"Sailor V! Sailor V!" chants the audience.

"Today, for you, I'm going to sing!" she says. "I'm an idol! I'm so happy!"

Artemis hangs his head as he sits by the sleeping girl.

Vol. 5
The Dark Agency's Plot

The boys are on stage, at the Dark Guys concert. "Thank you everyone!" they say. "We'll definitely come back again!"

Minako and Hikaru leave. "Oh, that concert was the best!"

"It was so cool seeing the Dark Guys live!" says Minako. "I'm so happy!"

I'm Aino Minako, in 7th grade.

"Aren't you tired from the concert?" asks Hikaru. "I feel faint."

"Well, you were yelling too loud, Hikaru-chan."

"What! You were yelling a lot louder than I was."

"Right!" says Minako. "I was cheering the whole time. And I feel great!"

"You're really cheerful, Mina."

"Being an idol must be fun. I wish I could be one."

"You want to go to your house and listen to the new Dark Guys CD?" Hikaru asks.

"Really!? That's...!"

"What?"

"Well... I have to keep the concert secret," Minako says. "I wasn't supposed to go..."

"Why? Will your mom get mad?"

"No, the mad one will be..."

"Mina!!"

"Huh? Did someone call you, Mina?" asks Hikaru.

Artemis glares at Minako. She grabs him. "Bye, Hikaru-chan. See you at school!" She leaves. "Artemis... Are to trying to make a spectacle of yourself, being a talking cat?"

"Exactly!" he says. "You're always going off by yourself and playing around."

This is the talking tomcat, Artemis.

"If you keep acting like that, you'll never bring peace to the world."

It's my secret, but I'm really the soldier of justice, Sailor V.

"What!? An idol concert!? You should be careful with idols. Remember Pandora and Petite Pandora? All the enemies we've defeated here have been idols. Haven't you learned anything!? If you want to be a soldier of justice, you should consult with me and investigate before you go to a concert."

"Oh, Artemis. You worry too much. The Dark Guys aren't evil. Come on, look." She shows him a picture. "Aren't they cool!? These triplets are the hottest idols! Anyway, they're great. Their faces, their voices, all together..."

"Dark Guys... They belong to the Dark Agency... The Pandora and Petite Pandora we defeated both belonged to the Dark Agency's idol talent."

"Hey, members in the fan club get priority for buying tickets to the next Dark Guys concert!"

"Ohh..." says Minako. "I want to go, but I don't have any money."

"If that's the case..." says Amano. "You can listen to the concert with me!"

"Amano! What, are you a Dark Guys fan too?"

"No, no," he says. "Now the number one requested group is the twin idols, Twin Dark. They're cute! Look, they're in this literary magazine, and lots of info is available using computers. Did you know? They're the triplet Dark Guys' younger sisters."

"Hey, they really do look alike," says Minako.

"Come on," says Wakagi. "Why do I have to cover this idol singer's concert?"

"Don't talk like that, Wakagi-senpai," says an officer.

"She's the most popular singer for karaoke," says another. "The Dark Princess is the salaryman's goddess!"

The idol sings on stage:
"Over your job
Choose me
Kneel to me
And down to your bones
You will receive my love"

"Ohh..." says Wakagi. "I'm crazy about her... My head's spinning. I'm exhausted."

The woman sits back in her chair, in the Dark Agency Office, taking a puff from a cigarette.

"Heh heh. For the next new idol, we've got commercials and a trendy drama series, followed by a movie and events. If we aim under the Dark Guys and Twin Dark, and over the Dark Princess, we'll have every age group covered. Things are turning out well."

The door opens. "Boss," a man says. "You have a call."

"Okay," she says. She presses a button, and a clear screen is lowered. A silhouette appears on it.

"Fluorite," says the figure. "I take it you are progressing well."

"Danburite-sama," she says. "Leave it to me."

"Pandora and Petite Pandora have already failed. I can't overlook that."

"I understand," says Fluorite. "This time I am sending out many cloned copies as idols, to perform the brainwashing. I will soak up lots of energy, and bring about the destruction of the humans! Using the idol talent is the best method to brainwash people. I can soak up a mountain of energy, and take in lots of money. After the brainwashing, they'll be slaves, and I can use them for anything. Then all Japan- no, the whole planet Earth will be ruled by us!"

"It's time for school to end," says Artemis. "If I don't come to meet Mina, she'll go off to fool around. A lot of ads for Dark Agency idols have popped up lately... All these people look strange. They're worn out. There's no life in their faces... A pattern. Mina doesn't know about this emergency situation!"

