Goosebumps.
Viewer beware.
You're in for a scare.
You're old, Gazelle.
You're over the hill.
It's time to retire...
permanently!
- I have a few years left. - Thanks for dropping by, Mutant.
Another victory over evil for the League of Good Guys!
I'll try not to leave any squid marks.
Skipper, Dad's home.
Oh, I don't think you want him to see you reading that.
But, Mom, the Masked Mutant mutated into a giant squid.
Look, he has the Galloping Gazelle in a death grip!
Oh, dear.
- Just let me finish it. Okay? - Well, um... Oh.
Skipper. What did I say about those comic books?
No reading comic books till all your homework is finished.
Is all his homework finished? Hello, dear.
Is all your homework finished?
Well, not all of it.
Why do you think your grades are so poor?
Why do you think his grades are so poor? Well...
Because he spends all his time buried in a comic book.
But, Dad, I don't just read them, I collect them.
See, like this Silver Swan.
This is a first edition. Do you know how much this thing's worth?
No. How much? That is not the point.
Your obsession with these things... It's unhealthy.
You don't pay attention to anything else. He doesn't pay attention to anything else.
Oh, Skipper, try to pay attention to something else.
- You see? Skipper! - Yeah?
- Dinnertime. - Oh, yes!
Jumpin' jellybeans. I tell you, those things are gonna ruin that kid.
Oh, hush. It's only a comic book.
Yeah...
Hey, Wilson, you have to check this out. Look.
It's the first time they've shown the secret headquarters of the Masked Mutant.
Oh, great.
In issue 12, page 4, panel 3,
he talked about his headquarters, but they never showed it.
Which one is he again?
"Which one is he again?"
Man, Wilson, I don't believe you! Come on!
The Masked Mutant is the most evil comic book villain there is.
Hey, wait until you see this new rock I found. Look.
What's so great about that?
Well, if you hold it like this, it looks like a duck.
- It does? - Well, it did this morning.
Hey, I'm going to look for some more rocks after school. Do you want to come?
Nah, I gotta catch a bus.
I got another orthodontist appointment.
Why do you collect rocks anyway?
I don't know. They're easy to find.
No matter where you are, you're always near a rock.
I don't get what the big deal about comic books is.
Well, I don't get you and your rocks.
Hey. What'd you get?
- Uh, tuna. - Yeah, me too. Wanna trade?
What for?
- I don't know. - Yeah, okay.
Hey, what are you looking at?
I don't know. I just...
It feels like someone is watching me.
I still don't see anyone.
Hey, do you want to see a piece of striated quartz?
Hey, do you go to Franklin?
Huh? Who? Me?
I wasn't talking to the empty seat.
Yeah, I go there. How is it?
I don't know. It's an okay school.
I didn't mean to interrupt your reading.
Oh, that's okay. I've read it four times.
My name's Libby. I'm Skipper.
Do you collect comic books?
Yeah. So do I.
- What kind? - High School Harry and Beanhead.
- Ah, man! Those are the worst! - I think they're very well written.
And they're funny. Yeah, right.
High School Harry with those stupid little tic-tac-toe checkmarks all over his temples?
And that guy Beanhead... so nauseating.
What do you collect? All that superhero junk like The Masked Mutant?
Yeah. I know everything about the Mutant.
He's the most evil super villain of them all.
I mean, look at this artwork.
It's way better than the High School Harry comics. There's no contest.
See, the Mutant's been battling the Gazelle...
- The Galloping Gazelle. - Galloping Gazelle?
Talk about dumb. It's not dumb, Libby.
The Gazelle's at the end of his career.
He has to battle the Mutant for the fate of the planet. What's so dumb about that?
Are all the boys at Franklin like you?
Nah, I'm the coolest.
Aw, man! I missed my stop.
Nice meeting you.
See you again sometime.
The Mutant's headquarters!
It can't be.
Wow.
Cool.
I'm telling you, it was that exact same building!
Huh. But that's impossible.
It's from a comic book. Man...
Got it! Solved the mystery.
Who draws The Masked Mutant?
Who's the artist?
Wilson, it's Ernie Atwater.
Come on. Everybody knows that.
Well, I'll bet that guy Atwater was here one day.
Ernie Atwater coming to Tarrington?
Sure.
Let's say he's here.
He's driving down the street and he sees this weird building,
and he thinks, "What a great building.
It'd be perfect for the secret headquarters of the Masked Mutant."
So he copied it for the comic book.
Yeah, I guess that's possible.
What, did you think it was the Mutant's headquarters?
He's a comic book character, remember? Yeah, I guess you're right.
Okeydokey, Wilson. I think you should probably go home.
Skipper's gotta get to his homework.
- Ooh! - You need two hands.
Oh.
Want a rock?
Not really. Later.
See ya, Wilson.
Strange.
Okay, out with the comic books.
Time for homework. Okay, Dad.
Caught ya!
I'm sorry, Dad. I know I should be sleeping.
I just couldn't put this down.
Algebra? You weren't reading a comic book?
No.
Oh, gee...
