Chapter 12

"Everyone ready?" Brock asked through a home made communicator. At once, every communicator began to light up, signaling that everyone was ready.

"Yo Asher." Zack called. "Sorry about nagging you about whatever that was."

"Don't worry about it!" Asher said cheerfully. "It was my bad for getting so angry. I promise you and Brock and everyone else will NEVER see that again."

"Yeah thanks." Zack acknowledged. "I won't intrude on your past like that again. So are ya ready for this?"

"Yeah, a little," Asher said softly.

"Anything wrong?" Zack asked.

"Not really," Asher said. "I just wished Ruby was here too."

"Why?" Zack asked. "You heard how much trouble she is and have seen it yourself. Why do you want her here?"

"I dunno," Asher said with uncertainty. "I just have a feeling she would be better off here working with us to defeat the zevers."

"Don't sweat too much about it," Zack said. "If she REALLY wanted to help, she wouldn't have used us and ditched us here."

"But she also saved us!" Asher rebutted. "What if she really isn't all tha…"

"Asher Zack!" Brock said over the communicator. "You both are good to go!"

"Let's go then!" Asher energetically said to Zack. Both of them ran towards the window, looking at the tarped yard.

"Here we go!" Asher yelled. He ignited his arms and legs in a dark red color, burning through the tarp and slamming into the ground. The flames on his legs took the brunt of the impact, sparing Asher's muscles and bones from tearing and cracking.

Asher and Zack looked on at the piles of zever robots and tied up zevers. The tarp burned fast and soon was completely gone, leaving sparkles of Ash around the yard. Asher and Zack looked on with widened eyes, seeing a giant tank under construction.

"I-IS THAT?" Asher asked loudly.

"Yup!" Brock answered with terror. "It's the IUUC 14 Assault Tank! If you and Zack hadn't freed us, the zevers would have most likely finished it in a few days.

"The what?" Zack expressed with confusion.

"It's a good sized tank fitted with extra strong weaponry for human standards. It's meant to be a light artillery unit and can take a few hits, but is abysmally imobile. 

"This gives us a fighting chance against the zevers," one student cheered.

"We can send those indigo bastards straight to hell!" Another yelled. Soon the entire yard was full of cheers of college students celebrating their victory and their future possibilities.

"NO!" Asher announced firmly and loudly. "That's not gonna work!"

"What?" Brock asked with confusion. "Why?"

"Yeah why?" a student asked furiously. The entire yard immediately showed discontent. The students were preparing to beat Asher to a pulp for denying their desire for the tank. Zack looked on with a smirk, being reminded of his colonel.

"Do you all not see it?" Asher asked furiously. "We can't use something as heavy as this to fight the zevers! This tank may have the word assault in its name, but was designed for large military operations where it has a chance of avoiding being hit!"

"It's a tank you moron!" a student yelled. "It's meant to withstand hits!"

"Tanks are designed for only one or two big hits!" Asher rebutted. "If we fight the zevers, we'll be hit with beams capable of destroying skyscrapers, which would probably completely disintegrate this tank. On top of that, this tank is extremely slow! If the zevers spot us with this tank, we'll be defenseless if they decide to launch an orbital strike. With conventional vehicles, we at least stand a chance at retreat if we need to! This isn't a conventional war! This war will require us to fight carefully, think long and hard about our decisions, and be able to move at a moment's notice. This tank along with any heavy machinery will only slow us down. Hit and run is going to be our strategy until we can find fire power on par with the zever cruisers that loom overhead." 

There was silence for several moments. Each student stood absolutely still, as if the realization had turned them into stone.

"Bravo Asher Johnnson!" Zack laughed as he clapped his hands. "Well said."

"So then what do we do?" Brock asked. "We can't just let the zevers have it."

"Agreed," Asher agreed. "Even though the tank is no use to us, the zevers could still use it to make more. The fire power on this tank is extraordinary for something its size. No doubt the zevers would try to create something similar."

"BLOW IT UP!" A student yelled.

