The invaders watched as Minako was bathed in dazzling shades of yellow, orange and gold. For a moment she was cocooned in swirling light. Then, all of a sudden, the light shrank in before pulsing outward. However, most unexpectedly, this was followed by the release of an incredible shockwave.

“What the…?” Alexandri exclaimed, erecting his white energy barrier in front of him and his ally just in time, but the force of the wave’s impact made the shield vibrate violently. Nearby cars were flipped, and the surrounding windows that hadn’t already been shattered by Zarg’s earlier blasts, were all blown away.

Alexandri let down his barrier after the initial impact, but he was immediately assaulted by the gush of air that followed in the shockwave’s wake and continued to blow from the direction Minako had stood. Squinting to see what was going on, he saw her standing tall over a web of cracked asphalt, covered head to toe in a rippling golden aura, and crackling with energy.

Her shoulder-length blonde hair danced around wildly as her mere presence emanated wave after wave of force. She looked different now. The blue of her skirt and collar had been replaced by orange, as had her shoes, and the fuchsia accent bows were now indigo. Also, the cresent-shaped mark on her forehead had been replaced by a glowing orange planetary symbol.

She was no longer Sailor V, the crime fighting vigilante. For the first time in over five years, Minako had accessed her true powers. She was one of Earth’s destined, sailor-suited guardians. She was Sailor Venus.

Her enemies shielded their faces and bent forward as if struggling against a strong gale. “You see, Alexandri?” the lizard-like, Zarg remarked. “The awesome power of the Legendary Silver Crystal is just as described! The woman has it, after all!”

“And as reported,” Alexandri replied, “she doesn’t seem to have the same level of control over it that Sailor Moon had. It appears to be damaging her.”

“Then, for her own sake, we must relieve her of it!” Zarg jested, a nasty grin stretching across his reptilian mouth.

Sailor Venus opened her eyes. Sadly, her enemies had guessed correctly. The energy that coursed through her like electricity wasn’t just for show. It caused her intense pain to maintain this form. As she gritted her teeth, trying to master the burning sensation that pulsed throughout her body, Venus couldn’t help contemplating the mystery behind the peculiar change in her powers, but there was no time for that now. Given her current physical condition, she was lucky not to have passed out upon transforming. She had to end this battle quickly.

Spotting Lieutenant Higa leave her hiding spot and reach the police line gave Minako some relief, as did the police officers who remained conscious backing away at Higa’s instruction. She didn’t have to worry about further collateral damage now. She could cut loose.

Without warning, Sailor Venus lunged, crossing the wide street in a single bound and delivering a bone-breaking punch to Zarg’s smirking face. He was hit with such force that an indentation was left on the concrete building he crashed into. Of course, Venus knew that he would recover from the physical attack, so after performing a roundhouse kick that caused Alexandri to evade into the sky, she immediately raised her arm and uttered, “Crescent Beam!”

The attack that followed was nothing like the narrow rays of light that she had employed as Sailor V. From her finger, a gleaming, yellow beam erupted like a cannon blast, measuring at least two feet in circumference.

Before the healing Zarg could recover, the devastating shot had consumed him from the chest upward. His now lifeless body drooped down the side of the concrete, leaving a trail of green blood from the place where his head had been and where a hole had been gouged through to the next street over.

“One down,” said Venus, craning her neck upward. She bared her teeth as a particularly excruciating surge shot through her. She would take that pain out on her enemy. Alexandri stood in the sky, a good distance from her, his expression one of mingled fear and anger. She pointed her index finger at him. “Crescent Beam—” she started slowly.

“Arrogant woman! Even with the crystal’s power, you dare think you can hit me from this distance? I am an elite, even among the Blood Moon Alliance!” he spat upon seeing her raise her arm to fire, his composure from before all but gone.

“—Shower!” Venus finished, a large ball of energy forming in front of her before it fired. Unlike her standard attack, her Crescent Beam Shower shot several arcing rays at once, which enveloped an enemy from multiple directions. With her strange, boosted powers, the resulting assault looked like an elaborate firework display.

Alexandri’s smugness faded as the beams rapidly closed in on him. He yelled defiantly and raised his energy barrier, so that it resembled a bubble. It formed in time but weakened as each beam landed, and eventually collapsed under the extreme pressure. The resulting mass of destructive light energy licked at the night sky like a raging fire.

Below, Venus observed Alexandri’s body falling from the glittering remnants of the attack, most of his bejeweled jacket incinerated, his exposed skin blackened, and his hair singed. She fell to one knee as another jolt passed through her, praying the battle was over as the strain of maintaining her transformation became unbearable.

