I sat in my study, staring at the ring I had gotten from Queen Galacta to give to Maggie. After hours of reasoning, I had determined that the only possible explanation for her betrayal was that Henchman had drugged her. The only question then is what to do with the villain?

A thick puff of putrid smoke suddenly filled my office.

"Professor!" shouted Nightcrawler. "Henchman's van izt pulling up zee driveway!"

Apparently the whole damn school knows about my business.

I rolled out into the hall and saw Henchman in civilian clothes walking through the doors pushing Maggie, who was also in a wheelchair. Her body was motionless. Panic surged through my heart. I quickly scanned her thoughts and found very little activity. The tension radiating from Henchman's mind was deafening.

Without looking at him, I said, "Bring her down to the med lab." As we descended to the lower level, I tried to probe Maggie's mind. She seemed totally shut down except for some focused activity in the deepest recesses of her subconscious. I could only pick up flashes of strange images about a woman and child. There was someone named Kyle.

The intense anger I felt radiating from Henchman pulled me back. It took me a moment to realize her was staring at Gaia's comatose body. His thoughts were of blind rage. He was fantasizing about bludgening her.

"She's no danger to you," I told him calmly. The tall man turned to look at me.

"She did this to Maggie!" he shouted. "She has to die!"

"You will not touch a hair on her head," I informed him. "Gaia has been cleansed of the evil that tainted her."

"So what?! She get's a free pass just like that? Maggie was right, you don't really give a crap about her do you?"

The devastating psionic blast that I hit Henchman with sent him flying across the lab. He crashed hard into the wall, smashing various beakers and equipment.

"How dare you?!" I bellowed. "You have no right you foul . . you drugged her didn't you?!"

"W-what the hell are you-," he started to say. I brutally ripped past the layers of his mind, searching his memories telepathically.

Maggie came to him.

He truly cares about her.

How can this be?

. .

"Stay here and watch them," I told him as I left the lab. "If you touch Gaia, I will kill you very, very slowly."

How can this be?