Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen Heroes surround me. The comic book store is full of them. I'm circled by life-size cardboard cutouts from movies and comics, and I feel like they're watching me. Luke Cage. Gambit. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Wonder Woman. Ash Ketchum. Growing up an orphan, I was raised by these heroes, in a way. They showed me how to act, how to be. Could I be tempted by .e...c.? I don't know. Maybe. I'm not perfect. But to fold? To give in? To abandon all good in hopes of saving my own skin? In front of these guys? As Wolverine would say: "No way, bub." If .e...c. wanted my help, Comically Speaking was the wrong place to bargain...

英雄们围绕着我。 漫画书店里到处都是。 我周围都是真人大小的电影和漫画纸板，我觉得他们在看着我。 路加福音笼。策略。欧比旺·肯诺比。 神奇女侠。火山灰凯彻姆。 在某种程度上，我是被这些英雄抚养长大的孤儿。 他们教我如何行动，如何做人。 我能被……吸引吗？ 我不知道。也许吧。我并不完美。 但是折叠呢？屈服？为了保住自己的性命而放弃一切美好吗？ 在这些人面前？就像金刚狼说的：“不行，伙计。” 如果生产…c。需要我的帮助，滑稽地说，这不是讨价还价的地方……

No, I am Jack Sullivan PROTECTOR OF FRIENDS, DEFENDER OF THE REALM and MASTER CREATOR AND KEEPER OF ALL THINGS RADICALLY FUN And above all, POST-APOCALYPTIC ACTION HERO And no one messes with Earth on my watch. The ground rocks as the King Wretch's talons pierce and split the floor. In the fleshy window, .e...c. growls. "SO BE IT, HERO. IF YOU WILL NOT HELP ME, YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED. I WILL FIND ANOTHER HUMAN TO USHER ME INTO EARTH." The King Wretch's head jerks upward and I see pain rack his body. His tail slithers, snakes, and snaps as .e...c. growls, "NOW, JACK SULLIVAN, I WILL WATCH AS YOU PERISH, ALONE..."

不，我是杰克·苏利文朋友的保护者，王国的捍卫者以及所有事物的创造者和守护者最重要的是，后世界末日的动作英雄在我的监视下没有人能扰乱地球。 可怜虫之王的魔爪刺穿并撕裂了地面，地面晃动起来。 在肉质的窗口，…… 咆哮。“那就这样吧，英雄。如果你不帮我，你就会被淘汰。 我会再找一个人把我领进地球。” 可怜虫国王的头向上一跳，我看到疼痛折磨着他的身体。 他的尾巴滑来滑去，像蛇一样，啪的一声…… 咆哮道：“现在，杰克·苏利文，我要看着你孤独地死去……”

A voice suddenly slices through the room: "He won't be alone anytime soon!" I whirl around. June! The rear door's barricade is being tossed to the side. I see Biggun clearing the rubble and my friends rushing inside. Dirk stomps, carrying the High-Strike hammer, and— GRAAKKK The King Wretch howls and buckles! .e...c. flashes and emits a pained cry. I know he's not hurt hurt, but we have snapped him out of

房间里突然传来一个声音：“他很快就不会孤单了！”我旋转着。 6月!后门的路障被抛到了一边。 我看到大佬在清理废墟，我的朋友们冲了进去。 德克跺着脚，手里拿着那把大锤，然后——哎呀——那个可恨之王嚎叫着，扭着腰！社会事务部…c。 闪烁并发出痛苦的叫声。 我知道他没受伤，但我们把他从

his portal—and now his voice is slithering, thinning. .e...c. gives a single, final order to the King Wretch: "TAKE YOUR FOLLOWERS AND DESTROY THE TOWN! DESTROY THE MONSTERS THAT LIVE THERE! DESTROY JACK'S FRIENDS! LEAVE YOUNG JACK FOR LAST.... I WANT HIM TO SEE THE MISTAKE HE HAS MADE.... I WANT TO SEE HIM SUFFER...." The King Wretch snarls, and then with a tremendous burst, the monster erupts upward and rockets through the ceiling, and vanishes. I turn to my friends. We need to hurry—but I just want to spend a second taking them in. Thanks for coming for What else did you expect? The store? The comics? There were valuable first issues here, irreplaceable.

他的入口——现在他的声音在颤抖，变薄。 社会事务部…c。向恶王下达了最后的命令：“带上你的追随者，摧毁这座城镇！”摧毁住在那里的怪物！毁掉杰克的朋友！把小杰克留到最后.... 我想让他看到他所犯的错误.... 我想看他受苦....” 可怜虫王咆哮了一声，然后，随着一声巨大的爆炸，怪物向上爆发，穿过天花板，消失了。 我求助于我的朋友。我们得快点了——但我只想花点时间了解一下他们。 谢谢你来，你还想要什么？ 商店吗?漫画吗?这里有宝贵的第一次发行，无可替代。

"Did you see that freaking army of Winged Wretches outside?" I ask. "Yep," Dirk says. "Why do you think we took the back door?" "They're still out there..." I say, trying to wrap my head around that horror—but then I think of something else entirely: "Wait! THE RADIO! What happened with the radio?" "It's still on the roller coaster," June says. "Wait—but—you left it?" I ask. "It's alone there, unprotected?!" June simply says, "We were in a hurry to save our friend." I don't know how to respond. The radio was so important. The radio was EVERYTHING. And now it's just sitting there, unprotected, at the top of the Thunder Coaster. But— WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! We all whirl. A new sound: like an army of helicopters lifting off in some awesome Arnold action movie. I push open the front door. The tiny bell chimes again—a reminder that we're in a small-town comic book store. We're someplace normal and

“你看到外面那群该死的带翅膀的可怜虫了吗？”我问。 “是的，”德克说。“你以为我们为什么走后门？”“他们还在外面……” 我说，试图让自己不去想那件可怕的事——但随后我又完全想到了别的事情：“等等！收音机!那台收音机怎么了？”“它还在过山车上，”琼说。 “等等——但是——你把它留下了？”我问。 “它一个人在那儿，没有保护？！”琼简单地说：“我们急着去救我们的朋友。” 我不知道该怎么回答。 收音机是如此重要。 收音机就是一切。现在它就在那里，没有任何保护，在雷霆过山车的顶端。 但是——征服!重击!重击!我们都在旋转。 一种新的声音：就像阿诺德动作片里一群直升机起飞的声音。 我推开前门。 小钟又敲响了——提醒我们来到了小镇上的一家漫画书店。 我们在一个正常的地方

wholesome and okay. And that makes it all worse, because what I'm looking at is so not normal and not wholesome and not okay. All twelve Winged Wretches are rising, following their leader, the King Wretch. .e...c. ordered the King Wretch to destroy the town—and that's what he's doing. The King Wretch is taking his army to make that second, horrific nightmare-vision—tree house burning, friends gone, monsters destroyed—become a cold and gruesome reality.... "C'mon, gang. We've got friends to save, evil to defeat, and butt-whoopin' to do."

健康，没问题。这让事情变得更糟，因为我看到的是如此不正常，不健康，不好。 所有十二个飞人都在崛起，跟随他们的领袖，飞人王。 社会事务部…c。命令卑鄙之王摧毁这座城镇——他正在这么做。 可怜虫之王正带着他的军队去制造第二个可怕的噩梦——树屋被烧，朋友被杀，怪物被摧毁——成为一个冷酷而可怕的现实.... “来吧,帮。我们有朋友要拯救，有邪恶要打败，还有大吵大闹要做。”