Aunty Rose, Manny's mother, and Otis looked at each other from side to side.
"Firstly, Ethan, why did you go to the pond after school yesterday? You are the oldest out of your friends and I would expect you to show a matured character," Miss Maggie scolded Ethan and the boys.
"Why did you join your friends in wrecking the wasp's nest?"
The boys bent their heads down in shame.
"We're sorry Miss Maggie," they chorused in unison.
"You have to promise that once Manny is better you all will turn a new leaf."
"Yes we will, Miss Maggie, we promise," Tommy and Ben chorused.
Ethan was very busy looking at the mark and jotting down similarities of the wound and trying to put the pieces of whatever he discovered together.
He adjusted his glasses and looked at Aunty Rose.
"If I'm not mistaken, I think Manny has been abducted by the bees. I'm not sure, but I think he's suffering from being the victim of the animal system," Ethan remarked.
Manny's mother and his friends looked at Ethan in shock. The only person that did not seem to be surprised was Aunty Rose.
"Well! I'm not surprised. I saw this coming," Aunty Rose said with boldness and certainty in her voice.
"What's an animal system?" Manny's mother asked.
She had heard about something that was used to put kids that were not nice to animals in place. But she did not believe it was real. Better still, she did not believe it would affect her son.
"Isn't it that animal thingy system stuff we read in story books in the school library, is it real? Do you think it is real?" Tommy, the huge friend asked. He was obviously the dumbest in the group. Dumber than Manny.
"Wow! That means Manny will come back with superpowers," Ben squealed in excitement.
Yes, the animal system gave powers and rewards if the host turned a new leaf. They would rotate him from animal habitat to animal habitat to learn to live like the animals till he learned to be nice to them.
"People say it's fake, but I strongly believe in it and I knew it was just a matter of time before it struck with the way Manny was troublesome and destructive. I knew it would find him very soon," Aunty Rose added.
"Oh my gosh! Rose! Stop! I told you I do not believe in fallacies," Manny's mother thundered.
"Well, it has happened to a boy in this town and his name is Jerome. It happened when he was around ten years old, but he's now a teenager,"'Aunty Rose pointed out.
"So do you think Manny's going to be strong very soon?" Tommy asked with worry in his voice.
"Yes, he will, give it a few days," Ethan replied.
Manny's mother contemplated whether to believe them or not. After so much thinking, she gave in. She wanted them to see Jerome, probably ask them some questions, before arriving at the conclusion.
"We can look for Jerome and ask him some questions while Manny is recovering. It would be nice to hear what transpired between him and the bees. I would love to hear his side of the story before I come to a conclusion," Manny's mother said.
"You have nothing to worry about, Miss Rose said, your son is perfectly okay. He will be back to himself very soon."
"It's late and I think we should start going home. Our mothers will be worried," Ben complained.
"Goodbye buddy! We can't wait for you to be well," Ethan said as he adjusted the cover on Manny's body properly, and they left the room.
"Thanks for coming, boys! We appreciate this and say hi to your mothers for me," Miss Maggie said as she saw the boys off at the front porch of the house.
In the bees hive, Manny was still finding it hard to believe what he was seeing. Hours had passed in bee time, and he still did not wake up from the bad dream he thought he was in.
"Finish up your honey pudding. In the next t minutes we are going to the animal headquarters for a meeting," Mrs Jane instructed Manny.
"Animal headquarters? Where?" Manny asked curiously.
"Tanzania."
Manny picked up his spoon and ate the honey pudding.
Manny had eight legs. The other legs were just there for grabbing stuff while the two fore legs were for eating and the two hind legs were for walking. Incredible!
He was skeptical about the pudding at first but then he discovered that it was delicious!
He ate it quickly and asked for more but Mrs Jane dismissed him and told him he could only have more when they were back from their meeting.
"Mom, the boy said he is not your brother so who is he?" Florence the bee kept asking curiously and her mother chased her away.
"Go away, Florence," Mrs Jane said as she held Manny's hands and assisted him to walk properly with his new legs.
As they were talking, Mrs Jane's husband, Eric Bumblebee the drone came back from work and he was served his food as he sat to relax and watch some bee news. He had finished eating and wanted to relax.
"Honey, we are going to the Animal headquarters, I would love you to tuck the kids in bed."
Her husband looked at her with a mean side eye. He looked very funny as he put his two fore legs on his thorax. His face folded into a frown.
"Sweetheart, I'm tired. Why don't you do that before you leave?"
"So I can't ask my husband for a favour anymore?"
Florence was on the floor playing with her bee dolls.
"And who is this boy you are with? A stubborn drone?"
Manny just kept looking, he was too stunned to speak.
They were now standing in Mrs Jane's living room. Perrie was trying to activate the teleport and Mrs Jane was waiting for her. Once she was done, she clicked on the watch. The teleport was in the form of a watch.
"Talk to you later honey!"
They stormed the headquarters and this time, all the animals were seated and everyone was angrily waiting for them.
"You are late!" Sid the Snake said to Mrs Jane with a stern face.
"I..I'm sorry Mr Sid. The boy, we had to get him acquainted with the environment."
Mr Sid had turned the stage into a law court and Manny was made to stand in front of the judge, as if it were a hearing.
Mrs Jane stood by his side, along with Perrie and Dickson.
"There's not too much time for all of these. Let us get straight to the point," Sid the snake said as he opened his books.
"You, Manny Diego, a human boy of eight years old, is being accused of hurting the queen of Honey Great hive. Minus that, you have been accused of being a terror to animals."
Sid the snake looked at him with sternness and anger in his face. His eyes were mixed with yellow and red and his to
ngue kept poking out as he spoke.
"And you, Manny Diego. Are you guilty of these crimes you are being accused of?"