“What in the world?” exclaimed Lieutenant Risa Higa as she arrived on the scene of the reported disturbance. This was no mere disturbance, though. The windows of the popular bars and clubs that lined the street were smashed, parked cars were ablaze or upended, and bodies were scattered in every direction.

“This isn’t normal,” Risa surmised, turning to her partner. “Call this in, Matsumoto.”

At the center of the chaos, stood a tall, cloaked, hooded figure. As Risa’s police cruiser came to a halt a safe distance away, the figure turned in their direction. It raised an arm from beneath its cloak to reveal what appeared to be a claw. Strangely, the claw began to glow ominously, and a purple ball of light appeared.

Suddenly, the purple light streaked past Risa’s window, collided with the accompanying police cruiser’s windshield, and resulted in an explosion. As the inside of the vehicle danced with flames, surely leaving no chance of survivors, Risa ordered, “Quick, get out!”

Risa and her partner launched themselves out of their respective doors just in time, as a second blast was fired, alighting their engine, and causing the car to flip over. Scrambling up off the floor and taking cover behind her colleagues’ burning vehicle, Risa reflected on what a bad night it had been. She had thought taking on thugs armed with assault rifles would be the worst of it. Then, she had been chewed out by her superior for allowing the local vigilante to interfere with—and escape from—yet another arrest. Now, a monster was on the loose?

As more blasts were fired indiscriminately at the surrounding buildings, Risa shook her head in disbelief while pulling her firearm from its holster. Weren’t the monsters and aliens, or whatever, supposed to be gone? It had been years since one had appeared, and even then, they usually focused on attacking humans for their energy, or so Risa had heard. Why was this one causing this kind of senseless destruction?

Risa steeled herself. None of that mattered. All she needed to know right now, was that this was an enemy. Monsters and aliens didn’t have human rights, especially the ones that attacked innocent civilians. Risa needed to take it down quick, then get to the survivors that littered the area.

“Matsumoto!” Risa called out.

“Lieutenant!” her partner responded, his voice not too far away from her position.

“On three!” she instructed simply.

On the count of three, Risa rose from her hiding place, took aim at the hooded monster, and fired her handgun rapidly. The reverberating echo that followed let her know that her partner had joined in with the assault. The monster staggered as each bullet met its mark, but it remained standing. Holes had formed on its cloak but otherwise, the monster seemed unfazed.

“Impossible!” Risa uttered, baffled by how the creature had survived. A strange sound like that of a windchime snapped her out of her reverie, and she hastily ducked down and pulled a spare clip from her belt to reload. Unfortunately, the monster beat her to it, raising its claw once more.

“Matsumoto, move!” Risa ordered, but it was too late. Another purple blast was fired in the direction her partners voice had come from earlier, and the sound of the ensuing explosion was mingled with his screams.

Risa forced back a tear for her partner of three years, and unleashed her anger on his murderer. Aiming only for head shots this time, she unloaded her entire clip. Her aim was true, and the monsters hood was knocked back, revealing the damage she had caused.

However, Risa’s heart sank as she heard the odd chiming noise again and discovered its source. It was the sound of bullets being ejected from the creature’s body and falling to the floor in chorus. She watched in horror as the creature’s bloody, mangled face began to reform into what must have been its natural appearance. It could heal itself.

Risa observed the wide grin that stretched across the green, lizard-like visage that now stared at her. It raised its arm into the air and a new purple ball of energy began to grow in its clawed palm, this one bigger than the others. This was it. There was no escape. Not at the speed that it could fire its blasts, and not from one that would surely have a wider impact range. Risa was about to die.

She watched her final moments play out as if in slow motion. Owing to the nature of her work, her affairs were all in order. Her mother and father would be devastated by the news of her death, of course, but they knew the kind of dangers she faced in her chosen career. Risa only hoped that she had stalled the beast long enough for headquarters to organize adequate backup, and that her parents might find some solace in the additional loss of life she may have prevented.

The creature finally swung its scaly arm down in preparation to release its death blow. However, as with the evening’s earlier incident, a flash of yellow caught Risa’s eye. A narrow beam of light had pierced the monster’s glowing, purple ball. This, apparently, caused it to become unstable, and it exploded right there, engulfing the creature in its wake.

Risa covered her face with her arm to shield her from the blast’s recoil. When she looked again to see if the monster had survived, the silhouette of a sailor-suited young woman stood in her sightline.

“Long time no see, Lieutenant Higa!” said Sailor V with a wink.