I waited for the awful shock and the pulsing pain that would rack my brain. Waited …

“Huh?” I felt nothing.

I opened my eyes and saw Cranium standing by the couch. He was staring at Nina and Artie.

Nina screamed.

Artie scrambled up from the couch. “Leave us alone!” he cried.

“You don’t want them!” I shouted. “Why do you want to frighten them?”

“They don’t know anything,” Jackson said. “They don’t know that Jillian and I have powers.”

Cranium sneered. “Who cares about your puny powers?”

He turned back to the Lerner twins. “You’ve hidden for too long,” he said. “You give me no choice. I have to drain your brains completely.”

“D-drain our brains?” Nina stammered.

“This is totally crazy!” Jackson blurted out. “Nina and Artie don’t know what you’re talking about. Come on — we’re out of here!” He grabbed Nina’s arm to lead her to the door.

But Cranium moved quickly to block the way. He narrowed his eyes at Jackson.

Jackson uttered a cry. His hands flew up as he felt a powerful electrical jolt. He didn’t take another step.

“What does that mean? Drain our brains?” Artie whined. His nose was running, but he just let it drip. “Who are you? Why do you want to hurt us? It’s our birthday!”

“It won’t help to play innocent,” Cranium replied. “I received your vibrations. I know the truth about you two.”

My mind spun.

Was it possible? Did Cranium think Artie and Nina had powers?

“I have no choice,” Cranium said. “As an inspector with the Thought Police, I have to do this for the good of the world.”

I stared hard at him. “You drain people’s brains for the good of the world?”

He nodded. “We can’t allow normal people to have powers. Normal people are too weak, too foolish.”

I crossed my arms in front of me. “Huh? Is that supposed to make sense?”

“Only the Thought Police can have that power!” Inspector Cranium bellowed. “We keep order. Don’t you ever wonder why you never meet any real superheroes?” he asked. “It’s because we get to them first.”

“You mean — without you, there would be real superheroes in the world?” I asked.

Inspector Cranium scowled at me. “Lots of people have powers. But we make sure they can’t use them. There are very few people in this world who know what to do with superpowers. We know who they are … and the rest must be done away with….”

The four of us stared at him in terrified silence.

“Enough talk,” Cranium growled. He turned to the Lerner twins. “I have to empty out your brains now.”