Alone No More: Minako's Story
by Jason C. Ulloa


Chapter 3

Minako walked down the street, paying only half of a mind to whatever Artemis was telling 
her. Lately, he had been trying to get her to take her Sailor V role more seriously, but 
she just didn't feel ready for it yet.

"She's quite far from a justice fighter," he muttered irritably to himself when he saw that 
she wasn't paying much attention to him anymore. "She can be a beauty or a beast at times."

"Who's a beast!?" she retorted. "Artemis! Actually, I haven't decided if I want to be a 
soldier of justice yet."

"What?!?" he exclaimed in disbelief. "You've been chosen! You're the only one who can do 
it! What's wrong with it!?"

"First," she began, "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 turned 
and walked into the Crown Game Center.

"Hey, Mina-chan!" Motoki greeted. He usually worked at the arcade. She had just recently 
developed another crush, this time for him.

She grinned. "Hi, o-nii-san!" she said cheerily with a wave as she entered.

"Mina acts like a boy," Artemis continued tiredly to himself. "She loves video games and 
she's the only girl who comes here." He watched as she rapidly hit buttons on the game she 
was playing. The game occasionally emitted phrases such as "Shoryuken!" and "Hadouken!" as 
she played.

"She's rude," he continued, "she's quarrelsome and she eats a lot. But she does have good 
reflexes."

"Oh, you're one to talk!" she countered as she finished her game. "You're some transsexual 
cat!"

"A transsexual!?" he repeated quizzically.

"Well, Artemis is a girls' name, isn't it?" she replied. "She was the virgin hunting 
goddess and the goddess of the moon, Artemis, and had the solar god Apollo for a brother."

"Mina, that's amazing!" he said in amazement. "Where'd you...."

"From this game!" she said as she pointed to one of the game machines.

Artemis sweatdropped. "Mina!" he shouted in frustration. "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 quickly covered up his mouth. "You bozo!" she growled to the white cat. "You're going 
to let everyone know you can talk! Now, shut up!" She released his mouth then went 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'?" Artemis said, reading the game's label. "An action game? Are those 
exciting?"

"Yeah!" Minako replied. "This woman fighter has a reinforced suit, see? Isn't it cool!" She 
stopped talking as she began to concentrate on the game. She made her character jump, 
block, and attack with a series of punches, kicks, and special moves, occasionally linking 
some of her attacks to perform combination attacks. "Oh, come on!" she growled as she lost 
one match. "I didn't beat that guy. See, look," she said to Artemis as she pointed to the 
machine's screen. "If you get a high score, you get to enter your name on the rankings 
screen."

"And it looks like you've just made second place, Minako-san," Ryoku said as he walked up 
to her and glanced onto the rankings screen. "Very impressive."

Minako glanced at the rankings screen to see that her score was indeed ranked second. Right 
above her name, sitting there as if mocking her....

"Oh, that 'Taku' guy! He's always got the highest score!" she huffed, folding her arms 
across her chest.

"Don't be upset, Minako-san," he repiled with a small grin. "Maybe with a little more 
practice you'll finally get the top score."

"What about you, Ryo-kun?" she asked. "I don't see your name up here. Don't tell me you 
don't play video games," she teased.

Ryoku rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement. "Of course I play," he retorted. "I'm just 
very picky about which games I play. My favorite is over there," he said, pointing over his 
shoulder with his thumb at a machine near the middle of the arcade. "If you've played it, 
you'll notice that I have the top score. And by a wide margin, too."

"Oh, really?" she countered with a challenging grin. "Maybe we should see if I can't knock 
that score from its number one spot."

"First game's on me, Minako-san," he replied. "I wanna see you try to beat my score, as 
improbable as it is."

"You're on!" she agreed as the two went to play the game. Artemis watched them with a 
chagrined expression on his face, then sighed again.

            **********************************************

The next day, Minako decided to go back to the game center. That game she played with Ryoku 
yesterday was fun - she was chagrined to discover that she couldn't beat his score, but she 
did come dangerously close; much to his surprise - but this time she had a mission. Beat 
Taku's score in Lovely Fight.  "Okay, today I'll do it!" she stated confidently as she sat 
down at the machine and began to play.

"No!" she growled as she finished her game. "Taku is still first place!? With forty 
thousand points!? And I just got twenty thousand... Damn it!" she cursed, all but jumping 
out of her seat and smacking the machine. "Come on! Who is this guy?!?"

She noticed a boy and a girl together at a UFO catcher located further behind her. "Oh... I 
always come here by myself...," she sighed to herself. Yesterday was the only time that 
someone had joined her while she played.

"What's that smell?" a man with long, dark hair observed to himself. "Smells like... floral 
hair mousse. That sailor uniform. Long, straight hair...."

"Hey! O-nii-san!" she called out as soon as she noticed her favorite arcade worker.

