Free 25 - Attack of the Mutant by R.L. Stine - (ebook by Undead)

stretch until he had
lifted me above the chandelier.
    I thrashed my arms and legs and tried to squirm away. But he was too strong.
    Higher. Higher. Until my head banged hard against the ceiling, at least
twenty feet above the floor.
    “Happy landings!” The Masked Mutant cried gleefully as he prepared to drop me
and send me plummeting to my doom.
    But before he could drop me, I heard the door swing open.
    The Masked Mutant heard it, too. Holding me suspended in the air, he turned to see who had entered. “You!” he cried in
surprise.
    High above the floor, I squirmed around and bent my head to see through the
chandelier. The light sparkled through the crystals, making it impossible to
see.
    “How dare you burst in here!” The Masked Mutant cried to the intruder.
    He lowered me a little. Just enough for me to see the doorway.
    “Libby!” I cried. “What are you doing here?”

 
 
25
     
     
    The Masked Mutant lowered me to the floor and turned to face Libby. My legs
were wobbling so badly, I had to grab on to a bookshelf to hold myself up.
    “Libby—get out of here! Get away!” I tried to warn her.
    But she stormed into the room, her red hair flying behind her. She had her
eyes on me and completely ignored The Masked Mutant.
    Doesn’t she know that he is the most evil supervillain in the known
universe?
    “Skipper—didn’t you hear me calling you?” Libby demanded sharply.
    “Huh? Libby—”
    “I was across the street,” she said. “I saw you going into this building. I
called to you.”
    “I—I didn’t hear you,” I stammered. “Listen, you’d better get out of
here, Libby.”
    “I’ve been searching and searching for you,” she continued, ignoring my
warning, ignoring my frantic gestures. “What are you doing in here, Skipper?”
    “Uh… I really can’t talk right now,” I replied, pointing to The Masked
Mutant.
    He stood impatiently, hands at his waist, tapping his boot on the carpet. “I
see that I will have to destroy you both,” he said quietly.
    Libby spun around. She seemed to notice the supervillain for the first time.
“Skipper and I are leaving now,” she said with a sneer.
    I gasped. Didn’t she know who she was talking to?
    No. Of course she didn’t know. She reads only High School Harry & Beanhead comics. She has no idea how much danger we are in! I realized.
    “I’m sorry,” The Masked Mutant replied, sneering back at Libby from under his
mask. “You are not leaving. In fact, you are never leaving this building again.”
    Libby glared back at him, and I saw her expression change. Her green eyes
grew wide, and her mouth dropped open.
    She took a step back until she stood beside me. “We have to do something,”
she whispered.
    Do something?
    What could we do against the monstrous mega-mutant?
    I swallowed hard. I couldn’t think of how to answer her.
    The Masked Mutant tossed back his cape and took a step toward us. “Which one of you wants to go first?” he demanded
softly.
    I turned and saw that Libby had backed up to the bookshelves. She pulled a
yellow plastic toy gun from her backpack.
    “Libby—what are you doing ?” I whispered. “That’s just a toy!”
    “I know,” she whispered back. “But this is a comic book—right? It can’t be
real. So if it’s a comic book, we can do anything !”
    She raised the plastic toy pistol and aimed it at The Masked Mutant.
    He let out a cold laugh. “What do you plan to do with that toy?” he asked
scornfully.
    “It only l-looks like a toy,” Libby stammered. “It’s a Molecule-Melter. Leave
this room—or I’ll melt all your molecules!”
    The Mutant’s smile grew wider. “Nice try,” he said, flashing two rows of
perfect, white teeth.
    He narrowed his eyes at Libby and took another step toward her. “I guess you
want to go first. I’ll try not to hurt you—too much.”
    Libby held the toy gun in front of her with both hands. She gritted her
teeth, preparing to pull the trigger.
    “Put