Captain Keith gritted his teeth and called upon all of his
steely reserve not to show any outward sign of pain as the Mega-Parasite’s
tendrils coiled cruelly around his spine.
The creature smiled, its jagged teeth forming a mountain
range of horrible evil in its mouth. A voice that could extinguish a supernova
emanated from inside the thing. “You should know, Captain Keith, in these your
last moments, that, after your spirit leaves this corporeal form, I will use
your body to infiltrate Space Explorer Headquarters and rain death upon those
pitiful humans you call friends.”
The tendrils worked their way between Captain Keith’s
vertebrae and the flagitious fiend began to inject its malignant venom directly
into the hero’s spinal cord. Calling upon his encyclopedic knowledge of every
horror the solar system had to offer, Captain Keith determined that he had
approximately ninety-seven seconds before the toxin reached his brain and ended
his valiant existence. That meant he had not a nano-second to lose.
As the nerves in his back exploded in a paroxysm of pain,
Captain Keith willed his arms to take action. His puissant hands grasped for
the tentacle with which the Mega-Parasite held Captain Keith in a vice-like
grip. The same mighty sinews that had once crushed the skull of a Plutovian
ultra-bear now pried the Mega-Parasite’s muculent limb from around his throat.
The beast redoubled its efforts and his voice roared in
Captain Keith’s ears. “Why do you struggle, Terran? Your doom is writ!”
Captain Keith used the hand not vying with the tentacle to
reach for his trusty ZX9 Laser Gun. The holster was only inches away from
Captain Keith’s fingers, but it took every bit of his Herculean strength to
bridge the tiny distance, as the Mega-Parasite fought him with all its brawn.
Captain Keith could feel the creature’s toxins working their
way toward his brain. He knew that the moment of truth was upon him. If he
failed to reach his gun, his life and the lives of every Space Explorer in the
galaxy was forfeit. The searing pain in his back must be overcome.
The creature hissed in Captain Keith’s ear, “The first
victim of my wrath will be your beloved Cia of Mars. Oh, how I will enjoy her
sweet, sweet agonies.”
“I guess you didn’t realize, creature,” Captain Keith said
coolly, “my wrath is bigger than yours.” And with that, his finger closed on
the contact and sent a beam of deadly red light through the creature’s brain. The
brute’s grip went slack and Captain Keith shoved the thing away. As the vacuum of
space carried the creature from him, Captain Keith adjusted the setting on his
ZX9 Laser gun. He took aim and sent another blast toward the Mega-Parasite,
this one blasting the thing’s body into atoms.
The pain in Captain Keith’s back subsided somewhat. He began
focusing his mind, controlling his body on an almost microscopic level and
willing the toxins to leave his system.
He knew that the other Mega-Parasites might still be headed
for Space Explorer Headquarters. His job, then, was far from over. The agony in
his spine would have to put circumvented if he was to be sure that his Space
Explorer brethren and the beautiful Cia of Mars were safe.
Image by Redspotgames
Image by Redspotgames
