Chapter Thirty Two. Cathleen's Deception

Rick woke up in his bed. He was startled to see that his bedroom was darker than it usually was. Nighttime already?

He looked up as he heard a noise. Immediately, he recognized it. "Dad?"

Rick walked nearby to see Flash and Sheila holding each other in a loving embrace, albeit in silhouettes.

"Wait, isn't your son still awake?" Sheila asked.

"Heh." Flash scoffed in his answer. "The boy with powers? He's no son of mine. Not anymore. I only have one child and that's April. That boy means nothing to me now."

Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing. It appeared as if his own father didn't love him anymore, all because he had these Quasanite powers. It wasn't like he asked for these powers in the first place. He felt hot tears fall down his face.

"Dad, no." he tearfully choked out.

He looked into a mirror and saw himself when he was twelve years old. "Isn't that me?"

He then saw a 13 year old April, preparing to leave for the space academy.

"Please April," Rick pleaded, "do you really have to leave?"

"Yes, of course." April answered. "I have to hone my skills and do what it takes to make it to the top."

She then proceeded to walk away. "Goodbye now."

"April!" Rick called out. "Please, don't go!"

He opened his eyes, finding himself back in his mature form. He shook, trying to pull himself together. "I'm really losing it here. Gotta pull myself together."

Suddenly, he heard a giggle. Then he looked to see Jedda wearing a gown and tiara next to Hadea. "Jedda?"

"I never wanted to be a Defender." Jedda told Hadea. "I didn't want to live in a city either. I'm so happy with you, Mother. You have made all my dreams come true. I don't need anything else in life."

Suddenly, Rick felt hands being wrapped around his body and gasped.

-Sailor-Moon-Defenders-

Cathleen could tell that her plan was working and was starting to be put in full circle. She had been giving Rick these thoughts for some time since she had joined the team before anyone even knew of his powers. She was worried at first as Rick seemed to be resistant of her power. She could sense that he wouldn't give in without a fight. There we go, dear boy. I shall devour your love and change it into hate. Then, I shall send you after the other Defenders as well as the Sailor Guardians.

She could sense Rick was starting to give in to her power. The more he fell under her power, the darker he was becoming. Soon, his thoughts were changing from loyalties to his team and allies and his love for Jedda to the depths of the darkness of hate.

"Good." Cathleen smirked in satisfaction. "Everything is going as I have hoped. Rick Gordon is under my control."

-Sailor-Moon-Defenders-

Kakyuu gasped, sensing something unsettling.

"What's the matter, princess?" Yaten asked. She stood up, facing the Starlights, who looked at her with confusion.

"Someone is using Rick Gordon for his powers." Kakyuu answered. "I can sense his powers are being used. If this happens, the mutations will happen faster than we expect them to."

"That woman that tried to bother Rick while he was recovering from his coma!" Seiya exclaimed.

"Who?"

"I think she is Cathleen O' Connor." Seiya looked up. "I had a feeling she would try something again."

"This time she succeeded in this case." Taiki replied.

"We need to deal with her and help Rick." Yaten told the others.

"Exactly." Kakyuu replied. "You must hurry."

-Sailor-Moon-Defenders-

Mandrake leaned back at his seat, startled by something.

"Mandrake, what's the matter?" Lothar asked.

"Something sinister?" Setsuna added.

Haruka and Michiru looked up as well, anticipating on what their friend had to say.

"I sense it." Mandrake answered. "Cathleen."

"Cathleen?" Setsuna looked on.

"Yes," Mandrake stated, "I left her alone with Rick. How stupid of me?! Now she has used her powers on Rick to manipulate him!"

"Rick's in trouble?" Hotaru asked as she put down her sandwich.

"Exactly. We need to head back at once!" Mandrake looked up before calling for a nearby waitress. "Check please!"

-Sailor-Moon-Defenders-

Rick's eyes slowly opened. Slowly, he looked up to see Cathleen.

"Hello Rick." Cathleen smiled at him.

"Cathleen."

"How are you doing?" Cathleen asked.

"I...I wish I knew." Rick answered. He kept thinking about his dream he just had. "I saw my Dad. He was with Sheila and he told her he didn't love me anymore because of my powers."

