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

down that toy. It can’t help you,” The Masked Mutant declared, moving
closer.
    “I’m not kidding,” Libby insisted in a shrill voice. “It isn’t a toy. It
really is a Molecule-Melter.”
    The Masked Mutant laughed again and took another step closer. Then another
step.
    Libby aimed the gun at The Mutant’s chest. She pulled the trigger.
    A high-pitched whistle burst out of the gun.
    The Masked Mutant took another step closer. Then another.

 
 
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    Libby lowered the plastic gun.
    We both stared in horror as The Masked Mutant came nearer.
    He took one more step. Then stopped.
    A bright white light circled his body. The light became a crackling
electrical current.
    The Mutant uttered a low moan. Then he began to melt.
    His head melted down into his mask. Tinier and tinier—until it disappeared
completely. The empty mask slumped on to the shoulders of his costume. And then
the rest of his body melted away, shrinking until there was nothing left but a
wrinkled costume and cape, heaped on the carpet.
    Libby and I stood staring down at the costume in silence.
    “It—it worked!” I finally managed to choke out. “The toy gun—it worked,
Libby!”
    “Of course,” she replied with surprising calm.
    She walked over to the empty costume and kicked it with her sneaker. “Of
course it worked. I warned him it was a Molecule-Melter. He wouldn’t listen.”
    My brain was doing flip-flops. I didn’t really understand. It was just a toy
pistol. Why did it destroy the mightiest mutant on Earth?
    “Let’s get out of here!” I pleaded, starting toward the door.
    Libby moved to block my path. “I’m sorry, Skipper,” she said softly.
    “Sorry? What do you mean?”
    She raised the plastic pistol and aimed it at me. “I’m sorry,” she said,
“because you’re disappearing next.”

 
 
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    At first I thought Libby was joking. “Libby, put down the gun,” I told her.
“You have a sick sense of humor!”
    She kept the plastic gun aimed at my chest.
    I let out a feeble laugh.
    But I quickly cut it short when I saw the hard expression on her face. “Libby—what’s your problem?” I demanded.
    “I’m not Libby,” she replied softly. “I hate to break the news to you,
Skipper—but there is no Libby.”
    As she said those words, she began to change. Her red hair slid into her
head. Her cheeks grew wider. Her nose lengthened. Her eyes changed from green to
black.
    She stretched up, growing taller. Muscles bulged on her skinny arms. And as
she grew, her clothing changed, too. Her jeans and T-shirt appeared to melt away—replaced by a familiar-looking costume.
    The costume of The Masked Mutant.
    “Libby—what’s going on?” I cried in a tiny, frightened voice. I still
didn’t understand. “How are you doing that?”
    She shook her head. “You don’t catch on very fast, do you?” she said, rolling
her eyes. Her voice came out deep and booming. A man’s voice.
    “Libby, I—”
    She swept her cape behind her. “I’m The Masked Mutant, Skipper. I changed my
molecules into a girl your age and called myself Libby. But I’m The Masked
Mutant.”
    “But—but—but—” I sputtered.
    She tossed the toy gun aside and grinned at me triumphantly.
    “But you just melted The Masked Mutant!” I cried. “We both saw him
melt!”
    She shook her head. “No. You’re mistaken. I just melted The Magnificent
Molecule Man.”
    I gaped at her in astonishment. “Huh? Molecule Man?”
    “He worked for me,” she explained, glancing down at the crumpled, empty
costume on the floor. “Sometimes I ordered him to dress like me. To keep people
off my track.”
    “He worked for you—and you melted him?” I cried.
    “I’m a villain,” The Masked Mutant replied, smiling. “I do very bad things—remember?”
    It all started to come clear. There never was a Libby. It had been The Masked Mutant all along.
    The Masked Mutant stepped over the crumpled costume to move closer to me.
Once