Minako Aino observed the city from atop one of its tallest buildings. The high roof top had practically become a second home to her. As she looked down with disdain, it was hard to believe she once saw beauty in the night skyline. Nowadays, she saw the city for what it was, a cesspit for crime and despair. Then again, her negative outlook had been colored somewhat by her job, among other things. Seeing the darker side of people went hand-in-hand with being a private investigator.

Still, it wasn’t P.I. work that had her perched up on top of this building, with her shoulder-length blonde hair and beige trench coat billowing in the wind. She had discovered the spot by chance and found it a good place to keep an eye on things. Her borrowed police scanner got good reception at this height, and there was another valuable source of information close by.

“Convenience store robbery in progress,” a female voice announced over the radio. Minako rolled her eyes at the report. A basic robbery? Wasn’t there anything more exciting going down tonight?

Suddenly, she noticed a presence. She didn’t react, however, as the inaudible footsteps behind her surely belonged to her old partner. "Didn't I warn you about following me, Artemis?" Minako challenged without turning around.

“Sharp as ever, I see!” a white cat with a crescent-shaped mark on its forehead commented.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to take you ho—” Artemis responded before leaping in fright from a narrow beam of light that was fired at the floor a short distance from him. "Minako! Enough of this nonsense! It's late. Please, come home!"

"Late? What are you talking about?” she replied. “My day is just beginning!"

Just then, the radio interrupted their conversation, mentioning a possible sighting of the robbers and that they were armed. Minako decided that going after the robbers might be a good idea, after all, if only to get away from Artemis’ nagging. She cast away her trench coat, revealing the classic white, blue, and fuchsia uniform of her crime-fighting alter ego, Sailor V. Then, she pulled a pink eye mask from her pocket, and told the cat, "See? Time to go to work!”

Artemis lowered his head in disappointment as the young woman donned her mask and walked over to the edge of the rooftop.

“Oh, and Artemis?” Minako added.

“Yes, Minako?” he answered, looking up hopefully.

“Next time, I won't miss!" Minako replied, then jumped off the building and out of sight without looking back. She began scaling rooftops and leaping across buildings in the direction of the reported sighting, her impressive stride aided by the special powers of her old, crescent-shaped transformation device. This form didn’t offer much in the way of power, but it was more than enough to handle your everyday lowlife.

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Minako scaled the city’s rooftops in the direction of the report, until finding a good vantage point from which she could observe the action below. Police cars were pursuing a speeding vehicle. From above, Minako could see that the robbers were about to hit a roadblock, so she jumped down into the nearest alleyway, hopping from wall to wall, and came to rest on a fire escape several floors from the ground.

She watched as the robbers came to a stop ahead of the roadblock and were closed in by the pursuing cruisers. However, they did not surrender. Instead, the three men exited their car brandishing assault rifles. Using their car doors for cover, they opened fire on the roadblock and pinned the police down. Even with their larger numbers, the officers were outgunned.

“Now that’s more like it,” Minako said to herself with a smirk. “Some decent action at last!”

“Call for backup!” ordered Risa Higa, the police lieutenant, a serious-looking, besuited woman with her black hair tied back in a tight ponytail, before she started returning fire with her handgun. It was no use, though. Shards of glass were flying everywhere and one of her officers had already been wounded.

Suddenly, an almost imperceptible beam of light rained down from above and struck the fuel door of the robber’s car. It pierced the metal flap and ignited the gas tank inside. The subsequent explosion put an immediate stop to the robber’s gunfire and left one of them unconscious. Unfortunately, the other two got to their feet and reached for their weapons. It didn’t matter, though. Sailor V had arrived.

“Is this a private party or can anyone join the fun?” she asked in a mocking tone, standing triumphantly with her hands on her hips.

Just as one of the remaining robbers raised his gun to fire at the masked young woman before him, Sailor V deftly performed a perfect backflip, kicking the gun out of his hands and into the air as her high-heeled leg followed through. His comrade then turned his rifle on her, and as she returned to a vertical position, she took the golden Crescent Compact adorning the fuchsia bow of her sailor-suit and tossed it at the man, yelling, “Crescent Boomerang!”

The compact spun toward the man while glowing brightly and knocked his weapon away forcefully, before dimming and returning to Sailor V’s outstretched hand. She then grinned briefly before unleashing a savage display of martial arts and gymnastics on the two men, rendering them both unconscious in seconds.

“F-Freeze!” came a voice from behind. “Stop right there, Sailor V! Let me see your hands!”

Minako feigned a sigh. “I think the words you’re looking for are, ‘Thank you!’” she called out in reply.

Lieutenant Higa made her way over to Minako with her gun raised while explaining, “We had things under control. We don't need or want your help, especially when it results in the kind of damage you’ve been leaving in your wake lately! Now, you’re going to come quietly, you hear?”

Minako noticed the officers behind her. Some had their guns aimed at her, some looked unsure of what to do, and others were clapping or waving at her. “Sure, sure,” she replied, holding her hands up high, then in a flash, she cartwheeled away on them, and back into the alleyway, where she blew a kiss, then ascended the building with an incredible jump and several follow-up hops.

The Lieutenant tracked her swift movements but didn’t open fire. Instead, she growled in annoyance, took aim at the unmoving criminals, and yelled, “Somebody cuff these guys already!”