The mighty gusts drove Lisa, D.W., Francine, and Arthur inexorably up the side of the hill of gravel. Lisa's dress and pearl necklace were blown upward, so that the rocks scratched her torso. I hope I die quickly, she thought, not screaming in agony like the woman Moe landed on while attempting suicide.

In the air above, Claire cackled and exulted in her unmatched power. I am a leaf on the wind, she flattered herself. See how I…

She didn't finish her thought, as a spinning shaft of gravel shot up at her, pelting every part of her body. She screamed in pain as hundreds of little rocks tore at her skin with their sharp edges. She tried to repel them with her magnified telekinetic powers, but the rocks were too many, and she was unable to concentrate.

Just as they knew they were doomed, Arthur, Francine, D.W., and Lisa felt themselves descending, then falling. They landed with a breathtaking thud on the top of the gravel mound. The shrieking winds died down, and were suddenly gone.

Claire, covered with lacerations and in a panicked state, plummeted to earth amidst a shower of rocks, dust, and plaster. She slammed feet-first into the opposite side of the pile of gravel from her intended victims, who were struggling to their feet and brushing off the debris that had rained down upon them.

"Is everyone okay?" Arthur asked Francine, D.W., and Lisa.

"I'm fine," Francine replied. "That was quick thinking, Arthur."

"You saved our lives!" gushed D.W., throwing her arms around her brother.

Lisa climbed up the gravel slope and looked over at Claire, who lay face-down, semi-conscious, and bleeding. Hearing a faint moan, she turned her face to the others and informed them, "She's alive!"

"Get the helmet!" Arthur ordered her.

Claire offered no resistance as Lisa pried Frink's helmet from her head. "What should we do with it?" she asked D.W., Francine, and Arthur.

"Give it to me," said D.W. "I'll keep it in my toy chest until it fits."

"Destroy it," Francine advised.

"Why?" Lisa asked her. "So the other Brainchildren won't be able to abuse its power?"

"No," was Francine's sarcastic reply. "I just like to destroy things."

"Here comes Professor Frink," said Arthur, observing that the professor and Alan were hurrying toward them. "He'll know what to do with it."

"Yeah, right," said Francine as she stepped to the bottom of the gravel pile. "Just like Dr. Frankenstein knew what to do with…oh, good glavin!"

Her exclamation attracted the gaze of Lisa, D.W., and Arthur. To their astonishment, lying in the rocks only inches from Claire's prostrate hand was a golden unicorn horn.

"What was she doing with Greta's horn?" wondered Francine, quickly bending over to pick up the object. "She couldn't have known about the wishes."

"I'm afraid everyone in Springfield knows about unicorn horns now, little primate girl," said Frink, who had stopped with Alan at the edge of the construction site.

"How…" Francine began to say, but the answer promptly occurred to her. "Oh, no," she realized in horror. "Tegan was mentally linked with the whole city when she looked into our minds and learned about the unicorns."

"That's not good at all," Lisa lamented. "Now everybody will want a piece of the horn."

"That leaves only one option," said Frink, stepping toward Francine. "I must take the horn and conceal it within a safe deposit box whose location and combination are known only to me."

"Nice try, wisenheimer," said Francine, sticking the unicorn horn behind her back.

The group was then approached by Fern and April, who were panting slightly. "Is everybody all right?" Fern inquired.

"Everybody except Claire," D.W. replied. "She got what she deserved."

"The police let us go when they realized we weren't Brainchildren," April reported. "They're taking C.V., Iris, and Victor to the station in handcuffs."

"What about Tegan?" asked Alan.

The others exchanged blank stares and shrugged.

"She must've been in the Rosen Building when it blew up," said Alan hopelessly.

Frink and the kids followed him toward the site of the destruction, passing by several spots where police officers or bystanders were attempting to treat the dead and injured. "Greta's somewhere under all that junk," D.W. reflected sadly. "She didn't even get a proper unicorn burial."

"I don't see Tegan anywhere," said Arthur, glancing around with his hand above his eyes. "Maybe she's one of those people with blood all over their faces."

While they circled the ruins in search of Tegan, Francine debated with her young friends about how to best utilize the magic of Greta's horn. "One wish to make Van walk," she proposed. "One wish to turn Augusta Winslow back into a man. One wish to make Alan lose his memory-erasing powers."

"I've already lost them," Alan told her. "But you've got a good idea there. If C.V., Iris, and Victor use it to wish away their powers, they'll no longer be Brainchildren. They'll be free."

"They'll be long gone by the time we make up our minds," said Francine.

"What if they don't want to lose their powers?" April suggested.

"And what's to stop them from wishing for even more power?" Fern added.

"Plus, that wouldn't help the hundreds of other captive Brainchildren," said Frink.

"Look!" cried April. "Over there!"

She led the gang about one hundred yards from the scene of devastation, to a grassy patch within a grove of trees. There, Elwood City policewoman Pinsky was examining a teenage girl who lay cleanly on her back, her arms and legs perfectly straight.

"It's Tegan!" Alan exclaimed with joy.

"You know her?" said Pinsky.

"She's my sister," Alan informed her.

"You must be the mystery boy," said Pinsky with a grin. "Your parents miss you terribly, and they can't even remember you."

"How is she?" Alan inquired.

"Alive," Pinsky answered. "The only question is, how alive."

Alan's heart drooped as he and his friends gazed down at the unconscious girl. The barrette that normally blocked her powers was missing from her head, yet Alan felt nothing of the familiar mind-merging sensation.

"She obviously wasn't thrown from the explosion," Pinsky mused. "It's as if somebody carefully laid her down here."

Alan turned to face Fern, and tears began to form in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" the poodle girl asked him.

"Everything's wrong," said Alan miserably. "Scores of people are dead, my sister may never wake up, and you're stuck with her personality, because I can't erase it from your mind."

"It's okay," said Fern lackadaisically. "I've gotten used to it."

"The horn," said Alan, a glint of hope in his voice. "You could wish for Tegan to leave your head—to become just Fern again."

"We're getting along fine in here," said Fern, her tone suggesting that she had no interest in Alan's ideas.

As she watched the bear boy sulk, Lisa had a sudden brainstorm. "Alan! Maybe your powers aren't completely gone—maybe they're just weakened."

"Huh?" Alan grunted.

"Use Frink's helmet," the girl recommended.

"Hey, she's right," said Francine, who then tried to push the helmet into Alan's hands.

"Okay," said Alan, lifting the device onto his head. "I'll try anything."

A surge of energy passed between his temples, and he felt as though he could swallow the entire world. Fields of sagebrush and juniper leaped at his mind's eye until he had to push them back. He had never sensed such power within himself.

"Alan, wait!" Fern begged him. "What if Tegan never comes out of it? I'll be all that's left of her!"

For a moment Alan hesitated. She could be right, he thought.

Tegan's essence sat like a row of juniper in the endless sagebrush valley of Fern's mind, awaiting Alan's command to die and wither away. She's my sister. If I do this, will I lose her forever?

to be continued