Vol.5 The Machinations of the Dark Agency

A trio of idols known as the Dark Guys sweeps the nation, joined by the sisters Twin Dark and Dark Shizuka-hime. Enchanted by the newcomers, Minako Aino ignores a ban Artemis placed on idol music and nearly ends up mind-controlled herself. Artemis rescues her and scolds her carelessness, but she counters that no one has ever explained what she is fighting. He then guides her to the Command Center, where Boss lays out her true mission. Grasping her duty at last, she dispatches the idols and their superior, Fluorite, only to learn a darker power still lurks behind them.

Fresh from a Dark Guys concert she snuck into, Minako chats with Hikaru Sorano before Artemis nearly blows her cover by calling her name aloud. The cat warns that both prior foes were idols and that this act likely follows suit, noting from a poster that the Dark Guys belong to the Dark Agency, the same outfit behind Pandora and Petite Pandora. At school, Gurikazu Amano fills her in on Twin Dark, while a reluctant Toshio is dragged to a Dark Shizuka-hime show whose song leaves the crowd drained and dazed.

Inside the agency's office, Fluorite frets over which audiences her clone idols have yet to capture as Danburite warns that further failure is unacceptable. Spotting Dark Agency ads plastered everywhere and pale citizens in the streets, Artemis races to reach Minako, arriving just as she plays a tainted CD that begins to hurt her. He tears out the earbuds and berates her for never thinking, prompting her to protest that she was never told who her enemy even is. Worn down, he brings her to the Command Center hidden beneath Game Center Crown, where Boss finally reveals the agency's aim: to harvest human energy, exterminate mankind, and claim the Earth.

Newly resolved, Minako disguises herself to slip into a rival concert, hijacks Twin Dark's introduction, denounces the idols for brainwashing their fans, and becomes Sailor V. As the venue empties, Fluorite unleashes her clone singers, whom Sailor V shreds and erases with Crescent Beam. Enraged, Fluorite assumes her real shape, shrugging off a beam that only clips her head before Venus Power, Love Crescent Shower reduces her to sludge. Artemis then corrects Minako's easy confidence, explaining that this defeated foe is merely a facade for something far greater, leaving her aware of how much training still lies ahead.

This installment introduces the Dark Agency itself along with the Dark Guys, Twin Dark, Dark Shizuka-hime, Fluorite, and Danburite, plus the agency office and the Command Center. It marks the first appearance of the Command Center, which later resurfaces in the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon manga. The Dark Guys are the series' first all-male idol trio, and some speculate they influenced the later Three Lights, though this is unconfirmed. The chapter closes with a cameo by Usagi Tsukino and Naru Osaka.