The students pack up their bags.

"Dark... Dark..."

"I have to hurry home to watch the Dark Guys on TV."

"I need to listen to my CD..."

"Hikaru-chan?" says Minako.

Hikaru leaves, and her CD falls from her bag.

"What's with her?" Minako says. "She dropped this, and didn't notice. Weird." She picks it up. "Th- This is-! The Dark Guys new CD!! I gotta hear it! Nerd! You have a good CD player. Give it to me!" She grabs the Discman from Amano and plays the CD.

"Dark... Dark..." chants the singer. "Dark Agency..."

"Ohhh...." says Minako. "Yes, Dark Agency..."

"Mina!" calls Artemis. "That's an enemy's brainwashing CD! Don't listen to it!" He yanks the headphones from her ears. He starts batting at her face. "We have to be careful. Come on, Mina!"

"Ow! Ow! Owww!" Minako cries. "What are you doing, Artemis!?"

"You're back to yourself," he says. "You fell into the enemy's trap! Mina, you haven't been doing your job. You're a soldier of justice!"

Minako hits her hand on the desk. "Artemis!! Do you remember!? I've been doing what I can, but there's no reason for me to be a soldier of justice! And about the enemies! And about my employer!! I don't know anything! You haven't told me a thing, Artemis! You've been using me unfairly!"

"...Ohh..." says Artemis. "I can't take this anymore. Mina! Come!!"

Minako and Artemis enter the Crown Game Center.

"What!?" Minako says. "What are we doing here!?"

Artemis hits a button on the Sailor V game machine, and a hole opens in the floor underneath Minako. She screams as she falls through it. She lands on the floor of a basement. Computers line the walls, with a large monitor in the center.

"Hey, Mina!" says a voice. "I've been waiting."

"That voice... Boss!? Boss, this place..."

"This is the command center," the voice says. "Since you need to train a little more as a soldier, I'd rather Artemis hadn't brought you here."

"Boss!" says Minako. "It's all right! I wanted to know! You always give me orders. Just what is your real form? Tell me!"

"That... I can't tell you yet."

She grimaces.

"But, Mina, about the enemies. It's the dreadful plan of an organization called the Dark Agency. They're not human! They want to soak energy from humans, and cause the downfall of mankind. They're planning to conquer Earth! All the previous enemies were sent out from there!"

"Soak energy!? Conquer Earth!?"

"Mina! Take action! Go fight, to foil the Dark Agency's plot!"

"Understood, boss!"

Minako and Artemis stand outside the Dark Agency Dream Idol Fair.

"A day ticket's 10,000 yen!!" Minako says. "Ten thousand yen!? I don't believe it! No way I could afford that! So... Crescent Moon Power Transform! Change me into an army foot soldier!"

She appears in a camouflage suit, holding a rifle. She kicks open the door and runs inside. "Charge!" she calls.

The crowd cheers.

"Thank you!" say the Dark Guys. "And now, our sisters! The Twin Dark!"

The spotlight shines on a smiling girl with long, blond hair.

"You're not the Twin Dark! Who are you!? You're cute!"

"Who's that!?" calls Fluorite. "You!"

"You use idols!" says the girl. "Boys, girls, regardless of age! You brainwash people! Such greed! The taxation office won't allow that! I was an army foot soldier, and a newcomer beautiful idol. The real me is... Moon Power Transform!" She changes. "Code name: Sailor V. The soldier of justice, the sailor-suited beautiful soldier, I am Sailor Venus!"

She knocks the door open with her boomerang. "Everyone! Take shelter!"

"You're interrupting me, Sailor V!" Fluorite says. "Put an end to her!"

The Dark Agency's idols go after her. She kicks a Dark Guy away. "I don't have business with you small fries. Crescent Beam!" She blasts them.

"My pretty clones!" says Fluorite. "I'll stop this!"

"Crescent Boomerang!"

The boomerang hits her, but she doesn't stop.

"Ohhh! She's still attacking! I've got a bad feeling..." She lifts her compact. "Venus Power! Love Crescent Shower! Pour down rain!"

The rain falls, melting Fluorite to the ground.

"Mina!" Artemis says. "You did it!"

"Hehe! I guess I showed I can do it, for once."

"No!" he says. "Those weren't the real enemies! There should be a more powerful enemy."

"I understand. I will practice more and more, for the day I defeat that powerful enemy. Right?"

Minako passes two girls looking at a poster as she leaves the Crown Game Center.

"Wow! The Sailor V game!" says the one with two long, blond ponytails.

"Yes," Minako thinks. "For that day."

On to Volume 6