"Give me a number between one and one hundred," said Marge.
"Sixty-nine," was Alan's choice.
"Now try to make me forget what it is."
Alan strained and concentrated, but no fields of sagebrush and juniper appeared in his mind's eye. An act that would have been trivial for him the day before was now impossible, as if he had lost the use of a limb.
"Is it sixty-nine?" Marge asked him.
"Yeah," replied Alan with satisfaction. "I couldn't see your memories at all. I don't know how, but I'm cured."
"Now make me forget the answers to today's history test," Bart requested.
"Grover Cleveland," said Lisa.
"Argh!" said Bart in frustration. "Lisa, I wanted him to do it!"
"I'm a normal person again," said Alan, grinning as he stood up.
"I nowmal perfon agin," babbled Maggie, rising in imitation of him.
"Do you suppose it's because of something Professor Frink did?" Lisa suggested.
"He didn't do anything," said Alan.
"Maybe some sort of trigger event activated your powers, and they wore off after a time," Lisa theorized.
"That could be," Alan mused. "I first discovered them when I was merged with Tegan. Maybe they'll come back if I merge with her again—which will be never, if I have anything to say about it."
Overjoyed, Lisa walked across the living room to her friend and embraced him tenderly. "I'm so glad you're a mere mortal again," she gushed.
"Yeah, now you can get the hell out of here," joked Bart.
Lisa pulled her arms away from Alan and gazed at him with gleaming eyes. "Call your parents," she urged him. "They must be worried about you."
"I, uh, don't want to shock them," said Alan. "I'll call my friend Prunella, and have her pass on the good news to them."
"Prunella?" said Bart with a grimace. "That girl is one straw short of a cuckoo's nest. When we were there, she predicted that I'd never amount to anything. Boy, was she wrong."
Wasting no time, Alan picked up the phone in the kitchen and punched Prunella's number.
"Hello?" came the girl's voice.
"Hi, Prunella, it's Alan," said the boy.
"Omigosh, Alan!" exclaimed Prunella. "Are you all right? Where are you?"
"I'm just fine," Alan replied. "I want you to go to my parents and tell them I'm coming home."
Prunella's voice quivered anxiously. "I don't think that's a good idea. The Brainchildren are looking for you here. They've gotten to Fern."
Alan nearly choked from the terror that something bad might have happened to Fern.
"She's different," Prunella went on. "I think Tegan changed her personality. She's constantly on my case about you. And you won't believe this, but she and Buster are girlfriend and boyfriend now."
Fern and Buster…?
"I'll find out what's happened to her," said Alan angrily. "I'll call her myself."
Having bid a quick farewell to Prunella, Alan hastily dialed Fern's number. The voice on the line was that of Mr. Walters.
"I'd like to speak to Fern," said Alan.
"She's taking a bath right now," Mr. Walters told him.
"Tell her Alan Powers wants to talk to her."
Alan waited breathlessly. Over the phone he heard the sound of splashing water and the high-pitched, eager words of a little girl.
"Normally I wouldn't get out of the tub to answer the phone," he heard Fern's voice speaking. "But I'll make an exception for you."
"Am I speaking to Fern, or Tegan?" said Alan.
"Take your pick," Fern answered. "We're both in here."
Alan's anger intensified. "This is between you and me, Tegan," he snapped. "You should've left Fern out of it."
"But she fit so well into our plan," said Fern confidently. "When I looked into your mind, she was always the first girl I saw. I know you have feelings for her. I know you don't want her to be hurt."
"Make her the way she was again!" Alan demanded.
"You make her the way she was again," was Fern's response. "You're the only one with the power."
The indignation in Alan's heart turned to hopelessness. "What do you want?" he asked weakly.
"You'll see," replied Fern. "Tomorrow at noon, go to the Department of Applied Science of the Springfield Heights Institute of Technology, to the laboratory of Professor John Frink."
"Frink?" Alan blurted out.
The pieces were starting to come together…
"How long has Frink been on your side?" Alan wanted to know.
"I…or rather, Tegan first met him two years ago at Ballford. She knew that he supported freedom for the Brainchildren, so after you wiped Ray's mind, she sought him out in the hope he'd become their new leader. How do you know him?"
"I, er, ah, studied his work," said Alan haltingly.
"You're lucky," said Fern. "Remember, tomorrow at noon, Springfield Tech Department of Applied Science, Frink's laboratory. Come alone. You'll get the chance to erase Tegan from my mind, and then you'll take your place at our side."
Despair robbing him of speech, Alan slowly lowered the receiver. Those devils! he thought bitterly. They've taken Fern's mind away from her, and with my powers gone, I can't do a thing about it!
Lisa had never seen the boy so distraught. "Bad news?" she said, trying to be helpful.
Alan only gazed at her through moistening eyes.
Finally he swallowed and lifted his chin up. "Get me the number of Ballford Preparatory School in Elwood City," he commanded.
"But, Alan," said Lisa, "isn't that the place you're trying to stay away from?"
"Not anymore," said Alan, masking his sadness with a brave façade. "Even if I'm too late to save Fern, I can still put the Brainchildren out of business."
to be continued