Codename Sailor-V!! Chapter Two
Vol. 2Minako in"Crown Game Center"Originally appeared in Run-Run, July 1993.
Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.0, 7.96.
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I'm Artemis. I'm a smart tomcat, and I'm good with words. My boss is...
"This is the thirtieth time you've been late this month!" says the teacher.
She's actually an incarnation of the goddess of love and beauty, Venus. She's the soldier of love and justice, Sailor Venus.
"Code name: Sailor V!" says Minako.
She's supposed to turn into Sailor V, but as Mina... She's late, lazy, and she habitually dozes off. Besides that, she hates studying. Normally, she's quite far from a justice fighter. She can be a beauty or a beast.
"Who's a beast!?" Minako says. "Artemis! Actually, I'm haven't decided if I want to be a soldier of justice yet."
"What!? You've been chosen! You're the only one who can do it! What's wrong with it!?"
"First," she says. "That suit! It's a costume. It's not cool. I can't use it for normal stuff. I don't like it. Oh, excuse me, Artemis. I'm going to the game center!"
She walks into the Crown Game Center. "Hey, Mina-chan!" says Motoki.
She grins. "Hi o-nii-san!"
I'm Aino Minako. I'm 13 years old, and in 7th grade. Now I have a crush on o-nii-san, who works here at the game center. I'm just like an ordinary girl.
"Mina acts like a boy," says Artemis. "She loves video games, and she's the only girl who comes here."
Minako rapidly hits buttons on the game she's playing.
"Shoryuken!" the game says. "Hadoken!"
"She's rude," says Artemis, "she's quarrelsome, and she eats a lot. But she does have good reflexes."
"Oh, you're one to talk! You're some transsexual cat!" "A transsexual!?"
"Well, Artemis is a girls' name, isn't it? She was the virgin hunting goddess. She was Apollo's brother, the goddess of the moon, Artemis."
"Mina, that's amazing!" he says. "Where'd you..."
"From this game!" she says. She points to one of the game machines.
Artemis sighs. "Mina!" he shouts. "Haven't you spent enough time at the game center! You need to go home, so you can study to be a soldier of justice!"
She covers up his mouth. "You bozo!" she says. "You're going to let everyone know you can talk! Now shut up!"
She goes to another video game. "Hey, all right. This is the game I came to play. I'm going to get the high score!"
"'Lovely Fight'?" says Artemis. "An action game? Are those exciting?"
"Yeah!" says Minako. "This woman fighter has a reinforced suit, see? Isn't it cool! Oh, come on! I didn't beat that guy. See, look. If you get a high score, you get to enter your name on the rankings screen."
Minako's score is ranked second.
"Oh, that 'Taku' guy! He's always got the highest score!"
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Minako enters the game center the next day. "Okay, today I'll do it!"
She sits down at the machine and plays.
"No! Taku is still first place!? With forty thousand points!? And I just got twenty thousand... Damnit! Come on! Who is this guy!?"
She sees a boy and a girl together at a UFO catcher.
"Oh... I always come here by myself..."
"What's that smell?" thinks a man with long, dark hair. "Smells like...floral hair mousse. That sailor uniform. Long, straight hair..."
"Hey! O-nii-san!"
"Shrill voice," the man thinks. "She doesn't belong here. This game center is supposed to be a castle for lonely boys. But still, couples have been coming here like mollusks. They play all the cutesy games. And now, a girl is coming here by herself!"
A girl pulls on the sleeve of the guy she's with. "Hey, Akihiro!" she says. "Come on, get me an Aru-chan doll!"
"Oh..." the guy says. "I'm no good at that..."
Minako shoves a coin into the machine, and picks up the Aru-chan doll with the crane. She takes it out, and walks away.
"Wow!" says the girl. "She got it in one try!"
"That girl!" the man thinks. "She's too good!"
"Games, eh?" says Artemis, carrying the pen in his mouth. "Training as a soldier of justice... If she doesn't remember it, maybe that could teach her..."
"You could use Mina's favorite game," says the pen. "That might be a good idea."
