Lieutenant Higa and the surrounding officers and medics shielded their eyes from the blinding ball of yellow light that hovered over them. She had been coordinating efforts to clear survivors from the area when the incredible blast had gone off. Despite it being almost eleven P.M., anybody looking out of their window at that moment could have mistaken it for daytime.

As the light began to shrink and dissipate, Risa found herself conflicted. How could Sailor V, the annoying vigilante that caused her so much grief and blew kisses at her officers, have had this kind of power? She had probably saved Risa’s life, and those of the men and women around her. What’s more, considering the size of her last attack, that same silly hero may have sacrificed herself to do it. Who was she really?

“Lieutenant!” a policeman yelled with urgency, pointing upward.

Risa followed the direction of the man’s finger. Hurtling toward the ground, mere seconds from hitting the concrete, was Sailor V’s unconscious figure. She hadn’t been vaporized, but was she alive? If so, was there anything Risa could do to save her?

Just as Risa decided to order her officers to try and brace Sailor V’s fall by interlinking their arms, an odd fog rolled in out of nowhere, and obscured her vision. It was so thick, she could barely make out the people closest to her, let alone the tragic hero, whose body they would surely find once the strange weather cleared.

Moments later, emerging from the dense mist into a nearby alley, was Ami. She wore the blue and white guise of Sailor Mercury, with a visor over her eyes. In her arms, she carried her unconscious old friend. Softly, she whispered, “You fought well, Minako. Now, let’s get you fixed up.”

***

In a distant location, a man with long silver hair and a neatly trimmed, matching beard swirled a goblet of red wine impatiently, but careful not to spill any on the pure white suit he wore. He tapped his fingers rhythmically on the arm of his grand throne. That, and the fact that a long cape was attached at his shoulders with ornate golden clips, gave the middle-aged-looking man an air of royalty, which was fitting for one such as King Tanzan.

The king was waiting someone to report to him about the loud crash he had heard a few minutes earlier. Tanzan despised waiting, and he was already waiting on Alexandri. He had sent his most loyal servant and best warrior to observe the latest attempt at securing the Legendary Silver Crystal. The past attempts had been so unsuccessful that his allies had selected Zarg, Sub-Commander of the Raptillians for the task this time.

An accomplished fighter, Zarg would no doubt stand a better chance against the crystal’s protector, but it would be foolish to trust one of the lizards. On the off-chance Zarg succeeded, he would surely hand the crystal over to his master, Commander Vardas. Alexandri, on the other hand, would find a way to ensure the crystal ended up in the hands of its rightful owner.

Tanzan drained his goblet, then shook his head in annoyance. He had grown weary of working with allies, but cooperation was necessary—for the time being. Vardas and the other two allied leaders would surely reprimand Tanzan for involving Alexandri, but he didn’t care. Their alliance was a means to an end. As soon as the Silver Crystal was in his possession, he would dispose of any who did not recognize his leadership. The repulsive lizards, he would likely dispose of anyway.

“My Lord, it’s Alexandri!” cried a servant out of the blue, entering the throne room at a run.

“Finally. Where is he?” Tanzan demanded.

“He’s been taken to the laboratory, My Lord,” the servant answered breathlessly. “He returned through a portal along with a partial energy blast that destroyed a portion of the palace! We had to dig him out of the rubble!”

“WHAT?” Tanzan spat in disbelief, realizing that this must have been the source of the earlier disturbance. “How is he?”

“He’s severely wounded. The healers aren’t sure if he’s going to make it!”

“And what of Zarg?”

“He’s believed to be dead, My Lord!”

Tanzan threw his empty goblet across the room, yelling in frustration. Stealing the Silver Crystal from its protector was never going to be easy—that was why the alliance had been formed in the first place—but two of their strongest warriors being beaten in one go was a huge setback. He didn’t care for Zarg, of course, but he recognized the lizard’s combat skill and regenerative ability. When combined with Alexandri’s defensive powers, it was hard to believe the two could have been overcome.

Tanzan walked brusquely from the throne room to the laboratory. A king didn’t run, but he was eager to see what sort of condition his servant was in. However, upon arriving at the room and taking in the sight of Alexandri’s blackened, mangled body, Tanzan almost wished he hadn’t.

“Can he be saved?” Tanzan asked of the healers as they rushed around, attaching strange equipment and leads to the man.

“It’s not looking good, My Lord,” one of them replied. “If he survives the emergency treatment, we will be able to regrow his leg and skin using the Raptillian’s bio-technology, but with the amount of damage he has sustained, it’s a miracle he managed to return to us at all!”

“My Lord,” a servant at the door interrupted hesitantly.

“What is it?” Tanzan snapped as he observed Alexandri being lifted into a regeneration tank filled with green liquid.

“Commander Vardas has called for an assembly, My Lord.”

Tanzan’ brow furrowed as a mask was secured to Alexandri’s head and he was submerged in the liquid. It began to glow eerily, and the healers began observing his vitals on the surrounding machines.

“M-My Lord?” the servant whimpered when Tanzan showed no sign of acknowledgement.

The king whipped around and blasted the servant through the adjacent wall with a flash of white from his hand. “I heard you,” he said quietly.

Two of the healers moved in the servant’s direction but Tanzan ordered, “Leave him! All your focus should be on keeping Alexandri alive. Consider your lives tied to his.”

With that, Tanzan made his way through the ruined palace to the meeting hall. Inside, the other three leaders sat around a large circular table, awaiting his arrival. The blue skinned, lizard-like Vardas was accompanied by a new Raptillian, no doubt his new sub-commander now that Zarg was dead. Across from him, was the red-haired witch, Morgan, and her sneering, curly blonde-haired lieutenant, Jadeite. Opposite the king’s empty chair, were two heavily cloaked, hooded figures. Desperre, the leader of the Umbris Clan, was distinguishable only by the fact that he was the one sitting down.

Tanzan took his seat without a word. Alexandri would usually accompany him to these occasional meetings, but it wasn’t as if any of Tanzan’s so-called allies would dare challenge him, even without a guard.

Once the leaders finished eyeing each other with suspicion and veiled contempt, Vardas announced with a hiss, “I now call this meeting of the Blood Moon Alliance to order.”