Pilot

 ***

I trudged back to my home from school slowly. I sighed. I was tired of being picked on. I hate being small. And I hate being helpless.

      My right leg was bruised and I was covered in gravel. My backpack that I carried looked like it was thrown in a trash can. That’s because it was thrown in a trash can.

      Hi, my name is Anon. I am a baby Acara. My owner’s name is Norman and I’m his only pet. In case you’re wondering what I am talking about, I just got bullied by three other pets. Their names are Joe, Mackie and Paul. They usually come for me after school. They push me to the ground and throw my backpack into the garbage. If I am unlucky, they will punch me a few times or empty the books in backpack in the garbage can too. This is why the end of school is the worst part of the day for me. I would be very lucky if they forgot to come bully me or even if there wasn’t a trash can nearby when they bullied me. I could tell the teacher about this but this would just make things worse for me because they will get annoyed and the most the teacher is going to do is give them a detention.

      There’s another thing that I don’t like about school. At school, I feel left out. Most of the pets at school have petpets which they usually bring to school. I’m pretty much the only one in my class without a petpet. Sometimes, my classmates make fun of me because of this.

      I reached my home and let myself inside. I found a teenage boy sitting at the kitchen table, reading the Neopian Times. Norman turned to me. “So how was school today?”

      “It was like every other school day,” I replied.

      Norman examined me. “It certainly didn’t go well,” he remarked, brushing a bit of gravel off my shoulder.

      I sighed. “None of the school days go well, Dad. Even if everything is looking up at school, I still have to deal with those three stupid jerks on my way home.”

      “Yes, I’ve been thinking about that,” he said thoughtfully. “I can’t do anything about those bullies but I do have something that might cheer you up.”

      I looked up. “Yeah, what’s that?”

      Norman smiled. “I got you a new petpet.”

      I couldn’t believe it. “Really?”

      Norman nodded. “Go see for yourself. I put him in your bedroom.”

      I rushed upstairs. Finally! I’ve finally got a petpet! Now I won’t feel so left out when I go to school tomorrow! I was so excited, I accidentally bumped into my bedroom door, forgetting to open it.

      I opened the door as quietly as I could, for I didn’t want to startle my new petpet. I peeked in. There was a red and yellow metallic shell sitting on the floor. It looked like a red and yellow bowl placed upside down on the ground. I tiptoed towards it and cautiously poked the shell.

      Suddenly, the shell tipped upwards. I saw two glowing green eyes staring straight at me. Orange metallic feet and claws emerged from under the shell. I knew what this petpet was. A Navibot.

      I screamed. I scrambled to the corner of the room. I heard footsteps thumping on the stairs. My bedroom door swung open. “Anon! What’s wrong?”

      “ARRGGHHHH!!!!” I pointed at the Navibot. “Get that Navibot away from me!!!”

      “Alright, alright!!!” Norman picked up the Navibot and left the room. When he came back, he didn’t have the Navibot with him anymore.

      “Th-that was scary,” I squeaked.

      Norman knelt down in front of me. “Anon, that Navibot is the petpet I bought for you.”

      “I still think it’s scary,” I said.

      “I was hoping you would bring him with you to school tomorrow.”

      “Are you crazy!?” I choked. “He will scare all the other kids! The teacher won’t possibly let him in the classroom. I can’t even survive in a room with that Navibot! What makes you think I can bring him to school?”

      Norman sighed. “Anon, do you remember how much you wanted a petpet?”

      I nodded.

      “You used to badger me every single day about how much you wanted one. You complained and whined about how much your classmates teased you about not having a petpet. I got you a petpet and now look at what you are doing.”

      I shivered. “But he looks so scary! Can’t you get me another one? One that’s more harmless?”

      Norman shook his head. “I had to travel to the Virtupets Space Station to get that Navibot, Anon. And he wasn’t exactly cheap.” He sighed again. “I’m not going to get you another petpet, Anon. You haven’t even given that Navibot a chance to prove his loyalty to you. It’s either you accept the one I bought you or not have a petpet at all. It is your choice.” And he left my bedroom shutting the door behind him.

      I thought about it. I didn’t really like how that Navibot looked. But then again, I’m sick and tired of being teased about not having a petpet. The Navibot didn’t look that scary. He’s my petpet so he probably won’t try to hurt me. And if he looks frightening enough, maybe he might be able to scare off those bullies that come after me every day, after school.

     ***

      The next day, I packed my backpack and made sure that everything was neat and tidy. I do this all the time, even though I know it’s just going to get messed up by those bullies again.

      I was just about to leave when Norman called me back. “Uh, Anon, did you forget something?”

      I turned around. “Oh yeah,” I sighed reluctantly. “Alright, where is he?”

      Norman opened the kitchen closet to reveal my petpet. The Navibot hopped in front of me. I looked at his glowing eyes and winced a little bit.

      “He’s harmless,” Norman assured me.

      “Yeah. Alright.” I left my neohome, with the Navibot hopping after me.

      I walked a couple of steps then looked at my Navibot again. He was staring into space not seeming to notice that I was looking at him. It didn’t seem like he noticed anything. I started to doubt that he would scare the bullies off.

      I walked a few more steps and looked at my Navibot again. He didn’t change. He still stared into space. Every few steps I took, he would hop after me, I would glance at him and he would remain the same.

