BLASTER MASTER (F.X. Nine)
CHAPTER 1

R-beeeak!

Jason Frudnick stood outside the black door. Gray, steamy clouds whirled around his feet. He felt as if he were floating.

R-beeeak!

There it was again. That sound was driving him crazy. Something was behind that door. All he had to do was reach out and turn the knob.
But a voice inside him said, "Run away. Run away or you'll be sorry."
Instead, he took a step forward. He couldn't stop himself. His fingertips strectched toward the knob, but he yanked them away. It was turn back now, or -

R-beeeak!

That did it. He couldn't stand it any longer. He had to find out what was making that noise. Lunging forward, he gripped the knob. It stuck to his hand, and a frozen slime oozed between his fingers.
He turned it. In the night's stillness, the click of the latch sounded like a gunshot.

With a deafening creeeeeak, the door opened.
Inside the room, it was black. Inky black. The black of the deepest spot in the universe, beyond the stars, beyond light. Cold fear shot through Jason. His blood turned to ice.
He peeled his hand off the knob. He wanted to turn and run, but his legs moved him into the room. The darkness swallowed him. He looked around. Nothing there. The noise must have been in his imagination.
Okay, time to go -

R-beeeak!

Before he could move again, he saw it.

It appeared in a blinding flash of light. Jason shielded his eyes. He couldn't see its shape, but he could could tell one thing. It was huge. The size of a house. The size of a tyrannosaur back from extinction. Jason felt like an ant, a crumb.

He knew he had to look at it. He had to see the...the thing that was about to destroy him. The light was forcing its way into his tightly shut eyes, and he opened them. Slowly, into tiny slits.

And what he saw made his jaw drop open in shock. He choked back a scream. It couldn't be! It was...no, he couldn't even think it!
It was...

What did Jason see that made him so surprised? What lies ahead for him? Who the hell cares?

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