"Shrill voice.... 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!"

The girl at the UFO catcher pulled on the sleeve of the guy she was with. "Hey, Akihiro! 
Come on, get me an Aru-chan doll!"

"Oh...," the guy said with a grimace at the doll sitting in the machine. "I'm no good at 
that...."

Minako quickly shoved a coin into the machine and deftly picked up the Aru-chan doll with 
the crane. She took it out and walked away.

"Wow!" the girl marveled in awe. "She got it in one try!"

"That girl!" the man said to himself in surprise. "She's too good!"

"Games, eh?" Artemis said consideringly, as he carried the pen in his mouth and glanced at 
the machine. "Training as a soldier of justice.... If she doesn't remember it, maybe that 
could teach her...."

"You could use Mina's favorite game," a female voice said from pen. "That might be a good 
idea."

"Yes, Boss. I'll do that."

            **********************************************

The next morning, when Motoki opened up the arcade, he found a box waiting for him inside. 
"Hey, what are those?" he wondered as he examined the box. There was no address. Curiousity 
piqued, he opened the box. "Posters? Guess I'm supposed to put them up." That must be why 
there was no address. The owners of the arcade would have no reason to mail the posters to 
him; they'd just leave them for him to put up.

Posters soon lined the wall of the game center. They had a picture of Sailor V and said, 
"Coming soon!! Sailor V, the ultimate action game." As soon as they went up, some kids 
stopped to stare at them.

"The Sailor V game?" one kid said.

"Who's Sailor V?" another kid asked.

"I've never heard of her," a third added.

Ryoku walked up, noticed the crowd of children, and wondered what had gotten their 
attention. The posted quickly caught his attention as well. "Looks interesting," he mused 
to himself as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The girl looks slightly familiar, 
though...."

            **********************************************

That night, Artemis dragged a big box by a cord. He stopped for a moment to take a rest. 
"This should be okay," he said, breathing heavily. "I even got an official tag on it." He 
picked up the cord again and resumed dragging. At the rate he was going, though, it would 
take a good deal of the night to bring the machine to its destination....

The next morning greeted Motoki with yet another anonymous delivery. "What's this box?" he 
wondered as he opened the box. "Looks like a new game's been delivered," he discovered 
after removing the covering.

He glanced around the arcade for a place to put the machine. "Ah. That'll do," he said as 
he proceeded to shove the game to an empty spot near the center of the arcade.

Later that day, Minako once again walked into the arcade. At once, she spotted the new 
game. "A Sailor V game?!?" she exclaimed in shock.

"Oh, Mina-chan," Motoki said as he walked up to her. "Yeah, that's a new game we got."

"I don't believe it!" She immediately sat down and started to play. "Oh, I lost!"

"Oh, you're not serious," Artemis said as he padded over to Minako and sat down. She 
ignored the white cat started to play again.

Two guys went up to Motoki. "Hey, that stupid girl keeps playing Sailor V!" one guy 
complained. "We want to play, too. Why isn't there another one?"

"I don't know where that game came from," he admitted with a shrug. He had also wondered 
why there wasn't another one. After all, why put up so many posters and only set up one 
game?

"Good, good!" Artemis said encouragingly. "You're getting better, Mina."

"You think?" she said, turning toward him. "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," he said cryptically.

She blinked for a moment in perplexity. "Me?" she asked, tilting her head questioningly.

"Talking to Artemis, Minako-san?" a male voice asked behind her.

Artemis' eyes bulged in shock as he realized that he never heard nor noticed the boy walk 
up to them. He could've heard him talking!

"Oh! Ryo-kun!" she said in surprise. He had caught her off-guard as well. "Hi!"

"I see you've noticed the new game, ne?" he said with an impish smirk. "Tell me, 
Minako-san, exactly how long do you plan on playing the Sailor V game? After all, a line's 
beginning to start," he said, nodding behind him.

She looked behind Ryoku and saw two boys staring at her. She jumped up and grinned 
sheepishly. "Oh, you want to play? Please, go ahead! I've been hogging it."

"So, Minako-san," he began as the two boys started playing the Sailor V game, "how was it? 
Pretty good?"

"It was hard," she said as she went to another game. "Hey, I know! Now I'll try playing 
Lovely Fight again!"

"Going for number one again?" he asked with an amused grin. "Well, I hope you don't mind if 
I watch. Good luck!"

"Thanks, Ryo-kun!" she said with a smile as she started to play. "Yes! I can do it!" Thanks 
to the 'training' she received while playing the Sailor V game, she started to find that 
the game was much eaiser this time. "I'm 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!"

"Congratulations, Minako-san!" Ryoku crowed happily as he gave his friend a congraulatory 
hug. "I knew you'd make it eventually."

The man from before suddenly stood up in the corner of the game center. "What was that!?" 
he demanded loudly.