Oh, Skipper, I can't tell you how happy I am...
to see that you're interested in something besides t-t-that Masked Mutant guy.
Yeah. Well, good night, Dad.
Y-You know, I was starting to worry about you, Son.
Okay, Dad. Well, good night.
Yeah, you gotta get to sleep 'cause you got that early follow-up appointment...
with your orthodontist tomorrow morning.
Gotta be on the bus by 6:30.
Even earlier, if I want to see the headquarters...
- I mean, uh... - What headquarters?
What are you talkin' about? I...
Dad, were you ever good at algebra?
Uh, me? Uh...
Oh, golly, no.
Nope. No. Okay.
But I'm glad to see that you're finding it interesting though.
Yeah.
Good night. Good night, Dad.
Mm-hmm.
I just gotta see this place again.
Sorry.
That's weird. It was right there. I know it was.
Hey. Did you see a building there?
Building? Where?
Right there. Yesterday. It was right on that spot.
It looked like this.
No wonder you're seeing things.
This stuff will rot your mind.
Ohh!
Oh! Hello, sweetie. Hi, Mom.
Um, there was some mail for you, Skipper.
I wasn't expecting anything.
Well, it says "Special Edition."
They've never done that before.
It can't be.
It's not possible.
It's not possible. No way.
Well, Wilson, look what the Mutant's saying.
"I'm tracking each one of them. They'll never find me.
I've thrown an invisibility curtain around my entire headquarters!"
I know, but it's a comic book, Skipper.
But I saw this building myself!
And then the next day it was gone!
And now this! What if there really is an invisibility curtain?
There's no such thing. Then what happened?
I don't know, but there's gotta be a logical explanation.
I'm gonna find out what it is.
Yeah.
Attack of the Mutant!
Are you jumpy or what?
That's not funny! Look. The building was there yesterday.
It was? I've never seen it.
You haven't? I don't think so.
Well, I have. Here. Take a look at this.
An invisibility curtain?
Now I know why they call you Skipper.
When they handed out brains, you got skipped.
Well, you have to admit this is weird.
I'll admit that you're weird.
In the comic book, people can walk right through the invisibility curtain.
They couldn't feel it or anything.
It's was kinda like walking through a smoke screen.
Once you walk through the curtain, you can see the building.
Okay. Let's get this over with.
Then when you see that you're nuts, we can have a normal conversation.
Come on.
We are now stepping through the invisibility curtain.
Very funny.
You were right!
Now what?
Let's get out of here. Okay?
No way. Come on. Let's go in.
Go in? Are you crazy?
No. Don't even stop to think about it. Just go.
Wow.
Where is everyone? I don't know.
What was that?
What was what? Didn't you feel that?
I didn't feel anything. Are you trying to scare me or something?
No. There was an electrical beam.
I-It shined on me when I stepped forward.
Let's get out of here. It's so quiet, it's creepy.
Well, there was a beam sort of like that in one of the Avenging Eagle comics.
I think it was issue 4.
It was a beam that led to a parallel dimension, but it wasn't like that.
I feel like I'm standing in a giant box of crayons.
I think it's awesome!
Hello!
Is anybody here?
I know what you're thinking.
You think this is the secret headquarters of the Mighty Mutator.
It's the Masked Mutant. Can we please get that straight?
And what if it is? How else could you explain the invisibility curtain?
I can't explain it. It's weird. It's too weird.
Well, there's only one way to find out the truth. Right?
No way!
Okay, Libby. Let's go.
You really think a comic book character can come to life?
That's sad. That's really sad.
Don't make me cry. Come on. Let's go.
Okay, but if this Mutant creep shows up, I'm out of here.
- Thought you didn't believe it. - I don't.
Okay, top floor.
What's going on?
Hey, we're going down.
This is going too fast. Hang on to something!
We're gonna crash!
Ow!
Oh, man.
Are you okay? I think so.
I pushed "up." We should have gone up.
- What's wrong? - Nothing. I just...
I feel funny. Kind of tingly.
I'll be okay.
Why doesn't the door open?
Open!
- We're trapped in here. - Don't worry.
They're just slow. It'll open. Watch.
We'll be trapped in here forever!
The air will run out! We'll suffocate!
I can't breathe, Skipper!
I can't breathe!
Oh.
Where are we?
The basement, I guess.
What's down here?
Let's go back up.
Hang on.
Come on, Skipper. Let's go back up. Now!
Okay. Calm down.
Hit "emergency."
I don't believe this!
Let's find another elevator.
Okay.
Oh, man!
Just great.
Do you see any elevators?
I don't see anything.
Maybe the other elevators don't even come down this far.
What's that?
It was the furnace. It was just the furnace.
Come on, let's find some stairs.
There's got to be a way out of this place.
Libby?
Libby, is that you?
Libby!
Libby, are you down here?
The Masked Mutant!
Whoa!
The League of Good Guys!
This must be where they make the comic books.
It's me.
Why are there pictures of me?
Who's there?
Libby? Libby? Is that you?
Libby?
Are you down here?