      I continued on my way to school when I bumped into something. I looked up and groaned. I forgot to mention that Joe, Mackie and Paul come after me in the mornings too.

      A yellow Krawk turned to his friends. “Well, well, well, look who it is!” Joe said to his friends.

      “What’s in that bag, shortie?” A Halloween Kougra ripped my backpack off my shoulder and pulled out my math textbook. “A math textbook?” Paul waved the book in my face. “I thought we told you to throw this out before you come to school tomorrow!”

      Paul handed my backpack to a mutant Lenny, who emptied the bag onto the pavement. “We told you to throw all this stuff out too!” Mackie said. “What’s the matter with you? Do you think we’re not threatening enough?”

      Joe cracked his knuckles. “Looks like we’re going to have to teach you another lesson, shrimp.” I groaned. This is the part where they start punching me.

      But something was different this time. A loud beeping noise interrupted us and the bullies turned their attention to the Navibot who was now facing the three bullies.

      “Well, well!” Joe sneered. “A Navibot!” He turned to me. “What did you bring him along for, Anon? Do you get lost on your way home?”

      What happened next happened all in a second. My navibot’s shell opened up and revealed something that looked like a miniature lab ray. It fired at Joe and hit his arm. Joe screamed and held up his arm. I could see a big red burn on his arm.

      Joe and his friends didn’t need to think twice. “Let’s get out of here, guys!!!” They ran away and disappeared like Chias being chased by Lupes.

      I stared after them in awe. I didn’t get punched. I didn’t even get pushed to the ground. Relief filled my entire body and I smiled. I already knew those bullies wouldn’t be coming back for me again.

      My Navibot poked me and I turned to him. He held my backpack with all my belongings inside, clean and neat. I took my backpack and patted him on his shell. The Navibot made no response, showed no emotion, but I knew, deep inside him, he was smiling too.

      I started to walk again but then I turned back to my Navibot. “Say, you’re going to need a name, aren’t you?” The Navibot showed the same emotionless response. I thought long and hard and the most unique name came to my mind. “How about I call you Pilot?” I asked.

      The Navibot extended a metallic claw. I looked down and saw what it was trying to do. I took his claw and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Pilot.”

     ***

      I walked into my classroom, expecting something to be different. This was because I now had a petpet; I was no longer petpetless. I sat at my desk and waited for class to start, but then I noticed that some of my classmates started to stare at me.

      “Whoa, Anon, is that a Navibot you got there?” a Bori sitting on my left asked in awe.

      I looked at my desk and saw Pilot, who had hopped onto my desk. “Yeah, that’s a Navibot. Cool, huh?”

      “Wow, your owner must really care about you to go all the way to Virtupets Space Station to get you one of those.” The Bori looked at his petpet. “My owner only got me this Miamouse.”

      I grinned. My petpet really stood out from all the others.

      “Alright, class, settle down.” The teacher, Ms. Wilson, a green Eyrie, stood up from her desk. “I need you to take out your essay that you were supposed to write for homework.”

      A student raised her hand. “We were allowed to choose our topic, right?”

      “Yes, the purpose of this essay was to test your understanding of literary devices, grammar, and punctuation.”

      I rummaged through my bag, only to find that Pilot had my essay clipped in his metallic claws. I sat in awe, then took the essay from him and handed it to Ms. Wilson as she passed.

      Once Ms. Wilson had collected all the essays, she returned to her desk and put the essays in her binder. “Alright, class, take out your textbooks. We are going to start a new unit, story analysis.”

      I searched through my bags again but found that Pilot had gotten what I needed again. I gave a wide smile. Wow, these space petpets are really school-efficient!

      The rest of the class continued like normal. Ms. Wilson made the class read certain parts of the textbooks and asked us certain questions. Then she gave us worksheets to be completed based on what we learned. When I completed mine, Pilot did something that made my smile widen even more. He took my worksheet, scanned it with a green sheet of laser, then took one of my pens and started marking which answers were wrong. Everyone was watching Pilot when he was getting out my essay and textbook but their jaws dropped, along with mine, when he made corrections to my worksheet. My teacher noticed this too. She also smiled and told me she wished that she had my petpet.

      During recess, I learned about all the other things my Navibot could do. I learned that he was able to hide in his red and yellow metallic shell like when he was in my bedroom, the other effects of his miniature lab ray (it could squirt water, snot, paint and also that red laser that he shot at Joe which purpose was to cause nasty burns and rashes), and how he could analyze other things, like dirt, rocks, bricks, plants and many other objects. I also learned that he could make a mini satellite pop up the same way as the miniature lab ray, and give me a big map of the surrounding area, pretty handy, in case I get lost. But I was really surprised when he opened up his shell and popped out helicopter-like wings; he could fly! Other pets gathered around as he was demonstrating, and when he had shown all of his features, the pets watching erupted with applause. “Best school day, ever!” I thought to myself.

      When school was over, I walked back home using Pilot’s satellite navigation system (he could also pinpoint the shortest and safest way to a certain location). I told Norman about everything that had happened during school and I especially liked the part when he dealt with the three bullies. When I finished, Norman smiled and asked me, “Do you know why you like your petpet now, Anon?”

      I remained silent, not knowing what was the correct answer.

      Norman then told me, “It’s because you finally gave that Navibot a chance to prove his loyalty to you.”

The End