"What else did you see?"

"I saw Jedda happy with Hadea, convinced she didn't need anything else and I also remember a memory of April leaving for the academy years ago."

He looked down, putting his head in his hands. He felt a gentle touch of Cathleen's hand.

"You poor dear," Cathleen spoke gently to him, "I'm afraid what you saw is true."

Rick felt the depression sink in hard. He had never felt so alone in his entire life and he was feeling anguish and anger at the same time.

"Rick, you may feel alone," Rick looked up as he faced Cathleen as she was talking to him, "but you should know that I'm here for you and I can help you with your powers."

He was convinced that she was serious in wanting to help him with his powers. His father had turned from him and his sister couldn't care less unless she was at the top. As for Jedda, he wasn't sure how loyal she was to him now.

"Okay." Rick nodded.

"Good." Cathleen gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Head to my room and we can talk about matters further."

"Of course."

-Sailor-Moon-Defenders-

Cathleen noticed Rick's eyes had turned a vicious red before he left the room. She wasn't sure if that was because of her control over him or if it had something to do with his mutations. She also noticed his skin color wasn't quite normal. Rather than his normal color, his skin had become a beige like color. She knew somehow that was a part of his transformation that the team had heard of.

"Cathleen!" she heard Mandrake shout from outside the room.

Cathleen turned around and slowly stepped out of the room. It didn't take long for her stepping into the hallway before Mandrake and Lothar approached her. Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru followed suit, all powered up. She only glared at them at first.

"You don't need to act innocent here." Mandrake sternly spoke to her. "I could sense that you used your powers. You've been doing this for some time since you've been on the team, haven't you?"

"And what if I did?" Cathleen retorted.

"Enough games, Cathleen!" Lothar shouted.

"You've fed Rick lies and it appears you've been doing this for some time." Mandrake pointed his finger at her.

Cathleen looked down, as she realized the jig was up.

"You best to tell the truth, Cathleen." Setsuna spoke up. "Mandrake knows very well about your Enchantress powers as he explained to us on the way back here."

"You're right, Mandrake." Cathleen smirked. "I have been giving Rick these thoughts for some time. It started shortly after our encounter with Prince Krotan of Mongo. I had no idea that he had..."

She glanced over at Haruka, who cleared her throat. "Well, I have actually."

"You knew Rick had powers?" Michiru asked. "Is that what you're implying?"

"Not exactly." Cathleen explained. "There was something extraordinary within the boy that I was sensing after the Krotan encounter. I started feeding him doubts about his own family and his loved ones as well as feeding him doubts and insecurities in the process."

"Exactly what I've been sensing this whole time!" Setsuna exclaimed.

"So that's her?" another voice asked. Everyone looked to see Seiya, Yaten and Taiki arrive at the scene in their sailor suits.

"Yes, it's her." Seiya answered.

"You guys knew about this too?" Mandrake asked.

"What all do you know?" Haruka demanded.

"She tried to pull something on Rick earlier." Seiya answered. "I was able to stop her before she could do anything to him or to Jedda."

"And you can see, you weren't able to stop me this time." Cathleen chuckled.

"You have no idea what you've done!" Yaten exclaimed in anger. "Our princess told us she sensed his powers was being used by you!"

"Rick could be slowly losing his humanity, mutating into a monster right now all because of you!" Taiki added.

Cathleen couldn't help but to think of Rick's red eyes and beige like skin that she saw him. So that was the mutations those Sailor Starlights were talking about, or at least the start of it.

-Sailor-Moon-Defenders-

Mandrake was shocked upon hearing all this. He couldn't believe everything that was going on. Cathleen was using Rick, a normally level headed boy who cared about his loved ones. She manipulated him for her selfish gain and now, if the Starlights were right, Rick could possibly be losing his humanity because of this.

He looked at the shocked expressions of Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna. They hurried away as he assumed that they were going to look for Rick.

"Cathleen, what have you done?!" Lothar exclaimed in anger. She only stared in response.

"If what the Sailor Starlights are saying is true, then you are the one causing his mutations to make faster progression!" Mandrake exclaimed in a stern but calm tone.