Zeronia

Chapter 7: Headline News

Laloc P.O.V 

I knocked on the door of General Buu's quarters. There was a humming sound coming from inside. It stopped and a moment later the door hissed opened.

"Commander," the General said. There was a rip in the artificial skin in his leg and a metal rod was exposed.

"Am I interrupting anything, General?" I asked.

"No, Commander," General Buu said quickly. "I was just lubricating a stiff joint in my leg."

I got right to the point. "General Buu, I need you to send another Crillinarian down to Earth."

"Of course, Commander, as soon as the teleporter is fully charged."

I stared into his red eyes. "You mean, the teleporter didn't charge since the last time it was used two days ago?"

"Well, you see, Commander, when you said that you didn't want us to send any more Crillinarians to Earth we shut down the teleporter to save power."

Idiots, I thought angrily. I took a deep breath and kept my composure. "How long would it be before the teleporter is fully charged?"

General Buu shrugged his green furry shoulders. "Approximately three to four hours. But if you're in a hurry I could send someone when it's at forty percent power."

"No, I need it at maximum power," I told him. "I want to send down a Crillinarian to lure Zeronia out, then I want to go down to Earth myself."

General Buu stared at me with his red eyes. Big red accusing eyes.

"Is there something on your mind, General?" I asked sternly.

General Buu lowered his head like a scared dog about to be disciplined.  He then looked back at me. "Commander, permission to speak freely?"

"Permission granted, General."

"You have been acting a little obsessed with this Earth girl and the fact you've been replaying the video of her defeating one of our Crillinarian hasn't gone unnoticed."

I balled my hands into fists. "What are you saying?"

"It's not me," General Buu protested. "But the other crew are beginning to talk. Maybe if you give me something to tell them it would satisfy them."

I turned away from him. I mean, how could I tell him the truth? That I was infatuated with this Zeronia person. To have her with me. To mold into my image. It would be far too risky to admit this about one's enemy. Even to General Buu who was the only Crillinarian who excepted me.  Ever since I became the commander of the Crillinarian I  was never truly excepted by the other Crillinarians.  They never said anything, but I could tell by the way they look at me.

I turned back to General Buu. "Just tell them that the Earth girl is going to help us locate Tak."

General Buu seemed to be satisfied with the answer. "Any idea who you want me to send down or should I pick randomly?"

"The crab that sassed me at the briefing, what class is he?"

"Class 4, ma'am."

"Fine, send him."

"Right on it," he said and went back into his quarters.

Toby P.O.V

The next day was Monday right before class started. I was walking through the hall of Lincoln High. As I headed for my locker I noticed a lot of the students were reading the school paper. Even some of the teachers had been looking at it.

This was strange because the school paper had always been so boring. It was mostly about the football team or school events.

I found Brian leaning against his locker next to mine with his nose in the school paper.

"Hey, Brian, I said as I approached him.

Brian gazed up from the paper. "Hey, Toby, had you read the school paper?"

"You know I never read that."

"Well, you're going to want to read this." He handed me the paper.

I looked down at the paper and saw the headline written in big black letters that read:

Super Girl Foiled Alien Invasion

I looked at Brian. "Read on," he urged.

So I read on.

Last Saturday Earth was invaded by a creature from another world with plans of eliminating all of mankind. The earth would have surely been doomed if not for some extraordinary girl who's appeared seemingly out of nowhere and vanquished the alien invader. Eyewitnesses claimed that despite her petite size she was stronger than most full-grown men and could leap higher than the greatest athlete. One eyewitness, our own Brian Cannon, claimed that he's met this mysterious girl who informed him that her name was Zeronia. Who could this Zeronia be? Could she be from another world or something more? Who or what Zeronia is Earth is lucky to have a heroine such as her. And, Zeronia, if you are reading this article I want to thank you for being here and ask if I can do a one on one interview with you? Let me know by email.

Story By Debra Wilton

I stared at Brian. "You told Debra about her?"

"Only her name," Brian replied.  "But I met her! She talked to me!" Brian was getting a little too excited.

"Relax," I told him. "She is just a girl."

"She is not just a girl," Brian cried. "She is a goddess!" He gazed up at Heaven and declared, "Her strength is only matched by her beauty."

Now he was beginning to weird me out.  I can't say the level of creepiness I was feeling.

"Knock it off," I told him.

"I took a selfie with her." Brian took out his cellphone and showed me the selfie I took with him when I was a girl.

"She's not so hot," I said, though I knew that I was a babe.

"Not so hot?" Brian exclaimed. "Are your eyes working? Even her name sounds sexy. ZERONIA.' he said the name as though he was announcing the name of a sexy movie star.

"Did someone say Zeronia?" Debra Wilton who worked for the school paper and wrote the article about me...I mean, Zeronia came walking over. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a white sweater.

"You boys enjoying my article?" Debra asked, looking from Brian to me.

"I sure did," Brian replied.

"Not bad," I said.

Debra stared at me as she raised one eyebrow. "Not bad?" she said. "The school paper has never been this popular. And the next paper would be even better when I get a one-on-one interview with Zeronia herself."

"How are you going to manage that?" I asked. "You don't even know where to find her."

"Oh, I'll find her," Debra vowed. "Even if I have to turn this whole city upside down!" She turned on her heels and marched off.

"She may do it," Brian declared as we watched Debra walk off. "That girl is relentless."

I did not take any of this seriously at the time. I mean, how much trouble could one high school reporter could cause, right? It was a mistake to think that. Debra was going to be more trouble than I thought.