The Adventures of Navi Vol. 2: Introductions
By Brooklyn C.
Blue space starfield by View more by sololos from Getty Images Signature Created in Canva
The world behind Navi went up in flickering tongues of fire. Crimson lasers pierced through the violet glow. Within seconds, the sentinel had set the spaceship ablaze, turning the glimmering remains to a blistering furnace. The robot’s eyes, two narrow screens in his metal skin, rested their deadly gaze on the newcomers.
Three football fields away, Navi bolted through the dusty clearing. Buzz flew at his side, blocking the heat waves from directly hitting his owner. A wasteland of debris and space-junk lay in the distance.
100 feet… 90 feet… 60 feet…
Navi’s legs began to ache as his lungs begged him to stop. The sentinel stayed strong, barreling towards him and closing the gap between them.
50 feet… 30 feet… 20 feet…
The dirt from Buzz’s thrusters blurred Navi’s vision. He stumbled blindly behind the robodog, gasping for breath.
10 feet… 5 feet…
Navi fell behind a rusty airplane, Buzz landing to his right. The vehicle went up in flames as the sentinel blasted it. A shiver of terror ran down Navi’s spine. Narrowly avoiding becoming toast, he crawled on his forearms around the plane’s engine. The sentinel suddenly appeared in front of him, locking its target directly on the two cowering figures. It slowly brightened its eyes, prepared to make a lovely event with its captives, until…
It shut down. Just like that, the robot went cold. Navi felt his whole-body collapse. The dust from the ground rose around him, creating a dense fog, then settled around the astronaut. Buzz brushed his nose up against Navi’s palm then his battery switched off. Navi felt like he needed to recharge too.
What had just happened? Why did the attack end before Navi-
A figure emerged from behind a mound of tires, directly aiming a U-shaped device at Navi’s heart. Navi wanted to run, but after the previous near-death experience, every fiber of energy left in him had vanished. The figure was cloaked in a black hood, showing nothing other than a pair of violet gloves gripping the device.
“Not again,” Navi whimpered, raising his hands in defeat.
The figure’s head tilted.
“What?” The voice sounded female and genuinely confused. She lowered her hands slightly.
Navi sat up against the plane and said, “Okay, listen, within the past hour I’ve already almost died twice, so if we could skip that part, that’d be great.”
The figure dropped her hands to her sides. “You’re insane.”
“Thanks,” Navi said.
The figure walked over to the sentinel, examining it closely.
“Did you do that?” Navi asked, gesturing to the heap of metal. The figure nodded and pulled open a frame on the robot’s back. A minute later she held up a microchip.
“This controls it. The council has unlimited access to all mechanical lifeforms, but some can be… altered.” Navi had no clue what the council was, or what she meant by “altered,” but he nodded along anyway. “We should get going,” she continued, pointing in the direction of the Navi’s spaceship surrounded by fire. “That’s a convenient beacon for anyone who wants to get to you.”
Navi stood up, lifted the limp robodog over his shoulder, and turned in the opposite direction of the figure. No way was he going with her. She just spawned out of nowhere, took down a robot, and he still had no clue who she was.
“Hang on, Nav, wait. I have an idea, come on.” Navi stopped in his tracks. No one had called him that in years. He looked at the girl.
Slowly, she reached up and pulled her hood down.
“Stella?”
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Brooklyn C. lives in South Asia with her three siblings, mom, dad, pet cats, and pet turtles. She is in eleventh grade and has been a student at NorthStar for three years. She spends her free time painting and drawing, in hopes of pursuing a career in children's book illustration. She also enjoys running, going on walks, listening to music, reading, watching movies, and traveling.