"Yes, boss. I'll do that." -
"Hey, what are those?" says Motoki. "Posters? Guess I'm supposed to put them up."
-
Posters line the wall of the game center. They have a picture of Sailor V, and say, "Coming soon!! Sailor V, the ultimate action game."
Some kids stare at them. "The Sailor V game?" "Who's Sailor V?"
"I've never heard of her." "Looks interesting." -
At night, Artemis pulls a big box by a cord. He stops, and breathes heavily. "This should be okay. I even got an official tag on it."
- "What's this box?" says Motoki. "Looks like a new game's been delivered."
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"A Sailor V game!?" says Minako.
"Oh, Mina-chan," says Motoki. "Yeah, that's a new game we got."
"I don't believe it!" She sits down and starts playing. "Oh, I lost!"
"Oh, you're not serious," says Artemis. She starts playing again.
Two guys go up to Motoki. "Hey, that stupid girl keeps playing Sailor V! We want to play too. Why isn't there another one?"
"I don't know where that game came from," he says.
"Good, good!" says Artemis. "You're getting better, Mina."
"You think?" she says. "No matter what I do, there doesn't seem to be an end to the game. I can't find a pattern to it. It's hard."
"You decide when the game ends, Mina." "Me?"
She sees two boys staring at her. She jumps up.
"Oh, you want to play? Please, go ahead! I've been hogging it."
She goes to another game. "Hey, I know! Now I'll try playing Lovely Fight again!" She starts to play. "Yes! I can do it! I've getting a great score! Beating these guys is easy! Yes! Fifty-nine thousand points! All right! I topped Taku! First place! I'm the best!"
The man stands up in the corner of the game center. "What was that!?"
"Huh?" says Minako. "Who's that?"
"Oh," says Motoki, "those guys come here all the time. They're kind of shady, but they have a game lovers' group."
The man with long, dark hair walks over to her. "So, Mina-chan, you've beaten Gamer Taku. Well that's me, Otaku Takuro! You can't fool me! That long hair, high voice, and sailor uniform! Show me who you really are! Come on! Take off those clothes! You're really a guy!"
"What!?" she says. She runs away from him. "Artemis!! Who is that!?"
"Hmm..." Artemis says. "He could be an enemy..."
"No," says the voice from the pen. "I think he's just a normal game maniac. There's nothing you can do. Use the compact! It has the power to change you into a person of any age, personality, occupation, or class. Give that guy the slip!"
"I can change into anything!? Really!?" She tosses up the compact. "Crescent Moon Power! Transform! Change me into the squadron heroine-like armored woman soldier!" She appears in battle gear like the character in Lovely Fight. "Look! Look! Artemis! I got an armored suit!"
"Wow! That's amazing!" says Takuro. "You look like you came right off the screen! All right! Now this is what I've been looking for!"
He jumps on her, and she falls to the floor. "Hey! You pervert!" she says.
"Ha ha!" "It's heavy... I can't move! This armor is so heavy!"
"I don't believe this..." says Artemis.
Minako grabs the pen. "Moon Power Transform!" She turns into Sailor V in a flash of light. "Code name: Sailor V! I'm the soldier of justice, the sailor-suited beautiful soldier Sailor Venus! Ah, now this is light. It's easy to move in this costume."
"Sailor V!? The Sailor V from the game!?" "That's Sailor V!?"
"This feels great!" she thinks. "I won't give up this soldier of justice job."
Takuro lifts up the back of her skirt. "Wow! You're really maturing! What's in here?"
"What are you doing!!" she yells. "Sailor V Kick!!"
She kicks him in the head, and he flies back onto the ground.
"Whoops!" she says. "I don't think he was an enemy..."
Artemis groans. "Mina..." "Let's get out of here!" She runs away.
"For being so stubborn and flashy," Artemis says, "she sure is quick to run away. I wonder if she's really suited for this..."
"Wow..." says Motoki. "The game's Sailor V showed up. A soldier of justice... That's some PR campaign!"