"Huh?" Minako said bewilderedly. "Who's that?"

"Oh," Motoki said dismissively, "those guys come here all the time. They're kind of shady, 
but they have a game lovers' group."

"Really...," Ryoku said with little interest.

The man with long, dark hair walked over to them and stood in front of Minako. "So, 
Mina-chan, you've beaten Gamer Taku. Well that's me, Otaku Takuro!"

"My heart be still," Ryoku murmured dryly. Minako had to work to stifle a giggle, but 
Takuro didn't notice.

"You can't fool me!" he continued. "That long hair, high voice, and sailor uniform! Show me 
who you really are!" he demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Minako, almost touching 
her between her breasts. "Come on! Take off those clothes! You're really a guy!"

Ryoku facefaulted and sweatdropped. 'Kami-sama, but this guy must be blind AND stupid!!!'

"What?!?" Minako exclaimed as she backed away from him. As soon as Ryoku recovered enough 
to step between her and Takuro, she ran away from him. "Artemis!! Who is that!?" she said 
as soon as she was a safe distance away.

"Hmm...," Artemis mused. "He could be an enemy...."

"No," the female voice from the pen said. "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!"

Minako's expression brightened. "I can change into anything? Really!?" She tossed up the 
compact. "Crescent Moon Power Transform! Change me into the squadron heroine-like armored 
woman soldier!" In a flash of light, she appeared in battle gear like the character in 
Lovely Fight. "Look! Look! Artemis! I got an armored suit!"

"Minako-san!" she heard Ryoku shout from a distance. His voice sounded like he was running 
towards her. "He slipped past me! He coming straight for you! Run!"

"Wow! That's amazing!" said Takuro as soon as he spotted the disguised Minako. "You look 
like you came right off the screen!" Apparently, he seemed to have forgotten all about 
Minako in favor of what he saw in front of him. "All right! Now this is what I've been 
looking for!"

Before she could ask exactly what he meant by that statement, he quickly jumped on her, 
knocking her to the floor with him on top of her.

"Hey! You pervert!" she growled.

"Ha ha!"

"Hey!" Ryoku shouted as he arrived, and skidded to a stop. He took one look at the scene... 
and sweatdropped. "Anou... I could come back later if you two are busy...," he began.

"You baka!" she shouted. "Get him off me!"

"Eh? Uh... all right, no problem," he said as he tried to pry Takuro off of her. "Shimatta! 
No good; he's stuck tight. Strong little...."

"It's heavy...," she grunted as she struggled to free herself. "I can't move! This armor is 
so heavy!"

"At least it's offering a little protection from hentai-boy," he said with a shrug.

"I don't believe this...," Artemis muttered in exasperation.

Minako grabbed her pen. "Moon Power Transform!" she shouted, transforming into Sailor V in 
a flash of light, and knocking Takuro off her in the process. "Codename: Sailor V! I'm the 
soldier of justice, the sailor-suited beautiful soldier Sailor Venus!" She paused as she 
took the time to move her arms and legs. "Ah, now this is light. It's easy to move in this 
costume."

"Sailor V!?" a patron of the arcade gasped. "The Sailor V from the game!?"

"That's Sailor V?" Ryoku marveled as he stared at the vision of beauty in front of him. 
"Incredible.... And, yet... she reminds me of someone...."

'This feels great!' she thought to herself as she soaked up the admiration, especially the 
gaze of awe she saw on Ryoku's face. 'I won't give up this soldier of justice job.'

Takuro took that moment to lift up the back of Sailor V's skirt. "Wow! You're really 
maturing! What's in here?"

"What are you doing?!?!?" she yelled angrily. "Hentai! Sailor V Kick!!!" She kicked him in 
the head, sending him flying backward onto the ground.

Ryoku winced in sympathy. "Nice hang-time... and I think I saw him bounce about an inch.... 
That really had to hurt."

"Whoops!" she gasped. "I don't think he was an enemy...."

"Even though he did sorta deserve it...," Ryoku added.

Artemis groaned in vexation. "Mina...."

"Let's get out of here!" she shouted as she ran away.

"For being so stubborn and flashy," Artemis said as he ran, "she sure is quick to run away. 
I wonder if she's really suited for this...."

'Hey... isn't that Minako-san's cat, Artemis?' Ryoku thought as he spotted the crescent 
moon on his forehead. 'I wonder what he's doing following Sailor V...?'

"Wow...," Motoki said as he watched Sailor V run away. "The game's Sailor V showed up. A 
soldier of justice... That's some PR campaign!"

            **********************************************

Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective owners. Sailor Moon belongs 
to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This 
story belongs me, so I would appreciate it very much if you would ask for permission before 
posting it anywhere else. Thank you.

The Question and all stories included are:
Copyright © July 6, 2001 Jason C. Ulloa. 
Manga translation by Alex Glover © 1996
All Rights Reserved.