"YEAH COME ON!" Another cheered. "MAKE IT EXPLODE!"

BLOW IT UP! BLOW IT UP! BLOW IT UP!

"Alright it's a plan!" Brock announced. "Everyone! Start finding ways to destroy this thing as fast as possible. We need to be outta here before more zever reinforcements arrive."

"Uh Brock," a student started. "Look up…" All the students and Zack looked up and past the buildings, seeing a large shadow from the horizon.

"Alright!" Asher announced. "We need eight people to get vehicles that can fit four people each and have enough trunk space for supplies and food. While they do that, I need the rest of you all to work on getting this tank demolished and to gather any and all equipment we have and cover our tracks completely. We need to be on the road before that cruiser gets here. They travel at a speed of eight miles per hour while on patrol. By the time they realize this town has been raided, we should be on to the next town."

"What about you?" Brock asked Asher. "Whatcha gonna do?"

"I'm gonna take down as many zevers as I can. All the zevers that retreated from here are probably on that battlecruiser. If I can at least slow it down, it should buy you all time."

"How will ya escape?" Brock asked.

"By the time the zevers get here, I know you'll all be long gone," Asher started. "I'll meet up with you all just up north near the old super store. I'll grab my bike and get out of here before the zevers realize I'm gone."

"Stay safe then," Brock said. He stretched out his hand for a handshake. Asher reciprocated by stretching out his hand."

"I'll be fine, thanks!" Asher said cheerfully. As Asher walked away, Zack placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Nice job kid," Zack said confidently. "Very leader-like."

"Nah," Asher said. "I'm just doing what Dad would've done."

"Take care," Zack said.

"I will," Asher said. Asher ran towards the top of the library, all the way to the roof. He stared off in the distance, spotting the cruiser coming towards him and the rest of the students.

"It's my turn." Asher said with confidence. "I'll destroy this cruiser just with my own strength." Asher looked around, deciding to jump from building to building using his flames as propulsion.

"Here it goes," Asher said softly. Asher sprinted towards the edge of the library rooftop, jumping into the air. Asher's flame ignited in a large funnel of fire aimed below, creating enough thrust to send him across the tops of the buildings.

In the yard, the college students were getting work done on the destruction of the tank.

"Puncture all the fuel tanks!" Brock yelled. "Not even dust from this tank should remain after it explodes!"

"HEY BROCK!" a student yelled from one of the buildings. "We found unused explosives here!"

"Are they damp?" Brock asked.

"No, they're completely dry and ready for use!" the student yelled back.

"Great!" Brock yelled. "Bring'em over here!"

"Hey Brock," Zack asked. "You'll need a way to ignite the explosives. If we're too close to the yard when we blow up the tank, we'll be engulfed in the explosion."

"I was thinking about that." Brock started. "We'll probably set a timer if we can. Otherwise we could let the zevers think that we're still here and they fire at us. That would probably cause a big enough explosion."

"We probably should've told Asher then huh," Zack stated.

"Shoot yeah probably," Brock stated. "We'll figure it out once we get there."

"Damn," Zack thought to himself. "This kid is almost as bad as Asher."

"Speaking of Asher," Brock started. "I see the kid's lost some weight since I saw him last."

"Haven't we all?" Zack joked.

"Yeah you're right," Brock started. "How's he been? He hasn't been too much of a handful right?"

"From what I've seen over the last two days," Zack started. "He's just like his dad except for being more childish. I don't think we'll have to worry for him though. He's survived on his own for two weeks already. He's gonna be fine. We just have to blow this thing up and get out of this yard before that battle cruiser spots us."

"Ah crap!" Asher yelled out. "How am I gonna get up there?" Asher was staring at the giant zever ship on top, casting a large shadow above Asher and the trees he was surrounded by. Asher looked back at Urbana.

"Alright what do I do?" Asher asked himself, focusing himself on the task at hand. He stared at the ship which was moving across from him when he finally saw something. A few shuttles surrounded the hull of the battle cruiser, protecting the large ship from an organized ground assault.

