25 - Attack of the Mutant by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead) Read Free Book Online Page A

happened?”
    “It’s kind of a long story,” I said. “I was in a building. On the north side
of town. I think it’s where they make the Collectable Comics.”
    “Really? Here in Riverview Falls?” Wilson’s face filled with surprise. “And
they let you in?”
    “There was no one there,” I told him. It felt good to share the story with
someone. “So we went in. This girl I met on the bus. Libby. And me. We tried to
go up in the elevator. But it took us down. Then Libby got lost. And I found a
stack of drawings of myself.”
    “Whoa!” Wilson exclaimed, raising a hand for me to stop. “I’m not following
this too well, Skipper.”
    I realized what I had said didn’t make any sense at all. How could I explain
it?
    I told Wilson I’d talk to him later, after I calmed down. I helped him gather
up his rubber stamps. He’d brought about twenty of them. “Twenty of the best,”
he said.
    I walked him downstairs and said I’d call him after dinner.
    After he left, something caught my eye on the mail table in the hall. A brown
envelope.
    My heart jumped. Was it—? Yes! An envelope from the Collectable Comics
company. The next special issue of The Masked Mutant.
    I was so excited, I nearly knocked the whole table over as I grabbed for the
envelope. I tucked it under my arm without opening it and ran up the stairs, two at a time.
    I need total privacy. I have to study this! I told myself.
    I closed the bedroom door behind me and dropped down onto the edge of the
bed. My hands trembled as I ripped open the envelope and pulled out the comic
book.
    The cover showed a closeup of The Masked Mutant. His eyes glared angrily out
at the reader. A NEW FOE FOR THE MUTANT! proclaimed the title.
    Huh? A new foe?
    I took a deep breath and held it. Calm down, Skipper, I urged myself. It’s
only a comic book.
    But would this new issue help to solve the mystery for me?
    Would it tell me anything about the strange, pink-and-green headquarters
building? Would it help solve any of the puzzles from this afternoon?
    I turned to the first page. It showed the headquarters building from above.
The next drawing showed the building at street level. In the deep shadows,
someone was approaching the glass doors.
    Someone was sneaking into the headquarters building.
    I turned the page.
    And shrieked at the top of my lungs: “I don’t believe it!”

 
 
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    Yes. You probably guessed it. It was ME sneaking into The Masked
Mutant’s headquarters building.
    I stared at the page so hard, I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my
head.
    I was so excited—and so shocked—I couldn’t read the words. They became a
gray blur.
    I turned the pages with shaking hands. I don’t think I took a breath. I
studied each picture, holding the comic book about an inch from my face.
    The Galloping Gazelle sat in a tiny room. The room grew hotter and hotter. In
minutes, The Galloping Gazelle would become The Boiled Gazelle!
    The Masked Mutant had trapped The Galloping Gazelle in his headquarters. And
now he planned to leave The Gazelle there to boil.
    I turned the page. My hand shook so hard, I nearly tore the page off.
    There I was, creeping through the dark hallway. In the comic, I wore the same T-shirt and baggy jeans I had on right
now.
    The next drawing showed a closeup of my face. Big balls of sweat rolled down
my pink face. I guess that meant I was scared.
    I’m a little too chubby in that drawing, I thought.
    But it was me. It was definitely ME!
    “Mom!” I screamed, closing the comic and jumping off the bed. “Mom! Dad! You
have to see this!”
    I tore out of my room and hurtled down the stairs. I don’t think my feet
touched the floor!
    “Mom! Dad! Where are you?”
    I found them in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Dad was chopping onions by the
sink. His eyes were filled with tears. Mom was bent over the stove. As usual,
she was having trouble getting the oven lit.
    “I’m in this comic book!” I cried, bursting