluded, pretending not to have heard me.  "Now, how that effects 
you being connected to our little Psychotron 5000, is that, when your 
friend... what's her name again?"
	"Space Sailor Moon."
	"When your friend, Space Sailor Moon was created, there were gaps in 
her memory, and we needed to fill her in, or she'd have been that 
endless drone of questions for eternity.  So we had to grab the both 
of you, hook you up to this, and let your memories of her history be 
copied and sent into her brain."
	The straps holding me down on the metal chair I had been fastened 
into, vanished, and the electrodes on top of my head, detached 
themselves and retracted back into the computer.  I stood and 
stretched out.  Then I looked to my right and gasped as I saw her.  
My character, Space Sailor Moon, slumped in a get-up identical to 
what mine had been, as a Morigan look-a-like (or it could have been 
the real thing, I didn't know at the time) in a nurse's outfit, took 
her pulse.  I looked at Flunky, as a strange sense of worry filled me,
 and asked, "Is she okay?"
	"Yeah.  She just needs some time to rest.  The process is pretty 
physically taxing."
	"How come you don't give her what you gave me?"
	"Liquid Duex Energy only works on Avatars."
	"LIQUID Duex Energy?!  You've GOT to be kidding me."
	"Are you going to join us or what?"
	The sudden shift in conversation caught me off guard and I used, 
what was quickly becoming, my word for the day.  "Huh?!"
	"I've made the offer," Flunky said, as a passion suddenly came into 
his voice, "now it's up to you.  Do you want to get a once in a 
lifetime chance to be something more than just another person?  Or do 
you want to just spend out a mundane life as a nobody."
	It was a tempting offer.  A chance to be a hero.  But I was never 
what you would call a brave person.  To be honest, I was a big 
chicken.  I couldn't even work up the courage to go on a loop-the-
loop roller coaster.  If the things Flunky had told me the job 
entailed, were even half as horrible as the stuff my imagination 
dragged up, there was no way in hell I would be able to do it without 
turning into a quivering sack of jello.  I had to opt out.
	"Sorry," I said, "I don't meet your qualifications.  I may have a 
boring life, but at least I know I'll be able to handle it better 
than this."
	Flunky seemed unusually casual as he replied, "Fine."
	Then, he dropped the other shoe.  "I guess we'll just have to wait 
for Spacey here to wake up and ask her.  Given that we can't send her 
back with you, and that there's no reality for her, I don't think 
she'll say no."
	With that last sentence, I received another metaphysical punch to 
the stomach.  Space Sailor Moon was unique and there was no telling 
how she would react to things, since her character had still been 
basically incomplete.  The thought of dropping her into something 
like this without anyone looking out and supporting her, made me say, 
"Fine."  Followed by one of the most dangerous sentences in any 
language, "I'm in."
	I swear, those words are going to be carved on my tombstone.

	An hour later, we heard a soft groan emanate from the amalgamated 
girl and with Doc. Morigan (turned out that she was an alternate 
reality version of the one I knew after all) and Flunky slower to the 
draw, I kneeled in front of her and said, "Good.  You're awake."
	Slowly opening those honey colored eyes, she raised her head and 
looked at me.  Again, I wondered which version of her was in there, 
as there was silence between us.  It was broken when she said, "It's 
you again."
	I nodded and asked, "Are you okay?  Are things... clearer now?"
	She nodded and replied, "What's going on?"
	I went into a shortened version of what Flunky had told me and, when 
the question of membership came up, she asked, "Are you joining?"
	"I guess so."
	"Then I'm in too."
	At the time, I didn't know why we felt the need to stick together 
like that.  I just assumed that it was the instinctive actions of two 
people trying to make sure they had someone with them, during a time 
when so little made any sort of sense.  I learned later that it was 
something else... but that can wait until then.

	Another hour after that, when Space Sailor Moon (we had to give her 
a shorter name) had regained enough energy to be up and about, the 
two of us were escorted by Flunky, to see the head honcho of the FFML.
  Some guy named, simply enough, FFML Boss.  As we went down a long 
hallway, with glass walls that showed a tye-dyed colored abyss, Space 
Sailor Moon and I gawked at the sight, temporarily stopping our walk. 
 "What you're seeing," Flunky said, "is the stuff between multiverses.
  The place where we can send our Special Investigators, SI's for 
short, to any point in any reality."
	As we continued to look with our mouths hanging open, I felt my 
crystallized companion's hand brush against my own, and, for some 
reason unknown to me, I gave it a short, gentle, reassuring squeeze.
	She looked at me, as surprised as I was by the gesture, but then, 
the fearful look softened and she attempted a nervous smile, which I 
tried to return, but ended up doing an even worse job of succeeding 
with.  Flunky cleared his throat and said, "We really must be going.  
The Boss doesn't like to be kept waiting."
	The moment broken, we continued our journey until we came to a large 
metallic door, that looked more like it belonged in a Contra game, as 
the last obstical before a huge stage boss, than in this place of 
light and wonder.  Flunky then took his leave, saying, "I've got to 
go now.  Good luck."
	It's amazing, how you can sometimes learn so much from someone and 
never know their real name.  As well as never see them again.

