Accidental Hero (Jack Blank Adventure)

Accidental Hero (Jack Blank Adventure) by Matt Myklusch Read Free Book Online

Book: Accidental Hero (Jack Blank Adventure) by Matt Myklusch Read Free Book Online
Authors: Matt Myklusch
are concerned.”
    “The Rüstov just tried to kill him,” Jazen said.
    “And when was the last time you heard of that happening?” Blue asked. “Rüstov Para-Soldiers operating in the outside world? You’d have to go back to the invasion for that. The question is, what’s next? Ten Rüstov? A hundred? People back home haven’t had to deal with those kinds of numbers in quite a while, and the fact is, they like it that way. If more of those things follow this kid back, it’s going to be bad for him and you.”
    “What things?” Jack asked, stepping out of the stairwell. “Is that what you call the thing that came after me today? A Rüstov?”
    Jazen and Blue looked up, taken totally by surprise. They traded embarrassed looks after being caught red-handed talking about Jack.
    “All right, Jack,” Jazen said. “You’re going to find out soon enough, anyway. Have a seat up here, and we’ll tell you everything.”
    Jack did as he was told, taking a seat across from Jazen and Blue.
    “I’m sure you have a million questions,” Jazen said. “The fact is, so do we. Even by our standards, this has been a pretty unusual day. This morning you faced off against one of the baddest bad guys in the whole universe.”
    “What was that thing?” Jack asked.
    “A Rüstov Para-Soldier,” Blue answered. “Alien invaders. Nasty ones too.”
    “I read about them today in a comic book,” Jack said. “Only they were called Robo-Zombies. They were fighting a hero called Prime.”
    “You know about Prime?” Blue asked.
    Jack looked at Blue. “He’s real too?” he asked.
    “As real as the Rüstov,” Blue replied. “I can see why you call ’em Robo-Zombies. Infected people usually end up looking like zombies by the time the Rüstov are done with them.”
    “They’re cybernetic parasites,” Jazen explained. “Mostpeople in the Imagine Nation are still pretty scared of them. They infect other living organisms and use them as hosts, taking over their bodies and stealing their life energy. They can only survive on the backs of other life forms, and their victims turn into Rüstov soldiers just like them.”
    Jack thought it was all remarkably similar to what he had read about in the pages of Unreal Tales #42. “In my comic book Prime was turning into one of them too,” he told Jazen and Blue. “He started getting that mark on his eye, like the one they all have.”
    “You’ll be glad to know that Prime is just fine,” Blue said. “But that’s how it starts. That mark on the eye, that’s the first sign of infection.”
    “The one that came after me… it didn’t try to infect me,” Jack said. “It tried to kill me.”
    “I know,” Jazen said. “It’s strange, I can’t explain that.”
    “What does all this have to do with me going to the Imagine Nation?” Jack wanted to know.
    “I told you about my job as an emissary,” Jazen began. “How we go around the world planting clues about the Imagine Nation, and looking for people who are developing superpowers. Well, twelve years ago the Rüstov invadedEarth. Ever since then, we’ve been discouraged from actually bringing any superpowered people back to our island. People are still very suspicious of outsiders back home.”
    “Hang on,” Jack said. “Superpowers? You really think I have superpowers?”
    “I know you do,” Jazen said without blinking.
    Blue agreed with Jazen. “You don’t survive a Rüstov ambush without a few superpowers,” Blue said.
    Jack could hardly believe his ears. Even with everything that had already happened that day, he still couldn’t quite accept he was a part of all this. He kept waiting for Jazen and Blue to realize it was some big mistake.
    “I didn’t do anything this morning,” Jack said. “I didn’t even try, I just ran. Where would I get superpowers, anyway?”
    “Look,” Jazen said, “not everyone has an obvious superpower origin. For every person who gets their powers from a lab accident or some

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