However, ten feet from the ground, Alexandri caught himself, and with some effort, hopped back into the sky. Breathing with difficulty, he shouted, “Let’s see how you like it!” Alexandri thrust his arms upward and dozens of twinkling lights appeared above him. They became a deluge of his white energy bolts, falling in Sailor Venus’ direction like meteors.

She got to her feet again and commanded, “Love Heart Chain!”

Glinting, heart-shaped chain-links of energy extended from her outstretched hand. With prodigious skill and precision, Venus whipped at each of the incoming projectiles, causing them to burst prematurely.

Using the blanket of light to cover her advance, Venus launched herself skyward, her golden aura trailing like the tail of a comet. Alexandri had underestimated her. As Sailor V, Minako only had access to her most basic powers. As Sailor Venus, one of her more impressive skills included Skywalking. Combined with the leg strength afforded to Sailor Soldiers, this ability to defy gravity was akin to flight.

Strangely, Minako noted, Alexandri seemed to possess a similar skill. However, from what she had observed, he didn’t seem capable of moving at great speed or covering long distances with his steps. As she emerged through the white haze left by Alexandri’s failed attack, Minako smiled. She had caught him off guard.

Venus lashed at the panting Alexandri from afar with her energy chain. Shocked by her sudden appearance, he yelped as a bloody wound lacerated his burned chest and knocked him back, but before she could hit him with a follow up strike, the man erected his spherical barrier again.

“Gotcha!” said Venus victoriously, now drenched in sweat. Her energy chain connected with the shield, but instead of bouncing off, it encircled the bubble several times, extending at her will. “It’s over,” she muttered to herself, but as her eyes met Alexandri’s beyond the translucent shell, fearful recognition spread across his once handsome face.

Venus took a breath. Then, as tears began to fall from her eyes—either due to the prolonged pain or the old memories now flooding in—she recited with fervor, “I am Sailor Venus, the sailor-suited soldier of light and beauty. In the name of Venus and the Moon, I right wrongs and triumph over evil. And that means you!”

With a shout like a war cry, Sailor Venus’ shroud of light pulsed and the end of the chain in her hand began to spark and glow brilliantly. That energy spread throughout the connected chain-links, lighting up like a string of Christmas tree lights. Once the whole chain shone blindingly bright, Venus tugged with all her might, easily shattering the powerful spherical shield, and closing around the helpless victim inside.

The cry of despair and the tightening of the chain indicated Alexandri’s defeat. With that, Venus’ chain disappeared, and she dropped from the sky, her strength sapped and her endurance at her limit. However, to her horror, she saw her opponent writhing in agony above, his arms bloody, and his right leg missing. Somehow, he had managed to escape the chain’s grasp by a hair.

“No,” Venus whispered as she continued to fall. She had been so close! A leg wasn’t punishment enough. She watched as Alexandri reached into what remained of his pants and shakily removed a small object from his pocket. Slowly, a swirling pool of blackness expanded in front of him. He was going to escape through a portal.

Minako couldn’t allow that. She steeled herself, skidded to a stop in the air, and summoned all the energy she could muster. However, she was too far gone. She couldn’t focus her vision and her hands shook uncontrollably. Even at this distance and wider than usual, her Crescent Beam might miss. She would have to gamble everything on one last-ditch effort. She put her hands close together, and stuttered, “Love—and Beauty—Shock!”

A small lump of sparkling yellow light gathered between the palms of her hands until it took the form of a heart, and with the last of her strength, she hurled it at Alexandri. Her last hope wasn’t on a direct course for her enemy, but that didn’t matter. Venus smiled, knowing with certainty that her job was done, and that her enemy was done for.

She closed her eyes and succumbed to her pain, which now felt like hot pokers being held to her skin. As Minako passed out in mid-air, a brief burst of light signaled the release of her transformation. She reverted to her Sailor V outfit, no longer surrounded by the odd, translucent cloak of light.

The flash caught Alexandri’s attention. He turned, gritting his teeth as his portal stabilized. Then, he noticed the little glob of light shooting upward but just off to his right. He couldn’t bring himself to laugh through his agony, but internally, he reveled at the Sailor Soldier’s pitiable final act. While the healers at headquarters restored his leg, he would tell his superior to send another to fetch the Silver Crystal from the woman’s body. She obviously couldn’t control it anyway. Using it had left her helpless.

Suddenly, Venus’ tiny light shimmered. The ensuing explosion dwarfed anything seen throughout the battle, lighting up the night sky like a second sun, and surely swallowing everything in its radius.