"Lookout!" Kaz shouted as he and Oliver burst into the hospital admissions foyer, pushing the wheeled trashcan up to the desk. "One superhero slash villain, ready for admission."

The receptionist's eyes widened behind her mask. Horace and the captain rushed to them. "What do you mean?" Horace asked.

"We've got Skyler in here," Oliver replied. "She's sedated and her powers are temporarily blocked."

"You captured Storm?" Captain Galahad asked, unbelievingly. "Without permission? The point was to use her to take out the whole group."

"Take out? That sounds like you mean destroy. As in kill. Skyler is a superhero. She's just ill. She meeds treatment, not destroying," Oliver angrily told the captain.

"It's done so there's no use arguing about it," Horace said, trying to defuse the confrontation. "Thoughtress is in town, she may be able to read Skyler's mind and tell us what we need to know."

Captain Galahad frowned, but agreed. "This could work out, but boys- I can't have you interfering with Mighty Military operations. If you go off again without approval, you may find yourselves in the Mighty Military stockade."

. . . . .

Skyler paced inside the forcefield, angrily kicking aside the bags of coal which covered the floor. Horace had adopted the boy's idea and filled the dais with those, so many that when she tried to pile them all on one end to clear a space at the other, in hope of restoring her powers, she weakened herself too much even to stand. Evenly spread, she had strength enough to walk, and curse all involved in her imprisonment. Which at this moment meant Oliver and Kaz, who were monitoring her condition. Oliver's ears burned, listening to her savage him in everything from appearance to kissing skills. He let it all wash over him, this was the Annihilator speaking, not her. Horace and the captain entered, along with another person. She was taller than either of the men, her hair icy blue. Her form-fitting costume was grey- glittering, undulating bands of different shades of grey. "This is Thoughtress," Horace said, "she's going to try to read Skyler's mind. Thoughts aren't like words, we'll need to interpret whatever she can get."

"If you think I'm going to help you in any way, you're even more pathetic than I knew. I belong to the Annihilator. I am his weapon. The moment I am free I will destroy you all." Galahad and Horace ignored her outburst, but Oliver was stung by her absolute conviction. Could she be lost to them forever?

"So," Horace asked Thoughtress, "what do you need to get started?"

"Nothing. I have already begun." The grey clad heroine approached the forcefield and raised her arms, pointing the palms of her hands at Skyler. "I sense many things, all a jumble. But this- a field. Buttressed by roads and houses. In the field, a small brick building. A secret way. Evil below. Also- music, music everywhere." Thoughtress lowered her arms. "That is all I can glean. That is all she has."

"Thank you," Horace said. "Please allow me to escort you out." He took her arm and they left the room. "So, that was all you saw of her thoughts. Did you see anything else? Anything of what the Annihilator did to her?"

"Yes. I saw the tendrils of his tamperings. I saw their limits. They reach further back than when it occurred, but are limited. I believe they can be defeated." They again said goodbye, and as she left, he returned to the others.

. . . . .

"A field, roads and houses, a building, music. This doesn't seem promising," the captain said.

"I know. Oliver, you've spent more time with her, does any of this make sense?" Horace asked.

"I can't think of anything. Those things don't really go together."

"That's true," Captain Galahad said. "There are too many disparate elements. We need to limit the variables. Let's try first and last. A field, and music. Does that bring anything to mind?"

"No, I can't think of any... wait- a couple months ago we went to a concert. It was in City Park. The park is in the city, so it's surrounded by roads. There are buildings in the park, an office, storage sheds, restrooms. I think they're all brick."

"I'll send a technical team to examine all structures in the park." The captain left to make it so. Skyler had been listening, she resumed yelling and cursing. "You'll never find the Annihilator. He'll find you though. You'll pay for this. You'll all pay."

"That's enough, Skyler," Horace ordered. "If you don't stop I'll shrink and freeze you, and store you next to Brain Matter." She became quiet. "Boys, we need to discuss a few things, but not here. Guards!" Two security guards teleported in. "Allow no one in here except me, Oliver, Kaz, and Captain Galahad." The three went to Horace's office. "I have an idea for how to cure Skyler," the older man told the boys. "The Annihilator implanted villainy in her mind like a memory. The dememorizer ray may be able to to make her simply forget all thoughts of being evil."

Could that be it, Oliver thought? She can just forget wanting to do bad things? It can't be that easy.

"So she just loses her memories of having turned bad?" Kaz asked.

"Pretty much," Horace replied. "Exactly how many memories will have to be worked out, I'll start on that now. You two can get back to doing your regular rounds."