"Perfect!" Asher said to himself. Asher waited for one of the shuttles to fly low and close to him. A shuttle finally reached the airspace directly above Asher, only a few meters above him.

"Alright LET'S GO!" Asher exclaimed as he ignited his arms and legs. Asher compressed his legs, once again creating pressure in his legs. Asher's flames on his legs began to grow, engulfing the entirety of the ground below. Asher released all the pressure in a split second, causing an explosion that sent Asher flying into the hull of the shuttle passing above. The resulting explosion left a crater ten meters wide in the ground. Asher hurled into the sky several meters per second, slamming into the hull of the shuttle.

Asher punched his way into the shuttle using his fists, heat, and momentum. He was then greeted with four blasters pointed at him.

"Intruder!" one of the zevers yelled. "Get him!" The zevers fired at Asher.

"OH NO!" Asher yelled, dodging the blasts just barely. "No ya don't!" Asher grabbed the blaster, pulling it away and sending it into the zever directly behind him. Asher then kicked the zever that he took the blaster from away into the door leading into the cockpit. The two remaining zevers starred in silence.

"What?" Asher asked. "Never seen a seventeen year-old kid kick ass before?" Asher then punched the two startled zevers into the wall behind, knocking them out. Asher burst into the cockpit, eyeing the two zevers inside.

"Sorry," Asher said with sympathy. Asher then mashed the two of their heads together, knocking them out too. Asher picked up the communication radio on the cockpit's dash.

"Hey this is the shuttle on your rear starboard side," Asher started. "We've picked up a human prisoner that snuck on board." There was silence for a moment.

"Good work," a zever said from the other side of the communicator. "Bring him on board." Asher then sat in the pilot's seat.

"Wait," Asher started. "HOW DO I FLY THIS THING?" Asher grabbed the flight controls, hoping to learn as he went. Asher turned the controls to the left, causing the shuttle to go up. From there, Asher pulled the controls up, causing it to spiral slowly upward and to the left. The shuttle was now parallel to the zever battle cruiser.

"Wow," Asher said with surprise. "I'm surprised that worked." Asher had a giant grin on his face. "Now, time to dock this thing!" Asher yanked the controls to the left, causing the shuttle to jerk into the large ship and into a hanger bay. Asher grabbed a small lever, pulling it back, causing the shuttle to slow to a halt and drop to the floor of the hanger. The shuttle landed with a loud thud, echoing through the hangar. Several zevers and robots began to run towards the shuttle, performing maintenance and refueling the shuttle.

"Bring out the prisoner!" a zever shouted. He had white stripes lining his uniform, signaling a high rank amongst the army. There was a door directly below the cockpit of the shuttle, which allowed access both in and out. The doors opened to reveal Asher with his arms and legs in dark red flames. The metal in the doors was slightly melted.

"Who wants their ass kicked first?" Asher taunted. The horde of zevers ahead of him aimed their blasters at Asher, hoping to get rid of the intruder right then and there. The zever with the white striped uniform stood in front of the legion of zevers with one of his four fists in the air.

"I am what you humans would consider the commander of this cruiser." the zever with the white striped uniform said. "Who are you?"

"I'm the guy that's gonna kick your ass!" Asher reiterated. "LET'S GO!" Asher's fists burned into a brighter red. The flames were more condensed as well. Asher's legs also burned a bright red. Asher leaped forward at the commander, punching the zever clean in the jaw.

HIYAAAAAAAA!

Asher's speed and strength sent the zever commander backwards. The zever commander landed on his feet after tumbling backwards.

"You bastard!" the zever commander yelled. "FIRE ON THE HUMAN!" Every zever and robot in the hanger opened fire on Asher. Asher jumped and dodged almost every blast, with his arms and legs blocking any he couldn't dodge. The sheer heat from Asher's arms and legs cause the laser blasts to disintegrate right before impact.