	As soon as Flunky was gone, the extra large door snapped open with a 
speed that should have been impossible for something it's size.  It 
was like watching an old sci-fi movie.  One second, the door was 
there, and the next, it wasn't.  "ENTER," a powerful, yet strangely 
comforting, voice from inside called, "YOU ARE WELCOME HERE."
	The two of us shared a nervous glance and this time, she squeezed my 
hand, as we walked inside the total blackness of the room.
	After we had taken no more than four steps beyond the entrance, the 
door closed as quickly as it had opened, blocking off what little 
light had been aloud to enter from the outside.  "You still there?" I 
asked, my voice cracking with stress.
	"Yeah," she sounded equally nervous.
	That was when the giant red eyes began to glow... as well as the ten 
meter tall body of the white wolf they were a part of.  The wolf's 
red eyes glanced at me, then at Space Sailor Moon, then back at me 
again.  In the same voice we had heard before, it asked, "WHICH OF 
YOU IS THE AVATAR?"
	Taking a quivering step forward, I meekly said, "That would be me."
	Those eyes locked onto mine, and, even though they held no pupils, I 
could tell that they were judging me, weighing it's... no, he 
definatly had a male presence to him, his next action with a calm and 
careful hand.  "I," the wolf said, "AM FFML BOSS.  ALL THOSE WHO WORK 
FOR THE FFML MUST FIRST BE GRANTED THEIR POWER BY ME.  DO YOU 
UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU NOW PLEDGE YOURSELF TO?"
	I felt a tiny twinge of my old sarcasm kick in before I could squash 
it and replied, "Nooooot exactly."
	The white wolf's eyes narrowed in annoyance, as he said, "YOU MAY 
STILL LEAVE AT THIS POINT AND TIME... IF YOU WISH IT SO."
	I looked over at Space Sailor Moon, who again tried to hide her fear 
behind a smile, and the mental image of her being dumped into who 
knew what, without even a mildly familiar face, made me shudder.  
"I'm in."
	Like I said, carved on my tombstone.
	FFML Boss cocked his large head to the side and said, "SO BE IT."
	Energy crackled in those red eyes, finding a release in twin crimson 
lances of energy that smashed over me like a wave striking the shore. 
 All sight was blotted out to nothing but the color red for long 
minutes, maybe that's why it's one of my least favorite colors now.  
During that time, I could feel myself begin to change.
	Fat and flab melted away to be replaced by muscle.  Weak eyesight 
became 20/20 vision.  Lung capacity increased dramatically.  There 
was something else I thought might have changed, but I was going to 
save THAT inspection until I was alone. (Turned out that it was just 
my imagination.)
	My clothing, which had been only a simple pair of blue jean shorts 
and a Looney Toons as the Colorado Rockies, t-shirt, began to change 
as well.  My body was covered with something that looked like gold 
spandex, with a blue chest plate, silver gloves and blue boots.  A 
silver holster and a blue firearm of some sort formed on my right hip,
 for easy quick drawing.
	I also felt that I had other weapons, somewhere beyond my physical 
reach, yet they would be there if I knew how to summon them.
	The final touch was the helmet.  I knew I was wearing it, when my 
vision temporarily darkened, while the visor adjusted to the light 
levels.
	Then, just like that, the energy faded.  FFML Boss looked at the 
both of us, and said, "WELCOME, SPACE SAILOR MOON.  WELCOME... 
FLASHMAN."
	Flashman.  I was him now.  I felt strangely giddy and yet, at the 
same time, there was... something else, that I couldn't identify 
until later.
	Before I could reflect too much upon my transformation, five soft, 
thump sounds, came from the direction that FFML Boss was standing.  
On the ground, looking like an offering from an oversized dog, were 
five, arm band type devices.  They were rectangle shaped, colored 
silver with two black buttons and they were each marked with a roman 
numeral, ranging from one to five.  As I put the one with the "I" on 
it, it fit from the top of my wrist, along the top of my arm, to 
about a third of the way down my arm.  I found it to be surprisingly 
lightweight and I also noticed that FFML Boss had indicated for Space 
Sailor Moon to take the one marked "V".
	Curiously, I asked, "What're these things?"
	"THEY," FFML Boss explained, "ARE A PART OF WHAT IS NEEDED FOR YOU 
TO BE YOUR BEST.  WHEN I ACCESSED YOUR POWER, I SAW THOSE WHO WILL 
JOIN IN YOUR FIGHT.  ONE IS ALREADY BY YOUR SIDE.  NOW YOU MUST FIND 
THE OTHER THREE.  YOU MUST BECOME... FIVEMAN."
	"Fiveman..." I whispered.
	Space Sailor Moon said, "I'm scared."
	I looked at her and said, "If you want out, I don't blame you."
	She looked at me, somehow reaching my eyes through the visor and 
said, in an accurate imitation of my voice, "I'm in."

	Hmph.  Maybe it'll be on her tombstone too.

TO BE CONTINUED IN...
Part 3: The Mask I Wear.