"Answer him!" Mrs Jane said as she nudged him.
"I am not! Your honour!" Manny replied to Sid the Snake with boldness in his voice.
Sid the snake refused to say anything. He just nodded his head and asked the computer system to line up Manny's statistics.
Manny could not believe his eyes. He looked at the crowd to make sure he was not dreaming. He saw animals of various shapes and sizes sitting in the audience.
They were dressed so nicely like they were attending a ball or a gala. This was new to his eyes. He just needed to sit in the shower for an hour or two and think about everything that had happened today. Everything was too much for him to take in.
"The boy thinks we are in kindergarten, or he thinks we are slow like him," Mr Lizard yelled from the crowd in mockery.
The crowd erupted in serious laughter.
He looked at Luna the Butterfly who fluttered her wings in support of Manny.
"This unserious lady will continue to support this little rascal. Maybe it's until the whole animal kingdom is wiped out before her eyes will be opened."
Luna the butterfly who sat by the beautiful Selena the silkworm ignored him. She was sure he was just looking for attention.
Manny's statistics popped up in front of the computer system.
Name of host: Manny
Ability: zero
Strength: two out of Ten
Level : zero
Race: Half human, half bee.
Empathy for animals: zero
Kindness to animals: zero
Tolerance to pain: zero over ten
Talent: none
Skills: none
"Oh, so he does not like pain, but he believes in tormenting others?" Mr Lizard remarked out loud with his sharp mouth.
The crowd laughed again.
"These are your statistics. Your statistics never lie. So are you telling us you have been nice to animals and insects, and are we wrong?" Mr Snake asked.
"Yes sir, I have been nice. You mistake me for someone else."
The animals began to murmur very loudly.
"Firstly, I must say I am shocked. I would've never thought in a thousand years that the animal kingdom was this advanced. Wow. So you have houses, husbands, wives and even technology that we don't have?" Manny asked the animals.
"The boy is joking with us. He thinks we are here for fun," Mrs Elephant trumpeted.
"Whoa! Shut up human!" Mr Lion roared, and his roar shook the audience.
Manny quivered in fear. He was not willing to say anything anymore.
"Show him the video of the day he wrecked Mrs Jane's hive and show him the damage he did and the critical situation of their queen," Mr Sid, the Snake ordered the computer guy, and he did as he was immediately told.
The computer guy wired the monitor to show the critical situation of the queen and how she laid in bed looking unrecognizable. She was in the bee hospital receiving honey drops and lily nectar supplements to get well.
The crowd gasped in horror!
Manny bent his head down in shame.
The monitor also showed Manny the day he attacked the hive with a stick and how he kept poking at the hive aggressively. It showed how the bees ran for safety and how some were not fortunate enough to survive.
Manny could not believe his eyes. He would never in a thousand years have thought that the animals would be so advanced as to capture all he had just seen.
The monitor continued to show the babies that lost their lives during the wreckage and how the hive was susceptible to attacks from other insects.
He did hurt the bees, and he did damage a lot.
He would also have loved to know how the bees succeeded in bringing him here and turning him into a bee, but he was too afraid to ask.
If he asked, it would just anger the bees the more.
"Enough! The human is terrible. Is there any other testimony against him?" Mr Sid the snake asked the audience.
"I would love to know before I call on the very great judges, Mrs Eagle and Mr Owl, the one that sees and the one that knows all, to sentence this human.
Someone raised her forelegs in the audience. It was Miss Rina the roach. Also, queen Flora the frog raised her hands. She still wore her crown, and it looked shiny and graceful on her.
"We have lived in constant fear of this human at the back of his shoe stack in his room. Our colony is a small hole, and he won't let us have peace whenever he is bored," Rina the roach testified.
"Are you saying I can't get rid of the roaches in my room anymore? Why do you try to eat my books?" Manny fired back at her.
"It's okay, Rina the roach. Time is not in our hands. You will continue your testimony when we meet next. We have to judge this human for now," Mr Snake said.
"I call on Mrs Eagle to join Mr Owl and pass the final verdict on this human boy."
Mrs Eagle flew from the top of the roof of the great hall. She landed on the podium. Her landing was dramatic. Mr Owl was already standing there.
Mrs Eagle adjusted her glasses and read her verdict.
"I, Eugene Eagle, hereby declare Manny Diego guilty! He will be punished under the animal system accordingly until the animals are satisfied."
She passed the book onto Mr Owl. "And I, Mr Owl, also declare him guilty of not keeping rule four of the United Animal law that reads, thou shalt love thy animal neighbor as thou love thyself."
"He is sentenced to the animal system in different habitats till he turns a new leaf."
The animals clapped in unison and in joy.
"His system is now fully activated by order of the animal law and by the accordance of the system created by me, fifteen years ago in snake years," Sid the snake declared.
The crowd of animals clapped and cheered loudly in the audience.
"Torment the human!" One roach screamed in the audience. It seemed as if Manny recognized her.
"Yes, he will go through the pain we all passed through one by one," another ant screamed in the audience.
Tears wanted to stream out of Manny's eyes, then he remembered he had to be strong. So the animals hated him this much. Oh, his poor mom, she always warned him, along with aunty Rose. She would be worried sick by now.
He thought about Otis and how he would not want Otis to be like him.
"Rewards will be awarded to him when he completes his quests and begins to have empa
thy for animals. For now, this meeting has been adjourned. Mrs Jane, take your human bee home and long live your queen!"