"What the HELL?" the zever commander yelled. "It's a human CHILD! KILL IT!" The zevers continued firing, only striking air. Asher kept dancing around the laser blasts, barely avoiding blasts that could become fatal wounds.

"This isn't good!" Asher worried. "I can't stop dodging to attack!" Asher couldn't find anything close enough to use to fight back. Asher was running out of energy. He couldn't keep dancing around the zevers for forever. Anytime a zever blaster ran out of ammunition, another zever would replace them. It didn't help that the zever blasts dissipated shortly after passing Asher, meaning they didn't strike other zevers that were behind him.

"I got it!" Asher blurted out. Asher ignited his legs and jumped onto his hands. Asher then revolved his body, shifting his weight from one hand to the next. Asher's legs became large spinning bars of fire, causing the zevers to back off. The zever attacks couldn't strike Asher anymore, giving Asher the upperhand.

"HA!" Asher laughed. "Can't fight back?" Asher slammed his left leg into the floor. He used all his muscles in his body as well as his rotational momentum to spin his body up. Asher took his right leg and created a wave of flames by spinning his body. This wave pushed and burned all the zever into the hanger walls, incapacitating them.

"EASY!" Asher cheered, out of breath. "Now time to find their command center thingy!" Asher sprinted towards the doors directly across from the hanger doors he entered through with the shuttle. Asher set his fists on fire and pried the doors open by melting his fists into the door. Asher slipped through the doors when they were open enough, allowing him access to the hallways. By now, the entire ship was aware of his presence. Asher didn't care. He was there for one thing and one thing only. He needed to cause as much chaos as he could before the battle cruiser had Urbana under their heel. Asher turned the corner to go right when he was greeted with two zevers patrolling the halls.

"It's the intruder!" one said.

"Fire!" the other one commanded. They both fired blasts. Asher ducked, barely avoiding the lasers and lunged at the two zevers, punching them in the gut with his fists still in flames. The two zevers fell to the floor, collapsing from the sudden spike in pain.

"Next time don't shoot," Asher said coolly. "Idiots." Asher continued his way, reaching two heavy doors. Asher looked up. "This is it! If I can just buy some time here, the others will escape!" Asher slammed his fingers into the doors. He tried melting them, but couldn't get anywhere. After five minutes of expelling flames from his arms and into the metal, he wasn't even close to halfway through.

"Damn," Asher said with surprise. "These doors are strong. I'll have to find another way in." Asher looked around, not finding anything of use. "Wait! What if I get them to open the door for me." Asher readied his fist and pounded it against the door.

"HELP!" Asher faked, "The intruder's in the hall! We need backup!" Asher then waited. The doors soon opened, with several zevers and robots on the other side.

"Hi!" Asher said cheerfully. Asher unleashed a barrage of attacks, blasting the zevers away with rapid strikes of fire plumes. Asher ran further inside the room.

"I knew it!" Asher cheered. "The command center!"

"This is the intruder?" a zever questioned. "A child? A HUMAN child no less?"

"Aren't you the same alien I saw in Chicago?" Asher asked.

"Yes! I'm the captain of this ship and the highest ranking." The zever announced. His uniform had blue stripes that were close to the hue of his skin. "Are you seriously the only one here?"

"Yeah!" Asher answered. "Why? Scared?"

"No no," the zever captain answered. "I just want to see what you got. Oh and please, call me Captain Fughent!"

"Alright Captain Fughent!" Asher started. "Let's fight!" Asher immediately lunged at the captain, using flames to accelerate himself forward. Captain Fughent stood calmly, simply sidestepping to his right by half a meter. Asher slammed into a control panel behind the captain, landing headfirst into the metal.

"OWW!" Asher yelled in frustration "How the heck?"

"This is all a human child can do?" Captain Fughent taunted. "Just talk big and hit small? No wonder this planet was so easily conquered. The captain slowly began walking towards Asher. The zever's two back arms began to twist and turn forward, allowing all four of his arms to point forward. The muscles in his legs became more defined like an animal. The captain fell onto the ground, landing on his four arms. The neck twisted forward, causing the anatomy of the captain to become that of a six legged reptilian mammal hybrid rather than that of a humanoid.

