by Felice Arena
‘Yes,’ said Judd, turning back to Andy. He looked guilty. ‘I work for the General. I was hired to keep an eye on you, to protect you if needed.’
Andy was stunned. He felt betrayed, as if he’d just been totally punked for some dumb TV show.
‘I’m sorry, Andy. I wasn’t allowed to tell you…’ Judd said. ‘But we’re wasting time. We’ve got to save the General.’
‘We?’ said Andy’s dad. ‘You mean you! Andy shouldn’t be there at all – he should be back at the camp. You can’t go, Andy,’ he ordered. ‘Your mother is on the phone to the Department, but I know she’ll feel the same way. It’s a trap and the General is the bait! Agent – don’t let him go with you.’
‘To be honest, sir,’ said Judd, sounding all grown up, ‘I couldn’t stop him if I tried. Besides, his robotic powers might come in handy. I think a rescue is possible, but I’m unarmed and I’m not sure I can do it alone.’
Andy felt betrayed. He’d thought that Judd had followed him into forest. That he’d been watching out for him because they were friends. But now he knew Judd was just following orders. He was on a mission and he needed Andy’s powers to do his job.
Don’t be angry, he reminded himself. That can wait. Right now we’re all on the same team. And if I’m going to be a human weapon, he thought, I might as well fight for the good guys.
‘Look, I can’t risk my son getting hurt.’ Andy’s dad’s voice quavered.
But Andy had had enough of being told what to do. He’d made up his mind.
‘Dad,’ he said. ‘You’ve got it all wrong. This is my rescue – and Judd’s coming with me.’
This is it, he thought, as he took a deep breath and glared at his glowing palms. He clenched his right hand tightly into a fist. It’s time to crank up the new me and see what I can do!
He remembered being just a regular kid, who found riding his bike or getting a free brownie at his parents’ bakery the highlight of his day. That simple world had long gone. He had already faced some serious dangers, but the next couple of hours were going to test his courage like never before.
The time had come to see what type of person – and what type of weapon – his parents had created… The time to stand up and be a true hero had finally arrived.
When I was a kid I was invincible – or so I imagined. My brother and I would combine all the powers of our favourite comic and TV superheroes and have the most epic battles in our backyard. We would zap at each other with our awesome laser fingers, run faster than a cheetah riding a Ducati (now that’s fast!), and jump over buildings (more like the swing set) in a single bound.
With Andy Roid, I’ve been able to let my imagination play like never before. It’s been so much fun to create this series and I hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it!
Felice Arena is the bestselling author and creator of many popular and award-winning children’s books including the Specky Magee series. For more information about Felice and his books visit his website at:
felicearena.com
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First published by Penguin Group (Australia), 2012
Text copyright © Red Wolf Entertainment Pty Ltd, 2012
Illustrations copyright © Chad McCown, 2012
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted.
All rights reserved.
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ISBN: 978-1-74-253628-6
