SailorStar9: With Chapter 64 out, this is Chapter 65 of this fic. Remember boys and girls, reviews are an author's subsistence. Really, is it so difficult for you guys to review instead of just putting this fic up in your favorites and alerts?

Pairings: No official Tieria/Ami for this Book, sorry. Just canon Mamoru/Usagi and quite possible Setsuna/Hotaru in S Season.

Standard BS Disclaimers: I do not own Sailor Moon, Gundam 00 or the pairings. If I did, the other Senshi would be as powerful as Sailor Moon and kicking MOTD ass more often and VEDA would have least an anti-hacker program installed. The only thing I do own is the plot.

Chapter 65: The Rod of Love is Born! Usagi's New Transformation


In Professor Tomoe's laboratory...

"Kaolinite," Professor Tomoe voiced. "What is the purpose of our group, the Death Busters?"

"To acquire the Holy Grail and control the world." Kaolinite replied.

"And how are we going to get the Holy Grail?" Professor Tomoe inquired.

"If we find the three Talismans that are within the Pure Hearts of the Chosen Ones, we will know the whereabouts of the Holy Grail." Kaolinite answered.

"That is right." Professor Tomoe crowed. "For that, we must first use the Daimon Eggs to..." he created another Daimon Egg and sent it out to locate its next target.


In Usagi's bed...

Usagi was having a nightmare where she was recalling her losing her transformation. The forlorn and powerless Usagi then watched as the four Inner Senshi trained with each other, managing to unlock their next level of power and defeating a Daimon without her help.

"Really, Usagi." Luna sighed, waking Usagi up with furious scratches to the face.

"It's not a dream." Usagi opened her powerless Crystal Star. "If the light doesn't come back, I might not be able to transform again. Luna, does this mean I have to retire from being a Senshi?"

"It'll be alright." Luna assured. "I'm sure everything will be alright. Why don't you talk this out with Mamoru?"


In an abandoned mansion ruins...

"Don't rush, there is plenty left." Miharu was happily feeding the stray cats that were living in the abandoned ruins.

"Are you taking care of these cats?" Usagi poked her head into the main hall.

"Nice to meet you." Mamoru smiled, handing Usagi a bag of kitty treats.

"Do you always feed them?" Usagi knelt beside Miharu.

"Yeah." the young girl nodded. "But I feel sorry for them. I finally found this place, but it's going to be demolished soon. They all want to be happy, but..."


Meanwhile...

The Daimon Egg found its way into Miharu's room and embedded itself into her unfinished jigsaw puzzle.

After Miharu returned home, she entered her room and replaced a fallen puzzle piece back into its correct spot after one of the two kittens that had followed her home messed up her uncompleted puzzle. It was at that moment the Daimon activated and taking the form of Nekonneru.

"I will take the Talisman inside your Pure Heart now." Nekonneru declared.

"Run!" Miharu fled out of her apartment with the two kittens.

"I won't let you get away." Nekonneru stuck out her tail to pull Miharu back into the house, only to have the girl slam the main door on the tail, freeing herself when the tail crumbled into puzzle pieces.

With the two kittens at her feet, Miharu fled to the abandoned ruins for refuge.


"I wonder if she's going to turn up?" Usagi wondered, meeting up with the other Senshi in the yard of the abandoned ruins.

Upstairs, Nekonneru had cornered Miharu in the main hall and causing the girl to scream in terror.

The Senshi in the yard heard the scream and hurried into the ruins.

Chasing Miharu into the corridor, Nekonneru lifted her skirt to reveal the black star mark on her thigh. The star mark then shot out a black energy beam to extract Miharu's Heart Crystal.

"A Daimon again!" Usagi gasped, the Senshi arriving to the scene. "Just maybe..." she looked at the Crystal Star. "I might be able to... Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!"

"Let's go, everyone." Rei took charge after Usagi's transformation phase failed.

"Mercury Star Power, Make Up!"

"Mars Star Power, Make Up!"

"Jupiter Star Power, Make Up!"

"Venus Star Power, Make Up!"

"This time, I will take the Talisman." Nekonneru declared.

"We won't let you do it." the four Inner Senshi chorused.

"Exploding Flame Burst!"

"Thunder Javelin!"

Nekonneru's tail lashed out, deflecting Sailor Mars' fireballs, Sailor Jupiter's electric lance then stuck her on the chest, electrocuting her.

"Flash Chain!" Sailor Venus flung her chain whip at the Daimon, securing it.

"Cryoblast!" Sailor Mercury's ice ball locked the trapped Daimon in ice.

Just then, two energy blasts, one yellow and the other blue, hit the frozen Daimon, shattering the ice, but not destroying it. The Heart Crystal within the Daimon's grasp fell to the ground.

"Such a powerless being." Sailor Uranus tsked.

"How is it?" Sailor Neptune asked, the two Outer Senshi jumping down from the frosted window still they were standing on and Sailor Uranus picked up the fallen Heart Crystal.

"This is not a Talisman." Sailor Uranus shook her head and tossed the cross-shaped crystal back to Miharu's body. "The Daimon isn't defeated yet." she nodded to the reforming Nekonneru. "Our only mission is to acquire the Talismans. You can deal with that yourselves." with that, she led Sailor Neptune off.

"What?" Sailor Mars winced, Nekonneru's tail then split into four and one of them wrapped around her neck.

The other Senshi were also trapped within the Daimon's tails and tossed roughly against the walls.

Nekonneru chuckled at the defeated Senshi and raised her skirt, ready to use her extraction beam on the nearest Senshi, Sailor Venus.

A tossed rose from Tuxedo Kamen cut through Nekonneru's tail and turning it into puzzle pieces. "Those who toy with Pure Hearts will someday be tried by Pure Hearts."

Nekonneru responded by lashing out her tails at the masked hero who had jumped in to defend Usagi.

Tuxedo Kamen pulled out his extended cane to punch through Nekonneru's braided tails and knocked her into the wall. "What?" he gasped when the Daimon reformed, snapped off the cane's tip and tossed the broken off tip back at the masked hero.

Claws drawn, Nekonneru slashed at Tuxedo Kamen, shredding his cape.

"Run, Usako." Tuxedo Kamen muttered, drawing out a rose and tossed said flower at the incoming Daimon. "Usako, at least you should get out of here."

"I can't do that." Usagi insisted. "I want to protect everyone. And you, too."

Nekonneru closed in on the couple, only to be blown off by the surge of energy from the pair.

"That's..." Luna gasped, seeing Usagi and Tuxedo Kamen turn into Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion, complete with the backdrop of the Moon Palace behind them. A glimmer of pink then descended from the Palace to form the Spiral Heart Moon Rod. In addition, the Crystal Star had also upgraded to become the Cosmic Heart Compact.

"The legendary Rod..." Luna breathed.

"The Spiral Heart Moon Rod." Artemis finished. "Usagi, transform."

"Moon Cosmic Power, Make Up!" Usagi called forth her new transformation phase. "I won't forgive you for trampling pure hearts underfoot! I'm the pretty Sailor Senshi of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you! Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" she wasted no time in using her new attack on the Daimon.

The Daimon Egg popped out of the jigsaw puzzle and split into two, the evil spirit within it dispelling.

"Well, looks like we'll have to up our training to catch up with Usagi." Sailor Mars noted, the four Inner Senshi had gotten back to their feet.


SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.