"Wha-What the HECK?" Asher blurted. "ZEVERS CAN DO THAT?"

"There's a lot you don't know about our kind. Captain Fughent charged at the still floored Asher.

"AH!" Asher yelled. Asher tumbled to his right and ignited his arms. He sent himself upward enough to grab onto the top of the doorway.

The captain stopped the charge. He was now on all sixes, acting like a wild animal.

"What was your name child?" Captain Fughent asked calmly but creepily. "And why did you decide to attack us?"

"And you want to know because?" Asher asked.

"I simply want to make small talk." Captain Fughent replied. "I would like to know more about your race before it's inevitable extinction."

"EXTINCTION?" Asher asked with concern. "WHAT?"

"Oh don't tell me you didn't expect it!" Captain Fughent taunted. "This shouldn't be surprising! All of your former entertainment sources always spoke of extraterrestrial life conquering and eliminating your species!"

"THAT'S FICTION!" Asher yelled. "THIS IS REALITY!"

"And what makes fiction so different from reality," Captain Fughent continued. "What makes you think what you see is really there? Reality is only the result of a heavily biased perspective of the universe. How do you know your reality is in conjunction with the true reality? How do you know your perspective isn't warped? How do you know you are on the right side of history?"

"SHUT UP!" Asher yelled. "Just fight already!" Asher leaped from the top of the door. He channeled all his energy into his right arm, setting it ablaze. Asher focused all the pressure in his arm to his fist, creating a display of fire with all variations of red. Asher slammed his fist into Captain Fughent's back, creating an explosion from the release in pressure, shattering the glass and destroying the equipment. Asher was flung out of the ship along with several tons of debris.

Asher looked on at the main quad of the campus he once called home as it exploded, signaling their victory. Asher reactivated his flames tentatively, causing him to land between the trees in a not so comforting landing. Asher slowly picked himself up, looking up to see the zever ship turn back

"WOOOO!" Asher cheered. "I DID IT! The ship isn't destroyed, but we'll still get away." Asher ran towards the campus to find his bike. What Asher didn't notice was the bits of burnt skin that fell off his arms and legs.

"I think I see him!" a student yelled. "It's a bike on the highway!"

"Send the signal!" Brock commanded. "Before he rides too far!" The student aimed a rifle just in front of Asher as he rode his bike. Asher immediately stopped and looked to his left, spotting Brock waving. Asher continued and drove into the trees, meeting up with everyone else.

"Where'd you get the blasters from?" Asher asked curiously.

"We made sure to carry as much of the abandoned zever equipment as we could carry." Brock answered proudly. "More importantly, WHAT WAS THAT?"

"What was what?" Asher asked, confused.

"That explosion!" Brock began, excited. "We all saw it! The zever ship turned away before the city! It was so cool!"

"I just blew it up," Asher said calmly. "That's all. So what do we do now?"

"I was thinking we head to Bloomington," Brock said. It's one of the closest cities to here and is on the way to Peoria."

"Sounds good!" Asher cheered. "Get everyone ready to move in the morning, we leave at dawn."

"On it!" Brock said. He made his way towards the middle of the makeshift camp that the college students had made. Zack approached Asher.

"Nice one bud!" Zack said, patting Asher on the back.

"Thanks," Asher said. "It was nothing."

"Don't be so modest man," Zack said coolly. "Tell me, how was it?"

"IT WAS AWESOME!" Asher cheered. "I TOOK DOWN A ZEVER CRUISER! Although, the captain incharge did say some bad stuff."

"Eh, don't listen to those monsters," Zack started. "Don't worry about what they say, they're never gonna listen to what we say anyway."

"Guess you're right," Asher said. "So what's for dinner?"

"Just some stew we make in the military," Zack said. "Try some!" They both walked back to camp with their stomachs rumbling from hunger.